Occult Academy (Anime)

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"I hate the occult!"

The date is July 1999, and people were wondering if the world was going to end. At Waldstein Academy—known by its nickname "Occult Academy" for its rather odd field of study—the principal, Junichiro Kumashiro, has died of what the media is claiming as a heart attack. When his 17-year-old daughter, Maya, comes to his funeral (late), the truth is revealed—his love of the occult had gotten so out of hand he summoned a demon.

Maya quickly disposes of said demon, but that's not the real story here. The story really begins with a naked man descending from the sky. He is Fumiaki Uchida, a (former) psychic from the year 2012, apparently sent to stop the world from ending in an alien invasion under the cover of a teacher at the academy, Minoru Abe. His and Maya's destinies collide as Maya plans to get rid of the school that tore her family apart, while Fumiaki uses her assistance to find and neutralize an object or person called the "Nostradamus Key", which, when activated in conjunction with Nostradamus' prophecies, could begin said alien invasion.

The third entry in Aniplex and TV Tokyo's Anime no Chikara series (preceded by Sound of the Sky and Night Raid 1931), this Anime First series started in Summer 2010, ending in the fall.

US residents were able to legally watch this series at Crunchyroll; as of May 28, 2021, this service is no longer available.

There exists a manga adaptation by Kei Toru that loosely retells the main plot, a set of four shorts bundled with the DVD/Blu-Ray release involving a young Maya and Ami taking care of a tsuchinoko, and a light novel side story compilation written by the scriptwriters where each chapter focuses on a different character/set of characters among the main cast.

The series provides examples of:

2D Visuals, 3D Effects: All background extras are in 3D CG. They look fine when far away, but it's rather distracting when they're maybe ten feet from foreground characters. Any instance of a car also tends to be animated through this method.
Abusive Parents: Maya's Dad, although he really did seem to love her in the end (his obsession with the occult got the best of him), and Fumiaki's Mom, who became obsessed with the wealth and fame that came from his spoon-bending abilities and neglected him. Episode 10 pretty much proves that the Occult got the best of Maya's dad — in fact, he was really such a good guy that he built the academy for her!
Action Girl: Maya with her crossbow of determination.
Adaptational Badass: Bunmei shows a surprising moment of initiative in Chapter 3 once a Mothman gunks him in filth; pissed off that he lost his opportunity to rescue Mikaze in a dignified manner (because he imagined her being repulsed by him now smelling of shit), he wields Maya's crossbow and exterminates the entire horde, rescuing Maya in the process.
Adaptational Distillation: Compared to the anime, the Nostradamus Key and the resulting apocalypse are different to fit within the manga's one-volume run. In the former, the meeting between adult Fumiaki and child Fumiaki causes aliens to invade from another dimension; in the latter, a combination of Fumiaki forgetting about his date with Mikaze and Mikaze misinterpreting a scene between him, Maya, and Maya's child self causes Mikaze to sell her soul to a demon and have it destroy the world.
Adaptational Villainy: An inversion. Mikaze the black mage is not as villainous in the manga as she is in the anime, mainly because she didn't cause as much explicit damage in the former. The Mothmen she summoned did cause a number of missing person cases, but since the manga's tone is mainly comedic and no corpses are seen it's possible that Chihiro could've found survivors in the horde's nest offscreen; and the demon she summoned (to whom she sold her soul so it can destroy the world) only manages to cause property damage and inflict nonlethal injuries on a few people before it's killed by a spell.
All Just a Dream: Elaborate Happy Place illusions.
All Myths Are True: Aliens, Ghosts, Psychics, U.M.As, magic spells, hidden pyramids in Japan, The World Tree, Mothmen... The only thing preventing this from becoming a Fantasy Kitchen Sink is a vague explanation about the Academy being a dimensional nexus... It's later revealed that the Mothmen, the Poltergeist, and the Chupacabras were all summoned by Mikaze.
Almighty Janitor: Smile, literally.
Alternate Character Reading:
- The On the Next for episode six uses the alternate reading of "Michinori" (distance) as "Doutei" (virgin), which Kozue finds amusing.^note
- "Bunmei" and "Fumiaki" are written with the same kanji.
Animation Bump: At least once per episode both subtle and obvious. Notable examples include the fight scenes during episodes 11 and 12, Kozue's dreamscape in episode 5, Mikaze's driving in episode 3, Fumiaki's drunken walk in episode 6, and the demonic possession of the recently-deceased Junichiro in episode 1.
Apocalyptic Log: Of the recorded variety.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Akari does this in episode 10, where she finally meets Santa.
Automatic Crossbow: Maya's weapon of choice against monstrosities of the occult is a crossbow, with gun ownership being mostly illegal in Japan.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Smile and JK in episode 4.
Badass Driver: While Mikaze may drive insanely, she knows what she's doing.
Bad Future: What Fumiaki is trying to prevent.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted. The Lens Flare Censor may be in effect, but the shadows from the light aren't. Look closely when Fumiaki lands; the shadow of his wang can be seen.
Bat Out of Hell: A Moth Out of Hell — with Glowing Eyes of Doom. The "tengu" everyone talked about since Ep. 1. It has friends.
Batter Up!: Smile, in the mountain, with the wrench.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: Chihiro is set up as this throughout the whole series as she spies on Maya and seems to show disapproval at her actions. Then Episode 11 hits and we find out she was an ally all along and that sweet innocent Mikaze is the true Big Bad.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted. Maya is ostensibly the prettiest character in the show, but she gets thrown around a lot.
Beware the Nice Ones:
- Mikaze proves that the endearing young chef at your local eatery may actually be an evil cult-leading witch bent on opening the gates of Hell.
- Fumiaki proved to be a bit of a scrapper, too, once Mikaze showed what was Beneath the Mask.
Big Damn Heroes: Several of the main characters do this for Ami after a giant chupacabra kidnaps her.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mikaze.
Bittersweet Ending: The alien invasion is thwarted by adult Fumiaki sending them and himself through the dimensional rift after taking the spoon his mother tucked in his child self's jacket (the light novel further reveals that he had Depowered his child self by taking the latter's psychic powers), a victory that required the sacrifices of him, Chihiro, and her assistant. Maya's father finds himself in the new timeline with the memories of the Bad Future, and is called home by Maya. Said home's nameplate is "Uchida", and three plates of curry have been set at the dinner table.
Black Blood: Green blood, in this case.
Black Magic: Mikaze, the black mage.
Blatant Lies: Fumiaki tells Maya in the second episode that he was drafted by the underground resistance while portraying himself like a badass; two episodes later, it's shown that they practically dragged him from his feet.
Blind Without 'Em: Kozue, even when she's possessed.
BFS: The "S" stands for "spanner".
Body Horror: Mothman.
Boom, Headshot!: Ami's dad manages to decapitate a chupacabra in episode 8... using a nailgun.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Once Mikaze reveals herself as a black mage, the Matsushiro locals near Waldstein Academy are revealed to have been victims of this by her, which explains why they were essentially ignoring her makeout session with Fumiaki. Maya's friends discover them forming a mob, and Kozue even becomes one of them offscreen. Thankfully, the spell in Junichiro's notebook frees them.
Calling the Old Man Out: Maya generally felt wronged having been tricked by Ami's dad in episode 7, though he only had good intentions at heart.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Fumiaki.
Car Fu: Ami's dad does this in episode 12 (with an assist from her in one moment).
Cast of Snowflakes
The Cavalry: "The SDF is here", Just in Time... Again, Smile and JK in episode 4.
Character Development:
- In episode 6, Maya sees Fumiaki's memories of his tortured childhood and the alien invasion of Earth. She can relate to the former entirely as her father neglected her in favor of his work, and the latter is enough for her to start taking Fumiaki seriously.
- Fumiaki is one incredibly well-executed example: through all his hardships and misfortunes in the series, plus a lot of soul-searching in the last episode, his transformation from zero to hero is completely credible.
Chekhov's Gun: The notebook that Maya's father left for her protects her from evil; it's the first thing Mikaze tries to destroy to foil Maya, and it's the very key to destroying Mikaze in the end.
Chekhov's Gift: The entire academy.
Chekhov's Gunman: Oh, Mikaze.
Chupacabra: The dead cow wasn't a hoax. There's a small group of chupacabra in the area, and they capture Ami. So it's up to Maya and company to stop them.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Two examples:
- Chihiro shows this early on, and hates how close Mikaze and Fumiaki seem. Surprisingly she doesn't seem to pursue him too much, but she's never happy whenever they're together.
- Maya starts to exhibit this later in the series, especially how cheerful Fumiaki gets whenever Mikaze shows up, and even punches him during one such occasion.
Close-Call Haircut:
- Fumiaki just narrowly avoids Maya throwing a giant sword at his head.
- Maya does it to him again later with a crossbow.
Cloudcuckoolander: Kozue
Combat Pragmatist: Maya is not above fighting dirty, up to and including using her bracelet as a set of knuckle-dusters.
Combat Stilettos: Maya is a subject of this every time she wears her white dress.
Cool Car: Mikaze's, which is totally not a Porsche.
Crazy-Prepared: Would you just happen to know what is the right frequency for moth disposal and carry a musical instrument while searching for a missing person in a mountain?
Crop Circles: One of these kicks off episode seven's plot.
Cursed with Awesome: Fumiaki's spoon-bending, which was kind of awesome, but it ensured he'd never lead a normal childhood due to his overbearing mother.
Dark and Troubled Past: Maya and Fumiaki.
Deadman Writing: Maya's father left a diary hidden for her. Which actually turned out to be a cleverly-disguised protective talisman.
Death Glare: Maya delivers one to Chihiro in episode 2. She also uses it against Fumiaki at times.
Demonic Possession:
- Both Maya's father and Kozue by the lamia.
- In the climax of the manga adaptation, Mikaze is revealed to have inflicted this on herself after a severe misunderstanding rather than being full-on evil.
Demoted to Extra: Chihiro's assistant only gets one scene in the manga, and doesn't even appear in the climax to fight alongside her, Maya, Fumiaki, and Junichiro.
Design Student's Orgasm: The opening sequence is a loud explosion of occult imagery.
Designated Victim: Despite her belief that nothing out of the ordinary happens to her, Kozue ends up a victim of the occult a lot more often than everyone else... yet she's never down for long.
Determinator: Fumiaki in the last two episodes. Both times in the final battle.
Dirty Coward: Fumiaki for just about the entirety of episode four. He definitely makes up for it by the end of the series.
Disappeared Dad: Maya's father is one.
Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Maya tends to beat up Minoru/Fumiaki a lot.
Dowsing Device: JK's rods. They also double as weapons. And lockpicks. It's starting to look like there's nothing he can't do with them.
Drives Like Crazy:
- Mikaze, very much so. Whenever she's at the wheel, it's like watching a Rally stage.
- Ami's dad can do this, too (and it's not limited to just things with wheels), but he knows how to turn it off.
Dogged Nice Guy: Chihiro to Fumiaki.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: JK
Earn Your Happy Ending: And how. Episode 12 makes it look like everything's wrapped up nice and neat, then the future guys go outside...only to find out nothing's changed.
11th-Hour Superpower:Fumiaki at the very end of the series. He gains back his telekinetic powers by taking them from his younger self (thus sealing the Stable Time Loop revolving around him losing the powers shortly before the invasion), and uses it to close the portal that the aliens were invading from, although he ends up doing a Heroic Sacrifice in order to close it off.
Evil Costume Switch: Mikaze gets a full Transformation Sequence when she reveals her true form.
Expressive Accessory: Smile's smiley-face badge tends to mimic his expressions.
Faking the Dead: Both Maya and Junichiro, and quite convincingly. Their fake bodies were created by Chihiro's magic.
False Friend: Mikaze to Fumiaki.
Fangirl:
- Kozue loves anything remotely supernatural.
- Maya does too, but she makes an effort to hide it.
Fanservice: We get a lot of low-angle or close-up shots of Maya's legs with the black stockings. It's been described as 'intelligent fanservice' by some of the fans. Also, she takes a shower in episode 2 and wears a swimsuit in episode 6, but these parts are fairly tame compared to most anime.
- Episode 11 features a lot of it.
First Girl Wins: To an extent; both Mikaze and Chihiro are dead by the end of the penultimate episode, and by then it's obvious Fumiaki and Maya have feelings for each other. They get this close to confessing before he dies- the final scene implies she eventually married his younger self.
First-Name Basis:
- A sort of variation. As a child, Fumiaki's stage name was Bunmei, which he hated. Mikaze referring to his younger self as "Fumiaki-kun" instead of "Bunmei-kun" when they see said younger self on TV is one of the things that makes him fall head-over-heels for her. Later on, after Maya gets a glimpse of his abusive past and finally accepts him, she refers to him as "Fumiaki" for the first time when she speaks to him at the end of the episode.
- Fumiaki has a penchant for calling Maya by her first name. Initially, Maya insists with a prejudice that he should call her Kumashiro at all instances because she doesn't want to elicit any problems regarding his perceived familiarity, and also because she doesn't quite respect him; eventually she starts becoming closer to him as a comrade and a friend, allowing him to continue calling her "Maya".
Flat-Earth Atheist: Maya vehemently denies or simply expresses hatred for the occult. She used to love it, though, and her extensive knowledge on paranormal matters is often used as a source of Hypocritical Humor.
Foreshadowing:
- Early in the series, Maya mistakenly calls Fumiaki the "Great King of Terror" who would appear from the sky according to Nostradamus's prophecy because he fell naked out of the sky right in front of her. His encounter with his younger self at the end of the series winds up triggering the apocalypse, so she turned out to be half-right.
- Mikaze is shown to show up every time Fumiaki tries to get close to Maya. Later in the series, she begins doing it on cue and it's almost glaring on how serendipitous she makes it look. Turns out she's been trying to lure him into betraying Maya the entire time in order to open a portal to Hell.
- Chihiro's attraction to Fumiaki is shown to be rather out of character for her, as her demeanor towards others doesn't quite show how innocent and frankly childish said attraction is. Considering she is a white mage, she sees Fumiaki's true self and has nothing but praise for it.
Funny Spoon: Bunmei defeats the alien invaders with a spoon.
Genki Girl: Kozue, especially in regards to occult stuff.
Genre Blindness: While Maya is often Genre Savvy, she displays this in the last episode thinking it would be a good idea to introduce Fumiaki to his younger self.
Genre Savvy: Maya. When the others cheer her on to rescue Ami, she replies with, "In the movies, everyone who says those lines dies." None of them do, but it freaks them out nonetheless.
Godiva Hair: Maya in episode 2 during a Shower Scene.
Goth: JK fits the classic image of it. Of the cheerful, energetic variety.
The Greys: One descends from the spaceship and is actually JK in disguise.
Hair Reboot: In Episode 8, Maya shoots a crossbow bolt through Fumiaki's hair, leaving a hole in it, but it reverts to normal a few minutes later.
Hairstyle Inertia: Fumiaki and especially Maya, who also has Same Clothes, Different Year.
Heroic Sacrifice: Fumiaki takes the aliens head-on with his now-functional ESP and blasts through them, killing himself.
Hope Spot: The end of episode 12.
Hot Witch: Chihiro
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode-title features the name of one of the show's characters, with the exception of episode twelve-which makes sense, considering the title of the final episode is MAYA's BUNMEI.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Part of Fumiaki's backstory as a kid. His mother constantly exploited his talents, ensuring that he'd never get to lead a normal life due to his busy schedule. A lot of his resentment was also due to her breaking promises to him in order to book more shows for him.
I Just Want to Be Special: Kozue's determination to find some occult stuff, and at least be conscious enough to witness it, since she doesn't remember the stuff that happened to her.
Improbable Age: It's unlikely that the presidency of an educational facility would be handed over to someone who is merely 17 years old, and hence would have neither the experience nor the maturity to pull it off.
Improbable Aiming Skills:
- When fighting the chupacabras, Maya pulls off some crazy shots with her crossbow.
- Nevermind Ami pinning one to a wall with a thrown candlestick.
- Not to mention Ami's father decapitating the large chupacabra with his nail gun.
Improbable Weapon User:
- JK and his dowsing rods.
- Ami uses a candlestick.
- Maya uses her bracelet as brass knuckles to punish Fumiaki at times.
In-Series Nickname: Almost everyone calls Fumiaki by his old childhood nickname, "Bunmei". He doesn't like it much.
It's Personal:
- Maya's reason for even coming to the school is because she wants to destroy it, since she believes studying the occult drove her father crazy.
- Fumiaki is deeply hurt by Mikaze's betrayal, having played with his innermost feelings for her own ends. He's also considerably hurt at the fact that she used him to harm Maya.
It Was with You All Along:
- In the episode where she undergoes a near-death experience, The reason Kozue's soul wouldn't leave the afterlife was because she couldn't find her glasses. Which were on her head the whole damn time.
- For the overall plot, the cast spends the series searching for Nostradamus's Key. It turns out to be Fumiaki himself, by way of Never the Selves Shall Meet.
Journey to the Center of the Mind: Via the Flatline Plotline.
Just Before the End: Or After the End, depending on the point of view.
Kick the Dog: Mikaze does this to Chihiro before she mortally wounds her.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Several characters portray this trope, most notably Chihiro and Fumiaki at the end. Prior to this they both seemed like Butt Monkeys.
Limited Wardrobe: Maya has apparently worn the same white one-piece dress since she was a kid, and has never been shown wearing anything but this and her school uniform.
Lock-and-Load Montage: Episode 8.
Longing Look: Chihiro often has one when Fumiaki is in her line of sight.
Lovable Coward: Fumiaki may still get there ...
Love Epiphany: Fumiaki has one in episode 10 when he realizes how upset Maya got at him when Mikaze showed up at school. This right as Mikaze asked him to eat at her house, rather than the restaurant, and Chihiro showing up as well in an attempt to do the same.
Magical Incantation: Used by Maya (and Fumiaki, by proxy) to seal Mikaze in the school.
Male Gaze: Pretty blatant in Episode 11.
Mama's Boy: Fumiaki, both as a child and as an adult. When Mikaze is finally vanquished and they find out that meeting himself as a child will cause the dimensional rift, he tells Maya that even though he doesn't have good memories of his mother, he loves her very much and will probably attempt to contact her even when it would risk opening the dimensional rift. As such, he cannot stay. What they weren't counting on is that the child Fumiaki could not avoid visiting the Occult Academy, thus meeting his future counterpart anyway.
Miniature Senior Citizens: Mikaze's boss and Fumiaki's landlady (sisters).
Minidress of Power: Maya
Miles Gloriosus: Fumiaki. In Episode 4, he actually comes straight with Maya about how he really came back to the past: kicking and screaming.
The Mole: Chihiro was outed early to the audience, but we still don't know which she works for. That is, until she turns out to the be the...
Ms. Exposition: Maya, more often than not.
Mukokuseki: Maya's blue eyes aside, averted along with her sister trope Only Six Faces. There's a lot of work put on faces and facial expression.
Mundane Utility: You can use timeline predictors disguised as cellphones as ... cellphones.
Nail 'Em: Ami's dad opts for a nail gun to fight the chupacabras.
Naked First Impression: Though the light covers it for the audience, Maya gets a good look at Fumiaki's junk when he lands. Oh, the fans get a decent look, too, depending on how much you're paying attention.
Naked on Arrival: Fumiaki
Near-Death Experience: Kozue willingly goes into one, ending up in a very Seussian afterlife. And gets stuck... kinda
Never the Selves Shall Meet: Fumiaki touching his younger self triggers the apocalypse.
No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Fumiaki has made it very clear he doesn't like Chihiro's constant advances. That seems to be more because he used his phone to find out what would happen if he did go out with her. Which makes one wonder why he didn't also do the same thing with Mikaze at some point early on as well. He was clearly interested in her.
Non-Action Guy: Fumiaki. Of the lying cowards sort. Most of the time.
Not Himself: Kozue acted this way when she first awakened from her near-death experience, but everyone found out pretty quickly why.
Not Quite Dead: Chihiro used her magic to make it appear as if Maya died to throw Mikaze off her trail. And as it turns out, she did the exact same thing to Maya's father.
Not So Above It All: Although Maya is not that interested in Fumiaki romantically, she is visibly uncomfortable at how he swoons at Mikaze's mere sight.
Nuclear Option: Because the Godzilla Threshold will be crossed.
Offhand Backhand: Maya gets an Offhand Backshot with her crossbow right after rescuing Ami from the mini-chupacabras.
Only a Flesh Wound: When the chupacabra bites Ami, its fangs probably would have hit some internal organs and did some serious damage, but it only knocks Ami out, apparently from some narcotic poison.
Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: Every episode ends with "This program is a work of fiction. Departed spirits, psychic abilities, UMAs, etc. do not exist. Unless you believe in them..."
Out-of-Clothes Experience: Fumiaki's.
Papa Wolf: Ami's dad.
Paper-Thin Disguise: Played with. Though the motives as to why he took the position are never questioned, it's actually pointed out that Fumiaki is an altogether terrible teacher, regardless of him being a rather nice guy. His design, wardrobe and demeanor in the classroom stand out to show how badly he is out of his element.
Parental Abandonment: Two examples:
- One with Maya, who felt her father was ignoring her and was focused solely on occult stuff, which caused her to resent it as she grew older.
- Another is with Akari, a little girl who died of hypothermia waiting for Santa to show up during one Christmas Eve. Since her parents got divorced and the father was working, he was unable to watch over her, and grew to regret his decision to work that night and not check up on her. Recreating the scene however and have him come home that night allows Akari to pass on.
Perpetual Frowner: Maya
Personal Seals: As principal, Maya uses the school's seal on various bits of paperwork. In one episode, Fumiaki files a request to allow Mikaze's shop to sell bread at the school, which Maya refuses to stamp. She smacks him with it hard enough to leave a mark on his forehead and enough ink to be transferred to the paper (albeit, technically, this would make the seal appear flipped on the paper).
Phony Psychic: Guess who. Fumiaki. Though, it should be noted he wasn't always that way.
The Power of Rock: Mothmen are easily overpowered by JK's keyboard.
Plot Hole: Maya never quite questions how Fumiaki was hired as a teacher in the academy or whether this event has something to do with the Vice-Principal and her assistant.
Product Placement: The computers the scientists are using in the future are Vaios.
Public Domain Soundtrack: Previews for the next episode fittingly use the first movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" piano sonata.
Pun: "Maya's Amigo" and "Mamma Amiya", episodes 7 and 8 titles.
Psychic Powers:
- Fumiaki was a spoon-bender, which is shown by his younger self on TV. Although he somehow lost them by adulthood.
- Number Five was a pyrokinetic, and JK's dowsing works.
Reality-Breaking Paradox: The Nostradamus Key causes a disruption that tears open a passage between Earth and the alien dimension. It's an actual paradox caused by the future and past versions of Fumiaki meeting.
Real-Place Background:
- The series takes place in Matsushiro, a town near the city of Nagano in Japan's Nagano prefecture, and many local landmarks are clearly recognizable. This includes the hill on which Waldstein Academy resides, Minakami-yama, which some believe to be a pyramid.
- The bunker shown in Episode 3 is the Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subverted because Ami gives Fumiaki one in a very casual manner and didn’t thought about its significance, but Fumiaki took it seriously enough.
Red Herring: Chihiro
Reverse Relationship Reveal: Among the people Fumiaki interacts with, there's Chihiro, a suspicious character who spies on the heroine, Maya, and has an unwanted crush on Fumiaki. Then there's the sweet Mikaze, who is presented as the Betty to the Maya's Veronica. It turns out Chihiro was Good All Along and trying to protect Maya and the innocent Mikaze is actually the Big Bad.
Robe and Wizard Hat: Chihiro's white mage outfit complete with a staff.
Romantic False Lead: Mikaze, though it's not apparent till late in the series.
Running Gag: "My glasses... My glasses..."
"Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Ami's father puts up an elaborate one, though his intentions are mostly kind-hearted.
Screw Destiny: Fumiaki's raison d'etre. Though it sort of becomes Maya's, too, when she decides to help him find the key. In the end, Fumiaki actually does it and stops the bad future from happening.
Self-Serving Memory: We find out that Fumiaki used this to try to make a good impression on Maya about how he came to the past. He's actually a totally useless coward.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The whole reason for Fumiaki's time travel to the past is to prevent the dimensional rift that brought along an alien invasion that almost decimated humanity.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Fumiaki's landlandy and the diner owner have these in episode 12.
Shout-Out:
- Fumiaki's arrival from the future in the buff appears to a take on the same procedure used in the Terminator films.
- The War of the Worlds tripods appear in a flashforward in episode 2.
- The time machine used to send Fumiaki to the past has been used before for teleportation.
- Maya nicknames JK Kurenai no Buta. He likes it.
- The students' song about Chihiro's hairstyle is a reference to a song and animation featured on Okaa-san to Issho (Together with Mother, think Japan's Sesame Street).
- Kozue loses her glasses fairly often, leading to hilarious situations or even driving the plot.
- The Little Prince is Kozue's spiritual guide.
- The name "JK" could be a reference to the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling.
- Possibly one went out to Hot Fuzz with the cult scene.
- They both probably derive from something else, but the original promotion poster of the series looks oddly similar to a Gintama DVD cover◊, and the characters have suspiciously similar personality traits.
Shower Scene: Maya in the second episode. She then goes on to spend the next few minutes in a towel.
Smash Cut: Used to confusing effect in Episode 11 when the scene goes from Mikaze and Fumiaki at his apartment to the pair at Mikaze's KKK ral--er, cult meeting.
Spared by the Adaptation: The manga adaptation of Mikaze is only possessed by an evil spirit (after mistaking the ghost of Maya's child self for Fumiaki's daughter with Maya), so the spell used on her (which destroys evil in both versions) only purges that spirit from her; she appears in the ending crying her eyes out for her role in Fumiaki's Heroic Sacrifice (after he casts the spell there).
- Stemming from the above, instead of being mortally wounded by Mikaze after fighting her alone like in the anime, the manga version of Chihiro survives their battle since she is fighting alongside Junichiro, Maya, and Fumiaki.
- As a result of being Demoted to Extra, Chihiro's assistant becomes this. (Considering he was affected by the spell in the anime's climax, this was probably for the best.)
- Also stemming from the above, instead of sending aliens and himself through a dimensional rift like in the anime, the manga version of Fumiaki disappears after casting the spell in Junichiro's notebook in Maya's place. Some time later during the summer holidays, Maya, Mikaze, Amy, and Kozue are shocked to see him on TV in a guest segment to demonstrate his spoon-bending powers (the first two because of him being alive, the last two because he was secretly an esper).
Spirit World: The Afterlife is a very personal thing.
Spit-Trail Kiss: Mikaze does not let up on the tongue while persuading Fumiaki to kill Maya.
Stable Time Loop: While there's no doubt offing Mikaze was for the betterment of the world, she isn't the Key. Fumiaki being sent back to prevent the alien invasion was the catalyst for said invasion.
Stage Mom: Fumiaki's mother exploited his spoon-bending powers at the expense of everything else.
Super-Empowering: Fumiaki actually takes his powers from his younger self.
Supernatural Phone: The cell phone Maya swipes from Fumiaki has the ability to identify the "Nostradamus Key" with its camera function. Said artifact will trigger an alien invasion that results in The End of the World as We Know It.
Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Maya
Theme Music Power-Up: The OP plays when Fumiaki sends the aliens and himself through the rift and saves the world.
Those Two Guys: Subverted with JK and Smile.
Time Travel: Despite seeming like a major theme, it only plays a pivotal role in the beginning, and at the end.
Timey-Wimey Ball: Don't think too hard about the ending. What was that mantra like...
Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Averted. The series is set in Nagano Prefecture which is well west of Tokyo.
Tomato in the Mirror: Fumiaki meeting his child self is Nostradamus's Key!
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ami and Maya as kids.
Took a Level in Badass: Fumiaki takes one near the tail-end of the final episode when the aliens start to invade Earth, resulting in him changing from a slightly redeemed protagonist to a big damn hero.
Trademark Favorite Food: JK loves pudding.
Trailers Always Spoil: The preview for episode 11 shows something quite surprising: Maya's apparent death. Of course, it was faked. Never Trust a Trailer.
Tripod Terror: The aliens in The Future.
True Companions: Even without Maya, Team Occult Academy (Ami, Kozue, Smile, JK, and maybe Fumiaki) agree to stick together and not let the world end.
Tsuchinoko: Several shorts exclusive to the DVD release center around a pet tsuchinoko kept by Maya and Ami.
Tsundere: Fumiaki calls Maya one, though she counters that the term itself didn't really exist in 1999. Doesn't help her case, though. Can be applied to her reactions towards the occult: "I-It's not that I like the occult now, okay?" Her dere side shows more and more, being in full blast by the end of the series.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: JK and his kids in 2012, according to Fumiaki's phone.
Upgrade Artifact: The spoon Fumiaki took from his younger self. Not only did it help him regain his lost psychic powers, but it increased them.
Villainous Breakdown: Mikaze at the end. It starts off rather subtle as she blasts Fumiaki with spells. But when he just keeps getting up, she then realizes that the sealing spell is taking effect and starts getting desperate to stop him. When it's obvious her powers aren't working, she tries to move in for a close assault but it's far too late and she barely has time to lose it before Maya and Fumiaki finish the sealing spell and send her packing.
Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: Fumiaki constantly wears an avocado-green suit that is glaringly a couple of sizes too big for him, while his pants are tailored for a man with shorter legs; even his shirt underneath doesn't quite fit and he doesn't color-match his socks to any other part of the suit or his shoes. This is meant to symbolize how ill-fitted he is for the portentous mission he has to carry out and how out of his element he is. It also shows him to be rather young in mind and heart, in spite of being physically the oldest main character. It's rather telling how small his head looks compared to his jacket's shoulder pads, making him look like a boy in a borrowed suit.
Was It All a Lie?: Fumiaki has a moment of realization after Mikaze's reveal/betrayal.
Was Once a Man: The mothmen.
We Want Our Cloudcuckoolander Back: Kozue's enthusiasm for the occult may drive Maya up the wall, but once she's turned into a rational, straight-laced model studentdue to a temporary Came Back Wrong incident, guess who's trying to get her back to her old self?
Wife Husbandry: Inverted. When Junichiro finds himself in the new timeline, Maya tells him that Fumiaki said he'd be home early today. The Post-Credits Scene has "Uchida" on the nameplate... which pretty strongly implies that Maya eventually marries the young Fumiaki.
Witch Hunt: Mikaze's friends look like a black palette swap of the KKK. They say that Maya is a witch and Waldstein is her den of evil. Considering Mikaze's revealed to be a witch herself, said people were in hindsight all Brainwashed and Crazy.
Wham Episode: Episode 11, reporting for duty!
White Magic: Chihiro
The World Tree: What is apparently one shows up underground.
Wrench Whack: Smile's weapon of choice.
You Are Number 6: Fumiaki is literally number six; the first five fared poorly...
Youkai: Episodes 9 and 10 features a little girl's spirit that turned into a yuki-onna.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: During the fight against Mikaze, Maya gets a picture of her with the futuristic phone and thinks she is the Nostradamus Key. She and Fumiaki manage to kill her and all seems well... but the future hasn't changed.