Review: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

I have had my eye on this series for a long time now but the almost constant swathes of new anime and other things always meant I never had a chance to watch it. With this season meaning one or two days with less anime to watch I finally started it and now, having finished it, wonder why I didn’t watch it sooner.

The plot here is rather intriguing. There is a school built around the Occult, at this school the principal, Junichirou has died. His daughter Maya returns to the Academy after leaving as a youngster due to her father’s growing dangerous obsession with occult ways. With instructions in his will to become the new principal Maya sets out to effectively take down and banish any notion of the occult existing because of her childhood experience with it. Little does she know something much larger than she would realise is moving in the background.

This sets up an interesting original story which is rare in this day and age. The occult, or parts of it have found their way into many anime series in some form or another but to have a series based around an Occult Academy is certainly interesting. It sets out straight away that it will be a blend of seriousness and comedy and boy does it blend these two together seamlessly. It never feels out of place and the timing for the tonal changes are perfect.

I really liked Maya from the start, she is incredibly intelligent, very strong willed yet also hides what she truly feels. She also brings a lot of humour to proceeding through her reactions to others and the trouble she gets herself and Bunmei into. Bunmei on the other hand is the not quite lovable loser. He is searching for the Key to stop Nostradamus, thus effectively bringing death and war upon the world. He comes across as a loser, is easily fooled, weak willed but also kind of heart-warming in the actions he takes. He is basically the opposite of Maya and their chemistry is one of the many bright spots in the show.

There is a raft of supporting characters and there has been no neglect on these. You have Mayas friend Ami and her occult obsessed friend Kozue who always seems to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, a spirit detecting student in JK and quite possibly the funniest and most enjoyable janitor you will see in Smile. Seriously whenever he and JK were on the screen I knew I was in for a treat and they never let me down. Straight from the first episode when Smile is trying to literally punch a spirit out of a student. Just typing that out brings a great big smile to my face.

Away from the student you have the vice principal Chihiro and Mikaze who Bunmei falls heavily for. There does seem to be something suspicious about both of these, more so the vice principal as she is always up to something, talking about Maya sticking her nose in when she shouldn’t. Mikaze though seems to be too good to be true, if a beautiful girl started talking and getting close to you and you were kind of a loser like Bunmei then something is up.

The actual occult aspects cover an array of myths / legends. From the tenguu kidnapping people, the chubacabra, spirit channellings and a lost spirit who conjures up snow it touches upon an array of happenings. These usually come in the form of 2 episode arcs and they are a lot of fun as we learn about these legends and get to see how characters co-operate with each other, it really helps to define and grow these relationships as well as making you care more and more about the cast. They’re also very informative giving the viewer more of an insight into the occult which is fascinating, by the end of the story I was intrigued enough to want to go out and learn more.

As I mentioned when talking about Smile a few paragraphs up comedy is important here. It is never overbearing and knows when to take the backseat to larger events. Sure some of it has been done before to death such as the ‘attacking main character because he said / did something stupid’ cliché but it still garners a smile out of me. The funniest parts were almost always featuring Maya and the JK and Smile duo. Be it Maya reacting to the bizarre situations with her straight laced approach or JK and Smile just getting on with it in the face of the absurdness it left me laughing oh so often.

Aesthetically the series shines. All the action scenes are fluid and look smooth. Even in general away from action the animation does not falter. This is helped by the art with gorgeous background art throughout, even on the character side they something distinguishing about them. Mayas outfit (want to call it a dress but not fashion savy enough to know) is beautiful and fits her well. The school itself is wonderfully designed, it really harkens back to the past as classrooms, hallways, dining areas and just about everything else have an air of mystery to them. The music also really helps to match and elevate the mood when needed. Emotionally loaded scenes become more heartfelt, action scenes become more frantic and the elements of danger become more and more tense.

My one real issue with the series is the pacing. For the first 9-10 episodes it seems perfect as it goes from one story to the next, gradually introducing new elements, expanding the world and developing characters. Then it sort of accelerates to the end, almost as if the producers realised they were out of time. It doesn’t feel natural enough. Sure some aspects were growing and growing and you could feel something was coming then it did, almost out of the blue. It felt weird, like a chunk of content to tie these points together was missed out or cut which is a shame. What’s more confusing is that the developments between Bunmei and Mikaze felt like they did reach a natural point but Mayas half did not.

Another couple of issues I had, albeit both minor ones, came in the final episode, I will not spoil it but, whilst awesome to see, really did come out of nowhere. I get the explanation to it which was mentioned minutes prior but it still felt off. Likewise the final minutes of the series, I felt that it teased a bit too much which was frustrating. After spending so much time with these characters would a clearer picture of what happened really be so hard to do?

Occult Academy is one of the easiest recommendations I’ll ever make, one or two minor gripes aside I was thoroughly hooked from start to finish. The mix of comedy, seriousness and otherworldly aspects just gel together so quickly and work so well. Couple that with the hugely enjoyable characters and we have a real gem. Go out and watch it, you will not be disappointed.

Studio: Xebec and A-1 Pictures

Aired: Summer 2010

Episode: 13

Available: NIS America Box set (OOP), Crunchyroll

9/10