Magic User's Club

Magic User's Club
魔法使いTai! (Mahō Tsukai Tai!)
Genre	Magical girl/boy
Original video animation
Directed by	Junichi Sato
Studio	Triangle Staff
Released	May 25. 1996 – October 25, 1997
Episodes	6
TV anime
Studio	Madhouse Triangle Staff
Network	WOWOW
Original run	July 7, 1999 – October 6, 1999
Episodes	13
Light novel
Written by	Junichi Sato Chiaki Konaka
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Male
Imprint	Fujimi Fantasia Bunko
Original run	1996 – 1998
Volumes	4
Manga
Written by	Junichi Sato
Illustrated by	Tami Oota
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Asuka Fantasy DX
Original run	1996 – 1998
Volumes	4
Manga
Written by	Junichi Sato
Illustrated by	Shamneko
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Dragon Junior
Original run	1999 – 2000
Volumes	3
Anime and Manga Portal

Magic User's Club (魔法使いTai!, Mahō Tsukai Tai!^?) is a magical girl/boy anime, released as a six part OVA in 1996 and then a 13-episode TV series in 1999, which was broadcast by WOWOW, and then by the anime television network, Animax, across its respective networks worldwide, including Southeast Asia, South Asia and other regions. The original plan was done by anime director Junichi Sato, with animation produced by Triangle Staff and Bandai Visual. There were also two manga series made, a shōjo manga version by Tammy Ohta (太田 多美 Ōta Tami) and shōnen manga version by Shamneko (紗夢猫). The Magic User's Club anime is released in North America by AnimeWorks.

Plot

OVA series

An enormous cylindrical alien spaceship named "the Bell" (釣り鐘 Tsurigane) by humans descended upon Earth one day. Military forces attacked this entity but their attempts were in vain, as the Bell easily vaporized all human technology. The Bell sent out robotic probes to explore and analyze human civilization and, since the probes didn't cause any harm, people soon adapted and went about their everyday lives. A group of high school students at Kitanohashi High School's "Magic User's Club" attempt to combat the alien menace using magic.

TV series

The Bell has been defeated, but a massive cherry blossom tree stands in its wake. The Magic Club must meet once again to solve the problem of the giant tree, which is blocking off sunlight for the city. A mysterious figure descends from the tree and watches over the members of the club as they continue to deal with magic in their daily lives.

Episodes

OVA series

1. I'll Follow You
2. We Leave a Magic Club
3. Magic Is So Easy, Isn't It?
4. I Wish You... Wh... What?
5. I See We Are the Same
6. Well, Believe Yourself

TV series

1. Sae, the Magic Club, and the Cherry Blossom Tree
2. Nanaka, a Cake, and the Dangerous Evening
3. Aburatsubo, Morning Face, and the Parent Teacher Meetings
4. Sae, The Bathroom, and the Door
5. Akane, the Hiccups, and a Strange Relationship
6. Takakura, Origami, and the Secret Date
7. Sae, a Tomato, and the Dance of the Paint Brush
8. Alice, Railroad Tracks, and the Cracker
9. Kimonos, Short Shorts, and the Age of Joy
10. Snow, the Colt, and a First Kiss
11. Akane, the Mirror, and the End of the Year Sale
12. The Kite, the Whirlwind, and Micky
13. Sae's Magic, Sae's Feelings, Forever

Characters

Magic Club

Sae.

Sae Sawanoguchi (沢野口 沙絵, Sawanoguchi Sae^?)

• Voiced by: Hiroko Konishi (Japanese), Misty Daniels (English)

A second-year student at Kitanohashi High School and a new member of the Magic Club, Sae is eager to learn magic, but often has setbacks due to her clumsy nature. She looks up to Takakura as a great mentor. Although she actually has feelings for him beyond that, she is too shy to express them. Of the five members, Sae has the greatest amount of power to utilize, but lacks the training and concentration to fully tap into this potential.

Sae displays a clear ineptitude to flying on a broomstick in the OVA series, but her skills progress and by the TV series, she can fly on different pole-sized items without any problems, even without using her wand.

According to character designer Ikuko Itoh, her own mother was an influence for the character of Sae, who has a similar klutzy nature.^[1]

Nanaka.

Nanaka Nakatomi (中富 七香, Nakatomi Nanaka^?)

• Voiced by: Mayumi Iizuka (Japanese), Lisa Ortiz (English)

A second year and a friend of Sae since childhood. She just wants to be a normal high school girl and gets frustrated with Sae's obsession with the Magic Club, although she is proficient in magic herself. Nanaka has a crush on Aburatsubo but is afraid to admit her feelings because she knows they won't be returned. She describes her family as "all over the place", and though often embarrassed and aggravated by their antics, she loves them dearly.

Akane.

Akane Aikawa (愛川 茜, Aikawa Akane^?)

• Voiced by: Junko Iwao (Japanese), Nicole Tieri and Stacey Williams (English)

A first year and another new member of the Magic Club. Akane is a spoiled rich girl who often misses going to club meetings in order to go on dates with boyfriends. She seems to be a natural at using magic, and it comes very easily to her (such is her innate skill that she is able to make makeshift wands out of rudimentary objects, though they are rather primitive and weak compared to her regular wand),^[2][3] though the same can't be said for her flying.^[4] Akane often uses magic for selfish reasons against what Takakura has taught, which causes Sae to lecture her in several instances. Anything affected solely by her magic "spins" before the spell's true effect come to pass, something which she has no control over.

In the TV series, Akane works as a model and appears in clothing advertisements throughout the city. Her mother is a famous actress.

Takeo Takakura (高倉 武男, Takakura Takeo^?)

• Voiced by: Masaya Onosaka (Japanese), Jamie McGonnigal (English)

President of the Magic Club and third-year student at Kitanohashi High School. Takakura often has a tendency to show off in front of the girls and has perverted daydreams at inopportune times. He loves Sae, but will not admit his feelings because he is nervous and self-conscious of his position as Sae's mentor and upperclassman.

Hiding from his childhood nemesis, Miyama, Takeo found a magical textbook called the Grimoire, along with the magic wand he later replicated.

Ayanojyo Aburatsubo (油壷 綾之丞, Aburatsubo Ayanojō^?)

• Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Kevin T. Collins (English)

A third year and the vice president of the Magic Club. Aburatsubo is homosexual, but only shows affection toward Takakura; he never shows signs of being interested in any other boy. Takakura is uncomfortable with Aburatsubo's flirting, but doesn’t think much of it; though Aburatsubo continuously flirts with Takakura, he understands that Takakura will never return his feelings ^[5]. He has a variety of talents and is involved in many other clubs besides the Magic Club, such as the tennis team and drama club.

The television series establishes that he doesn't have a very good standing towards his mother, who constantly babies him, though he does love her.

Other Magicians

Jeff-kun (ジェフくん , Jefu-kun^?)

• Voiced by: Satoru Nakano (Japanese), Michelle Medlin (English)

Jeff is both the name of a mysterious silhouetted magician Sae met when she was a child and a stuffed teddy bear that he gave her. When Sae gets in tough situations, Jeff-kun the teddy bear aids Sae's magic powers. She meets the real Jeff again (only as a silhouette) when the rest of the club are trapped inside the Bell and he gives her the confidence to rescue them. Appears in the OVA, and at the end of the TV series.

Jurika Jinno (仁乃 樹里加, Jinno Jurika^?)

• Voiced by: Nami Miyahara (Japanese), Michelle Newman (English)

Jurika is a magician that seems interested in the members of the Magic Club and the use of magic, for reasons that are not clear at first. Jurika is highly androgynous, officially male as a student but having a very feminine look for the most part. He has the ability to read and translate the Grimoire that Takeo uses to teach the other Club members, going so far as to identify the Club's copy as "an older version that has mistakes in it".

Jurika is actually a magical construct given life and personality by Sae's fondest wishes and ideals about magic. As a being of pure magic, he has the ability to manipulate his appearance, exist in multiple times and places, read minds, interact in the dreams of others and other numerous abilities. Since he is a byproduct of Sae's mind, he is aware of the personalities and relationships between the Magic User's Club members and utilizes this knowledge to manipulate them into using more magic. At the end of the TV series, he is absorbed back into his creator, Sae. Appears only in the TV series.

Miki Mizusawa (水沢 美樹, Mizusawa Miki^?)

• Voiced by: Miho Yamada (Japanese), Carrie Keranen (English)

Nicknamed "Miki-senpai" (ミッキー先輩, Mikkī-senpai^?) by Sae. Miki is a friend and former mentor of Sae who lives in England. She was in the Magic User's Club for an unknown amount of time before leaving to England. Sae writes her constantly in the TV series, telling her what has been going on. Miki's father is a "grandmaster" sorcerer/magician based in England and she presumably has trained under him. She has enough magic training to fly without using a broom and can summon a magical serpent to aid her. Appears only in the TV series.

Journalists

Mitsuru Minowa (箕輪 充, Minowa Mitsuru^?)

• Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese), Mike Pollock (English)

Minowa is a journalist bent on learning the truth behind the Bell. He investigates the Magic Club to find out if they have any connection with the Bell.

Yoshito Yoshimoto (吉本 吉人, Yoshimoto Yoshito^?)

• Voiced by: Tomohiro Nishimura (Japanese), Michael Sinterniklaas (English)

Yoshimoto is a photographer and constant sidekick of Minowa, though he doesn't take the Bell issue as seriously as his boss.

Manga Club

Mizuha Miyama (深山 瑞葉 , Miyama Mizuha^?)

• Voiced by: Rei Sakuma (Japanese), Suzanne Gilad (English)

Miyama is the bossy President of the Manga Club, which is right next door to the Magic Club. She uses her enormous breasts to intimidate Takakura, and she's been teasing him since childhood. Miyama is constantly trying to dissolve the Magic Club and keeps taking back the space that was loaned to the club.

In the tv series, Miyama's experience from being examined by the Bell (due to a spell cast on her by Akane) goes completely to her head and makes her declare herself as the planet Earth's "representative".

She secretly harbors feelings for Takakura, despite her incessant tormenting of him. When a truth spell was cast on her, she confessed her true feelings about him, as well as the fact that she didn't actually enjoy tormenting him as a child. Also, in the TV series, she devotes a manga project with allegories to Takakura.

Katsuhito Kubo (久保 克人 , Kubo Katsuhito^?)

• Voiced by: Akira Shirai

Kubo only appears in the OVA series and is a faculty member who is club supervisor of the Magic Club and the Manga Club. He doesn't try to resolve any issues between the students, saying "Education is love". Kubo has a habit of giving his business card to everyone he talks to.

Rinpun (リンプン, Rinpun^?) & Kojin (コージン, Kōjin^?)

• Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijou (Japanese (OVA)), Yasuhiro Takato (Japanese (TV)), Michelle Newman (English)

They are two boys who are Miyama's constant lackeys. Rinpun & Kojin do all kinds of menial tasks for Miyama and are sometimes called to spy on others for her.

Family

Saki Sawanoguchi (沢野口 早紀, Sawanoguchi Saki^?)

• Voice by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese (OVA)), Kazusa Murai (Japanese (TV)), Shannon Conley (English)

Sae's older sister who looks after her in Tokyo. Saki has problems with a boyfriend in the TV series, though they reconcile near the end. It's never defined whether or not she has any knowledge of the goings on in the Magic User's Club.

Sawako Sawanoguchi (沢野口 佐和子, Sawanoguchi Sawako^?)

• Voiced by: Kumiko Takizawa (Japanese), Suzanne Gilad (English)

She is Sae's mother, a woman with an energetic personality. Sae's parents own a ranch in Hokkaidō.

Sakae Sawanoguchi (沢野口 栄, Sawanoguchi Sakae^?)

• Voiced by: Kouji Kurose

He is Sae's father, seemingly a man of few words. Sae's hairstyle was inherited from him.

Naoki Nakatomi (中富 直紀, Nakatomi Naoki^?)

• Voiced by: Kouki Miyata (Japanese), Michelle Newman (English)

He is Nanaka's younger brother, who is bratty and tends to annoy her.

Naoko Nakatomi (中富 菜緒子, Nakatomi Naoko^?)

• Voiced by: Urara Takano (Japanese), Camille Diamond (English)

She is Nanaka's mother who runs a health food store. She also grows her own vegetables. Nanaka is frustrated when she doesn't seem to care about attending parent-teacher meetings, and when she acts in an embarrassing fashion when she does.

Azusa Amano (天野 梓, Amano Azusa^?)

• Voiced by: Gara Takashima (Japanese), Lisa Zlotnick (English)

She is Akane's mother who is a famous actress. Though somewhat critical of her daughter's acting, the two seem to genuinly enjoy each other's company.

Takako Takakura (高倉 貴子, Takakura Takako^?)

• Voiced by: Sawa Ishige (Japanese), Amy Fitts (English)

She is Takeo's younger sister. Takako seems annoyed by her brother's eccentricities and makes sure he does regular exercise routines.

Akiko Aburatsubo (油壺 亜希子, Aburatsubo Akiko^?)

• Voiced by: You Inoue (Japanese), Deborah S. Craig (English)

She is Aburatsubo's mother, who treats Aburatsubo very childishly and affectionately. Aburatsubo can't stand her.

Aburatsubo Safety Committee

Michiko Mikote (御小手 ミチコ, Mikote Michiko^?)

• Voiced by: Umi Tenjin (Japanese), Amy Fitts (English)

She is the President of the "Aburatsubo Safety Committee", a group of girls who are obsessively devoted to Aburatsubo in the TV series. Michiko is the most confrontational and jealous of the girls, and she insists that only she may call Aburatsubo "Aya-sama" ("His Ayaness" in the English dub).

Madoka Masuko (増子 まどか, Masuko Madoka^?)

• Voiced by: Nanae Katou (Japanese), Camille Diamond (English)

Madoka is another member of the committee who is highly obsessed with Aburatsubo. She has the habit of breaking the rule against calling Aburatsubo "Aya-sama" and gets slapped by Michiko when she does so.

Hikaru Hirasaka (平坂 光, Hirasaka Hikaru^?)

• Voiced by: Momoyo Kodama (Japanese), Elizabeth Wood (English)

Hikaru is another member of the committee who has long bangs. She sometimes goes on small tasks for Michiko, like checking in the men's bathroom whenever Aburatsubo can't be found. She often dodges Michiko's back swings when she slaps Madoka.

Notes

1. ^ "Ikuko Itoh at Ushicon: Q & A, and other fun". http://community.livejournal.com/princesstutu/57459.html. Retrieved September 7, 2006. 
2. ^ Magic User's Club OVA 3
3. ^ Magic User's Club Tv 2
4. ^ Magic User's Club OVA 4
5. ^ Magic User's Club OVA 5

External links

• Sae's Magic Hat - Fan site with information on anime, manga, and CDs (no longer updated)
• Magic User's Club (OVA) (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Magic User's Club (TV series) (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Animerica review