Occult Academy Review

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, or Occult Academy became one of my favourite anime, literally overnight. The entire 13 part series was devoured in a mere 48 hour slot, much to my glee. Indeed it was short, but it managed to remain on point without needlessly bloating out the story, as well as providing a neatly wrapped ending. Well written, well planned and well balanced, Occult Academy is certainly going to be one of the highlights of 2010.

Set in the year 1999 at Waldstein Academy, conveniently dubbed 'Occult Academy', the story centres on Kumashiro Maya, the daughter of the recently deceased Headmaster of whom's funeral she has arrived to attend. One demon incantation later and Maya is forced to slay her possessed father's corpse, all the while protesting that belief in the Occult is entirely fraudulent. Which seems a little counter productive considering the situation at hand and in later scenarios, yet this little oversight aside, it appears more of a defensive mechanism on her part then actual disbelief/disillusion.

As the first episode draws to a close, Maya reveals her true intentions for returning - to destroy the school, and essentially undo her Fathers life works. This premise alone could have a made a good show yet ultimately doesn't really go anywhere, when the second and more foreboding storyline is introduced during episode two. Time traveller Fumiaki drops in (no pun intended), announcing the impending alien invasion plot twist, stifling Maya's plans for revenge straight out.

However, despite the initial blitz of action/adventure/decapitation of the first episode, the rest of the series is quite slow paced. Separated into two episode arcs, various paranormals topics are addressed in either threatening (monsters, demons and mages), or non-threatening (crop circles, ghost children and near death experiences) but overall a seemingly subdued approach. Occult Academy never submits to the murky paranormal depths as deeply as it could, thus abandoning some potential as a result. At the same time it is the balance between subtle fantasy and the focus on character development that gives this show a likeable charm. The portrayal and execution of Maya and Fumiaki showed two regular people trying to come to terms with ordinary problems, Maya trying to understand her deceased Father, and Fumiaki trying to discover himself, all within an extraordinary setting.

All in all, Occult Academy presents a fresh, innovative take on supernatural fantasy with superb, nearly flawless production. The animation is wonderfully done, sleek and stylish, for no other reason, its worth watching for that factor alone. Nevertheless the series has one minor struggle, in that it is not 'occult' enough. The paranormal element isn't constant throughout the series, it drops off the radar during the middle only to surge into a spectacular smack down during the ending. A more cohesive approach wouldn't have hurt, but really its only a small complaint. One that won't prevent Occult Academy from become an (oc)cult classic.

Rating: 7/10