Title: Ultra Maniac Volume(s): 5 Author(s): Wataru Yoshizumi Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: Viz Media MSRP: $8.99 Genre(s): Comedy Rated: All Ages

"Ultra Maniac" was not made with someone like me in mind. I point this out now because if I don't, I fear my inbox will be flooded with e-mails trying to explain the brilliance of "Ultra Maniac" to me. Trust me folks, I get what "Ultra Maniac" is supposed to be and who it's made for, so these e-mails won't be necessary. "Ultra Maniac" is a short little shoujo series that is made for little girls, and teaches the values of friendship, loyalty, and making sure not to stare at the last piece of candy too much if you want the other person to eat it. I get all of this. I get that not only is this series NOT made for men, but it's esspecially not made for men who are over twenty. Why I'm reviewing it even I can't figure out (but I'm guessing the reason is because I want to find some justification for buying the book). I know I must be starting this review off on a rather, shall we say, "rude" sounding note, but I have this special relationship with most of my shoujo fans where if I give a bad review to a shoujo title, I get crucified for it.

So I'm just warning you about the review now so that I can spare all the shoujo fans from having to be upset with me again. So with that out of the way, lets get on with the review. "Ultra Maniac" is about two girls: One is popular, the other is not. One is optimistic, the other is reasonable. One has magic powers, the other does not. The first one is named Nina Sakura, the second one is named Ayu Tateishi. One of the actors in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" went on to have a career, the other did not. The main character of "Ultra Maniac" is Ayu Tateishi, a shy girl who believes so little in magic that she won't even read Harry Potter. It's strange then that she would find herself the star of a shoujo manga. After helping a girl named Nina Sakura find her electronic computer at school, Nina (who in contrast to Ayu is cheerful and sociable) decides that Ayu will her best friend and the one person who will know her big secret: That Nina is a witch in training. Of course, Nina is not an evil witch like the Evil Witch of The West, but more like Wendy from "Casper and Wendy" (starring a pre-Lizzy McGuire Hilary Duff). Ayu doesn't believe that Nina is a witch though, so she just continues to live life at school while Nina sort of just hangs around, oblivious to the fact that Ayu doesn't seem to want any friends.

But Nina continues to insist that Ayu could use a helping hand, and uses her magic to help Ayu out in various situations. Of course, since this IS a shoujo series, it comes as no surprise that most of the tactics Nina uses just ends up making the situation worse! Of course, Ayu learns to accept Nina (despite all the problems she causes) and everything usually works out in the end. "Ultra Maniac" is nothing strange or new, it's a simple series that is made to appeal to little girls. The series is only five books in length, which should be proof enough that this is not meant to be anything but cheap fun. I'm all for series that are made for the sole purpose of just having fun, but you can make a series like that and still put more effort into it then this series received (see "SGT. Frog"). "Ultra Maniac" is a fine effort, one that is better then most efforts I must admit, but it still doesn't do enough to truly make it worth going out of your way to read. I admit that I liked the two main characters, and the artwork was quite good, but nothing about what was happening in the story made me care enough to completely fall for the series. Some of the stories, like the one where Ayu accidently swallowing a pill that makes her speak what’s on her mind all the time, are worth a few chuckles, but most of them fall flat and include no humor and no reason to care about the outcome (a story where Ayu gets turned into a boy is utter nonsense, and that's the first story we're treated to).

There are two thing holding me back from giving this book a real bad grade though:

1) The book is bad, but it's honest in its attempt to be good.

And

2) The series is made for kids, and most kids will get a kick out of this.

Have I read better kids manga before? Yes, I have. However I have also read enough bad kids manga to know that this one has some heart and charm to it that will make it irresistible for kids. I may not think the humor is very brilliant, but I can guarantee you most kids under the age of eight will. So ultimately I will give this title a recommendation, but only for young kids. That may seem like a crazy way to grade this series, but maybe I'm the ultimate maniac when it comes to reviewing comics.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -