Psychic Academy

Psychic Academy was one of the first anime to take the step towards the internet. Being a pioneer in internet-only broadcasting, it made me wonder why it decided to take such a route. Curse you, curiosity, for getting the best of me yet again.

Though there are 24 episodes in the series, each episode is about eleven minutes long, and two of those minutes are used for the opening theme. With the remaining nine minutes, a story is hastily attempted to be woven. Unfortunately, focus on the plot is lost, and the show quickly falls to the lowest common denominator: shameless fan service. I lost count ... at the number of panty shots and "accidental" groping situations. It's a shame, really. If more time were spent on the whole "Aura" concept, then Psychic Academy could have become a decent series.

At the same time, not everything was horrible. There were a few decent moments of comedy sprinkled here and there, and some moments between Orina and Ai were genuinely nice. Beyond that, much of what went on between the characters was rather forgettable. Being aired solely on the internet, the budget constraints were obvious. The animation was poor at best throughout the series' run. Going along with that was the horribly out of place CGI effects. I use CGI lightly; the special effects looked more like something out of a Flash program.

While there are certainly worse anime out there with a short run time *cough*Legend of Duo*cough*, Psychic Academy is not much better. Though you won't waste too much time if you do decide to watch anyway, it is still time better spent on better anime.

Knowing the first volumes of the manga I started watching Psychic Academy with the expectation of getting an average but quite enjoyable anime. Well, I got definitely less than that. Let's start to look at the different rating aspects:

Story
If you read the manga, you might recognize that there is not much of a thing you can call a mature story but at least they constructed a satisfying alibi for the fanservice that takes place. Here we go with the first question that occured to me (and will occur to you, if you have too much time to waste and watch psychic academy instead of taking ... my advice not to do): Why is the only thing you get to see during the 2 minutes exceeding intro two half-naked girls? This is the first awkward fact keeping in mind one episode lasts only 10 minutes and it is quite representative for the whole anime. If you read the manga, you might know that there is a lot of fanservice too, but they are going into the whole aura thing as well so it is at least an entertaining mix of story and cute looking girls the main character has to deal with. That potential is all wasted by focusing too much on the latter. There is no single episode where the character (or one of the girls) does not 'accidantly' gropes the breasts or falls onto the (the other) girl's gorgeus body. I think you get the idea here. Therefore the story evolves just from single events which seem not to fit (but do within the manga) without any proper introduction to the world and its characters.
My rating: 1 - Pathetic

Art
There is not much to say here, it is just the average. No artistic parts but no black outs as well.
My Rating: 4 - Decent

Sound
There is not much noteworthy music used, the intro music is - like most anime intro themes - horrible and the ending theme is quite decent.
My Rating: 5 - Mediocre

Character
Like the story part the small potential the manga offered got totally crushed here. The often seen, but at least reasonable conflict between the main character and his superior brother for example is mentioned but goes nowhere (except to some fanservice scenes of course!) and so the characters are just shallow characterless beings. Even the love between the main character and his childhood girlfriend is mostly wasted due to the fanservice.
My Rating: 1 - Pathetic

Enjoyment
While it is sometimes funny watching two shy (almost-)lovers getting disturbed showing there real feelings or getting into awkward situations this does not work here. It becomes boring after the first one or two episodes because the main ingredients are always the same never changing types of misplaced fanservice. However, there are some more interesting parts of the remaining 'story' left which crop up just at time to spare a few points here.
My Rating: 3 - Poor

Overall
In case you missed the idea: Don't watch this anime. Simply don't. If you really want to try out Psychic Academy...well, try the manga. It is not a masterpiece, but I estimate it at ~5 points - so this is quite entertaining if you like this type of manga.
All aspects above sum up to an overall rating of 3 - Poor.

Psychic Academy... What I like to call, my first proper anime aside from my childhood "cartoons" such as pokemon. I found this anime completely by mistake on my Youtube recommended tab back in 2007 and decided to check it out. Boy, I am glad that I did!

Psychic Academy opened up the doors to the world of anime to me. I have seen so many stories, twists and turns, emotions going up and down and attachment I thought I would never have. Sadly there are its downsides, the story does feel a bit rushed but is made up for in the manga, and there is very ... little character development which is a pity. However this anime, though borderline average, compared to the ones of today, really has a special place in my heart and gave me that first step into the magical and wonderful world that is anime.

If you haven't seen this one and want a quick adventure full of the supernatural, somewhat magic and action then I do recommend! And if you want to continue that adventure then read the manga which is defiantly better!

Thank you Psychic Academy!

Psychic Academy... My oh my. This is the second anime I tried to watch, and even then it was only because it was the only other series I could find on Youtube other than Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.

Even if you're desperate, please refrain from watching this series. Not that it's a waste of time; each episode being hardly *10 MINUTES* in length. Was there ever even a chance for a good story?? The saving grace here is the pyschic-aura theme that lies beneath the aweful groping and semi-nude scenes (that occur CONSTANTLY!!!) Can you say FANSERVICE??

Story: 3 Poor

Art. I ... always kind of liked the older style of anime people- I like the 90's hair and the big boobs and the giant glittery eyes without becoming to alien-esque. In fact, I quite enjoy the art. That said, it's still rather generic, and there are no ugly people! Pisses me off, frankly.

I think the art is about 'Fair' 6.

Sound is just whatever in this series. The opening theme is OK, I suppose. Nothing emotional or interesting.

Sound: Decent 4

This series has NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. The main characters all have potential, but by about the 15th episode when I dropped the whole damn series I had realized that the "shy" main character is a perv. The 'sweet' childhood sweetheart is annoying at her BEST moments. And the mysterious pink-haired crush is yet another pawn to be 'accidently' groped. *sigh.* I was just so excited to see something happening with the strained relationship with the main character's brother, but dag nabbit all, it was BARELY touched upon!! The main conflict of the story was based not upon relationships between characrers, not on the plot or the theme, but on tits. All the guy wanted was tits.

Character: 2 Dreadful

How on Earth could I enjoy this anime with all the shortcomings? I honestly can't answer that. I would like to give credit though because I feel like this series never really had a chance when it was turned into a total sleaze fest during the very first minute of the TITLE SEQUENCE! The manga is probably really OK. Plus I never saw the last few episodes.

Ejoyment: Mediocre 5

While the concept has potential to be entertaining and I rather like the art style... Goodness me, it's a borderline pathetic series. I REALLY hope it can be redone in the future, because the aura concept is so interesting and I really do love the appearance of the characters.

Overall, I give it a 5 Mediocre