Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin (Occult Academy)

The story revolves around Maya, the daughter of the former Headmaster of Waldstein Academy, and a time traveling agent Fumiaki Uchida. In the year 2012, the world had been invaded by aliens and time travelers were sent back to the year 1999 in order to find and destroy the Nostradamus Key, which Nostradamus Prophecy foretold as what would bring about the apocalypse. The series then turns to the year 1999, where Maya returns to the Academy with the intention of destroying the Academy by superseding her late father's position as the principal. Her plan was interrupted when she meets Fumiaki and learns of the forthcoming destruction. Despite being distrusting towards Fumiaki, they form a pact to look for the Nostradamus Key.

In order to find the Nostradamus Key, time agents were provided with specially created cell phones. When a user finds an object of interest, by thinking of destroying it and taking a photo, and if the resulting image is that of a peaceful world, then the subject is the Nostradamus Key. Conversely, if the subject is not the Nostradamus Key, then the photo displays destruction. By using the phone, Maya and Fumiaki investigates occult occurrences as they occur in the town.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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Background

Alongside So Ra No Wo To and Senkou no Night Raid, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin was part of the "Anime no Chikara" project, a project to create more original anime, not based on any existing media.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin
Side story:	Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Specials

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kumashiro, Maya

Main

Hikasa, Youko
Japanese

Uchida, Fumiaki

Main

Mizushima, Daichuu
Japanese

Kawashima, Chihiro

Supporting

Kobayashi, Yuu
Japanese

JK

Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito
Japanese

Naruse, Kozue

Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana
Japanese

Okamoto, Akari

Supporting

Minase, Inori
Japanese

Smile

Supporting

Takahashi, Hiroki
Japanese

Kuroki, Ami

Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi
Japanese

Nakagawa, Mikaze

Supporting

Chihara, Minori
Japanese

Kuroki, Shige

Supporting

Shimaka, Yuu
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Iwasaki, Noriko

Assistant Producer

Itou, Tomohiko

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Tanaka, Kazuya

Sound Director

Nakamura, Ryousuke

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Flying Humanoid (フライングヒューマノイド)" by Shouko Nakagawa (eps 1-12)

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Ending Theme

"Kimi ga Iru Basho (君がいる場所)" by Ayahi Takagaki (eps 1-13)

Reviews

Apr 15, 2018

SplooshShot

Recommended

As noted in the title of the series, the occult is the main focus here. Slice of life, friendship, and good vs. evil are some of what you'll find with this anime. Love it or hate it, that'll depend upon your personal tastes. Elements of sci-fi, magic, and the occult are what you'll experience.

Story: 7/10
The story starts and ends with a great bang. Everything in the middle may be slow to some, which is quite typical of having slice of life. Given the fact that the series is only 13 episodes, the story would not be very detailed. Certain things may not be answered, certain ... things may simply be answered through implications. If given a bigger budget, perhaps extending the anime to 24 or 26 episodes would enable the series to achieve a more detailed story. Thus, pushing the score to 9/10.

Art: 9/10
Not much need to be said here, you'll see with your eyes. The animation is quite good. Everything is animated pretty well. The facial expressions of the characters are done well. Maya's annoyed and angry faces made towards our male protagonist, Fumiaki. Given the short length of this series, one major focus should be its animation, and it has done well.

Sound: 9/10
First off, the OP/ED songs were great. I especially loved the ED song, "Kimi ga Iru Basho". The seiyuus were great. Emotions were heard. The BGM hits the mark, to give an "occult" feel of eerie and mystery.

Character: 8/10
Similar to story, if given more episodes, characters would have been more fleshed out. But, still job well done. Maya is a strong, independent, young woman. Fumiaki was a coward, but eventually steps up to the plate. Between the two supporting characters Smile and JK, JK stands out more. Smile is your usual tough guy, who has a soft spot. JK is an overweight goth, who seemingly isn't very dependable. But of course, looks can be deceiving. JK is quite dependable as it turns out. He not only helps out his friends in need, but even has his unique skill to "point" them in the right direction. Vice principle, Chihiro is another character that stands out. She is usually serious and professional. But when it comes to her love life, she gets very girly.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Only those that like this anime for what it is, will enjoy it. It's an anime that showcases friendship, magic, time travel, and various problems that people deal with in real life. Many viewers mull over the aspects of time travel used in this anime. Time travel will not be the same in every setting that it's used in. You have to keep an open mind and go along with what the author created in their story.

Overall: 8/10
For an anime with only 13 episodes to work with, it's good. You'll come to like it as well, if the genre appeals to you, if you can keep an open mind, and if you don't question the paradoxes of time traveling. At the end of the day, this anime sends us off with some great messages.

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Jun 23, 2019

TevishSzat

Mixed Feelings

Occult Academy is a show that ultimately doesn't work, but at the same time manages to be kind of fascinating in its failure. It's not down to any single factor why Occult Academy doesn't work, and it has its share of strengths, though to be fair there are plenty of weaknesses to pick on. However, the way all the pieces go together makes the show overall one I can't recommend.

With the exceptions of the two leads, the characters are essentially one note each... but they play their notes well enough that I don't really hold it against them. A season of anime ...

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Nov 7, 2020

superuber27

Not Recommended

Clumsy is the word I would use to best describe Occult Academy. I'm not going to lie, it hooked me decently well with the first episode. The setup isn't bad, as there's a a good driving force for the plot and already several threads to explore. I took a pretty good liking to some of the setting and character design too. However, it then goes on to fumble the execution at almost every turn.

Character writing, jokes, story beats, and world building are all wonky. I have never before seen a show where it feels so clear as to what they're going for, and yet where ... the execution feels so incomplete. Nothing is so bad as to be obnoxious, as is the case with most bad anime, and yet it feels almost like it's literally missing scenes at many points. It's the oddest thing, the pacing is so jarring when it comes to these areas. Characters are treated as if they've been well established when we've barely met them, and wild concepts are introduced out of left field while characters show almost no reaction to the life-changing implications. Central aspects of the setting and characters are either never set up properly at all, or are set up more than halfway through the show, which ends up leaving a massive black mark throughout the viewing experience.

So what we're left with in practice is a show that sets up a main hook real fast before spending 10 episodes on frivolous bullshit that in hindsight forms a complete picture, but in the moment is terribly bland, poorly directed, and not very entertaining to watch. There's a lot of wasted screen-time with repetitive character moments that advance nothing and are grossly predictable and transparent. I called one of the main twists of the entire show in the second episode, and all the episodic storylines in-between the main plot are no better. The world's mechanics are pretty terrible too, as most of the supernatural aspects of the show display wildly inconsistent behavior and illicit head-scratching non-reactions from the main cast.

It's hard to even structure a sensible explanation for just how much the show is lacking, because every facet of the pacing and directing is tripping over something at every turn. I'm talking fundamental screw-ups, down to even basic failures at establishing the space the characters inhabit or how they enter and exit a scene. There's some pretty lame fight choreography to that effect as well. To convey the disorganization in my thoughts here, I think it's fair to say that the show is just overall poorly directed, and it affects absolutely everything negatively, in ways both big and small.

All that said, the finale is a fairly entertaining watch, at least relative to the rest of the show. It quickly wraps up the main story threads and reincorporates the few character developments that were covered in a fairly standard but at least correct and satisfying way. Mechanical errors notwithstanding, although I had already given up on the show putting any effort into that by this point.

On paper, this show has a decent setup, setting, and story beats, but the pacing and execution is just grueling at times. If not for the positive impression left on me by the ending, I would've landed it closer to a 3 than a 4. As such, I really don't recommend anyone watch this. Most of the runtime is spent waffling around not delivering on the main premises implied by an either an apocalypse prevention scenario or an occult academy, and the things it does spend its time on are done pretty poorly at that. I only kept watching it because the more unconventional and slightly baffling moments in the show intrigued me enough to want to know where else it was going to end up, but most of it came up thoroughly disappointing.

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Feb 3, 2012 1:37 PM by Florete | Discuss (25 comments)

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Poll: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) zimno - Sep 6, 2010	120 replies	by Lanz »» Feb 6, 12:40 AM
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Poll: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) zimno - Aug 23, 2010	106 replies	by Archean-Return »» Jun 27, 2023 9:38 PM
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