Mai
Mai, The Psychic Girl

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Well, I first got to say that the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" is actually true. When I first found it, I looked at the picture for the cover, and then closed the window right away. I was one of those people who would first look at the picture, and if it looked old, or wasn't there at all, I wouldn't even bother to look at the description of the manga.

However, later that day, I somehow wanted to read something new, and something that had some supernatural powers involved... and one that wasn't all that light and humorous. I randomly ... typed in "psychic" in the title box to see what mangas would come out... and this was the one I was looking for. I first reluctantly started reading the description, and found that this would actually be quiet interesting. I finished this series in one sitting.

This series made me cry in some scenes. The author really takes the reader on the journey of this girl who faces society and views the world in a completely different way from a normal citizen, like me. People, who thought that supernatural powers were all great abilities to have, would change their mind after reading this. This manga really brings out the darkness in these abilities.

Artwork is the old type. Well, of course, since it was published about 25 years ago. I do not really like the mangas that were drawn long ago, especially the ones with huge glittery eyes and long eyelashes. However, the storyline really makes up for this. People get really drawn to the story. I even forgot the time, and missed dinner. That is how much I fell in love with this manga.

I really recommend this!

Mai the Psychic girl without a doubt is one the the strangest manga series I have encountered so far, and there are times where it doesn’t make much sense to me either. And I have came arcoss some pretty strange series that at least make better sense than what Mai tries to tell.

Story: The story starts off pretty decent. You have Mai who happens to be a pretty normal kid except she happens to have psychic powers. An evil organization working behind the sense trying to collect all the kids in the world with psychic powers for their master plan. Eventually the organization goes after ... Mai because of power. So far it seams all fine and dandy, but as it continues things tend to get downright bizarre at times to me. An example (if I remember all of this right) would be the one giant, almost naked, monster-like dude who they sent after to kill Mai, who later he is wearing clothes while driving a truck, helps out Mai and we later find out he happens to be the son of the one old guy as he was a victim in some short of failed experiment or something.......I really fail to see the logic in all of that.
I find the enemy’s master plan on creating a perfect world kinda dumb, and Mai’s role in it makes it seam even more ridiculous. Please also bear in mind that this was also written during the era of the Cold War (you should have been paying attention in History Class if you don’t know about it), because knowing when this was made might help you understand things a little better, especially about the enemy’s plan. The ending I felt was alright, but could have probably been much better. I feel like a topless Mai flying around was unnecessary though, I felt like the artist threw it it as nothing more than fanservice, but then again i’m just pleased there wasn’t much fanservice in this series to begin with. Theres enough strange crap going on in this as it is.

Art: What baffles me about the art is that it looks realistic, yet at the same time its not. Its drawn with a style that is very similar to the comic books here in the US, but in the form of manga, which I find quite interesting. What I don’t like is how, even though it tries to be realistic, theres a bunch of strange-looking people running around in this series, which kills the realistic-ness of the art. it also doesn’t help that to me the people seam pretty stiff as times because of how they are drawn, perhaps this is just because i’m used to seeing so many other manga artists having such a nice flowy feel in their art unlike here.

Character: Thoughout the series you see a change in Mai as she grows and matures, as well as some of the other characters, but as mentioned, theres some pretty odd people in this series.
Its also not very often when somebody manages to create a character in either manga or anime who truly scares me or creeps me out. Yet here we have german girl, Garten, with a very twisted mind who also has psychic powers, and can kill with ease, and boy does she really give me the willies! She scares me as much as Light Yagami from Death Note. So she is definitely someone you really don’t want to mess with!

Enjoyment: Enjoyable to read? Kinda. I found this series pretty amusing for the most part. It managed to grab and maintain my interest better than some of the other series i've read in the past. Theres many series out there I found much more enjoyable. I thought Mai’s battle against the Garten the most enjoyable part of the whole thing. But overall, I thought this series is pretty mediocre.
(One thing I thought was interesting was how the artist managed to throw in a Mickey Mouse plush toy and an apron with Garfield on it in here. Now that you know that, and if you want to read this, you now know some Easter eggs to look for.)

If you're bored, willing to read just about anything, looking for a short series to kill some time, Mai the Psychic girl wouldn’t be a bad series to pass the time with. But if your looking for a series with a more interesting plot, better art, and a series that makes better sense with all of its strange logic, keep looking elsewhere.