The first two examinees she meets are Zero and Ichi, who, upon discovering that she accidentally swallowed the pearl, drag her off to find a way to get the pearl back. Unfortunately, there is no way for them to get the pearl out at the moment, so they have to wait until Christmas, the last day of the exam. Zero and Ichi then decide that they will protect Nina from the other examinees until they find a way to get the pearl out of her.
Story: 6
The plot is not completely awful, but it's not amazing either. Since the anime cut out parts from the manga, there was not a lot of character development, especially with relationships. The Nina and Zero pairing felt forced and cheesy at best, and Ichi was just left at the side. The ending was rushed and messy, which did not help.
Art: 5
the color choice is good, but the animation tends to be lacking. There are many occasions where the faces are proportioned poorly, and it's easy to tell that the show suffered from lazy animation techniques.
Sound: 5
the music is very typical for a shoujo, especially the opening and the ending themes. Voice actors are okay, but I did not enjoy listening to Nina whining and complaining.
Character: 6
The cast is thankfully varied, with each character having different reasons for why they decided to take the magical exam. However, some of them are quite annoying, and the characterization is limited, at best.
Enjoyment: 5
As someone who has read the manga, I expected a little more out of this show. It was a show whose entertainment tended to vary from episode to episode, with some being especially painful to watch and others not as much.
Overall: 6
If you are a diehard fan of shoujo, then this is probably a series you would try. Fortunately, this series is short, which means that if you don't like it but are watching it anyways, it won't take up too much of your time.
