is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese seinen manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and illustrated by Katsu Aki

Katsu Aki

, pen name , is a Japanese manga artist best known for his works The Vision of Escaflowne, Futari Ecchi, and Psychic Academy. Mine Yoshizaki is one of Aki's former assistants.-Manga creations:...

. It was published by Kodansha

Kodansha

, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...

 in Magazine Z

Magazine Z

was a Japanese seinen mixed-media magazine published by Kodansha, aimed at teenage males and above, but particularly at hardcore anime and manga fans, featuring articles as well as manga tied into popular franchises. Original manga were also featured in the magazine.It was announced in September...

between 1999 and 2003. An anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 ONA (original net animation

Original Net Animation

An original net animation is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animation, a term that has been used in the anime industry for straight-to-video...

) adaptation was produced by E.G. Films in 2002. Both the manga and anime have been licensed for American distribution by Tokyopop

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

.

Plot

Psychic Academy follows the life of Ai Shiomi, a boy with psychic powers, also known as "aura power" in modern day Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. This ability has emerged in the world, but not all people have it. Aura power itself allows certain elements such as fire, water, ice, wind, lightning, earth, and light to be used by those who have the ability. Which type of power they can use depends on their aura and what they are taught.

Ai agrees to attend the Psychic Academy School after being pressured by his brother. The school is where the elite students go to learn how to use their elemental aura power. Ai knows that somewhere within the Academy is his childhood friend Orina. At school however, she is known as Sahra, after her aura code. On his way to his first day at school, Ai encounters a girl named Myuu. She is another student at the Academy and is a very quiet, seemingly moody girl. Ai also learns that his older brother Zero, a legend amongst those with aura powers, will be one of his teachers.

As Ai struggles with his new school, a life he is not sure he wants; a crazy rabbit takes him as his student. His feelings for Orina and Myuu begin to develop and contrast as the school year progress. Ai also makes discoveries about his rare light aura. To further complicate things, a group of researchers try to artificially awaken the dormant aura genes within all humans, heedless of the danger and damage to society it might cause.

The book series consists of 11 volumes.

The anime series consists of 24 10-minutes episodes. It was first release on the Web, then later sold on DVD on 2 volumes with the purchase of first two volumes of the book.

Characters

Aura: Light

Ai believes he does not belong at Psychic Academy and is unsure of how to fit in, or what his special power is (which is later revealed to be the rare Light Aura). Though along with being reunited with his childhood friend, Orina, he also makes some new friends, such as Myuu (Mew) and "Master Boo (Buu)".

His brother took him and ran away from their original home to hide the fact that Ai possesses a Light Aura. That Aura appears to have potential to grow far beyond other Auras, although Ai still has not been able to figure out more than two words of his Aura Code. This has had little to no bearing on his overall aura strength. At the peak of his power, he is able to use the light aura to show an opponent's deepest secrets as he did with Tokimitsu in their final battle.

Aura: Fire

Myuu (or Mew) wields the aura power of fire. She is distant, even to the point of slight rudeness, because of a traumatic experience in her past: during her childhood, she accidentally killed her mother during an Aura experiment. The explosion caused the lab sprinklers to go off, showering her shocked self with water; this caused her dislike for rain. Myuu is afraid of the rain to the point that she will miss days of school when it is raining, and possibly suffer panic attacks if forced to be out in a deluge.

With her friendship with Orina and Ai, Myuu slowly begins to warm up. She shares a bond from childhood with Ai, though neither of them realize this bond at first. It has also been revealed later on that at least one reason for her enormous aura strength is that her father, an ambitious Aura scientist, has artificially altered - possibly even artificially awakened - her Aura code. These make her stronger, but also make it dangerous for her to use her powers, because when she uses them, she risks possibly dying. She both fears and dislikes her father intensely for it. In the final volume of the series, she passes away after admitting to Ai her feelings for him. Though she is dead, she is still able to visit Ai in the Para Dream.

Aura: Water

Orina, also known as Saara (which is her Aura code name), is a childhood friend of Ai who still holds strong feelings for him. The two have shared a romantic relationship which sometimes shows as a love triangle between Orina, Ai and Myuu. Orina's Aura is Water, which she usually employs for healing. Orina has a generally sweet demeanor, though she can be somewhat overbearing and pushy when she wants to be. She seems quite immature sometimes, but she handles Ai's moods much easier than everyone else, and can even calm him down when other people cannot. Despite Mew's feelings for Ai, Orina is close friends with her and rarely displays jealousy toward Mew. She was initially rather mistrustful of Fafa, however.

Zero

Aura: Steel

Zerodaimu Kyupura Pa Azaraku Vairu Rua Darogu is a famous psychic known as the "Vanquisher of the Dark Overlord". Zero's real name is Yuu Shiomi. He is the older brother of Ai Shiomi. Zero is also an instructor for Psychic Academy, though he seems to spend more time acting as protector for his little brother than he does teaching classes. He seems to have a habit of being hit by the girls. His biggest downfall would be when he starts telling and showing people Ai's deepest darkest secrets on top of all that he has an appalling taste in neck ties. His Aura specialty is Steel. At the end of the story, together with Shiomi, he travels around the world to awaken the children of the Aura.

Faafa/Ren

Aura: Ice/Magma

A brother and sister sharing the same body. Faafa was incarcerated at the Aura Development Center in the United States. Ren, in an attempt to free Faafa, attacked the center; in the ensuing destruction, Ren died and Faafa was critically injured. A heart transplant from Ren's body allowed Faafa to survive, while implanting a piece of Ren's aura in her body. As a result, the two share one body, similar to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. However, in the para-dream, both Ren and Faafa have their own unique bodies. Fafa's Aura is ice, while Ren's is magma.

Because of their experiences with capture and torture, both Faafa and Ren are rather free-spirited and mischievous individuals who allow themselves to drift along their current moods, making their own fun no matter what others may think (which causes Ren at more than one occasion to be suspended from the Academy). Ren develops a friendly rivalry with Shiomi, while Faafa displays an open crush on him. At the end of the series, however, Ren's personality is erased in the story's final conflict, leaving Faafa alone.

Aura: Crystal

Also known as Buu in the manga. Boo is a demented rabbit with very strong Aura powers who attaches himself to Ai as Ai's "Master", believing Ai to be one of the next great "Aura Masters", and it is through "Master Boo's" training and help that Ai first starts to discover how to use some of his own Aura power, and learn it rather quickly and expertly. Boo's Aura specialty are Crystals.

Aura: Gravity(Dark)

Tokimitsu shares much in common with Ai in that both of their aura codes start off undefined. Later, it is revealed that Tokimitsu carries the gravity, or "dark" aura. Tokimitsu later takes on the name Gyurazu after his aura code. He is capable of drawing aura energy out of aura carriers, sometimes killing them outright and leaving their bodies as dried mummies.

Tokimitsu is a pet project of the Aura Development Center. He currently is without aura power after facing the full power of Ai's aura. He is the only one to have done so, and it is he that first names Ai as an aura master.

Dr. Watabe

Aura: Plant

Dr. Watabe is head of Aura Development Center. His main goal is to discover the Aura code and create the same powers as those born with Aura. On the public front they want to better understand and control Aura, but Dr. Watabe motive in doing this seem to stem from his hatred toward Aura and the threat they pose. His earliest research he uses his own daughter Mew; unfortunately, this resulted in Mew losing control of her power that created a lab explosion that killed his wife. Several years later, he seem successful in creating copying Zero's power and creating a unique Aura of Plant that he apply to himself.

Chiroro Dapura

Aura: Water

A female teacher at the Academy. Attractive and kind as she is, she has gathered the romantic attention of several individuals in school, including Zero, the physical educations teacher Goa and the trouble-making student Tandja. Although she would like to marry, her calling in life is to teach aura carriers in the use of their abilities. She dislikes Zero's aggressive flirting and pompous behavior, yet she also harbors feelings for him but rather wishes to wait until he has his priorities (and attitudes) straightened out. Her actual family name is revealed as Wakana.

Music

Opening theme
"Say Over" by Rie Tanaka & Tsugumi Higasayama

Ending theme
"Love Angel" by A-my with MION

Reception

"For fans of the anime it's an easy thing to check out and recommended, but for casual fans, your mileage may vary." — Chris Beveridge, Mania.

"A lightweight, but still reasonably enjoyable series that isn't anywhere as original as its release format. My guess is that the manga is better." — Carlos Ross, T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews.

External links

• Official anime website