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Occult Academy
The Not-Quite X-Files
The Series in a Sentence
Kumashiro Maya and her companion Uchida Fumiaki investigate various mysterious happenings occurring at Maya’s father’s school, the Waldstein Academy, and the surrounding town.
What I Liked
I loved that the opening illustrated Maya’s headstrong attitude while also alluding to things to come, like Fumiaki’s psychic potential, the time travel aspect, and the eventual arrival of the aliens. Concerning the aliens, the last “fight” against them was the highlight of the series for me and the whole idea that Fumiaki himself was the trigger of their arrival, rather than the behind the scenes witch battle, was a nice albeit predictable twist. The episodes surrounding the chupacabra and the mothman were also fun since they were really the only episodes that hit me with the monster-of-the-day feel I was hoping for when i started this series. Likewise, the few episodes surrounding the ghost girl Akari were both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Finally, while I didn’t really care for the witch versus witch plot reveal at the end, the action was a pleasure to watch. Bonus points for everything kind of working out in the end.
What I Didn’t Like
I get that something larger than just a monster-of-the-day feel was strongly alluded to in the first episode, but the setup as a whole felt half-hearted. What was especially obvious, to me at least, was the fact that the most suspicious character ended up being the good witch while Fumiaki’s air-headed, reckless-driving crush was actually out to destroy the town. The inconsistency in writing really did this series a disservice and, while I get that this was a 13-episode series, that’s no excuse for poor pacing. Here, I would have liked a focus on a more organic monster-of-the-day feel, in line with the chupacabra and mothman episodes, rather than a larger plot with some sort of forced connections. On that note, I could have done without the episodes focusing on Kozue’s near-death experience experiment; the man-made feel took away from the mystique despite its importance in fleshing out Fumiaki’s character. I just feel like there were better ways out there to write him and, for a good chunk of the series save for his initial comedic introduction, scenes focusing on him either bored me or left me frustrated. One last thought: how did the chupacabra’s huge fangs not do any visible damage to Ami? I guess We’ll never know…
Overall Feelings
All-in-all, it was a solid show for a day or two. Could the story have been paced or written better? For sure, but there are rarely series that nail everything. Occult Academy had the cast, story, and production; it just struggled to put it all together in the end. When it had everything going right, it nailed it. I never skipped the opening (I typically don't anyways but that's besides the point), found myself standing up during Fumiaki’s, or should I say Bunmei’s, last stand, and the ending left me feeling as though all was right in the world. There were moments, though, like the big witch reveal, the whole Kozue mini-arc, and Fumiaki’s interactions with Mikaze, that just didn’t land for me. The ups and downs of the series had me pining for something more, but the few scenes and arcs that hit kept me going. Occult Academy was a mid-tier show for sure, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Monsters, magic, and madness abound: almost sounds like a reflection of our own world, huh?