Occult Academy

The date is July 1999, and people were wondering if the world was going to end. At Waldstein Academy--known by its nickname "Occult Academy" for its rather odd field of study--the principal, Junichiro Kumashiro, has died of what the media is claiming as a heart attack. When his 17-year-old daughter, Maya, comes to his funeral (late), the truth is revealed--his love of the occult had gotten so out of hand he summoned a demon.

Maya quickly disposes of said demon, but that's not the real story here. The story really begins with a naked man descending from the sky. He is Fumiaki Uchida, a (former) psychic from the year 2012, apparently sent to stop the world from ending in an alien invasion under the cover of a teacher at the academy, Minoru Abe. His and Maya's destinies collide as Maya plans to get rid of the school that tore her family apart, while Fumiaki uses her assistance to find and neutralize an object or person called the "Nostradamus Key", which, when activated in conjunction with Nostradamus' prophecies, could begin said alien invasion.

Hilarity Ensues.

The third entry in Aniplex and TV Tokyo's Anime no Chikara series (preceded by So Ra No Wo To and Senkou no Night Raid), this Anime First series started in Summer 2010, ending in the fall.

US residents may legally watch this series at Crunchyroll.

Tropes used in Occult Academy include:

Abusive Parents: Maya's Dad, although he really did seem to love her in the end (his obsession with the occult got the best of him), and Fumiaki's Mom, who became obsessed with the wealth and fame that came from his spoon-bending abilities and neglected him.
- Episode 10 pretty much proves that the Occult got the best of Maya's dad- in fact, he was really such a good guy that he built the academy for her!
Academy of Adventure
Action Girl: Maya with her crossbow of determination.
Adorkable: Kozue.
All Just a Dream: Elaborate Happy Place illusions rarely work on the Genre Savvy.
All Myths Are True: Aliens, Ghosts, Psychics, U.M.As, magic spells, hidden Pyramids in Japan, The World Tree, Mothmen ... The only thing preventing this from becoming a Fantasy Kitchen Sink is a vague explanation about the Academy being a dimensional nexus.
Almighty Janitor: Smile, literally.
Alternate Character Reading: The "On the Next..." for episode six uses the alternate reading of "Michinori" (distance) as "Doutei" (virgin), which Kozue finds amusing.
- "Bunmei" and "Fumiaki" are written with the same kanji.
Anti-Hero: Fumiaki has all the makings of a Type I.
Apocalyptic Log: Of the recorded variety.
Armor-Piercing Slap: Ami delivers one to Maya in episode 7 after the latter insults the former's father when his UFO plan fails. He then gives Ami one and tells her to apologize to her friend, but she just runs away, which leads into the next episode.
Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence: Akari in episode 10, in a very touching scene where she finally meets Santa.
Automatic Crossbow: Maya's weapon of choice against monstrosities of the occult is a crossbow, with gun ownership being mostly illegal in Japan.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Smile and JK in episode 4.
Badass Driver: Mikaze may drive like crazy, but she knows what she's doing.
Bad Future: What Fumiaki is trying to prevent.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted. The Lens Flare Censor may be in effect, but the shadows from the light aren't. Look closely when Fumiaki lands; the shadow of his wang can be seen.
- May also count as a case of Getting Crap Past the Radar.
Batter Up: Smile, in the mountain, with the wrench.
Bait and Switch Boss: Chihiro is set up as this throughout the whole series as she spies on Maya and seems to show disapproval at her actions. Then Episode 11 hits and we find out she was an ally all along and that sweet innocent Mikaze is the true Big Bad.
Beware the Nice Ones: Mikaze proves that the endearing young chef at your local eatery may actually be an evil cult-leading witch bent on opening the gates of Hell.
- Fumiaki proved to be a bit of a scrapper, too, once Mikaze showed her True Colors.
Big Damn Heroes: Several of the main characters do this for Ami after a giant chupacabra kidnaps her.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mikaze.
Black Blood: Green blood, in this case.
Black Magic: Mikaze, the black mage.
Blind Without'Em: Kozue, even when she's possessed.
Blue Eyes: Maya of the piercing variety.
BFS: The "S" stands for "spanner".
Body Horror: Mothman.
Boom! Headshot!: Ami's dad manages to decapitate a chupacabra in episode 8...using a nailgun.
Calling the Old Man Out: Maya generally felt wronged having been tricked by Ami's dad in episode 7, though he only had good intentions at heart.
Can't Hold His Liquor: Fumiaki.
Car Fu: Ami's dad does this in episode 12.
Cast of Snowflakes
Cat Smile: Kozue.
The Cavalry: "The SDF is here", Just in Time... Again, Smile and JK in episode 4.
Character Development:
- In episode 6, Maya sees Fumiaki's memories of his tortured childhood and the alien invasion of the Earth. To the former, she can relate entirely seeing how her father neglected her in favor of his work, and the latter is enough for her to start taking Fumiaki seriously.
- Fumiaki One incredibly well executed example, through all his hardships and misfortunes in the series, and a lot of soul searching in the last episode, it's completely credible his transformation from zero to hero.
Chekhov's Gift: The entire academy.
Chekhov's Gunman: Oh, Mikaze.
Chupacabra: The dead cow wasn't a hoax. There's a small group of chupacabra in the area, and they capture Ami. So it's up to Maya and company to stop them.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Two examples:
- Chihiro shows this early on, and hates how close Mikaze and Fumiaki seem. Surprisingly she doesn't seem to pursue him too much, but she's never happy whenever they're together.
- Maya starts to exhibit this later in the series, especially how cheerful Fumiaki gets whenever Mikaze shows up, and even punches him during one such occasion.
Close-Call Haircut: Fumiaki just narrowly avoids Maya throwing a giant sword at his head.
- Maya does it to him again later with a crossbow.
Cloudcuckoolander: Kozue
Combat Pragmatist: Maya is not above fighting dirty, up to and including using her bracelet as a set of knuckle-dusters.
Conspicuous CG: All background extras. It looks fine from far away, but it's rather distracting when they're maybe ten feet from foreground characters.
Crazy Prepared: Would you just happen to know what is the right frequency for moth disposal and carry a musical instrument while searching for a missing person in a mountain?
Crop Circles: One of these kicks off episode seven's plot.
Cursed with Awesome: Fumiaki's spoon-bending, which was kind of awesome, but it ensured he'd never lead a normal childhood due to his overbearing mother.
Dangerously-Short Skirt: Maya in her white dress.
Dark and Troubled Past: Maya and Fumiaki.
Dead Man Writing: Maya's father left a diary hidden for her.
- Which actually turned out to be a cleverly-disguised protective talisman.
Death Glare: Maya delivers one to Chihiro in episode 2. She also uses it against Fumiaki at times.
Demonic Possession: Both Maya's father and Kozue by the lamia.
Design Student's Orgasm: The opening sequence is a loud explosion of occult imagery.
Designated Victim: Despite her belief that nothing out of the ordinary happens to her, Kozue ends up a victim of the occult a lot more often than everyone else... yet she's never down for long.
Determinator: Fumiaki in the last two episodes. Both times in the final battle.
Dirty Coward: Fumiaki for just about the entirety of episode four.
- He definitely makes up for it by the end of the series.
Disappeared Dad: Maya's father is one.
Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Maya tends to beat up Minoru/Fumiaki a lot.
Dowsing Device: JK's rods. They also double as weapons. And lockpicks. It's starting to look like there's nothing he can't do with them.
Drives Like Crazy: Mikaze, very much so.
- Ami's dad can do this, too (and it's not limited to just things with wheels), but he knows how to turn it off.
Dogged Shady Woman: Chihiro to Fumiaki.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: JK.
Earn Your Happy Ending: And how. Episode 12 makes it look like everything's wrapped up nice and neat, then the future guys go outside... only to find out nothing's changed.
Elaborate University High
Hair Decorations: Maya and her Alice band.
Funny Spoon: Bunmei defeated the alien invaders with a spoon.
Evil Costume Switch: Mikaze gets a full Transformation Sequence when she reveals her true form.
Expressive Accessory: Smile's smiley-face badge tends to mimic Smile's expressions.
Faking the Dead: Both Maya and Junichiro, and quite convincingly. Their fake bodies were created by Chihiro's magic.
False Friend: Mikaze to Fumiaki.
Fan Girl: Kozue loves anything remotely supernatural.
Fan Service: We get a lot of low-angle or close-up shots of Maya's legs with the black stockings. It's been described as 'intelligent fanservice' by some of the fans. Also, she takes a shower in episode 2 and wears a swimsuit in episode 6, but these parts are fairly tame compared to most anime.
- Episode 11 features a lot of it.
First Girl Wins: To an extent; both Mikaze and Chihiro are dead by the end of the penultimate episode, and by then it's obvious Fumiaki and Maya have feelings for each other. They get this close to confessing before he dies- the final scene implies she eventually married his younger self.
First-Name Basis: A sort of variation. As a child, Fumiaki's stage name was Bunmei, which he hated. Mikaze referring to his younger self as "Fumiaki-kun" instead of "Bunmei-kun" when they see said younger self on TV is one of the things that makes him fall head-over-heels for her.
- Later on, after Maya gets a glimpse of his abusive past and finally accepts him, she refers to him as "Fumiaki" for the first time when she speaks to him at the end of the episode.
Five-Man Band
- The Hero: Maya
- The Lancer: Ami/Fumiaki
- The Big Guy: Smile
- The Smart Guy: JK
- The Chick: Kozue/Fumiaki
Flat Earth Atheist: Maya vehemently denies or simply expresses hatred for the occult. She used to love it, though, and her extensive knowledge on paranormal matters is often used as a source of Hypocritical Humor.
Flatline Plotline
Gainaxing: Mikaze, very blatantly in episode 11.
Genki Girl: Kozue, especially in regards to occult stuff.
Genre Blindness: While Maya is often Genre Savvy, she displays this in the last episode thinking it would be a good idea to introduce Fumiaki to his younger self.
Genre Savvy: Maya
- When the others cheer her on to rescue Ami, she replies with "In the movies, everyone who says those lines dies." None of them do, but it freaks them out nonetheless.
Godiva Hair: Maya in episode 2 during a Shower Scene.
Goth: JK fits the classic image of it.
- Of the cheerful, energetic variety.
The Greys: One descends from the spaceship and is actually JK in disguise.
Hair Reboot: In Episode 8, Maya shoots a crossbow bolt through Fumiaki's hair, leaving a hole in it, but it reverts to normal a few minutes later.
Hairstyle Inertia: Fumiaki and especially Maya, who also has Same Clothes, Different Year.
Heroic Sacrifice: Fumiaki takes the aliens head-on with his now-functional ESP and blasts through them, killing himself.
Hey, It's That Voice!: Looks like Mio toughened up a bit. Still Tall, Dark and Bishoujo, only now she seems to be actually embracing it.
- Rolo grew out of being the Yandere and became The Lancer. But he's still a dork...
- And it looks like Kudo has found something else besides story telling...
  - And Kaere / Nice is another eccentric blond chick.
- Looks like Hiroshi finally grew a pair by losing them.
- It's seems that Angel is now a fan of the supernatural and wears Glasses
Homage: Fumiaki's arrival from the future in the buff appears to a take on the same procedure used in the Terminator films.
- The War of the Worlds tripods appear in a flashforward in episode 2.
Hope Spot: The end of episode 12.
Hot Witch: Chihiro
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode-title features the name of one of the show's characters, with the exception of episode twelve- which makes sense, considering the title of the final episode is MAYA's BUNMEI.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Part of Fumiaki's backstory as a kid. His mother constantly exploited his talents, ensuring that he'd never get to lead a normal life due to his busy schedule. A lot of his resentment was also due to her breaking promises to him in order to book more shows for him.
I Just Want to Be Special: Kozue's determination to find some occult stuff, and at least be conscious enough to witness it, since she doesn't remember the stuff that happened to her.
Improbable Aiming Skills: When fighting the chupacabras, Maya pulls off some crazy shots with her crossbow. Nevermind Ami pinning one to a wall with a thrown candlestick.
- Not to mention Ami's father decapitating the large chupacabra with his nail gun.
Improbable Weapon User: JK and his dowsing rods.
- Ami used a candlestick.
- Maya uses her bracelet as brass knuckles.
Incredibly Lame Pun: "Maya's Amigo" and "Mamma Amiya", episodes 7 and 8 titles.
In-Series Nickname: Almost everyone calls Fumiaki by his old childhood nickname, "Bunmei". He doesn't like it much.
It's Personal: Maya's reason for even coming to the school is because she wants to destroy it, since she believes studying the occult drove her father crazy.
It Was with You All Along: The reason Kozue's soul wouldn't leave the afterlife was because she couldn't find her glasses. Which were on her head the whole damn time.
Journey to the Center of the Mind -- Via the Flatline Plotline.
Just Before the End: Or After the End, depending on the point of view.
Kick the Dog: Mikaze does this to Chihiro before she mortally wounds her.
Let's Get Dangerous: Several characters portray this trope, most notably Chihiro and Fumiaki at the end. Prior to this they both seemed like Butt Monkeys.
Limited Wardrobe: Maya has apparently worn the same white one-piece dress since she was a kid, and has never been shown wearing anything but this and her school uniform.
Lock and Load Montage: Episode 8.
Longing Look: Chihiro often has one when Fumiaki is in her line of sight.
Lovable Coward: Fumiaki may still get there ...
Love Epiphany: Fumiaki has one in episode 10 when he realizes how upset Maya got at him when Mikaze showed up at school. This right as Mikaze asked him to eat at her house, rather than the restaurant, and Chihiro showing up as well in an attempt to do the same.
Magical Incantation: Used by Maya (and Fumiaki, by proxy) to seal Mikaze in the school.
Male Gaze: Pretty blatant in Episode 11.
Meganekko: Kozue's glasses are part of her soul. No, really.
Miniature Senior Citizens: Mikaze's boss and Fumiaki's landlady (sisters).
Mini-Dress of Power: Maya
Miles Gloriosus: Fumiaki. In Episode 4, he actually comes straight with Maya about how he really came back to the past: kicking and screaming.
The Mole: Chihiro was outed early to the audience, but we still don't know which she works for. That is, until she turns out to the be the...
- Reverse Mole.
Moth Out of Hell: With Glowing Eyes of Doom. The "tengu" everyone talked about since Ep. 1. It has friends.
Ms. Exposition: Maya, more often than not.
Mukokuseki: Maya's blue eyes aside, averted along with her sister trope Only Six Faces. There's a lot of work put on faces and facial expression.
Mundane Utility: You can use timeline predictors disguised as cellphones as ... cellphones.
Nail'Em: Ami's dad opts for a nail gun to fight the chupacabras.
Nakama: Even without Maya, Team Occult Academy (Ami, Kozue, Smile, JK and maybe Fumiaki) agrees to stick together and not let the world end.
Naked First Impression: Though the light covers it for the audience, Maya gets a good look at Fumiaki's junk when he lands.
- Oh, the fans get a decent look, too, depending on how much you're paying attention.
Naked on Arrival: Fumiaki
Near-Death Experience: Kozue willingly goes into one, ending up in a very Seussian afterlife. And gets stuck... kinda
Never the Selves Shall Meet: In fact, doing so is what caused the apocalypse.
No Guy Wants to Be Chased: Fumiaki has made it very clear he doesn't like Chihiro's constant advances.
- That seems to be more because he used his phone to find out what would happen if he did go out with her.
  - Which makes one wonder why he didn't also do the same thing with Mikaze at some point early on as well. He was clearly interested in her.
Non-Action Guy: Fumiaki. Of the lying cowards sort. Most of the time.
Not Herself: Kozue acted this way when she first awakened from her near-death experience, but everyone found out pretty quickly why.
Not Quite Dead: Chihiro used her magic to make it appear as if Maya died to throw Mikaze off her trail. And as it turns out, she did the exact same thing to Maya's father.
Nuclear Option: Because the Godzilla Threshold will be crossed.
Odango: Chihiro's hairstyle.
Offhand Backshot: Maya gets one of these off with her crossbow right after rescuing Ami from the mini-chupacabras.
Only a Flesh Wound: When the chupacabra bites Ami, its fangs probably would have hit some internal organs and did some serious damage, but it only knocks Ami out, apparently from some narcotic poison.
Orphean Rescue Mission
Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: Every episode ends with "This program is a work of fiction. Departed spirits, psychic abilities, UMAs, etc. do not exist. Unless you believe in them..."
Out-of-Clothes Experience: Fumiaki's.
Papa Wolf: Ami's dad.
Parental Abandonment: Two examples:
- One with Maya, who felt her father was ignoring her and was focused solely on occult stuff, which caused her to resent it as she grew older.
- Another is with Akari, a little girl who died of hypothermia waiting for Santa to show up during one Christmas Eve. Since her parents got divorced and the father was working, he was unable to watch over her, and grew to regret his decision to work that night and not check up on her.
Perpetual Frowner: Maya
Phony Psychic: Guess who. Fumiaki.
- Though, it should be noted he wasn't always that way.
The Power of Rock: Mothmen are easily overpowered by JK's keyboard.
Public Domain Soundtrack: Previews for the next episode fittingly use the first movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" piano sonata.
Psychic Powers: Fumiaki was a spoon-bender, which is shown by his younger self on TV. Although he somehow lost them by adulthood.
- Number Five was a pyrokinetic, and JK's dowsing works.
Real Place Background: The Bunker shown in Episode 3 is actually called Matsushiro Underground Imperial Headquarters[1] and located in Nagano, Honshu. It's likely other locations shown in the anime are actually existing ones around Nagano as well.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subverted because Ami gives Fumiaki one in a very casual manner and didn’t thought about its significance, but Fumiaki took it seriously enough.
Red Herring: Chihiro
Robe and Wizard Hat: Chihiro's white mage outfit complete with a Simple Staff.
Romantic False Lead: Mikaze, though it's not apparent till late in the series.
Running Gag: "My glasses... My glasses..."
Scooby-Doo Hoax: Ami's father puts up an elaborate one, though his intentions are mostly kind-hearted.
Screw Destiny: Fumiaki's raison d'etre. Though it sort of becomes Maya's, too, when she decides to help him find the key. In the end, Fumiaki actually does it and stops the bad future from happening.
Self-Serving Memory: We find out that Fumiaki used this to try to make a good impression on Maya about how he came to the past. He's actually a ~~nearly~~ totally useless coward.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong
Scary Shiny Glasses: Fumiaki's landlandy and the diner owner have these in episode 12.
Shaggy Search Technique: Fumiaki is a master of this.
She's Got Legs: Maya.
Shout-Out: The time machine used to send Fumiaki to the past has been used before for teleportation.
- Maya nicknames JK Kurenai no Buta. He likes it.
- The students' song about Chihiro's hairstyle is a reference to a song and animation featured on Okaa-san to Issho (Together with Mother, think Japan's Sesame Street).
- Kozue loses her glasses fairly often leading to hilarious situations or even driving the plot.
- The Little Prince is Kozue's spiritual guide.
- The name 'JK' could be a reference to the author of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling.
- Possibly one went out to Hot Fuzz with the cult scene.
- They both probably derive from something else, but the original promotion poster of the series looks oddly similar to a Gintama DVD cover, and the characters have suspiciously similar personality traits.
Shower Scene: Maya in the second episode. She then goes on to spend the next few minutes in a towel.
Smash Cut: Used to confusing effect in Episode 11 when the scene goes from Mikaze and Fumiaki at his apartment to the pair at Mikaze's KKK ral--er, cult meeting.
Spirit World: The Afterlife is a very personal thing.
Spit Trail Kiss: Mikaze does not let up on the tongue while leading on Fumiaki to kill Maya.
Stable Time Loop: While there's no doubt offing Mikaze was for the betterment of the world, she isn't the Key. Fumiaki being sent back to prevent the alien invasion was the catalyst for said invasion.
Stage Mom: Fumiaki's mother, who exploited his spoon bending at the expense of everything else.
Super Empowering: Fumiaki actually takes his powers from his younger self.
Tall, Dark and Snarky: Maya.
Tear Jerker: Several examples throughout the series, but the most notable one during the Akari arc in episodes 9 and 10.
Theme Music Power-Up: The OP plays when Fumiaki defeats the aliens and saves the world.
Thirteen Episode Anime
Those Two Guys: Subverted with JK and Smile.
Time Travel: Despite seeming like a major theme, it only only plays a pivotal role in the beginning, and at the end.
Timey-Wimey Ball: Don't think too hard about the ending. What was that mantra like...
Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: Averted. The series is set Nagano Prefecture which is well west of Tokyo.
Tomato in the Mirror: Fumiaki is Nostradamus's Key!
Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ami and Maya as kids.
Took a Level in Badass: Fumiaki took one near the tail-end of the final episode when the aliens started to invade Earth, resulting in him changing from a slightly redeemed protagonist to a big damn hero.
Trademark Favorite Food: JK loves pudding.
Trailers Always Spoil: The preview for episode 11 shows something freaking surprising - Maya's apparent death.
- Of course, it was faked. Never Trust a Trailer
Tripod Terror: The aliens in The Future.
Tsundere: Fumiaki calls Maya one, though she counters that the term itself didn't really exist in 1999. Doesn't help her case though.
- Can be applied to her reactions towards the occult: "I-It's not that I like the occult now, okay?"
- Her dere side shows more and more, being in full blast by the end of the series.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: JK and his kids in 2012, according to Fumiaki's phone.
Upgrade Artifact: The spoon Fumiaki took from his younger self. Not only did it help him regain his lost psychic powers, but it took them Up to Eleven.
Villainous Breakdown: Mikaze at the end. Its starts off rather subtle as she blast Fumiaki with spells. But he just keeps getting up, she then realizes that the sealing spells is taking effect and starts getting desperate to stop him. But when its obvious her powers aren't working, she tries to move in for a close assault but its far too late and she barely has time to lose it before Maya and Fumiaki finish the sealing spell and send her packing.
Was It All a Lie?: Fumiaki had a moment of realization after Mikaze's reveal/betrayal.
Was Once a Man: The mothmen.
We Want Our Cloudcuckoolander Back: Kozue's enthusiasm for the occult may drive Maya up the wall, but once she's turned into a rational, straight-laced model student due to a temporary Came Back Wrong incident, guess who's trying to get her back to her old self?
Wife Husbandry: Inverted. It's pretty strongly implied that Maya eventually marries the young Fumiaki.
Witch Hunt: Mikaze's friends, who look like a black palette swap of the KKK. They say that Maya is a witch and Waldstein is her den of evil. Though considering Mikaze's a witch herself...
Wham! Episode: Episode 11, reporting for duty!
What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: You don't need blazing sparks and thundering shockwaves to deny access to a key, Chihiro.
White Magic: Chihiro.
The World Tree: What is apparently one shows up underground.
Wrench Whack: Smile's weapon of choice.
X Meets Y: It's been described by some fans as Ghostbusters meets The Terminator.
- Or Shakugan no Shana meets Bakemonogatari.
- As of Episode 11, possibly Umineko no Naku Koro ni meets Scooby Doo.
You Are Number Six - Fumiaki is literally number six. The first five fared poorly...
Youkai: Episodes 9 and 10 features a little girl's spirit that turned into a yuki-onna.
Your Princess Is in Another Castle: During the fight against Mikaze, Maya gets a picture of her with the futuristic phone and think she is the Nostradomus Key. Fumaki and she manage to kill her and all seems well...but the future hasn't changed.
Zettai Ryouiki: With the focus on legs, especially Maya's, it's hard to miss it.