Mai

Well, first off, I have to say that the adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" holds true. When I initially stumbled upon it, I glanced at the cover image and promptly closed the window. I was one of those individuals who'd judge a manga by its cover—if it appeared dated or lacked an image, I wouldn’t even consider reading its description.

However, later that day, I felt an urge to read something fresh, with elements of the supernatural, yet not overly light-hearted or humorous. On a whim, I typed "psychic" into the search box to see what would pop up... and this particular manga caught my eye. Initially hesitant, I began reading the synopsis and found it intriguing enough to give it a shot. Ultimately, I ended up finishing the entire series in one sitting.

This series moved me to tears during certain scenes. The author truly takes you on a journey through the eyes of a girl who perceives society and the world in a radically different way than most people, like myself. Those who believe supernatural powers are all glamorous might reconsider after reading this. This manga effectively highlights the darker aspects of such abilities.

The artwork is decidedly vintage, naturally, given it was published about 25 years ago. Personally, I'm not a fan of older manga styles, particularly those with exaggerated, sparkly eyes and elongated eyelashes. Nevertheless, the storyline more than compensates for this. Readers become deeply engrossed in the narrative. I was so captivated that I lost track of time and missed dinner. That's how much I fell in love with this manga.

I highly recommend this!

Mai the Psychic Girl undoubtedly stands out as one of the strangest manga series I've come across, and there are times when it doesn't make much sense to me. I've encountered some pretty odd series that at least have a clearer logic than what Mai tries to convey.

Story: The story starts off decently. You have Mai, who is a pretty normal kid except for her psychic powers. An evil organization operates in the shadows, trying to collect all the kids in the world with psychic abilities for their master plan. Eventually, they target Mai because of her power. So far, so good, but as it progresses, things get downright bizarre at times. For example (if my memory serves me right), there's this giant, almost naked, monster-like dude sent after Mai to kill her. Later, he's wearing clothes while driving a truck and even helps Mai. We later find out he happens to be the son of an old guy who was a victim of some 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 seem even more ridiculous. Please bear in mind that this was written during the Cold War era (you should have paid attention in History Class if you don’t know about it). Knowing when this was made might help you understand things better, especially regarding the enemy’s plan. The ending was alright but could have been much better. I felt like a topless Mai flying around was unnecessary; it seemed like the artist threw it in as nothing more than fanservice. But then again, I’m just pleased there wasn’t much fanservice in this series to begin with. There's enough strange stuff going on already.

Art: What baffles me about the art is that it looks realistic yet isn’t. It’s drawn in a style similar to US comic books but in manga form, which I find quite interesting. What I don’t like is how, despite its attempt at realism, there are many strange-looking people running around, which ruins the realism of the art. It also doesn’t help that the characters sometimes look stiff due to how they are drawn. Maybe this is just because I'm used to seeing so many other manga artists with such a nice flowy feel in their art unlike here.

Character: Throughout the series, you see Mai grow and mature, along with some other characters. But as mentioned, there are some pretty odd people in this series. It’s not often that someone manages to create a character in manga or anime who truly scares me or creeps me out. Yet here we have Garten, a German girl with a twisted mind who also has psychic powers and can kill with ease. She really gives 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 overall. It managed to grab and maintain my interest better than some other series I’ve read. There are many series out there I found much more enjoyable. I thought Mai’s battle against Garten was the most enjoyable part of the whole thing. But overall, I thought this series is pretty mediocre. (One interesting thing was how the artist managed to throw in a Mickey Mouse plush toy and an apron with Garfield on it. 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 you're 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.