Magic User’s Club (OVA + TV Series) DVD

An enormous alien spacecraft — a massive black cylinder humanity has taken to calling the Bell — descended on Earth without warning and proceeded to ignore every military response sent against it. It is not hostile in any obvious way. It does not communicate. It simply hovers, deploys smaller probe units that wander the city cataloguing everything they encounter, and makes itself completely at home. Against this backdrop, the Magic Users Club continues to meet after school. There are five members: Takeo Takakura, the well-meaning but constitutionally hopeless club president who has dedicated his life to proving that real magic exists and is, unfortunately, also constitutionally unable to stop noticing girls; Sae Sawanoguchi, a sweet, enthusiastic, profoundly clumsy first-year whose magical potential is enormous and whose ability to actually aim a spell is not; Nanaka Nakatomi, precise and quietly devoted to Takakura in ways she would never admit; Akane Aikawa, the most naturally gifted member, perpetually busy with boyfriends and generally too distracted to attend regularly; and Aburatsubo, the club vice-president, effortlessly talented at everything, completely in love with Takakura, and cheerfully unbothered by the asymmetry of this situation. Together they are going to defeat the alien invader. This is not a straightforward process.

The OVA series — six episodes produced by Triangle Staff and released between 1996 and 1997 — follows the club's increasingly chaotic efforts to engage with the Bell, building toward a finale in which Sae's raw magical power becomes the decisive factor and the alien threat is resolved in a way nobody anticipated.

The 1999 TV series, produced by Madhouse and Triangle Staff and directed once again by Junichi Sato, picks up in the aftermath: the Bell is gone, but it left behind an enormous cherry blossom tree in the middle of the city, and a ghostly presence has taken up residence in its branches. Both series share the same core cast, the same warmly comedic sensibility, and the same rare quality of treating its characters' feelings — including Sae's slow, uncertain emergence into confidence and Aburatsubo's unrequited love — with genuine gentleness. Directed by Junichi Sato, whose credits include the original Sailor Moon and Aria the Animation.

Originally released in North America by Media Blasters (Anime Works) across individual DVD volumes beginning in 2001; later reissued in complete collections by Nozomi Entertainment / Right Stuf. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Junichi Sato (Sailor Moon, Aria the Animation, Ojamajo Doremi)
Series Composition (TV): Chiaki J. Konaka (Cardcaptor Sakura movie, Catnapped!, Serial Experiments Lain)
Character Design: Ikuko Itoh (Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Studio (OVA): Triangle Staff / Bandai Visual
Studio (TV): Madhouse / Triangle Staff
Music: Michiru Oshima (Fullmetal Alchemist, Little Witch Academia)
OVA Opening Theme: "Senobi wo Shite Follow You" by Mahōtsukai Tai
TV Opening Theme: "I Wanna Do More" by Amii Ozaki

Japanese Cast:
• Miwa Matsumoto as Sae Sawanoguchi
• Kazuhiko Inoue as Takeo Takakura (Cardcaptor Sakura, Vampire Princess Miyu TV)
• Akira Ishida as Aburatsubo (Gokudo, Slayers, Now and Then Here and There)
• Yuko Miyamura as Nanaka Nakatomi (Evangelion, Apocalypse Zero, Rurouni Kenshin)
• Megumi Hayashibara as Akane Aikawa (Slayers, Evangelion, Battle Athletes, Gestalt)
• Kotono Mitsuishi as additional cast (Dragon Half, Sailor Moon, Steel Angel Kurumi)

DVD Features (Media Blasters Individual Volumes)

• English Dub Blooper Reels (included on original Media Blasters volumes)
• Media Blasters / Anime Works Previews

DVD Features (Nozomi / Right Stuf Complete Collections)

• Blooper Reels
• Clean Openings & Closings
• Commercials (TV series)
• Special Short Film (TV series)

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 魔法使いTai! (Mahō Tsukai Tai!)
Runtime: ~150 Minutes (OVA, 6 Episodes) / ~325 Minutes (TV Series, 13 Episodes)
Director: Junichi Sato
DVD Release Year: 2001 (OVA, Media Blasters) / 2001–2002 (TV Series, Media Blasters); Complete Collections reissued by Nozomi Entertainment / Right Stuf
Original Release Dates (Japan): OVA: May 25, 1996 – October 25, 1997 / TV: July 7 – October 6, 1999 (WOWOW)
Publisher: Media Blasters (Anime Works) / Nozomi Entertainment (later reissue)
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Magical Girl, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Romance
Themes: Alien Invasion, School Magic Club, Clumsy Heroine, Unrequited Love, Cherry Blossom Mystery

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.