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Uta Kata (aka Uta~Kata / Uta-Kata) (2004) - 12 episodes

Ratings Animation 8 Characters 7 Sound 7 Music 8 Story 7 Overall Enjoyment 7 Animenewsnetwork link AnimeNfo link Review written: March 7, 2005 Seen: February 23, 2005 - March 4, 2005

Plot Synopsis A mysterious dream. A mysterious pigtailed green-haired girl. A feeling that you've just dreamed something important but you don't know what... A mysterious charm, a cracked mirror, and a summer of adventure. On the very last day of school, 14-year old Ichika looks into a mysterious mirror at in an abandoned classroom, only to discover a reflection which was not her own. The girl in the mirror comes out of the mirror, and tells Ichika that through the power of a charm, she now has access to the mysterious powers of the Djinn, mysterious god-like entities which temporarily grant Ichika magical powers. The mysterious girl, Manatsu tells Ichika that she'll be staying with her for her summer vacation, until all 12 of the Djinn have been awakened... What does the girl want? Who are the Djinn? What will Ichika do?

Uta~Kata is an original story from the director, character designer and writers who brought us the Gonzo extravaganza Kiddy Grade. Although produced by a different studio, Uta~Kata shares a lot of design elements with Kiddy Grade including the character designs and high quality animation that I came to love about that show. The basic premise for the show is quite simple, a girl gains access to magical powers during her summer vacation in the form of 12 Djinns, or magic spirits. Through their power, she goes through a Sailor Moon transformation sequence and temporarily gains magical powers. With only 12 episodes, you quickly realize that this is a 'Djinn of the week' kind of show interspaced with the typical 'summer vacation' light fare that we're used to in countless other anime.

Although it begins with a very light and happy story exploring the relationship of Ichika and her friend from the mirror Manatsu as she spends her summer vacation with her friends, Uta~Kata offers a bit more than what you may think. Sure there's the obligatory 'beach episode', 'kimono episode', and 'test of courage in the forest' episode that we've seen countless times in other anime, but Uta~Kata has a darker overtone throughout. These characters aren't just your average hyper-happy glossy characters in anime, but are in fact real people, with real jealousies and secrets just as anyone else. Still, the characters are pretty standard in that they fit the traditional roles of 'robot girl', 'sporty girl', 'quiet girl' and so on.

One of the most special things about Uta~Kata is actually the 'Djinn of the week' aspect of the show. Every episode Ichika does her 'Sailor Moon transformation' into a different costume with different powers. Each costume meanwhile is actually designed by someone different every week, all of them famous Manga-ka (manga artists) such as Ken Akamatsu of Love Hina fame and Koushi Rikudou who wrote Excel Saga. It is quite intersting to see all the various costumes that Ichika wears as the show progresses.

As mentioned before, the show is created by the same principle team that created Kiddy Grade, but this time around Gonzo didn't do the animation and instead it was produced by a studio called 'gimik'. The animation isn't quite as slick as Kiddy Grade, but for what it is, Uta~Kata does has quite beautiful animation. The art is bright and beautiful and very fluid, while the special effects are nicely done. In fact the show even has Kiddy Grade like screens for each episode's title. Of course with the same team that produced Kiddy Grade, there is one that you have to expect from Uta~Kata and that is fan service and lots of it. The fan service is quite strategically placed throughout the show and although it's quite evident in the beginning it actually starts to die down by the end. Perhaps the demographics of the show changed as it was airing. The music of Uta~Kata is nothing special, although better than most as it isn't your typical synthesized music. The OP and ED are quite good as well, and quite catchy even from the first time I heard it.

Uta~Kata starts off as a slow and happy show about a girl's summer vacation. As we progress, the show gets darker and more serious, but it still retains much of the charm it has from the beginning. In the beginning there's some weirdness and sillyness with the plot, such as Ichika's parents blinding accepting Manatsu living with them for the summer, these things are suprizingly explained as the show progresses as the characters themselves smartly question things as they're happening. The ending, although not quite the epic endings that you may expect from a Gainax production, is satisfying for the show.

Overall, Uta~Kata is a fun 12-episode series which was enjoyable to watch, but ultimately forgetable. While I cannot put a definate recommend on this show, if you were a fan of Kiddy Grade and really liked the character designs from that show I suggest you check this one out. It's a short series which you may just enjoy and look forward to finishing as I did personally. An OAV is scheduled for release in the near future.

Ratings
Animation	8	Uta~Kata was animated in the simple yet beautiful style that I very much enjoyed from Kiddy Grade. Still this isn't Gonzo, but the nice effects make for a nicely animated anime.
Characters	7	A lot of the characters in this show were your basic cookie-cutter characters that you'd find in any show. You had robot girl, sporty girl, crying/quiet girl, spunky friend, senpai characters, and badguy with big sword thing that likes to stand on top of poles and roofs. Pretty standard overall, although Ichika was pretty well done with pretty good character development. As well the hidden dark side of all the characters added a bit more to what could have been very bland characters. I very much enjoyed Ichika's voice though, and I have to say she ranks up there as one of my favorite anime voices.
Sound	7	Nothing special, but I guess the sound did it's job. The one thing that irritated me the most was the sound that signalled the 'transformation sequence' that happened every episode. It just sounded like some standard Windows sound or something like that.
Music	8	I enjoyed the OP and the ED, and the music was surprizingly good for a simple series such as this.
Story	7	The story was very simplistic. Every episode followed the EXACT same plan, and by the first episode you could already predict exactly what was going to happen each episode. The ending wasn't all that fulfilling, but I guess it wasn't bad either. Since the show was so predictable, but yet it still makes me yearn for the OAV, I have to give it a 7.
Overall Enjoyment	7	Uta~Kata is a fun show that doens't try to be anything more than it is. Like many shows before it with similar themes, it is overall a cheery series about a girl's summer vacation interspaced with some darker elements. While it was enjoyable while it lasted, I doubt I'll remember this show a few months from now aside from the excellent OP and ED, and that I really enjoyed the voice acting for Ichika.

**Explanation of ratings**

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