Modern Magic Made Simple Explained

Modern Magic Made Simple
Ja Kanji:	よくわかる現代魔法
Ja Romaji:	Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō

Type:	light novel
Author:	Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Illustrator:	Miki Miyashita
Publisher:	Shueisha
Imprint:	Super Dash Bunko
First:	December 25, 2003
Volumes:	6

Type:	manga
Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō comic edition
Author:	Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Illustrator:	Miki Miyashita
Publisher:	Shueisha
Demographic:	Shōnen
Magazine:	Jump Square
First:	August 4, 2008
Last:	September, 2009

Type:	TV series
Director:	Yasuhiro Kuroda
Producer:	Tetsuro Satomi Nobuhiro Nakayama Katsumi Koike Takashi Takano Tsuneo Takechi
Music:	Yukari Hashimoto
Studio:	Nomad
Network:	BS11, AT-X, Bandai Channel, Kids Station
First:	July 11, 2009
Last:	September 26, 2009
Episodes:	12 + Special
Episode List:	List of Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō episodes

is a Japanese light novel series by, and the debut work of, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, with illustrations by Miki Miyashita. As of March 25, 2009, six volumes have been published by Shueisha under their Super Dash Bunko imprint. A new edition of the first light novel was released on April 25, 2008. A manga adaptation started serialization in the shōnen magazine Jump Square on August 4, 2008. An anime adaptation was announced in October 2008. A 12-episode anime adaptation began airing in Japan on the networks BS11, AT-X, and Bandai Channel between July and September 2009.

Plot summary

The protagonist, Koyomi Morishita, is a short, clumsy, female high school freshman who is mercilessly teased except by her good friend Yumiko. Seeing a flyer about a school for magicians, Koyomi takes the enrollment exam and becomes a student of Misa Anehara, a powerful master magician. Modern magic is accomplished with the aid of computers by writing special programs for them. As magic is not as easy as it seems, initially Koyomi's talent seems to consist of making washbasins randomly fall out of the sky.

Characters

A bumbling 15-year-old first year high school student who has the body of a child. Since she is only 146 cm (4 ft 9½ in) tall, she is often mistaken for an elementary school student when she is wearing her own clothes. She gets lousy grades, is not very athletic and doesn't really have anything about herself to brag about, so she decides to go to a magic school that she saw in a flyer in order to change herself. She has the unusual ability of being able to take any code (spell) and change it into a washbasin summoning code. This ability has gradually been improving.

A natural-born 15-year-old mage, she has purple eyes and silver hair. She is quick-learned at magic, seeing a complex spell and repeating it perfectly, without practicing. She has a staff and a spell book left to her by her great-grandfather, and usually wears white. She was often teased at elementary school and stared at in public because of her doll-like appearance. Upon meeting Koyomi, they become good friends, but Yumiko often displays a somewhat of a tsundere-like personality towards her.

She is one of the most powerful modern-magic users. She is a 25-year-old college student who is majoring in programming. She is able to make practical use of her abilities as a leading modern magic user. She has no qualms about using magic to manipulate the will of normal people and uses it to help people sell products. The flyer which Koyomi read was distributed by the magic school run by Misa's grandfather, and Misa becomes Koyomi's magic teacher because of this. She has a sweet and laid-back personality but lacks common sense. As a hobby, she likes to buy useless things such as banana hangers and curry roux meant for large establishments from the internet. Her mother died when she was young, so she raised her younger brother Soshiro.

The class representative of Koyomi's class, she is quiet and a model student. She is a quick learner, compared to Koyomi, of modern magic. Although she is fairly skilled, she cannot see demons, ghostscripts, or genies because she cannot detect magic.

The younger brother of Misa, he is more sensible and serious, compared to his sister. He is usually seen doing chores around the residence. He mostly scolds Misa because of her illogical actions, but he also deeply cares about her. Due to his sister constantly feeding him enchanted food at a young age, he has built an immunity to magic. As a result, he refuses to believe the existence of magic even after magic is shown to him.

Media

Light novel

The light novel series is by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, with illustrations by Miki Miyashita. As of March 25, 2009, six volumes have been published by Shueisha under their Super Dash Bunko imprint. A new edition of the first light novel was released on April 25, 2008.^[1]

Manga

A manga adaptation started serialization in the shōnen magazine Jump Square on August 4, 2008.

Anime

See main article: List of Modern Magic Made Simple episodes. An anime adaptation was announced in October 2008.^[2] On July 11, 2009, the anime began airing in Japan on the networks BS11, AT-X and Bandai Channel, while also simulcast worldwide via Crunchyroll. It ran for 12 episodes, ending on September 26, 2009. North American licensor Sentai Filmworks released the series on DVD in December 2011.^[3]

The opening theme of the anime series was "programming for non-fiction" by Natsuko Aso. The ending theme was "Made in WONDER" by Aki Misato.

Notes and References

Web site: よくわかる現代魔法１ｎｅｗｅｄｉｔｉｏｎ／桜坂洋. ja. Well-understood modern magic 1 new edition / Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Shueisha. 21 May 2022.
News: Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahō Light Novels to Be Animated . . October 29, 2008 . 2008-10-31.
Web site: Sentai Filmworks Adds Yoku Wakaru Gendai Mahou. Anime News Network. 14 September 2011.