Uta Kata

On the day before the summer holiday, Ichika Tachibana discovers that the charm attached to her cell phone has somehow wound up inside a mirror in the old school building. A girl named Manatsu Kuroki, inside the mirror, offers to return the charm and phone in exchange for a favor. When Ichika accepts, Manatsu emerges from the mirror, but Ichika finds to her chagrin that the charm's stones' have taken on different colors. Her indignation soon turns to delight as she is transformed by the charm and given an incredibly moving experience in the skies above Kamakura.

After returning to the old classroom, Manatsu asks that Ichika use all the colored stones in the charm and record her experiences and thoughts. Starting with the facade of Manatsu as her text-message pal, Ichika begins to entangle herself in a web of small lies and deceptions.

When Ichika faces dangers during the summer holiday, she at first uses the Djinn's power in the stones to resolve them supernaturally. But as the summer draws on, she begins to use the power even though there is no imminent danger. Through each experience with the Djinn she learns about her willfulness and that of others. Slowly, the power of the Djinn erodes her emotional, physical, and mental strength, and she abuses the power to the point of attempting murder.

Meanwhile, Ichika's tutors, Sei and Kai, are tormented by Ichika's ordeal — Sei went through the very same thing six years ago. They very much want to prevent Ichika from experiencing the same trials but are bound to the rules of the ritual. When Sei tried to interfere, he was turned into stone as a penalty. Although Ichika tries to abandon using the Djinn's power altogether, she finds herself losing control over her actions. Faced with fear, sadness, or anger, she finds that the Djinn grant her power against her will. Not only this, she finds that she cannot discard the charm, as it will fly back to her.

Ichika had been subjected to a ritual judgment determined from the time she was conceived. Saya, the final Djinn, would take a person of fourteen years — the age between the innocence of childhood and the hardness of adulthood — and show him or her the world through the eyes of the Djinn. The individual would experience seven trials that contrasted seven virtues and sins: affection and resentment, temperance and hubris, devotion and rebellion, honesty and treachery, reason and envy, passion and lust, wisdom and machination. When Ichika is thus led to despair in humanity and disgust of herself, Saya binds her to the mirror and asks her to decide whether to destroy humanity or herself.

In response, Ichika refuses to choose either. Saya declares that as a violation of the rules and drives her scythe toward Ichika's body. Sei shatters his stone skin and tries to stop the scythe, but Ichika decides that it is better that she die rather than see him hurt. Manatsu, in defiance, drives herself into the scythe, saving Ichika's life. Kai returns the life energy that kept him in human form to Sei, and he and Manatsu revert to their original forms: shards of the old mirror.

When school resumed in the fall, Ichika decided to remain at Kamakura rather than join her parents in Italy. Elsewhere, Saya determined to move on and judge the next teenager.

From left to right: Michiru, Keiko, Satsuki, Manatsu and Ichika

Ichika Tachibana (橘 一夏, Tachibana Ichika)

Ichika is a 14-year-old Japanese middle school student living in Kamakura, who discovers on the day before summer holiday that a gift from her tutor is much more than a good-luck charm.

She is honest and polite to everyone, including her own parents, and always tries to do the right thing. She detests lying, especially if she finds herself doing it. As a result, her friends often playfully tease her for being straight-laced. Ichika is easily scared, and the thought of ghosts terrifies her, especially when she first sees Manatsu in a mirror they find in the school's oldest building.

Voiced by Yōko Honda

Manatsu Kuroki (黒城 舞夏, Kuroki Manatsu)

Manatsu is a girl that Ichika met in dreams and a mirror.

Manatsu seems to be the polar opposite of Ichika in personality. When Ichika is hesitant, Manatsu is carefree and assertive; where the former is reserved, the latter is cheerfully outgoing. She also has striking similarities to Ichika — she knows and loves many of the same things Ichika does, and she shares the same fear of ghosts.

Voiced by Masumi Asano

Satsuki Takigawa (多岐川 皐月, Takigawa Satsuki)

Ichika introduces her friend Satsuki as "a very responsible and strong person. You can always count on her." She is a brash girl who often takes the lead of Ichika and the other friends. A painful memory causes her to avoid most boys, despite her seemingly strong personality. Satsuki has an older brother, with whom she apparently gets along well, despite the fact that they bicker a fair bit.

Voiced by Tomoko Kawakami

Keiko Takamura (篁 蛍子, Takamura Keiko)

Ichika describes her friend Keiko as "a proper young lady from a good family, gentle and kind." She is easily amused by simple things, such as shaking a duster in a sunbeam. Her parents appear to be rather controlling, which causes Keiko some distress in regard to a boy she liked.

Voiced by Yurika Ochiai

Michiru Munakata (宗方 未知留, Munakata Michiru)

Ichika says of her friend Michiru, "She's really into literature, and her instincts are amazingly sharp." Due to being a miko and having the "power of vision", she can allegedly see ghosts and spirits. She is a quiet, if not shy, person. Michiru has a younger sister named Rui, of whose feelings she appears to be rather protective. Michiru is prone to making slightly odd comments and is unable to swim in the sea, claiming her skin is sensitive to saltwater. She tends to speak in a subdued tone of voice.

Voiced by Yukari Tamura

Sei Tōdō (藤堂 誓唯, Tōdō Sei)

Sei is one of Ichika's tutors and a high school student. He instructs her in grammar, literature, and social sciences. He is introduced as the twin brother of Kai. Of the two, Sei usually seems to be the calmer, gentler one. Ichika has developed romantic feelings for him.

Voiced by Nobuo Tobita

Kai Tōdō (藤堂 繪委, Tōdō Kai)

Kai is Ichika's other tutor. He teaches her math and science. He is introduced as the twin brother of Sei. Of the two, Kai seems the more extroverted one and more physical. He is in love with his twin brother.

Voiced by Nobutoshi Kanna

Saya Kogure (小暮 沙耶, Kogure Saya)

Saya is an enigmatic woman who is, at times, hidden from view of most people. She is the Tachibanas' next door neighbor and is in the fashion industry.

But this is only an illusion — she covertly pushes circumstances in Ichika's life to bring her to use the power of the Djinns. She can move anywhere at will, turn her scarf into a deadly scythe and other objects and keeps an eye on Ichika throughout the series. She strictly enforces rules concerning the activation of the stones: The current bearer must remain completely in the dark as to their true nature and purpose and no one may interfere with the bearer's decision to use the power.

Voiced by Maria Kawamura

Similar to gímik's earlier work, Kiddy Grade (where a different guest artist drew the eyecatches for each episode), each episode's main costume was designed by a guest artist who also created artwork for the ending sequence of that episode.

Each episode preview in the anime was narrated by Ichika in the style of a diary entry. On the website, a corresponding entry narrated by Manatsu is available.

In a possible variation of the four-character yojijukugo, every title is composed of a pair of two-kanji words separated by a no particle. A literal, if rough, translation of most titles can be derived by assembling the phrase "[second word] of (the) [first word]".

The TV series and OVA has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks; anime distributor Section23 Films released the complete collection set on November 2, 2010.[5]

• Planning: gímik, Hal Film Maker
• Original Story: gímik
• Director: Keiji Gotoh
• Screenplay: Hidefumi Kimura
• Character Design & Art Director: Megumi Kadonosono
• Background Art: Tokumitsu Kobayashi
• Art Director: Hisaharu Iijima
• Color Design: Yoshimi Kawakami
• CGI Director: Atsushi Takeyama
• Photography Director: Tomoyuki Sakurada
• Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
• Sound Director: Hitoshi Aketagawa
• Sound Effects Production: Magic Capsule
• Music: Megumi Oohashi
• Music Production: Victor Entertainment
• Production: Bandai Visual

• Opening Theme: Omoi wo Kanadete (想いを奏でて)
• Ending Theme: Itsuka Tokeru Namida (いつか溶ける涙)
  • Artist: savage genius
• Insert song (episode 3): Kono Natsu wo Kakaete
  • Artist: Sachiko & Chino
• Insert song (episode 3): Zutto Kono Machi de
  • Artist: emiko

The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 compares the series' underlying themes to those of Mahoromatic, noting that the story is "an allegory of the end of childhood and one last vacation before the responsibilities of the grown-up world start to impinge". It criticizes the OVA episode, calling it "a rather pointless rehash that to some minds betrays the elegiac quality of the original series—if everything can be reset and reprised à la Tenchi Muyo!, where's the drama?"[7]

• Uta∽Kata Official Website
• Uta Kata (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia