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M×0

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M×0
Cover of the first volume of the manga
エム×ゼロ
(Emu × Zero)
GenreAction, Fantasy, Romantic comedy
Manga
Written byYasuhiro Kanō
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 1, 2006 – May 19, 2008
Volumes10[1] (List of volumes)

M×0 (エム×ゼロ, Emu × Zero) is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Kanō (Pretty Face) about a school that teaches students how to do magic and the crazy antics of a normal boy who was admitted under special circumstances. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from May 1, 2006 until May 19, 2008, with a total of ninety-nine chapters, published by Shueisha. The first volume of the series was released in Japan on November 2, 2006.

Plot

M×0 centers around a young man named Taiga Kuzumi who has a hot-headed temper and is able to hold his own in a fight. During an interview to determine if he can attend Seinagi Private High School (私立聖凪高校, Shiritsu Seinagi Kōkō) that he had plans of joining, Taiga is asked what he would do if he could use magic. "Conquer the World" is his reply and it is quickly followed by an outburst of laughter from a very cute girl. Upon confronting the girl, she realizes how rude it was of her to laugh at his answer and tries to apologize, ultimately grasping his hands with tears in her eyes. After that point, he does not remember much else about the interview, but one thing he cannot change: he failed to enter the school. Blaming the girl for his failing to enter the school, he goes to Seinagi to confront her about it, when a teacher mistakes Taiga for a student ditching class and pulls him through some type of strange energy barrier that surrounds the school. Without realizing what has just happened, he has set foot on a school dedicated to teaching its students how to use magic, though the shock of his first encounter with it freaks him out so much that he tries to get away from the teacher as fast as he can, effectively convincing the latter that he is a suspicious person. After a confrontation where he is hit with a rather odd spell, he is able to tie the teacher up and run away. Unfortunately, he gets into some more trouble with some upperclassman and during this time is surprised to have found the girl from the interview attending the school. His main priority is then changed from merely survival in a strange land to finding this girl and conveying his feelings of romantic attraction to her, which have most suddenly become clear to him. Later on, due to various circumstances surrounding strict rules of the school, Taiga is admitted into the school but with only one difference from all the other students: he can't use magic. He must now try to survive in a school of magic and try to fool the entire school that he's a powerful magic user at the same time.

Characters

Taiga Kuzumi (九澄大賀, Kuzumi Taiga)
Taiga is the protagonist of the story who is a normal guy who fails at first to get into the high school of his choice, but is soon after taken into the school grounds against his will when he is mistaken for a truant student. He tends to have a very strong-willed personality and never wants to back down from anything. His personality is only matched by his physical strength, as he extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat which is a result of his sister practicing on him constantly. At his preliminary interview into the school of magic he now attends, he briefly met a cute girl named Aika Hiiragi who he instantly has feelings towards. During his first time at the school, he inadvertently incapacitates her father, effectively getting on her bad side for a while.
Once admitted to the school, he quickly finds out that he will not be learning any magic for the time being until they can issue him a proper magic plate. As it is, ever since he was admitted to the school, he has wished he could use magic someday. While he is unable to use magic, much of the school believes his magic skills are far superior to any normal freshman, which makes him very popular. So popular that they try to monopolize his time constantly (through magical means for the most part) even though it is against his wishes. When it is time to demonstrate any magic,either Kenjirō Hiiragi will have to do the magic for him, or he will have to worm out of the situation with his wits and Lucy's help.
During an incident with school bullies who stole plates from students, Taiga lost his temporary plate.He faced either expulsion, or to make a wish, as all students who graduated from the magic school are allowed a wish in proportion to the amount of magical power they have acquired. Depending on the wish the principal was to judge if Taiga would be allowed to remain in the school as losing a plate was a serious offense. Taiga's wish was so that he could "Grant someone else's wish if that person isn't able to grant that wish on their own." The person in question was Aika, who in a chat revealed that her mother died while she was still young, and her greatest wish would be to see her. The principal had a lie-discovering spell cast on herself so she would be able to see if Taiga answered truthfully, which he did. The principal was content and granted him his own personal plate, The M0.
He is in Group 6 of class 1-C and is an Attacker in the magic class match. In the match he is made the VIP player. Defeating him is worth three times more points. Kuzumi survives the game with the help of Lucy (the mandrake), helping him out in 2 instances. Later in the game, Kuzumi defeats the group D king with M0, resulting in a win for group C. After the conclusion of the class matches, Kenjirō Hiiragi and Otome Hanasaki used the fragrance of oblivion to erase his existence from the entire school for one day and used the power of their plates to send his current memories to his past self in order for him to answer the entrance question and enter the school normally. The answer was written in magical alcohol on the final page, but his sister's autographs of a rock band caused the writings to disappear
After the attempts to change time had failed, he received training to master the M0 plate by Rendou Niigaki. The training made Kuzumi capable of changing the M0's magic-negating field into different shapes and sizes. After returning to school, Aika has become his assistant in the Executive Committee and he has received his own room.
During the second magical examination his opponent was a representation of his sister. He was able to insert the magic card by purposely taking a beating and inserting into her when she came to bandage him.
In chapter 88, Kuzumi is told that the Mx0 is able to be upgraded into a Black Plate by adding the powers of Black Magic into the plate itself. While Taiga challenges the trials, the Spirit of the previous principal takes Taiga's body out for a walk. During chapter 90, while the spirit takes Taiga's body he shows his power by beating many students, but Taiga's damage to his magical body in the exam has begun transferring over to his real body. In chapter 91, it reveals that Kuzumi has a higher than normal ability to grasp magic with his senses. It was this ability that caused his magical body damages to become real. As a result he was forcibly expelled from the examination. He was promised he could take the test again. He is now trying to think of away to climb the wall in only one shot. He returns a short time later with Lucy to challenge the wall again, but the Spirit of the previous principal tells him that if he fails again, he is banned from the test for a year. Kuzumi then uses his M0 to create small box shaped openings in the wall so that he can climb them like a ladder. Using this method he gets close to the top but then his M0 runs out of power. He manages to climb to the top with the help of Lucy and finally received his Black Plate M0 which can now memorize 1/10 of the original magic's power. Kuzumi later confront a man named Taki who is an alumnus of the school and offers him to study magic abroad for a year. This would allow him to learn magic in a short amount of time and be able to achieve a gold plate within a year, due to be studying magic day and night. Kuzumi questions what to do but after Hiiragi overs hears him and talks to him about it he decides to take up the offer.
Aika Hiiragi (柊愛花, Hiiragi Aika)
Aika is a young girl attending Seinagi Private High School and is thus a mage in training. She has a unique trait in that she is able to laugh at nearly anything relatively comedical, which always ends up being loud and unrestrained. Her father is one of the magic teachers at her school. Aika has a naturally kind and forgiving personality and it takes a lot for her to not forgive someone for anything they have done to wrong her. She also has a natural clumsiness, which often makes it difficult for her to recite magic spells.
During her elementary and junior high school years, she attended all-girl schools, so this is her first time experiencing co-ed schooling. She does not recall her mother because she lost her at a young age; her wish when she graduates is to see her mother, even though the magic to do this must be extremely powerful. At first Taiga got on her bad side, though she grew to see him as a friend and seems to have developed feelings for him.
She is in Group 6 of class 1-C and is a Spy in the magic class match.
Her plated level up to WI shown in M27. (After the 2nd Examinations, it was leveled up to Red Bronze)
She is a member of the Executive Committee and was recently revealed to be an excellent shogi player, having been personally trained by her father(who is seen to beat always the principal at it, despite the latter long-time experience)
Her main magic revolves around invisibility, changing objects' shape and 'voice warp', something like a sound beam, which is depicted as dangerous and scary by almost everyone (even her father) tho its uses in a day is very limited
Hiiragi's figurine will be released in June 2008 as part of Shueisha's Heroine SSS series.

Class 1-C

Kumi Mikuni (三国久美, Mikuni Kumi)
A friend of Aika's who has long, brown hair (though on some chapter covers she is shown to have blond hair). She's a member of the magic grappling club and is very much into martial arts. She will even attack Taiga without hesitation even though she is under the belief like the other students that he is one of the most powerful students. Her magic seems to revolve around the use of enhancing everyday items(even picked up items like tree branches) through growth into weapons or other such implements. It is revealed in later chapters she is a fan of Taiga's sister due her fighting power. It was also revealed in M:86, she has a great fear of snails do to an incident when she was younger.
Her plate have been leveled up to a WI Plate in M27. She is in Group 6 of class 1-C and is an Attacker in the magic class match.
Michiyo Inui (乾深千夜, Inui Michiyo)
Her nickname is Mitchon and she is a friend of Aika. She is a member of the magic handicrafts club. She is short with black hair and a twin-tail. She likes to tell "old man" gags, especially to Aika.
Her main magic is manipulation magic (one hair muppet mini). By putting the hair of a person on a puppet or a stuffed toy, she can make him perform some actions. She looks scary when she uses her magic, mainly because it looks like she's cursing someone with a voodoo doll. She has a beauty mark under her eye, and rarely smiles.
She is in Group 6 of class 1-C and is a Spy in the magic class match.
Kaoru Ise (伊勢カオル, Ise Kaoru)
Kaoru is a student in Taiga's class who is not very skilled at doing magic. However, he has already gained a reputation for being a huge pervert at school, already having touched most of the freshman girls at least once. He has an older brother one year ahead of him in age who is much more advanced than he and much of the other freshman and sophomore classes combined in terms of magic. In order not to be left behind too far, Kaoru joined Seinagi High to learn magic just like his brother.
Before long, he starts calling Taiga his best friend and hangs out with him constantly at school.
He is in Group 6 of class 1-C and is a Guard in the magic class match.
Part of Kuzumi group during the Second magic exam, he is removed from the exam by a fake Mikuni. After his first removal, his magic proves vital for Kuzumi to advance farther in it. It is said by Kuzumi that his Magnet Magic could be the arch enemy of his brother's Metal magic and he soon has to fight an illusion dummy of his brother Satoshi to pass the exam and succeeds by magnitizing the dummy's Metal Chain magic to the wall and at the same time Kaoru puts his Magic Plate into the Fake Satoshi and reaches his final destination. His plate has leveled up from Chrome (C) to Red-Bronze (RB) as a result of his success in the examination.
Hayao Tsugawa (津川駿, Tsugawa Hayao)
He is in Group 3 of Class 1-C during the examination and uses magic to increase the speed of his skateboard. A Spy in the magic class match he uses his skateboard as a speedy transportation to serve as a scout and a messenger. He soon befriended Kuzumi and thought that he would still do so even if Kuzumi did not have a gold plate. Since he thinks that Kuzumi is an interesting person and that the class is not boring ever since he came. He has a WI magic card and is called the Speed King in the class. He is the class rep love interest and they are currently going out. As of chapter M88 his plate has leveled up to White Bronze (WB).
Meiho Shimoda (下田明歩, Shimoda Meiho)
She is the Class Rep (Iinchō) of 1-C and is in Group 3. She started off having short hair and then later have a long hair, but she still is wearing glasses. She proposes the idea of having Kuzumi be shared by everyone in the class for summer holidays(to help people's trainings), despite Kuzumi's complaints. She has been dating Tsugawa.
Nanami Minaguchi (皆口南々海, Minaguchi Nanami)
She is in Group 3 of Class 1-C and uses Volume Alteration/Strengthening magic during the examination. She has a grudge to Kumi because she thinks that the class regards her as the most beautiful girl because of her superior looks, style, and strength.
Funaki (舟木, Funaki)
She is in Group 3 of Class 1-C and got 7 points during the examination.
Jirou Kagenuma (影沼次郎, Kagenuma Jirou)
He is in Group 3 of Class 1-C. He is a Guard in the magic class match and has a WI Plate. He cannot express his thoughts or speeches fully and so it is unheard by most people in the class. Although he doesn't know Kuzumi's true motives for not using his magic, he has a high respect for him. He thinks that Kuzumi is a great man, for restraining himself and letting the class recognize their own merit by actually working hard and putting effort to win the magical matches. His main magic is called "Shadow Bind" which is used to Restrict the target's movements when user's shadow contacts the target's shadow. He has recently joined the Executive Committee as of chapter 97.
Akira Momose (桃瀬晶, Momose Akira)
She is a King in the magic class match and has a C Plate. Her specialty is using transformation magic (Henge).
Fumi Izumo (出雲文美, Izumo Fumi)
She is a Guard in the magic class match. She has a WI plate and is adept in calligraphy.
Hiromi Tsutsumimoto (堤本浩巳, Tsutsumimoto Hiromi)
He is an Attacker in the magic class match.
Yoshio Tajima (田島誉士夫, Tajima Yoshio)
He is an Attacker in the magic class match.
Ryouma Hata (畑龍馬, Hata Ryouma)
He is a Spy in the magic class match.
Gouya Tsugihara (次原豪也, Tsugihara Gouya)
He is a Guard in the magic class match.
Kyouko Hikawa (氷川今日子, Hikawa Kyouko)
She has an I Plate and can use the magic Change Seal.

Class 1-D

Hidekazu Tsuchiya (土屋秀和, Tsuchiya Hidekazu)
He is an Attacker in the magic class match and is defeated by Mikuni in M37.
Shimada (島田, Shimada)
He is a Guard in the magic class match and is defeated by Kuzumi in M36.
Kazunari Takeya (竹谷和成, Takeya Kazunari)
His nickname(?) is Taketani. He is a King in the magic class match.

Class 1-F

Naomi Mizuki (観月尚美, Mizuki Naomi)
A member of the Drug Maker Club. She initially disliked Taiga because Taiga was under the influence of an hourenge herb, which are used in love potions. After Taiga rescues her and brings back the herb, she develops a crush on him despite claiming to dislike men. She quickly cut her hair after her introduction to change her image because she thought Taiga's first impression of her was a bad one.
She is an Attacker in the magic class match and has a White-Bronze plate (WB), as of chapter 94. She can split her Angel Fly magic into smaller rings.
Her affection for Kuzumi seems to have rose over the break since she panics and runs away when they see each other again. During the Cultural Festival she helps Kuzumi find the final bomb. Also, Kuzumi discovers her notebook, where he finds a drawing of him. He is drawn with insults and what he believes is arrows all around him, but they are actually hearts. The insults in the notebook were actually affectionate words or praises towards Kuzumi but because Kuzumi was in a mirror world, the writings became opposite. In the last chapter, she ends not confessing to Kuzumi, but promises she'll change so much in a year that Kuzumi will never take his eyes off her again.
Takahiko Daimon (大門高彦, Daimon Takahiko)
He is the King in the 1-C against 1-F match and has a WI Plate. After losing to group C in a magic class match he warned them that he'll be the one to take them down next time. His main magic involves shooting strands of his own hair using his bow with great precision (Pinpoint Sagittarius). There have been hints that Daimon has a small infatuation for Aika, because she has beaten him twice, once during the Class match with the help of Taiga and the other in shogi. He is one of only 3 first-year students whose plate has leveled up to Bronze (B) after the second magic examination. He is also a member of the Executive Committee.
Takuma Koishikawa (小石川拓馬, Koishikawa Takuma)
A hulking member of Mizuki's class who has a one-sided crush on her. He also holds a grudge against Taiga for apparently being the object of Mizuki's affections.
He is an Attacker in the magic class match and has a WI Plate. As of chapter M90, his plate has leveled up from WI to Red-Bronze (RB) after the second magic examination.
Yuuki Takebe (武部優希, Takebe Yuuki)
He is a Guard in the magic class match.
Mikako Kon (今美可子, Kon Mikako)
She is a Guard in the magic class match.
Murasaki Sakuraba (桜庭紫紀, Sakuraba Murasaki)
She is a Spy in the magic class match.
Emiri Mishina (三科映美理, Mishina Emiri)
She is an Attacker in the magic class match.
Jun Shiraishi (白石淳, Shiraishi Jun)
He is an Attacker in the magic class match.
Tokura (都倉, Tokura)
He is a Spy in the magic class match.
Aoe (青江, Aoe)
He is a Guard in the magic class match.
Mayu Fujishige (藤重昌佑, Fujishige Mayu)
She is a Spy in the magic class match.
Makito Takagi (高木牧人, Takagi Makito)
He is a Spy in the magic class match.
Mitsuo Hosoyamada (細山田満雄, Hosoyamada Mitsuo)
He is a Guard in the magic class match.

Magic Executive Committee (1st and 2nd years)

Ryuudou Nagai (永井龍堂, Nagai Ryuudou)
A boy in second year with a Silver Plate. He is the A Building Branch Chief. He has a magical skull-patterned bandanna named Rocky, which can speak on its own and mostly, is extremely rude. It is revealed that Nagai uses the Rocky because of his tendency of not speaking harsh enough, give his position.

He also has a history with Kaoru's brother, Satoshi, who was (and probably, still is) his best friend.

Rei Uwai (宇和井玲, Uwai Rei)
A girl in second year with a Silver Plate. She is the Vice-head of the A Building Branch. Her main magic is Black Band Whip. She constantly says how she wants Taiga as her subordinate, because she likes men doing her tasks, and hugs him many times. She didn't get screentime enough to know if she really likes him. It is confirmed, however, that she does look for excuses to win him over.
During the cultural festival she used Spider magic.
Souji Hachijou (八条宗二, Hachijou Souji)
A boy in second year with a Silver Plate.
Haruka Numata (沼田ハルカ, Numata Haruka)
A girl in second year with a Bronze Plate. Her plate have been levelled up to a Cobalt Plate. During the cultural festival she used Ziplock magic.
Makoto Satoya (里谷誠, Satoya Makoto)
A boy in second year with a Bronze Plate. His main magic is UFO Crane.

Magic Executive Committee (3rd years)

Elite third years who are exceptionally strong in magic. They are also scholarship students who has the rights to keep their memories about magic after the graduation, as revealed in the final episode. Unfortunately, the manga is cancelled before they, except for Namezuka, can make a real debut.

Namezuka (滑塚, Namezuka)
A boy in third year with a Ruthenium Plate who uses the "Magic Hand". He is asked by the school vice principal to investigate Kuzumi. His power level seemingly is over even that of the Nagai, the 2nd year brand chief. He appears to be quite an antagonist but as things turns out, he's just too serious on his job as an executive.

Teachers

Kenjirō Hiiragi (柊賢二郎, Hiiragi Kenjirō)
Kenjirō is a 37-year-old widower who is Aika's father and the chairman of the magical arts at Seinagi High School. The students of the school show him a lot of respect, always bowing when he passes by and making sure not to upset him. This is because his magic skills are second only to the principal herself and thus every student fears him. The only way he was able to keep his job after Taiga found out about the school was to have Taiga join the school as a student. He is very protective of his daughter, especially if it involves anything having to do with Taiga, who is in the same class as her. Hiiragi is also a skilled shogi player shown to have beaten the principal on several occasions.
Otome Hanasaki (花先音芽, Hanasaki Otome)
She is the principal of Seinagi High School. A kind hearted person, she gives Kuzumi the M0 plate and is the third person to find out about Lucy. Her plate was broken for a short time after attempting to help Kuzumi change the past. It was revealed that she was the proctor to the entrance test (in her younger form to not stress the students). She took an interest in Kuzumi and stated if he ever had anything to do with the school again she would be on his side.
Kagami (鏡, Kagami)
He is the vice principal of Seinagi High School. The principal notes that he hates anyone who breaks the rules, regardless of why. He sent Namezuka to investigate Taiga to see about the reports of Taiga erasing magic. Like the third years executives, he is not given much screen time because of the sudden ending.
Takao Ooki (大木高男, Ooki Takao)
He is a magic teacher in Seinagi High School and is 32 years old. Kuzumi makes fun of him because he is short and is wearing shoes with 8cm platform soles. He intervenes in the first examination to torment Kuzumi and make him fail. However, he fails miserably to the point of being knocked out by Taiga's dynamic success.
He reappears in chapter 83 as the proctor of the second magic exam. In the end, he disliked Kuzumi's group getting the top grade, but took satisfaction from seeing Kuzumi injured from his final test in the exam.
Kiriko Momokusa (百草紀理子, Momokusa Kiriko)
She is a magic teacher in Seinagi High School. She is responsible for the second examination where she casts a spell with her long hair that creates a half version of the students.
Fukuo Kadoniwa (門庭福夫, Kadoniwa Fukuo)
He is a magic teacher in Seinagi High School. His main magic is Good Guy Soul: it is a magic that makes the temperature of everyone who thinks the gag is "cold" drop 0.3°Celsius.
Rendou Niigaki (新垣蓮道, Niigaki Rendou)
He is a former teacher from Seinagi High School. He is the one in charge of Kuzumi's training to improve the use of the M0 Plate. The names of his magic techniques seem to pay homage to the Super Mario Bros game series.

Others

Lucy (ルーシー, Rūshī)
A beautiful and intelligent wild mandrake plant, Lucy made herself known to Taiga's presence due to his kindness for mandrakes, having shed tears at the death of one during a school experiment(He also refused to grind one even at the cost of his secret revealing). Lucy is 30 years old , though converted to human years, this actually makes her around 15 years old (additionally, a normal mandrake's maximum age is around 200 years). Her personification illusion is more advanced than standard cultivated mandrakes at the school, which allows her to appear as a tiny naked human girl in appearance, though she will only reveal herself in front of Taiga. Whenever Taiga (or even herself) says anything remotely cool or romantic in nature, compliments, or generally anything sweet, she claims it "stinks", not that she doesn't like it. Lucy accidentally received the blessing of the Dryad Ring, which increased her magic level, also granting her the permanent abilities of flight, invisibility, and heightened physical strength along with sensitivity to magic auras. It is also noted that even before receiving the ring, Lucy already had a considerable amount of magic, capable of knocking down a golem left to prevent students from entering the forbidden cave.
Following Taiga to his school, she resolved to help him as much as possible with her new powers, so that he would not be found out by the other students. She is being cultivated inside the principal's office, with both the principal and Kenjirō Hiiragi aware of Lucy's existence. For the one who gave her freedom, Lucy's dream is to build a house on the mount behind the school just for Taiga and herself, and take care of him when he's old. She is very close to Taiga, and will not tolerate people badmouthing him, even if they are his or her friends. Kuzumi's reaction to this is never highlighted, though(One thing, for certain, is that Kuzumi likely doesn't see Lucy as a love interest, yet with him not even feeling anything about the always-naked Lucy)
During the class matches Taiga sets the mandrakes used for experiments free and plants them around the class match area to aid him (though none were planted in the finals area)
In chapter 81 Aika and Naomi discovered her after she was seen floating and talking to Taiga. After some initial arguing, they became Lucy's first female friends other than the principal.
Later on, Lucy and Taiga plants mandrakes around the school, opening a new mandrake network (essentially adding eyes around the school) to aid Taiga when required.
Following Taiga's decision at the end of the manga to accept the transfer offer to another school in order to properly study magic, Lucy is distressed until Taiga reveals he plans to take her with him, much to her joy.
Satoshi Ise (伊勢聡史, Ise Satoshi)
Ise's older brother who has great talents in magic and seems to be favored by his family. He was part of the Executive Committee but was asked to retire due to his violent tendencies. Afterwards he became even more violent and bullied underclassmen or those less talented. After a fight with Taiga he seems to have calmed down though he swears vengeance against Taiga. He helps Nagai win the magic fight in the Cultural festival, he has a silver plate.
Kokuha Kuzumi (九澄胡玖葉, Kuzumi Kokuha)
She is Kuzumi Taiga's older sister and is 19 years old. She is very short for her age (132cm) and is often mistaken as the younger sister instead also leading to a complex about her height. This is exampled when she goes to the school to see her brother. They thought she was younger and when her brother shows up she takes it out on him by beating on him in front of everyone. She was a rising star in karate during her grade school and middle school years, so much that Kumi admires and wants a match with her, though was told to fortify her body first. Due to Kokuha practising on Taiga constantly, he became much tougher than most people would. She also had a one-time infatuation with Kenjiro Hiiragi, though upon mistaking her an elementary school girl she felt rejected and proceeded to beat Kenjiro severely.
She later shows up during the normal school festival and defeats three troublemakers, and when she stays around for a treat is mistaken for a child once again by her brother whom she then beats on.
In the 2nd Exam, Kuzumi has to fight against a clone of his sister (when she had the flu and went berserk thus using her full strength) to pass and she already appears to be giving Kuzumi trouble. He barely managed to pass by letting her beat him up so afterwards, she would approach him to bandage up his wounds, allowing him to insert the card into her body. It was also there that it is revealed that Kokuha is actually caring and protective for her brother, thinking of protecting him from bullies even when she herself is feverish.
Mitsuhiro Oikawa (及川光日郎, Oikawa Mitsuhiro)
He is the drug maker club president and has a Bronze Plate. His appearance suggest him to be a mean bully but he turns out quite nice, being worried about Kuzumi and co. when sent to the forbidden cave.
Yamane (山根, Yamane)
He is one of the two "Violent Plate Demon" who stole the plates of freshmen for fun. He was expelled from school (and his memories were erased) after being caught by Kuzumi.
Mako Tokita (時田マコ, Tokita Mako)
A girl from Class B who is known for her large breasts(possibly the largest among students). Her face has never been shown, though every character can instantly recognize her by her breasts. In the final chapter of the manga, her face was revealed. (It is quite a gentle face)
Spirit of Previous Principal
Otoya Hanasaki is the father of Otome, the current school principal. He was the previous principal before her. Death is evidently not a factor for him, as even after death, he still lingers around to offer his daughter advice when she needs it. He is said to be the only person who knows how to create Black Spell Plates. He seems to have the appearance of a young boy around Taiga's age with a huge cloth wrapped around his body and lacks feet as typical of ghosts. He administered Taiga's trial to earn the right to have a Black Plate, consisting of Taiga climbing a large structure. He at first thought it wasn't possible for Taiga due to his lack of any kind of magic though Taiga managed to pass the trial with the help of Lucy temporarily using up her magic power and was allowed a Black Plate. In the final storyarc of the manga, his cause of death was revealed; due to creating the Black Plates which use a unique metal, such magic involved in purifying the metal consumed his body and life.
The former principal is widely respected by many of the older magic-using population (because he created the black plates) thus his decisions are not generally questioned, except by his daughter.
Taki (滝, Taki)
An alumnus of the Magical School. Taki is the leader of a special agency made up of magical technicians who are still able to use magic after graduation from the school. Taki knows the truth about Kuzumi's M0 plate from the former principal and was convinced by him to send Kuzumi to a broading school. When Kuzumi confronts him, Taki tells him to make a choice of going to a boarding school to be personally trained by him for one year.

Magic

Magic plates

Tree Graph showing the ranks of plates in M×0.

The magic in M×0 is used through magic plates. The plates are a sort of magical data storage device, which allows for magical spells and power to be stored. There are many ranks of plates, which all have different magic capacities, the higher the rank the more magic can be stored within. Magic is installed into the Plates through incantations. The quality of the installed spell depends on the state of the user; if the user is at the peak of their spiritual concentration, then the spell would have a high quality. When a spell's incantation has been read to the plate and the plate has recorded it, the spell can easily be recalled by saying the name of the spell to the plate.

Spells take up a certain amount of space inside the plates. The more powerful the spell, the more capacity it will require. Therefore, the user would not be able to have many powerful spells if they have a low capacity plate. Spells also use magic points, which are given to the students for good behaviour, public services, good academy grades and general excellence. So far, there does not seem to be a limit on the amount of magic points one can accumulate.

Plates

  • Dummy Magic Plate: it's a plate for guests. It lets people go in and out of the school but has no magical capacity.
  • Black Plate: A special feature added to a plate which allows it to save bits of magic used around the plate owner. This allow users of other kinds of plates (even M0 users) to save magic to their plate for usage later. Every staff member in Seinagi possess a black plate. A downside to the Black Plate for M0 users is that the stored magic will be erased when M0 is used. Normally only high-grade 3rd year students are allowed to take the test for a black plate, but Taiga, due to him always being forced to use M0, is exceptionally authorized to do so. Black plates also allow the holders to leave the school without getting their magic erased.
  • M0: M0 is a special Plate. According to the principal it is a rank below Red. The M0 has no magical capacity whatsoever, so no spells could be installed in it. The M0 has a special property, possessing the power to nullify all magical activity in an area. Using the M0 drains magic points equal to the amount used to cast the spell; if it is used too often it can never rank up. Taiga's dream is to advance his M0 into a Gold plate so he could grant Aika's wish of seeing her mother again. As such, he uses it only when necessary and constantly bluffs his way out of situations.
  • 1st level :
    • Red Iron (RI): the plate normally given to the first years at the magic school. This plate has very limited magical storage.
  • 2nd level :
    • Iron (I): this plate is a level higher than the RI.
    • Chrome (C): this plate is a level higher than the Iron.
    • White Iron (WI): this plate is a level higher than the Chrome. The capacity is thought to be at least two times the capacity of the RI.
  • 3rd level :
    • Yellow Bronze (YB)
    • Blue Bronze (BB)
    • White Bronze (WB)
    • Red Bronze (RB)
  • 4th level :
    • Bronze (B): this plate is higher ranked than the Red Bronze plate but lower rank than the Silver and consequently has more storage space than the Red Bronze but less than Silver.
  • White Gold way : Those who emphasize consistency
    • Silver black (Sb)
    • Silver (S): Silver plates are possessed by powerful students. Those who have a Silver plate are respected by their peers and are doing very well in their magical studies.
  • Rare Metal way : Those who emphasize spells
    • Rubidium (Rb)
    • Cobalt (Co):
  • Strengthened Alloy way : Those who don't have a large variety of spells but have strong magic
    • Steel (St)
    • Cemented carbide (Cc)
  • Others :
    • Ruthenium (Ru):
    • Gold (G): the Gold plates are for extremely powerful magic users, they carry the highest amount of Magical capacity currently known to the series and such plates are feared among students. All teachers carry gold plates. Taiga attains one during his fight with Kenjiro Hiragi, but did not know what it was at the time. Later he is given a fake Gold plate as all the students have seen him with a Gold plate and the school wanted to cover up the incident.
    • P: the principal of Seinagi High School uses this plate in M54. The name of this plate is unknown, but since the names of the plates are all metal or metal alloys, there is a high possibility that P stand for Platinum.

Magic spells

Magical plants

Mandrake
Often used as a hallucinogen, mandrakes grow in special magical areas and protect themselves by showing hallucinations (a personification of the mandrake). A Magic Plate automatically protects its owner from this level of magical power. Mount Seinagi Mandrakes share images through a magic web. Kuzumi, whose fake plate has no magical power, sees the mandrake's human form and was horrified when she/it was crushed to make medicine; after a series of events, he later gains alliance of sentient mandrake plants because of this.
Lucy (ルーシー, Rūshī)
A wild kind of Mandrake. Some of her magic (like the personification) is higher compared to that of the ones cultivated in Seinagi School, but her magic can still be automatically blocked by a Magic Plate. She is 30 years old (it corresponds only to 15 years for a human) and has a life span of approximately 200 years.
She used the Dryad Ring obtained from the Dryad Spring in the hidden room at the bottom of the cave on the mount behind the school and evolved her powers:
  • She became able to move freely around in the sky
  • She attained the ability to be invisible
  • Her physical strength increased
  • Her sensitivity to magic auras increased
  • Her skin started shivering
After obtaining these new abilities, she decided to follow Kuzumi to school. She was a little careless and Kenjirou Hiiragi saw her. She is now being cultivated in the principal's office. She thinks of Taiga as a very close friend and won't let people get away with badmouthing him. She is a sort of sidekick to Taiga and helps him whenever possible. Her dream is to build a house on the back mount for just Kuzumi and her and to take care of Kuzumi once he gets old. She says that Taiga's words stink at times (usually those that are considered sweet such as good compliments and such to girls). In chapter 81 Aika and Naomi discovered her after she was seen floating and talking to Kuzumi. After some initial arguing, they became Lucy's friends. Aika and Naomi began to believe that there is a special relation going on between Lucy and Kuzumi, even though they aren't sure if it's true.
Hourenge Herb
When wrapped in a sack, its gas accumulates for 1 day and you can use it as a love potion.
Lyar Jelly
A carnivorous plant which catches its prey with a jelly-like secretion with a paralysing effect and copies their appearance. With the copied appearance of the prey as bait, it collects even more prey.
Zamo Seeds
When mixed with Kui Leaf Sap, it produces Kuizamo Oil.
Kui Leaves
When mixed with Zamo Oil, it produces Kuizamo Oil.
Nemu Nemu Cactus
When doused with water, it releases a hypnotic gas that puts anyone who inhales it to sleep.

Magic Class Match

A tournament between the 6 classes of the first years 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, 1-D, 1-E and 1-F.

The teams: each class forms a team composed of 13 players: 4 Attacker Characters (A·C), 4 Spy Characters (S·C), 4 Guard Characters (G·C) and 1 King Character (K·C).

Each player has a PaintBall (PB): inside a pendant for the Attackers, Spies and Guards and inside a hat for the King. When the PB of a player is destroyed, they are disqualified. You can destroy the PB of an enemy with physical or magical attacks. The inside of the PaintBall is filled with a coloured fluid: Red for Attackers, Yellow for Spies and Blue for Guards; but the PaintBalls look exactly the same on the outside.

The players
  • Attacker Character (A·C): An A·C's pendant radiates when an enemy is within a radius of 5 m, unless the enemy is a Spy. An A·C gets 6 points when they destroy the PB of an enemy Attacker or Guard, but gets a penalty of 6 points if they destroy the PB of a Spy. A·Cs are the only ones who can destroy the PB of the enemy King.
  • Spy Character (S·C): A S·C's pendant radiates when the enemy King is within a radius of 20 m. A S·C gets 2 points if they destroy the PB of any enemy.
  • Guard Character (G·C): A G·C's pendant radiates when an enemy is within a radius of 5 m. They can attack enemy players, but will not receive any points for doing so.
  • King Character (K·C): they can attack enemy players, but will not receive any points for doing so.

The tournament: the matches are played one team versus one team.

  • First round: there are 3 matches. The 3 winning teams and the losing team that showed the best fights qualify for the second round.
  • Second round: there are 2 matches. The 2 winning teams qualify for the final match.
  • Final match
Victory condition

Victory is achieved either if:

  • An Attacker destroys the PB of the enemy King
  • A team gets more than 30 points
Special Rule
VIP Rule
Because Kuzumi Taiga is supposed to have a Gold Plate, a new rule was added in order to maintain the game's fairness. Kuzumi became a VIP Character, worth a triple amount of points if he is defeated. Also because Kuzumi Taiga was chosen as an attacker, defeating him would bring the team more than half way to victory through points.
Safety Area
  • this is a rule only used during the final
  • the field is divided into 11 blocks
  • regularly a block is chosen at random and a time limit is announced
  • if players of only one team are inside the block when the time is up then the team obtains the block but if players of both teams are inside the block then a contest begin
  • during the contest no other players can enter the area (or else they will lose by foul play)
  • when a team wins the contest, the players of the other team who are inside the area are disqualified, the winning team gains 3 points for each enemy player regardless of their role and obtains the block
  • the block become a safety area for the winning team and the enemy players can't stay more than 10 minutes in this area (or they would be disqualified)

Manga

Main article: List of M×0 chapters

M×0 was serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between May 1, 2006 and May 19, 2008 and is published by Shueisha.[2] Ten bound volumes were released in Japan. The manga was intended to run for longer, but due to the low ratings it had in Weekly Shōnen Jump it was put up for cancellation. It is being edited in Argentina by the Ivrea editorial department.

References

  1. ^ "M×0 volumes at s-book". Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  2. ^ "Mx0 to end in Shōnen Jump". 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-04-27.

Further reading

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