On Friday November 16th, AIC, in collaboration with Lycos Japan, launched the first episode of their new series, Mahou Yuugi (Magical Witchland). Available for viewing online at the official site, a new installment of this mahou shoujo series will be broadcast every Friday through early 2002, each episode being approximately 5 minutes in length.

Here's a small collection of character designs for Padudu and a few of Mahou Yuugi's other main characters:

This online version of Mahou Yuugi is being called the 2D series, while a 3D OVA is also in production and is scheduled for release in Japan on December 29th. While the 2D and 3D series share a number of key staff members, director Hayashi Hiroki and character designer Azuma Kiyohiko working on both titles, each series will have its own script writer; Ohnogi Hiroshi is writing for the 2D series, while Hideyuki Kurata is writing for the 3D series.

Here are a few screen shots from the debut episode of the Mahou Yuugi 2D series:

While Lycos Japan's streaming broadcast of Mahou Yuugi is only available in Japanese, the colorful artwork and cute character designs, coupled with the series' sizeable dose of visual comedy, should give even non-Japanese speakers something to enjoy.