Junior high can be a pretty crazy time. Learning to juggle new class formats and the awkwardness of puberty was enough to leave most of us moody and confused as we made the adjustment. For first year junior high student Kosuke Ueki though, these are the least of his worries. Having been selected (because of his righteousness) by some strange old man to fight in a battle to decide the next king of some other world, Ueki has to deal with ninety-nine other super-powered kids his age trying to knock him out of the competition.

You see, the Celestial World is about to decide its new king. To make things interesting, the current king had each Celestial candidate select a human junior high student to compete in battles on their behalf. Each of these students is given a unique power by their candidate to use in the upcoming battles. While the powers tend to be odd in and of themselves — Ueki, for instance, has the power to turn trash into trees — they also come along with strange limiting conditions. Plus, if you use them on someone who is not a part of the competition, you lose one of your natural talents. And if you lose all of your talents, you disappear. While losing a talent or two isn't a huge concern for most of the students, for Ueki it could be a big problem, because he only has eleven to begin with.

To make the risk worthwhile to the students, in addition to their candidate becoming king, the winner will receive the "talent of blank," which lets them choose any power they want for themselves. While Ueki cares little for attaining some grand power for himself, he is determined to prevent those who would use it for selfish or evil purposes from getting it.

Having realized the danger inherent in Ueki's participation, his friend Ai Mori resolves to look after him and do everything in her power to keep him from losing all of his talents and disappearing. Along the way they form a tight knit group of friends who have also been forced into the battle and share a common goal.

The stakes become higher when an insidious plot is revealed that threatens both the human and Celestial worlds. But righteousness and resolve just might be enough to see Ueki and his friends overcome the adversity that lies before them.

Resounding with themes of friendship and courage, The Law of Ueki is a show that appeals to youthful sensibilities. While good and evil are pretty clearly delineated, the subject of redemption is used to inspire hope that even the worst people can change if they are shown the light. Fans of Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh! will probably find a worthwhile diversion, though most adult viewers are probably better off looking elsewhere for 50+ episodes of their time.