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| 10. h8er13
 
Knowing that Gainax had a part in this, I watched having
high expectations. However, Mahoromatic ended up being just another maid
series, with nothing in particular catching my attention. Maybe this is ingenious
of Gainax, following their trend in always producing a different genre
of anime. As I stated earlier though, Mahoromatic is purely another maid
series with its own little distinguishing aspects, as is common with all maid
series. The only intriguing aspect of this anime is a countdown that is posted
at the end of each episode. The countdown adds a touch of impending doom and presents
the inevitable tragedy that will occur, which drastically sobers the mood of the
anime, which is intended to be very light hearted and highly targeted in the fanservice
area. This was a fun and enjoyable series, despite
its lack of originality. Perhaps a series purely catering to the fanservice aspect
with original jokes and amusing situations might have been better, like Gainax's
Ebichu. |
| 9. Qian Wan
She is automatic, a maiden, and her name is Mahoro. This action-packed
and fun-filled series has struck the appreciation of many anime fans. With an
AMAZING soundtrack, which I purchased from the nearby Coconuts that I rarely step
into, a maiden voiced by Kawasumi Ayako, my ears were leisurely satisfied.
The art leans more to a shoujo genre because of the rosy colors. The character
designs are great and a maid costume to be loved by everyone. The
series begins with Mahoro going to Suguru's house to apply for a job. Suguru lives
by himself, has a huge mansion with a lot of rooms and porn magazines (what, if
I live by myself and have extra dough...)*cough cough* So when Mahoro got accepted
into the mansion, she is totally going to "clean house" (pun intended).
Suguru, having recognized that Mahoro does chores with inhuman efficiency and
then finally told that Mahoro is actually a combat android from VESPER, a secret
organization that his grandpa served in, did not care much. Of course, Mahoro
loves Suguru so much that she bathed him and did all kinds of sort (you know).
The fact that the series is ecchi did not interfere with the story plot, which
I think is acceptable and very well done. Because Mahoro is the ideal maiden,
she attracted waves of Suguru's friends, who envied the new life of Suguru. Suguru's
friends are hilarious and some are psycho, which contributed a lot to the overall
crazy funny-bone tickling story. But Mahoro being a combat android does have her
limited functioning days. And androids from other organizations keep close eyes
on Mahoro and await the right time to strike. Can Mahoro live the rest of her
functioning days in peace? And with every episode ending with the Mahoro's remaining
lifeline in days, will it ever hit 0!!? (ahhhh). You have 26 episodes to find
out (12 from series 1 and 14 from series 2). Why
I have it: the word "maid" and "Kawasumi Ayako" put
together.
High: Very very funny, good OP and ED songs. Up-to-par illustrations
and thumbs up voice acting (duh).
Low: That season 2 isn't included, thus lacking
a 'real' ending. Not as funny as season 2.
Final words: Stay away from parents
as you watch this hilarious sutori. |
| 8. End
of Hearts 
Mahoromatic is flat out the greatest maid anime on the
face of this earth, truly something as a maid story so well done by the people
at Gainax. Mahoromatic for starters is an extremely heavy ecchi
show. You will be seeing breasts flying left to right, up and down and breast
jokes every 10 seconds. It is all in good fun, the fanservice having some point,
in this case being used as jokes. Most people will find them funny and then we
will have the rest of those mature people who will just bash this show for it.
Fanservice aside, there is an actual story to the show. Mahoro, finished will
all her duties as a battle android will make up for a past sin, killing Suguru's
father, by spending her remaining operating time with Suguru, being his maid.
The first couple of episodes are initially for character introduction and at the
end of the season, the story starts to kick up. Keep in mind though, this is just
the first season, wait until you see the next season's episodes. |
| 7. Tyrenol
It's apparent that Gainax has withdrawn from the Hideaki
Anno style of creativity and is starting to create mind-numbing, praise-worthy
works. Mahoromatic is an extremely fun piece of work; meanwhile it keeps
you on the edge of your seat with its inclusion of hardboiled sci-fi. I
mean... A combat android war veteran who decides to spend the remainder of her
warranty looking after the son of her superior? As a run-of-the-mill maid? And
our male lead, Suguru, is considered by fans the "anti-Shinji." Yet
what he does during these "hostage-taking" moments is downright stupid.
However he fills the role as suprisingly well and without being too weird. Ms.
Shikijou is by far one of the most fun characters I've met in a long time. Her
"annoyance standards" is that of El Hazard's Jinnai and Hand
Maid May's Nambara; destined to get under Mahoro's skin. Extra
points go to Bang Zoom Production for a great dub; where Mahoro's been
given a "Bringish" accent. (A cross between British and English; she's
suppose to be a maid, you know.) |
| 6. Olmanek
It is a pretty common story, maid for one, and then android/robot
coming to terms with the world, but thankfully it doesn't become too predictable
by having any of those terrible sterile philosophical thoughts, and amazingly,
the maid isn't too naïve and can be quoted as saying "I think being
perverse is wrong" which is miraculous for a maid anime series, but there
is still a fair bit of fan service and panty shots and has a lot of ecchi situations
to spite itself somewhat. The story does have depth, which is only to be expected
of Gainax, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, unlike other Gainax
works, however, it does have that nihilistic feel about it, at the end of every
episode, a little screen comes up telling us how long Mahoro has until she stops
functioning, or properly put, dies. Yes, the death of the lead character is set
from the very first episode, of course in most other series you would expect there
to be some miracle cure just in the nick of time, but this is Gainax we
are dealing with here, they have no problem with killing the world, so your faith
in the likelihood of a miracle can waver somewhat. Really this is an odd anime,
it isn't a blatant maid story, it isn't devoted to an android learning about the
world and learning to love and feel emotion, it isn't self indulgently dark, it
isn't as perverted as it easily could have been, and unfortunately, it isn't as
great as it easily could have been, I think perhaps Gainax tried to tip
their toes in too many ponds. This series can be compared to the way the Vandread
series was made, it was put out to see how popular it would be, and then if it
proved a success they would continue the story with another series, which was
recently confirmed, Mahoro will be back for another series and she will have a
little sister. A family of androids, how intriguing. |
| 4. Cross
Scars
Gainax's first anime offering after the off the wall Furi
Kuri focuses on Mahoro, a battle android, who decides to live what remaining
operational time she has left as a maid. Clocking in at only 12 episodes, along
with a special 'making of' episode, Mahoromatic is a relatively short series
and this has its advantages and disadvantages. The
main plus point from this is that Mahoromatic is a very well animated series
as shorter ones tend to be. The whole thing looks very cute and the pretty characters
and plentiful amounts of fan service all add to this. The personality of each
member of the cast, especially Mahoro herself, is also so likable that it's difficult
not to like them all and find the series enjoyable. But
the fact that Mahoromatic is so short works against it most when it comes
to the plot. While the first half of the series is fairly episodic it's still
great to watch as Mahoro starts out in her human life and it seems a shame to
leave this behind in the more serious second half. The most irksome aspect of
Mahoromatic however is the fact that there are still some loose ends remaining
at the end of the series as the anime is only a portion of the manga. As
a result it would be nice to see a second series of Mahoromatic in a similar
way that Vandread was divided up into two short stages but that is probably
merely wishful thinking. |
| 2. weasl
The latest TV series from Gainax is once again based on a manga,
and once again we are left with a story that's not fully realized. Mixing ample
doses of fanservice, large guns, cute girls, and massive Gainax trademark explosions,
Mahoromatic is surely a visual treat. Our heroine is Mahoro, a combat android
who with her last year of energy decides to become a maid for a young boy. Of
course things don't always work out as planned. The earlier episodes of Mahoromatic
are its strongest with it's hyper cute characters, heavy fanservice, and sweet
moments. Sadly when the back story kicks in the majority of the character interaction
gets kicked out the door, and the pacing lags. Ending in volume 3 of the manga,
all I can say is that I hope more gets animated. A series I enjoyed a great deal. |
| 1. Jasconius
"What's that, another maid show?" seems to be a comment
I hear frequently these days, but it doesn't really apply to Mahoromatic.
Mahoro actually has a reason for being a maid, and a story and personality. Mahoromatic
the anime only animates the beginning of the manga so far, and as such, it doesn't
have a conclusive ending to the whole story, only the arc. Hope is that there
will be more Mahoromatic in the future, but this arc stands on its own
pretty well. Suguru's friends are all pretty cool and go along nicely to balance
Mahoro's life with Suguru now with her life before as a combat android. The end
of the anime series is interesting with Mahoro's choices, and although what she
decides to do probably isn't unpredictable, it's still fun to watch. The main
detracting point for me was Shikijo-sensei, who added nothing to the story and
just got on my nerves the entire time. I sure did like episode 9 a lot! |
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