Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

After a series of pretty depressing animes (Hoshi no Koe, Byousoku 5 Centimetres), I decided to pick up something light and fun in a school setting and thought that this series looked promising. As a guy, my only other experience with Shoujo anime has been Ouran High School Host Club (OHSHC), which was really funny and enjoyable, so I thought to give it another go. The plot of this anime is pretty straightforward as can be seen from the synopsis. Right from the get-go we already know who the 2 main characters are and how this is going to end, so the only interesting part isin HOW we get there, i.e. the characters and their romantic/comedic interactions have to be tight. The female lead, Ayuzawa Misaki, is refreshingly strong-willed, independent and decisive, totally unlike the simpering, useless female leads we get in the Shounen genre. Importantly, we see that although she has all these positive qualities, she's gotten to where she is through lots of hard work, study and training. This makes her easily likeable. Unfortunately, this does not hold true for the male lead. Usui is (and this is what the anime tells us) the most handsome guy in school, the smartest, the best at every sport he tries his hand at (when he tries, because he doesn't actually belong in any clubs) and rich. Basically he doesn't put in any effort into anything but is still the best at everything. The character is poorly developed because there is no revelation of any flaws/weaknesses, his background, or his motivation (I still don't know why he decided to randomly chase Misaki!). He's just an enigmatic, perfect, rich kid. (I also found him to be an insufferably smug SOB who was borderline stalker-ish and overly possessive, but that might be personal bias). To me, this is unacceptable because the anime was 27 episodes long - more than sufficient to devote 1 or 2 episodes to develop him. In comparison, OHSHC with a harem of 6 guys managed to develop each one's personality, strengths and weaknesses in 26 episodes. The rest of the supporting cast was well fleshed out which made them interesting characters in their own right, from the cross dressing shota to the former delinquent boss to the childhood friend. Each of them got an episode to flesh out their personalities, which again makes me wonder why Usui didn't get any such development. This could be a flaw from the source manga and may not be the fault of the anime, but is a flaw nonetheless. In fact, from the mid-point of the series, I started dreading the moments when the main pairing would get together in a romantic sequence. I also ended up rooting for the 'love rival' who appeared towards the end of the series even though I knew it wouldn't work out. This was when I realised that the 'romance', the whole premise on which this series is founded, had fallen flat for me, mainly on the weakness of Usui's character. Comedy wise, the tone was pretty light and pretty enjoyable throughout. I quite enjoyed Usui's teasing of Misaki and her flustered reactions. The art was also top notch, which made it that much easier to finish a series in which I was unable to make any personal investment. Although I have rated it a 6, I try and use the whole spectrum of grades, so it is still above average and watchable. Just don't have too high an expectation for a good romance, for the reasons I have stated above.

I follow the MAL rating format; Hence 6 is a fair. However i encourage you to make judgment on the review rather than staring at my score. I would also like to state i was not a previous fan, nor am i a girl. -The maid theme is not overused. This is refreshing because when i first started watching i was afraid as to how important this detail would be. While it is a catalyst for many events it is refreshing to see other interesting situations occur totally independent of it; The arcs are not exactly unique or unpredictable, but are still rather enjoyable. -An okay comedy. Itis hard to make me laugh. However, i was surprised at the number of times I enjoyed a joke. The assortment of side characters and their quirks were implemented rather well. -Good array of characters. It is nice to see lots of unique characters and still not overpopulate the cast. It is able to give most of them significance, and have them all interact in many ways. However, they still remain side characters. -Some development for each of those characters. Many characters are given their own episode which allows us to see a small amount of growth in everyone one of them. Even without many getting their own dedication it still takes away from the main plot, and draws out the relationship much longer than need be. -Usui is given the wrong image. He could of been our perfect prince charming, but he is also portrayed as a giant tease. We get absolutely not development for Usui, and never learn why he is afraid of commitment and keeps his distance. Personally, I accepted this since there was no real reason to think badly of him. Yet, in the end we are able to compare him to the more sincere rivals, and I slowly grew to hate him in the later episodes. This point depends on how you feel towards your cliché cold, perfect bishounen when he is the one trying to win over Misaki's feelings.

When news of this year's new shows began surfacing, Kaichou wa Maid-sama was near the top of the ones I was looking forward to most. I had read a little of the manga and always found it to be funny. Last year had featured a pretty good run of romance anime and this looked poised to continue that run. Despite the series' fabulous artwork and a lot of great comedy, it is unfortunately a bit of a disappointment. The premise behind Maid-sama has an initially interesting hook. Misaki Ayuzawa is the newly elected student council president at a mostly male high school.She is strict and violent in protection of the female students and in making it a place friendlier to girls. But she has a secret that could ruin her image as the tough and unyielding class president, she works part time in a Maid Cafe to help her family with the bills. Of course this means that the ultimate alpha male at the school, Usui Takumi, will find out about her secret. Blackmail, as only shoujo can do ensues... or does it? Thankfully the answer is no but what does follow, at least initially is a pretty fun and entertaining back and forth repartee between Misaki and Usui. Misaki is revealed to not be quite the man hating tyrant she is in school and Usui is not the cold, unfeeling ladies man either. The romantic chemistry between the two characters is quite good and builds very quickly early on. But the typical problems that plague shoujo romances soon follow. Relationship development slows to a crawl and nothing of significance happens after the first third of the series until its end. Despite this the series does end with a bang and has a very touching and satisfying conclusion which is probably the only thing that saved it from a lower overall score. Maid-sama at its best is extremely funny and enjoyable to watch. The series' comedy is really quite good most of the time. But no amount of jokes can hide the fact that it doesn’t have any kind of story what so ever. Misaki's job at Maid Latte is mostly just a gimmick, and besides for a handful of episodes it’s totally unimportant to the plot. Basically what we get is a series of loosely connected stories with the same underlying theme. Even though they are mostly funny it gets tiring when you realize that nothing significant is ever happening. When things do finally start to get interesting between our couple, not unexpectedly a rival appears. Though he is so poorly conceived and much too late to the party to have any real significance. It was almost like someone in the production staff realized with five episodes to go that they nearly made an entire anime without a love triangle. Though despite all of this the biggest flaw is the sheer weight of supporting characters and their overall detraction to the screen time and back-story of the lead characters. Misaki makes for a good heroine. She is quite funny walking the line between her dictator president and her submissive maid persona's. However she is a bit of your stereotypical tsundere, but it's easy to root for her. Shockingly we really don't find out all that much about her with the exception of some flashbacks of when she was a little girl (which in actuality weren't even about her). Other than learning her father had walked out on her mother and sister, leaving enormous debts and apparently they are also really poor. An aside to Misaki's family poverty though. I thought the way they portrayed her family was kind of offensive. The inside of the house is crumbling and dirty. Walls have paint peeling off them, the floor has holes in it, and their are spider webs and other cliches. Yes we get it, they're poor. Like poor people can’t keep a clean house? Besides this is completely out of character for someone as meticulous as Misaki. When you consider how fanatical she is at school about keeping things clean and orderly the very idea that she wouldn't do the same at home is totally implausible. Usui on the other hand initially comes off as the kind of love interest I hate. Aloof, privileged, and apparently great at everything he tries he is precisely the kind of ideal man that makes shoujo romances so unbelievable. However it is pretty quickly apparent he isn't your typical leading man. You can tell he is immediately smitten with Misaki from the start and he uses this droll personality of his to push her buttons and amuse himself while at the same time bring her closer to him. I ended up liking him quite a bit. Like Misaki, his past remains as much of a mystery at the end as it was at the beginning. Especially frustrating considering the amount of time that was given to Misaki's childhood friend Shintani who basically only appeared in 4 episodes. The supporting cast really brings down this series though. As much as I enjoyed the leads, I found the rest of the cast to be uninspired and lacking substance. The main reason for this is that there are just way too many of them. Maid-sama features nearly 30 supporting characters and they take way too much from the ones that are actually important. Even if many of them are likable and funny, they have absolutely zero depth and at best one facet to their personalities. Stories with lots of characters rarely work that well especially when the majority serve no purpose and overlap one another. Too many of them are basically identical to each other and were unnecessary. For example I know having a cross dresser is a shoujo staple but having more than one in the same anime is overkill, regardless of whether or not they both did it willingly. The anime is well acted and I enjoyed the performances for the lead actors in particular. Though neither of them are rookies by any means, they aren’t the typical names we are used to seeing at the top of a cast either. So I enjoyed hearing some fresh voices for a change. The music is solid but unspectacular. Saya Mizuno's "My Secret" is an appropriate if kind of generic shoujo OP. Both ED songs by heidi are pretty good though and I liked them a lot more. Artistically Maid-sama is strong. I did enjoy the character designs and the frequent use of deformed and chibi characters to complement the series comedy. The art really brings out the emotions of Misaki and Usui and is able to speak volumes about their feelings for one another even with nothing is being said. The quality of this non audible communication is one of the best I have seen in an anime. Even though I was ultimately disappointed with this anime, it was not a complete waste of time to watch. If you enjoy Rom-Com anime then you will most likely not be sorry for watching this. The comedy is great; the romance is hit or miss.

Kaicho Wa Maid-sama, another series put in the category of typical. Plot: Typical. The main character, Misaki is your not so average shoujo lead, why? Because she is the head of the student council but also conceals and dark secret; she works in a maid cafe. Big whoop. The plot is very linear she meets the handsome, popular bishie of the school and gradually throughout the episodes romance is suppose to flourish. Slice of life is evident because of school activities, competitions, pesky, convenient love triangles and maid service to make the anime seem related to real life. There's is nothing special about the plot, if youseen other shoujos then you can predict what's going to happen next. On a side note when the words "Maid Cafe" appear, I automatically guessed more fan service than the usual. Yup, there is plenty of fan service for both sexes. Hurray. Characters/Development: Very static. Misaki may appear strong at first but after seeing her character I have one thing to say, Tsundere. Everything about her is "Tsundere". How she treats her fellow students with her Iron Fist. How she treats Usui harshly and then tenderly is just plain nonsensical. Did I also mention that she is poor too? Typical. Usui is definitely the worst character in the entire show. He has no flaws, everything about him is perfect and to add he's from a wealthy family. Wikipedia even says so! How is this bad? Usui stalks Misaki... and this is suppose to be sexy? He does not show any emotion, and character at all. Essentially he is a boring robot. Incredibly indistinguishable if you line up him up with other male leads. Expecting character development? Than you'll be disappointed. Side characters are quit forgettable except Hinata and Aoi. Well there's the egotistical rival of Usui, the fan-boys and Misaki's classmates/co-workers. Blah I have a problem with people liking the series just because they think Misaki is a "strong" lead. If that's the case then why does Usui always comes to the rescue? Even when someone is harassing her, Usui seems to be there to stop it automatically. Art/Sound: Decent. Enjoyment: Mediocre. I was expecting something out of the norm since this series was so "talked" about. Overall: The only thing that is unique about this series is Misaki working in a Maid Cafe. Don't believe the hype.

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