Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden

A real emotional rollercoaster anime this one is. What pulled me in straight away is that the main character knew she had 300 or so days to live and shes not even human!! From a battle maiden to a house maid, well you gotta wanna see what happens

It is a comedy and yes its funny how mahoro behaves as she tries to maintain a working reletionship with her boss (a 14 year old sexually curious kid) but obviously they are much much more. She pulls you in with her bright nature yet there is an underlying dark side to her from her war torn past ... that she is desperate to keep her young innocent boss from knowing. After each fun filled episode, the days remaining in her "operating time" is shown and it really made me sad... this i believe sets this anime apart as this is such a rollercoaster of emotions. You can be laughing in one episode and cry in the next.

Don't expect to see any top class fighting scenes but there are some scattered around and expect a weirdish ending.... can't really say i expected it. The characters are cute and each has their unqiue personal traits that makes this comedy one of the funnier ones i've seen. (wanna see what i've seen... check out my list then lol)

For those of you who like chrono crusuade you'd definately would like this one as the story line is similar yet very different. Enjoy :D

I rarely give an anime a perfect score, but this time I have. This is because I've got nothing but respect for this anime and how it's so funny. For those who are common to the Girl meets Boy, Boy does nasty things then gets smacked in the face by Girl, yea it's that kind of anime. But the thing that's different about this anime is it's morals, lessions in life, and awesome battle scenes.

Okay to sum it out, this is a tragic story of an Android from the Vesper forces, Mahoro, who has only a few days to live. In exchange of giving ... up her armor and other weapon systems she is given the chance to live for a year or so. She then decides to become a maid for Suguru Misato, and brings this young man a new sight of life. Originally Suguru was a very depressed individual because his mother died of sickness and his father was died by mysterious reasons. Mahroro wants to help Suguru with the time she has left, but none of the her new friends, and Suguru, know's that she will die soon.


This anime has a second part but that review is for later. I first read the Manga version of this anime, and they are both good. This is an anime you shouldn't pass up. Not just because it's funny but it's just so freaken awesome.

Let me start this review by asking one qn: Is this anime overrated? All the reviews other than mine has at least a 8 overall score... which is way too unbelievable.

Story:7
Great content, extremely bad presentation style. I loved the first ep, as there were lots of expectations for a combat android maid, and a guy who showed some backbone against some criminals hijacking a bus.

But after that, tons of fanservice, unnecessary scenes, unexplained stuff and too-realistic jumps between the present and flashbacks plagued the series. Sometimes, I even wonder which are flashbacks and which are not.

Even worse, the ending parts of this anime was ... a mess. After Mahoro set off for "the final fight", we get tons of unnecessary explanations about some things (like history of S??), more than an episode of flashbacks, some unrelated fanservice and tons of things unexplained. Unexplained scenes remind me of Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou while tons of unnecessary, or rather "filler" scenes remind me of Bleach. Those extra explanations and scenes could have been put to much greater relevance if it was used in some other places, instead of after "the final fight" part started.

That much said, it wasn't as if I didn't enjoy the comedic moments and the content featured. It was more of bad directing and scriptwriting... not to mention a bad closure.

Animation:8
Interesting, with manga drawings and drawings presented along with the animation. Reminds me of FLCL. In this series, it was used quite well, and had more impact than normal animation. Colours used were a bit dull but still quite good. Art was more or less consistent and fighting scenes were animated well.

Sound:6
I didn't like the OP and ED, so I watched only the OP a few times and ED 1 time in full. The OP was not bad... but I felt that the later half of the song was a bit of a jump from the first part. This probably happened cos this is an extract of 1.5 mins from a full song. The ED sounds like a promotional song for Mahoromatic, and didn't add much value to the series.

In addition, variety of bgm was little, and in a lot of scenes there was only dialogue, no bgm or sound effects, which decreased the mood.
Voice acting was fine.

Character:7
Character discussion is a bit controversial. The main 2 characters were quite well done in terms of character development, but seemed a bit fragmented. There was little integration of the two, and each person's past only belonged to him/her. Other than the 2 main characters there was hardly any character development elsewhere.

Character interaction is a bit controversial too. After the initial introductions relationships between the side and the main characters didn't grow much. There wasn't much change in relationship[ development. Even between the main 2, I couldn't see critical interaction like yearning or a more intimate relationship.
Though, Mahoro did change over the series, towards the main guy.

Enjoyment:5
Satellite Poemer was quite unique... and I enjoyed it. The previews were usually of little consequence. And I like the storyline, but the story presentation style pulled down the contents. I was struggling to pull through the "filler" scenes.

Overall:6
Can't say I enjoyed this series. I was thinking "this must be a good series" after seeing the high scores of the reviews presented. Strangely, after I read 2 reviews in detail, I thought the scores do not justify their comments..

Maybe it's just me, but I advise the viewer to skip unnecessary scenes like fanservice. Some just reduce the excitement level.

"I've got one weird grim reaper lookin' over my shoulder."

Have you ever watched an anime that you got really emotionally attached to and thought was a masterpiece but then it slapped you with an ending so abhorrent that you wanted to drive a garlic smeared stake through your heart? Yes/No? Well, that's pretty much the whole 'Mahoromatic' series in a nutshell. Also, as you might have already worked out, I will be reviewing both the first and second seasons of this anime. All right, let's do this.

'Mahoromatic' has a very interesting premise and story, to say the least. The heroine is a combat android, Mahoro, ... at the end of her operational lifespan (a little over a year remaining to be precise) who decides to retire and live as a normal human being. She has been working all her life for an agency that fights off alien invaders with high tech weaponry, androids being one of those. Now that draws you in because first of all, you want to know more about her past. Secondly, it gives the series a bittersweet tone because it constantly reminds you that her time is running out and sooner or later, she'll be dead.

Enter Misato Suguru, the protagonist. Nothing special about him to be honest. Average lanky teenager living in a messy house. But there has to be a catch for the story to work right? There is. Mahoro starts working for Suguru as his maid through her agency. Lo and behold, the story is established.

From that point on the two have various adventures as Mahoro's counter gets ever closer to that dreaded "day 0". That being said, there are a lot of twists in 'Mahoromatic'. A LOT. I personally enjoyed it because it makes the anime unpredictable and keeps you on your toes all throughout. You might try to figure out the story ahead of the episode you've just viewed but trust me, you won't. I applaud the writer's courage to not be afraid to step out of the status quo with the story and surprise the viewers.

As for the characters themselves, they're very original and likeable. Mahoro is a shining example of morality and chivalry. To supplement that, she's extremely strong and the fighting scenes featuring her are a true spectacle. Suguru is a bit of a weakling, but will arise to the challenge like a true man when the need arises. We also have a horde of supporting characters like Slash (Mahoro's support mech who always comes up with some hilarious shenanigans), Hamaguchi (closet pervert), Kawahara(closet pervert's sidekick), Rin... Saori Shikijo (no comment). Needless to say the cast is diverse and largely original.

The art might not be flawless but it's up there. The characters and backgrounds have been carefully drawn but the pièce de résistance in 'Mahoromatic' are the fighting scenes. More specifically, Mahoro's fighting scenes. They are godly. Michael Bay would be very impressed if he ever sat through the 1st and 2nd seasons of 'Mahoromatic'. Explosions, bullets swirling through air, epic hand to hand combat... I live for this shit!

Likewise the sound department is an another strong point of this anime. Apart from the flawless and I mean fucking FLAWLESS voice acting; I'll have you know that Mahoromatic features authentic laughter. Yes, people laughing whilst talking, trying to hold laughter in etc. People talking over each other! No shit? Yes, no other anime does that. Every anime has characters talking in a sequence so it appears unrealistically perfect, i.e characters always know when to start speaking so they don't interrupt each other. No such problem here. The OST is fairly solid too and features some emotionally engaging music so a solid 10 points for the sound department.

And now we come to the enjoyment section and also full circle to the first statement I made in this review. Yes, the ending is absolutely horrible. I wanted to give this anime a full 10. A masterpiece. In fact, 95% of my way through this series I still believed that this was going to be the 11th anime I've given a full score to. Nope. Not a chance, and this is the reason why I've lowered the rating for the story from 10 to 8.

Don't get me wrong though, 'Mahoromatic' is enjoyable and features a very original plot, original characters and it is an anime that will draw you in from the very start but the ending ruins everything. Everything that this series has worked hard for is ruined in the last episode of the second season. The dreaded episode 14.

"I've got one weird grim reaper lookin' over my shoulder." Remember this? Yeah, it pretty much sums up what you'll feel like after watching the last episode of this anime. So please if you ever watch 'Mahoromatic', stop at episode 13 of the second season. It'll give you a more satisfying ending, ironically.

Overall, 9 points.

PROS:
Great action scenes
Has more depth then one might expect at first glance
Likable characters

CONS:
The pervy teacher will undoubtedly annoy some people

STORY:
I really liked the story, it moved at a great pace except for the last few episodes before the finale witch I thought prolonged the final battle for to long. I would have also liked to get to know the supporting cast better.
...
ART:
I have no complaints about the art. Overall I think it is very well done.

SOUND:
This shows dub absolutely perfect. I can't imagine them with different voices, Bridget Hoffman's performance as Mahoro was a pleasure to listen to. Derek Stephen Prince's voice was a perfect fit for Suguro

The music wan't bad at all butt most of it wasn't very memorable for me

CHARACTERS:
Suguro was probably the most surprising character, I was impressed when he stood up to others he had no chance against with no hesitation. Mahoro was a very interesting character, I thought it was impressive how she enjoyed her life despite her violent past.

ENJOYMENT:
I really had fun watching this anime and hope to see it again someday.

OVERALL:
Mahoromatic is a great anime with well thought out characters and a deep story.

(This review covers both seasons of the same series).

Well, I already told you info about Gainax via the previous two reviews of anime I did on them so what about this another anime studio that they collaborated with, Shaft. Shaft is known for producing such anime as the critically and somewhat fan-acclaimed Puella Magi Madoka Magica (and I actually love that show, along with the English dub of the show) and…..Dance in the Vampire Bund (thankfully, somebody already covered that show in this group) and that have collaborated more in the distant future but for Mahoromatic, this is a very mixed concept of a ... show that manages that can be both fascinating and very awkward.

The story is about a combat android named Mahoro has driven into guilt by her actions in her combat days want to retire her days in peace as a live-in maid, serving the son of her late commanding officer, Suguru Misato, a phenomenally messy high school student who lives by himself after his family passed away. However, if she lays down her arms and conserves her remaining power, the time she has left can be prolonged to just over a year and as for their later episodes, as the relationship between Mahoro, Suguru and his classmates develops further, another android girl enters their lives and becomes attached to Mahoro. All the while, the number of days before Mahoro is to shut down decreases steadily.

Now, I really have low expectations when I came upon watching this so here are the things that I think are positive for the show: I actually like Mahoro as a character in the show because her character and backstory kept me intrigued and although I really don’t feel relatable to her because I really don’t know anyone as a combat maid or even a regular maid (I think, memory of mine is a bit fuzzy). Plus, you’ll start to actually care for her since you’ll know she isn’t long for this world since every episode ends with how many days before she stops functioning, even if the episode is more comedic than their serious ones.

As for Suguru and his friends, well, they are the neutral part of the series for me. Suguru isn’t a bad character but he isn’t much of one in the series. He can be a bit of a weenie in the first few episodes but can stand up for himself a few times but I wouldn’t count on expecting it every time. Also, Suguru has some female friends Miyuki (the blue-haired tomboyish member of the Triomatic), Rin (the brown-haired and tallest member of the Triomatic) & Chizuko (the short blonde-haired girl who orgasms everytime she eats something) who I think want to get closer to him and be more than friends (‘lucky bastard’) although they really don’t carry the plot much. They are mostly the harem part of the show and yet most of the time he looks at dirty magazines with his friends Hamaguchi & Kawahara. Dude, you got not only one, two but FIVE girls admiring you from afar and yet you look at many images of naked woman and yet when you see them for real, you freak out which is normal when seeing one out of the blue but still….Suguru, you dull but lucky bastard. There is also Minawa, an android working for Management, the newer addition in the second season, who poses in school as Mahoro’s younger sister and she always manages to trip and fall down and always apologizes for doing that. I don’t want to say she’s slow, I don’t think she is but I can’t really defend her on that plus Hamaguchi does have a crush on her in a few episodes and that’s basically it on her.

However, when the show stops funny, they bring out Saori Shikijo, the homeroom teacher of Suguru’s class and have a very deep attraction to him and always remind us every time about that. My God, she is the most annoying character in this show and all the times she appears out of nowhere, it is very cringeworthy on the screen and wish this character didn’t actually exists and I actually wanted Mahoro to really mess her up and the fact Shikijo always teases her about her breast size since by comparison, Shikijo wins in that area but she’s still a bitch.

There is also Slash, the robot panther or “support mech” who works for Mahoro and Ryuga, who poses as a teacher to investigate Mahoro on what she’s doing at Earth. Alongside with Mahoro, these two is also my favorite characters on the show. I actually now want a robot panther as a pet now and having Steve Blum voicing Ryuga is icing on the cake, even if the cake is a bit tart.

On the animation courtesy of Gainax and Shaft, the movements in the fight compliments much of the Gainax style even if it looks like it was made in the ‘90s (this show was made in 2001-2003) and has the depict of weirdness and surrealism (maybe) that most people expect from Studio Shaft. Did I forget to mention BOOBIES GALORE!?!?!??!!? Yes, every female on the show does appear either it’s a panty shot, in their underwear, and baring it all or it does get a bit tiring at some parts and kind of creepy, too. Look, some nudity is nice and all but I don’t always want to be expecting it at every nook and cranny. I don’t have much to say about the music except some of it does fit the tone of the series and yet I always skip the opening and ending songs as I really don’t care for them after the episode ends but the satellite poems after the songs are nice, too.

FINAL VERDICT: Mahoromatic can be a bit problematic with some of the stuff they come up with. They develop a fascinating character to get into but brought in some very uninteresting characters that have nothing to do with the main story and one character to completely loathe. The fan service is very liberal in its usage but it gets very played out at some point. Some episodes I actually had fun with and enjoy some of the hilarity in them and the other episodes that contribute to the story helps as well. I wouldn’t recommend you watch the series immediately but for a Gainax series, it’s not actually mind-blowing but it’s passable.

What I really liked about this anime was the originality of the story line. I usually watch action and violent oriented anime,but mahoromatic is really about a lot of character development and the relationship between the main charcters, mahoro and suguru. A lot of the previous anime I have watched don't really create a decent persona on more than the main character but this show does an exceptional job and they do it in only a few episodes. Overall I think this is anime worth watching; it is very entertaining and had me laughing most episodes.

If I were to describe Mahoromatic in a single word, it would be 'Gainax.'

All the way from the beautifully composed openings to the catchy ending themes, Mahoromatic delivers more than just your typical ecchi anime. This isn't too surprising after noticing that Gainax - as well as shaft - was the studio behind this wonderfully crafted art piece. You may be asking, 'If it was so wonderful, why did you rate it a seven?' To which I respond with: While it does have it's merits, it doesn't come without it's flaws. With that being said, let's look at this series under a microscopic lens to ... pinpoint the various pros and cons I had with it.

Story: 4
'Aha! The source of the problem!' is probably what you are thinking right now, and you are mostly correct. The story presented in Mahoromatic feels half baked at times - never really diving too deep in it's mechanics but trying too hard to make you care for it. This is easy to spot when watching the last quarter of season two, where there is a quick, rough change in tone. The change, while I appreciated it, can turn off many viewers, especially those who watch for the 'slice of life' aspect of it. Ignoring this fact, the story's presentation is nothing special, though there are a couple of interesting plot points scattered along that may keep the viewer interested.

Art: 7
Mahoromatic was released back in late 2001, so if you've come for high quality, up-to-date visuals, this is not the anime for you. For the other who don't mind the dated look, welcome aboard! Despite being one and a half decades old, it has aged quite well since it captures today's 'moe characters' so precisely. The animation is exactly how you would think a Gainax product to look like - flashy and visually attractive.

Sound: 8
As I've mentioned above, the openings and endings of both seasons are really interesting and catchy. The OST serves it purpose, but nothing stood out to me too much other than the alternate version of the first opening they play on occasion. I watched this series subbed and the actors did a great job on delivering their parts, except for Slash, whose voice seems to never match up with his mouth. I have heard parts of the dub and it seems to be pretty solid, so if you tend to choose dubs over subs, you will not be disappointed.

Character: 7
The two main characters in season one make a great pair and is the part of the anime that initially drew me in. I love their dynamic as it makes for great storytelling, but the problem lies when other characters get in the way of that. The teacher is probably the most annoying character in anime I have ever seen to date (And yes, I have seen Nina from Code Geass). She serves absolutely no purpose in this series other than to constantly make sexual jokes. She feels entirely out of place, especially in season two; it's almost as if she is part of their group of friends, which feels really uncomfortable and unnatural. Other than her, the side characters are decent as they do not get much attention; and Minawa from season two adds a little bit of spice to the group, especially with a sort of unique relationship between her and another side character.

Enjoyment: 8
I usually do not account for personal enjoyment because I see it as being redundant. My enjoyment comes from everything listed above

Overall: 7
A badly presented plot with an extraordinary sense of character relations and interactions. Though it may be labeled as a 'Gainax Ending", I personally enjoyed the last few episodes more so than almost everything preceding before it, making it one of my favourite slice of life anime of all time; but I still see it's flaws and it makes me wish they were never there. So for that, I rate Mahoromatic a 7/10.

Sidenote:
This was my first review, so I apologize if I wasn't projecting my opinions as clearly as I thought I was. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Story (4): I felt that the story was like a last minute thing that they decided to cram in within the last few episodes. It only becomes prevalent by around episode 7 when they decide to try and dive deeper into the story but it just doesn't work that well. It's nothing special unfortunately. If they had begun the series with the story being of higher priority it could of been something good.

Art(7): I can't really say much for the art since this anime is from early 2000's. All I can say is that the art looks not bad for it's time and it ... gets the job done. Animation for battles are pretty good, especially the last scene of season one.

Sound(8): The OP and ED are good! The sound effects work well for light-hearted moments, as well as emotional moments.

Character(7): The dynamic between Mahoro and Suguru worked very well. They compliment each other, Mahoro brings Suguru out of his shell and helps him not feel so lonely. While Suguru is helping Mahoro feel that she has purpose within her last year of service. Also, nice character designs. The teacher was annoying and didn't have much of a purpose besides being there to cause drama. The dub was great!

Enjoyment(8): I felt that the entire time I watched this show I was attached too it, not an episode felt unnecessary or boring. I like every episode, some better than others though.

Overall(7): This was a good show. It has its funny moments and its emotional moments hit hard.
The story could of been much better, but I guess I will have to see what happens in season 2. The art/animation works well for the series. If you haven't seen this series, give it a try! I was hooked too it from episode 1.

Mahoromatic, for me Did not live up to what I thought it would be. It seemed to have two plots and you were never quit sure of which one you were supposed to fallow. To me it was a conglomeration of stuff that had been done before and thrown on the screen for your enjoyment. The art was like several other anime I have seen so nothing special there and the music did set the mood but that was about it. The real problem I had was all the little advances that the main character's teacher would make at him and ... the animator's need to show her and the other girls, most of whom were under aged, in the buff. I just can't get into all that. All said the first season left me with no desire to see the other season or the movie.

Gainax is, or was, the proprietor of many anime that perplexed and intrigued the anime fanbase. They have basically created a particular brand of crazy that they have infused into many of their anime, whether it be psychological crazy, see Evangelion, or balls to the walls crazy a la Gurren Lagann, FLCL, or Panty and Stocking. However, if you go past all their big name anime, you will come across this more or less forgotten show that seems to forego a lot of this.

Regardless of where it came from, Mahoromatic is pretty much just another rom-com with ecchi strewn about. The thing that tries ... to differentiate itself from others in it's genre is that Mahoro, our main protagonist (trust me, it definitely IS NOT Suguru) is a battle android constructed to fight against an alien race known as Saint.

The problem with this, however, is that it fails to expand on many aspects of this plot point that should feel a lot more important that it actually is. This is especially noticeable when talking about Saint. We know little to nothing about them than the very basics of where they came from. This, combined with the fact that many plot holes arised because of this, ended up straining my experience of this show as a whole.

However, I realized that this was not 100% superfluous, as it does give birth to the best part of the show by a longshot, and that is Mahoro myself. Aside from a couple of those plot holes that went in tandem with her character, she was a well written character in an otherwise sea of mediocrity. She certainly isn't the deepest character ever conceived, but as far as this show is concerned, she might as well be. The best parts of her character stem from her past as a battle android catching up to her as she tries to live a daily life as a human for the rest of her days. This creates a simple but effective internal conflict of what is more important, her duties as a battle android and protecting Suguru, or having fun with Suguru and his friends for her remaining lifespan. The second best thing of her character is the debt she feels she owes to Suguru. I won't spoil what that debt is (even though it is explained in episode 3), but I will say it is something Suguru is unaware of. It hasn't been fully explored yet, but I feel it will be in the coming second season which I have yet to watch. She also very briefly talks about the whole "sacrifice few to save many" thing, but that is focused on very little. Watch Fate/Zero if you want more on that topic.

Also, she has a fun personality, during the comedy heavy scenes, and is the driving force of said comedy, because it certainly isn't the slutty teacher, Ms. Shikijo. Ms. Shikijo is not just annoying, but almost incomprehensible. I mean, what arguably hot teacher in her mid 20's falls for and wants to have sex with a 14 year old megane boring twat? Nothing she says is funny, and she is definitely a character I could have done without.

Suguru, the apparent main protagonist, really isn't the protagonist at all. Sure, he does have some moments here and there, but the majority of, well, everything, is focused on Mahoro (which is a plus in my books). Out of all harem protagonists, he is certainly better than most. He is kind to Mahoro, and wants to protect her even though he is just a human, because of the loss of his parents at a young age. This once again creates a simple but effective mechanic between him and Mahoro, which it easier to forget that Suguru isn't that interesting other than his relationship with Mahoro.

I could talk about the other characters, but they aren't much to talk about. Instead, lets talk about the ecchi. Back in 2001, ecchi was nowhere near as graphic as it is today, with shows such as Highschool of the Dead and Highschool DxD. However, Mahoromatic makes up for this with showing basic cable nudity in the form of fully exposed boobies. As someone who isn't much into ecchi, I actually got used to it eventually. It is, after all, labeled as an ecchi show, so I can't be mad at it for that, even when it sometimes get's in the way of the more serious scenes, but this is thankfully few and far between. The one thing I will mention in detail that made me cringe a little was in the first episode, where they actually showed the exposed boobs of Suguru's dead mother in a flashback. There's a certain line you have to cross, and that crossed it for me, but I'm grateful nothing that extreme happened again in the series.

The production values are fairly mediocre. The battle scenes at the end were truly well done, but other than that, the animation and art was pretty generic and bland. And other than the OP, which I love to death now, the actual OST wasn't memorable in the slightest.

I watched the dub for this show, and I thought it wasn't bad. I'd probably recommend the Japanese audio anyways as that is still better, but as someone who likes listening to stuff in their native language from time to time, I thought it did the job just fine. As far as dubs go, it's got a good cast. Wendee Lee, Steve Blum, Michelle Ruff, J. Michael Tatum, etc. Bridges Hoffman does a good job as Mahoro, but she does flop from time to time.

If it wasn't for Mahoro, this show would be unrecommendable. The major plot point is not expanded upon, the other characters aren't much of anything, and the comedy is not up to par with some of the better shows of this genre. However, because of Mahoro, it is certainly worth the time to check this show out if you have nothing better to do, as she singlehandedly carries this show with her pinkie finger. Even with all it's flaws, it still managed to keep me enjoyed and clicking to the next episode, and I'm excited to check out the second season. Of course, I have a great love and/or tolerance for the romance genre, so I might handle this show better than most, so try it with a grain of salt.

As a side note, this show is completely unrecommendable if you are a diehard feminazi. A show containing a cute battle android turned house maid for a hormone-crazed 14 year old going through puberty with fanservice galore will not appeal to that crowd, and would cause an uproar if this show was well known to the masses. (Yes, I am joking with this statement, for the most part at least :P). However, I would argue that this show is not the least bit sexist, as Mahoro is the best, most well-written part of the show, and the fanservice is handled as tactfully as fanservice goes as far as I am concerned.

Mahoromatic aims to bring a new direction towards the Battle Maid trend for shounen animes. But it does not succeed in creating balance. The show blends humor, sentimentality, excitement, and a hint of perversion, but the inconsistent tonal shifts are evident in its characters, struggling to make believable transitions from humor to seriousness.

The story is set in a near-future Earth immersed in a shadow war between Vesper and SAINT. Despite the intention of Mahoromatic to be a parody of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it finds itself no more than an ordinary show. The characters are bland with average action sequences and mecha designs that pale into ... comparison to other great Gainax shows.

Mahoro is the main character, and the show attempts to portray her as a fan favorite. She portrays a contrast between cuteness and destructive power, but this forced duality is cringe-inducingly portrayed in the opening animation. In fact, the anime relies on one-off gags and shiny animation to keep the viewers entertained instead of at least pursuing a plot that is worthy of being discussed.

The character of Suguru is devoid of significance in the role as Mahoro’s motivator and a desired object for his perverted homeroom teacher. His school friends provide a mixed bag of attempts at amusement, with some falling flat and others being forgettable. The closing credits attempt to leave a lasting impression with Suguru's three female classmates singing a forced, unfunny samba-style song.

The show struggles to weave a coherent narrative with any real substance and never transcends mindless violence and gratuitous panty shots.

Overall: Personally, I thought Mahoromatic was pretty good, it has a good ballance between daily antics and fights. basically this series is worth at least checking out if you dont need a ton of action to keep you satisfied.

Story: Well the story is pretty well done, a combat android turned maid and her daily life, along with doses of her past.

Art: I thought the art was excellent, though its a pretty simple art style it works well

Sound: theres not much to complain about with the sound, the opening and closing songs work pretty well for the feel.

Character: though there is one very annoying character, all ... the rest have odd quirks to them and seeing them interact is quite entertaining.

One of the earlier entries in the super-powered maid genre, this action rom-com is still pretty entertaining. It sits right in the middle of that transitional era for Gainax circa 2000 where their work was starting to take on an increasingly goofy look and tone in what would eventually become Trigger's signature style. As an early digital anime it suffers common problems from that time, such as lazy backgrounds and an oversaturated colour palette, but plenty of that Gainax charm shines through. Action scenes are decent, though it's the comedy episodes that carry this first season. It relies a bit too heavily on characters who ... just have one joke that they repeat ad nauseum though.

There's a more serious side to the show. Mahoro is a combat android who now serves as a maid to the son of her former commander. This is her idea of penance for having been forced to kill him, and all the while the series reminds us that Mahoro is using up her final year before she stops functioning. Meanwhile she keeps being drawn back into battles with the aliens that her secret organisation has been fighting for years, though unleashing her full power would drastically reduce her remaining lifespan. This side of the series works fine, though it doesn't always mesh well with its comedy side. It feels like two different shows bolted together at times.

The first season hovers between a 6 and 7 for me, but the comedy episodes just about tip it to the higher mark.

Mahoromatic seasons 1&2 where a buetiful blend with some classy acting from genoen. With some kick arse action scenes and smut humor :o, i enjoyed every moment of it, and i really felt for the charecters.

So much so that this series has made me cry the hardiest then any other anime

Remember kids, 15+ please ;P

Let's get this first bit out of the way: you checked this show out for two reasons:
1) Shaft/Gainax
2) Cute Anime Maid
... Or maybe those were just my reasons? Regardless, I decided to check this show out on the basis that it would at least be decent and at the end of the day it was... Still just decent. That being said, the show being just decent actually disappointed me a fair bit (enough to make me write my first review on MAL). What do I mean by this? Guess we should get into that!

- Story: 5

Basic premise without getting mega spoiler heavy is that a ... robot soldier from a super secret military decides to live out her last year of life as a house maid for a nerdy middle school kid. Maid's name is Mahoro and the nerdy middle school boy is named Suguru. First impressions of the show lead you to believe the show is a slice of life comedy with minor Science Fiction elements and a decent amount of fanservice (uncensored breasts is as far as it goes).

This holds true for most of the first half of the show, but later ditches the comedy in favor of a more serious tale about revenge, finding purpose in life, and fighting for what you believe in. While a lot of people have praised the serious direction the show takes, I personally believe that it clashes too hard with the rest of the narrative.

The show is at it's best in the first half, which while not groundbreaking for the slice of life genre, it never pretends to be anything more than that. Mahoro does cute maid stuff and occasionally problems arise from her background as a combat Android. The second half of the show just feels like a bad attempt to add some drama and establish major world building, which is unnecessary as the ticking clock of Mahoro's life expectancy is already enough drama in my opinion.

It doesn't help that the conflict is half baked and both boring and unsatisfying to watch unfold. It even goes so far as to ruin the overall pacing of the show. The first half is quick and to the point, and the second half, in particular the last few episodes, drag out what should be 2 episodes most into a 5 episode slog. It honestly feels like the show was intentionally dragged out to meet the episode requirement for a single season. If the show had focused entirely on Mahoro living out her remaining life as a Maid like it did in the first half, the story would have been an easy 7, but the second half brings the entire story down super hard. To put it into perspective, if the entire show was like the second half, the story would be a 3, 4 at best.

- Art: 8

This is the strongest point in the show's favor and is honestly the only real reason to watch it. This might be biased, but I love the aesthetic of anime pre-mid 2000's and between Shaft and Gianax, there is a lot to love with both the animation and art direction. Being a... "Maid Connoisseur" might also contribute to my enjoyment of the Visuals since I'm literally being pandered to, but Mahoro in particular has some fantastic bits of animation. Whether she is fighting a bikini snatching giant enemy crab or dicing up onions to cook up dinner, anything where she's the focus is quite pleasant on the eyes.

The rest of the show looks above average for 2001 and some of the lighting/art direction is fantastic. The cinematography isn't perfect and there are a lot of scenes where the "animation" is just a static image or still being moved around, but all of this is mostly found in the second half. Overall, the charm of the animation is probably a simple case of Shaft and Gianax experimenting with visual styles, but I think it works well in the show, even during the lack-luster second half.

- Sound: 6

I'll be honest, I don't have a lot to say when it comes to the OST of the show. OP and ED are extremely forgettable, which is a shame given that the OP has some really cute animation, and the BGMs are just… there. It's nothing terrible and a couple tunes are catchy, but it's not going to be anything you'll remember once you complete the show. I actually had to look up the OST not because it wanted to relisten to my favorite track, but because I couldn't remember any. Again, it's nothing ear grating, but it's so generic that it's not going to leave an impression on anyone watching.

The voice work on the other hand is much better. I did the "unspeakable taboo" of watching the show dubbed and I thought it was solid. You have a lot of classic English VAs (Derrick Prince, Wendee Lee, Lex Lang, Steve Blum, ect) doing a nice job at dubbing a frankly strange script, but the stand out role goes to Bridget Hoffman, who carries the show as Mahoro.

Hoffman does a really good job giving the android a ton of emotional ranges: doting caregiver, assertive girlfriend, naive teenager, confident super soldier, or traumatized war veteran, all of these and more are given life thanks to Hoffman's performance. It's quite nice to hear her in this role since she also plays Asakua from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzamiha's dub in a similar style to the voice she did for Mahoro. I guess it goes to show that Hoffman knows what it takes to give androids life.

If I had to break it down, the OST is about a 4 on its own and the voice work (mostly Hoffman) bumps it up a few points. I can't say much on the sub as I didn't really watch it, but I imagine it's of similar/higher quality then the dub given other reviews I've read/watched.

- Character: 6

I've said it a few times already and I'll say it again: the show is 100% carried by Mahoro. While Suguru is the central character the viewer follows around, his actions come second to the development of Mahoro. Simply put: without Mahoro, there is no story. It doesn't help that she is a joy anytime she is on screen. For something as generic as "Android Super Soldier turned House Maid", the character had a lot of complexity and even in the more comedic first half, you get a really good idea of what makes Mahoro a character you'll want to follow. The show does a great job of balancing Mahoro's drive to move forward and enjoy her remaining lifespan while still struggling with the PTSD associated with what she did as a Super Soldier.

Speaking of the PTSD, without getting into spoilers, the second half of the show deals with Mahoro's past as a Super Soldier and while the execution of the second half is poor, Mahoro herself helps make the second half bearable. She has some stand out moments in the second season in terms of fleshing out her character and while predictable, the arc she goes through is mostly earned.

The same can't be said of Suguru, who is best described as the standard "Glasses+JUSTICE=girls4days" archetype that was boring even back in 2001. Any "change" he makes as a character is mostly because Mahoro is making his life enjoyable. You can argue he's mostly a stand in for the viewer to enjoy Mahoro being a maid, but he makes a pretty terrible stand in given the kid is: 1) only in middle school and 2) has too much importance in the plot. While I won't deny that Suguru has his moments where he's enjoyable, he boils down to just another generic anime protag who wins the day through determination and a just cause.

That leaves everyone else and everyone else is… forgettable to say the least. Suguru has some reoccurring classmates that are honestly nothing but window dressing with personalities as deep as "I'm a glutton" and "horny" (clearly my self insert). The only two characters worth mentioning are the two adult characters. The first is the "villain" of the second half of the show and while I love his voice (Steve Blum), he's pretty stock in terms of motivation. He's not bad and he foils Mahoro well, but he's not going to be the reason you remember this show.

The second is Suguru's math teacher, Saori, and I'll be frank: she's the worst character in the show. The entire "character" is the fantasy that a big busty late 20s/early 30s teacher who's mega-horny for Suguru. Anything dealing with her is quite frankly aggravating and the "rivalry" between her and Mahoro for Suguru's affection is painful to watch. I'd talk more about her character, but other than the fact she really likes beer, there isn't much to talk about. The entire character is boiled down to "Ms Cougar thirsts for her middle school student" and the same joke of her being rejected in alone time with him was old after her first appearance in Episode 2.

- Enjoyment: 6

I came into this show for one thing: Cute maid does cute things. What I got was a show about a cute maid doing cute things. So why am I disappointed with the show if I got exactly what I expected?

If I had to pick a major reason, I think it comes down to the anime being a, "They had us in the first half, not gonna lie" moment… or however that meme goes. The first half of this show sort of reminds of Fruits Basket in a way; where the funny slice of life stuff coexists with a darker narrative that is drip fed to you throughout the course of the story, only coming into full focus after a long build up. To put it simply, Fruits Basket reelz you in with the comedic slice of life bits, then keeps you around for the darker narrative while still accommodating the primary focus of the show. It's a great balance and is part of why the story is so highly regarded by fans.

Mahoromatic has a similar ideal set up in the first half. You initially check out the show for its slice of life and comedy, but then starts to plant the seed for more mature elements that help distinguish it from others in it's genre. Both Mahoro's life expectancy (which is displayed at the end of each episode) and her background/occasional flashbacks to her time as a super soldier immediately get your brain working. "What happened when she was a soldier? Is there a way to circumvent her lifespan limitation? What is she so set on being a maid for Suguru? How does she know so much about him?"

The first half also does an incredible job of contrasting Mahoro's bubbly naive girly persona with what she had to do as a soldier. Hell, the opening shot of the show is Mahoro brutally destroying some aliens and then jumps into her request to live out her retirement as a Maid. It's a bit extreme of a contrast, but it does a good job at baiting you with the promise that there is more beyond the "cute maid does cute things" premise.

… then the second half starts and this premise gets thrown into oblivion. Instead of continuing the drip feed, Mahoromatic decides to go all in on the dark story, almost completing benching the comedic slice of life stuff. The times the comedic stuff returns is rare and it leads into some of the worst cases of tonal whiplash I've experienced in an anime. It doesn't help the revelation from this dark story just suck. I don't want to spoil it in case anyone still decides to give this a watch, but the truth behind Mahoro's life as a super soldier is beyond disappointing. The show manages to make Mahoro's backstory worse simply because the reveal isn't worth the build up.

I'm not sure how much of this whiplash is carried over from the source material vs being anime original content squeezed in for a proper 13 episode length, but it completely sours what could have been a very enjoyable story. You can't tease me with something greater and not expect me to get my hopes up. To wrap this up, I was baited with the first half and let down by the second.

- Overall: 6

If you go in with the mindset this will be a generic slice of the life show centering around a cute maid girl, you'll get exactly that. However, if you get baited by the prospect that the story is deeper than that, nothing but disappointment awaits you. While I'm glad to have finally watched the anime, I wouldn't say that I'd recommended it to anyone. Mahoro and the animation are the only reason to really give this a watch; both of which can be experienced by either watching clips online or finding some animated GIFs on an image board. The only people I'd recommend this to are fellow Maid Maniacs and even then, I'd warn them to stop watching after Episode 6. Unless you are in the market for a new Maid Waifu (Mahoro is top tier), I'd give this one a hard pass.

Have you ever wanted to hire a maid in your house? Oh, really? How about a maid who is really an android who was built for combat? Would you want to have someone like that around?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I give you my review for the first season of Mahoromatic.

Mahoro is not an ordinary girl; she is an android built by the secret agency, Vesper. Vesper is at war against aliens called Saints, and Mahoro is their best warrior. However, she has little time in her life left, and she's free to do whatever she wants with the time she has left. Mahoro decides to ... become a maid for a young boy named Suguru Misato, who has been living alone since his parents died.

So you see, Mahoromatic is a romantic comedy. A very hilarious romantic comedy. The story wasn't much, to be honest, but there was always something to either laugh or smile about. I'm starting to become a fan of Bow Ditama, the person who illustrated the original manga, so of course I like the art! It was animated by both Gainax and Shaft, and those two studios sure did a good job giving each character life! Speaking of characters, Mahoromatic has so many wonderful characters that I can't help it! Mahoro is the best of them all, though. She's awesome!

The OP is sung by Mahoro's seiyuu, Ayako Kawasumi, although I don't know if that matters, taking the fact that I watched the anime in English into consideration. The song, Kaerimichi, is a pretty cute song! The ED, Mahoro de Mambo (sung by the seiyuus of the Triomatic, who are Miyuki Sakura, Rin Todoriki, and Chizuko Oe), can probably get annoying if you listen to it too much, but it's pretty good if you're not easily annoyed by anime or anime songs! Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, I had watched the English dub for Mahoromatic. That didn't stop the voices from being good, as well!

Overall, Mahoromatic was a pretty good anime. With its awesome characters, great art, nice music, and hilarious comedy, it makes up for the not-too-special story it has. I recommend it to anyone who likes romantic comedies that involve robot maids! I also look forward to whenever I get around to watching the second season!

Gainax is one of my favorite animation studios, but not everything can be perfect and this anime proves it, because just as I did a review on one of Miyazaki's worst anime, now I have to do on one of the worst Gainax anime.

Story (2/10):
Ok I admit that the concept is not so bad and that with a good execution and characters this could have been a very good anime, but unfortunately this is not the case, and the plot is more on the side of the slice of life and the comedy. Ok this is not something so terrible either, if the characters are ... charismatic enough and the jokes are witty we could have even a decent comedy, but again this is not the case, since this anime not only has a cancer comedy with annoying characters but also wants to take himself seriously from time to time going to a more dramatic side where totally fails because this is handled in an incompetent way with also constant changes of tone that make me not take this anime seriously for even two seconds.
It shows at first how this anime was made without a planning work, many times it is not understood what the hell this anime intends to do, as I said it seems that sometimes this anime wants to be a slice of life comedy, sometimes a drama and even a fighting anime, this is not so bad and if you execute it well, you will have things like "Brigadoon Marin to Melan" but I emphasize, UNFORTUNATELY NOT THE DAMN CASE.
And I still don't even talk about the number of cliches in this anime, have you seen the final battle? Everything there is super cliche, the protagonist riding a bike desperate to want to save the Mahoro while she uses a super powerful weapon to try to defeat the antagonist but he survives without a scratch (I did not expect it at all! (notice the irony)) later it seems that Mahoro is going to be defeated but the antagonist instead of killing her insists that she fight with all her might (incredible that I wasn't expecting either! (notice the irony x2) they fight for a while and just when Mahoro is going to be defeated Again the Protagonist arrives to save her in the least cliche way in history! (notice the irony x3) he places himself in front of her trying to stop the antagonist and he hits him thus unleashing Goku's fury ..... sorry I got confused , thus unleashing the fury of Mahoro which is going to use a weapon that will end his life (incredible that I did not expect, I am so tense about the unexpected end that this wonderful anime may have (notice the irony x8948423)) and you know what it is that end? the antagonist giving up and Mahoro stopping her attack, and as if nothing had happened everything returns to the status quo with everyone happy. This is easy one of the worst endings I've ever seen in my fucking life.
Mother of beautiful love how can it be that Gainax did this thing.

Art and sound (4/10 and 5/10):
The animation is not so bad Gainax always knows how to take advantage of the lowest budgets, even so this does not mean that the animation has a lot of defects, leaving the animation aside I did not like the designs of the characters, they are very generic, they are too forgettable, I don't like them one bit. In the sound section I think that the voices are quite good and the music is quite generic, I only remember the ending because it made me a bit fun.

Character (1/10):
The characters are terrible starting with Mahoro: First, she does not feel like a robot, whore where you saw an android with such feelings, she doubted about killing the commander instead of immediately following his orders (as she should be) and this it's just one example of why Mahoro doesn't function as a character.
Suguru: Suguru is your typical empowering fantasy protagonist, he has many women and friends who love him, he's smart, and he has an android maid. "But Suguru also has a lot of problems" some will say, and even if that's true, the anime hardly emphasizes that a bit.
Slash: Mahoro's pet is a plot device with legs, it does not acquire any exploration or development, it only serves the plot when it needs it.
Shikijou sensei: Easily the worst character in anime and the reason why I can't take a fucking second of this anime seriously, instead of making me laugh, it makes me feel uncomfortable. If she had been a character that appears every so often I would forgive him but she is all the fucking time bothering.
Ryuuga: He's your typical one-dimensional antagonist with shitty goals and motivations (and he's still one of the best characters in this anime because at least he gets a reflection at the end) nothing more to say.
The rest of the supporting characters don't get any development or introspection either. They are characterized by only one thing and they are not even so in some cases. The only one who is saved from there is Miyuki but everything that was done with her is left in the middle.
And we don't even talk about characters that are still more secondary like the thugs who steal the bus at the beginning of the series because they are so archetypal and cliche that they make me laugh.

Enjoyment (1/10):
In terms of enjoyment this is definitely one of the most boring anime I've ever seen along with "Someday Dreamers" and "Gundam 0083". So staying on my list of "anime to cure insomnia" I am not lying when I say that I fell asleep about 7 times watching this anime. I would talk about the reasons why this anime is so boring but it is something that I already said in the other sections and I do not like to say redundancies.
In conclusion, if you can't sleep, Mahoromatic is the solution.

Overall (2/10):
Mahoromatic is one of the worst anime I've seen in my life, I'm very disappointed that Gainax did something so terrible, this is an anime that I don't recommend even to my worst enemies.
It's boring, cliche, pretentious, stupid, offensive, and all the worst in anime.
Maybe later I will watch and review the second season although I don't think I should if I want to keep my sanity.
With all this said I say goodbye. See you next time!