While it may not appear like the most original series, Maid Sama does diverge from the conventional tsundere-falls-in-love-with-popular-dude plotline. The protagonist Misaki is the strong and very feminist (quite often man-hating) President of her school council. Maid Sama doesn't stick with the cliche of either the ultra cool bishounen or super strong bishoujo be the best. Usui and Misaki are quite evenly matched; contrary to what some reviews state, Misaki often does NOT always need Usui to come rescue her. She is depicted as capable, feisty and caring. Misaki's a great character, the kind of girlfriend you'd want to hang out with and rely on. She makes the series compulsively watchable because she's a character you can actually admire, relate to and empathise with. If anyone is looking for a strong and likeable female protagonist, I would definitely recommend the series to them.
Maid Sama also provides pretty good humour. A lot of this comes from the gender-relation jokes, such as in how Misaki takes control of the boy-dominated school known for being vulgar and smelly. I also really enjoyed how Usui's character sort of undercuts the bishounen stereotype - although Usui's a bishounen, he's also incredibly bizarre, and is capable of saying or doing the oddest things with the calmest expression. He's kind of a semi-parody of the bishounen type, which I find really entertaining.
Maid Sama also does focus to some extent on the other characters (can't reveal exactly how without spoilers, but you're in for some surprises). Despite the somewhat deviant nature of these characters, Maid Sama casts them in a tender, affectionate light, ultimately creating some feel-good moments without downplaying how hilariously odd they are.
The anime does also have some touching moments, without being nauseatingly over the top. What I really love about this anime is its ability to convey emotions through subtext, or what is not actually explicitly said, but is instead shown. The viewer is left to infer why Usui behaves the way he does, for example, and to infer why Misaki is so ignorant of his affections (or is she?). Granted, it's in no way rocket science, this is shoujo after all, but I like that the anime builds up some tension and mystery this way, and it really engages the audience's emotions. Each episode also has plenty of events to keep you entertained.
The last thing that I love about the anime is its music. There's a piano theme in particular that I find quite moving. The composers also go to the effort of using different kinds of music, e.g. a rock theme for Usui's appearance in Ep 9. I think the music is original, appropriate and beautiful in its own right. It definitely sets the tone for the anime. The sound effects are also quite spot on.
If there was anything I would criticise about Maid Sama, it's probably that sometimes it does miss the target. A few episodes here and there seem to kind of lose their momentum, especially when focusing on side characters - it doesn't quite get their motivation right, and loses steam in its characterisation then. Some good side characters are also obviously just plot devices, and lack further depth or characterisation as a result. You end up thinking, it could have been so much more! It's a good anime, but ultimately it doesn't have that much depth because it focuses heavily on comedy. That's not a bad thing and I appreciate its focus on comedy, but if you're looking for a meaningful explanation of Misaki's man-hating psyche, you're not going to get that here. I actually like that about the anime though, it doesn't try too hard to be what it isn't, so on the whole, it remains quite spot on.
On the whole, I really enjoyed Maid Sama and I found more than enough in it to keep me thoroughly entertained, and enough to re-watch it a few times. I will definitely follow the series to the end and I really recommend that you guys check it out too, especially if you're looking for a less sexist shoujo anime and some great protagonists. Have fun!
