Mayo Chiki!

Finishing this series, I'm disappointed, but the fact that I cared in the first place is a point in its favor.

It's difficult to really judge these harem fanservice shows. They give what they should give, but they rarely give me what I want, and maybe I'm expecting too much.

It's a perfectly enjoyable rom com. Everything is as it should be. The general characters archetypes, the twist within the premise, likeable enough characters, and enough humor to get by.

Yet, the "romance" part seems... lacking. This is more an issue with the genre as a whole then Mayo Chiki. Genuine romantic resolution always seems out of grasp. ... The characters that need to get together never do get together, and when the series is over, you begin to wonder what the point of it all was.

Mayonnaise Chicken is a simple dish which requires you to cover parts of the chicken which you want to consume with butter and mayonnaise (crumbs are optional) baked at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.. It is better if you.....
Oh wait a minute, this isn't the Cook's Review! My bad folks... It's just that mayonnaise is my most favorite condiment and it goes well with any food. Heck I'm watching this anime while eating mayo out of a jar!
(For those who does not know what Mayo is, I can assure you, it's not an musical instrument.)
Anyways, onward with the review!

Mayo Chiki! is a abbreviation of Mayoeru ... Shitsuji to Chikin na Ore to. Mayo Chiki (the anime) is not to be confused with Mayo Chiki (the food) Only God knows who's idiotic enough to mix them both up.. Heh.. heh...
Translation: The Wavering Butler and Myself the Chicken

Produced by TBS and Feel, yes you heard me right... "Feel" people responsible for making popular fan service titles such as "Kiss X Sis" and "Yosuga no Sora" so is it wrong to presume equivalent amount of needless fan-service in this anime? BOING!

The story is about a youthful boy named SakamaCHI KINjiro (see what I did there?) who discovered Subaru Konoe, a fellow classmate, secret of being a TRAP! Subaru must presume the role of a male because guys are just so awesome that every girl wants to be guys... Ehmm.. I mean it's a tradition of her family for every male family member to be the butler to the [Insert rich generic family who probably gained their wealth by stepping on us poor peasants] What will happen to our hero? Now of course if you know the genre an anime is the "comedy and romance combo" then there's a good chance our hero will get ABUSED physically and mentally by practically everyone. And I mean EVERYONE. Yes, even by his mom. Poor lad..

As the Chief Animation Director, Kawamura Kousuke was entasked with character design, which he executed exceptionally well. Though I never did read the light novel, I'm assuming fans had no qualms about his depiction of what the author of the light novel was trying to portray.

I was expecting this anime to be nonsensical and hilarious, revolving around pervertic shenanigans, so I was assuming the music to be upbeat and mischievousness just like the cast. Well, you can't go wrong with Kitamura Eri right? The OP is a perfect example how the author is trying to tell is that unlike the usual Romcom genre, the crossdressing Subaru is the main player, not the Chicken, Kinjiro. It shows how everyone loves Subaru, and doesn't give a damn about Kinjiro. I feel your pain Kinjiro... Your mum hates you, now everyone else ignores you. We are so alike.. (yes, I too am in love with a cross dresser)
Kudos to the selection of cast for seiyuus as well. They are able to use their voice to portray the character's personality quite well.

So lets move on to characters...

[Sakamachi, Kinjirou]
The target of everyone's abuse. Currently living with his sister and his mum. His dad passed away when he was a young boy. Did I mention that his mum is a professional wrestler?
So I think this is how it went down.
Kinjirou's Dad: Honey, make me a sandwich!
Kinjirou's Mum: ...........
[THE NEXT DAY KINJIROU'S DAD IS HOSPITALIZED]

I guess you could say he got....
*puts on sunglasses*
A Knuckle Sandwich...
YEEEEAAAAAAH!!! [Cue CSI Miami OP song]

Ehmm... Ok enough with the lame jokes...
My condolences to Kinjiro, his dad was a good man, just with the wrong women. Anyways, due to his father escaping his miserable fate, Kinjiro gets abused by his mother and sister instead. (Now kiddos this is an anime, if you know a child being abused by his parents in real life, please tell social service. Thank you) This causes him to develop Gynophobia (fear of women) and his body reacts to this phobia by secreting blood from his nose. Which is weird because, I don't know, don't normally main male lead in RomCom gets punched by a girl after his nose starts bleeding? So doesn't these nosebleeds makes it worse? So in a nutshell, he doesn't want to be touched by girls. So is it a sign for him to turn to the gay side?
Kinjiro is reliable, when time comes, and he is depended heavily on Subaru. Which is good because he is the one responsible most of the time for bringing the "dere" side out of her.

[Konoe Subaru]
The generic trap in every anime who makes fun of flat chested girls. Though she looks nothing like a flat chest girl! This is blasphemy! Now even girls with B cup sizes can look like a guy in 5 easy steps? She is also the main source of Yaoi and Yuri jokes in the anime. (How is that even possible?) As the butler to the Suzutsuki family, she serves the current heir Kanade Suzutsuki. She has the best of both worlds. Wanted both by males and females. She is an interesting character to me. She has her own harem (a tsundere with a harem? Even more blasphemy!), however her harem consists of the same gender. So do I label it as a harem or as a reverse harem? Plus, if she likes Kinjiro and Kinjiro himself gets a harem, so wouldn't that be a harem within a harem?
HAREMCEPTION!

[Kanade Suzutsuki]
Bishojo and a sadist. Deadly combo, but a dream come true to every masochists. She plays as the childhood friend in Subaru's harem... Or reverse harem.. Or whatever, I don't know anymore. She acts as the mediator between Kinjiro and Subaru's relationship, though she preferably likes torturing them more. However, she honestly do want to help cure Kinjiro of his phobia (probably by draining all his blood so he can't get nosebleeds anymore)

[Other Cast]
-Includes Kinjiro's sister who wants to be a wrestler as well. Also part of Subaru's harem.
-Other maid belonging to the Suzutsuki family. Also part of Subaru's harem.
-Some parody of the KKK cult who loves Subaru, also part of.... Ok, this is getting repetitive. I'll just say this once, every other cast is in Subaru's Harem. Capiche?
-The Yaoi group who supports Subaru-Kinjiro relationship.

Though having an interesting title with a slightly promising premise, Mayo Chiki! does lack a source of innovation, story and character wise perhaps. I mean even the 4 main cast have the same initials, K.S. (That does not come from abbreviation Kill steal, mind you)
It needs a greater impact on the audiences so that they'll be able to differentiate this anime from every other RomCom there is. (I'm sorry but there are already a couple of cross dressing RomCom in the anime world and I'm sure this is not the end of it) Putting lots of fan-service may pique my interest for a moment, though it will last as long as my attention span (which is actually really short) Though, I must admit even if the story is not so original, the humor is entertaining. It doesn't take much for me to chuckle to even generic yaoi or yuri jokes. Perhaps more development in the future would lead to a more memorable cast.

Conclusion, in recent months, introduction of crossdressing characters have been rapidly increasing, so I'm not sure if that's a new fetish or something you people have? Maybe it's a bisexual thing? But I don't think that's a good idea since you're opening yourself up to be rejected by both sexes? Anyways, Mayo Chiki! is a decent RomCom to kill time with. Hilarity plus it doesn't dwell too deep in logic but it gets your mind blown with question once in a while like,"IF SHE IS AFRAID OF KNIVES, HOW IS SHE GOING TO STAY IN THE KITCHEN?" or something like that.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will do plenty of face palm, but most importantly, you will remember that no matter how tempting being the opposite sex must feel like, be grateful of how you were intended to be created...... And be thankful that you're not allergic to the opposite sex, cause that's just SUCKS dude.... If you know what I mean ;)

Haremu Kingu,
Singing Off!

My first run-through with this anime, I loved it. It started out very well and interesting; and the more episodes I watched, the more I fell in love with the anime.
Each episode kept me more and more interested in the anime. And even with my second run-through of rewatching the whole anime, I felt the same joy... there was a happiness that I felt more and more as I watched and enjoyed the series.
There is romance, ecchi (not ridiculous ecchi), comedy, & cross-dressing, and it's very entertaining. To me, I felt this anime was much of a generic romcom (romance/comedy)... where it doesn't teach much ... or give meaningful insights on symbolism to life and such. But that it's entertainment purposes, of which it does very well in providing that!

This anime is about romance between main character Jirou (male) and slightly less main character Subaru (female). Its interesting plot is set to expand upon the episodes of bonding between these two who started off on the wrong foot. There are also a few important supporting characters who are very likable; they assist in moving the story forward and supporting the main character. Having these side characters each play their unique roles in the story along with their interactions with the main protagonist really makes this anime a joy and laugh to watch.

The opening song also really grew on me and if you watch it, it'll grow on you too. The pacing itself is very well done throughout the series; giving me such a high incentive to continue watching, I marathoned the whole 12 episodes and skipped my sleep that night >-> However, many people including myself felt that there was something missing from/after the conclusion.
Have you ever watched those anime's where it is good, but there is something that you just want from it, something more... even though you've already finished all the episodes? That's how this anime is. However, it is very enjoyable nonetheless. I know that the anime may leave fans wanting more, but accepting its conclusion appreciates the enjoyment that came from the anime.

I would say that satisfaction varies upon viewers around: 7.75 to 8.75 out of 10.

The only reason I watched and finished Mayo Chiki was for the cross-dressing butler. I actually wish I had skipped all the episodes without her in it because this anime doesn't have much else going for it other than horribly overused harem cliches and ecchies thrown into a huge pile of you know what.

Story 6:
Guy discovers girl's secret. They make agreement to keep secret. They get close. Some other random girls show up. Lots of blushing and more blushing and nosebleeds. Every girl falling for the MC... how original.

Art 9:
The art is pretty impressive honestly. See for yourself.

Sound 8:
Voices and soundtracks were good. ... No complaints here.

Character 7:
Other than Subaru, I found many of the characters to be obnoxious: annoying little sister, obsessive BL fangirl, physically/verbally abusive tsundere, etc.
I still have to give 7 for this because Subaru is so adorkable, I think she just gave me a cross-dressing fetish.

Enjoyment/Overall 7:
Story overall is pretty uninspiring but Mayo Chiki looks great and there is Subaru.

I would recommend this. At least watch the first 2-3 eps, and if you don't like Subaru, then quit. If you don't like Subaru, then I don't like you, so you probably shouldn't be asking me for anime recommendations anyway.

Story
It's about a girl who hides the fact that she is a girl so she can be a butler but Kenjirou finds out about this by accident and he is menaced to hide this or she will make him disappear, the story is ok even if this sounds silly but there's no ending, that bothered me, it ended with a normal ep. like a little back story for one of the girls he met before and didn't appear much but the story is ok justno good because of this.

Art & Animation
The animations was very good, the details, the landscape is great, the characters design are ... very good too.

Sound
The sound is very good, the VA was very good, the OP and ED are not bad.

Characters
The characters are interesting, all of them are different and refreshing in a comedy and not just the normal or cliche characters on other anime series, they all were good, they were funny, they had their purpose and even if this was a harem they don't like Kenjirou at the first time they see him.

Enjoyment
A mix of everything made this really enjoyable, i got a very good enjoyment from this and in a episode two girls appear and they happen to look like the sisters from KissxSis; This would have been even better if they didn't make that final episode 13 the ending, it looked more like a 6th episode to be honest and it was a let down, this didn't have a proper end.

Story & Characters (4/10)
In the world of anime, there are a variety of clichés and stereotypes that are repeated throughout. These can be for simple nostalgic imagery, or simply to pull in a certain type of crowd. However, what separates most series is the reliance on these things and the ability to also tell an interesting story, with great characters and lovely animation. Mayo Chiki, unfortunately, prefers to go with the grain.

Kinjiro Sakamachi, a high school student, suffers from gynophobia. To the point of where he'll get a nose bleed whenever he has physical contact with a female and can cause him to also pass ... out depending on the length of physical contact. During an incident in a restroom, he happens to find that the extremely popular and good looking bishie butler Subaru Konoe is actually a girl. Subaru and her master, Kanade Suzutsuki, who is more of a sadist and the mastermind, decide to "help" cure Kinjiro of his gynophobia. Thus, our story begins!

While the concept itself is not new, nor is the story itself is somewhat fresh, what makes it interesting is the relationship between Subaru and Kinjiro. Boy finds out girl's secret, boy keeps it a secret and slowly becomes friends with girl. Girl and boy slowly start to develop feelings, and girl struggles with the fact that she wants the relationship to progress but the boy is too dense and ends up missing this meaning. Had the show stuck to this formula and build the show around this with comedy elements, it would of been a much stronger show and would of been far stronger overall as a series. Sadly, we end up with a bombardment of ecchi scenes, and a plot that goes little to nowhere with clichés jam packed.

Mayo Chiki's biggest issue is while it does deviate from the plot itself, it seems to have a difficult time staying on track. For the first several episodes, the show actually sticks fairly well to the meat of the story and is fairly enjoyable. However, as the show progresses and we are introduced to Masamune Usami and Nakuru Narumi, we are forced to accept the fact of what this show truly is. Pure fan service and stereotypes. Sadly, for the remaining half we are forced to sit through awkward fan service and un-funny comedy scenes from time to time until we get to the big episode. Episode 8 introduces us to the big chance for the plot to change. Subaru looks to Jiro, and express to him that she doesn't want to be just friends and the episode ends. What's going to happen next? Is she going to confess, or is she going to keep it buried inside? Suspense builds and anticipation grows and then the next episode is.. Kinjiro working at a maid cafe? Wait, what? Oh by the way, that huge plot point? Simply thrown away in two lines of casual dialogue in the episode. Moments like this completely take me out of the show and frustrate me to no end, because this is the big moment for Mayo Chiki to really come out and shine, but it completely throws it all away for two filler episodes that do nothing with the gynophobia, or Subaru and Kinjiro.

While the show itself has one episode left, it's rather obvious that the episode is going to do little to nothing with the plot itself, as the story seems to be completely wrapped up for this first season. What are we left with? Thirteen episodes of disappointment and broken promises of what could of been a decent show. By no means are the characters bad, and at times Mayo Chiki shows signs of intelligence, but never does anything with it than simply pander to a type of crowd.

Art (7/10)
The one aspect of Mayo Chiki that definitely shines through is the animation itself. Characters are fluid and scenes are rather bright and full of color. While the show isn't exactly an action series, the scenes that do have Kinjiro being beaten up by his sister, Kureha, and whenever he does get kicked around by either Usami or Subaru do look rather nice.

Probably one of the biggest shames about this series is it's well animated and very few short cuts are used, yet it is used for random fan service scenes.

Sound (8/10)
Sound, like with animation, is also rather well done. While I found the opening singer to be more ear-grating, the introduction is rather nicely done. Voice actors do a rather nice job with their lines, and I felt that Satoshi Hino, who voiced Kinjiro, really stole the show. By far being rather diverse with his dialogue. However, Yuka Iguchi (Subaru) and Eri Kitamura (Kanade) really did a nice job as well. With Eri really helping give Kanade that sadistic personality, yet at the same time giving glimpse of just how fragile she can actually be and Yuka giving Subaru a diverse vocal range of when she pretends to be a man, and her normal speaking voice.

By far the strongest part of Mayo Chiki.

Overall (4/10)
Mayo Chiki was actually one of my genuine surprises for 2011.

I was rather impressed with just how well constructed the series was, despite the fact that it was obviously meant to be a throw-away show just for a specific type of audience. However, it became painfully obvious that the show wouldn't break the chains it was bound in and simply ended up embracing them. While the show isn't terrible by any means, it's not going to get any new fans unless you enjoy anime cliches, a decent amount of fan service and a plot that panders around.

If Mayo Chiki ever ends up with a second season, I can only hope that the creators will take a chance to deviate from the norm a bit more and present us with a surprise, which is what I was hoping for the first season to be.

When I went to watch the first episode I was expecting it to be a bit ecchi with a lot of breast scenes and such, things that as a heterosexual female I'm not too fond of, as normally seen in an anime with the male telling the story (a few exceptions to this include Toradora!) however I discovered that it's not actually that bad, the few scenes that there are aren't too horrible and from the first episode I can see that the scenes are spread apart so that it's not one right after another. The story also seems to be interesting, but this also ... comes from a personal preference that I like to stories about a female that crossdresses as a male.

The art is nice, I don't usually like guys with glasses but the art in this anime is capable of making the protagonist good looking to me. I also like how when Subaru is dressed as a boy the effect of actually making her look and sound like a male can be achieved, unlike in Ouran High School Host Club where Haruhi still retains some femininity, which fits the story well.

The protagonist, Kinjirou, seems to be average looking but his fear of women, and his body's "special" ability, as well as his family make him seem above average. His little sister has an interesting personality and reminds me a bit of Minori Kushieda from Toradora! Subaru seems to be fully into the part of a male and a butler but also has a feminine side which is to be expected.

Overall I'd say this anime is worth watching. It probably won't make it into your favorites but it's not bad by any means.

Mayo Chiki is really just another typical high school/fan service anime with plenty of boob shots, a cat girl, a main character who can't interact with females, a hyperactive younger sister and the female/man butler combo. Visually Mayo Chiki is well animated and the character designs are well done, even though they all seem a little too familiar. There is nothing new which makes this series stand out from other anime of the same genre so I don't expect anyone to watch this series and regard it at one of their favourite animes of the year, but it does make for a good gap filler ... in between some of the better releases planned for this summer. This is an easy to watch anime, there is nothing complicated or mind blowing about the story or the visuals but in the end it's still a fun series to pass the time while waiting for something better to come along.

Review by Charles Shepherd
www.electricbloomwebzine.blogspot.com

There are still a couple of episodes to go, now that all main characters have been featured it is time to make my review, and my ratings are:

Story- fair 6.

The plot of the story is very simple and it is for the El Pollo ( Spanish for "Chicken" and I'm referring to Sakamachi Kinjirou) to protect the cross dressing chiquita's ( Konoe Subaru the female lead) secret after he accidentally discovered it, which, by the way nearly ended his life, the arc of the story is not something were the chiquita (Konoe) moves into the El Pollo's (Jirou) life to mess things up. ... Actually, it is more like an accidental romance waiting to happen, but there are some challenges along the way for the 2, and it always involves the chiquita's mistress, Kanade who too bored with everyday life and finds fun in putting the 2 in a lot of awkward situations.

Art- mediocre 5.

The art itself can be compared to other animes like "Infinite Stratos," "Working," and "Toradora."

Sound - good 7.

All I can say is that i like both the opening and ending themes, I also admire Konoe's seiyu Yuka Iguchi, if I'm not mistaken she once did a voice of some rich man's daughter in "Mayoi Neko Overrun" as Chise Umemori, I really can't believe that she can do voices of someone who's childish and someone who's like a MILF. Frankly, Konoe's voice actually sounds like a MILF than a dude.

Characters: decent 4.

I said decent, co'z their are some info about the characters which were somewhat mismentioned so some added info about them should be appropriate, so let's start with the following:

Konoe Subaru- Info states that she works for the Suzutsuki's estate as a butler?????? Ok, that's a given, her immediate ward is the young and diabolical Mistress Kanade at first- before the El Pollo (Jirou) discovers her true gender, life for her is just the usual: serve the mistress(Kanade) with the utmost dedication which may probably include playing along with the latter's sexual advances ( she (Kanade) did mentioned that she has feelings for her) , do good in school, and be careful that no one finds out your true gender. Upon meeting the El Pollo (Jirou) through unusual circumstances, life for her has somewhat change co'z she's now faced with the predicament of balancing her dedication with her mistress (Kanade) and her feelings for the El Pollo(Jirou). In ep9, the chiquita (Konoe) has stated that she wants to be the El Pollo's best friend, however it may also suggest that she is just being careful because her mistress (Kanade) might hear it and plan a bigger scheme to have more fun. By the way in this anime, she's the one with the balls here, since it was her who does all the buttkicking not only towards the El Pollo (Jirou), but to other cast as well.

Sakamachi Kinjirou - As stated, he's called "Chicken" not only because he's a wuss, but because went one is to combine the last 3 letters from his surname with the first 3 letters of his first name you get a misspelled word "Chikin." Kanade would either call him "Chikin" but most of the time she will address him as "Jirou," for Usami, she would call him "Baka Chikin," most of the time that is, especially when she's pissed, in fact she is always pissed at the El Pollo (that's what I call him and again that's "Chicken" in Spanish). This poor El Pollo (Jirou) went through a lot in the hands of his sadistic wrestling superstar mom and his equally sadistic sister, which later on he developed a certain disease call "Gynophobia" that cause him to develop sever nose bleed when touched by a girl, ok so we all know that,duh. The thing about him, is that he's one gynophobic who can still talk to girls- from a certain distance that is, be in a classroom with girls around provided by that his seatmate is Kurose Yamato his classmate way back from junior high, it is even suggested that they both used to share and exchange porn mags and it may also suggested that he also experiences sexual arousal's when viewing such lewd publications. Info states, that he's capable of fighting, but in one episode all I saw was (at least in this anime) is him putting up alright, but ending up being punching bag as usual when he encounters the chiquita's father (Subaru Nagare) in disguise. Another thing about the El Pollo, is that he always falls victim not only with Kanade's schemes but also with her sexual advances as well, it is not known whether or not the mistress (Kanade) has any feelings for him or was he just being teased for fun by the latter, but what is known is that all she did promise to help him cure her Gynophobia.........or at least that is what she always says.

Kanade Suzutsuki - well, she's rich, she's pampered, she's the school principal's only kid, she's spoiled and most of all, she's bored, the moment she found out that one of the student discovered her butler's secret she instantly hit upon an idea to have fun with the 2 parties involved. That is, to manipulate her butler's blind obedience and to make use of the poor El Pollo's stupidity coupled with his psychological disorder. It is suggested that she's bisexual, since info suggest that she has feeling both for the chiquita (Konoe) and for the El Pollo since she both teases them, however, to whom she more into is yet to be known. As for the background of this character, I can't seem to understand that for her to be a principal's daughter is an understatement because school principles don't have such luxurious privileges and the school where this character is in don't look like some high class institution where it is exclusive for the rich, in fact most of the characters who are attending that school seems to just be part of the middle class.

Usami Masamune - also called "Usamin" by the El Pollo, well all know that she's a former member of some radical fan group called S4 or better known as "Shooting Star Sabaru Sama," of course no harem would be complete without a tsundere who's also competition for the El Pollo's affection. She's also one of those who kicks the El Pollo's ass, cute as she is, I'm still for Konoe to be the El Pollo's love interest.

Kureha Sakamachi - It is hard to say if whether or not if she has a brotherly complex for the El Pollo, what is known is that she always practices her wrestling move against her brother and she like tomatoes a lot. And recently she has a crush on the chiquita (Konoe), but I wonder if she'll become lesbian when she finds out that that chiquita (Konoe) is a girl.


Nakuru Narumi - For a ganguro who's a fan of BL (Boys Love.....EEEEEEWWWW) I don't see her flaunting her collection of BL manga, the only thing she's flaunting is her fetish for glasses, ok so she's the chairwoman of a group of BL fans called “Let’s warmly protect Sabaru Sama," but I don't see her being with her group, the only person she's with most of the time is with the El Pollo's sister Kureha and sometime she's seen with Usami. She probably the only character who get's drunk on carbonated drinks and can turn into a perverted lesbian or a bisexual.


Enjoyment- good 7.

What make this anime enjoyable is its comedy and romance genre, this is one anime were the bellas (female cast) are on top and the hombres (male cast) are the underdogs. Also, this anime has quite an unusual harem genre in it, were it is shared both by the chiquita (Konoe) and by the El Pollo (Jirou), there are of course some ecchi in it but it is a bit subtle and safe enough to be view by a 13 year old with parental supervision.

Overall - good 7.

Like I've said, there are still a couple of episodes to go, however, I kinda have a feeling that the chiquita (Konoe) will probably come clean and the El Pollo will still be Gynophobic, but, here's the thing, it is possible that even though the chiquita (Konoe) has come clean, the remaining female class will turn lesbian and the El Pollo will be left in the sides, let's just say that there is part of the opening theme which serves as a give away, if it is, I guess we just have to wait and see.

Fully Updated to Final Episode.

Going into Mayo Chiki! I thought I was gonna get a generic anime with some ecchi sprinkled on top. I regret that train of thought completely. Its not a generic anime with ecchi sprinkled on top, its an anime with AMAZINGLY placed ecchi and hilarity combined with a decent story and great characters!

Story:
The story is heading in a way that Jirou and Subaru's friendship keeps growing with each passing episode, with events bringing them closer together. It also looks like Subaru and Kanade's friendship will be slowly restored to what it once was before an incident in their past. It ... also keeps that comedic aspect with Kureha's love for Subaru and Kanade causing great misunderstandings that cause Jirou hell every episode. This never stopped even til the very end, with the final episode just being a cluster of misunderstandings and perversion. It went out with a bang!

Art:
It's pleasing to the eyes, the colors are vivid, the characters are well designed, with a wide array of different character styles being used, from kiddy designs (Jiriou's tomboy sister) to mature cosplay (The catgirl cosplayer in episode one).

Sound:
I found the Opening and Ending themes to be quite appealing to listen to. They aren't amazing amazing, but they are still really nice and go really well with the anime and the opening and ending sequences respectively. With each passing episode I seem to love the music more.

Character:

Jirou is that cool geek guy you get every once in a while. The man with Gynophobia due to... family problems. That... surprised me to say the least, and sadly for him he's been labeled as gay to to his gynopobia. That alone made me like his character since normally the guys are either accidental pervs or are no balled men that can't stand up to girls. Jirou is none of that, he likes his women! He just fears for his life due to his family! Totally waiting to see if he can get over his fear of girls in some way. By the looks of things, his gynophobia is going to stay for quite sometime at the rate things are going. Not that I mind, its hilarious to see.

Subaru is the trap butler that never gets old. But, Subaru... is absurdly cute. Having to be such a serious butler for Kanade and then able to go into an extremely girl state amuses me to no end! Her affection of sheep is adorable as well! From the first episode I thought she might have no weaknesses, but gravely mistaken as in episode 3 a childhood fear is revealed, making her more likeable since she isn't "invincible".

Kanade seemed innocent at first, which I was like "Sure ok, every anime needs the innocent Ojou-Sama". I was naive, There is nothing innocent in that woman. At all. I won't spoil anything, go watch the first episode to understand why I say such things. I said this all before episode three. She does have her kind side of course, since she does care for Subaru and the others as shown this episode. But.. She's still pretty darn evil when she has nothing better to do!

Kureha is that insanely strong tomboy you see once in a blue moon. She is insanely strong, having fought a bear on equal footing, only breaking an arm in the process. She also has one hell of a variety of wrestling moves. I was in love!

Usami is your general Tsundere gone DereDere by the end. She also has that Kureha charm with her insane strength. Plus, I damn found her cute as hell! I fell for Usami hard, loved her the entire series!

Nakaru is the cosplaying Boys Love loving lunatic. She's pretty insane, with her intense love for boys love. But, the final episode showed me a side of her that made me go "AWWW... AWWWW!" It was pretty fantastic.

Enjoyment:
I might dare say this is my favorite comedy of the summer. I dare say it was actually. I have enjoyed every single episode of Mayo Chiki! I have been laughing at Jirou's poor state. Kanade giving him a hard time (Chicken-kun~), Subaru knocking him into a figurative coma. His sister beating down on him. Dear lord, he was abused wasn't he! (All the more fun for me!)

Overall, I'm totally going to keep watching this to see where it goes and how funny it can get. Hopefully we'll get some more backstory on Jirou since there are some things I'm curious about his past.

I really enjoyed this show seeing how I finished the last episode mere minutes ago and felt the "emptiness" inside of me. I usually only feel this emptiness when I finish a series and still possess the craving for more.


Story -The story is pretty basic. Typical slice of life comedy of a girl with a secret being found out by a guy who then becomes her object of affection.

Art - The art is pretty good. It has a mild, yet pleasing look. Not too vibrant, not too dull. I don't know how to explain it. The characters are pretty well drawn and enjoyable.

Sound - The ... OP is decent. It's not my favorite but it contains those "pick up the pace towards the end" kind of feelings. It starts off slow and mellow but after it repeats itself the pace really picks up. Gives viewers a good adrenaline rush. Ending is pretty mellow as well but I usually skip it and go to the next episode.

Characters - The main characters are the typical bunch. Rich Girl with a butler who falls in love with the guy who finds out her butlers secret, Butler that hides her true gender and falls in love with the same guy, various girls who have a crush on the butler but end up falling for the main guy (at least 1 does, typical harem business so I don't feel like it's a spoiler), and a sister who loves her brother and doesn't want another girl to take him away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and am hoping for a season 2, the ending sort of hints towards one since he mentions "beginning of our relationship" or whatever.

I was really hoping that there would be more mutual feelings thrown in towards the end but I'm glad that Konoe was finally able to express her true feelings to him.

^^^ not really a spoiler since we know thats what happens in rom coms...

Comedy, Romance, School, Slice of Life, & Ecchi. This is my favorite anime out of all the anime that I have ever watched. I fell in love with it. Ever since I started watching this anime at ep 1, I couldn't stop! I never went to sleep I watched all the way from ep 1 to 6 from (unknown time) to 6 in the morning! It's because this anime is so beautiful and it has such a fantastic story. Every time I watched the anime, there was always something new and this anime always kept me happy. The more I watched the more I also ... fell in love with the opening theme song.

If you ever are feeling down, rewatch this anime and it'll bring back lots of memories from when you first watched it. You'll be happier/more joyful than you expect to be. If you want to or you are watching this anime, then be sure to remember that the anime ends at ep 12, because ep 13 is just an OVA (extra episode that has no real purpose). Anyway, many people are disappointed at this anime because they wanted more (and also because they thought that ep13 was the last ep), but I accepted it's ending and it made me happier than most people. I want people to be happy for watching this great anime and accept ep 12 that it is the real ending. So remember my words when you get to ep 12, aha! I hope i inspired some of you:)
This anime is the very definition of a beautiful anime! Go Mayo Chiki!!!

Disclaimer: Swearwords will be included in this review. Approach with caution. Spoilers might be included. Professional approach on the subject not included.

Oh God, I don't even know where to start this messy clusterfuck of a show.

Long long ago while this show was still airing I've decided to watch it and dropped it several episodes hence. Several years afterwards when I finally got around to checking which animes I have watched, I saw this and thought "hey this seems good, why haven't I seen this before" which brings me here.

Oh God, where to start. For starters, there are the general actions of the bloody characters. The ... characters appear to walking three years old with the body of teenagers. They accept commands simply because and their idea of common sense are basically not there. Things like "I am doing sexual petting to cure MC's gynophobia"(which by the way, his ailment is not. A phobia is an irrational fear and our mc does not suffer fear from women, irrational or not) is straightforward stupid. It is bad enough when the butler does this because she is ordered to but when everyone else does is not reasonable in any way, ailments be damned. That stuff is something you do with a boyfriend, husband, whatever, not someone you just met some days ago and shit!

Then there's the harem situation. For most harem titles the heroines will flock to the mc because of coincidence, fate stuff because here. But in here the heroines get to fall for the mc because of the dumbest reasons. The first one, being the butler falls under the category of the basic harem coincidence and goes onward from there but the others include:
"I will use mc to make someone I like jealous yet I don't know that the person I like is actually a girl and somehow I fell in love with the mc in this scenario".
While the other is "I will pair the mc with someone else 'cause they totally look good together but I want to tease mr mc as well because reasons. But wait! Somehow I've managed to fall in love with him as well and now I'm stuck with having to mediate for this two people while here I am, in love with the other person because of my own machinations, oops".
Now doesn't that sound stupid. Well yes it is.

Then there's the scenarios that they get into. Why the hell would you think that the best cure for someone with fear of knives is do a pretend kidnapping? Oh, and lets throw in a knife wielding kidnapper in that scenario as well. On what universe does that seem to be the best answer to curing someone? Then there's the forgetting my only sibling's birthday and the I made my butler lose her job because I don't look where I walk yet I somehow magically swerved to go down the stairs. Well this is a comedy but come on, at least give your characters a brain at least.

The only good thing about this series is the art, which I will admit is pretty good, and the fanservice, if you look at shows just for them. I mean they made basically hentai screenshots in a non-hentai anime, so there's that.

Honestly this whole show is just plain fanservice pandering and stupid scenarios. It was a really painful drag to finish this show and I'm wondering how I finished it when I have dropped more interesting stuff.

Mayo Chiki focuses on Jiro the protagonist curing his fear of women. Even though Jiro had always hidden his fear for quite sometime he is forced to cure it by Suzusuki. All because of poor Jirou discovering the famed Subaru is actually a girl. The story evolves from the point where Subaru is forced to cure Jiro's phobia. Every time there is romantic moments between Jiro and Subaru there comes an awkward situation causing the comedy moments to appear. Most of the story genre is romance and some comedy here and then, but most of it's romance. The art is done really good especially how ... the characters respond to a statement and think wrong and when there is romantic moments. Sound is also done really well with how the characters try to express their emotions and the background sounds to go along with the situations. Each character has a unique type of personality that is fun to figure out.

Jiro - One of the main characters the story focuses on and is the character that struggles to cure his gynophobia. Jiro is the first character introduced in the manga when it begins. He keeps away from girls to make sure he doesn’t pass out from a nosebleed. Once he is forced to be cured by Suzutsuki he suffers from going through a lot of treatments. The thing in Jiro’s character that is interesting to look at is how he responds to Suzutsuki’s treatments and what happens to him just to cure his problem.
Suzutsuki – Another main character in Mayo Chiki, who tries to cure Jiro of his gynophobia in exchange Jiro has to keep Subaru’s secret. She doesn’t really care what happens to Jirou while he goes through his treatment. She has a mysterious type of personality so you don’t know how she really is like. Her personality is interesting because sometimes she does want to help Jiro, but most of the time she tortures him.
Subaru – A main character in Mayo Chiki who is discovered to be a girl by Jiro and stays by him to make sure he doesn’t say her secret. She obeys her master command no matter what it is, which makes her a very interesting character. When she is with Jiro she reacts awkwardly to him causing them to be in strange situations. She usually thinks the wrong way to something that isn’t.
Overall this anime deserves a nine because of all the genres and situations it features. Although if you are looking for my comedy and romance then you should check out the manga because it continues with the storyline.

If you're looking for a serious, dramatic romance anime then this is not the anime for you. If you are looking for a light-hearted romance/comedy then you've found the right anime!



Story 7/10


Mayo Chiki is based around your self-proclaimed "normal" high school student Sakamachi Kinjirou who lives a not so normal everyday life. His mother is a professional wrestler and sister following in her footsteps. This leads to Sakamachi becoming a punching bag for his mother and daughter making his body develop an illness which makes his nosebleed by the simple touch of a girl! At school he attends in the same class as high ... school beauty Suzutsuki Kanade who has a butler that is quite popular with the girls named Subaru Konoe. Although as our main protagonist soon finds out Konoe isn't exactly everything he appears to be! Sakamachi accidentally discovers that Konoe is actually a girl and our adventure begins!

The story isn't anything special but it does enough to keep your attention. It seems to have taken the road of many generic romance/comedy cross-dressing animes out there and only tries a bit to make itself different. It's typically about a girl cross-dressing as a butler attending high school and must keep her true gender a secret. Quite typical among many animes of this genre such as Maria Holic!



Art 8/10

The art is pretty well-done and nice to look at. From the character designs, to the environments and animations it all blends in well together.


Sound 8/10

The sound was another great aspect. Besides the opening and ending the BGM fit very nicely and of course the soundtracks went according to the mood and atmosphere to give it a more emotional feel. The voice actors did a splendid job acting out the emotions from anger, cleverness, sadness, happy and so on very well. Especially during tsundere moments where they would sound angry and unpleasant one minute and sweet and gentle the next.

Characters 7/10

I'm not going to get specific with each character individually but I will give you the basic idea behind them all. The characters were a bit generic such as our main protagonist Kinijirou Sakamachi, being the guy completely ignorant not knowing when a girl likes him even when it is completely obvious to those around him and the audience. Typical nice guy who tries to be helpful to everyone; however with a little fight in him when picked on by the girls.

Then we have our girls who are border-line generic as well. Our typical tsundere Usami, clever-witty girl Kanade, loving sister Kureha and the main female protagonist who is a mix of a little bit of everything Konoe. I think you'll find many characters like these if you've watched several romance animes however they do present them quite nicely and do show some progression in their character as the show goes on so it gets a point for that.


Enjoyment 8/10

Well, even though the story isn't all that fantastic I did enjoy it a lot. Since it is a romance/comedy it has its funny moments, and I must say I was cracking up throughout the whole show. Its story and simple romance is made up for in its comedy if not the comedy actually adds to the story. During the early episodes I was laughing up a storm and when I had attempted to watch this to pass the time at my college I had to shut it off before I started cracking up in class. The comedy with the added romance just made me burn through this show in one sitting, drawing me in to see how the story would all play out while breezing through the episodes simply because I was just laughing so much or had to see what happened next.

Overall 7/10

Mayo Chiki! is your typical romance/comedy cross-dresser anime. The story is decent and easy to figure out. Even though it's a bit generic it does have its differences and its comedy makes up a bit for what it lacks. If you are searching for a romance/comedy anime that's a bit more heavy on the comedy, then this anime may be for you! It's quite an enjoyable watch and even though it doesn't get an A grade in the romance department it does just enough to satisfy the viewer who's hungry for romance while they are getting their fill on laughs as well.They don't exactly say who our main character ends up with but it makes it quite clear in episode 12.Took awhile to decide between a 7 or 8 but in the end it gets a 7/10 due to it following a bit of a generic story and being a little to light on the romance then it should have been. Overall I did enjoy this and would recommend it to anyone who is searching for an anime of its genre.

What I expected from Mayo Chiki, and what I ended up getting were completely different. From the description, I was expecting a short 13 episode comedic anime surrounding a boy and the situations his gynophobia would get him into, and while that is slightly accurate, I did not at all expect to feel for the characters and enjoy the plot in the manner I did.


STORY/PLOT:

The plot was pretty episodic. Jirou and his gynophobia was also a pretty straight forward aspect of the story. The man is extremely sensitive, and even the slightest touch from a girl causes his blood pressure to soar. Now you can ... imagine poor Jirou's condition can be a rather frustrating inconvenience, and that led to some pretty funny and warming scenes. Keeping Subaru's secret was also a pretty amusing aspect of the plot, and it led to some pretty funny, and once again heart-warming scenes as well.


CHARACTERS:

I really liked the manner in which they had Jirou and Subaru's relationship progress throughout the anime. As their relationship progressed, so too did the complexity of their character develop, which allowed me to get a feel for both them as individuals, and as a pair.

Some of the supporting characters such as Kanade, Masamune, and Kureha were nicely fleshed out as well, with their own respective back-stories and personalities.

Unfortunately I did not take a liking to Nakuru. I found her underdeveloped compared to some of the other characters, and her personality was pretty generic, however I can forgive that due to the role she serves in the plot did not necessarily require her to stand out.

ENJOYMENT:

There were a number of scenes in this anime that invoked feels and genuine emotion for me. Keep in mind, it was not to the severity of the emotions induced from an anime like Clannad or Toradora, the scenes which did make me tear up or feel for the characters in the were well done and positively contributed to my enjoyment of this short, funny, and sweet anime.

OVERALL - 8/10

Before I write anything for this anime, I will say something very important. This anime is really fun and enjoyable, no matter who watches it.

PEOPLE WHO WILL (most probably) ENJOY THIS ANIME:
People who enjoy light stories, with funny characters, some stupid drama and cute reactions.

PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT (most probably) ENJOY THIS ANIME:
People who are bored of typical anime stories and can't stand fan service or ecchi anime.

So, to kick off the review I will start with the story.

Story (8/10) : The story is pretty original, considering the genre. A girl who dresses like a guy falls in love with a guy that can't stay ... near girls. Pretty cheesy and cliche, but it suits the style of this anime. It's developement is decent and the end is really cool. So, yeah, pretty much you have a complete story of a typical ecchi/harem/romance anime, but it's really well done, that's why I rate it 8/10.

Art (9/10) : The art is really well done, with smooth animation, unusual for this kind of anime. Not much to say here, because it is not unique, but it's still eye candy (for me at least).

Sound (8/10) : Not much to say for the sound. The voice acting is good, the OST I don't even remember it.

Character (8/10) : Considering the genre the characters develop fairly well.
Sakamachi (Main) : He is your typical anime protagonist, with the small detail that he can't stay near women. It's really cool to watch how he creates relationships with some girls and how he learns to adapt. Also, his reaction are really funny.
Konoe (Main) : Cool buttler boy, who proves to be a kawai girl. Really nice developement on this character and I really enjoyed the romance between her and Sakamachi.
The rest of the characters aren't super wow, but they fit the plot like a glove.

Enjoyment (10/10) : I think the anime is really enjoyable, for most people at least. It radiates a good feeling and you can watch it without having to worry about anything. Funny, sad, cute. All these are good for a comedy anime, in my opinion.

Overall (9/10) : I believe that this anime is a great example of new-gen comedy anime. It is fun. it is well done and it is complete. Maybe the ending doesn't fit to everyone, it's still a legit ending. It sure has some flaws here and there, like excessive fan service at some points, but some people enjoy it, some not. Generally, it is an anime I would reccomend to anyone who would like to spend some time to enjoy a nice anime.

How could a gynophobe - a person with an irrational fear of women - ever come to fall for a girl?

How could an overprotective, anti-social (and cross-dressing) girl that has never in her life made one friend get intimate with a guy?

This is a Love Story about an unlikely couple - a Wavering Butler, and a 'Chicken' who finds love and comfort in one another. That is, after several embarrassing scenes, events, and misunderstandings.

I really liked the artwork, music, and voice-acting here - the artwork had a 'light' and 'happy' feel to it, and the music supplemented that atmosphere. The voice-acting was awesome. It was ... lively, and realistic. When a character cried - they cried. When someone laughs - they laugh. When someone blushes - they blush. When someone gets hit by a car - they scream.

Honestly - the voice-acting is phenomenal. It really gives life to the whole anime and I loved every part of it.

Why don't you see for yourself?

What can I say about Mayo Chiki? Well for starters this is one of those anime I pick based off of just the cover art alone. For every now and then I will just randomly pick something to watch and just use the cover art to give me just the smallest indication of what the show is.

The story revolves around Jirou, a high school boy who suffers from nose bleeds when in contact with girls. A new semester begins and on his first day as well, he bumps into Kanoe Subaru in the boys toilets. This which would be a normal thing, wasn't normal ... due to one thing. Kanoe Subaru so happened to be wearing panties.

After a few fists flying at each other and a lot of shouting we find out that Kanoe Subaru is a girl dressing up as a boy so that she can be a butler to a rich household. Subaru then entrusts Jirou to keep it a secret from the rest of the school as if she is found out she will have to quit being a butler.

The premise seemed alright at first but then it quickly abandons the sense of consequence for if Subaru could be found out into a typical generic harem. For which have been tried, tested and rinsed thoroughly.

Even more so Mayo Chikki is rated R+ yet it only shows nudity in the odd scene every now and then (which half of them being Jirou having imaginative and suggestive dreams about one of the many love interests). The characters are standard as well in terms of being no different to any other harem anime. You have the angry Tsundere, the shy girl, the know it all and then the main interest.

Now I would be lying to you if I said I didn't enjoy the show but I did and in my opinion a 7 is a good score for this show. It is good...just not amazing.

The art design is average anime fare so don't expect to be wowed by it's production values. Character designs are nice but generic and more aimed at a cutesy lolicon style.The soundtrack is very forgettable to say the least (albeit a catchy opening song) there is just no emotional punch in those key scenes and an overuse of one particular track that plays in most 'normal day' episodes.

My only issue with the voice acting is that I sadly watched it in English dub and it wasn't very good. Some voices didn't fit naturally with certain characters but some were still serviceable i.e the main lead Jirou, so I will say watch it in Japanese.

All in all to sum it up, Mayo Chikki! is a good show, just not a great one and that is down to it not exploring routes that could have put depth onto its wide cast of characters. Now this is a slice of life anime, if you are a fan of that genre like myself then give it a shot or if your very critical then I would say pass on it.

**contains spoiler!**









I enjoyed this anime, up until the end. As some of the other reviews say, as a rom com, it's lacking in the romance part. The entire anime, you can tell that the romance is there, but never really goes beyond a few awkward moments and a few kisses, the two never really get together. In the end, I longed for more, and to see where it would go with the two, but they left it up in the air, and with no sign of a second season to possibly wrap things up. As I said, I enjoyed the anime, but the end was ... very lacking and had me wanting more. Kinda like opening your favorite cereal in the morning, only to find that there isn't enough left for a nice bowl of morning cereal.