Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

When news of this year's new shows began surfacing, Kaichou wa Maid-sama was near the top of the ones I was looking forward to most. I had read a little of the manga and always found it to be funny. Last year had featured a pretty good run of romance anime and this looked poised to continue that run. Despite the series' fabulous artwork and a lot of great comedy, it is unfortunately a bit of a disappointment.

The premise behind Maid-sama has an initially interesting hook. Misaki Ayuzawa is the newly elected student council president at a mostly male high school. ... She is strict and violent in protection of the female students and in making it a place friendlier to girls. But she has a secret that could ruin her image as the tough and unyielding class president, she works part time in a Maid Cafe to help her family with the bills. Of course this means that the ultimate alpha male at the school, Usui Takumi, will find out about her secret. Blackmail, as only shoujo can do ensues... or does it?

Thankfully the answer is no but what does follow, at least initially is a pretty fun and entertaining back and forth repartee between Misaki and Usui. Misaki is revealed to not be quite the man hating tyrant she is in school and Usui is not the cold, unfeeling ladies man either. The romantic chemistry between the two characters is quite good and builds very quickly early on. But the typical problems that plague shoujo romances soon follow. Relationship development slows to a crawl and nothing of significance happens after the first third of the series until its end. Despite this the series does end with a bang and has a very touching and satisfying conclusion which is probably the only thing that saved it from a lower overall score.

Maid-sama at its best is extremely funny and enjoyable to watch. The series' comedy is really quite good most of the time. But no amount of jokes can hide the fact that it doesn’t have any kind of story what so ever. Misaki's job at Maid Latte is mostly just a gimmick, and besides for a handful of episodes it’s totally unimportant to the plot. Basically what we get is a series of loosely connected stories with the same underlying theme. Even though they are mostly funny it gets tiring when you realize that nothing significant is ever happening. When things do finally start to get interesting between our couple, not unexpectedly a rival appears. Though he is so poorly conceived and much too late to the party to have any real significance. It was almost like someone in the production staff realized with five episodes to go that they nearly made an entire anime without a love triangle. Though despite all of this the biggest flaw is the sheer weight of supporting characters and their overall detraction to the screen time and back-story of the lead characters.

Misaki makes for a good heroine. She is quite funny walking the line between her dictator president and her submissive maid persona's. However she is a bit of your stereotypical tsundere, but it's easy to root for her. Shockingly we really don't find out all that much about her with the exception of some flashbacks of when she was a little girl (which in actuality weren't even about her). Other than learning her father had walked out on her mother and sister, leaving enormous debts and apparently they are also really poor. An aside to Misaki's family poverty though. I thought the way they portrayed her family was kind of offensive. The inside of the house is crumbling and dirty. Walls have paint peeling off them, the floor has holes in it, and their are spider webs and other cliches. Yes we get it, they're poor. Like poor people can’t keep a clean house? Besides this is completely out of character for someone as meticulous as Misaki. When you consider how fanatical she is at school about keeping things clean and orderly the very idea that she wouldn't do the same at home is totally implausible.

Usui on the other hand initially comes off as the kind of love interest I hate. Aloof, privileged, and apparently great at everything he tries he is precisely the kind of ideal man that makes shoujo romances so unbelievable. However it is pretty quickly apparent he isn't your typical leading man. You can tell he is immediately smitten with Misaki from the start and he uses this droll personality of his to push her buttons and amuse himself while at the same time bring her closer to him. I ended up liking him quite a bit. Like Misaki, his past remains as much of a mystery at the end as it was at the beginning. Especially frustrating considering the amount of time that was given to Misaki's childhood friend Shintani who basically only appeared in 4 episodes.

The supporting cast really brings down this series though. As much as I enjoyed the leads, I found the rest of the cast to be uninspired and lacking substance. The main reason for this is that there are just way too many of them. Maid-sama features nearly 30 supporting characters and they take way too much from the ones that are actually important. Even if many of them are likable and funny, they have absolutely zero depth and at best one facet to their personalities. Stories with lots of characters rarely work that well especially when the majority serve no purpose and overlap one another. Too many of them are basically identical to each other and were unnecessary. For example I know having a cross dresser is a shoujo staple but having more than one in the same anime is overkill, regardless of whether or not they both did it willingly.

The anime is well acted and I enjoyed the performances for the lead actors in particular. Though neither of them are rookies by any means, they aren’t the typical names we are used to seeing at the top of a cast either. So I enjoyed hearing some fresh voices for a change. The music is solid but unspectacular. Saya Mizuno's "My Secret" is an appropriate if kind of generic shoujo OP. Both ED songs by heidi are pretty good though and I liked them a lot more.

Artistically Maid-sama is strong. I did enjoy the character designs and the frequent use of deformed and chibi characters to complement the series comedy. The art really brings out the emotions of Misaki and Usui and is able to speak volumes about their feelings for one another even with nothing is being said. The quality of this non audible communication is one of the best I have seen in an anime.

Even though I was ultimately disappointed with this anime, it was not a complete waste of time to watch. If you enjoy Rom-Com anime then you will most likely not be sorry for watching this. The comedy is great; the romance is hit or miss.

I thoroughly enjoyed Maid Sama! for a number of reasons.

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!

Kaicho Wa Maid-sama, another series put in the category of typical.

Plot:
Typical. The main character, Misaki is your not so average shoujo lead, why? Because she is the head of the student council but also conceals and dark secret; she works in a maid cafe. Big whoop. The plot is very linear she meets the handsome, popular bishie of the school and gradually throughout the episodes romance is suppose to flourish. Slice of life is evident because of school activities, competitions, pesky, convenient love triangles and maid service to make the anime seem related to real life. There's is nothing special about the plot, if you ... seen other shoujos then you can predict what's going to happen next. On a side note when the words "Maid Cafe" appear, I automatically guessed more fan service than the usual. Yup, there is plenty of fan service for both sexes. Hurray.

Characters/Development:
Very static. Misaki may appear strong at first but after seeing her character I have one thing to say, Tsundere. Everything about her is "Tsundere". How she treats her fellow students with her Iron Fist. How she treats Usui harshly and then tenderly is just plain nonsensical. Did I also mention that she is poor too? Typical. Usui is definitely the worst character in the entire show. He has no flaws, everything about him is perfect and to add he's from a wealthy family. Wikipedia even says so! How is this bad? Usui stalks Misaki... and this is suppose to be sexy? He does not show any emotion, and character at all. Essentially he is a boring robot. Incredibly indistinguishable if you line up him up with other male leads. Expecting character development? Than you'll be disappointed. Side characters are quit forgettable except Hinata and Aoi. Well there's the egotistical rival of Usui, the fan-boys and Misaki's classmates/co-workers. Blah
I have a problem with people liking the series just because they think Misaki is a "strong" lead. If that's the case then why does Usui always comes to the rescue? Even when someone is harassing her, Usui seems to be there to stop it automatically.

Art/Sound:
Decent.

Enjoyment:
Mediocre. I was expecting something out of the norm since this series was so "talked" about.

Overall:
The only thing that is unique about this series is Misaki working in a Maid Cafe. Don't believe the hype.

Kaichou wa Maid-sama! is far from your regular romance anime and that is EXACTLY why you'll love it. While most anime if they have a romance element tease you by implying character feelings with subtle interactions but no real physical connection such as a kiss and without spoiling much Kaichou doesn't exactly have a lot of physical connections either but it's just so bluntly put you love it. It literally defines your anime dream romance which is why you should watch Kaichou wa Maid-sama! now!

Storyline; 10

While the storyline in Kaichou is not complex and the most intense thing ever you'll fall helplessly in love with ... every element of it. From the comedic side-stories to the annoying childhood friend to the stubborn protagonist not admitting their feelings! There are so many elements intertwined within the story that create this bittersweet mood you can't escape.

Art/Animation Style; 9

Kaichou wa Maid-sama isn't the most recent series but it's art style definitely compares to some recent anime and I would argue effortlessly that it is really easy on the eyes. You'll find as you watch the artist do a fantastic job of really visually allowing you to follow the cute story of Kaichou!

Sound; 8

Despite not having any of my favorite songs Kaichou does bring some nice songs within it's OST that I can sit down and listen too every now and then to really relive the ever amazing experience of watching Kaichou wa Maid-sama! Now I will say I did love the main theme, and don't get that mixed up with the opening, the maid theme is super cute and plays throughout multiple parts of the series. You'll know it fully after five episodes what I'm talking about, it is just so damn catchy!

Character; 10

The characters presented in Kaichou are definitely among some of my favorites. Usui being my male role model because we share this quiet/shy nature about us that allows us to appear mysterious to women and that leads to easily teasing them! Usui you'll find is rather comical, reserved but also just out there. He fits perfectly with Misa and I definitely think you all will too!
Misa now, she is your typical yet slightly cuter Tsundere that we all fandom over! Her characteristics are rather aggressive at first but slowly over time she shows more kindness and even some extra stuff all of you romance lovers will just die over!
As you watch Kaichou you'll find between these two main characters and the perfectly fit supporting characters that you'll be left in the characters shoes on an entertaining adventure of romance, heartbreaks and much more!

Enjoyment; 9

Overall I adored Kaichou and really hope you will too! It's cute, funny and all around enjoyable! All you romance lovers I promise you won't be left dissatisfied like other shoes such as Nisekoi, you will definitely get your plateful with this anime and even some of you comedy lovers will get a certain level of laughs out of this wonderful show!

In the end I gave Kaichou wa Maid-sama a 9/10 for its dazzling ability to keep me on the edge of my seat the entire length of the series! A giant round of applies for the creators of this anime and a huge pat on the back to the author!

Although this would look to be the normal cliche type rom/com, it was actually pretty enjoyable with a few different aspects to it. Instead of the male protagonist having to protect the female protagonist, misaki can actually hold her own in most situations, and then usui would come and talk to her about it. The comedy in this story was actually pretty funny, either it be usui messing with misaki about stalking her, or misaki always being super serious and whatnot. I very much enjoy this anime, the romance that progresses through the story is really heartwarming, but at times can be a little sad/wobbly. ... So now with the review stuffs.

Story 8/10
Although the base of the story does look to be some sort of cliche, the way they portrayed it was very nice. The romance slowly grows while they go through their daily routines, with a good amount of comical relief.

Art 8/10
The art in this anime was pretty nice as well, whether it be a serious scene, or them drawing a dude that just got thrown out of a window.

Sound 8/10
The sound was pretty clear for the anime, and the japanese voice acting matched the characters very well. However, the english dub I tried to watch sounded pretty bad, the mics were really hot, and the characters did not match up at all. The sound for the english dub was terribly recorded, I don't know if it was the mics they were using or what, I just stuck with the subbed.

Character 8/10
The characters in this anime were fairly well developed, there was always something going on with a supporting character, rather than only focusing on the mains 100% of the time.

Enjoyment 9/10
I really enjoy this anime, whether it be the comedy or the romance, it seems to catch my attention. The way the comedy mixed in with the romance was pretty fitting for the characters. Not to mention the way usui and misaki are always in some sort of conflict, and then it comes to a romantic scene that usually has some comedy aspects in it. Also, being that Misaki is a tsundere, it was nice to see how her feelings played out and the way Usui helped her out.

Overall I found this to be a really good anime. Although there are some cliche scenes, that is to be expected from a rom/com in most cases. I still found this to be a funny/heartwarming storyline that was kept me drawn to it. I highly recommend this anime to anyone who likes a good rom/com.

Hmm... Let's see. What can I say about Kaichou wa Maid-sama?

Story: 9 .

Kaichou wa Maid-sama is the first anime that has intrigued me enough to lead me into reading the manga. Although the plot line depicts some of the most typical shoujo anime events used and reused in various other circumstances, Kaichou wa Maid-sama throws in a few twists and originality that entices the viewer in a new way.

Art: 7 .

Although I wouldn't say Kaichou wa Maid-sama has outstanding artistry, I also wouldn't say it's downright terrible. It's pretty well drawn, in fact. Compared to animes like Fushigi Yuugi (no offense intended) or Itazura ... na Kiss, both of which I had forced myself to finish a full episode (abandoning ship on that idea), Kaichou wa Maid-sama isn't the worse.

Sound: 9 .

The opening theme song really summarizes the whole anime quite well. And for that, I applaud it. The anime itself has correctly initiated sound effects that help bring the real feel of the moments depicted. However, I find it hard to dock marks on sound for any anime, so I'm being quite easy on this area of critique...

Character: 9 .

All the characters we've met so far are... interesting. They all have an aspect that's unique and sets them apart from the rest of the cast. Takumi Usui, one of the main characters, is, by far, the most intriguing character in my opinion. However, the protagonist of this story is not far behind.

Misaki Ayuzawa . Hmmm... An interesting character. Quite unique, in fact. A boy hater. Fierce. Competitive. Intelligent. Appears to be cold and 'demon' like. However, a girl with a soft side. Nice. Sympathetic. Protective. We get to know the better side of her as the anime grows on.

Enjoyment: 10 .

You'll love this anime, no doubt. Although there are many cliche and typical moments, they're still worth watching, in my opinion. The tsundere effect, moe moments, competitive atmosphere... They all come together to carefully produce the anime that is Kaichou wa Maid-sama.

Overall: 8 .

This anime scores pretty high in my books. If it continues to unfold the way it does in the manga (and has at least 26 episodes :D), not only will I be happy, but it also has the materials to become one of your most favourite anime.

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So, for now, all we can do is wait, and see how the plot develops...

Well, let me get started on this review.

Story? There is no story. There is no objective in for the plot, and the same episode plan repeats itself until the very end. It's always Misaki having trouble with something, then Usui does something incredible or they have a romantic moment where she doesn't trust him or what he feels about her. She's always worrying if people will find out she works as a maid, but there isn't drama involving this fact. You would expect to see problems involving the main character being with the popular guy in school, but nothing happens. 4/10

The art is okay. ... Just okay. It doesn't have anything special about it, Usui could have been drawn better, but that's just my opinion. Not much details and there is a lot of chibis in the anime for comic relief. 7/10

Sound is okay too, even though easily forgettable. Nothing special. 6/10

Characters? Well, this I feel the need to write about. The characters have absolutely no character development. We see Hinata, that only appears in the last episodes, having more character development than the protagonist! It's just absurd. There is no depth in her character, and not even in Usui's character. All we actually know about Misaki is that she is poor, has a lot of work to do, and hates boys. She's a typical tsundere. We know very little about Usui, except the fact that he is some-like a God, being perfect on everything he does. There are a lot of characters I could name here that appear almost every episode, but don't have any importance. 2/10

I'd put 4/10 on enjoyment by the fact that I had nothing else to watch.

Overall, 4/10. Characters were bad, plot was pretty bad(since there was none), and the art and sound weren't enough to compensate those both, that together are just asking for disaster. You could have a bad plot(or none) and good characters, that would probably be a good rated anime. And the other way around too, it isn't that unusual, with great plot but bad characters. When you don't have either of them, it tends to be badly rated.

After reading some reviews on this series and displeased with pretty much every single one of them, i decided to write my own that will hopefully please a lot more people.

While reading the reviews, there is one main critical fact that almost reviewer missed. The fact is that this show is all about the COMEDY!! As a guy myself, i generally avoid shoujo shows, but this show was kept me in for a couple of very good reasons.

1) Misaki-chan is so cute, adorable, and hot!! maybe kinda like how those 3 idoits in the Maid cafe feel. I love series ... that have a character that i just love, i just get enough of that character, no matter how tsundere she is. You will begin to get into her character and feel how she feels.

2) This show is just freaking hilarious. Like i said, comedy is this shows strong point. Every episode makes you laugh. It isn't a serous romantic show how other people expect it to be. You watch it for the LOL's and character development of Misaki.

While this show has quite a few bad points which is why my overall rating is a 9 and not a 10. The other reviewers pretty much point out all the bad things so theres no reason for me to say it here.
For one more good thing, is that i love the ED song.

This show is also unique in some ways. Recently it a really cool "special" ep, but i dont want to go into too much details because it might spoil it for some people. And some with the other unique thing.

Spoiler-free review:

I tend to be very wary when it comes to the Shoujo genre due to the amount of clichés I'll be facing ahead of me. But it's alright, I do not mind a cliché as long as it's well executed.

This one was disastrous.

The characters: 1/10

I think the worst thing about the anime was its characters. Extremely horrendous, from the main characters to the very useless ones. Let's start with the main characters:

Takumi Usui: I think I should start making a list of my most hated characters, and I'm sure Usui will top that list. I have never seen such an atrocious character in ... my life like this before. If I had one word to describe Usui with, it will be: stalker.
Usui is a literal stalker that started following Ayuzawa everywhere she went. We don't see much about his character. We don't see him doing anything but stalking Ayuzawa. It's beyond me why every girl in the school worships him. They don't like him, they literally worship the dude. Every single person in the school worships him, let it be male or female. For no damn reason. Sure, he's good looking, but that's all. He's a cold, emotionless, expressionless character that rejects girls in the worst way possible. He does not to talk to anyone, has no friends, and does not do anything but stalk Ayuzawa. It seriously got creepy. He would even casually pat her head, half-hug her, or calls her 'his maid' or 'his' in front of people, despite her continuously telling him not to 'casually touch her.' He repeatedly makes her uncomfortable and tensed. I don't know about you, but if the girl I like does not like my presence, I wouldn't be around her 24/7. He went as far as pretending to be a stalker when there were rumours of stalkers targeting maids so 'she'd be ready.' That's the kind of a creep he is.

Misaki Ayuzawa: The demonic Class President who scares off boys and helps girls. As it's quite obvious in the synopsis, Misaki isn't your average girl. She's not so very feminine, an Aikido kickass, and a workaholic. She's a very cheesy character of the not-like-other-girls theme. But a character can only get so cliché. Misaki exceeded the limit. The anime wanted to show how much of an oh so strong independent woman it got so annoying. She's the top in academics, the top in sports, the Class President who handles all kinds of responsibilities and organises events. And she also has a part-time job as a maid in cafe. She's hardworking, determined, selfless, accepting, thoughtful, hot-headed and a tomboy. On top of that, she does not have a single breakdown. She's completely one dimensional, annoying, and boring. I think it's the worst version of a tsundere I have ever seen. A very forgettable character. If anything, she came off as a sadist who likes to scare boys, and a masochist who likes to be in pain.

The supporting characters: You shouldn't really expect any meaningful supporting characters when the main characters themselves are one dimensional, so here I am, repeating again, every single supporting character is a stupid, one dimensional airhead.
And seriously, what is WRONG with the whole stalker idea? Not only does Ayuzawa have a main stalker, she also has 3 other stalkers that go to her cafe every single day until they're penniless because Ayuzawa is 'kawaiiii', even though she was their enemy at the beginning and they hated her guts. It IS NOT OK to stare at a girl at your school every day at her part-time job.

The supporting characters can be distributed into 3 groups:
A. The stalkers: mentioned above.

B. The dumb airheads: all her coworkers at school and basically every other girl in the anime.

C. The worshippers: Which are the rest of the school: We have
1. 5 boys who look exactly the same, who worship Ayuzawa because of how smart she is and how much they want to be like her. (They also follow her everywhere in the school)
2. The rest of the school: Usui worshippers. Every time he opens his mouth, they fangirl and drool (Not literally) at his words. Like he's a god.


The story: 2/10
One point for the idea. It's your typical tough girl with an oh-I'm-not-like-other-girls theme, and your average hot boi that everyone is head over heels for while the only person who grabs his attention is the one who does not give a damn about him -- the tough girl. It's a very famous cliché especially in the Shoujo genre and if it can be done well, then it can be good. I think this version of it was the worst I have ever read/seen. The anime is mostly a very tedious Slice of Life about overused one dimensional characters. It's dragging, extremely boring, full of unnecessary details with a very shitty romance--if I dare call this creepy thing they had a romance. Nothing ever truly happens. Romance lovers should skip this anime as well, there's a very limited amount of 'romantic scenes', and a lot of awkward ones. (Though, to be fair, the final scene at the final episode was decent.)


The Art:
It was alright. The characters are well-drawn but would alternate between a decent drawing and a crappy 5-year-old scribbles a lot.

The sound:
It was okay. The voices are kind of decent, but the music was a bit underwhelming.

Enjoyment: below zero.
Nothing about the anime was enjoyable, there is not a single thing you can find even slightly amusing and not a single character you can root for. It was torturous.

Overall: 2/10 Appalling. A very terrible experience.

Nothing bad about this series. Yet nothing good too.
It's typical shoujo anime with a tsundere main heroine and tons of bishounens crawling all around Tokyo. Plot has a TREMENDOUSLY slow pace. If you like alive and developing characters, don't expect that from Maid-sama - no character development here. Just huge eyes, unfunny gags, bishounens and awkward love parody that makes you yawn and say "damn it, bud, just grab her and screw her" with very, very tired voice.

Alright. It seems like I'm the minority of people that hated this anime.
That's fine with me, allow me to explain why I disliked it so much.
First up is the story.
Literally the most predictable stuff I've seen. Horrific excuse for writing.

Next, the art and sound.
These were okay. Nothing too special or especially bad, though I personally didn't particularly like the character design but still.

The characters.
Extremely unlikeable. Most of them were being shitty to eachother for no reason, and the few characters I thought were tolerable were only on screen for about a minute. On top of that, for a girl that is meant to be so ... good at school and all that, she really, really does not think things through.

I dropped this 10 episodes in, and even by the time I got to episode 5 I was pushing myself to continue. That effort gradually increased per episode, and by episode 10, as you may expect, it took too much effort that I was willing to give to this pathetic excuse for a product.

I thought this show might need a review :3

Firstly your likely to notice the bright colors, fast pace and the crappy animation (which I luckily didn't find disturbing, though it was close). The OP and ED got stuck in my head :D and Misa-chan (the main character in the maid outfit) inspired me to work harder. and Usui (the blond guy) seemed cool but in an unusual way :3


STORY: 8/10
I'm not quite sure where this is leading yet but it's fun to watch :D
anyways romance and comedy are included

ART: 7/10
backgrounds are kept very minimalistic so there probably aren't going to be many breathtaking ones. but ... you get all the necessary information.
I kinda like the way they ED is made though :D

SOUND: 8/10
actually I should divide this one into two :D 1) the OP is catchy and the ED is cool. nothing revolutionary though.
2) the background music.. well at least they get you into the mood of the situation. kinda
didn't really disturb me but you gotta decide for yourself :P

CHARACTER: 9/10
likable. have their weaknesses but are cool nevertheless :3
Misa-chan is a very hard worker. it's her goal to change her school, which used to be an all-boy school, more girl-friendly.
Usui seems lazy and indifferent about the world around him, but is actually pretty reliable.

I also like the character design :D sometimes the direction of their eyes is off mark though :P But they still look cool.


ENJOYMENT: 10/10
fun to watch and inspiring :D leaves you feeling good after you've finished watching an episode ^^ aand looking forward to the next

OVERALL: 9/10
I think this show has potential.but its too early to say really :3 I'm probably gonna finish this show no matter what it turns out like XD


Feel free to write your own review :3 I have no experience at this but it's probably better than nothing

Typical, nothing special, and predictable.

If you are a fan of slow-paced romance stories in a high school setting, then this is for you. This is a story of a girl who's clueless that the popular & perfect guy in school likes her. Just add a bit of twist that the girl has a headstrong personality and very stubborn to admit to love.

I have to say that this anime is for the kiddies and who likes to waste time with very slow character relationship development. I felt that I should have skipped 3/4 of the series and just watched the last 3 episodes where there was ... sense. Lots of moments of boredom, dull, irrelevant scenes that made me want to fast forward. Not to mention, there were fillers. For me, it was in the last 3 episodes that finally got interesting and exciting. Despite that, there are funny scenes and cuteness appeal to it that encouraged me to finish until the end.

20+ episodes of dragging story is just too much for me, so it's a 5. I don't recommend this anime for people who have limited time to watch and dislikes watching an episode with very small connection to the previous. Plus, the anime is incomplete and continues to the manga which leaves plenty of plot holes. Better watch Bokura ga Ita or Lovely Complex than this.

****SPOILERS BELOW****


Shounen tropes and Shoujo tropes are always at war for the number 1 position at Anime Cringefest.
Anime is very educational.
Shounen tells young boys that if you spot a 'flesh and meat' with tiddies & coochie anywhere near the diameter of your dick, this thing, for 99.9% of cases, will lack any sort of motivation or ideal other than a sole emotion called 'love' exclusive to you/your rival & remember boys, your every 'annoying' and 'get lost' = one blush which fills in half of the circumference of that thing's face. Ofcourse you're allowed to have multiple of these plushies around but it ... depends on your universe/genre/the extent of contact between the writer & a living female. You don't need to press any buttons, the 'Ereh' 'Sasuke-kun' 'Naruto-kun' 'Light-kun' are almost spontaneous. They're pretty handy for the day mc loses his memory or somewhere along the way, the reader/viewer forgets said MC's name for how boring he is.

Shoujo teaches young girls that it's okay for that one 'PERFECT' guy who has no personality other than being 'physically perfect', to touch you without asking & harass you whenever he feels like. It's alright for him to suddenly pull you up close and land a hickey on your waist and lift up your skirt on the second day of you seeing him and kiss you by force BECAUSE, HE'S FUCKING HOT. And because he's everybody's crush but he's paying attention to you and only to you. Don't you dare think about saying 'no' to anything he does to you! Don't you dare. And girl, don't get confused. It's not like you don't reciprocate his 'love' because, you know, YOU DON'T LOVE HIM OR ANYTHING. You're a shoujo protagonist and this guy touches you without consent and is the national crush. You will eventually love him. That's the friggin' rule.

I remember when I was watching 'Yona of the dawn', a particular scene where Hak - the main male lead (a character with a decent backstory and personality), suddenly started licking honey off Yona's hand (For extra context, they're not lovers & Yona likes someone else at that point of the story) after a jar of honey accidently fell on her hands and I remember seeing comments saying 'hot' & 'romantic' but I was grossed out as fuck at that scene. I provide this example, to show that even a good story like 'Yona of the dawn' with actual good characters starts to cower when you decide to include typical overused problematic meta-narratives exclusive to 'shoujo' or 'shounen' demographics. This particular scene was so out of character for said, 'Hak' who in the early episodes/chapters is proved to be very stoic and is shown to respect Yona and prioritize Yona's privacy. And even though he's in love with her, he would never force Yona to feel the same, right? Wrong. Yona, quickly multiply your feelings for me by a leap of 50 folds while I grab your hand and lick it without asking if it's okay because it's so romantic gooosshhh!
Many great shounen and shoujos, have regressed by 100 years, only because of the implementation of these clichès and Kaichou wa Maid-sama isn't even great to begin with. So how bad can it get?

Okay this is becoming too much of a general anime rant. Coming back exclusively to Maid-sama.


NEGATIVES :

- Usui, in the first and only season of Maid-sama is just a stalker with no personality.
- Misa is a tsundere by default and by the rules of anime, she'll fall in love with the guy after he constantly follows her for a span of 8-10 episodes.
- The chemistry is just zero. Plain Zero. They try but it's just SHALLOW.
- There are moments when something romantic SHOULD happen, provided it's tagged 'Romance' but, is instead followed by Usui being a pervert while Misaki starts pushing him away with a ripe tomato face. This same thing goes on and on and on and on and on only for Misaki to say 'You sexually harass me but I love you I guess' during the 100th repeated version.
- There's this typical love traingle guy introduced at the near end and the writer leaves no stones untouched to make it crystal clear to us that Usui is far superior to him in all sorts of 'aesthetic' aspects or that he or no other guy for that fact stands a chance in front of Usui when it comes to our Misa-chan.


FEW POSITIVES:

- That one band in the show. Bruh.
- Art is pretty crisp for something animated in the early 2000s.
- Taking out the context of 'Romance', Kaichou wa Maid-sama! is fun for the most part. Obviously most jokes don't work, but you can still sit through with a laugh every once in between, provided Takumi & Misa are not trying to make sense of their half-assed relationship.
- Supporting cast, even if not that great, some of them are quite okay, like the hypnotizing guy with hoodie or the other maids at the cafe or even the idiot trio.


CONCLUSION:

If it's as a comedy, you CAN watch it but I'd recommend it only and if you are done with comedic geniuses such as Gintama and Saiki.

As a romance, a huge NO.

In all honesty, this is one of those many many MANY animes which gives it's teen veiwers the wrong message about how relationship and consent works. They tried to portray the protagonist in the light of a 'strong' woman who takes no bullshit but at the same time when she's in the vicinity of the main guy, she makes no deal about him lifting her dress. The irony lmao.

I might be being too salty for one hell of a fictional piece of work but again, I'm just tired of shoujo being ONLY about falling in love and getting turned on after being dominated or harassed. When I was 15, one the few things I was constantly worried about was if I'd get spanked by my mom for drawing a fake tattoo with a sketch pen on my arm. Anyway, don't exactly recommend it but you can watch it, it can be YOUR thing if you resemble anime's idea of a teen girl.

a cool guy....a beautiful girl a simple yet interesting plot...... ingredients in making a good romantic comedy

sometimes all it takes to attract viewers are just simple and common things.

the story is simple, a school setting a a crush between two opposing characters that have their own individual flaws. capitalizing on the cuteness of the "maid cafe" culture made the series appealing to the "typical" anime fan. its not unique but still interesting, sometimes common scenarios can still works

i like a strong female character, the director did a good job in creating the heroin to be a strong yet cute girl. the supporting characters does not ... stand out a lot but still contributed to make the series interesting and added a few laugh. the love triangle that the author try to insert in the series is very weak maybe it was because the character is not interesting enough compared to the hero, i think the best phrase to describe him is not very."threatening"

the jokes are a bit cheesy but still funny

sometimes you just wanna watch something light and easy to understand, this is one of the anime you should choose for that kind of mood.

I follow the MAL rating format; Hence 6 is a fair. However i encourage you to make judgment on the review rather than staring at my score. I would also like to state i was not a previous fan, nor am i a girl.

-The maid theme is not overused.
This is refreshing because when i first started watching i was afraid as to how important this detail would be. While it is a catalyst for many events it is refreshing to see other interesting situations occur totally independent of it; The arcs are not exactly unique or unpredictable, but are still rather enjoyable.

-An okay comedy.
It ... is hard to make me laugh. However, i was surprised at the number of times I enjoyed a joke. The assortment of side characters and their quirks were implemented rather well.

-Good array of characters.
It is nice to see lots of unique characters and still not overpopulate the cast. It is able to give most of them significance, and have them all interact in many ways. However, they still remain side characters.

-Some development for each of those characters.
Many characters are given their own episode which allows us to see a small amount of growth in everyone one of them. Even without many getting their own dedication it still takes away from the main plot, and draws out the relationship much longer than need be.

-Usui is given the wrong image.
He could of been our perfect prince charming, but he is also portrayed as a giant tease. We get absolutely not development for Usui, and never learn why he is afraid of commitment and keeps his distance. Personally, I accepted this since there was no real reason to think badly of him. Yet, in the end we are able to compare him to the more sincere rivals, and I slowly grew to hate him in the later episodes. This point depends on how you feel towards your cliché cold, perfect bishounen when he is the one trying to win over Misaki's feelings.

"President of the Student Council at the almost-all-boys Seika High School, the hard-as-nails Misaki Ayuzawa works every day to make life easier on the small population of co-eds who have enrolled there. Though an unholy terror to all things male during school hours, in order to provide for her impoverished family, she secretly works after school at a maid cafe in Akihabara. However, when campus hottie Usui Takumi wanders into the restaurant during her shift, suddenly she finds her reputation in school at his mercy..."

Story: Even though I finished watching Kaichou wa Maid-sama long ago, I’ve been caught up in some strange and unexpected business ... that made me postpone doing this review sooner, however better late than never. Kaichou wa Maid-sama from the moment it was announced people expected this one to be a big hit. The manga was popular way before the anime was announced, and the content that it has and the theme that it debats at the beginning surely managed to form a big fan-base in no time. What Kaichou presents is actually a simple romantic story but with a comedy aspect, sometimes well thought with very funny moments, with a tasteful humour but dragged way too long. The story centers on a high school girl named Misaki Ayuzawa. Even though she appears to be a normal high school girl, she has a big responsibility on her shoulders. Her father left her mother with a huge debt and to repay it she needed to get a job so that she can help her mother to pay the bills and to live a poor but normal life together with her younger sister Suzuna Ayuzawa. In order to cope with such a huge responsibility she had to strengthen up and become a reliable person and also an organized person. She became the student council president in a school where in the past it was an only all boys highschool but recently it got co-ed. By becoming a dictator she placed the welfare of the feminine side first so that the influence of boys may diminish. But this thing proved to be very difficult since all the time she had to do more than just her normal job. One boy in particular always proved to be very annoying since he did not do anything bad for the school nor for the teachers nor for other people but he attracts attention with his good looks and by the fact that he always rejects the proposals coming from other girls. Misaki stands firm and confronts the boy, his name is Usui Takumi. However this ends when Misaki’s secret has been exposed to Usui, he sees her when she was working part-time at a maid café, which Misaki did her best to keep it as a secret so that her reputation won’t fall. Thinking about it, since the school at that time was filled with delinquent boys, the fact that she was seen as a ruthless dictator might’ve been a stimulant so that they should stop harassing the girls, however if the secret was known by the guys they would have used it to exploit her weakness and all the thing would’ve went out of control. Nevertheless, Usui offered his help since Misaki is the kind that works too hard for other people’s sake while ignoring her own welfare, in other words a workaholic, and from this point on a strange but an imminent love relationship begins. One thing makes this show so popular, and that is the comedy aspect that I mentioned at the beginning. While the beginning of this show seemed to be a bit more serious, what is about to come are some big waves of laughter and shocking scenes (shocking not in a negative way). The romantic plot moves in slow motion but it surely develops mainly because Usui always hanged around Misaki, when she needed or not. How will their relationship develop and will Misaki be able to accept Usui and his own feelings in the end? What about her own feelings, will she notice them and accept them? I guess we all know the answers since this show does not seem like a melodrama to end in a dramatic way but the one thing that I was kinda disappointed in, was that they needed over 26 episodes so that they can reach a damn conclusion, when this could’ve been ended much earlier with room for more development. Nevertheless, Kaichou wa Maid-sama is not a show to be overlooked that easily, since it provides what fans look for mostly.

Animation and Sound: When we speak about a studio like J.C. Staff (Ai Yori Aoshi, Azumanga Daioh, Hatsukoi Limited, Kimikiss Pure Rouge, Tsukihime, Nodame Cantabile, Shakugan no Shana, Zero no Tsukaima, Toradora, etc) we speak about good animation quality, design and directing. Even though this studio has a long history with both good shows, average and bad shows I have to admit that they did their best when it comes to animation issues and Kaichou is yet another example. Somehow this studio has a tendency to adapt romantic shows (with the romance aspect being in the center or as a side aspect is really not important) rather than mindless shounen shows which is another reason why they managed to impress. As for the sound, pretty much forgettable, the soundtracks are so shoujo~ish that it makes you sometimes burst into flames and quickly overlook them, however the only good point about this show regarding sound issues are the background sound where we can see several improvements. As for voice acting, it was pretty good even though there aren’t so many popular names among the cast, Misaki being voiced by Ayumi Fujimura (Kara no Kyoukai, Hatsukoi Limited, Kaze no Stigma, Letter Bee, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, etc) and Usui being voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto best known for his role Asu no Yoichi and To Aru Majutsu no Index.

Characters: Character wise I was once again impressed. Misaki surely has a very interesting personality, a ruthless dictator at school, a kind person around the other female students, a hardworking one when it comes to both school and family issues, she places the welfare of others in front of her own. However the only person which she can’t handle very well and her true self is revealed is of course Usui. He does not have a bad influence around her but somehow he is always around whenever she needs help. By pulling several pranks he managed to see more moods and reactions from Misaki and without knowing a true and strong relationship develops, which Usui does not try to deny while Misaki strongly tries to keep her feelings locked inside, catalogating Usui as a perverted alien whenever he pulls a prank against her and makes her feel embarrassed. As for the other characters, even though they have a less important role to play in this show they help in building the relationship between Misaki and Usui while they are also developed and not left behind.

Overall: Kaichou wa Maid-sama has everything a good show should have. Though sometimes drama is the aspect that makes a romantic show more spicy, for this one it did not need it since the comedy aspect of it did a great job. I admit that I prefer romantic dramas over romantic comedies but this was up until I encountered this show. I hope for a second season of this show.

I've been searching for a romantic comedy anime to watch recently, and I was flooded with suggestions for Kaichou wa Maid-Sama. I've tried to watch this series before, but gave up after the first episode because it wasn't really an anime that titillated my brain. But yesterday I gave it a second go, and since I'm not in school until September, I finished it in a day. So, here's my review for the critically acclaimed Maid-sama!

Story: 6.
There's really not much interesting about this story. It's enough to keep the viewer interested, but it's nothing spectacular. I didn't appreciate the filler episodes seeing as this is ... a measly 26 episode series. the story was definitely missing the umph factor, but as I said before, it's enough to keep the viewer interested.

Art: 8
The art is enjoyable and easy on the eyes. Chibi animation isn't usually my thing, but I didn't mind it whenever it popped up in this anime. The character design was nice as well. The thing that I didn't appreciate about the art was that sometimes it was just so damn cheesy. The 'embrace' scenes usually made me laugh and cringe with the amount of cheese. It could have done without the overly flowery backgrounds, wind ruffling the characters' hair when they were inside, and slow motion. Another thing that made my eyes roll was the slow pan on Usui every time he was introduced in the episode. Okay. We get it -- he's attractive. Stop reminding us.

Sound: 6
I think that this is one of the first anime where I haven't listened to more than 5 seconds of the ED. There was nothing there for me. And maybe it's because I watched the episodes on repeat, but the OP wasn't doing it for me either. It was annoying after the third time of hearing it, and since I couldn't fast forward it without my screen buffering I muted my computer until it was over. I usually like the OP and ED. As a matter of fact, there was no way that I -- even once -- got tired of the Lovely Complex and Death Note first OP & ED's. They had a good sound, and great corresponding images. But with Maid-Sama, it was pretty much Usui trying to look hot. AGAIN. *RAGEFACE FUUUUU*. I didn't mind the score in the anime, though. A lot of the time it went unnoticed, which I saw as a good thing.

Characters: 7
I'm constantly confused with my feelings with these characters. One minute, I love them and the next minute they annoy me. I was definitely up and down with Misaki. I appreciated her dedication and her hard work, but sometimes she was just un-rightfully a bitch. On top of that, she acted clueless when it came to Usui a lot of the time, which annoyed me. I did like her relationships between her girlfriends, though. Because no matter what, she'd do anything for them, and I thought that was nice. Usui I spent most of the anime impartial about. I liked his witty sexual humour, but there was no character development with him. The writer tried way too hard to make him a mysterious character. It was plain annoying. A thing that truly annoyed me about Usui was that he was constantly at Misaki's beck and call. I'm sorry, I don't need realism in an anime, but his 'being there right in the nick of time' was wholly ridiculous. He was such a stalker, and he didn't let Misaki do anything without his guidance. I can't count the amount of times that he has been just waiting for her, saving her, or eavesdropping on her. For someone who was supposedly the most popular guy ever, he REALLY needed a life. Some arcs in the story would have been way more interesting if he wasn't there to stop the progression. The only thing that Usui's got going for him besides his looks, is that he's got a playful personality. I enjoyed a lot of the secondary characters in this anime because they were, a lot of the time, more interesting. My favorite secondary character was Hanata. He actually had a real personality and feelings. He was funny, but dedicated. Out of Usui and Hanata, Hanata is certainly the more desirable one in my opinion, but opinions differ.

Enjoyment: 7
I think the fact that I finished this anime in a day says something. It's entertaining enough to watch from beginning to end. The humour is sometimes fresh, and the story was fun for the most part. There were a few episodes that I forced myself through, and a few episodes where I couldn't stop watching. I like these types of anime, so it was easy to get through, but it's certainly not anything spectacular. A lot of the arcs could have been better done, but they were enjoyable none the less. My biggest annoyance with this anime was certainly the amount of cheesiness in certain episodes. Certainly eye-rolling worthy.

Overall: 7
If you want a nice rom/ com anime to watch, I recommend this anime. It's certainly not the best in the genre, but it's certainly not the worst either. I enjoyed it, it just wasn't my favorite. If you want a truly great rom/ com high school anime Lovely Complex is one that does it right, and Maid-sama is one that does it well. Pick your poison. Hope I helped!

After a series of pretty depressing animes (Hoshi no Koe, Byousoku 5 Centimetres), I decided to pick up something light and fun in a school setting and thought that this series looked promising. As a guy, my only other experience with Shoujo anime has been Ouran High School Host Club (OHSHC), which was really funny and enjoyable, so I thought to give it another go.

The plot of this anime is pretty straightforward as can be seen from the synopsis. Right from the get-go we already know who the 2 main characters are and how this is going to end, so the only interesting part is ... in HOW we get there, i.e. the characters and their romantic/comedic interactions have to be tight.

The female lead, Ayuzawa Misaki, is refreshingly strong-willed, independent and decisive, totally unlike the simpering, useless female leads we get in the Shounen genre. Importantly, we see that although she has all these positive qualities, she's gotten to where she is through lots of hard work, study and training. This makes her easily likeable.

Unfortunately, this does not hold true for the male lead. Usui is (and this is what the anime tells us) the most handsome guy in school, the smartest, the best at every sport he tries his hand at (when he tries, because he doesn't actually belong in any clubs) and rich. Basically he doesn't put in any effort into anything but is still the best at everything. The character is poorly developed because there is no revelation of any flaws/weaknesses, his background, or his motivation (I still don't know why he decided to randomly chase Misaki!). He's just an enigmatic, perfect, rich kid. (I also found him to be an insufferably smug SOB who was borderline stalker-ish and overly possessive, but that might be personal bias). To me, this is unacceptable because the anime was 27 episodes long - more than sufficient to devote 1 or 2 episodes to develop him. In comparison, OHSHC with a harem of 6 guys managed to develop each one's personality, strengths and weaknesses in 26 episodes.

The rest of the supporting cast was well fleshed out which made them interesting characters in their own right, from the cross dressing shota to the former delinquent boss to the childhood friend. Each of them got an episode to flesh out their personalities, which again makes me wonder why Usui didn't get any such development. This could be a flaw from the source manga and may not be the fault of the anime, but is a flaw nonetheless.

In fact, from the mid-point of the series, I started dreading the moments when the main pairing would get together in a romantic sequence. I also ended up rooting for the 'love rival' who appeared towards the end of the series even though I knew it wouldn't work out. This was when I realised that the 'romance', the whole premise on which this series is founded, had fallen flat for me, mainly on the weakness of Usui's character.

Comedy wise, the tone was pretty light and pretty enjoyable throughout. I quite enjoyed Usui's teasing of Misaki and her flustered reactions. The art was also top notch, which made it that much easier to finish a series in which I was unable to make any personal investment. Although I have rated it a 6, I try and use the whole spectrum of grades, so it is still above average and watchable. Just don't have too high an expectation for a good romance, for the reasons I have stated above.

I got this anime recommended as a romance. Given the focus of the anime, it is obvious its most heavy side is romance. But to be honest, thats one of the worst romances i have ever watched. Here is why:

Story - 3: Where should I behin with? When I started watching it, it was all fine and interesting, I would say even fun. That was till episode 6. After that the story became repetetive, one tease after another, useless scenes as those with the 3 guys, which didnt even have the slithest mean of comedy. Just useless at all. The story is not connected at ... all, just some random events happening.
You would think that the main thing would be the relationship between the two main characters? Wrong. All its happening in the whole anime could be seen trough 1-6 episodes. The whole story is about how Misaki realises she loves Usui.

Art - 6: The art is somewhat decent, I really like how Misaki is drawn, but I guess this style of characters is not mine. I could say this is the best part of the anime.

Sound - 2: Most of the time I didnt even realise there was sound, the Opening is annoying as fuck and i try to skip it ASAP. The best song would be the one they play at 'happy' moments, but after a while it gets annoying.

Characters - 2: Basically no depth at the characters. Tho thats the good sides. All the relationships between the characters are bullshit, there is no progress, no depth at all. The characters that we had in the begining are the same as in the end. The only stuff that caught my eyes were the student's oppinion of the president. But I though i watched a romance? Where is the focus going? The romance side starts to get annoying at some point, given the progress stops at episode 6, only annoying teases occur, with both weakly said tsundere characters. Or 'endure' as they call themselfs. Thats not even funny. Is this teaser or romance anime?

Enjoyment - 4: After the first culmination in episode 6 I though: Yes! They will become couple, have sweet moments, then marry or smth, with ofcourse the respectful problems and plot twists, ending in the second, bigger culmination in the end (with marriage or smth). But since the characters dont become couple (?) the anime gets back in the state of episode 1. There is no surprise or interest factors, since you have seen all. Oddly enough, there is second culmination at the end, being what the first one should have been. This anime could be describen with a diagram going up, then sharply down, and after 20 episodes it goes up again. With every single episode i my wish to continue the anime dropped.

Overall - 3: As I said in the previous paragraph, i am greatly disappointed in the anime. Just a dry, streightforward ploth with nothing happening, supposed to be relationship advance, but insread shit stick filled with unfunny moments. We dont even see a couple in such anime. To be honest, such a plot would have been great with other story on top, maybe being some kind of action-fantasy plot, which would take the focus off the romance. And the romance would occur every now and then, gradually advancing the relationship. Such animes which manage to do so are real masterworks, since you are happy to see the characters together, but thats not the only thing happening and you dont get bored. Such anime is Bakuman. Imagine it with only romance, and the manga drawing side be just as a secondary plot which is shown every now and then as a progress with just any regular hobby? That would just be total newbiework. Just as this anime. Dont waste your time - thats 10 hours.