Dec 13, 2016 2:37 AM
Why I Liked: Mayo Chiki!
Anime Relations:
Mayo Chiki!
**"Why I Liked" is a series written by myself for my own benefit, possibly to be used as reference material in the future. To anyone that may read this, this post is not intended to be taken as a proper review.**
[BLANKET SPOILER WARNING]
Mayo Chiki! (2011)
Persons of Interest:
Eri Kitamura - Kanade Suzutsuki (Uni @ Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation)
Yuka Iguchi - Subaru Konoe (Maria Takayama @ Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
Mariya Ise - Masamune Usami (Aoi Yusa @ Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next)
Satoshi Hino - Kinjirou Sakamachi (Saito Hiraga @ Zero no Tsukaima)
Kana Hanazawa - Kureha Sakamachi (Pururut @ Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation)
"Yeah, the hottest girl butler right now has to be Mebarun from ChikiMayo!" - Rika, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next Episode 5
So good that it's referenced in my current top harem rom-com anime, and itself also dedicating two episodes to referencing the other highly-rated harem ecchi comedy in my list and another personal favourite, Kiss x Sis, Mayo Chiki! rounded off September 2016 strongly as the last harem title (as of writing this) to have received a 9 from me.
What made Mayo Chiki! stand out, especially in my first month on MAL, which involved me binging on harem and romance titles featuring the likes of OreImo, Nisekoi, Rosario to Vampire and HenNeko? At first, during my preparation to write this post, I wasn't so sure. Months had passed since my initial viewing of the show, so certain details were sketchy. I had gotten by through remembering the appeal of Yuka Iguchi and Eri Kitamura's characters, and also regularly listened to the OP theme, "Be Starters!", but a refresher was sorely needed.
And it couldn't have been better timed. Fresh off reviewing Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next and Kiss x Sis in my blog posts, and concidentally watching Nyan Koi! just a few weeks prior, which also shared the same directior in Keiichirou Kawaguchi, I was able to fully grasp why I had that initial impression of the show in the first place - Mayo Chiki! was a near-perfect meshing of my favourite anime genres: harem, romance, ecchi and comedy, and the first anime that I encountered to do so successfully.
My Reasons For Liking This Anime:
OP Theme "Be Starters!"
~ If I had to rank my favourite OP theme of this "session" based on what was shown in the anime alone, aka the "TV size" version, this would be it (Koufuku Graffiti's OP, as mentioned in its respective blog post, is my favourite based on the entire song). The aesthetics were fantastic - I loved Musamune's scene with its accompanying verse, the camera panning with the little bits of action animation that's in line with the show, and most certainly, the image of Subaru running in the rain to the chorus. Eri Kitamura's wonderful performance was the glue that held everything together, as her beautiful vocals served to accentuate the meaningful lyrics behind the song. The fluidity of the verses, the music and the accompanying visuals cannot be overlooked; every note hit home, invoking pleasant emotions within me every time it played. Truly memorable.
Character Design
~ I feel that character design is imperative in harem/ecchi shows, and Mayo Chiki! passed with flying colours. The shounen style of art that has appealed to me in other such shows such as Kiss x Sis definitely makes an appearance here. The artwork of the characters in Mayo Chiki! caught my eye immediately from the very first scene with Kureha and Jirou; the "smoothness" of the outlines and textures were very soothing to look at. And again, as with Haganai, their eyes were the most distinguishable feature about them. The colours that matched their personality was a nice touch, and were drawn in such a way that their radiance contributed much to making each character seem that more lively, befitting of a show filled with action, cute moments and plenty of comedy on display.
Plot
~ Mayo Chiki!'s two subplots of dealing with Subaru's butler job and Jirou's gynophobia supplemented the romantic developments very well - this was not your typical harem where girls were throwing themselves at the MC's feet. The support Subaru received to retain her job was genuinely heartwarming at times, especially in that episode where everyone in the school banded together for her cause. Jirou's battle against his gynophobia was interesting as well, as it allowed him to form all those wonderful relationships with the girls. The two subplots also helped paint Jirou in a positive light as the male lead; he fought through his nosebleeds for the sake of others, and his concern for Subaru was firmly established in the beginning. Which sets it up for...
Execution - The Romance
~ I've come across a few comments about the romance in Mayo Chiki! being lacking. My experiences suggest otherwise. Compared to many a harem, Mayo Chiki!'s was very fulfilling from the build-up right down to its conclusion (I had already been burned by OreImo and HenNeko by this point). This can be attributed to the situations the show placed Subaru and Kinjirou in; though they were somewhat... unorthodox, they did serve their purpose: in line with the subplots mentioned above, there was no shortage of instances of them supporting each other throughout their ordeals, such as the staged kidnapping incident, Kanade's accident or the scene at the grave during the summer festival, to name a few. That's not to say that these weren't entertaining either; watching Subaru get caught up all those embarrassing yet adorably precious moments was extremely gratifying. The combination of various heartfelt, touching scenes and the little cute couples acts they would engage in allowed me to easily see how Suburu progressively grew attached to Jirou - I could feel the geniune attraction building between them. And with the ending they received, this was one of the few harems with some kind of actual relationship progression.
Execution - Ecchi Comedy
~ Speaking of entertainment, the show also took every opportunity to subject Subaru and Jirou to the most hilariously embarrassing, awkward situations possible, and used them to their maximum effect - feel. once again demonstrated their mastery of the ecchi comedy genre with their ingenious setups. For example, they fully abused Subaru's dual gender status: in one scene she decided to take a bath with Jirou (already an awkward moment in itself, and one I can fully get behind, heh), but left her very feminine underwear behind for Kureha to stumble upon. The manner in which she chose to react to that realisation, by being so frantically apologetic was simply fantastic - I'm a sucker for ecchi situations like that and couldn't resist laughing. Other events such as the medical examination along with the numerous wild, overblown thoughts and fantasies that surfaced ensured that the ecchi slapstick train would continue to run its course unimpeded throughout the episodes. Subaru and Kanade's characters benefited heavily from this; the former proved herself to be way too adorable to handle and became even more endearing, while the latter easily became my favourite character in Mayo Chiki! thanks to her "contributions" (more on that below).
Execution - Ecchi Comedy (cont.)
~ In Kiss x Sis, feel. unleashed the full brunt of their physical-based ecchi shenanigans to great effect. Mayo Chiki!, perhaps influenced by Nyan Koi!'s director, served up an impressive selection of humour in the form of what I would describe as suggestive ecchi jokes and setups. Their delivery was on point and well-timed, always leaving me expectant of what was about to unfold, with the result catching me off-guard at times. This was prevalent in many of the episode preview segments - the erotic-sounding skit between Subaru and Jirou that ended up being a blood donation had me grinning and shaking my head in disbelief at how well they had played me. And of course, Kanade, the tease master herself, has much to answer for regarding her involvement in such antics - that she's going to require a full section devoted to her and her... methods.
Execution - Additional Comments
~ The attention to detail present in Mayo Chiki! also deserves a special mention. The anime provided some decent action for a harem series; the impact of blows that were animated helped to visualise the level of Jirou's endurance and Subaru's fighting prowess. The injection of cute sound effects to various things such as the "meah" in Yuka Iguchi's voice in the sheep doll and butler ticket helped add to the light-hearted atmosphere of the show. Scenes flowed nicely, and as such - to quote myself on one comment: "When I'm not laughing at their hilarious, entertaining awkward situations, I'm also pulled in by their little couples moments. Very engaging rom-com." I was hooked.
Kanade Suzutsuki
~ Only having encountered her Uni role at the time, I had no idea what Eri Kitamura had in store for me in Mayo Chiki! (her appearance in the cast list was one of the reasons why I had decided to commit to watching this). Fortunately, Kanade did not disappoint. By far the prettiest thing out of Mayo Chiki!, the bishoujo with a taste for lolita fashion and devilish red eyes to match her incredible twisted sadist personality was the notorious presence that kept me glued to my screen. Responsible for the majority of the unexpected perverted jokes/situations that occurred, Kanade's ludicrous schemes were instrumental in both driving the romance between Subaru and Jirou, as well as the subplot involving Subaru's butler status (since she was her mistress, after all). Additionally, her approaches to curing Jirou of his gynophobia were pure brilliance. To top it all off, her interference also often led to something being done at Subaru's expense: the butler-maid showdown with the apples had me in tears! Kanade's influence on the show ensures that Mayo Chiki! will never be an ordinary harem; hilarity is bound to be just around the corner whenever she's around.
Kanade Suzutsuki (cont.)
~ Needless to say, Eri Kitamura had a huge impact on Kanade's character. One could say that she essentially breathed life into the lovely sadist; I could almost feel her breath behind every word that was dripping with that mocking, seductive voice of hers. It made her teasing that much more irresistible, and her amusing lines that much more suggestive. I'll even admit to being *slightly* aroused by that scene where she got Jirou to apply sunscreen on her bare back. I was not surprised to later learn that one of her more known roles was Juri from Street Fighter - she clearly has that style of voice down. Between that and her equally amazing loli voice as seen in Uni and Miu, Eri Kitamura is definitely a veteran of the seiyuu business I will be following for some time to come.
Subaru Konoe
~ Another Yuka Iguchi character? Say it isn't so! Though at the time, my current obsession with her hadn't been realised yet. She obviously showcased her versatility with Subaru's character in Mayo Chiki!, going from that deeper male tone to that slightly more feminine one when she was allowed to dress naturally, and even shrieking in the familiar Maria voice I had (only then) known her for. However, the true icing on that delicious butler cake: she also got subjected to saying the most insane lines that had me roaring with laughter thanks to both the context and her voice! If there's one thing I learned about Subaru, it would be that her dere mode is a force to be reckoned with. Never again did I underestimate the power that was Yuka Iguchi's hold on my anime soul.
Masamune Usami
~ The surprise package of the cast, Masamune was a refreshing example of a tsundere done right: for starters, she was shown to have a fair bit of character depth compared to your regular mindless tsundere archetype. And thanks to the show's portrayal of her in her backstory and her actions in her debuting episodes, any misgivings I had with her personality were alleviated - I readily let myself feel sympathy for her as it warranted her behaving that way. As a result, as she started to come to terms with her own flaws (helped by Jirou's persistence) and finally opened up to him, I found myself taking a liking to her character. It was a little heartwarming watching her cheer up when she realised that she had been offered the friendship of Jirou and Subaru, the latter being someone she looked up to. Her tsuntsun appeal was nothing to scoff at either, with her characteristic lovable pink twintails and cute voice that produced such great reactions to being embarrassed (that "Mou, Bakachiki!") already meeting my expectations. The real potency of her act though, lay in that signature dirty glare of hers - the mistrust apparent in her emerald-green eyes as she scowled at me was too precious to ignore - that I couldn't stop myself from bursting into giggles under the intensity of her gaze! There's no denying her charm; Usagi "Evil Rabbit"-chan is a formidable tsundere indeed. And let's not forget her role in the two maid cafe episodes... her tsundere maid is one fantasy I'll be carrying with me to a potential Japan visit. Step aside Rie Kugimiya, there's a new seiyuu master of pinkies in town, and her name's Mariya Ise!
Kinjirou Sakamachi
~ While on the subject of "pinkies", it is worth mentioning that Saito, lapdog of That-which-must-not-be-named, has his seiyuu make an appearance here. Thankfully, Kinjirou was a far cry from the weakling that Saito was. As the male protagonist, he would go out of his way to look out for Subaru, even standing up to Kanade for her sake. He also showed a lot of "fortitude", willing to suffer body blows at his own expense. Whether it was maintaining his promise to never let Subaru cry, or his insistence on pressing the issue with Musamune in her episodes, the conviction he displayed in upholding his ideals was very commendable. A solid harem MC, especially for one ironically named "Chicken".
Kureha Sakamachi
~ Who else would show up but "Kobato-chwan" Kana Hanazawa herself to deliver another delicious imouto performance? Kureha was another one of her roles I came to enjoy - she's cute in her ditsy-ness, becoming flustered when she got confused about Subaru's relationship with her older brother. She also did the most outrageous things (like fight a bear) and would be a nuisance to Jirou at times with her crazy imagination and her tendency to overreact to anything. Just what the show needed for additional comic relief.
ED Theme ""Kimi ni Gohoushi"
~ Performed by Yuka Iguchi, Eri Kitamura and Mariya Ise, it was a decent song with a positive vibe and pretty catchy lyrics. Despite being not as outstanding as the other EDs I've listened to over the course of these past few months, it nonetheless helped end each episode on a good note - and one would also have to account for my seiyuu bias here too, heh.
[Story: 7 | Art: 9 | Sound: 8 | Character: 9 | Enjoyment: 10]
[Final Score: 9]
If Kiss x Sis was my gold standard for ecchi titles, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next the epitome of all things fun sprinkled with a dash of engaging drama, Mayo Chiki! would be that middle ground between the two, with it's tantalising brand of amusing ecchi humour that was so integral in my enjoyment of the show, topped off with a satisfying ending to finish. It also became irreplaceable in its relevance to my anime timeline by not only ensuring that Yuki Iguchi's value would continue to increase, but also confirming Eri Kitamura's place among my favourite seiyuu through her amazing work as Kanade and her song "Be Starters!".
Yeah, I could talk about how certain episodes (the ones dedicated to Kureha and Nakuru) might've been a little underwhelming, or how Subaru's butler dilemma was kinda resolved too quickly near the end; ultimately though, there's no getting around the fact - Mayo Chiki! is still one of the most entertaining harem shows I've had the pleasure of coming across, and one I am proud to call a member of the trio of my favourite harem anime from my early days on MAL alongside the aforementioned Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next and Kiss x Sis.
"Suki na koto zenryoku de oikake you yo"
"Let's chase after what we like with all our strength"
Words to live by, and a great verse to sing at a karaoke session. I should know, having done so twice in a recent visit myself. Praise Mayo Chiki!!
[BLANKET SPOILER WARNING]
Mayo Chiki! (2011)
Persons of Interest:
Eri Kitamura - Kanade Suzutsuki (Uni @ Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation)
Yuka Iguchi - Subaru Konoe (Maria Takayama @ Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
Mariya Ise - Masamune Usami (Aoi Yusa @ Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next)
Satoshi Hino - Kinjirou Sakamachi (Saito Hiraga @ Zero no Tsukaima)
Kana Hanazawa - Kureha Sakamachi (Pururut @ Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation)
"Yeah, the hottest girl butler right now has to be Mebarun from ChikiMayo!" - Rika, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next Episode 5
So good that it's referenced in my current top harem rom-com anime, and itself also dedicating two episodes to referencing the other highly-rated harem ecchi comedy in my list and another personal favourite, Kiss x Sis, Mayo Chiki! rounded off September 2016 strongly as the last harem title (as of writing this) to have received a 9 from me.
What made Mayo Chiki! stand out, especially in my first month on MAL, which involved me binging on harem and romance titles featuring the likes of OreImo, Nisekoi, Rosario to Vampire and HenNeko? At first, during my preparation to write this post, I wasn't so sure. Months had passed since my initial viewing of the show, so certain details were sketchy. I had gotten by through remembering the appeal of Yuka Iguchi and Eri Kitamura's characters, and also regularly listened to the OP theme, "Be Starters!", but a refresher was sorely needed.
And it couldn't have been better timed. Fresh off reviewing Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next and Kiss x Sis in my blog posts, and concidentally watching Nyan Koi! just a few weeks prior, which also shared the same directior in Keiichirou Kawaguchi, I was able to fully grasp why I had that initial impression of the show in the first place - Mayo Chiki! was a near-perfect meshing of my favourite anime genres: harem, romance, ecchi and comedy, and the first anime that I encountered to do so successfully.
My Reasons For Liking This Anime:
OP Theme "Be Starters!"
~ If I had to rank my favourite OP theme of this "session" based on what was shown in the anime alone, aka the "TV size" version, this would be it (Koufuku Graffiti's OP, as mentioned in its respective blog post, is my favourite based on the entire song). The aesthetics were fantastic - I loved Musamune's scene with its accompanying verse, the camera panning with the little bits of action animation that's in line with the show, and most certainly, the image of Subaru running in the rain to the chorus. Eri Kitamura's wonderful performance was the glue that held everything together, as her beautiful vocals served to accentuate the meaningful lyrics behind the song. The fluidity of the verses, the music and the accompanying visuals cannot be overlooked; every note hit home, invoking pleasant emotions within me every time it played. Truly memorable.
Character Design
~ I feel that character design is imperative in harem/ecchi shows, and Mayo Chiki! passed with flying colours. The shounen style of art that has appealed to me in other such shows such as Kiss x Sis definitely makes an appearance here. The artwork of the characters in Mayo Chiki! caught my eye immediately from the very first scene with Kureha and Jirou; the "smoothness" of the outlines and textures were very soothing to look at. And again, as with Haganai, their eyes were the most distinguishable feature about them. The colours that matched their personality was a nice touch, and were drawn in such a way that their radiance contributed much to making each character seem that more lively, befitting of a show filled with action, cute moments and plenty of comedy on display.
Plot
~ Mayo Chiki!'s two subplots of dealing with Subaru's butler job and Jirou's gynophobia supplemented the romantic developments very well - this was not your typical harem where girls were throwing themselves at the MC's feet. The support Subaru received to retain her job was genuinely heartwarming at times, especially in that episode where everyone in the school banded together for her cause. Jirou's battle against his gynophobia was interesting as well, as it allowed him to form all those wonderful relationships with the girls. The two subplots also helped paint Jirou in a positive light as the male lead; he fought through his nosebleeds for the sake of others, and his concern for Subaru was firmly established in the beginning. Which sets it up for...
Execution - The Romance
~ I've come across a few comments about the romance in Mayo Chiki! being lacking. My experiences suggest otherwise. Compared to many a harem, Mayo Chiki!'s was very fulfilling from the build-up right down to its conclusion (I had already been burned by OreImo and HenNeko by this point). This can be attributed to the situations the show placed Subaru and Kinjirou in; though they were somewhat... unorthodox, they did serve their purpose: in line with the subplots mentioned above, there was no shortage of instances of them supporting each other throughout their ordeals, such as the staged kidnapping incident, Kanade's accident or the scene at the grave during the summer festival, to name a few. That's not to say that these weren't entertaining either; watching Subaru get caught up all those embarrassing yet adorably precious moments was extremely gratifying. The combination of various heartfelt, touching scenes and the little cute couples acts they would engage in allowed me to easily see how Suburu progressively grew attached to Jirou - I could feel the geniune attraction building between them. And with the ending they received, this was one of the few harems with some kind of actual relationship progression.
Execution - Ecchi Comedy
~ Speaking of entertainment, the show also took every opportunity to subject Subaru and Jirou to the most hilariously embarrassing, awkward situations possible, and used them to their maximum effect - feel. once again demonstrated their mastery of the ecchi comedy genre with their ingenious setups. For example, they fully abused Subaru's dual gender status: in one scene she decided to take a bath with Jirou (already an awkward moment in itself, and one I can fully get behind, heh), but left her very feminine underwear behind for Kureha to stumble upon. The manner in which she chose to react to that realisation, by being so frantically apologetic was simply fantastic - I'm a sucker for ecchi situations like that and couldn't resist laughing. Other events such as the medical examination along with the numerous wild, overblown thoughts and fantasies that surfaced ensured that the ecchi slapstick train would continue to run its course unimpeded throughout the episodes. Subaru and Kanade's characters benefited heavily from this; the former proved herself to be way too adorable to handle and became even more endearing, while the latter easily became my favourite character in Mayo Chiki! thanks to her "contributions" (more on that below).
Execution - Ecchi Comedy (cont.)
~ In Kiss x Sis, feel. unleashed the full brunt of their physical-based ecchi shenanigans to great effect. Mayo Chiki!, perhaps influenced by Nyan Koi!'s director, served up an impressive selection of humour in the form of what I would describe as suggestive ecchi jokes and setups. Their delivery was on point and well-timed, always leaving me expectant of what was about to unfold, with the result catching me off-guard at times. This was prevalent in many of the episode preview segments - the erotic-sounding skit between Subaru and Jirou that ended up being a blood donation had me grinning and shaking my head in disbelief at how well they had played me. And of course, Kanade, the tease master herself, has much to answer for regarding her involvement in such antics - that she's going to require a full section devoted to her and her... methods.
Execution - Additional Comments
~ The attention to detail present in Mayo Chiki! also deserves a special mention. The anime provided some decent action for a harem series; the impact of blows that were animated helped to visualise the level of Jirou's endurance and Subaru's fighting prowess. The injection of cute sound effects to various things such as the "meah" in Yuka Iguchi's voice in the sheep doll and butler ticket helped add to the light-hearted atmosphere of the show. Scenes flowed nicely, and as such - to quote myself on one comment: "When I'm not laughing at their hilarious, entertaining awkward situations, I'm also pulled in by their little couples moments. Very engaging rom-com." I was hooked.
Kanade Suzutsuki
~ Only having encountered her Uni role at the time, I had no idea what Eri Kitamura had in store for me in Mayo Chiki! (her appearance in the cast list was one of the reasons why I had decided to commit to watching this). Fortunately, Kanade did not disappoint. By far the prettiest thing out of Mayo Chiki!, the bishoujo with a taste for lolita fashion and devilish red eyes to match her incredible twisted sadist personality was the notorious presence that kept me glued to my screen. Responsible for the majority of the unexpected perverted jokes/situations that occurred, Kanade's ludicrous schemes were instrumental in both driving the romance between Subaru and Jirou, as well as the subplot involving Subaru's butler status (since she was her mistress, after all). Additionally, her approaches to curing Jirou of his gynophobia were pure brilliance. To top it all off, her interference also often led to something being done at Subaru's expense: the butler-maid showdown with the apples had me in tears! Kanade's influence on the show ensures that Mayo Chiki! will never be an ordinary harem; hilarity is bound to be just around the corner whenever she's around.
Kanade Suzutsuki (cont.)
~ Needless to say, Eri Kitamura had a huge impact on Kanade's character. One could say that she essentially breathed life into the lovely sadist; I could almost feel her breath behind every word that was dripping with that mocking, seductive voice of hers. It made her teasing that much more irresistible, and her amusing lines that much more suggestive. I'll even admit to being *slightly* aroused by that scene where she got Jirou to apply sunscreen on her bare back. I was not surprised to later learn that one of her more known roles was Juri from Street Fighter - she clearly has that style of voice down. Between that and her equally amazing loli voice as seen in Uni and Miu, Eri Kitamura is definitely a veteran of the seiyuu business I will be following for some time to come.
Subaru Konoe
~ Another Yuka Iguchi character? Say it isn't so! Though at the time, my current obsession with her hadn't been realised yet. She obviously showcased her versatility with Subaru's character in Mayo Chiki!, going from that deeper male tone to that slightly more feminine one when she was allowed to dress naturally, and even shrieking in the familiar Maria voice I had (only then) known her for. However, the true icing on that delicious butler cake: she also got subjected to saying the most insane lines that had me roaring with laughter thanks to both the context and her voice! If there's one thing I learned about Subaru, it would be that her dere mode is a force to be reckoned with. Never again did I underestimate the power that was Yuka Iguchi's hold on my anime soul.
Masamune Usami
~ The surprise package of the cast, Masamune was a refreshing example of a tsundere done right: for starters, she was shown to have a fair bit of character depth compared to your regular mindless tsundere archetype. And thanks to the show's portrayal of her in her backstory and her actions in her debuting episodes, any misgivings I had with her personality were alleviated - I readily let myself feel sympathy for her as it warranted her behaving that way. As a result, as she started to come to terms with her own flaws (helped by Jirou's persistence) and finally opened up to him, I found myself taking a liking to her character. It was a little heartwarming watching her cheer up when she realised that she had been offered the friendship of Jirou and Subaru, the latter being someone she looked up to. Her tsuntsun appeal was nothing to scoff at either, with her characteristic lovable pink twintails and cute voice that produced such great reactions to being embarrassed (that "Mou, Bakachiki!") already meeting my expectations. The real potency of her act though, lay in that signature dirty glare of hers - the mistrust apparent in her emerald-green eyes as she scowled at me was too precious to ignore - that I couldn't stop myself from bursting into giggles under the intensity of her gaze! There's no denying her charm; Usagi "Evil Rabbit"-chan is a formidable tsundere indeed. And let's not forget her role in the two maid cafe episodes... her tsundere maid is one fantasy I'll be carrying with me to a potential Japan visit. Step aside Rie Kugimiya, there's a new seiyuu master of pinkies in town, and her name's Mariya Ise!
Kinjirou Sakamachi
~ While on the subject of "pinkies", it is worth mentioning that Saito, lapdog of That-which-must-not-be-named, has his seiyuu make an appearance here. Thankfully, Kinjirou was a far cry from the weakling that Saito was. As the male protagonist, he would go out of his way to look out for Subaru, even standing up to Kanade for her sake. He also showed a lot of "fortitude", willing to suffer body blows at his own expense. Whether it was maintaining his promise to never let Subaru cry, or his insistence on pressing the issue with Musamune in her episodes, the conviction he displayed in upholding his ideals was very commendable. A solid harem MC, especially for one ironically named "Chicken".
Kureha Sakamachi
~ Who else would show up but "Kobato-chwan" Kana Hanazawa herself to deliver another delicious imouto performance? Kureha was another one of her roles I came to enjoy - she's cute in her ditsy-ness, becoming flustered when she got confused about Subaru's relationship with her older brother. She also did the most outrageous things (like fight a bear) and would be a nuisance to Jirou at times with her crazy imagination and her tendency to overreact to anything. Just what the show needed for additional comic relief.
ED Theme ""Kimi ni Gohoushi"
~ Performed by Yuka Iguchi, Eri Kitamura and Mariya Ise, it was a decent song with a positive vibe and pretty catchy lyrics. Despite being not as outstanding as the other EDs I've listened to over the course of these past few months, it nonetheless helped end each episode on a good note - and one would also have to account for my seiyuu bias here too, heh.
[Story: 7 | Art: 9 | Sound: 8 | Character: 9 | Enjoyment: 10]
[Final Score: 9]
If Kiss x Sis was my gold standard for ecchi titles, and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next the epitome of all things fun sprinkled with a dash of engaging drama, Mayo Chiki! would be that middle ground between the two, with it's tantalising brand of amusing ecchi humour that was so integral in my enjoyment of the show, topped off with a satisfying ending to finish. It also became irreplaceable in its relevance to my anime timeline by not only ensuring that Yuki Iguchi's value would continue to increase, but also confirming Eri Kitamura's place among my favourite seiyuu through her amazing work as Kanade and her song "Be Starters!".
Yeah, I could talk about how certain episodes (the ones dedicated to Kureha and Nakuru) might've been a little underwhelming, or how Subaru's butler dilemma was kinda resolved too quickly near the end; ultimately though, there's no getting around the fact - Mayo Chiki! is still one of the most entertaining harem shows I've had the pleasure of coming across, and one I am proud to call a member of the trio of my favourite harem anime from my early days on MAL alongside the aforementioned Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Next and Kiss x Sis.
"Suki na koto zenryoku de oikake you yo"
"Let's chase after what we like with all our strength"
Words to live by, and a great verse to sing at a karaoke session. I should know, having done so twice in a recent visit myself. Praise Mayo Chiki!!
Posted by
Avelynn
| Dec 13, 2016 2:37 AM |
Add a comment