Kamen no Maid Guy

Kamen no Maid Guy:  C

MM! inspired me to watch more series that I love but don't think are very good.  Also I've been playing League of Legends again and working on a major project, so I apologize for the two week hiatus.

Kamen no Maid Guy (Mask of the Maid Guy) is a show that is basically about boobs.  Not in a sexy, turn-you-on kind of way, more in a 'man, these things sure get a lot of attention from both genders, and isn't that weird?' sort of way.

Kamen no Maid Guy is also about a monster of a man named Kogarashi who is a Maid Guy (the dude with the shark teeth and the mask above), and has all the superpowers and wears the most terrifying maid outfit in the history of ever.  Fujiwara Naeka, the 17-year old 'normal girl heiress' whose grandfather paid some exorbitant but unmentioned sum for Kogarashi's serving and protecting his granddaughter is technically our protagonist, but really, the Maid Guy is who we're here to see.  Naeka is most often in her underwear, and usually inflicting some sort of illogically violent revenge for that.

The series is extremely screwball and very weird, and watching it will make you feel bad for watching it fairly regularly.  It will also make you laugh if you enjoy childish humor.  It's not a good series, but it is a funny series.

If you want to watch something truly absurd and ridiculous and have a strong tolerance for borderline sexism (whether it crosses that line depends on the episode and the viewer), you will laugh and ask 'what the hell' a lot at Kamen no Maid Guy.  If you want... really anything 'good' besides gags, this show is not for you.

MM

MM!: C+

Oh, hey, a C+.  I give those out more than I give C's.  It really is a problem, but unfortunately, I feel like I have to say it's about as good as all the other C+'s, even though really, they've all kind of standardized into the overall 'C' category, but I'd feel weird going back and editing all my previous reviews to make my C+'s into C's.  Anyway, the show.

MM! is a romcom with harem elements built around comedic masochism: our main character, Sado Tarou, goes into a state of perverse ecstasy when he is hurt by pretty girls.  Naturally, this plays well with traditional Tsundere tendencies (represented here in Isurugi Mio, the blonde), who, out of the goodness of her heart, offers to cure him, but can't really think of any better ways to do it other than coming up with more and more extreme tortures, which Tarou of course enjoys.  She is assisted by Tarou's classmate Yuuno Arashiko (purple hair), who has violent androphobia (very similar to Mahiru from Working!!), who at least feels bad about hitting Tarou... though he enjoys that too.  These two both develop romantic attractions to the main character, the real eye-rolling harem-y bits come from the supporting cast.

And really that's all there is to the series.  Here's these girls, they're cute, here's this boy, he's a sweet guy despite his perversion, they're gonna beat him up and he's gonna enjoy it.  If it sounds like a giggle (and it's good for giggles), you'll probably like it.  If you want an intelligent discussion of being a member of The Lifestyle, joining it or an honest look at what living life thinking you're fucked up, MM! has very, very little for you.  If you're looking for outstandingly well-written characters or storylines, MM! has nothing for you.  At a couple points, though, I found myself thinking "That's nice, a reminder that even freaks just want to be happy."  The series doesn't come to any sort of real conclusion, but manages a satisfying enough ending anyway.

Overall, MM! is a predictable romcom with a slightly off-beat premise that handles itself adequately.  If you're curious what Japanese dominatrixes sound like, you might get a kick out of it, and if you want something to put on in the background at a party; it's not particularly fan servicey (except for the 'specials', but if you don't know that 'special' means 'excuse for us to show these girls inappropriately' you're behind the anime times).  If you're looking for series that are genuinely 'good' though, this is not where you want to spend your time.

Sasami-san@gambaranai

Sasami-san@gambaranai: B+

Our seasonal offering from Studio Shaft and Akiyuki Shimbo, who, as you will recall, I have an Akiyuki Shimboner for.  Despite that, grading this show was difficult because it's SO WEIRD.  Like, makes Bakemonogatari seem coherent in comparison.  "Sasami-san is a character, the @ is never adequately explained and 'gambaranai' is a word which literally is a negative form of the verb 'to do your best', probably best translated as 'lazy, slacking' or sometimes 'not trying'.

It's... well, let's start with this:  In the first episode, clearly for a reason, but without explanation, the entire world turns into chocolate, and three sisters, whose names are very clearly references to the Three Treasures of Imperial Japan (the sword, the mirror and the jewel) have to fight a giant demon dragon thing made of chocolate.

I mentioned Bakemonogatari, and another reason that's a valid comparison is because if Sasami-san@gambaranai is about anything, it's about Japanese mythology, in a very interesting way: the idea of generations of gods, and transitional periods between old gods and new gods, and holding on to the past.  That's a very poetic way of talking about the series, which is also a lot about being a shut-in and never going outside, and also is a lot about the Japanese as a people and how weird they are (and by extension, how weird their gods probably are).

At the very least, it's solid evidence that the Japanese don't just treat Christianity as being fun to twist into knots for the mythology, they'll do it to themselves as well.

If you'd like a very odd look at Japanese mythology which manages to be, by turns, very light and meaningless and also very deep, dark and thoughtful, Sasami-san is a strange but fun watch.  Really the only reason I would think people couldn't get into it is because it's just so weird and out there, and because to really fully understand what's going on you'll need to do a bit of reading up on wikipedia about some of the more obscure shinto mythology.

Love Live! School Idol Project

Love Live!: B

Another series I watched because the sub group I was following was subbing it, Love Live is about a pack of girls who learn that their school is closing down due to lack of new applicants and decide to become School Idols (apparently this is a thing?) in order to rekindle interest in their alma mater and save the school from being closed.  Naturally, this involves building a group and an audience, not to mention getting in shape enough to perform, having songs to sing, and being good enough to not make their school look bad by association.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really get 'Idols' (I'm using the term here entirely in its Japanese Pop singer starlet connotation) or why people would get all otaku about them, but despite that, I found myself caring about the characters here.

The series is actually quite good at surprises despite its simple premise.  The cast is a little too big for everyone to get proper screen time, but what we see is all fun and cute.  Music is obviously an important part of the premise and if you can get over the engrish, it's pretty catchy.  The only thing that consistently twinged my eyes is when they cut to a very high-performance version of I think Miku Miku Dance for some of the choreography animation, the shift is jarring and always glaringly obvious.  I consistently tried to figure out what it was about that animation shift that bothered me but never could, it just kinda hurts to watch.

Despite that, the series manages itself well and gets its point across without feeling like any real magic happens besides friendship: a major theme is that doing what you love is hard work, and only hard work gets you anywhere.  Overall, the writing is solid but not outstanding, the plot doesn't feel contrived, and the characters are (mostly) believable and cute.

What Love Live! lacks is anything truly amazing.  And that's really the harshest thing I can say about it, the rest is all surprisingly good.  It's fun, it's sweet without being saccharine, it's teaching some good lessons about hard work and guts.

If you need male characters or if occasional weird not-quite uncanny valleyish animation bugs the heck out of you or if engrish in music drives you up a wall, don't watch Love Live.  But if you need some girls being absolutely adorable and emotional and dressing up in cute costumes and singing, it's not a bad way to unwind, and it will make you smile.

Maoyuu (Maou Yuusha)

Maoyuu: C+

Our story begins like the end-game of a classic RPG.  The hero (in japanese, 'yuusha'), having set off to slay the Demon King (in japanese, 'maou'), leaves his party of adventurers behind to face his nemesis alone, so that the others will not be in danger.  He arrives at the strangely empty castle of the Demon King, and is prepared for a trap.

But the Demon King turns out to be a beautiful woman, and instead of challenging him in battle, she instead explains to him, completely honestly, why the war between demons and humans is beneficial to both sides, and furthermore, how ending it would be devastating to the economies of both the human and demon realms.  Finally, she also mentions that she has been watching him from afar, and that she is maybe just a little bit in love with him.

And so, the Hero and the Demon King agree to work together, to try to move beyond the senseless fighting, to bring about a real and lasting peace, with countries that are moving forward and supporting themselves.  It is a story very rooted in economics, scientific discovery, agriculture and political philosophy, set in a fantasy world of characters who are all called by their titles, none of the characters' names are mentioned.

And it's a good story, with fun characters, some excellent writing, truly moving moments, sociopolitical commentary, humor and drama.  I really liked it.

It gets a C+ for not ending.  It's perfectly set up for a second season, and a second season would result in it getting a much better grade: with more explanation and development, it has the makings of an A-rank series, but it starts out very slowly and rushes itself toward the end, and the ending it comes to is sudden and inconclusive.

If you like watching fully-developed worlds where the storyteller has strongly considered all the gears that are turning in the world intertwined with personal drama and intelligent discussions of economics and politics, Maoyuu is good, but far too short.  If you want a lot of action, or if you need a good ending, or if characters not having names would drive you up the wall, avoid this series.