MAHOROMATIC

I’m surprised all those robot maids haven’t unionized yet



Review by: Craig "I gotta get me one of those" Norris

Length: 26 episodes + 3 specials
Genre: Action, comedy
Watched: All, subbed

This title was personally recommended to me by a fellow anime aficionado. He had introduced me to a few worthwhile titles in the past, and I’m always curious about any GAINAX project, so I decided to give this series a chance. In the first episode there was a naked robot maid chick, so I thought I was in for a real treat. As the episodes wore on, though, I came to three realizations: 1) I was bored, 2) I was confused, and 3) I will never listen to suggestions from that particular friend again.

Plot synopsis: The alien organization SAINT has waged war with Earth. In response, earth’s military, in conjunction with Vesper corporation, constructed Mahoro, an advanced battle android. However, with 37 days left until she powers down permanently, she is offered the chance to retire and extend her life to over a year. As a result, she gives up being a battle android and becomes a maid at the home of Suguru, a high school student. However, SAINT won’t let Mahoro forget her past.

Artwork: Bright and colorful, with somewhat stylized character designs. For a series about a robot maid, there are quite a bit of action sequences, which all flow very well, and even impress on several occasions. Overall, though, there are several instances where the style of animation doesn’t quite fit in with the mood of the series. It was more than adequate for the instances of comedic fluff and fanservice, but it prevented me from taking the serious scenes seriously.

Music: The series offers a very nondescript soundtrack that doesn’t showcase much more than fluffy instrumentals and j-pop. The opening and ending themes, which could be considered the “best foot forward” of most soundtracks, are very forgettable. All the stuff in between is even less impressive. For the most part the subject matter doesn’t require a powerful soundtrack, but the lackluster music didn’t step up when it really needed to.

Characters: The most dynamic (although not very) aspect of the show comes from the characters and how they interact with each other. However, as far as characters go, most are cliché and some are shamefully flat. Suguru is a somewhat shy and slightly geeky student, presenting a familiar parallel to a modicum of other anime leading men. Orphaned at an early age, he lives alone in his parents’ house. Mahoro is also the product of a handful of archetypes, embodying the helpful, supportive, graceful, and adorable housemaid that everyone wishes would drop from the sky and into their living room. She radiates happiness and peace of mind, but inwardly she is concerned about her own mortality. Toshiya and Kiyomi are Suguru’s school chums, and the three of them often pass the time drooling over centerfolds, a very human activity that makes it slightly easier to empathize with them. Miyuki, Rin, and Chizu are Suguru’s female friends and classmates, and often visit Suguru’s house along with Toshiya and Kiyomi. Chizu is always hungry, and has tremendous knowledge of food and flavor. Shikijou is Suguru’s well-endowed teacher, and has made it her mission to make a man out of him, if you know what I mean, wink wink, nudge nudge. She often teases Mahoro about her relatively small breasts, but really she’s jealous that Mahoro is far closer to Suguru than she is. Ryuuga is an android from SAINT who obsesses about settling her long standing rivalry with Mahoro. He goes undercover as a teacher in Suguru’s school and his boshounen-y good looks gains him the attention of every single female student. In order to help protect Mahoro from Ryuuga and other SAINT forces, Vesper dispatches Slash, Mahoro’s support android. He is built to look like a panther, and he is very protective of Mahoro. Minawa, who shows up in season two, is a cyborg girl who escapes from the research facility that created her. She is a bit klutzy, and constantly apologizes for any small thing she does wrong. The preceding section pretty much explains everything that we learn about all of the characters. Sometimes the way the characters play off each other gets a chuckle or two, but for the most part no one is fleshed out enough to make me care about them to any great degree.

Plot: From a standpoint of content and emotion, this series is all over the place. The majority of the episodes present situational comedy and fanservice with a very light mood. However, the works get gummed up with the episodes that involve Mahoro fighting against SAINT, which take on much more serious undertones. As a result, the mood is very inconsistent throughout. Really, what GAINAX should have done was split it into two series; one about a maid who finds herself in very fancervice-y situations with various teenage cohorts, and another about cyborgs battling a sinister force. But then you wind up with Hand Maid May and Cyborg 009, and I doubt if even GAINAX has the financial ammunition to combat a copyright infringement lawsuit on two fronts.

CHICKS!: Robot maids are always cute, aren’t they? Mahoro is no exception to the rule. She has a petit body and a sunny smile, and wants to be as helpful as possible. Miyuki, Rin, and Chizu are cute schoolgirls with typical youthful, endearing (if not a slight bit spastic) charm. Fans of big breasts will find a soul mate in Shikijou, who often calls attention to her impressive chest before anyone else even gets a peek at it. The problem with all these easy on the eyes chicks is their lack of personality. They suffer from a lack of development that makes them one-dimensional, and in some cases zero-dimensional. There are very few chicks who can get by on looks alone, and this series boasts no such spectacular bodies.

Overall: Bleh. Sitting through 26 episodes of this series was more of a chore than anything else. In almost every category it is sub-par, and by no means measures up to the normally high quality releases of GAINAX. Mahoromatic offers a fairly formulaic plot, flat characters, and almost no charm. Unless you’re hankering for a heaping helping of fanservice, I strongly suggest leaving this title alone. It’s hard for any series to work on all cylinders, but this one couldn’t even satisfy me by running on one or two. It has led to a realization on my part, and a new personal credo: robot chicks do not a good series make.

IN A NUTSHELL

+ GAINAX sans mind-fuck
+ Mostly decent animation
- Flat characters
- Extremely inconsistent mood
- Forgettable soundtrack
Rating: 5/10



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