Customer Reviews

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Combat Maid (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Though it's been explored in other animes (such as Bannou Bunka Neko Musume [Nuku-Nuku], and Hand Maid May), Mahoromatic takes the popular manga and transforms it into an anime that has all the element of an anime series worth holding on to. With all due respect to the Amazon.com reviewer, it seems as though he may have run this anime through the cynic-o-matic before refusing to allow the story to be told. Mahoromatic is the charming story about a junior high school student learning to cope with the loss of his father and mother, while also taking on a live-in maid to see to the housekeeping duties. When he calls upon a maid placement service to fulfill that request, they send assistance in the form of the battle-android-turned-domestic, Mahoro (voiced by Kawasumi Ayako: Melfina from Outlaw Star). Sick of fighting, she decides to live out the rest of her time (398 days) as a maid to this pre-teen. Though she's more than meets the eye, they both find in each other a bond: he in learning to open up to someone else, and she in learning all there is to know about him. A stunning character story from director Yamaga Hiroyuki (Wings of Honneamise), Mahoromatic will make you fast-forward through the ending credit just to get to the next episode quicker. Don't miss it!

(Normally I don't put up reviews, but in this case I feel I must, if nothing else than to counter the apparently soul-less Amazon Editorial by Charles Solomon. Who the heck is this guy?! all his reviews I've read so far are so blatantly opposite of the truth it borders on plain stupidity - but enough venting, on to the actual review.)

Mahoromatic is a very depth-fill series that centers around the relationship of Mahoro and Suguru Misato. Unknown to Suguru, his father served alongside Mahoro as a commander in a secret government organization that has been defending the planet from alien invaders - wacky plot? No, the key to this series is that it is able to take what on the surface may be absurd situations and turn it into strongly heart-felt moments. Though overall the tone of the series is comedic, there is constant underlying tragedy as slowly each episode counts down to the number of days Mahoro still has remaining. The show plays out in a rollercoaster ride of stomach-hurting laughs, and throat-lumping misty eyes. Gainax has achieved an incredible balance between the gut-busting banter of Mahoro and Shikijo-sensei, and the repenting whispers of Mahoro's "..I don't want to die." It is difficult to provide a truthful review without revealing too much information, but suffice it to say that the story's extremely memorable characters will reside with you long after the last episode is done. My only wish was that Gainax could have chosen a less heart-breaking ending...

Heads-up warning: this series earned its 16+ rating with flying colors. Moreso than any previous Pioneer (Geneon) DVD series.

That aside, introductions go well. These first four episodes are the beginning of a bizarre ride involving intergalactic war, horny junior-high schoolers, one very perverted hottie teacher, and how & why an android designed for war becomes a house maid. Sound convoluted enough? Good...

I find nearly all of the characters so far to be quite enjoyable. I'm saying nearly beacuse the perverted teacher leaves me a bit turned off. For me, the less seen of her, the better. I have to knock a star of this series on account of her, Sorry. She is funny though.

We first meet Mahoro, the retired combat android. She handles her existence quite lightly and shows no fear, often revealing that she had indured much more hardship in battle. Though she became a maid, she often asserts her opinions when she deems necessary (dirty thoughts?). It's also revealed that her reasons for becoming a maid are not simply to take on a humble lifestyle. Suguru Misato doesn't seem to be much different from Mahoro, even though he is human and has never seen combat first-hand. He is not a super hero, but he exihibits excellent leadership skills under pressure. He also has a lot of brotherly respect for all of his peers, treating even Mahoro as an equal. This is a breath of fresh air for me. Even though their social positions elicit an obvious superior male ruling over a subservient female. Their actions contradict that every step of the way.

Their band of friends round out a somewhat stereotypical cast, but not too poorly. Many of their quirks are interesting and funny. From a raging food-addict to the jealous "other guys" there is definate energy about them. One gets the feeling that these friends have been together for a while and will be willing to help each other out in times of need.

This looks like it's going to be a series that will pull no punches. There will be no scene too perverted (well.. kind of), no pun untapped, and no emotion left alone. Every episode ends with a morbidly somber countdown timer right before the credits. All indications show that this story, as funny as it is, may not be as uplifting as it seems.

That being said, to anyone not willing to accept that, I advise you avoid this series and go watch Disney's "Little Mermaid", no matter what Hans Christian Anderson origionally wrote.

Well I can say that who the standard review is entirly wrong when applied to me, and yes I am over 18 and my voice has finished any alterations. I found Mahoromatic to be quite humerous and enjoyed it. I especally enjoyed Mahoro's personality. As some one who prefers a female character who can take care of herself I liked Mahoro's combat abilities, and enjoyed the fact that she isn't clumsy though there are quite a few humerous scenes especally Mahoro dealing with other people. If you like Steel Angel, Saber Marionette J, Oh My Goddess manga or Hyper Dolls manga you will probly like Mahoromatic quite a bit.

...and dreams should be grand. The folks who pan this series for being too ecchi or geared towards teens completely missed the boat, and should stick to pre-packaged, pre-chewed pap like Pokemon. Here's the deal (SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER WARNING!) Mahoro is a combat 'droid, with little over a month to live. The leader of her group, Vesper, gives her a choice: Remain a combad droid and die in a month, or life as she chooses... for as a normal 'person' she's only got 398 days. She's screwed either way. She chooses to work as a maid for Suguru Misato, to attone for something she did in her combat days. Just get the whole 2 seasons, folks, and ignore the naysayers -- they wanted pre-chewed toyetic garbage. Mahoromatic is a very well done story that can be delightfully funny, and heart-wrenchingly painful, sometimes at the same time. Mahoro herself is far, far more beautiful inside than her body is. She is the soul of an entire race, which now also knows ours, having lived, for a brief, gorgeous year, as a human.

Mahoromatic is a pleasant anime with an interesting premise, but while I like surprises, the payoff on this one was just wrong. Most fans familiar with other similar series will enjoy most of the early episodes. It has lots of fan service, and a good dose of slapstick humor. The premise is simple, a battle android whose batteries are set to run down is given a choice: 37 more days as a battle droid, or a little over a year with her weapons removed, and an early retirement with honor. Mahoro, believing she has a debt to repay, chooses the latter. She becomes the maid to a 14 year old who has lost his father and mother. She believes by doing so she can make his life easier and perhaps help absolve her own conscience.

Attention: Spoilers ahead!! If you are going to insist on buying this series, don't read any further. For the rest of the fans, if the series still seems worth it after you read this, you do always have the option of skipping the bad ending. I'm not going to go into great detail here. Like you might expect from these type of series the male lead always falls for the lead female. It matters not thats she's mechanical, magical, spiritual or otherwise. This anime is no exception to that rule the male lead does indeed fall in love. What sets this apart is that what was intended as helping by Mahoro, as paying back a debt to a father, precipitated one of the worst outcomes imaginable. Had Mahoro known how it would turn out, I'm sure she would have never even gone near the boy in the first place.

Here's the spoiler: Instead of affecting his future in an upbeat, positive manner. Then leaving him at the end of her time with some great memories. She unintentionally causes him to grow up to become a cynical, half-mechanical (cyborg implants for his profession), revenge killer. Who, if he's not killing androids, apparently spends his time drinking and whoring.

I don't think for a minute this was the intended ending to this anime. I believe (based on the countdown timer they put after each of the TV episodes), that this series was originally intended to go at least one more season. What I think happened was that it may have gotten unexpectedly cancelled. The animators then hurriedly crafted this horribly cynical ending. Maybe their own impending unemployment, prompted them to change the face of a much lighter series. Many questions go completely unanswered, and several loose ends remain from the horrible ending. I suspect there's little hope those questions will ever be resolved.

I watched the dubbed version, which does right by most of the voices. I believe this version will contain both tracks, so if you don't like the English, rest assured the Japanese version will sound OK.

This was my first school/harem type anime and I must say it was quite enjoyable. In the near future Earth is under attack from an alien race called `Saint'. A secret society employs humanoid combat androids to fight against the attackers. The greatest of these is Mahoro, in the shape of a comely 19 year old. When her tour of duty is done she requests to be allowed to live out her limited lifespan caring for a young 14 year old named Suguru; the son of a war casualty she feels responsible for. Mahoro meets Suguru and passes herself off as a simple maid who happens to have been a warrior in her prior life. The series then moves through a slow arc as the two sweetly come to love each other while dealing with the more mundane scholastic existence of Suguru and his friends. Meanwhile the darker side of the plot continues to fester in the background as Saint's greatest warrior goes after Mahoro. In the second series Minawa a young android from a third faction called Management comes into play. As Mahoro nears the end of lifespan things escalate, both feelings of love and the plots against her where she must make a decision that will affect her and Suguru for years in the future. The final episode is one that has been ravaged by fans, I will admit that it really emotionally hit me hard seeing Suguru in such a state. Anyone that has loved and lost will feel a twisted knife of a reminder in their heart seeing what he has gone through. The dichotomy with the rest of the series is quite extreme as it got back to being so serious in the last couple episodes after the majority of the lighter versions. Taken together though the Mahoromatic series is a lot of fun and an engaging love story with plenty of fan service and a nice ensemble collection of secondary characters. Recommended.

Based on the manga series by Bow Ditama and Bunjuro Nakayama, the first season of Mahoromatic Automatic Maiden starts off with orphaned eighth grader Suguru Misato hiring Mahoro, a former combat android, as his maid. Mahoro used to work for Vesper, an organization formed to combat aliens who invaded Earth in the 1980's. Due to her long service, she had the choice of continuing as she was and having 37 days left to live, or removing her combat armour and living 398 days more. Guess which she chooses?

Mahoro makes quite a difference in the lonely Suguru's life. "She wakes me up in the morning, makes good food, bathes with me, and the inside of the house gets cleaner every time I look at it." Yes, bathes!; as she tells a flustered Suguru, "this is part of my natural duty as a maid." Suguru becomes the envy of his main friends, boys Toshiya Hamaguchi, Kiyomi Kawahara, and three cute girls, the tomboyish Miyuki Sakura, Rin Todoroki, and gourmet Chizu Ooe. Chizu's funny, reacting with a delighted scream every time she tastes Mahoro's dishes-"this is like the chicken rice from the Kanta Japanese restaurant Shirokku!" But they soon befriend Mahoro, eliminating earlier misconceptions that she is actually Suguru's bedmate.

There is a puritanical streak in Mahoro, though, as she confiscates Suguru's secret stash of dirty magazines, giving him a lecture that women's breasts are for babies, and in line with her own modest bosom, says "a woman's abilities has nothing to do with the size of her breasts!" Well said, Mahoro-san! Please be my maid!

The explosion of the water heater causes Mahoro, Suguru, and Shikijou to go to the public bath owned by Miyuki's family. Here, it's revealed that Miyuki's father is excited whenever Suguru comes over. Since he had four daughters, he kind of sees Suguru as the son he never had. And speaking of parents, Suguru's depression over summer vacation is lifted for the first time, as the first day of vacation was the anniversary of his father's death. With Mahoro, he no longer feels lonely, but the android harbours a secret regarding Suguru's father, that if Suguru found out, would cause the boy to hate her. Yet Mahoro swears to serve him for every second she has remaining to live.

However, Saori Shikijou, Misato's homeroom teacher, she with what Mahoro calls "unnaturally swollen cow udders," has a crush on him, and sees the flat-chested Mahoro as a threat. "I'm the one who should give him my up close personal and private lessons!" There usually follows a fantasy of Suguru and her in some erotic unclothed fantasy. Mahoro in turn gets irritated as Shikijou doesn't hesitate to sponge off Mahoro's cooking and bathing, and makes sport of Mahoro's modest bosom. But Shikijou is definitely quite a perv, as she humps Suguru with her breasts at a department store, and quite a drinker. She's also vain, thinking herself "so beautiful she upsets the lives of men."

After coaxing the overly dutibound Mahoro into joining them on a Sunday trip to the beach, the gang have fun, but an "alien, anti-droid, crab-type armoured robot" with two or three screws loose creates havoc by shredding the girls' bikinis. The funniest scene involves Mahoro pouring suntan lotion over Shikijou's head, leaving her with the umbrella, then warning her that women in their mid-20's will get wrinkled skin if they walk into the sun unprotected, as she leads Suguru away.

A nice touch are the satellite poems inbetween each episode, recited by either Mahoro, Suguru, Chizu, or Shikijou, set to a Mozart-like violin tune. Mahoromatic is mostly comedy, with some action scenes, with a winning opening theme ballad "On The Way Home," by Ayako Kawasumi, and a fun infectious and funny dance number, the "Mahoro de Mambo" by Triomatic, a.k.a. the voice actresses playing Miyuki, Rin, and Chizu, who do a cute dance during the closing credits.

Thanks to Ayako Kawasumi as the voice of Mahoro. She also voiced one of my favourite anime characters, Aoi Sakuraba in Ai Yori Aoshi. And Mahoro is kind of like Aoi Sakuraba mixed with Chi from Chobits, combining a gentle, hard-working servant with the innocence of a robot. Per the satellite poem,

"I hope that you will have sweet dreams from the smell of the sun. Will a fluffy futon be able to cradle you? Will it be able to cradle you softly and warmly?" Yes, if Mahoro was that futon.

I must take issue with Mr. Solomon's product review. His review might have made sense if the rest of the series, two seasons worth, gave nothing more than the (oh, my God!) fan service he so detests in every anime (which, by the way, is a cultural aspect of Japanese animation that simply reflects a nation's differing attitudes on sexuality and the human body, not an indication of perversion).

Mahoromatic is recognized as a flawed classic in anime. That show that was one episode away from greatness. The studio, GAINAX, also produced Neon Genesis Evangelion and FLCL (and many more) classics. Mahoromatic follows in the footsteps of NGE with a lighter heart and a remarkably un-flawed heroine.

Rather than be offended, it's likely most females would consider Mahoro one of the most admirable female leads in all of literature. She is steadfast and loyal, intelligent in her life choices (including some very difficult ones), considerate, strong, ethical, hardworking, uncompromising, detests perversion, and just basically represents what any sane male could only dream of having in a mate. While at first glance she appears stereotypical of romantic comedy anime females, she is in fact an epic heroine.

Add to the lighthearted story a ticking tragic time bomb, and you have not only engaging characters, but a well-crafted anxiety that both repels and attracts, keeping you interested if only to find out what happens. In NGE, you had no idea in the beginning that you could end up where you did. In Mahoromatic, you know from the start that serious emotions underlie the frivolity.

Geneon, the company holding the US license for Mahoromatic, has folded up as of Sept, 2007, and the Mahoromatic DVDs available as of this date will likely be the last. Due to various factors, it's unlikely another studio will re-issue these DVDs.

Rather than go on and possibly ruin the story for you, I would just suggest that you try it, if you are a fan of anime at all. It doesn't fit strictly into any genre, neither comedy, sci-fi nor drama, although it contains all of them. It contains some incredibly creative and moving moments as well as solid character development, though as mentioned it does have its flaws. But compared to the vast majority of anime, of any time period including today, Mahoromatic deserves it's place as a near-classic.

If you haven't burned out on meek men/"special" women anime (Steel Angel Kurumi, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Cutey Honey), then you'll LOVE this one. Just do me one favor, if you're a parent reading this review. Normally, the "ratings" on anime shows or movies can be skewed toward the side of caution, for mild nudity (bathing, showering, cultural stuff) or mild violence. On this series, however, PLEASE heed the 16+ rating! After viewing this series, I would put the rating at 18+ (NC-17, in some cases) for explicit nudity, graphic sexual depictions, and war violence. Despite the beautiful artwork and absolutely ADORABLE drawings of Mahoro, this is NOT for children or young adolescents.

Onward to the review:

Mahoromatic-Automatic Maiden grabs your attention at the very beginning. You'll instantly care about Mahoro, the combat android, as she attempts to make her way in the world by working for Suguru, the young protagonist of this piece. You'll feel for her as she struggles with her past--and events that directly impacted Suguru, unbeknownst to him. You'll laugh (and cringe!) as she interacts with Suguru's friends and his oversexed, needs-to-be-TOTALLY-arrested-for-unholy-sex-offender-like-fantasies homeroom teacher! And you'll absolutely LOVE "Slash", Mahoro's assistant battle mech. (My favorite line? "Yea, whatever; who do you want me to Kill?" said in a tone of utmost eagerness!)

Like in most Meek Men/"Special" Women anime, there's a hidden time bomb of a tragedy that looms over this couple. You'll only get a kernel of it in this first DVD, but it's a very important kernel. This series is cute and bittersweet at the same time. Give this series a try--you won't be disappointed.