Customer Reviews

Maid Sama! Vol. 1

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

 

 

I'm not the biggest fan of shoujo manga typically, but Maid-sama! is really a cut above the usual formulaic love story. What impressed me most was the main character, Misaki Ayuzawa, who is the most unrepentantly cool, tough girl protagonist I've ever seen in shoujo or shounen manga. You read on the back cover that she's the top of her class, student council president and physically strong enough to contend with the average boy, which makes her sound like some kind of overachiever's Mary Sue, but she's really not--her portrayal and the writing in this manga are so smart that she comes across as a real, fleshed out character--the sort of fair but abrasive overachiever who WOULD be student council president at your own school. As realistic as her archetype is, it's not one that's seen in shoujo manga too often and having her star in a love/growing up story is very refreshing!

So now that we have this unusual but very interesting main character to follow, we've got this really hilarious set-up to go along with her: ball-crushing Misaki the Student Council President has a secret double life as a sweet, subservient (if only superficially) maid at a Maid Cafe. It's a long story how she got to working there despite her dislike of the festishy job, but one day, a boy named Usui from her school sees her at work and discovers her secret! Surprisingly, Usui doesn't blab it to the whole school and instead starts visiting her cafe regularly, trying in his own way to become Misaki's friend (she really doesn't have any, though everyone admires/respects or hates/fears her). Usui is, of course, the school heartthrob and a genius/super martial artist in his own right, but unlike most of those heartthrob types, he's strangely tepid and typically doesn't get involved with girls. He finds in Misaki an interesting enigma and ends up falling for her. So far, it's one-sided in this volume, but he does win man-hating Misaki's respect and there is much potential for an interesting relationship between them in the future. Very interesting story! (and funny as all hell too~)

I also HAVE to mention the beautiful one-shot story called "A Transparent World" that is included in this volume. Really sweet and sad (but hopeful?) love/friendship story about a really shy girl named Michiru who befriends her long-time secret crush--after he dies and comes back as a ghost! Don't worry, it's not scary at all--really funny and sweet, actually. Beautifully written and quite different in tone to Maid-sama! but just as fabulous. I highly recommend this volume to all fans of interesting manga~

this is a about a girl who is the student council president of her school while obsessively protecting her secret of working at a maid cafe as a part time job.

I initially thought that it would be very trashy, with a brainless, cute, mediocre girl who suddenly for some reason catches the eye of a gorgeous, perfect, sexually-harassing guy who just seems to have the hots for her alone despite having a horde of women lining up to be his girlfriend. and on top of that, a maid cafe setting, like "urgh" you know...

well, there are some of those elements here but the thing about this that made me like it so much was the heroine. she is freaking amazing and she terrorizes all the delinquents in the school, not in a cute way. a demonic way. she is fiesty, not pretend-fiesty. she's smart, capable and cool.
and in a hidden-sort of way, she is also cute because, as usui (male lead) says, she is cutest when she is trying her best. it is refreshing that the leading man in a shoujo manga can appreciate that; most of them are just morons.

also the romance is good. it is actually funny when they fight, not annoying as it is too often in shoujo manga. of course as it progresses, the girl got more into the guy and the romance got more heavy with all the blushing and the heart-beat-skips and getting-more-distracted-when-in-the-presence-of-the-heartthrob and less of the funnies (sad), but it took the girl really some time to fall for the guy. most of the others are "aiya, he's so cute, I love him. kya" urgh

recommended, try it out!!!

When I first heard the title "Maid Sama!," I was sure it was a shonen harem manga. You don't hear of too many shojo with the word "maid" in the title. But this is one of the few that do.

Misaki Ayuzawa goes to a school that only recently started accepting girls. She's smart and a hard worker, and she managed to become the school's first female school council president. Misaki strictly enforces the rules at school, especially with the boys. She doesn't care much for men and is seen as a strong, independent woman. However, unbeknownst to her classmates, Misaki has an after-school job as a waitress at a maid cafe. She hates having to play such a sexist role, but she needs money, and it has to be an easy job if she's going to keep up with her school work. Misaki tries to keep her job a secret, but then Usui, the most popular guy at school, finds out. He starts frequenting the cafe, and Misaki thinks he's just laughing at her. But he may have deeper motives...

This is all pretty formulaic. Misaki is a pretty typical heroine. She's strong and self-sufficient, and she thinks guys are pigs. She's also completely oblivious to Usui's advances. I appreciated the fact that she doesn't need the hero to save her from tough situations. Usui is the kind of hero who's popular, cool, and reserved. All the girls love him, but he's interested in the heroine's inner strength. Usui is more mature than Misaki and tries to advise her, even though she just gets angry. He likes to tease her to get her flustered, but you know he's just waiting for her to come around. Fortunately, though, he doesn't try to make her think he's blackmailing her. He's straitforward with his intentions, though Misaki doubts his honesty.

The story is certainly nothing new, but the manga-ka puts in fresh scenarios to keep it interesting. I especially liked her take on the popular school festival plot. The pacing is also good. The art's nothing special, but it's pretty. It won't really wow you, but the characters are still plenty good-looking.

"Maid Sama!" doesn't break any new ground, but it's good at what it does. If you like this kind of manga, it's a good one. It's also good for those who haven't read much shojo as they won't notice the cliches. Most shojo fans should find something to enjoy here.

Loved this manga!
When a girl is in charge of student cousil, keeping the boys in line, and hating the boys of her school, no one expects her to actully be a waitress at a maid cafe!
I mean come on, top of class and beats up every boy that even scares a girl, can't really expect her to say, "Hello Master!" In a maid outfit!, can you really?
Hilarious, headstrong, and brusting onto the manga scence, Maid-sama!

The main character of Maid Sama! is a 16-year-old girl named Misaki Ayuzawa. She's the student council president at Seika High School, which had been an all-male high school until it became a co-ed school a few years prior to the start of the series; however, at the start of the series, 80% of the students are male. Misaki hates boys, due in large part to her father abandoning her family and leaving them with all his debts. In order to help support her family, Misaki has taken on an after-school job working at a maid café; however, the other students at her school don't know about her job, and she intends to keep it that way. Misaki has developed a reputation at school for being tough, and knows that if the other students find out about her being a maid at the maid café, her reputation will be ruined.

The male protagonist of the series is Takumi Usui, a 17-year-old student at Seika High School; he's also one of the most popular boys at school. Misaki is in competition with him for the highest grades, and she really doesn't like him. Unfortunately for Misaki, Takumi discovers that Misaki works at the maid café, and he finds ways to use this fact to "blackmail" Misaki into things. The series follows Misaki and Takumi, and shows how their relationship progresses.

When it comes to the art style of the series, it utilizes many of the tropes associated with shojo: giving the male protagonist a more "feminine" look in the face, some backgrounds with flowers and shapes in the background, less detailed character drawings for shocked reactions, etc. The art isn't bad for what it is, but it's not anything that truly stands out from other shojo manga series.

Maid Sama! does present an interesting story, although at times there were some plot points in this volume that were rather predictable; this is especially true for the times in the story where Misaki would find herself in some kind of trouble. The only real difference this series seems to have in comparison to similar shojo titles is the maid café concept; of course, as I start to read more manga, I may discover that this may not be an accurate statement. But even with saying these things about Maid Sama!, I think there could be potential for the story in future volumes of the series. I'd probably be willing to try to find future volumes of Maid Sama! to see if that potential pans out or not.

Maid Sama! is rated "T" for teens 13+.

I wrote this review after my older daughter checked out a copy of this manga volume through the King County Library System.

If you are weary or apprehensive on getting Maid-Sama, please reconsider! As a manga fan who has read a short list of series, this is an awesome addition to any manga fan's bookcase!

Originally named, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama (The President is a Maid), this series is written by Hiro Fujiwara, who does a fabulous job at creating well-rounded characters, both major and minor. With the romantic tension between Misaki and Usui, to the funny appearances by the "Idiot Trio" to the Maid-Cafe staff, each having their own personalities, Maid-Sama is a series that will keep you guessing what happens next!

I am a very picky manga reader. I want the best art, the best translations (since I don't know Japanese), the funniest Gag Manga and Bonus stories, a and most importantly: a Story with a good plot and enough twists and turns and strategy.

I would say that to me, Maid Sama is up there at the top of the list. The Main Character is not the typical kind of Manga girl. She is NOT what most manga girls are; hair down to their butt, always skipping and a ^_^ kind of look. Misaki Ayuzawa is not even the tomboy kind of manga girl. She is a stubborn, strong-minded girl who's hate for men goes deep. Even when she's smiling like a manga girl would, you can see that the way she's drawn shows that she is not the girly type, but her look reflects her personality. She is really strong in both mind and strength. Her only weak point is that she has to work to support her family and therefore works at a "Maid Cafe".

Usui, the Male Main Character, is the annoying guy who finds out the Heroine's secret and basically stalks her because of it. He basically thinks she can't get along without him helping her and giving her advice that she never takes. Even so, she gets into bad situations where Usui seems like he'll finally play the Classic Manga Hero...The Guy who saves the Girl, only to have Misaki beats him to it and saves herself. She is a full-on Kick-ass character.

Unlike most manga Series, this first book is not the boring opening kind. I can usually blow through 10 Volumes of manga (a whole series) or more in an hour or two if I want to. I think there was so much happening in this book that just reading one volume gives me the satisfaction feeling that I usually only get by reading an entire Manga Series. It is very rare to find a book (particularly the first book of a series) that can give me so much satisfaction in JUST ONE BOOK. I cannot wait to buy the rest of the series, which I plan to do after I am done writing this review.

I would say that if you want something to last you, and something that you won't just blow through because it's all predictable, You should read Maid Sama.

Also, the art is nice and consistent throughout the Manga. I know some artists don't take detail very seriously and think they can make it through even if the characters don't look like themselves in half the book. This is NOT one of those cases. The different characters are very distinguishable, unlike most manga, and the looks of the characters give off different vibes that allow you to recognize them.

The translation is also very nice! Yeah, it's not the best translation Manga I've seen out there, but it's not filled with things that you would only understand if you knew how Japanese people talked. Even the Gag Manga is good. I always allow room for improvement, but this is pretty damn close to the best ;)

What I Liked: The tough girl student president/ cosplay cafe waitress is an interesting character. She is complex, and her personality fits her situation. I would have liked to have seen more of her family who have helped shape her ultra feminist beliefs and more of the owner of the maid cafe who was the only character who really made me laugh.

What I Hated: The male lead character. He's supposed to be the "bad boy", but I'm just not seeing it. In fact, I don't see much of anything except an apathetic loser whose good looks are overexaggerated. By the end of the book, you don't know much about him. All you know is that he likes to stalk her, harass her, and give her unwanted advice. Most of the time, he's like a cardboard cutout of a guy that's stuck in the manga simply because a romantic male lead is needed for the story to work. Maybe he gets better in other volumes of the series, but for me, volume one was not good enough for me to keep reading.