MahoRomatic: Something More Beautiful vol. 1: Maid in Trainingby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 7 From the very beginning I realized I was jumping into a subsiquent Mahoromantic series. There are references, flashbacks, and explanations to things that happened in the Automatic Maiden story arc. Things are explained well enough to enjoy this Something More Beautiful story arc without seeing the first arc, but I'm sure there are lots of things that would make more sense or mean more if I had seen the first arc. Saying that, Mahoromantic is a cute, fun, and enjoyable android maid anime. It's not the best I've seen, but it's certainly not the worst. In these four episodes a new character enters the story — a reject android escapes from Management and seeks to live with Mahoro and Suguru. They take her in ... and all the trouble that comes with her. She becomes known as Minawa and the craziness ensues, again.There is nudity, some semi-sexual situations, and lots and lots of boobie bouncing, enlarging, and yes, even Suguru gets some boobs in one episode. Let's just say it's a well-done, if slightly over-used running gag — though the one episode dedicated to boobs is laugh-out-loud funny! And, well, Ms. Shikijo is a bit horny. I'm still a bit confused on the three aparent sides in this battle: Saints (which are aliens I gather ... like Ryuga), Vesper (for which Mahoro works), and the Management (which, in essence, controls the world). Both sub and dub are excellent! I started out watching the sub, and ended up watching the last two episodes completely in the dub. Both sets of voice actors do a fantastic job of capturing their characters. Sure there's a few here or there that can be annoying, but nothing bad enough to recommend one over the other. My favorite characters are Ryuga and Slash. Ryuga is a Saint (in the form of a handsome teacher with silver hair and light teal eyes), and Slash is Mahoro's guardian (your guess as to why she needs one is as good as mine) in the form of a panther (and often seen with a puppy on his head. They don't care for each other at all, but both get beat up by Mahoro (and can also laugh together at her. In fact, my first big laugh while watching this anime was when the two of them couldn't hold in their laughter and comments about Mahoro's little accident — and yes, she hurts them. The art is well-done. The eyes are a tad on the large side for everyone but Ryuga and Slash, but not annoyingly so. The most annoying thing has got to be Mahoro's hair — just what's the deal with those little vertical sideburn things? However some of the details are very nice. For example, Suguru's glasses slide down or crooked at times providing a natural feel to his movements and reactions. Mahoromantic is cute and fun! I might enjoy it a bit more if I had the background of the first arc, but who knows. It has some great potention for this story arc though so I'll watch more and see. Written: February 1, 2004
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