First Look Fair: Maria✝Holic

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First review of the year! Akiyuki Shinbo strikes again–or does he?

This new season show comes out earlier than most, courtesy of a free streaming broadcast. The aggregators tell me I’m rather late to the party, but since I’m beginning a brand new year full of resolution I’m going to do my best to preview the shows I mentioned in my preview post.

I was attracted to the show by both its director/staff and its wacky premise. ef-a tale of memories made me a fan of SHAFT and its artsy style, and I enjoyed enough of Pani Poni Dash and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei to appreciate that studio’s main big boy, Akiyuki Shinbo. He’s like Hideaki Anno if he had a funny bone–and crack cocaine. His fractured, silhouette-filled style made SZS a visual treat, even if the plotting eventually went off the deep end of insanity, something I see not actually happening in this show yet. If anything, the show’s direction was surprisingly…conventional and ordinary by Shinbo standards. I mean, it was linear and not at all confusing in the least.

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Sure, the hints are there for everyone who’s in the know. Kanako’s chibi freakouts are very reminiscent of Himeko the ahoge’s in Pani Poni Dash. We get the flat silhouettes and abstract backdrops from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, though in this very girly environment it’s also similar to scenes from Revolutionary Girl Utena–another show which featured lesbians and big roses. (They better not start pulling out swords out of bodies soon.) I don’t foresee this show ever becoming all that serious, though, unless it wants to make fun of the overdramatic yuri relationships that we saw in, I dunno, the first episode of Mouryou no Hako. Because this is definitely a mocking show, especially when the trap is the one calling Kanako “yuri girl” and even a pervert. (For a homophobe, he’s one to talk.) Maybe this will do for yuri shows what Ouran did for shoujo stereotypes?

Of course, with SHAFT and Shinbo, we really never quite know what will happen next, and sometimes–as in Zetsubou Sensei–the source material is already fractured and strange to begin with, and all Shinbo needed to do was adapt it. Manga readers: is this the case with this show?

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As for the story and characters: it’s too early to tell whether I’ll like any of them or not. Mariya certainly seems kind of mean, though this is par for the course for shoujo type love stories (yes, I know, the manga was seinen, but the way it’s been presented so far is very shoujo-y, albeit with tongue firmly in cheek). The lead girl Kanako is bubbly and kind of airheaded, as per convention too. I wonder if this will end up being a sneaky way to introduce a fairly ordinary girl-boy romance, since the two leads fulfill the usual shoujo romance archetypes already. Or, even, the way the episode introduced all the other female leads was strikingly reminiscent of the way seinen harem shows introduce the haremettes who all want the lead male. “A harem show, but with lesbians!” I said to myself. They could have a lot of fun with these premises.

At least with Shinbo/SHAFT, you’re going to be getting something relatively unique. I’ll keep watching and see what happens.

Author: gendomike

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.

7 thoughts on “First Look Fair: Maria✝Holic

  1. First thing that needs to be done is for Mariya to fix Kanako’s hives. Afterward, they can have some (futanari) sex :O

    When I saw this show I was kind of interested because of the perversed lesbian Kanako. Of course… I knew that Mariya was a trap before I saw it (via another blog post). Thank god or I would have /headsmacked. But another thing which drew me to this Anime was that the theme reminded me of Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru.

  2. Aizen: I knew he was a trap beforehand too. That’s what made the whole dynamic so interesting. Though is this going to be one of those shows where the guy manages to turn the lesbian straight? That would be kinda old, not mention reminiscent of a terrible Beniffer movie…

  3. Actually, for these types of shows I find it OK for the girl to turn straight.

    But I’m still OK with yuri.

  4. It’s a reverse Girls Brave in the premise that Kanako gets hives/rashes when touched by a boy. By now chibi do not make me laugh at all and this show smells like shojo troupe, could be fun though.

  5. Ray: it also reminds me of DNA^2 where the guy literally vomits around girls. My guess is that Mariya is going to help “cure” her of her androphobia and also turn her straight anyway.

  6. hey guys anyone know when the new season is commin out?  or any clue if they are still making more of this anime?
     

  7. I don’t see any confirmation on Anime News Network, so it’s uncertain whether they are making any more at this point.

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