OK, well that...mess... over and done with, let's talk about one of my favourite maid animes, although I wouldn't put it on the same level as Hayate no Gotoku. Maid Guy is a parody wrapped in a subversion covered in a slightly disrespectful jest. The reason, I suspect, I like Hayate so much is the light parody it provided after Hanaukyo, and I assume the same could be said of the relationship between He Is My Master and Maid Guy. I guess let's just hurtle in:
Plot:
The basic plot revolves around 4 key characters. The two initial protagonists are a young kendo champ (let's call her Kendo because why not) and her younger brother ( Let's call him Erogeito). The two are seen as targets after almost every other member of their large and wealthy family is killed under mysterious circumstances. As his new heirs, the patriarch of the family sends two maids, one a typical maid (Meido because duh) and the other a monstrous creature (Maid Guy! [his actual name for once!]) to protect and serve the last two family members he has. It's a rather dark (and never truly resolved) setup, and could easily be for a good or bad anime, but it worked pretty well. Let's talk about the characters.
Characters:
Kendo:
As a feminist and someone who generally doesn't like sounding like a sexist arsehole, I'm going to say this bluntly: Kendo's most notable characteristics are her breasts. This sounds pretty bad. In my defence, Kendo being buxom eclipses a physical trait and becomes a part of her personality. Honest to God, the majority of episodes feature her breasts as a plot point. Kendo is targeted by creeps because of her rack. Kendo wins at tennis because God likes her breasts. Kendo is bad at math because she has a large bust. I am making not a single one of these up. At her high-school, a fanclub for her breasts (not her as a sportsperson, of course) emerges, and she picks up suitors of both sexes.
Now, when I say "girl is most notable for her breasts" I think almost every part of anime I hate, and I'm not gonna give Maid Guy a pass. That said, it gets a better deal than the objectification of women in things like Death Note or He Is My Master. This is because Maid Guy is a) nowhere as shit as either of these other shows and b) is blatant parody, where those two have their heads stuck up their arses so far they can nearly see daylight. Sure, Kendo becomes a pair of breasts to many characters, but in a manner so over the top we can't be expected to take it seriously. On the other hand, it is pretty much exactly the same thing those other animes are doing, just moreso. I appreciate the parody aspect, even if poorly handled. At the end of the day, I'm just not sure if the teens wanking to Hanaukyo and Maid Guy are gonna appreciate the difference.
Anyway, the rest of Kendo! She, as my ersatz name suggests, is an accomplished athlete in the art of hitting other people with wooden sticks. This is apparently a thing in Japan. It's a nice touch to see someone who is essentially the "eye-candy" (I need better words for things) of the show be accomplished in something that to no degree relies on her looks or on the help of men. Kendo is something Kendo works for herself, and good for her. Compare to Fetishy from last time. Her only achievement was being, as her name also suggests, a fetish model or marrying a rich man. Considering the nature of both activities in-universe, they weren't exactly easy money, but the questionable moral is still relevant. Go Kendo. I like this element of parody - empowerment.
She also is not very good at school...which is apparently the fault of her breasts...somehow...is this another "Japan Thing"? Considering I have no plans on stopping this series, I'm thinking I'm gonna need a "Japan Thing" button on my keyboard. Yeah, school not a big thing. She's also not a romantic, and isn't interested in dating (for stupid reasons, but still), which I also like. She isn't living just to find a man. She's got her own shit going on. She actually is a pretty good character, considering she is both female in an anime and a protagonist in an anime, either of which normally condemns a character to fanservice, self-inserterism or both. That really sums up Kendo. I like her as a character. She is independent, able, not great at schoolwork and is generally believable. Looking at Kendo, I kind of get what the creators of Hayate no Gotoku were going for with Hinagiku. Someone able, attractive and empathetic. Hina just came off as way too good at everything (including the specific sport of kendo, oddly enough) and I didn't care. She was fine in her perfect life and has absolutely no relevance for me. Kendo is human, both in strengths and weaknesses. Bravo.
Erogeito:
Ermmm...this guy. In a sentence, he'd be a pervert, but being a pervert takes too much effort, and there are 2D women to woo. A rotund bloke, normally found in his room or the kitchen, or following Meido around because of his maid fetish. He's quite the stereotype, this guy.
The highlight, I guess, is the contrast between the siblings. I like how the two are just such polar opposites in every way, doing different things, with different goals and have such different aspirations in life. They're and odd couple, and you really feel like finding just a little out about their earlier life. I'm gonna guess "manga"for that, but I'm too lazy. Erogeito: kinda a stereotype and rather secondary.
Meido:
Strong, deadly, silent, a stunner in a maid outfit - Meido. I feel really de-humanising in naming someone by their employment rather then their hobby like the kids, but her narrative function is to provide the stereotype for Maid Guy to subvert.
She and Kendo have quite a lot in common. The two are both athletic, independent, have limited patience for Maid Guy and are ogled by...well, everyone. Meido just kinda is on the secondary character side of the chart, but still is a nice contrast to Maid Guy. Meido is a competent maid, doing actual, y'know, maid stuff. This is a complete contrast to the ways in which Maid Guy fulfils his duties, which can only really be called domestic terrorism, bordering on magic. I mean, Meido can brutally wound people with her nail-bat, but that's for special circumstances.
I wish I had more to say, but a) its been nearly 7 months since I watched the series and b) I don't think Meido was that unique a character. Again, she is the straight "man"to Maid Guy, and is designed as as close to a stereotype as possible. Her little subversions were nice, and I was never sick of her, but I haven't got anything else to say, I'm afraid.
Maid Guy
Somewhere between a super villain, a serial killer, what happens if the Lord of the Flies gets his way and an early 16th Century account of an Aztec priest sits Maid Guy. I'm going to go out on a limb and call him "human" or at least "humanoid" for the purposes of description. According to the crack observers of TV Tropes, he has 37 senses, and I'd say about as many powers. I don't think it's possible to dislike Maid Guy.
Where to start? He lacks an understanding of personal space, privacy, boundaries, the Geneva convention or puberty. Every time he does something horribly invasive, it's perfectly covered by his character. The best part of his persona is the fact that he never comes across as getting sexual pleasure from his circumstance.This may be the greatest part of the show; the dynamic between Maid Guy and Kendo.
A typical anime, something average in every way (not the majority of anime, just a specific generic anime. Love Hina would be a good example) would portray the relationship between a man and a girl in these circumstances as lecherous and crude on his behalf, and a source of coy shyness or hysterical (and I use the term more for its historical use) over-reactive uber-violence on hers. This isn't Maid Guy. Maid Guy is ignorant, overconfident, stubborn and just kind or an overprotective dick. Kendo fights him every step of the way, through every means available to her. Although this cyclical relationship is played for laughs (duh), I find it both less generic and less sexist than most (*cough*LoveHinaHeIsMyMasterHighSchooloftheDeadRanma1/2*cough*) that play the same shtick. At the end of the interaction, normally Maid Guy receiving some form of violent retribution from Meido or Kendo, it isn't played as "Women are crazy, Amirite guys?!" but far more as "This guy is an ARSEHOLE and has this coming." Maybe it's just my projection or faulty memory, but I much prefer this setup.
Maid Guy, overall, is an absolute arsehole, but lovably. He has no sense of personal boundaries, but it pursing a generally good goal in protecting Kendo and her brother. He is violent, abuses his power and treats human beings as his play things. But he's still just a fantastic character, who we are never expected to see eye to eye with.
The Rest:
Kendo's Lesbian stalker, Kendo's Breasts's fanclub (that's not a joke. They literally call themselves that), the Strawberryfields and even Kendo's friends fill the role of villain of the week. I won't bother going through them one by one, but they're all colourful, memorable and reasonably light hearted, even if a little heavy on the fanservice at some points. Again, for a maid anime, the fanservice could be much, much worse, so I count my blessings.
Conclusion:
I really like this anime. It's probably accurate to say I respect it more for what it tries to do, regarding cliches, character personalities, stereotypes and parody than I like it for actually succeeding at these. Not to say it's bad, but parody always seems to end up as one of two things: becoming absurd after losing track of any narrative, or losing track of parody after gaining a sense of narrative. Maid Guy is the latter and stronger for it, but the parody kicks up here and there. For a light, fun, short and good maid anime, this would be my pick. I'd call it a good intro or gateway, but almost all the other maid animes are shit, so it's not really an "intro" as an "exception". As I may have subtly hinted in the last THREE reviews, I really love Hayate no Gotoku!, which is another maid anime. I wouldn't recommend that as a maid anime over Maid Guy because a) Hayate is intimidatingly long (4 seasons and a movie, coming in at 210+ episodes) and b) because Maid Guy is a better representation of the maid genre as a whole. Just all round a solid, respectable and highly watchable effort.
Well, that's that. Next week we have...Mahoromatic! Hmm...maybe I should actually get around to finishing it before the review...we'll see.
Cheers for reading,
H. Rourke
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