Mahoromatic Automatic maiden

On hearing the premise of Mahoromatic, one may conclude this is Evangelion cosplaying as Hand Maid May, Gainax’s style (read FLCL). The thought of Ayanami Rei in a French maid uniform fighting Atomsk the pirate king while riding a house-keeping hamster will appeal to many and may even inspire Ebichu 2. (Gainax are you reading this?) Though Mahoromatic has many elements of all the animes I mentioned, it is nothing like any of them. This constitutes to what I believe to be the major strength of Mahoromatic. It is an extremely versatile anime. One can enjoy it as a sci-fi action, as a light, ecchi comedy or a as a touching, introspective drama. I personally chose to embrace Mahoromatic in its totality, just as it is.

Although Mahoromatic has so many elements and themes Gainax did a wonderful job of balancing them out. Not once did I feel a particular theme was being overstretched (maybe save for the use of hentai Shikijo sensei to inject ecchi humour). The themes also flow naturally from scene to scene, integrating the many elements to the tragic backbone of Mahoromatic. The result: A kaleidoscope of emotions as a singular experience. It certainly blew me away.

The characters are also wonderfully developed especially the leads, Mahoro herself and Suguru. They feel so real and natural within the context of the anime, a feeling I don’t get often from anime characters. Somehow the portrayal of the main characters’ struggles and motivation drew me deep into their psyches and thus enabled me to share their emotional burdens.

I love Mahoromatic because despite its tragic backbone, it is actually a celebration of life. We see Mahoro enjoy her new life with the innocence of a child. The simplest things in life fascinate her. This is well emphasized with the contrast of her past and also her uncertain future. The anime paints the utopia-like world of Mahoro’s new found life with the colors of her dark memories and the realities of war. The irony is simply beautiful in my opinion.

On the technical side, I personally feel that the music of Mahoromatic is a major constituent of its success. Mahoromatic’s sound track is impressive. Due to the myriad elements found in the series, the music is extremely diverse but yet, able to aptly bring out the ambience and essence of the numerous scenes. Special mention to “Saigo no negai”. This piece of bgm never fails to touch my heart every time it is played in the series.

Despite my rant about balance, versatility and music, Mahoromatic appealed to me mainly because of Mahoro herself (impeccable character design) and because of its unique portrayal on the theme of life. These two aspects enable Mahoromatic to reach places in my heart, no anime has been to. Of course both contributing factors are wholly personally and totally subjective, so do proceed at your own risk. Many have also compared Mahoromatic to the who’s who of other genres (be it action, comedy or drama) and have concluded Mahoromatic to be lacking. No doubt, when confined to a specific genre, Mahoromatic may not shine, but on its own, it truly is one of a kind.

Related posts:

1. Rozen Maiden
2. Evangelion Iron Maiden 2nd Vol.2
3. Character Focus: Shinku/Sugintou ~Rozen Maiden~