Kaichou wa Maid-sama! 8-10

The past few episodes of Maid-sama! have ranged from ‘okay’ to ‘pointless’ to ‘surprisingly good despite not advancing the plot in the slightest’ (and not necessarily in that order). I can’t help but feel that three more episodes isn’t going to advance the somewhat jumpy storyline we have going on, but only time and a very brief preview will tell.

Okay, I have to admit, that outfit is cute~

「 Episode 8 – Misaki, to Miyabigaoka High School 」

You know what? If a bunch of wealthy students started showering me with gifts in an attempt to bribe me into attending an elite academy, chances are I wouldn’t have to put much thought into it. Then again, I’m not as morally sound as a steadfast shoujo heroine of the likes of Misaki, who can be incredibly self-sacrificing. She demonstrated that side of herself a lot this episode, and we’re seeing the students slowly appreciating their tough pres.

“A little bit unique” is a spot-on way to describe Suzuna. I’m surprised to be so intrigued by secondary characters, especially when, in most cases, they’re just filler space or a foil for the leads. It’s a feeling that comes back when the baka trio makes an appearance as well, although depth isn’t to be expected. The fact is that they’re entertaining, they make me smile, and they break up the drama. Imouto-chan is seriously awesome. That many dishes made of just tofu? Her apathetic manner is also reminiscent of Usui’s deadpan sense of humor. (Wouldn’t it be cool to see them interact? I don’t think it’s ever happened, though…)

Tora… the sheer amount of creepiness this guy demonstrated this episode was astounding. Not even a moe fang can redeem that level of harassment, although I wish Misa could’ve defended herself better. Usui did bust in to save her just in time, and their little exchange afterward was plenty cute. Hopefully it won’t become an overused pattern, though, with him saving the day + “t-th-thank you” + blushing + violent denial. Something new wouldn’t hurt!

I see everyone has their battle faces on.

「 Episode 9 – A Maid, as Far as Momotarō Goes 」

And now for something completely different. Or rather, you’ve probably seen a storybook episode before, and maybe even one that explored Japanese folklore with the characters casted in fitting roles, but a filler episode at this point wasn’t what I was expecting. To be fair, it is an omake in the manga, but the flow of each episode doesn’t seem to work so well. Perhaps it has something to do with the order in which they’re adapting the manga chapters?

I actually enjoyed this episode a lot more than I thought I would. It was over-the-top and ridiculous, but the way all the gags were animated made for some great comedic timing. Misaki also bounced back from her stint as a damsel-in-distress. (And she sliced a bullet in half! So cool.) Seeing Granny Sakura and Yukimura was also hilarious, and you can’t forget to mention Suzuna’s secret test of character that… backfired, somewhat.

You may be tempted (as I was) to skip this episode, and it’s true that you won’t be missing much plot development. But you will be missing everyone letting loose and being their crazy selves. Whether it’s Usui pulling a bazooka out of nowhere, Misaki’s manager squee-ing over Misaki’s deredere moment, or the way the baka trio was bluntly killed off, it was a nice break from the sub-standard drama of Maid-sama!.

D'awwwwwww

「 Episode 10 – The Love of Sakura is the Indies 」

An episode focusing on a minor character? Right after filler? And I enjoyed it? If you’ve watched any chick flicks lately, you’ve probably seen the female lead’s sidekick(s) who are there primarily to: a) provide a generic foil for the heroine and b) make sure that she isn’t a total loner with no friends. The hyper fangirlness of Sakura, powerful enough to reduce Misaki to orz-ing, was explored in a rather thoughtful way. I thought it was an interesting direction, but it played out very nicely. Seeing Misa replicate Usui’s fond head-patting was a sweet way to end the episode, and hopefully it means that she’s warming up to him as well. And man, that vocalist was such a jerk.

Without Usui around, tsun Misaki got to show her kind side, being adorably happy at the prospect of hanging out with her friends. Of course, when he did show up (not without impeccable timing) she blushed so much that I don’t know how much longer this denial can last. I still find their chemistry lovely as ever, and it’s still inching forward while other storylines are underway.

Preview

Ah, meeting the family. This should go well...

Oh yes, Usui’s big “secret”. Kaichou wa Maid-sama! has been an interesting episodic ride so far, without a big plot point introduced yet. It does look like some serious business is going down, though, so next week is sure to be interesting!

/ 6 Commentsleave a comment /

• Kyokai says:

  June 8, 2010

  Oh wow, nice summaries, Mint-chan. I could only wish to wrap each episode so briefly but never succeed! >.>

  I'm really looking forward to the next one. Interaction between Usui and Misaki's family would be helluva interesting along with him gussying up for some big secret reveal. ^^;

  Reply
  • Mint says:

    June 9, 2010

    I have the opposite problem, in that I really can't think of much to say about these past few episodes! Next week will, hopefully, pique my interest again; some new character interactions are sure to be fun. ^^

    Reply
• Fabrice says:

  June 11, 2010

  Really what was with episode 9 -.-

  anyway i simply love the interaction between Usui and Misaki, I feel so bad for Sakura =/

  Anyway 8 and 10 . great, 9 .. -.-

  Want more development!!!!!!

  Reply
  • Mint says:

    June 12, 2010

    It kind of came out of nowhere… I thought they could have skipped it and moved the story along (it wouldn't hurt). More Usui/Misaki! They're such an entertaining couple.

    Reply
• Starburst-chan says:

  June 12, 2010

  First of all – This post did NOT take you 6 hours – Awesome post and awesome summarization skills. I tried to condense my monologue for english and went a minute and 6 seconds over the time limit :S

  Secondly – I'm feeling on and off about the anime. In comparison to the manga, the scenes weren't as sharp and cutting edge the way they were shown… Although episode nine was just an omake – you can't expect more from that – Suzuna with the coupons was random – and adding Aoi in there was… not adding to the overall success of the story.

  It doesn't feel like the episodes are doing enough development AND fan-service, and you usually need one or the other – although episode 10 was well captured.

  So far, as these three episodes are concerned, they are kinda..wishy washy with the episodes… too much of side characters and not enough main characters – or that they're not making the scenes between Usui and Misaki good enough – or is it because I honestly don't really about the non- comedic (by non-comedic I mean things that are not funny) stuff from Suzuna, anyone at Maid Latte – am i being too hypocritical?

  Reply
  • Mint says:

    June 13, 2010

    Yes, yes it did (one minute for your monologue isn't so bad, and I'm sure it went awesome-ly). I'm not even trying to summarize, cmon, it's 800 words at least! But thanks for the compliments and being such a great reader/commenter :D And I agree completely about the so-so quality of the past episodes (it's what caused me to put off posting about them). I have a pretty mixed opinion about the show overall, as well. The balance between development and fanservice, side and main characters, comedy and drama- hopefully it'll steady itself soon. (Also, I'm off to read more of the manga, so I can see where this is all going.)

    Reply