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The Genre: Comedy/Sci-fi/Romance

The Format: 4+ Volumes from Tokyopop

The plot: Mahoro is a battle android created by Vesper to defend the Earth against alien invasions.

Having fought long and hard on behalf of Vesper, she only has 37 days left before she stops functioning. However, if they remove all her battle functions and equipment, Vesper can lengthen her life to 398 days. As thanks for her hard work, Vesper lets Mahoro choose how she would like to spend her remaining time.

She chooses to work as a maid for a boy named Suguru Misato.

When I started this review I was labouring under a bit of a falsehood.

I originally thought that the manga was adapted from the anime series. In other words, that it was one of those tie-in mangas that are created simply in order to fill a gap in the litany of products intended to relieve you of as much cash as possible. It was my intention, then, to go on about how this manga was one of the best such adaptations I’d read.

Then it occurred to me that I wasn’t actually sure if this was the case. Having not read any reviews or anything I hadn’t actually seen the link between the two described anywhere.

So I did some research.

The other element is that when comparing the two you notice that they’re almost identical. The resemblance between them is such that some of the scenes in the anime look like they’ve simply coloured the manga's panels in and added a bunch of extra frames to make it move.

It’s that close. And this goes for all elements of the show. From the backdrops, through the plot and all the way up to the character designs, everything from the manga has been sucked into the anime lock-stock and barrel.

I’m banging on here as if I’m reviewing the anime again, but the point I’m getting too ("At last!" I hear you cry) is that to me, this is a ringing endorsement of the manga from none other than one of my favourite animation studios. Gainax thought Mahoromatic was so good they didn’t feel the need to change anything.

And who am I to disagree? This really is a great manga.

But a bit like most things relating to Gainax, it isn’t quite what you’re maybe expecting.

Mahoromatic is all about mixing up genres. We have elements of romantic comedy, science fiction, mecha shows and lashings of ecchi all thrown into a big ol' melting pot. Now this could have resulted in a horrible train-wreck of a thing, but instead, it all sits together just nicely and makes for a highly entertaining read.

Those familiar with the anime will be slightly surprised to learn the main difference is that the manga is actually slightly more extreme with it’s ecchi than the animated version. I guess this is kinda a nod to the more restrictive nature of broadcast television, but if ecchi’s the sort of thing that really floats your boat, you’ll be even happier with the manga than you were with the anime ;).

When I first encountered Mahoromatic, I was given the distinct impression that it was a fairly predictable Harem comedy type of thing. Now, I don’t get on so well with this genre, mainly because they seem extremely formulaic to me - nerdy, wimpy boy gets into a situation where he is surrounded by gorgeous women. All the women naturally fall in love with him because, well, it’s nerd's wet dream territory and it could hardly be expected to reflect reality.

The girls express their love by beating him senseless (pulling the ponytail of the girl you like at school type psychology). Add in lashings of fan-service, some vague hints of misogyny, bake at 180 degrees for 23 minutes and then leave to cool. Instant hit.

And that’s it – that’s what they’re all about. I can see how it fills a niche; it’s just not a niche I have any particular interest in. But Mahoromatic isn’t like that. At least not to start with. There are elements of it that come in later on, but to start with, it’s squarely rooted in a more traditional romantic comedy style.

Mahoro is ostensibly a cute young girl who takes on the role of housemaid to Suguru Misato. Fairly predictably, they fall in love, but what adds spice to the mix is everything else that’s thrown in too.

Mahoro is really a retired combat android who has chosen to look after the orphaned son of her former commander. She’s doing this partly because she was the reason Suguru’s father died, but also because it's a natural sort of progression. She was tasked with protecting the world, but couldn’t protect someone special to her, so now she’s protecting his son.

Whilst she is retired, parts of her past keep coming back to ‘haunt’ her. This allows room for some interesting sci-fi stuffs, from the more basic action orientated storys, to exploring what it means to be human and to have a soul. The ideas of loyalty, honour and commitment are all explored, though possibly not in as much detail as would come from a story dedicated to these.

Pretty predictable and if you don’t like that sort of thing I’d steer well clear. However, the saving grace for me is how this is handled. You see Suguru has a thing for big boobs, but is not particularly keen on his teachers’ attention. Mahoro on the other hand is very flat chested and envies Shikijo. She sees bigger boobs almost as a way of grabbing Suguru’s attention.

But Mahoro also doesn’t like ecchi (meaning pornographic material). Great mileage is made out of all of these elements in both a comedic and dramatic sense. And that for me is where this wins out. It’s not just about big boob humour or perving on the charas; there are all sorts of other things going on too.

I like Mahoromatic. I like the anime and I like the manga, and I would recommend it to anyone. I think the added elements of sci-fi and different types of comedy as well as some strong plot arcs and good characters raise it above the average rom-com. But I think it’s only fair to say that it’s unlikely you’ll enjoy this if you don’t at least like some rom-coms.

It definitely sits squarely in a niche and you shouldn’t expect it to change your mind if you don’t like this genre.

The Summary: A beautiful mix of a variety of genres that is well paced and entertaining throughout.

The Score: 5/5

The Pictures:

(click for larger versions)