 Mahoromatic sticks to what it's good at & serves up some
ecchi comedy, pushing Saint / Management / Vesper issues into the
background. If only it was always like this...
Hectic Holidays is a good description - of the 5 episodes on
this release, we have one each dedicated to Christmas, New Year,
Valentine's Day, and the Hiryu Dark Martial Arts Festival. Plenty of
opportunity for the gang to get together & have fun, and for Mahoro
to compete with Shikijou-sensei.
Story-wise, I have to say "what story??". For Christmas / New Year /
Valentine's day, you have the gang getting together & doing what
any anime characters do over those holidays - gift exchanges, shrine
visits & chocolate deliveries respectively, all wrapped up in
fanservice. These episodes really aren't going to blow you away with
their plot revelations or originality, but that's not the point - if
you've grown to like the characters after 20 or so episodes of their
antics, what goes on here will be enjoyable simply because of the
drawings on-screen....
Moving on to the Hiryu Dark Martial Arts Festival - it's the
modern-day descendant of an old Hiryu tradition, one night of the year
where the residents of the area could beat the living daylights out of
each other with no fear of recrimination. Nowadays, it's more organised
& comes complete with rules - each participant wears a flower of
their head, with the aim being to reach the shrine by midnight & be
the last one standing. Meet another participant on your way there &
you must fight them... To put it another may, it's Mahoro doing a silly
shounen fighting show - and it's really good fun to watch. I challenge
you not to laugh at Mahoro's finishing move. ^^;
Finally, getting away from holidays & festivals, Misato's
grandfather comes to stay - head of a large conglomerate & loaded
with money, he also a major-league letch, much to Mahoro's disgust.
Seems he has more of a connection to Mahoro than either of them openly
let on, too...
This is more what Mahoromatic should be. I've never been much
of a fan of the darker Saint / Vesper side of the story (and I'm
dreading the next disc, since I know where it goes...), but the lighter
side of the show has always been well worth watching. There are a few
short scenes here that link into the main story - Minawa's continuing
dreams about 369, and the almost cliffhanger ending to the final
episode on the disc - but thankfully it's not the main emphasis.
Another recommended release. |
