something
02-18-2008, 10:13 PM
Doubt this show really qualifies for getting its own thread, but what the heck, I'll throw a poll in to distract everyone! I marathoned this yesterday (eps 1-10) and today (11-12). It was... well, amusing enough I guess. Obviously there's a bit of the "been there, done that" feeling but that's not a deciding factor in how I rate a show.
The animation had that "we're still getting used to this digital thing" feel, but not so severely as shows that aired a few years prior (this one is vintage '04). Designs were off model with some regularity, but maybe that just means there wasn't a coherent model to begin with. :sd: Many times it almost looked like an intentional stylistic effect, particularly in the fight against Konoe's sister. Everything else was perfectly passable, no strong feelings either way.
As for the designs, pretty traditional maid outfits. Maron, Lemon and Melon's were quite nice though. Yashima being a dark-skinned character was interesting, since there are very few in anime. The only thing that bothered me was Taro. I think they were aiming to perfectly fit the weak, goofy looking, short and young boy in a harem situation stereotype as best they could. That said, he looked much, much better when in casual clothes, as opposed to the stupid outfit he wore around the mansion.
The music was nothing special. Boring OP I skipped every time, sorta-okay ED I watched maybe twice because I liked the chibi triplets. BGM was fine in that "I didn't notice it so I guess it wasn't bad" way.
As for the story, well, what story? This sort of show doesn't really need a story. Blunder around with maids and fanservice and comedy, then throw a irrelevant conflict in at the end, resolve it with monologues about love and togetherness, then slap a "life goes on" ending to tie things up. It's what I expected, and it was good enough.
So, middling performance so far, but all I need are a few likable characters, and I'll generally get through a show just fine. Hanaukyo threw me a couple of those, so the end result was positive. My favorite was easily (wait for it, I bet you'll never guess)...
...Yashima! Yes, of course. Sexy delicious Yashima and her obsession with Konoe was clearly the highlight of the show. Again, yuri does make everything better, although I was a bit disappointed Konoe didn't return the sentiment. They were actually pretty vague about her overall, though they hint at the end that she's got a thing for Taro, like almost everybody else. Yaaaaawn. Thankfully they leave it just vague enough that I can simply assume Yashima "enlightens" Konoe somewhere down the line. Oh, and I really liked Konoe herself too.
Next would probably be the molestation triplets, Maron, Melon and Lemon. Their sole job seems to be to fondle Taro while he sleeps. That's gotta count for something. I eventually came to tolerate Ikuyo after being bored by her at first. And what's not to like about Kaneda Tomoko playing a cute little girl with multiple personalities? Thus, yay for Cynthia/Grace, though I totally did not give two shits about the DORAMA they tried to pass off on us in episode two (way too early, guys). I'm just glad they kept both personalities, and she is indeed damn cute.
Taro himself was decent enough, and gets points for not filling 80% of his screentime with the typical anime male reactions (nosebleed, stuttering, etc) to attractive females. There was some of that, yes, but it could have been far worse. Mariel though... boooooooooooooooring. Especially since I kept involuntarily comparing her to another Tanaka Rie head maid role, the infinitely superior Maria from Hayate no Gotoku. Oh and I suppose it'd be wrong not to mention Ryuka. I'll just say that things could have gone far worse with her than they did, and I liked that they toned her personality down a bit in short order.
All in all a good way to kill a few hours, and at $12 for the whole series I certainly got my money's worth. Wish it had a bit more of this (http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/anon09876/KMP-DVD05532921-11-16.png) though.
So, who did you like best? If any of you even remember this show, I mean. And yes I'm only putting the girls on here because I'm a horrible sexist pig, or something. (Well, I'm definitely something, but you get the point).
[Note: I'm also really amused, given her constant insistence throughout the series on Yashima being her given name and Sanae being her family name, that ANN has her listed Sanae Yashima. That's original Japanese order, which I prefer, but that isn't what ANN uses. In other words, they got her name wrong too. Poor Yashima! :sd: ]
The animation had that "we're still getting used to this digital thing" feel, but not so severely as shows that aired a few years prior (this one is vintage '04). Designs were off model with some regularity, but maybe that just means there wasn't a coherent model to begin with. :sd: Many times it almost looked like an intentional stylistic effect, particularly in the fight against Konoe's sister. Everything else was perfectly passable, no strong feelings either way.
As for the designs, pretty traditional maid outfits. Maron, Lemon and Melon's were quite nice though. Yashima being a dark-skinned character was interesting, since there are very few in anime. The only thing that bothered me was Taro. I think they were aiming to perfectly fit the weak, goofy looking, short and young boy in a harem situation stereotype as best they could. That said, he looked much, much better when in casual clothes, as opposed to the stupid outfit he wore around the mansion.
The music was nothing special. Boring OP I skipped every time, sorta-okay ED I watched maybe twice because I liked the chibi triplets. BGM was fine in that "I didn't notice it so I guess it wasn't bad" way.
As for the story, well, what story? This sort of show doesn't really need a story. Blunder around with maids and fanservice and comedy, then throw a irrelevant conflict in at the end, resolve it with monologues about love and togetherness, then slap a "life goes on" ending to tie things up. It's what I expected, and it was good enough.
So, middling performance so far, but all I need are a few likable characters, and I'll generally get through a show just fine. Hanaukyo threw me a couple of those, so the end result was positive. My favorite was easily (wait for it, I bet you'll never guess)...
...Yashima! Yes, of course. Sexy delicious Yashima and her obsession with Konoe was clearly the highlight of the show. Again, yuri does make everything better, although I was a bit disappointed Konoe didn't return the sentiment. They were actually pretty vague about her overall, though they hint at the end that she's got a thing for Taro, like almost everybody else. Yaaaaawn. Thankfully they leave it just vague enough that I can simply assume Yashima "enlightens" Konoe somewhere down the line. Oh, and I really liked Konoe herself too.
Next would probably be the molestation triplets, Maron, Melon and Lemon. Their sole job seems to be to fondle Taro while he sleeps. That's gotta count for something. I eventually came to tolerate Ikuyo after being bored by her at first. And what's not to like about Kaneda Tomoko playing a cute little girl with multiple personalities? Thus, yay for Cynthia/Grace, though I totally did not give two shits about the DORAMA they tried to pass off on us in episode two (way too early, guys). I'm just glad they kept both personalities, and she is indeed damn cute.
Taro himself was decent enough, and gets points for not filling 80% of his screentime with the typical anime male reactions (nosebleed, stuttering, etc) to attractive females. There was some of that, yes, but it could have been far worse. Mariel though... boooooooooooooooring. Especially since I kept involuntarily comparing her to another Tanaka Rie head maid role, the infinitely superior Maria from Hayate no Gotoku. Oh and I suppose it'd be wrong not to mention Ryuka. I'll just say that things could have gone far worse with her than they did, and I liked that they toned her personality down a bit in short order.
All in all a good way to kill a few hours, and at $12 for the whole series I certainly got my money's worth. Wish it had a bit more of this (http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t299/anon09876/KMP-DVD05532921-11-16.png) though.
So, who did you like best? If any of you even remember this show, I mean. And yes I'm only putting the girls on here because I'm a horrible sexist pig, or something. (Well, I'm definitely something, but you get the point).
[Note: I'm also really amused, given her constant insistence throughout the series on Yashima being her given name and Sanae being her family name, that ANN has her listed Sanae Yashima. That's original Japanese order, which I prefer, but that isn't what ANN uses. In other words, they got her name wrong too. Poor Yashima! :sd: ]