Kamen no Maid Guy ep.01

April 5, 2008 | 21 Comments

OP Theme: 「Special Life!」 by KOTOKO - AVI version (28MB) | PSP version (16.6MB)

Before you pass on judgment, please let me explain. Anyone who read this blog surely know that I don't usually go for ecchi series like this one, let alone blogging it. Having said that, this one is actually funny. I'll be the first to admit that I have a juvenile sense of humor and this series has some of that. See, unlike other lame ecchi series, the focus here is not so much of the ecchiness but rather the hilarious reasoning behind said ecchiness. Okay, I don't think I'm making any sense. How do I say this better? This series makes me laugh out loud because it somehow appeals to my juvenile sense of humor. Anyway, with 2 other series coming up next Saturday, I'm still not sure if I will cover this permanently but the first episode was funny, IMO. It also helps that the animation quality is unusually great for this kind of title. I'm actually a bit surprised that Madhouse is the one who's responsible for this adaptation since they usually do a more serious anime type.

A girl called Fujiwara Naeka has just won her high school Kendou tournament when she suddenly gets a bad premonition after gazing towards the crowd. When a junior offers her a drink, someone suddenly throws a knife at the water bottle. It turns out a guy with a mask was the one who threw the knife, claiming that he did it because the drink could be poisoned. When a few guys try to come towards Naeka, they end up falling unconscious because someone throws tranquilizer darts at them. The person in question is a female who claims that those men approaching Naeka might harm the girl. The two figures turn out to be two maids who have swore to make sure that Naeka will turn 18 without accident happening to her. Later on inside the change room, the same male maid is seen opening Naeka's bag and placing a bra in it. Naeka briefly saw the guy but wasn't sure if she saw him. The girls start to panic when they see Naeka's bag wide open, thinking that someone stole her bras. However, instead of losing it, Naeka actually finds another bra in her bag. Their concern is interrupted when a junior tells Naeka that she's expected to go to the school's VIP room.

Inside the school's VIP room, a rich old man is seen playing with a maid figurine that his grandson, Kousuke, seems to be fond of. As it turns out, Naeka is the old man's granddaughter while Kousuke is Naeka's brother. Naeka is not happy to see Kousuke in the room because it means he's abandoning his class but her grandfather tells her that the school has been closed for a day so that Kousuke won't miss his class. He then tells her that the two of them should live in his house, which has a view of mount Fuji, maid everywhere, and all kinds of foods. Naeka, however, refuses to live in luxury because she feels that she's the daughter of a commoner. Her grandfather doesn't object to this but he also wants to see her house to see her living conditions. Naeka suddenly panics but her grandpa doesn't care and proceeds to go there. It quickly become obvious that the house is not in good shape with rubbish and vermins all over the place. Naeka's grandfather is angry because he feels that as a Fujiwara's successor, Naeka shouldn't have to live this way. Moreover, apparently a TV station took a shot of her house the other day, revealing the disgusting condition within.

To solve this problem, Naeka's grandfather introduces the two to a housemaid called Fubuki. The two kids are surprised upon entering the room because they can actually see the entrance sparkling instead of littered with garbage like it was this morning. Kousuke is shocked because cleaners normally run away before they even clean up the place. Grandpa explains that Fubuki was chosen because she fits Kousuke's requirement of what a Maid should be. Naeka, however, isn't happy with the arrangement, claiming that giving Kousuke a maid will just ruined his upbringing because he'll just play game and do nothing. In response, her grandfather tells her that she too, will be getting a Maid of her own. All of a sudden, a hulking, masked male maid enters the room while carrying a bunch of vermins in his hands. He claims that extermination of these creatures is almost complete. He then introduces himself as Kogarashi and from now on, he'll be at Naeka's service. Naeka freaks out and asks her grandpa why he chose this guy. In response, the old man tells her that he knows she likes tough, macho man so Kogarashi was selected to be her maid.

Naeka, however, continues to freak out and tells her grandfather that she doesn't need Kogarashi. In response, Kogarashi tells her to stop the tough act. He then points out that her bra wasn't properly washed. He's unhappy that even though he's gone out of his way to provide a freshly washed bra, she chose to wear the dirty one. Because of this, he orders her to take her bra off so he can wash it. Naeka is pissed off and ends up kicking everyone out of the house. In the aftermath, she reminds Kousuke that they promise to do their best until their parents come home. Outside the house, their grandpa is talking about the plane accident that happened to Naeka and Kousuke's parents. While the remains of the plane have been found, the whereabouts of the parents are still unknown. If that was just an accident then there's nothing he can do much about it. However, Naeka's grandfather is worried that there might be something sinister at work. Because of this, he wants the maids to do a good job of protecting his grandchildren. All of a sudden, Kousuke comes out and asks them to help him because Naeka is accidentally burried under the items that she stuffed in the closet.

The next morning, Naeka is stil asleep even though she has many alarms ringing inside her room. In order to wake her up, Kogarashi sticks a water sprinkler between her breast and turns on the water. Later on inside the shower, Naeka mutters about her sexual harassing Maid, prompting Kogarashi to ask her if she called him. Naeka freaks out and asks Kogarashi what he's doing outside the glass door. Kogarashi claims that he's bringing her uniform and underwear since she only has her wet pajama outside the shower room. Regardless, Naeka freaks out again and orders Kogarashi not to put his face so close to the glass door. After shower, Naeka is putting on her skirt and realises that it barely fits her. Because of this, she decides to skip breakfast. Before she can leave, however, Kogarashi spells it out that in the last 3 days, her weight has increased by 1.8 kilo. Naeka asks how he knows such specific detail so Kogarashi claims that it's due to his power of observation. He then starts roughly calculating the percentage of her body like a robot. He, however, assures her not to worry because he'll prepare a bigger-size uniform soon. Naeka screams in terror upon hearing this.

After Naeka left, Fubuki appears from behind Kogarashi with a scary face, telling him that they need to talk. On their way to school, Naeka admits to Kousuke, she does like having nice uniform and food but she feels that they come at the cost of her 17 year old girl purity. She then wonders if she can still bloom like dandelion even though she's been stepped on and trampled. She feels that it's the fault of that sexual harassment maid that lately her female pride is dead. When her grandfather comes by to check on her condition, Kousuke tells him that Naeka is depressed because Kogarashi has taken Naeka's female pride. Her grandfather immediately misunderstood this and drives back to the house, demanding to see Kogarashi only to find Kogarashi's dead carcass. It turns out Fubuki already had her talk with him using a spiked bat. Later on, Kousuke explains to Kogarashi that his sister is angry at Kogarashi because he doesn't know how to treat woman. Kogarashi is confused because he thinks he's done a good job of preparing the uniform and all. He then wonders if Naeka wants sexier underwear, which of course, results in him getting punched by Naeka.

In her anger, Naeka lets out that she's annoyed by all of this, causing her grandpa to be depressed since he just wants to help out his grandchildren. In the end, Naeka has no choice but to let the maid to stay since her grandpa just wants them to be happy. Outside the room, Fubuki tells the grandfather that they need Kogarashi's strength even though his presence increases Naeka's stress level. Later on, Kogarashi is seen cooking some fattening food but he argues that Naeka's still growing bod needs it. Naeka is pissed off to hear this and wants to hit the guy with her slipper. Fubuki, however, stops her, not because she doesn't want him to hit Kogarashi but because it's useless. She compares the guy to brute animals like Lion or Panda, who won't feel a thing when they get hit. Because of this, she suggests an alternative: using a whistle that can emit a sound that only animals can hear (like the sound used by the monk to control Songoku). Fubuki then asks Naeka to focus on her flood of emotion before using the whistle. As soon as she uses it, Kogarashi immediately keels over in pain. However, this only serves to piss him off and goes after his naughty mistress.

Impression:

It's very ecchi and not politically correct. However, it's also quite funny and it doesn't come at the expense of Naeka because she does know how to defend herself. Moreover, despite my earlier assumption about Kogarashi being a pervert, it turns out he simply doesn't know how to treat girls. He doesn't seem to have any dirty thoughts and his seemingly perverted action is actually something that he deems necessary to maintain Naeka's appearance. I also find it interesting that he wears a mask and a maid costume. Why would he wear the later if it only forces him to use a mask? Wouldn't it be better for him to wear either a driver's suit or a bodyguard suit? He can still perform the job and it's not like wearing the maid costume actually makes thing funnier. Besides his initial appearance, Kogarashi is actually not that scary. Especially not when compared to that male nurse in episode 18 of Honey and Clover. Anyway, I thought this was entertaining but I'd wait before deciding whether to follow this permanently or not. Let me know if you like the first episode or not though.

ED Theme: 「ワクガイ！！」 - Wakugai!! by Yoshiki Fukuyama - AVI version (28MB) | PSP version (coming soon)

Preview

© memento 2003