Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Combat Maid (Vol. 1)

Starring:Ayako Kawasumi, Michael McConnohie, Richard Cansino, Jamieson Price, Willow Armstrong, Lia Sargent, UnshÃ´ Ishizuka, Steven Jay Blum, Rebecca Forstadt, Melissa Charles, Takehito Koyasu, Lex Lang, Wendee Lee, Tony Pope, Michelle Ruff, Julie Anne Taylor, Atsushi Kisaichi, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, Tony Oliver, Doug Stone
Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga
Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This slapstick jiggle comedy makes Steel Angel Kurumi sound like a feminist tract. Mahoro is a heroic combat android, created to fight alien invaders. As she nears her expiration date, Mahoro's given the opportunity to do whatever she likes with her remaining 398 days: she asks to become the maid of her former commander's orphan son. Middle school student Suguru lives by himself in his parents' old house. Mahoro turns the grungy dump into a spotless showplace, cooks wonderful meals, and bathes Suguru. The presence of what appears to be a cute 19-year-old girl in Suguru's house arouses the jealousy of his voluptuous, alcoholic teacher Ms. Shikijo, and the two women begin a fan service jiggle-off. The adolescent high jinks of Mahoromatic will offend many American females--and bore any male whose voice has changed. (Rated 16 and older: nudity, risquÃ© humor, violence, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Combat Maid (Vol. 1)
Average customer rating:

Light and Funny vs Heart Wrenchingly Lovesick

A dream maid for anyone-Mahoro!

Waste of Money

Funny, dramatic and powerfully complex

Life is but a Dream...

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Combat Maid (Vol. 1)
Starring: Takehito Koyasu , Julie Anne Taylor , Lex Lang , Wendee Lee , and Tony Pope
Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga
Manufacturer: Geneon [Pioneer]
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Mahoromatic | Characters & Series | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
Cansino, Richard | ( C ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Price, Jamieson K | ( P ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Stone, Doug | ( S ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
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Similar Items:

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - Haunting Past (Vol. 2)

Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden - A Warrior's Fate (Vol. 3)

Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful: V3 All Good Things (ep.10-14)

Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful: V2 Hectic Holidays (ep.5-9)

Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful: V1 Maid In Training (ep.1-4)

ASIN: B00007JZW1
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Amazon.com

This slapstick jiggle comedy makes Steel Angel Kurumi sound like a feminist tract. Mahoro is a heroic combat android, created to fight alien invaders. As she nears her expiration date, Mahoro's given the opportunity to do whatever she likes with her remaining 398 days: she asks to become the maid of her former commander's orphan son. Middle school student Suguru lives by himself in his parents' old house. Mahoro turns the grungy dump into a spotless showplace, cooks wonderful meals, and bathes Suguru. The presence of what appears to be a cute 19-year-old girl in Suguru's house arouses the jealousy of his voluptuous, alcoholic teacher Ms. Shikijo, and the two women begin a fan service jiggle-off. The adolescent high jinks of Mahoromatic will offend many American females--and bore any male whose voice has changed. (Rated 16 and older: nudity, risqué humor, violence, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

Light and Funny vs Heart Wrenchingly Lovesick.......2005-10-07

This was my first school/harem type anime and I must say it was quite enjoyable. In the near future Earth is under attack from an alien race called `Saint'. A secret society employs humanoid combat androids to fight against the attackers. The greatest of these is Mahoro, in the shape of a comely 19 year old. When her tour of duty is done she requests to be allowed to live out her limited lifespan caring for a young 14 year old named Suguru; the son of a war casualty she feels responsible for. Mahoro meets Suguru and passes herself off as a simple maid who happens to have been a warrior in her prior life. The series then moves through a slow arc as the two sweetly come to love each other while dealing with the more mundane scholastic existence of Suguru and his friends. Meanwhile the darker side of the plot continues to fester in the background as Saint's greatest warrior goes after Mahoro. In the second series Minawa a young android from a third faction called Management comes into play. As Mahoro nears the end of lifespan things escalate, both feelings of love and the plots against her where she must make a decision that will affect her and Suguru for years in the future. The final episode is one that has been ravaged by fans, I will admit that it really emotionally hit me hard seeing Suguru in such a state. Anyone that has loved and lost will feel a twisted knife of a reminder in their heart seeing what he has gone through. The dichotomy with the rest of the series is quite extreme as it got back to being so serious in the last couple episodes after the majority of the lighter versions. Taken together though the Mahoromatic series is a lot of fun and an engaging love story with plenty of fan service and a nice ensemble collection of secondary characters. Recommended.

A dream maid for anyone-Mahoro!.......2005-10-05

Based on the manga series by Bow Ditama and Bunjuro Nakayama, the first season of Mahoromatic Automatic Maiden starts off with orphaned eighth grader Suguru Misato hiring Mahoro, a former combat android, as his maid. Mahoro used to work for Vesper, an organization formed to combat aliens who invaded Earth in the 1980's. Due to her long service, she had the choice of continuing as she was and having 37 days left to live, or removing her combat armour and living 398 days more. Guess which she chooses?

Mahoro makes quite a difference in the lonely Suguru's life. "She wakes me up in the morning, makes good food, bathes with me, and the inside of the house gets cleaner every time I look at it." Yes, bathes!; as she tells a flustered Suguru, "this is part of my natural duty as a maid." Suguru becomes the envy of his main friends, boys Toshiya Hamaguchi, Kiyomi Kawahara, and three cute girls, the tomboyish Miyuki Sakura, Rin Todoroki, and gourmet Chizu Ooe. Chizu's funny, reacting with a delighted scream every time she tastes Mahoro's dishes-"this is like the chicken rice from the Kanta Japanese restaurant Shirokku!" But they soon befriend Mahoro, eliminating earlier misconceptions that she is actually Suguru's bedmate.

There is a puritanical streak in Mahoro, though, as she confiscates Suguru's secret stash of dirty magazines, giving him a lecture that women's breasts are for babies, and in line with her own modest bosom, says "a woman's abilities has nothing to do with the size of her breasts!" Well said, Mahoro-san! Please be my maid!

The explosion of the water heater causes Mahoro, Suguru, and Shikijou to go to the public bath owned by Miyuki's family. Here, it's revealed that Miyuki's father is excited whenever Suguru comes over. Since he had four daughters, he kind of sees Suguru as the son he never had. And speaking of parents, Suguru's depression over summer vacation is lifted for the first time, as the first day of vacation was the anniversary of his father's death. With Mahoro, he no longer feels lonely, but the android harbours a secret regarding Suguru's father, that if Suguru found out, would cause the boy to hate her. Yet Mahoro swears to serve him for every second she has remaining to live.

However, Saori Shikijou, Misato's homeroom teacher, she with what Mahoro calls "unnaturally swollen cow udders," has a crush on him, and sees the flat-chested Mahoro as a threat. "I'm the one who should give him my up close personal and private lessons!" There usually follows a fantasy of Suguru and her in some erotic unclothed fantasy. Mahoro in turn gets irritated as Shikijou doesn't hesitate to sponge off Mahoro's cooking and bathing, and makes sport of Mahoro's modest bosom. But Shikijou is definitely quite a perv, as she humps Suguru with her breasts at a department store, and quite a drinker. She's also vain, thinking herself "so beautiful she upsets the lives of men."

After coaxing the overly dutibound Mahoro into joining them on a Sunday trip to the beach, the gang have fun, but an "alien, anti-droid, crab-type armoured robot" with two or three screws loose creates havoc by shredding the girls' bikinis. The funniest scene involves Mahoro pouring suntan lotion over Shikijou's head, leaving her with the umbrella, then warning her that women in their mid-20's will get wrinkled skin if they walk into the sun unprotected, as she leads Suguru away.

A nice touch are the satellite poems inbetween each episode, recited by either Mahoro, Suguru, Chizu, or Shikijou, set to a Mozart-like violin tune. Mahoromatic is mostly comedy, with some action scenes, with a winning opening theme ballad "On The Way Home," by Ayako Kawasumi, and a fun infectious and funny dance number, the "Mahoro de Mambo" by Triomatic, a.k.a. the voice actresses playing Miyuki, Rin, and Chizu, who do a cute dance during the closing credits.

Thanks to Ayako Kawasumi as the voice of Mahoro. She also voiced one of my favourite anime characters, Aoi Sakuraba in Ai Yori Aoshi. And Mahoro is kind of like Aoi Sakuraba mixed with Chi from Chobits, combining a gentle, hard-working servant with the innocence of a robot. Per the satellite poem,

"I hope that you will have sweet dreams from the smell of the sun. Will a fluffy futon be able to cradle you? Will it be able to cradle you softly and warmly?" Yes, if Mahoro was that futon.

Waste of Money.......2005-05-22

Sex sells. And I've been a victim of it in buying this DVD. The concept, or maybe it's just the product, of this show is god awful. Sure, the girls are cute, and for anime pervs some parts may be sexually pleasing. But this show is just not worth paying for. If you think the characters are cute, go download a JPEG image of Mahoromatic in scantily clad uniform. I get more entertainment out of looking at a picture of her than watching this dumb show. The humour is really kiddy too. This stuff isn't for adults. It's for kids. But it isn't for kids, either. It has a bundle of nudity and sexuality. Thus, it's for no one.

Funny, dramatic and powerfully complex.......2004-06-22

Heads-up warning: this series earned its 16+ rating with flying colors. Moreso than any previous Pioneer (Geneon) DVD series.

That aside, introductions go well. These first four episodes are the beginning of a bizarre ride involving intergalactic war, horny junior-high schoolers, one very perverted hottie teacher, and how & why an android designed for war becomes a house maid. Sound convoluted enough? Good...

I find nearly all of the characters so far to be quite enjoyable. I'm saying nearly beacuse the perverted teacher leaves me a bit turned off. For me, the less seen of her, the better. I have to knock a star of this series on account of her, Sorry. She is funny though.

We first meet Mahoro, the retired combat android. She handles her existence quite lightly and shows no fear, often revealing that she had indured much more hardship in battle. Though she became a maid, she often asserts her opinions when she deems necessary (dirty thoughts?). It's also revealed that her reasons for becoming a maid are not simply to take on a humble lifestyle. Suguru Misato doesn't seem to be much different from Mahoro, even though he is human and has never seen combat first-hand. He is not a super hero, but he exihibits excellent leadership skills under pressure. He also has a lot of brotherly respect for all of his peers, treating even Mahoro as an equal. This is a breath of fresh air for me. Even though their social positions elicit an obvious superior male ruling over a subservient female. Their actions contradict that every step of the way.

Their band of friends round out a somewhat stereotypical cast, but not too poorly. Many of their quirks are interesting and funny. From a raging food-addict to the jealous "other guys" there is definate energy about them. One gets the feeling that these friends have been together for a while and will be willing to help each other out in times of need.

This looks like it's going to be a series that will pull no punches. There will be no scene too perverted (well.. kind of), no pun untapped, and no emotion left alone. Every episode ends with a morbidly somber countdown timer right before the credits. All indications show that this story, as funny as it is, may not be as uplifting as it seems.

That being said, to anyone not willing to accept that, I advise you avoid this series and go watch Disney's "Little Mermaid", no matter what Hans Christian Anderson origionally wrote.

Life is but a Dream..........2004-03-03

...and dreams should be grand. The folks who pan this series for being too ecchi or geared towards teens completely missed the boat, and should stick to pre-packaged, pre-chewed pap like Pokemon. Here's the deal (SPOILER WARNING! SPOILER WARNING!) Mahoro is a combat 'droid, with little over a month to live. The leader of her group, Vesper, gives her a choice: Remain a combad droid and die in a month, or life as she chooses... for as a normal 'person' she's only got 398 days. She's screwed either way. She chooses to work as a maid for Suguru Misato, to attone for something she did in her combat days. Just get the whole 2 seasons, folks, and ignore the naysayers -- they wanted pre-chewed toyetic garbage. Mahoromatic is a very well done story that can be delightfully funny, and heart-wrenchingly painful, sometimes at the same time. Mahoro herself is far, far more beautiful inside than her body is. She is the soul of an entire race, which now also knows ours, having lived, for a brief, gorgeous year, as a human.

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