Subculture Anime Blog

Ohgawd Mariya is hawt *fap fap fap* …..Oh wait…..what? Oh…….no……

Summary:

Miyamae Kanako finally arrives at Ame no Kisaki Girls’ School, the place where her mother and father met. Kanako is surprised that there is no one around when she enters the gates, but she soon meets a maid named Shinouji Matsurika. Matsurika only calls Kanako a large pig upon seeing her, making Kanako become very conscious of her large height that she has had since she was younger. What appears to be a beautiful girl then appears, introducing herself as Shido Mariya. Mariya explains that they are actually on part of her family’s estate, and that the school’s grounds are further away. Kanako eventually wonders why Mariya is wearing a different uniform than her, so she explains that it is the junior high one. As she would be entering the high school during the ceremony the next day, however, this would be her last day wearing it.

Mariya finds it strange that Kanako is entering the school as an upperclassman, as only those from the junior high are typically accepted, so Kanako guesses that she may have been able to because of her parents. Kanako’s father was an instructor at the school, which is the reason her parents were able to meet at an all girl’s school. Kanako expresses her wish to have a wonderful encounter at the school as well, but when Mariya reminds her that it would be difficult to meet a man at an all girl’s school, Kanako can only express the difficulty with men she has. Kanako thinks to herself again that Mariya is quite attractive, but after the two take a chance to compliment each other, Mariya shocks Kanako by giving her a kiss on the cheek. Mariya promises to meet Kanako later, then leaving her to believe that she may have met her destined person already. When she looks at her arm afterwards, however, she finds that hives have developed.

When Matsurika questions Mariya about her actions during archery practice a bit later, she only puts the kiss off as a small joke. Kanako is meanwhile introduced to her dorms, surprised to see that the dorm leader is a very young girl. The dorm leader also introduces Kanako to her dog Yonakuni, then giving her the option to also call her “boss” or “god” if she desires. Kanako is even more overjoyed to see that her dorm-mate would be another beautiful girl, Ishima Ryuuken. Ryuuken offers to show Kanako around the school after getting acquainted with her, but despite her willingness, Kanako recalls that she had made an earlier promise to Mariya.

When Kanako reaches the archery range, she is shown in by another beautiful girl. Upon hearing familiar voices while walking down the hall though, she opens a door in shock to see Matsurika preparing a corset and artificial breasts for Mariya inside. Despite Mariya and Matsurika’s seemingly ignoring this, Kanako finally expresses her frustration while following them outside. Kanako easily sees that Mariya is a boy, but in response, Mariya suggests that it isn’t as if he wishes to dress up as a girl for fun. He also comes back at Kanako by seeing how obvious it is that she is attracted to the same sex, bringing up her earlier reactions. Kanako can only credit this to earlier trauma she had as a child, and even Mariya tries to defend himself by noticing how cute he is in his appearance.

Mariya eventually gets to the point by wondering what Kanako plans to do, the most obvious thing being her trying to throw him out of the school. With this, Mariya rips open Matsurika’s dress to reveal her upper undergarments. Mariya and Matsurika would act as if Kanako assaulted them. Kananko sees that this is a ridiculous situation, but Matsurika makes her soon realize that the students and faculty would believe the chairman’s grandchild over a new student. As Kanako would have no choice but to be expelled as soon as coming to the school otherwise, she can only comply with Mariya’s desires.

Kanako tries to bring her hopes back up upon reaching the dorms, but when she enters her room, she is shocked to see that Mariya has replaced Ryuuken as her roommate. This is obviously to protect his secret, so Mariya soon shows Kanako that he has her under his control.

Impression:

Maria Holic’s first episode won’t actually be airing for a little over a week from now, but niconico currently has a pre-airing stream (minus the OP and ED). The first episode came straight from the first chapter of the manga, with just a few differences here and there for added hilarity, so I’m guessing the series will be a pretty straight forward adaption. The art was very SHAFT, but the animation was surprisingly subtle coming from the studio. This could all easily change in following episodes (remember NEGIMA!?), but I somehow suspect that this series and the later Shina Dark will have less chaotic styles because of their natures.

The cast was pretty top notch, from Marina Inoue as Matsurika to even Miyuki Sawashiro as god the dorm leader, so no complaints there. I will admit that both Kanako and Mariya ended up sounding quite different from how I had imagined they would when sampling the manga, but this should only take a bit of getting used to. I’m already hooked to all the characters, with Kanako’s fantasies and Mariya’s tormenting both making me giddy inside, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the rather simple plot unfold. I don’t think anyone was questioning whether or not I would be covering this for the winter though. Come on now, this is a SHAFT production….

Notes:

• It’s A MAN, baby.
• Crotch grab. Brilliant.
• Girls Bravo?
• Or maybe Otoboku?
• It will be like watching Marmite with a parody of it following the next day.