“A show with Maria in the title isn’t my cup of tea.”
I really only have two samples to go by and haven’t even watched one of them. Maria Watches Over Us, about girls at a Catholic school, simply has no appeal for me.
On the other hand, Maria+holic sounded like it might be quirky fun. Kanako, a yuri-seeking student, transfers into all girls boarding school, looking for romance. Nosebleeds galore if she sees a cute girl; gets hives if touched by a boy. So, reverse harem, with a yuri twist. Sort of like an Immelman turn, except with a plot instead of an airplane. Otoboku, meet Girls Bravo.
The gag? She finds out that Mariya, her super-kawaii roommate, is actually a boy. There’s just two problems… Kanako is a ditz of a victim, and “Mariya” is a total, reprehensible, utter, sadistic, complete bastard. With, of course, a contrived reason for why she can’t expose him.
When I first read that this series was on the way, it sounded intriguing, so I checked out the scanlation of the first chapter. I decided the guy was too revolting, but color me stupid, I decided to watch the first episode on a whim when the season started. Maybe they portrayed him a little more sympathetically….
Nope. Still a rat bastard. Not even the fourth-wall breaks could save this. Note that the rankings on ANN are sort of U-shaped — folks either loved it or hated it. I think I’m on the bottom end of that U.
A couple of nights ago, I was rather bored, so I went back to the well, one more time (color me really stupid), and watched episode 2. The OP was ready by then I guess… Um. Probably NSFW, but it doesn’t matter because I can’t find it on YouTube. Let’s just say they found a new way to squick me. This description does not do it justice: After some establishing shots of the male and female leads, lines of very lifelike (and well-endowed) nude yellow mannequines(sp?) appear. The female lead has an explosive nosebleed, coating them in red, whereupon the male lead grabs one and proceeds to use it as a life-sized paintbrush, painting everything in bright red while grinning maniaclly.
Doesn’t. Do it. Justice.
Of course, by the end of the second episode, she’s starting to fall for him. Per the narrator anyway.
I confess, I’m tempted to see just how bad this trainwreck can get. It’s sort of like the sick fascination of… well, I can’t think of an example that wouldn’t make me look like a raving psychotic. Even so, I wouldnt want to actually watch the whole thing, even without the OP.
Maybe skip to the last episode…? No, no, no, take the lesson and run. Argh!
