Anime: Maria Holic

Maria-Holic explores the story of a cross-dressing boy and a girl who is literally allergic to guys as they live in the dorm of an all-girls religious school.

While some parts of the show had promise, I found some of the humor (Kanako bashing) in bad taste. While I agree that this show has some hilarious moments, the development of the plot and characters was uneven, and the characters themselves were very hard to relate to.

In terms of overall characterization, this show is a comedic/ecchi slice-of-life. Overall, I feel there are better series to watch out there, unless you are dying to see a sadistic guy try to act as cute as he possibly can, while making fun of his lesbian roommate.

Animation:
The animation for the most part is up to standards. There are quite a few effects that make it seem almost shojo, but the overall theme doesn't seem all that shojo. As this is a SHAFT work, expect a lot of scenes to be barely drawn, with unimportant characters showing up as black shadows. There are also times when the main characters look like heads on top of chess pieces, which I found to be cheap and distracting. Overall the animation isn't bad, but I didn't particularly find the animation techniques all that attractive (contrasting with Bakamonogatari from the same studio).

Sound:
This has a very sketchy sounding OP and a somewhat catchy ED. I didn't find them that great and often found myself skipping them. Props for making the OP/ED directly relevant to the story but the sound wasn't in my taste. BGM is fairly good at times but also somewhat minimal; it works well enough. VAs are good, I think Matsurika's VA must have had a hard time with her character's lack of emotions.

Music: 3/5, VAs: 4/5

Story:
The story starts as Kanako is entering her second year of high school as a transfer student. She meets freshman Shido Maria later on and discovers that Maria is actually a guy (she gets hives whenever she is touched by a guy).

The story is lightly wrapped around Kanako and Maria's adventures while at school. There are typically multiple stories in an episode and they often deal with supporting characters and Kanako.

Kanako often gets bloddy noses while looking/imagining at/about the other girls. The majority of the series though just has Kanako suffering as Maria takes advantage of the fact that he knows Kanako is Yuri.

There isn't much of a climax as this is pretty episodic. The series is overall very light and doesn't invoke much thinking. The second one does start thinking, one realizes that there are huge plot holes, which will never get explained. I was hoping for something a bit deeper and involved but alas.

Character:
The focus of the series is mostly on poor Kanako, though her character is a pretty pitiful character so I don't feel too bad for her. However, I don't like the fact that Maria is egotistical in his mastery of acting like a girl. He basically just ends up constantly bullying Kanako and using others as he pleases. There is some very minimal development between the characters, and not the type of development that interests me.

Value:
Though it was a decent watch overall, there are better series out there. Some parts of the show are humorous but other parts are either boring, or in bad taste. Give the first episode a shot, it's a good measure of the rest of the series.

There are few things in the world more subject to taste than comedy, which makes grasping for the objective in an evaluation of maria holic a difficult task. Take this review with more salt than usual.

I tend to prefer the simple punchlines in the likes of Hyakko or 4 panel mangas. Mariaholic has none of that, but has a nice balance of recurring gags, non sequiturs, references and self deprecating humor. Kanako is a closet lesbian genuinely allergic to guys. She thinks her life has taken a dramatic turn for the better when she steps foot in her new, all girls catholic school. The first girl she encounters strikes her fancy (though you will soon learn that just about any girl will do the same), but to her dismay, Kanako discovers this girl is actually a transvestite related to the founder of the school. Mariya, the cross-dresser, pulls strings to live with Kanako so as to keep her trap shut. Kanako's complacency makes her a nice toy for the sadistic Mariya.

Reading the synopsis, I feared deeply that this would somehow turn into a straight love story, with Kanako eventually overcoming lesbianism as if it were a disease. Thank god that doesn't come to pass. There isn't an ounce of genuine romantic tension between the two leads, that is, if you rule out Mariya's moe play that will momentarily seduces Kanako. The bulk of the series is about Kanako's perversion. Apparently all the girls at her school, teachers included, are shoujo or harem cliche's, and Kanako has a fetish for each and every one of them. Nosebleeds and anemia ensue.

While the long soliloquies she'll bust out on the attractive qualities of each girl grow old quickly, along with the inevitable nosebleeds and nurse visits, the girls she fawns over usually lampoon themselves with sharp, self-aware jokes that are hilarious. One character is socially inept, cold, but honest to a fault. She'll keep her promises regardless of how inane. This girl could easily be in the supporting cast of any cheesy shoujo manga, and Mariaholic highlights just how ridiculous her personality is. She agrees to take care of Kanako, the way you might for any new student, but she takes it to an extreme, throwing herself into each and every one of Kanako's problems with the intention to resolve them, but exacerbates them instead. To further the parody humor, the animation styles will briefly change, momentarily shifting to a look typical of the genre it is making fun of.

The whole series is based on Kanako's suffering. Surprisingly, aside from a few very degrading insults, Mariya doesn't cause much of it. He may set up a situation and watch Kanako's pain with smug satisfaction, but she's the one who digs her own grave.

By the end of the series, the parodies will have run their course, and Kanako's sex crazed nosebleeds will have long since grown old. It may be a novel twist on a harem concept, but the nosebleed joke isn't any funnier for it, especially given how ubiquitous it is in Anime. The non sequiturs though, kick to the end. Mariaholic isn't deluged with them in Excel Saga or Pani Poni fashion, so their presence never quite becomes commonplace. The dorm mistress who prefers to be called "god" deals most of them. Her hilariously high pitched dog, Wakame seaweed, and a bag with a tentacled alien inside are other examples. The key to non sequiturs in my view is their recurrence; it must be just as out-of-the-blue as their introduction, and Mariaholic nails this. Just remembering the utter left field appearances of the alien bag makes me crack a smile.

Like most Anime comedies, Mariaholic loses some of its luster by the end. If it had continued another 12 episodes, I don't think I could have finished it. 12 episodes though, is a magic number for comedies. By the time I became desensitized to, or even repulsed by some of its humor, it was close to the end, and the remaining bits of amusement carried me through the rest of it.

While i agree with most reviews here, i decided to make one myself and point a few extra things out.

Maria+Holic is a shoujo-ai parody anime, to have a better understanding of it you must either have watched a good deal of shoujo-ai anime, like Marimite, Kannaduki, Candy boy, Strawberry panic and others. Or maybe have a good understanding of japanese all-female schools.


Animation -

Pretty much one word. "SHAFT"
Personally i love shaft's style of animation, there are some who aren't that fond of it, i wont go into many details about it, but I'll try to give a basic overview. It uses a lot of static textures, constant background changes, unusual character shots(giving more depth to seemingly simple scenes, making them grander) and the drawing style constantly changes to express the character's feelings or to emphasize a situation.

As much as i loved the animation, it is way inferior to their previous production, EF.


Sound -

Awesome OP and ED, superb music, great seiyuus. Not much to say here, here, i even had a friend of mine that loathes all kind of Japanese music tell me that Maria+Holic's OP was awesome.


Story -

Well, tough topic, i mean, i personaly think that there shouldn't be a story score for this kind of anime. There is no main plot besides Kanako walking trough the girls school having nosebleeds, like Lucky star, it's more of a slice of life anime(kinda, well... not your usual slice of life anime but...) than anything else.

Character -

Mariya is at the top of my trap-character ranking, and i'm sure he is at the top of other people's as well if they have a trap character ranking as well, lol.
Sadly i couldnt see much of a character development on kanako, or any traces of an innovative personality. On the other hand the side-characters have a good deal of detail on them, and are nicely made.

Well to sum it up, this anime would have been much better if the protagonist was given some detail, her jokes are way to repetitive and you even get to see her nosebleed in several different angles, but with similar situations.

Value & Enjoyment -

I have watched pretty much every single Shoujo-ai anime that has gone live. And i just loved this show, mainly because of the references to other shoujo-ai animes, and personally , i cant wait for the second season, heh.


And that's pretty much it, if you like shoujo-ai themed animes, this is a must. Not because of the relationships between the female characters, because there's very few scenes like that, but you will surely have a good time laughing when a Perverted-old-man-minded schoolgirl wanders into an all-female school to find the love of her life.

Too bad the comedy isn't consistently good throughout the entire show.

If you were expecting a regular comedy you'll be surprised. There is a bunch of odd animations, which is clearly someone trying his hand at trying to make an original romance comedy, but there is also the level of chaotic randomness which makes this a really odd romantic comedy – which focuses clearly on the comedy while leaving the romance part completely out.
While there are definitely some good jokes in this show, the level of comedy is by far not consistent enough to make the entire show fun – which is a pity, considering the series having a fast joke-rate of at least 10 per minute. So while the show by itself is a good comedy, there are also so many lame jokes inbetween that it either fails or succeeds in terms of your sense of humor – nothing inbetween.

Animation: Creative animation is not always good animation.

The animation is a combination of a Fullmetal Alchemist meets Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, meaning that there are good animated parts, lots of degenerated character-scenes and the annoyingly feat of using layered CG-coloring. The kind you saw in Gankutsuou, where the patterns on clothing don't move along with the character itself, but stay put while the character moves. This makes it look like they merely made parts of the character transparant so you can see the static background behind it – and call it coloring. There are people who believe this is astonishing, but I can't see how this is any good. So if you're viewing the series the way I experienced it, you'll be thoroughly annoyed by it.

OP/ED
The OP-animation consists of a white background upon which a chaotic story displays, with mannequins in 3D-CG and plays with colors. Perhaps some artistic praisal is in place here, but being artistic and being good are two entirely different things – too bad this is one where the creativity doesn't make things better.
The ED-animation on the other hand, does. A video of the characters in an adventure-arcade game, all in 8-bit like Kung-Fu on the NES was! While appealing to the retro-gamers, this is where the creative team managed to score with, since the small story in the ED is fun to see and displays the chaos used in the series itself.

Sound: Good voiceactors.

I didn't think there were any bad voice actors, but I've seen better ones in other shows. The main ones are also often the best ones, so at least the casting for the main roles were done well.
As for the BGM, it was pretty ‘visible’, as they often used odd sounds and odd music in order to emphasize the odd events taking place. This might be one of the biggest feats the show has to offer, considering how odd the events are – but even then finding the right sounds or music for it.

OP/ED
I wasn't too pleased with the OP-animation, but I'm not really happy with the song either. It sounds too much like it drags and it doesn't have any sense of musical talent, with the same kind of sound with just a different text, which sounded more like a fast rap than anything else. And I don't even dislike rap.
The ED is a lot better, but it does feature a degenerated voice, like how Eiffel 65 used to do. It is, however, completely up to you how you perceive this, but at least you get a better animated video with it to sit through.

Story: Chaos^2.

There is indeed a story, but the events taking place are so hilariously random that it is hard to say the story has any continuity, while it indeed does. But I admit the series goes through the roof with their jokes and the events taking place. But there's the catch – while the show flies off to all sides in order to be funny, the consistency fails majorly. A good joke based on an event is usually being followed by several not-so-funny jokes, of which several are even failing to be properly displayed. I mean, you don't follow a punchline with 2 seconds of a still picture, that's just bad timing.
The fact that they never intended for the series to end, they keep introducing characters despite the series nearing the final episode. The series therefore kind of feels like unfinished, with you most probably wondering where the next season is, as it feels like it was simply stopped instead of doing some finishing arc.

Keep in mind that you sit through the whole show, since they often pack another punchline after the ending-credits.

Characters: Plenty of characters.

There are plenty of characters in the show and all of them are pretty good in terms of display and personality. But since the comedy of the show is mostly based on the personalities of the characters, there is not much to say here unless I spoil jokes. And that's what the show's about, after all.

The only bad part about the character is that, while the protagonists (Mariya & Kanoko) are well-developed in terms of personality, the other side-characters are pretty much only fillers, showing up only when necessary. This makes them look very undeveloped, but their initial characteristics are being used very well. It's just too bad that the chaotic nature of the series also applies for the appearance of the side-characters.

Value & Enjoyment: Good jokes, bad jokes, crappy animation – is it good or bad?

There's pretty much anything to say about the series. It has its really good moments with excellent LOL-moments, but it has also plenty of lousy moments with badly timed jokes and such. Combined with the hideous animation, the series is on several layers a hit-or-miss with the watcher. I can imagine people really liking the series, but I can easily imagine more people disliking the show.

Therefore, I'd recommend you previewing the series first, before you buy it – if you want to buy it in the first place. One episode is plenty to determine whether you like the show or not. I still wonder whether anyone would re-watch this kind of show due to the randomness and the lack of consistency though.

Maria Holic is one hell of a crazy anime, that tends to fail in many aspects, although it does show flashes of brilliance every so often. It's just a shame that these remain nothing but glimpses, since there definitely was potential.


Art/Animation --> 8/10

The art and animation is one of the better aspects, showcasing a unique style that is very similar to that of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (thank Shaft). Various patterns are embedded within the characters' clothing, done so in such a way that when the characters move, the pattern remains motionless, creating a sense of movement within the characters' clothes, helping to ensure somewhat consistent eye candy.
Also to be noted is the wide variety of colors. Maria Holic certainly isn't a dull anime, and the colors are blended into each scene to fit the random atmosphere.

The animation is fairly simple. Nothing really stands out in this respect. Considering the type of anime it is, however, excessive animation isn't really required, and the focus has obviously gone into the art.

Character designs are fairly detailed most of the time. By detailed I mean there is a strong focus on facial expressions (making characters look extra innocent/attractive/etc. when required), excessive blushing, a lot of detail on breasts, etc. As for the overall designs, they're fairly unique (based on what I've seen), and great for this type of show. The characters aren't overly good looking, which is definitely a good thing.

Now, probably the best thing in terms of art and animation are the opening and ending. Very unique, suitable, entertaining, and overall superbly done. The OP animation uses colors brilliantly and matches the animation well with the accompanying song. The ED animation is one of the strangest I've ever seen. Taking a late 80s/early 90s arcade game approach, the ending animation looks just like a platform game. The use of colors is taken to the next level as well, to provide a near-seizure experience that remains pleasing and uproarious at the same time.


Sound --> 9/10

The best thing about Maria Holic. An excellently fitting soundtrack, with a random collection of songs ranging from classical tracks to slightly rocky tracks, and so on. I actually downloaded the soundtrack, since there were quite a number of songs/themes throughout it that I loved. The only real problem with the sound is a tendency to repeat certain background themes. Though this didn't bother me, since those themes that were repeated are my favorite from the soundtrack, yet I'm sure many would consider this a negative aspect.

I briefly touched on the OP and ED before, and both are great. The OP is extremely lively and upbeat, blending in with each episode seamlessly. It's an entertaining song - not annoying, and it does what it should.
Now, the ED. Man, it's outrageous and funny. And it's also one of the most brilliant EDs I've ever heard. Blend it in with the ending animation and you have a crazy mixture that will make you like the show just a little bit more. I cannot describe just how well-matched it is, it's that good. And yes I did download it, as I'm sure did most people even if they don't want to admit it.

The voice acting is great, no complaints here. The voice actors are all well suited to their characters, and none felt out of place. Mariya's voice actress in particular is great. She did a superb job sounding just like a cross dressing guy.


Story --> 3/10

Now, where to begin. Oh yeah, there is nowhere to begin, because almost the entire show is complete randomness. That's not to say this is only a bad thing, because it didn't make me hate the show at all. But seriously, nothing really happens. Each episode doesn't seem to have a point, and even though some show the faintest sign of a mini-plot, it's usually forgotten instantly due to the consistently random events that take place. There was also a large degree of repetitiveness, with jokes being used over and over (I'm thinking of the nose bleeding in particular here), proving to be quite draining after a while.

The story focuses on the main character, Kanako Miyamae, and her various experiences following her entrance to an all girls school. Basically it's just Kanako failing every episode as numerous bad things happen to her. Although, the story takes a weird turn later on as the focus shifts to another character for an entire episode, out of nowhere. I actually enjoyed this 'other character' episode a lot, however it serves absolutely no purpose and did nothing to help revive the already stagnant plot.

The conclusion follows in the same fashion as the rest of the show - in that there was none. Although you have to give credit to the ending (after the credits) for being hilarious.


Characters --> 6/10

The characters comprise Kanako Miyamae, the failure protagonist, Shidou Mariya, the cross dressing antagonist, as well as a collection of classmates and teachers. Overall the characters are an odd bunch, with many unique personalities. However they all suffer from a lack of depth, and a repetitiveness to their actions. You wouldn't expect much depth from characters in this kind of anime, however they consistently exhibit the same behaviors and responses to situations (Kanako in particular), which become tiring and boring after a while.

There is absolutely no character development throughout all twelve episodes. Kanako winds up being exactly the same as she was in the first episode - a girl-obsessed amazingly dumb bimbo. She's probably the character that's easiest to dislike, because as I mentioned earlier, she is always failing and never gaining.
Mariya is one of the more entertaining characters, showing a bit more wit and personality than the others.
Another character deserving of mention is Touichirou Kanae, a male priest. He only appears towards the very end (unfortunately), but he presents a unique way of thinking, resulting in hilarity.


Value --> 6/10

Maria Holic had potential to be a very memorable show. The OP, ED and art would probably be the most memorable aspects, however these were overshadowed by the other, poorer aspects. Also Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will no doubt overshadow it as well, considering it's directed by the same guy, and is more successful.

That said, Maria Holic does have a certain rewatchability factor. Though I'd never watch the whole thing again, there are plenty of scenes that I'd go back and watch. Also I could watch the ED over and over.


Enjoyment --> 7/10

My enjoyment wavered consistently throughout all twelve episodes. There was a period in the middle where I was bored out of my mind, however the last two episodes made up for this like you would not believe, with the introduction of the priest.
Unfortunately the overused jokes, the annoying main character, and the extreme lack of a story hurt my enjoyment of the show a lot.

Regardless, by the end I felt like I wanted to like Maria Holic. It's great soundtrack, stylish animation, the priest, and of course the ED, were the flashes of brilliance that needed to be more dominant, so as to cover up for the failures of the story, the flat characters, and the overused jokes.