(This review covers both seasons of the same series).

Well, I already told you info about Gainax via the previous two reviews of anime I did on them so what about this another anime studio that they collaborated with, Shaft. Shaft is known for producing such anime as the critically and somewhat fan-acclaimed Puella Magi Madoka Magica (and I actually love that show, along with the English dub of the show) and…..Dance in the Vampire Bund (thankfully, somebody already covered that show in this group) and that have collaborated more in the distant future but for Mahoromatic, this is a very mixed concept of a show that manages that can be both fascinating and very awkward.

The story is about a combat android named Mahoro has driven into guilt by her actions in her combat days want to retire her days in peace as a live-in maid, serving the son of her late commanding officer, Suguru Misato, a phenomenally messy high school student who lives by himself after his family passed away. However, if she lays down her arms and conserves her remaining power, the time she has left can be prolonged to just over a year and as for their later episodes, as the relationship between Mahoro, Suguru and his classmates develops further, another android girl enters their lives and becomes attached to Mahoro. All the while, the number of days before Mahoro is to shut down decreases steadily.

Now, I really have low expectations when I came upon watching this so here are the things that I think are positive for the show: I actually like Mahoro as a character in the show because her character and backstory kept me intrigued and although I really don’t feel relatable to her because I really don’t know anyone as a combat maid or even a regular maid (I think, memory of mine is a bit fuzzy). Plus, you’ll start to actually care for her since you’ll know she isn’t long for this world since every episode ends with how many days before she stops functioning, even if the episode is more comedic than their serious ones.

As for Suguru and his friends, well, they are the neutral part of the series for me. Suguru isn’t a bad character but he isn’t much of one in the series. He can be a bit of a weenie in the first few episodes but can stand up for himself a few times but I wouldn’t count on expecting it every time. Also, Suguru has some female friends Miyuki (the blue-haired tomboyish member of the Triomatic), Rin (the brown-haired and tallest member of the Triomatic) & Chizuko (the short blonde-haired girl who orgasms everytime she eats something) who I think want to get closer to him and be more than friends (‘lucky bastard’) although they really don’t carry the plot much. They are mostly the harem part of the show and yet most of the time he looks at dirty magazines with his friends Hamaguchi & Kawahara. Dude, you got not only one, two but FIVE girls admiring you from afar and yet you look at many images of naked woman and yet when you see them for real, you freak out which is normal when seeing one out of the blue but still….Suguru, you dull but lucky bastard. There is also Minawa, an android working for Management, the newer addition in the second season, who poses in school as Mahoro’s younger sister and she always manages to trip and fall down and always apologizes for doing that. I don’t want to say she’s slow, I don’t think she is but I can’t really defend her on that plus Hamaguchi does have a crush on her in a few episodes and that’s basically it on her.

However, when the show stops funny, they bring out Saori Shikijo, the homeroom teacher of Suguru’s class and have a very deep attraction to him and always remind us every time about that. My God, she is the most annoying character in this show and all the times she appears out of nowhere, it is very cringeworthy on the screen and wish this character didn’t actually exists and I actually wanted Mahoro to really mess her up and the fact Shikijo always teases her about her breast size since by comparison, Shikijo wins in that area but she’s still a bitch.

There is also Slash, the robot panther or “support mech” who works for Mahoro and Ryuga, who poses as a teacher to investigate Mahoro on what she’s doing at Earth. Alongside with Mahoro, these two is also my favorite characters on the show. I actually now want a robot panther as a pet now and having Steve Blum voicing Ryuga is icing on the cake, even if the cake is a bit tart.

On the animation courtesy of Gainax and Shaft, the movements in the fight compliments much of the Gainax style even if it looks like it was made in the ‘90s (this show was made in 2001-2003) and has the depict of weirdness and surrealism (maybe) that most people expect from Studio Shaft. Did I forget to mention BOOBIES GALORE!?!?!??!!? Yes, every female on the show does appear either it’s a panty shot, in their underwear, and baring it all or it does get a bit tiring at some parts and kind of creepy, too. Look, some nudity is nice and all but I don’t always want to be expecting it at every nook and cranny. I don’t have much to say about the music except some of it does fit the tone of the series and yet I always skip the opening and ending songs as I really don’t care for them after the episode ends but the satellite poems after the songs are nice, too.

FINAL VERDICT: Mahoromatic can be a bit problematic with some of the stuff they come up with. They develop a fascinating character to get into but brought in some very uninteresting characters that have nothing to do with the main story and one character to completely loathe. The fan service is very liberal in its usage but it gets very played out at some point. Some episodes I actually had fun with and enjoy some of the hilarity in them and the other episodes that contribute to the story helps as well. I wouldn’t recommend you watch the series immediately but for a Gainax series, it’s not actually mind-blowing but it’s passable.

Mahoromatic gets the final rating of

6.5/10

Planet Tyro Rating: WATCHABLE

And until then, I’m MAK2.0 aka The Hybrid and I speak for my damn self!

MAHOROMATIC – animation by GAINAX/SHAFT, distributed by SENTAI FILMWORKS (formerly GENEON ENTERTAINMENT).