Mahoromatic

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Mahoromatic ( Japanese ま ほ ろ ま て ぃ っ く , Mahoromatikku ) is a manga series written by the Japanese author Bunjūrō ​​Nakayama ( 中山 文 十郎 ) and drawn by Bow Ditama ( ぢ た ま (某) , Jitama (Bō) ). In addition, it is the name of an anime series based on the manga.

action

prehistory

Mahoro Andou ( 安藤 ま ほ ろ , Andō Mahoro ) is an android that was created by the organization VESPER to stop an invasion of the alien SAINT in the 1980s. The technology of the SAINT was used in its manufacture , which gave it a real soul . Since it is an Android, it also has a limited lifespan and so there are 398 days left at the beginning of the story. For these reasons, the organization gives her the choice of doing what she wants in the time she has left. Without further ado, Mahoro decides to work as a maid for Suguru Misato ( 美 里 優 , Misato Suguru ), a 14-year-old student who lives in Hiryu near Tokyo.

Suguru lost his mother very early and a few years later his father, who he believes was killed in an accident on a business trip. Since then Suguru preferred to live alone and declined all offers from his relatives, but was looking for a maid as he no longer had the household under control. Mahoros' decision to start as a maid at Suguru was not made by chance, because in reality, his father Mahoros was the commanding officer and, when he was taken hostage, was shot by Mahoro on his orders together with the enemy.

Main storyline

After Mahoro started working as a maid at Suguru, his schoolmates were amazed at how intensely Mahoro pursued the duties of maid. In particular, Chizuko Oe ( 大江 千 鶴子 , Ōe Chizuko ), a blonde classmate with an extreme keen sense of good food, over-praises the meals prepared by Mahoro. The teacher Saori Shikijo ( 式 条 沙織 , Shikijō Saori ), who became aware of the resulting tumult , is extremely attracted to Suguru and has a Shotacon , but is not at all happy about the competition created by Mahoro. So she tries even more intensively to establish contact with Suguru by showing up at his apartment almost every day at mealtime and being fed. At the same time, she is constantly trying to humiliate Mahoro. Every means is right for her, and so she makes herself z. B. funny about Mahoro's cup size , because Mahoro has a very small bust size compared to her and therefore cannot satisfy Suguru's demands.

After a few weeks, a new teacher To Ryuga ( 流 河 濤 , Ryūga Tō ) suddenly appears at the school, who is also an Android and was built by the SAINT. But he only roughly follows the orders of the SAINT and has the goal of defeating Mahoro in a final battle so that he can do justice to his actual function as a fighting machine. So there is a first confrontation quite early, in which Slash ( ス ラ ッ シ ュ , Surasshu ) - a fighting robot that looks like a panther and that is subordinate to Mahoro and also has a soul - intervenes decisively, so that Mahoro could have won the fight . But she leaves it at a draw. But Ryuga does not rest and so there is soon another fight between the two. This fight is much more balanced and forces Mahoro to use her strongest weapon, but this has the side effect that Mahoro would use up all of her remaining energy. When Suguru, who shouldn't have known anything about the fight, suddenly shows up at the battle site and Slash mentions that using the weapon would kill Mahoro, Ryuga withdraws because he feels this fight is unfair.

When the lives of Suguru and Mahoro have normalized again at the beginning of the second season of Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful , a disoriented girl runs after them. Suguru gives it to his friends as Mahoro's little sister Minawa Ando ( 安藤 み な わ , Andō Minawa ). Like Mahoro, it is an Android, but was built by the organization The Management . This has been trying for a long time to develop technologies to combat the SAINT, as this elite group does not believe in the plans of the governments to live with the SAINT. The innocent naivete of Minawa is used to use Suguru as bait for Mahoro. During the rescue operation, Mahoro is badly wounded and her life is near the end. In a final battle against the Android Feldrance , Mahoro is forced to use her last weapon and thus sacrifices herself for Suguru. A short time before, Suguru's grandfather, the leader of the VESPER, succeeded in eliminating the most important leaders at a conference of The Management together with Slash before succumbing to his injuries.

Different endings

The end of the anime

The final episode, Na-Geanna , is in a much more serious style and tone than the rest of the series. It takes place 20 years after the death of Mahoro on another planet that was colonized jointly by Earth and SAINT, and with the exception of Saori does not go into the lives of the other supporting characters. Suguru decided never to go back to Japan, the place where Mahoro no longer exists. He himself is now hunting cyborgs from The Management. Shortly after being betrayed by his partner, Mahoro appears to him. After he greets her very skeptically, she asks him to return with her to Hiryu "where everyone is waiting for you both".

The only explanation for Mahoro's reappearance is a comment from Matthew , the leader of the SAINT, with whom Mahoro has been in contact since its creation. So she explains that she will leave the "memory of spring" behind on earth, since this is no longer needed by the SAINT, where they now continue to travel through the galaxy.

The end of the manga

The manga ends similarly to the anime, but with the difference that the ending is not that dark and it is more oriented towards the known characteristics of the characters. The action also takes place 20 years later, but on Earth. Suguru, who worked as an officer for the VESPER, has just returned from the last fight against the remains of the enemy. He is still in contact with his old friends, which allows their life stories to be continued.

In the manga, Mahoro doesn't just appear in the present, but was reborn as a human baby shortly after her death. She can still remember Suguru and starts looking for him at the age of 20. When he returns from VESPER and expects to find an empty house, she is already there and waiting for him.

Origin and publications

Manga

Draftsman Bow Ditama (2008)

The manga series Mahoromatic was written by the Japanese author Bunjūrō ​​Nakayama ( 中山 文 十郎 ) and drawn by Bow Ditama ( ぢ た ま (某) , Jitama (Bō) ). It started on October 10, 1999 and was published by Gum Comics in 8 anthologies ( Tankōbon ) by the end of 2004 . A French translation was published by Edition Ki-oon from March 12, 2007 to June 26, 2008 and an English translation by Tokyopop from May 4, 2004 to January 10, 2006. In German, the manga was published by Carlsen Comics from December 2004 to April 2006 , also in 8 volumes and in the original format.

Anime

Television series
Original title ま ほ ろ ま て ぃ っ く Mahoromatikku
Mahoromatic Logo.svg
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
length 24 minutes
Episodes 26 in 2 seasons
genre Science fiction , comedy , ecchi , drama
idea Bunjūrō ​​Nakayama , Bow Ditama
First broadcast September 10, 2001
synchronization

As the manga gained some popularity, Gainax produced two anime series based on the plot of the manga. The first series Mahoromatic ( ま ほ ろ ま て ぃ っ く , Mahoromatikku ) consisted of 12 episodes and was broadcast from September 10, 2001 to January 28, 2002 on the Japanese television station BS-i . The plot more or less followed the manga up to the third edition. Toshio Masuda is responsible for the music and has also worked on works such as Excel Saga and Naruto .

The second series Mahoromatic - Motto Utsukushii Mono ( ま ほ ろ ま て ぃ っ く 〜 も っ と 美 し い も の 〜 , Mahoromatikku - Motto Utsukushii Mono ), consisting of 14 episodes, followed until the end of the plot of the manga and was broadcast from January 26, 2002 to 16 .

After the 9th episode of both series there is the Mahoromatic: End of Year Special , which effectively makes it episode 9.5. Both series have these special episodes, but they have never been translated into any other language.

A summer special Mahoromatic: Natsu no TV Special ( ま ほ ろ ま て ぃ っ く 夏 の TV ス ペ シ ャ ル , Mahoromatikku Natsu no Terebi Supesharu ) was also broadcast in the summer of 2003. The action takes place here at the time of the second series, when Minawa has become a regular part of the household.

Mahoromatic was the last anime to be made by Gainax using Cel animation . The current anime are mainly created with the help of computer animations for cost and quality reasons.

The anime has not yet been broadcast in Germany and so far only the first of the two series is available on 3 DVDs that are published by ADV Films . The Japanese and English versions were released on 6 DVDs, which contain both series.

Voice actor

The names of all characters and their speakers are given in western order (first name, family name)

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū )
Mahoro Ando Ayako Kawasumi
Suguru Misato Fujiko Takimoto
Slash Keiichi Noda
To Ryuga Takehito Koyasu
Saori Shikijo Yumi Takada
Minawa Ando Ai Shimizu

In the last episode Na-Geanna , Suguru Misato was spoken by Nobutoshi Canna , as the changes of 20 years should also be reflected in the voice.

Music and sound publications

Several music CDs were released in Japan, which also contained radio plays. Some of these CDs were later released in the United States by Geneon Entertainment with translated inserts . These were Mahoromatic [SOUNDTRACK] , Mahoromatic: Music Ver. 1 and Mahoromatic: More Beautiful Things .

Video games

In Japan 9 Mahoromatic video games were also released: 8 for the PC and one for the PS2 from Konami, which is why Konami also added a Minawa figure to its range.

Conception

Mahoro's strict rejection of erotic material of any kind gave rise to many humorous scenes, as in many of the anime produced by Gainax. This fan service , which also includes Mahoro itself, helped Mahoromatic to become very well known. Above all, this includes the phrase "Ecchi na no wa ikenai to omoimasu" ( I think these dirty thoughts are not good ), which Mahoro constantly repeats . Mahoro was also taken up again and again in other series not produced by Gainax, e.g. B. Hanaukyo Maid Tai ~ Le Verite ~ , where the male character Taro was forced to disguise himself like Mahoro.

Furthermore, many parodies of older anime can be found in Mahoromatic, such as Cyborg 009 or Mobile Suit Gundam .

Because the Mahoromatic appeared in two parts, there are also some comprehension problems; even with some critics. So the SAINT are not the bad boys as some reviews claim. This is just a hasty conclusion from the first part of the series that did not go into much of the background.

reception

The character design, as well as the humorous scenes, would be the outstanding features of the anime, as it covers many genres and still remains entertaining. Most of the critics praised the anime, even if they did not always find the deviations from the mango template to be good and assumed that the producer Gainax had his own style.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jason Bustard: Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden. Retrieved September 7, 2007 .
  2. ^ Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden. animenewsnetwork.com, accessed September 7, 2007 .

Web links