I watched the first season of Mahoromatic recently and thought I'd write up my thoughts about it. To start, I should mention that I'm not a big fan of maid, robot, or ecchi (i.e. lots of fan-service) themes in anime, which happen to make up nearly the entire show. I've not seen many shows like it so I have little to directly compare it to. However, I like a change of pace from my usual preferences every now and then and Mahoromatic sounded like it would be a fun watch.
The first thing that struck me was just how clichéd the whole thing is. I expected this though—I mean, it is a maid robot show and you really don't need to have seen any of them to know what they're like. There's Mahoro, the cute female lead who applies for a live-in maid position for Suguru Misato, the standard nerdy, glasses-wearing kid living by himself in a large house. And, oh yeah, Mahoro happens to be the most powerful combat android ever created. Having fought for nine years to defend Earth from an alien invasion that's been kept secret from the general population, she now only has one year to remain operational, provided she avoids farther combat. Mahoro does actually have a reason for applying as Suguru's maid, after being allowed to live as a civilian for her remaining year, but even that's terribly clichéd.
No one watches a show like Mahoromatic for the story, though, so it doesn't matter how ridiculous it is. It can safely be tossed out the window and you won't be missing anything.
The reason I did watch Mahoromatic was simply to laugh at and revel in the cuteness of Mahoro's day-to-day life. The series was produced by GAINAX and SHAFT so the visuals are top notch and Mahoro is indeed cute. Her innocent nature and little personality quirks even make her, dare I say it, moe.
Quite ironically, the show frequently contradicts Mahoro's trademark phrase, "I think dirty thoughts are bad!" There aren't many panty shots, which are usually all too common in anime, but there is an abundance of boobies. In fact, in the very first episode Mahoro gets into the bath with Suguru. We all know the excuse—only to wash his back, she says—and we all know it's just that. I personally don't care one way or the other about fan-service but if it puts you off then you shouldn't bother with this show.
In the end, there were no surprises and Mahoromatic turned out to be exactly what I thought it would be. It was shallow, clichéd, mindless, self-indulgent, yet still fun and entertaining. And at the end of the day entertainment is why I watch anime, and it's why I'll be continuing on to the second season.
