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Maria Holic (TV).


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furizaa



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 78
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:46 am Reply with quote
Maria Holic (TV).

Well I've just seen episode one, and I already have a feeling that I'm really going to be enjoying this series. The story begins with 2nd year high schooler Kanako who transfers to an all girls school to find her destined one, and because of her fear of men. There she meets Maria, who Kanako feels is the one for her, until she discovers he's a boy.

Before I began watching Maria Holic, I already knew it would be one of those silly, ecchi shows that would have plenty of girl-on-girl action, or girl-on-guy pretending to be girl at least. Being the guy that I am, I put this show on my list of shows to watch this winter season.

Well, unlike Akikan!, this show's first episode far exceeded my expectations. For starters, I absolutely love the art used in the show. The artists used a lot of inverted and alternate colors for shots, and showed characters in silhouettes a few times, which I found very interesting and appealing. The humor was very good, in my opinion, and well timed too. Lastly, but not least, my favorite part that Maria Holic took me by surprise are the characters. Since Kanako isn't even shown on the posters I've seen for the show, I had thought that Maria was Kanako, and Matsurika (who is actually a very funny character herself) was Maria. Not that this is really that relevant, I was amused by it. Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to more of Maria Holic.
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LuckySleven



Joined: 13 Mar 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Refer to page 2
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:25 am Reply with quote
In this the trap had been laid excellently. I didn't hear too much about the show at first so I thought Kanako was the gender-bender character and Maria was the normal person who stumbles upon one's secret. Thus it made me by surprised once I regain my composure after finding all that out. My friend showed me the first episode on her iPhone so I can't really judge too much about how great or terrible the art work is but the characters for one part looks stunning. I'm hoping that the series will please me like other cross dressing animes that I had watched before.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:03 pm Reply with quote
I'd heard about the plot a while ago, but didn't pay any mind to it. Recently, however, someone posted a link to an image with the winter shows, and I noticed this was SHAFT's. Sold.

I was a couple of minutes into the episode before I remembered the premise. Like furizaa, I recalled having mistaken impressions of who the main characters were. That's besides the point, though. So far, it looks good.
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Eruanna



Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 451
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:00 pm Reply with quote
as I posted in another thread..

Saw the first episode, it seems okay....
I find the main character to be rather annoying with her obsession with girls (morso then straight girls are with guys, or straight guys are with girls..)
I mean, most lesbians I know are not nearly this airheady.. I find her behavior aggravating, but I guess thats why she's "cute"?
The guy is a jerk... but thats pretty much the only reason I decided to watch it in the first place... Im a sucker for "bad boys". He is actually a lot more interesting then the girl as far as characters go. Her motives for being a lesbian are rather stupid actually... "I hate guys they are all horrible and awfull".... not exactly a healthy reason for becoming a lesbian. On the other hand the guys motives for crossdressing -- still unseen. He'll be an interesting character to figure out, but if the show gets too stupid Ill quit watching.
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:34 pm Reply with quote
Just to see where this series is going, I watched the first episode. This series could be quite well done, provided fanservice would be kept to a minimum. The "hive from the other gender" has been done before, so that aspect of the show doesn't surprize me.

I really want to see where this show is going, the artwork is well done.
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cool3865



Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 770
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:15 am Reply with quote
so i just got done watching the first episode, yea the hives thing has been done but not the other way around like this show is doing.


i love the artwork and the music that goes along with it. the fanservice hasn't been too bad but with a show like this it could easily get crazy. story is good and i cant wait to see more of this series.
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Mistypearl



Joined: 03 Oct 2008
Posts: 517
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:47 am Reply with quote
Eruanna wrote:
as I posted in another thread..

Saw the first episode, it seems okay....
I find the main character to be rather annoying with her obsession with girls (morso then straight girls are with guys, or straight guys are with girls..)
I mean, most lesbians I know are not nearly this airheady.. I find her behavior aggravating.


It's because they are making fun of yuri-esque shows, and even normal anime cliches with the breaking out in hives.

On the other hand, I had high expectations, and they were blown away, I'm not a fan of similar shows, but I just loved th artwork, voice acting, and the characters. Smile There are only a few chapters available online for the manga, so I think by Ep. 2 it'll surpass what I know, which is exciting because there's no chance of me being spoiled, even from Wikipedia 8D
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:33 pm Reply with quote
cool3865 wrote:
so i just got done watching the first episode, yea the hives thing has been done but not the other way around like this show is doing.


I love the artwork and the music that goes along with it. The fanservice hasn't been too bad, but with a show like this it could easily get crazy. Story is good and I can't wait to see more of this series.


I do agree with you, the hive formula has been done before, but not really like this. If more in depth detail is given through out the series why the main character breaks out in hives, I'll be quite surprized. I really hope the fanservice is kept to a minimum though, too much would make this show look to ecchi. The artwork is quite well drawn however.
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Jedi General



Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 2485
Location: Tucson, AZ
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:15 am Reply with quote
Watching this, I'm reminded of how much I'm annoyed by Akiyuki Shinbo's oddball directorial style. I've never finished any series I've started that he's directed (like MoonPhase or Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei, to name a couple). Not to mention Maria Holic feels like it will get old extremely fast.

My enjoyment of yuri aside, first impressions have me thinking that I'm probably not going to finish this, but I'll reserve judgment until after I've watched at least one more episode. So far it feels very generic and I've already mentioned that I'm in no way a Shinbo fan.
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Mistypearl



Joined: 03 Oct 2008
Posts: 517
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:35 am Reply with quote
I just watched the ED on Youtube...and am still watching. Curse the shows that have catchy ending songs that even if I'm playing other music it's still in my head Anime cry The videogame effect I admit is a bit too busy, but that's also because I was watching it on LQ... but HQ isn't that better.
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TheresaJayne



Joined: 31 Dec 2008
Posts: 70
Location: UK Berkshire
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 3:25 am Reply with quote
Forgive me,

I have watched and enjoyed anime for a while and do have lots of shows i have watched, but i am still trying to understand some of the terms.
What is a Hive (in this context)
Is there anywhere where you can look up terms so it doesnt seem so confusing sometimes...
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:12 am Reply with quote
I was not really sold on the blurb about this one but watched ep.1 anyway and my feeling has changed only a little.

I now want to watch ep.2 and maybe 3.

It all comes down to how much of a jackass 'Maria' is and if Kanoko ends up liking him.

If he is an absolute arsehat and she still likes him then this series will be condemned to the pits of hell, if she starts liking men then it will have some SERIOUS work to do to keep me watching, if you make a choice like being homosexual (or just are) then it shouldn't be treated as some kind of flippant thing (oh boys are icky so I'll go out w/girls!). If on the otherhand 'Maria' ceases to be a little bitch or Kanoko winds up with some other girl/relationship then yay.

What I still don't get is why they can't do a little bit of writing from a logical point of view. 'Maria' is a guy and Kanoko find out...I don't see why first she would out him to the whole place (he'd done nothing wrong to her at that point) or why 'Maria' would suggest that Kanoko would. A reaction I would have found normal would be for Kanoko to basically tell 'Maria' to leave her alone, she doesn't like guys but that doesn't mean she hates them and wants them to suffer somehow. From what I saw though I think Kanoko wouldn't have just up and outed 'Maria' to the whole school if he hadn't suggested it first.

Plus the maid. God characters like that should just die. It's your job to serve not to be party to something reprehensible, you are not a mindless slave, you don't need tobe some kind of either utterly submissive or a hyper violent counter to a lecherous advance, you could quite simply and forcibly say NO (and of course this would have to work in the show) and be a far better example of how to be normal.

Sorry but I really hate seeing some of these tropes.

Why is blackmail so damned common...Japanese cultural thing?
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Mike On Top



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 298
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:29 am Reply with quote
TheresaJayne wrote:
Forgive me,

I have watched and enjoyed anime for a while and do have lots of shows i have watched, but i am still trying to understand some of the terms.
What is a Hive (in this context)
Is there anywhere where you can look up terms so it doesnt seem so confusing sometimes...


The "hives" is the skin eruption which the main female lead gets when encountering people of the opposite gender, namely, she, being a girl, breaks out in hives near boys. Something similar to the common anime reaction in harem and ecchi series when boys start nosebleeding being sexually provoked (although some comedies feature the same reaction in girls). Such techniques of animated depiction are called face faults

Maria's character design reminds me of Yuujirou from Princess Princess, and the first episode was somewhat more funny than expected (or perhaps I haven't watched so many gender bender or traps shows). The SM element wasn't so much as announced Laughing, but as entertainment for the winter season, I'll probably keep up with the series.
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 7:06 pm Reply with quote
It's weird, the premise in Maria Holic can be considered like a subset of the premises found in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei as both play off the dark comedy angle (I mean in SZS, we have for example a suicidal teacher and a student mistaken for domestic violence) by taking rather sensitive issues and turn them into comedy. Yet SZS is pretty damn hilarious at that department (I don't remember any recovered suicidal people complaining about that), but Maria Holic ended up pissing off a good section of the yuri fanbase (and boy, were they pissed Shocked ).

I, for one, am going to keep an eye on it, but I won't necessarily watch this with full enthusiasm (except maybe for the upcoming trippy OP and ED sequences; those are always cool).
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pparker



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1185
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:34 pm Reply with quote
Mike On Top wrote:
TheresaJayne wrote:
What is a Hive (in this context)...

The "hives" is the skin eruption which the main female lead gets when encountering people of the opposite gender

See Allergic to Love. Girls Bravo and one version of Hanaukyo Maid Tai were my first references. And just to clarify... the nosebleeds are code for uncontrollable sexual arousal or physical attraction, not allergic reactions. It's a Japanese thing, and who knows how that got started Smile And now I have to mention the latest epic reversal example in Kannagi when the female art club president Takako explodes at a scene between two guys.

I'm really looking forward to this show, since I happen to be a big Shinbo and SZS fan myself. But ep 2 is out, so I'll watch before commenting further.
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