Review for Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful - Volume 1

Introduction

When it became clear that MVM were going to release Mahoromatic - Something More Beautiful, I naturally became curious about the property, and quickly realised that it was the continuation of an existing story. With ADV product quickly vanishing from UK shop shelves, I hastened to buy the first three volume series, so that I could find out how the story begins. It turns out that such diligence in the field of reviewing can be a mixed blessing, especially as I found Mahoromatic - Automatic Maiden to be somewhat trite and mundane. But maybe having low expectations for the second part is a good thing. Watching the first couple of episodes of Something More Beautiful did throw up one annoyance. This isn't a show big on recaps. It's now a matter of finding out how much the second series depends on the first, and whether you should be hunting down those few remaining copies of Mahoromatic's first series from e and retailers.


Mahoromatic is sort of part Evangelion and part Love Hina, unsurprising when you see that studios Gainax and Shaft produced the anime. It's set in an alternate world, where aliens invaded in the 1980s, and a group named Vesper created combat androids to protect the world from the insidious menace of Saint. Following a successful tour of duty, one such android faces the end of her existence. Mahoro has just 37 days left to live if she continues to fight, but if she shuts down her combat programming, that will be extended to 398, and given her exemplary service, her commanders offer her the choice as to how to live out her life. She decides to live out her last days, serving a young orphan named Suguru as his maid. But there is a reason why Mahoro has chosen Suguru. At the end of the first season, Mahoro had an inconclusive battle with the Saint android Ryuga, who was masquerading as Suguru's schoolteacher. Now as this second series begins, Ryuga and Mahoro have made peace, and Ryuga is trying out life as a human, when into Mahoro and Suguru's lap falls the cyborg warrior 370, who is fleeing her masters in The Management. You wouldn't have expected it, but Suguru's life is actually going to get more complicated.


The first five episodes of Mahoromatic - Something More Beautiful are presented on this disc from MVM.

1. Return of the Maid
Life is slowly settling back down into a new balance as autumn approaches. Ryuga has decided to learn more about being a human, and while Mahoro's tech support Slash, doesn't approve, Mahoro isn't about to let the panther and the Saint android come to blows about it. Life is getting back to normal for Suguru as well, as he's back to his usual routine of appreciating the finest in female erotica, while trying in vain to keep his stash hidden from Mahoro's disapproving eyes. But the return to normality is short lived, when a mysterious young blonde girl follows Suguru home and Mahoro has to protect her from a sniper, as well as some military attack robots.

2. From Today On, You Are Minawa
The blonde girl is the cyborg warrior 370, or rather she was. Now she is a trainee maid, and Mahoro's kid sister Minawa Ando. She's been adopted, and taken into the protective custody of Suguru's home, where she's now learning to wait hand and foot on her new master. Actually, she's clumsy, apologetic, and fearful of her former masters, The Management. The Management are the secret government that has been pursuing the war with Saint, and they want their cyborg back. But Mahoro is a Vesper robot, and Vesper has been tasked with keeping the Management and Saint apart until they can come to terms, and The Management aren't too keen on taking the superior technology of Mahoro on. So everyone is keeping an eye on Minawa. Suguru and Mahoro are trying to keep her safe, Ryuga and Slash don't trust her in the slightest, thinking she is a spy and a plant, while The Management are looking for the first opportunity to retrieve her. And all the while, Minawa keeps falling flat on her face.


3. Dreams Should Be Grand
Boobs! Everyone is contemplating boobs. There's a new product on the market promising to enhance even the most limited of cleavages, and against Ms Shikijo, Mahoro always comes up short. And even though she always disapproves of Suguru's choice of reading material, she can't help but wonder if he would appreciate her more if she were more 'forward'. It turns out that when the machine arrives, it doesn't exactly work on androids. You'd think that with The Management making another play for Minawa, it would get more serious, but Vesper have sent a secret weapon that just happens to be a bra. And the activation code is…

4. Mahoro Goes To School
Vesper has a code yellow alert, their new threat recognition software has discovered a bomb threat, and it's at Suguru's school of all places. Mahoro has to go undercover as a student to sniff out and deal with the danger. It's the worst disguise ever, but since everyone is more interested in the school festival, she has plenty of time to search with Suguru, Minawa and Slash in tow. But there's more than one person searching, and this is a bomb that is very much in demand. In fact people are fighting to obtain it.

5. Will I Catch A Cold Tomorrow?
Minawa's having nightmares about her past. Suguru is spending all his time alone in his room, and Mahoro is feeling neglected. It must be Christmas. The Misato household is going to host a big party, and that means a lot of preparing to be done. And it looks like Minawa has a secret admirer.

Picture

Mahoromatic gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, which is as clear and sharp as an NTSC-PAL conversion usually gets, relatively free of ghosting, and smoothly animated. This second series seems to have moved on from the hand drawn look of the first, and it's as clean and bright as most of the CG animated shows of the period. It certainly doesn't look as rough and organic as the first series. It's a pretty straightforward comedy anime, with simple character designs and fairly standard animation, and then one of the action scenes kicks in and you can see some of that GAINAX magic, fluid and expressive action, and with the sort of quirkiness that infuses shows like FLCL and would later show up in Gurren Lagann.

Sound

You have the usual anime choices of DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with optional signs and subtitles. I went with the Japanese track as always, and found it more than acceptable, if a little typical for comedy shows of the period. This is a show that is getting on in years, and the English dub is also showing its age. It's not Love Hina bad, but it certainly pales against modern efforts.

Extras

The disc has static menus and a jacket picture, while each episode ends in a Satellite Poem.

Conclusion

If you want to keep up with the story, then you'll probably be better off tracking down those remaining copies of Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden, as Something More Beautiful dives straight in, with little or no effort at a recap. It's pretty much a straight continuation of the story, although it does introduce new characters and a new story thread, otherwise you'll have no idea of why Slash and Ryuga hate each other, what the dynamics between Vesper and Saint are, and just why certain characters behave the way they do. Then again, if you're here just for the comedy, the Benny Hill sauciness, and the character hijinks, then you can probably get away without the first series, and not really be bothered by those serious plot points whizzing overhead, as they really aren't why you're watching this anyway.


I wasn't all that impressed with the first season of Mahoromatic when I watched it, finding an imbalance between the comedy and the darkness of the central storyline, as well as finding the show hardly original in its premise. I finished that review with the opinion that a second series could improve by finding a better balance between its story elements. For this first volume, Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful has toned down the serious side of things almost to non-existence, while concentrating more strongly on the comedy. That's another way of doing things, and to some extent, it has worked, as I find this second series to be a good deal funnier than the first. I do get the impression, with the introduction of the cyborg Minawa, and The Management faction, that it's saving up its tortured angst for the final episodes once again, possibly repeating that same imbalance that so pointedly failed to appeal in the first series. I could be wrong though.


There is something to the existing familiarity with the characters, and as this series is just a simple continuation, there's no time wasted getting to know back-stories and character motivations. As such, it's straight into the mayhem, with everyone settling down into their familiar roles. It's a quick reminder of where everyone is coming from, with Suguru sneaking some erotica into school, and Mahoro disapproving. There is also a new dynamic with the former enemy android Ryuga settling down in his mission to understand humanity, while establishing an antagonistic mutual distrust with Slash. Suguru's friends are still the same, and his teacher Miss Saori Shikijo still harbours an unseemly attraction to him. It also isn't long before the show reminds us of its breast fixation and frequent nudity, very much in the Benny Hill harmless sauciness frame of mind. But once that comfort zone has been established, it concludes the first episode by shaking up the status quo, and introducing Minawa into the mix, and with her a whole new political faction to enrich the back-story.


It turns out that Vesper aren't fighting the war against the aliens, they're trying to keep the peace between humanity and the forces of Saint. The methods Vesper uses are pretty indistinguishable from all-out war though. Human forces are lead by the secret government, The Management, who instead of androids, use young girl cyborgs as their weapons. Minawa is one of those cyborgs, who after being mistreated by her masters has gone on the run, and has decided that with Suguru and Mahoro, she stands a chance of a peaceful life. Her mistreatment becomes apparent in her fearful nature, and the fact that she is constantly apologising, although this is exaggerated for comic effect, with her continuously falling flat on her face. She adds an interesting dynamic to the Suguru household, not only because of her mysterious background, but also as she fills a kid sister role in the character dynamic. While Mahoro is forthright, strong and protective, Minawa is more vulnerable and childlike, and that expands the sort of stories that can be told.


I found Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful's first volume to be more entertaining, and downright funnier than the first series, but ironically, you'll have to watch that first series to appreciate the second to the utmost. It will still appeal to those who just want the funny stuff, and aren't too bothered about the overall narrative, but really I think MVM are aiming this at fans and owners of the first series. Hopefully there are enough of them out there to make this worthwhile. In the end, it's a pleasant bit of fun, and a nice way to waste two hours.