Jan 31 2009
Winter Anime Review: Maria Holic - Ep 3
Maria Holic - Ep 3
Studio: SHAFT
Air Date: 1/18/09
Genre: Yuri Comedy
The Story
In the third episode of ‘Maria Holic’, it’s going to be a very busy day for Kanako. It’s time for her to learn how to say her prayers properly but she doesn’t have a rosary. Maria, being as generous as he is, loans her a very valuable rosary just to see her stress about taking care of it but also gives her a brand new bag that seems to have something living inside of it. Not sure what it is but according to Maria: it’s slimy, can eat an elephant whole, can be considered cute once you got used to it and may not be from this world. Meanwhile, Haruka’s fans are still bullying Kanako for stealing her away from them.
Good and the Bad
Still experimenting and having fun, the writing in the third episode of ‘Maria Holic’ seems to have finally found a balance between being over the top and being funny. Most of the jokes that have been everywhere for the first two episodes are going to return here; Kanako is still overreacting to everything but now her reactions have all been toned down to long, rambling monologues. Anyone who can keep up with these monologues is going to laugh at how far out there the thought patterns end up going.
A very welcome addition to the writing of this series however is the use of deadpan humor. Occasionally ‘Maria Holic’ has tried to insert dead pan humor into the series, especially with the dorm manager. It’s never really stuck however and almost disappeared entirely in episode two. The first sequence of this episode has some great deadpan moments though and so one hopes that it will remain a staple in the comedy of future episodes.
The story so far in ‘Maria Holic’ is developing at a very brisk pace. What’s enjoyable about the story telling in this episode is that instead of a grand story being developed little by little, so far the series has been developing relationships little by little. Every episode so far, Kanako has been meeting new girls and slowly building new relationships. In this episode, audiences are already starting to get a feel for whom Kanako might be friends with and who they might tease relationships with.
Music
Besides having a bunch of new colors in the opening animation, little about the music really stood out in this episode which is surprising. Usually filled with above average music at least, this episode really didn’t use a lot of background music to get the story across. New to the series however is a brand new animation to go with the closing theme done in a very low tech video game style (early Nintendo graphics). It looks very good though and came across as really fun.
Cast
The supporting cast is really starting to step up and make their roles noticeable and fun but Yu Kobayashi still owns this series as Maria.
Overall
The first episode had me worried but after that it’s been smooth sailing and there was never a doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t be continuing this series. With the jokes and characters really falling into place, the slice of life yuri humor consistently keeps me entertained and makes me want to see more. While it’s rare for ‘Maria Holic’ to make me laugh out loud, it always makes me smile.
