Zyl on April 23, 2010 · in Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

Okaerinasaimase goshujin-sama! Epi is away on vacation so your Pinku Meido Zylon will be at your service over these next three episodes kukuku.

Summary:

After many false starts, a reluctant and awkward Misaki, spurred by Black Honoka’s taunts, finally manages to put up a decent performance of the loli imouto chara during the Little Sister event at Maid Latte. Takumi then shows up and wears her down until she explodes. But in the aftermath of the eruption, the staff and customers are delighted by the air-headed tsundere sister that emerges; Misaki is finally being more true to herself.

Back in school, Takumi turns down an NPC girl’s confession and happens to see a gallant Misaki hurt her arm while saving a mischievous male student she had been trying to rein in. He forces her to accept his first aid and escorts her to Maid Latte; Satsuki, the manager, has a massive moe flower bloom when Takumi tells her not to help Misaki too obviously as that will only make her push herself harder. He has also finally decided on the colour, for the next Maid Ranger event, that suits Misaki aesthetically and which also brings out her personality – white – a colour that seeks to hold onto its own path but also draws him to try to influence it.

Reaction:

I’ve watched this episode several times and it rocked my (floppy) socks off every time; the enjoyment it gave my Brother in Oneesama and Yuri, Crusader, is also evident.  Takumi shone in the way he understood Misaki first with his provocation at the event and the covert support advice he gave to Satsuki. Misaki also sparkled when she ZA-KYUNed Takumi with her gallantry as a shoujo manga heroine and also nearly triggered the flags of her classmates, Shizuko and Sakura, while trying to learn about their experiences as younger sisters. It was also nice to see Takumi x Misaki bickering like a seasoned couple as well as being physically close.

There was also quite a lot of otaku pandering in this episode. One of the three stooges came out as a closet otaku who could sketch in manga-style quite well; Takumi, the most desired male in the school, put on a meido otaku act to try and put her off; most importantly, Misaki – through the universal ethic of wanting to do the best job she can – immerses herself in the otaku subculture that she is disdainful of but which shapes the context that Maid Latte operates within. In doing so, she also gained deeper understanding of the cafe’s vision and mission. It’s a classic and relatively uncritical Normal Person Discovers Otaku Culture Isn’t As Bad As It’s Made Out To Be narrative which Genshiken has irrevocably skewered in my mind.

Nonetheless two supporting characters, who were the leading representatives of the otaku subculture’s point of view in this episode, Honoka and Satsuki, really captured my attention and affections. Manic and Black Honoka’s awesomeness was more obvious in the way she could tell it like it is with such a sweet smile and was the spur for Misaki’s determination to overcome and excel. On the other hand, Satsuki was a constant reassuring presence watching over the girls. And I just love the way she tries to support Misaki in learning to enjoy her work as well as her Misaki x Takumi fangirling. My own moe flowers bloom the most for her~~