Zyl on May 4, 2010 · in Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

Summary:

A recent spate of incidents targeting the employees of cosplay cafes has put the staff of Maid Latte on edge and Satsuki even distributes a selection of self-defence equipment. Misaki says she doesn’t need one and demonstrates her Aikido skills during her punishment session for slacker Student Council members. Even the very strong Takumi is defeated when he plays stalker in a failed attempt to remind Misaki, who had been minding the shop alone, that she is still a girl and therefore vulnerable.

Misaki is left alone after hours again when Satsuki has to attend yet another association meeting. This time, despite remembering to lock the back door, Misaki is surprised by a pair of customers who had been staking her out. They handcuff and tape-gag her, saying that she is The One they have been searching for. Takumi is about to charge in to save her but a hugely pissed off Misaki breaks free and knocks them out on her own. Satsuki faints when she returns and sees the balcony glass door that Takumi broke. The next day the lesson that Misaki seems to have learnt is that she needs to be stronger still. But this narrative is immediately subverted by photos from last episode’s cute frilly pink dress taken by Honoka – which Aoi-chan obligingly sends to Takumi.

Reaction:

I was quite uncomfortable for much of this episode. First, I had assumed that the Moral of the Story would be to be Misaki to learn her lesson that she needs a man (i.e. Takumi) to protect her. Second, the way in which this was to be conveyed could have been seriously nasty given the whole setup with the threat of violence (especially the taser), the way she was restrained and the possibility of Something Really Bad happening if Takumi had not intervened. Given that Maid-sama! isn’t late night or pay TV anime, it was pretty much impossible anything really terrible would happen but still… this could have completely destroyed Misaki as a character.  I was *so* relieved that she didn’t really need Takumi’s help after all and what her two assailants really wanted was a good spanking. Ironically Misaki was indeed the perfect choice and they did get what they wanted and more, without even having to ask! That said, dere Misaki was great too.

The wider ecosystem of Maid Latte also really intrigued me. I wonder if the association is just for cosplay cafes or just a general trade association for the area. Also it seems that Satsuki is not just a hired manager but, given the depth of her involvement in the running of the business, could be the actual owner of the cafe.  Somehow the thought of her plowing through the management accounts’ trial balance sheet, profit/loss statement, income statement, equity position and detailed breakdown of operational/administrative expenses makes me even more moe for her.

What Others Are Saying:

• Kyokai has a wonderful set of animated gifs showcasing some of the best scenes of this episode such as Prepare to be punished I and II as well as Dere Misaki. Absolutely wonderful!!
• Divine found Misaki “snapping handcuffs in a fit of rage is still pretty ridiculous” but I rationalize it as them using cheap plastic toy handcuffs as the real things are actually not that easy to get hold of (Don’t ask how I know~). I must also quote him for this marvellous turn of phrase about Takumi: “definitely a man out on a mission to protect the girl he loves (…to tease).”
• SPIRAL reaps a bountiful harvest of comments for his comment on the Pearbook.

Next week Epi will return to the blogging of this series so please look forward to it!