Maria†Holic Alive 01 – 04

MIYAMAEEEEE KANAKOOOOOOOO!~

For those of you who don’t know, Maria†Holic is about a girl named Miyamae Kanako enrolling into the same all girl’s school that her (now deceased) mother did in hopes of finding her true love (as before mentioned mother did in her high school days). Due to a traumatic experience in her past, Kanako now has a crippling fear of men and hopes to find a female partner. The catch: she has a mind similar to a perverted old man and often suffers from ‘mysterious’ nose bleeds. Oh, and her seemingly perfect roommate, Mariya Shidou, is actually a sadistic cross dressing male. Yes, it’s a comedy series. This being the second season, character introductions are long over and the plotline is well on its way.

Season two starts with Kanako, saying her usual monologue to her mother in heaven. She talks about how she’s finally used to a more elegant life at Ame no Kisaki however, this turns out to be a dream and  Mariya wakes her up dressed as a plane stewardess. After being messed with for a bit, Kanako leaves the dorm only to end up lost. While wandering aimlessly, she stumbles on to the First Girl’s dorm which just happens to be the place with the tree where her parents became a couple.

ITTEKIMASU!

Hell bent on having a ‘fateful encounter’ (the word ‘harem’ works here too) with one (or more) of her friends, Kanako decides to invite them all to go see the legendary tree. However, being close to an all boy’s school, the former residents have set the place up as a giant building of traps (…no, not that kind XD). After making it through the games trials, Kanako and her friends finally make it to the tree, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.

Mariya and Matsurika waiting are by the tree and Kanako, confused, asks how they got there, though being a deus ex machina character, Matsurika probably teleported.

As it turns out, there was a trap free back gate they could have gone through, but seeing Kanako’s determination, they decided to take the long way around.  All thoughts of harem building gone, Kanako is dragged off to go through the trials again, while everyone else takes the back door out.

You’re just jealous that you don’t have your own orchestra.

Some time later, it’s the rainy season and confined to the dorm, the Dorm Mistress, Ryuken and Yonakuni are all gathered in Kanako and Mariya’s room for snacks. Once again, Kanako ends up feeling left out in the world of the rich and prestigious. Why? It seems that everyone and their dog (literally) has a custom card game but her. It’s at that moment that Father Kanae appears at the door, causing Kanako to freak out.

A wild priest appears!

Wild priest uses box! It’s super effective!

The Dorm Mistress attempts to scold him for being in the girl’s dorm, but is quickly bribed with a new 3D television that Father Kanae just ‘happened’ to bring with him. The fun and games come to an end end when the snacks run out and the Dorm Mistress (aka God) decides that they’ve had enough rainy weather and the skies instantly clear up.

The scene then changes to a sunny day in the dorm, and Kanako has a fit because Mariya and Matsurika are doing nothing while she is cleaning. Her ranting stops when she suddenly realises that Mariya’s side of the room is spotless and her side is that’s the mess. It’s at that moment that Father Kanae appears at the door, ready to help. Kanako promptly collapses and starts foaming at the mouth.

Maid induced hallucinations, go!

In the classroom, it turns out that Kanako’s friend Nanami has rewarded her recent hard work with a new pair of lenses for her glasses. Kanako’s other friends Yuzuru and Sachi have also recently rewarded themselves by buying something. Feeling left out again, Kanako rants to Mariya that she also wants to be rewarded. It’s at that moment, Father Kanae appears at the door and we have a repeat of the last performance.

Knowing Kanako, she’s all about encounters and her new plan is to look in the city for an encounter with a ‘flustered office lady’. Before she can put her plan into action, however, a major problem arises: her skirt won’t zip up all the way. Apparently all the snack eating from the rainy season has caught up with her. Instead of doing something rational, Kanako decides to take the default way to dieting- NOT EATING ANYTHING AT ALL.

In or out of context, this picture makes no sense.

Of course, after a few days, she’s gone insane from hunger. In the middle of the night, the dorm wakes up to find to a disturbing scene of Kanako crawling around on the ceiling trying to eat Yonakuni. The entire thing turns out to be in vain because after Kanako has finally lost the extra weight, Mariya informs Kanako that the students of Ame no Kisaki are only allowed to wear their uniforms around town anyways.

Kanako’s attack on Yonakuni, however, would not be forgotten. In the middle of class, an arrow comes crashing through the window, impaling Kanako through the head (somehow missing all of the other people sitting in a row beside her). Nanami tells them not to worry because they’re trick arrows like they used in the Sengoku Era… Er, right. Attached to them is a letter from the ‘court’.

“I want you to take this sheet and write three things you could never hope to achieve” Oh, wait. Wrong series.

With Mariya as the prosecutor, the Dorm Mistress as the judge and Matsurika of all people as the defense lawyer, the trial of Kanako commences. Being a court case, there were many Phoenix Wright references to be had.

OBJECTION!

Just as Kanako finally begins winning the case, her weird faced alarm clock begins to ring. Explaining that she has a ‘certain show’ to watch at 6:30 that she doesn’t want to miss NO MATTER WHAT, the Dorm Mistress promptly leaves the room. Left alone without a judge, the jury decides that charging Kanako with property damage would be the best decision. At this point, Matsurika says that she has already made arrangements and suddenly the Father Kanae bursts through the door. Uttering the name of some mythical demon creature, Kanako tries to escape, but to no avail. After being forced to listen to the priest’s sermon all night, Kanako returns to her room only to be informed that exams are that day. The episode ends with her failing all subjects and having to take extra sessions in the faculty room.

This opening is probably just full of old anime references that I completely  failed to pick up on

Nanami shows off some dere

Traps, maids and tentacles? This anime has it all.

…Just back away slowly. It can sense fear.

To be fair, I’d probably sue too if I woke up to find THIS attempting to eat my dog

End Thoughts:

Four episodes in and Maria Holic Alive is just filled with awesome comedy. Sure, the plot is practically nonexistent, but since when does Maria Holic have a plot? Plus, the opening and ending songs are just as catchy and unique as the last season (in my opinion at least). Giant robots that have absolutely nothing to do with the series+old school opening music = epic.

Is it just me, or is this second series focusing a LOT more on Matsurika and the Dorm Mistress? I mean, Mariya didn’t even appear in the majority of the first episode (and he hasn’t been as sadistic as he was last season). And since when is Matsurika (somewhat) NICE to Kanako? When she appeared as the defence lawyer, I automatically figured it would all go to hell, but she actually defended Kanako seriously. Aside from the end that is, but her intentions are hard to figure out.

In other related news, recently, I found out that the Dorm Mistress (aka God) is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro. Yes, THE Miyuki Sawashirio. I knew the woman was talented, but really, it blows my mind every time I watch Maria Holic now; it sounds nothing like her usual voice acting.

Preview:

Being animated by SHAFT, Maria Holic Alive fails to have a proper preview for the next episode and instead ends with a rather obvious crossover with Madoka Magica which I enjoyed anyways. The mystery! Will Matsurika’s full intentions ever be revealed? Will Mariya have more screen time? WILL KANAKO EVER GET HER SWIMMING POOL EPISODE?! ONLY TIME WILL TELL. Until next time!

Just when you thought it was over, SHAFT throws this at you.

…So who wrote this?:

With the recap done, I’ll introduce myself. Hello, I’m Karakuri one of the new writers of Metanorn~! For now, I’ll be covering Maria Holic Alive and Sket Dance. Manga and anime wise, I don’t really prefer one over the other –if I’ve read it, chances are I’ll watch it and if I’ve watched it, I’ll read it. As for filler episodes, I don’t really mind them as long as they’re entertaining and done well (as in, not creating any character inconsistencies or creating giant plot holes ahaha). I’m completely new to blogging so hopefully we can get along! It’s nice to meet you all~!

About Karakuri

University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.