The Essentials
Name: Maria Holic
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 12
Aired: January 4, 2009 – March 22, 2009
Based On: Maria Holic manga by Minari Endo
Director: Yukihiro Miyamoto
Produced By: SHAFT, Genco
US Distribution By: Not Licensed
Cast
| Character | Japanese Cast | English Cast (N/A) |
|---|---|---|
| Kanako Miyamae: | Asami Sanada | |
| Mariya Shido: | Yu Kobayashi | |
| Matsurika Shinouji: | Marina Inoue | |
| Nanami Kiri: | Akemi Kanda | |
| Sachi Momoi: | Ryoko Shintani | |
| Yuzuru Inamori: | Saori Goto | |
| Dorm Leader: | Miyuki Sawashiro |
Review
Maria Holic is about a girl, Kanako, who transfers to the Catholic high school Ame no Kisaki in hopes of finding her partner in life just like her parents did. There are a few problems, however: Kanako isn’t Catholic, Ame no Kisaki is an all-girls school and her father was a teacher and not a student there, all-girl schools aren’t the yuri paradises that Kanako imagines them to be, Kanako is very tall, and she breaks out in rashes whenever boys touch her.
There’s also another problem: Kanako’s prime dating candidate, Mariya, happens to be a cross-dressing guy who turns the tables on Kanako buy pointing out that many people at the Catholic school she’s attending may be unhappy about her lesbianism while no one would believe that Mariya, the grandchild of the school’s ex-chairman, is actually a cross-dressing guy. He is overall quite sadistic towards Kanako, whom he decides to room with to keep his eyes on her, along with his maid Matsurika who regards both Mariya and Kanako as perverts. However, all of this doesn’t stop Kanako from having frequent hallucinations about the other girls in the school, resulting in massive nose bleeds that often land her in the infirmary.
This series suffers a bit from repetitive jokes, but it still does a decent job of keeping things fresh and funny. While this series ended up dropping off a bit from it’s start, it still ended up being a decent series to watch. Probably the biggest issues I have with it are it’s lack of any real central plot, making it more of a random or episodic comedy, and it’s inconsistent humor. This is a series which probably could have lived up to it’s potential a a lot better, but it could have been a lot worse as well.
The animation in this show is rather washed out stylistically, which I thought was sometimes annoying, but it wasn’t too bad in the grand scheme of things, I guess. The music is also pretty good. Overall, if you like a random yuri comedy series, you may very well like Maria Holic.
Scores
Story: 3/5
Animation: 4/5
Music: 4/5
English Dubs: N/A
Overall: 4/5
First Watched: January – March 2009
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes