Great news for anime fans in Southeast Asia! Animax-Asia will be simulcasting the anime adapatation of Hiro Fujiwara’s manga, Kaichou wa Maid-Sama!
Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! tells the story of Misaki Ayuzawa (voiced by Ayumi Fujimura), the student council president of Seika High, a former all-boys school recently converted to become co-ed. Due to some family history, she despises the mostly male population of her school. Things change, when one of the most handsome guys in school, Takumi Usui (Nobuhiko Okamoto), finds out a secret of hers – that she works part-time as a maid at a maid cafe. Thus, an amusing relationship begins between the two.
Kaichou wa Maid-Sama! premiers on 4th April 2010, 8.30PM (SG) / 7.30PM (JKT) (Source: Animax-Asia)
Thoughts: I’ve never been a big fan of Rom Com animes (Except for maybe Nodame?) but the production values seem pretty good. With J.C. Staff (Nodame Cantabile, Hayate no Gotoku!!) in charge of animation and Hiroaki Sakurai (DiGi Charat Movie, GA) directing, it does look promising. I will at least give it a try for a couple of episodes.
DK says: The manga grew on me after a while, once they got over the opening introduction bits (which weren’t bad, just… not all that interesting). The relationship between Misaki and Usui is fascinating to watch develop, albeit a little frustrating for both viewers and characters. Fortunately this is offset by the humour, which I hope is translated well onto the screen.
The three complete idiots Misaki fanboys take a while to get used to, though.