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AKA: Mahoromatic Natsu no TV Special, Mahoromatic Summer 2003 TV Special, Mahoromatic Summer TV Special Ecchi Nano wa Ikenai To Omoimasu
Genre: Comedy
Length: Television special, 23 minutes
Distributor: R1 DVD from Geneon out of print.
Content Rating: 16+ (nudity, fan service)
Related Series: Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden, Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful
Also Recommended: Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden, Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful
Notes: A side story of the Mahoromatic series.
Rating:

Mahoromatic: Summer Special

Synopsis

I've taken the liberty of including the cover blurb of this title, because -- again -- it tells you everything you need to know about it far better than any synopsis I could come up with:

"Before Suguru faced the dire threats to humanity from Management, he had to fight the truly important battle - the right to dirty thoughts! However, when the ever-vigilant Mahoro recruits Rin, Chizuko, and Miyuki to eliminate Suguru's precious 'H' collection, he must make a stand! Fortunately, he can rely upon the help of his friends, Hamaguchi and Kawahara, but what sacrifices must be made for the greater good?"

For me, that would be twenty-three minutes that I'll never get back.


Review

For a single episode that is effectively a part of the second season of Mahoromatic, there were many, many ways these twenty-three minutes could have been put to use. It could have featured a story to soften up the feeling I got from the rather jarring ending of the second season. It could have been used to give us a better insight to the secondary crew. It could even have been used for another filler episode with Mahoro, Suguru and the gang going somewhere and goofing off. (Seeing as this is a summer special, that would have been fitting. Right?)

In short, anything ... yes, ANYTHING, would have been better than what they DID with the Summer special.

You see, one of the running jokes throughout the two seasons of Mahoromatic is Suguru's nudie magazines, which on random occasions are discovered and confiscated by Mahoro, much to Suguru (and his friends') chagrin. I didn't really have a problem with those instances. The PROBLEM, however, was that the production team apparently didn't think there was enough of that particular branch of the humor tree in Mahoromatic. The solution? Have the ENTIRE Summer special be about Suguru and his nudie mags (he has a collection that would make Motosuwa Hideki rub his aching jaw after picking it up from the floor) and, as noted by the synopsis, his struggle to keep them away from the girls, with Mahoro in the lead.

Can you hear that sound? That's the sound of one hand clapping. Well, to be exact, it's the sound of me slapping my forehead in disgust, which is technically clapping. Sort of.

......

Anyway, to get back on the subject, that's the main issue I had with this Summer "special." While I don't MIND ecchi humor, I didn't want to watch the main character run from a gaggle of girls, nudie magazines in hand, for almost the ENTIRE episode. (Granted, he gets help from his friends in the beginning, but that's just technicalities again.) For a minute or two, this might have been amusing. For five ... well, I might still be cracking a smile. For fifteen? Forget it!

The art and animation on this one is easily on par with the two seasons themselves for all the good that does. The fan service is also on par with the shows themselves. (The girls HAD to make plans for their mission while bathing, of course.) At this point, though, I don't care. This Summer "special" is a disaster that only manages to raise a few half-hearted chuckles from me at the beginning. By the end, I was well and thoroughly fed up with the whole thing. It's a monumental waste of time, space, and fan service.

For purchase, rentals -- or even TV viewings -- there are far better options out there. This one should be left together with the piles of ecchi magazines Mahoro has confiscated, never to be watched again.

This is as low as you can get without dropping to one star.Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: Teenagers or older. While there's no rampant or full frontal nudity (it's a somewhat steamy bathhouse), there is nudity present. Outside of that, there isn't anything particularly objectionable except the existence of this Summer "Special."



Version(s) Viewed: digital source
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Mahoromatic: Summer Special © 2003 Gainax
 
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