Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys, we’re entering the final week of February and since I’ve been reviewing romcoms all month we don’t we finish up with the classic romcom Mayo Chiki. Mayo Chiki is a light novel written by Hajime Asano from 2009-2012 with a manga adaption from 2010-2013. The series is as classic a romcom as you can get. Boy meets girl, they both have problems, they help each other out, they develop feelings for each other, a few other girls fall for the boy, and we have a couple of romantic scenes with some laughs thrown in there. It’s as classic and basic you can get. In 2011 the studio Feel (KissxSis and Outbreak Company) turned the series into an anime getting a lot of people interested in the series as well as giving them a good laugh. Let’s end February on a peaceful and calm note. This is Mayo Chiki.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Be Starters!” by Eri Kitamura. It’s a lighthearted song that’s simple but one that I enjoy very much. I don’t I just find Eri’s voice to be very soothing throughout the song. I don’t get to hear her sing that much that I forget that Eri is a good singer. The ending is “Kimi ni Gohoushi” by Yuka Iguchi, Mariya Ise and Eri Kitamura. Another lighthearted song that’s soothing to the ears yet surprisingly I didn’t really care for it all that much. All the singes are good and harmonize with each other well but I just never found myself really getting into the song that much.
Episodes 1-4
We start the anime with our main character Kinjiro voiced by Satoshi Hino (Sho from Rail Wars) being rudely awakened by his sister Kureha who begins locking him in submission moves as well as perform wrestling moves on him (where’s JR when you need him?). After that horrible experience he goes to school where he sees Kanade voiced by Eri Kitamura (Cana from Fairy Tail) daughter of the school’s principal entering the school with her butler Subaru voiced by Yuka Iguchi (Mea from To Love Ru Darkness) the school idol who all the girls love (okay, is everyone in this anime blind, because that’s obviously a girl crossdressing. Like seriously, it’s as clear as day that Subaru is a girl). We see that Subaru is pretty much good at everything and as Kinjiro talks about how amazing he is his friend starts to wonder if he’s gay since he doesn’t talk to girls, show an interest in them, and is fascinated by Subaru (maybe he’s bi-curious). Kinjiro of course denies these claims and goes to the bathroom where he accidently opens a stall up and discovers Subaru’s secret, he is a girl (again, pretty obvious). This leads to a chase scene where Subaru tries to catch Kinjiro and make him forget what he saw where they get into a fight in the biology room where Kinjiro saves Subaru from a jar of frogs (who keeps frogs in a far, they’re not butterflies) and once he feels up her chest where he finally discovers that Subaru is a girl and gets knocked out. He wakes up in the nurse’s office one-handed chain to the bed post (been there. That was one fun night in Texas) and Kanade by his side where we see she’s quite the sadist as she enjoys teasing and tormenting him (story of my life right now) and even figures his nickname being chicken which he really hates (for those of you confused allow me to explain. Kinjiro’s last name is Sakamachi and since the Japanese put the family name before your given name Kinjiro’s full name creates a pun on the English word chicken. “Chi” from Sakamachi and “Kin” Kinjiro). As she continues teasing him using her body he gets a nosebleed and discovers that he has a slight fear of women. After the teasing she explains to Kinjiro that Subaru’s family has served her family for generations (it was either that or work in the whore house) with butlers always serving the next heir to the family. Since Subaru is a girl she can’t be a butler which meant she couldn’t serve as Kanade’s butler (you can serve as a maid). But, Subaru wanted to be a butler so they worked out a deal that Subaru can be a butler and serve by Kanade’s side as long as she crossdresses as a boy for the remainder of her school life (uh why? Why not just be a maid or what’s the big deal if she wants to be a butler? This whole thing feels unnecessarily complicated and stupid). Kanade makes Kinjiro promise not to tell anyone which he’s more than happy to do and as a thank you she agrees to help cure Kinjiro of his fear of women.
In episode 2 news spreads fast about Kinjiro and Subaru being friends and hanging out together. This causes a rumor to start where everyone believes Kinjiro and Subaru are gay and in a relationship with each other (how did they come to this conclusion? So what, two guys can’t hangout and be friends?). This pisses off the Shooting Star Subaru-Sama (S4) club members of Subaru’s fan club who tries to kill Kinjiro off but their attempts get stopped by the Serve Subaru Observational Committee (SSOC) another fan club of Subaru who support Subaru’s relationship with Kinjiro (man it’s a reflection of the Republic and Democratic party). After school Kanade takes the first step to helping cure Kinjiro’s fear of women, going on a date with Kanade (that’ll work). She changes into a school girl outfit and they head to the arcade where Kinjiro wins a stuffed animal sheep for Subaru (which I believe was the prototype for the stuffed animals in Kampfer cause this thing is pretty disturbing). They then head to a park where Kinjiro says he doesn’t necessarily have a fear of women (of course not, he’s hanging out with a girl) his body just reacts that way to women in general thanks to his mom and sister. We find out that Kinjiro’s mom is actually a world-class wrestler and when he was little his mother would practice wrestling moves on him (okay I’m pretty sure that’s child abuse. Also, what happened to the don’t try this at home ads you guys have been forcing down our throats for years?). Kureha soon started to mimic her mom and soon Kinjiro became their punching bag with them only stopping when he started to bleed so while mentally he’s okay with women his body isn’t and is afraid that women will hurt him if they get too close. After this talk Kanade calls and tells Kinjiro to use the butler voucher he received earlier in the episode as a reward for not getting a nosebleed on their date. This voucher forces Subaru to do one wish whatever the person having the voucher orders her to do no matter what. Kinjiro’s request is for her to baa like a sheep (clearly this is your first time holding power. Scene here: //youtu.be/Ql2A3J8Egac). After this Kureha comes charging in where she reveals she’s been spying on them all day and believes Subaru has corrupted Kinjiro into becoming gay (do you really think a guy would look good in that uniform?). She attacks Subaru but gets easily beaten and runs away crying (she can throw punches but she can’t take them. Sounds like people on Youtube). The next day at school it’s physical examination and Kanade has given Kinjiro and Subaru the challenge of keeping her true gender a secret from the rest of the boys. So throughout the examination Kinjiro keeps asking the doctor to do Subaru’s measurements where the two experience great embarrassment and add fuel to that little rumor going around (well now that little rumor has become a forest fire spreading across the school and burning everyone and everything down). They manage to make it through the examination with Subaru’s secret not being exposed and she passes out from exhaustion while they have lunch together. Kanade comes in where she tells Kinjiro that growing up Subaru never really had friends but now she can rest easy because Kinjiro has become her friend. The episode ends with Kinjiro returning home and Kureha telling him that she’s fallen in love with Subaru (so the little sister is unknowingly going lesbian. Sure, go ahead and experiment).
In episode 3 Kanade sets up a double date between her, Kinjiro, Subaru, and Kureha where Kanade being the mischievous girl that she (and just enjoys torturing Kinjiro) convinces Kureha that she and Kinjiro are going out and despite not seeing them together at all, having heard her brother not talk about her, and not acting at all like a couple she believes her. While at the pool Subaru becomes uncomfortable and overly protective with Kanade because when the two were little they were both kidnapped at the pool however they were quickly rescued after their kidnapping. While Kanade has recovered from the experience and moved on with her life Subaru is still traumatized by the experience and blames herself for not being strong enough to protect Kanade back then and soon developed a fear of sharp objects from the experience. After Kinjiro and Subaru save a kid from drowning they return to find out that Kanade and Kureha have been kidnapped by a guy wearing a wolf mask who claims to be one of the kidnappers from back then and now wants revenge. Subaru is frozen with fear so Kinjiro knocks her out and goes to face the kidnapper himself (oh sure, take out the butler who’s obviously stronger and more skilled in combat than you Mr. Masochist. What are you gonna do, ask be balled and gagged?). He goes to face the kidnapper where he gets the crap beat out of him until Subaru shows up, conquers her fears, and defeats the kidnapper herself (now let’s sees who behind all of this). They unmask the kidnapper to reveal that it’s old man Jenkins from Scooby-Doo (of course! I should have known it was him from the obvious clue). No, it’s actually Subaru’s father overly affectionate dad Nagare (he and Spirit from Soul Eater would get along) who was told to do this at the request of Kanade in order to help make Subaru stronger and get over her fears. Right away you can tell he doesn’t like Kinjiro being around his daughter (get used to it. . .dad) and later on Subaru and Kinjiro have a moment at Kanade’s mansion which gets interrupted by Kureha who reveals that their trip to the pool was supposed to be a date between Kanade and Kinjiro. This of course upsets Subaru and she chases after Kinjiro along with Kureha.
In the fourth episode it’s Golden Week (so enjoy, relax, take a seat, say hi to Christopher Walken, //youtu.be/Lt7Uehi4ZIE?t=27s) and Kinjiro has the whole house to himself as Kureha has gone on a camping trip with her club. However, his relaxing holiday weekend gets interrupted with the arrival of Subaru who needs a place to crash after getting into a fight with Nagare (was it about the crossdressing?) about Kinjiro. Kinjiro lets her in and she decides to earn her keep by being his personal butler during her stay. Kureha returns home early with a broken arm after getting into a fight with a bear (what kind of club are you in?) and soon Kanade comes over saying she won’t leave until Subaru comes home and she decides to become Kinjiro’s maid while she stays over (make her wash your back). This leads to a brief competition to see who can serve the best with Kanade winning each round and Kinjiro passing out from a cold where Kureha begins to panic because in the past their father died from an illness when they were both young and now she’s afraid her brother will die on her too. Subaru takes care of him using several questionable cures (scene here: //youtu.be/dxeS2oQvbqM) where Kanade reveals that Subaru’s mother also died from an illness when Subaru was a child and just like Kureha is afraid she’ll lose him just like she lost her mother. Fearful for his life Kinjiro tries to patch things up between Subaru and Nagare so Kanade takes him to Nagare where we see he also got kicked out of the mansion for his family dispute and is now living by the beach (which I’m sure is against the law). Subaru refuses to return to the mansion because she wants to take care of Kinjiro (you being near him is putting his life in danger) where an argument erupts between her and Nagare where she says she hates him which doesn’t sit well with Kinjiro and he tells her to make up with her dad where he gets lightheaded and passes out shortly. But he gets back up still lightheaded, tells Kanade to get out of the way (balls on that boy) and tells Subaru to stop worrying about him, trust him, and head home. She listens, makes up with her dad, and returns to the mansion. At the end of Golden Week we see Kinjiro is all well and Subaru thanks him for everything he’s done for her which shocks Kanade since she never says thank you to anyone but her and she kisses Kinjiro for finally being a man (scene here: //youtu.be/YmKXJk-hB38).
Episodes 5-9
Nothing much to say about episode 5. We get introduced to a new character named Masamune voiced by Mariya Ise (Levi from Fairy Tail) a member of S4 as well as a member of Kureha’s club who has photos of Kinjiro and Subaru’s date and uses this to blackmail Subaru into being her boyfriend for the festival in order to undermine the SSOC for the upcoming club war set to take place during the festival. Once Subaru finds out about Masamune and Kinjiro going out she’s pissed, punches him in the stomach and refuses to talk to him (she may be dressed as a boy but she displays the jealousy of a girl anyday of the week).
The story of Masamune continues in episode 6 were she goes on her fake date with Kinjiro where she tells him to leave knowing he’s not having fun. This leads to Kinjiro getting approached by Nakuru an underclassman who is also a part of Kureha’s club as well as the leader of the SSOC who enjoys drawing BL doujins (the girl is a freak. A very hot freak) and has a glass-fetish. She’s voiced by Kana Asumi (Ene from Mekakucity Actors) and probably the most attractive girl in this anime in my eyes. She’s energetic, dark-skinned, and busty for a first year. She reveals that she knows about Masamune’s plan to undermine the SSOC and that Masamune has no plans to protect him from the S4 at all (obviously, the girl is a straight up liar). Subaru comes in where Kinjiro tells him about the potential war about to occur between her fan clubs so she agrees to help Kinjiro and team up with the SSOC to take down S4 in a quiz show about Subaru. They go to the venue of the showdown where we see Kanade is representing the S4 (you bitch) and in the end Kinjiro wins after answering the last question on who Subaru gave her first kiss to (the answer is Kinjiro, at the pool, where he almost drowned and she gave him mouth to mouth). After the show Kanade reveals that Masamune resigned from S4 and is on the school roof alone (where in the manga it was hinted she was going to commit suicide because of her loneliness). Kinjiro goes to confront her on the roof where she reveals that she really doesn’t have any friends just like Subaru at the beginning of the series and thought that if she hanged out with Kinjiro she would be able to become bright and cheerful just like Subaru but failed. Kinjiro than opens up to her revealing his fear of women and says he’ll be her friend and introduces her to Subaru and Kanade who quickly become her friends as well. The next day Masamune vows to help cure Kinjiro and go on a first name basis with each other (well it looks like the anime is turning into a harem anime).
Nothing much to say about episode 7. After getting drugged by Subaru, Kinjiro finds himself at a hotsprings resort courtesy of Kanade (scene here: //youtu.be/lMJ0qAKKFMQ). Kanade explains that she ran away from the mansion since her parents are traveling for the summer and has made up the lie to the innkeeper that she and Kinjiro are eloping together (this girl just enjoys causing trouble for everyone and everything around her) where in fact they went on this trip to help Kinjiro get more accustomed to girls. While at the beach he runs into Kureha, Masamune, and Nakura who are working at the beach after getting separated from their club. In order to keep Subaru’s identity a secret Kanade makes up the lie that Subaru is actually Punyuru the cousin of Subaru. Masamune shows off her jealousy by wanting to know why he’s here with Kanade (because the plot demands it). We also get to see Subaru jealous once she finds out Kinjiro went over to Masamune’s house where she misunderstands the situation (trust me, you’re still the number 1 girl. Behind Nakura of course). Nagare eventually shows up and tries to get Kanade to come back home but they threaten to call the police on him because he’s trying to take “Punyuru” away against her will (and that, is an act of kidnapping).
Episode 8 starts off with a laugh when Kinjiro goes to relax in the men’s bath where he walks in on Subaru also bathing on the men’s side (look I know you desire to be a butler but let’s not forget you’re a woman alright?). Nagare comes in as well and shenanigans ensue (scene here: //youtu.be/3qqUGacVmlY). She then knocks out Kinjiro out of embarrassment because he saw her naked (yet you have no problem seeing him naked). The next day during a festival Subaru takes Kinjiro to the grave of her mother (hey mom, meet my boyfriend and future husband). The next day we have a paintball tournament where the winner gets a kiss from Subaru since she won the beauty pageant. Nakura goes on a rampage after drinking soda and starts removing the underwear of women until she finally gets taken down by Kanade who then takes out Kinjiro and wins the tournament. Kinjiro and Subaru watch the fireworks together and Subaru tells Kinjiro she wants to be more than just friends.
In episode 9 Kinjiro copies Masamune’s homework and in order to repay her he agrees to work part-time in a maid café she works in. While working in the café the manager teases him and Masamune about them being a couple (it’s not too far off from the trouble. She’s in the harem so why not). Kureha and Nakura come to help her and then Kanade shows up to cause trouble where she tells the manager that Subaru has a maid-fetish (I think all guys have a maid-fetish. It’s in our DNA) and convinces Masamune to show her garterbelt to test the theory (and while you’re at, why don’t you let him eat a piece of cake off your ass or chest). Eventually Subaru shows up who all this time has been working part-time in a butler café across the street after being mistaken as a worker (and women have a butler-fetish. Again, it’s in their DNA) and takes Kanade home (okay new rule, Kanade is not allowed to go off on her own). Kinjiro finishes up the work day where he’s welcomed to comeback and work anytime and we see Masamune gave him a special ringtone for her cellphone.
Episodes 10-13
We get a Kureha episode in episode 10. It’s her 16th birthday (yeah~ party~! She’s old enough to get married) and celebrates the day with her friends. She starts off at Kureha’s which is haunted by ghosts (I’m not kidding it’s actually haunted by ghosts. We see them and everything) where she receives a pair of glasses from Nakura, a poster of Subaru from Masamune, and a steaming playing of Kinjiro and Subaru’s BL performed by Nakura and Masamune (scene here: //youtu.be/sWaDYcX80s0). They then go to the café where she receives a cake, they sing a very cute rendition of the birthday song (scene here: //youtu.be/0Szzms61lzA), she receives one of those disturbing lambs from Subaru (seriously, I question the mindset of the people who made these things), and she plays an obvious Street Fighter rip off game with Kanade where they’re the characters. How’d she make this game? Going to the computer club at her school and acting tsundere around them (scene here: //youtu.be/bNcvy3JOUGk). As they’re playing Kureha recounts all of the birthdays she shared with Kinjiro over the years such as when he bought her a teddy bear for her 8th birthday, played with her all day on another one, lit up sparklers on another one, and took her to a dairy ranch on another. However, last year, he screwed up big time by forgetting her birthday and going to a concert upsetting her greatly that she literally attacked him with tears in her eyes. As she recounts all of these events she starts to think that now that she’s getting older she shouldn’t cling so much to him anymore and start to become more independent. At the end of the day she returns home where Kinjiro is there waiting for her and presents her with a white teddy bear. We see that he really did feel bad about forgetting Kureha’s birthday last year and wanted to make up for it this year swearing not to make her cry that way ever again (aww~).
In episode 11 the new semester begins. Subaru still has Kinjiro on her mind (just kiss already) and while eating lunch together Subaru gets a little drunk off of the white wine in the food and has to be taken to the infirmary (lightweight). Later on Kinjiro takes Kanade to the infirmary when she begins to experience the hiccups which is bad because the hiccups are her one weakness (oh~ so the devil has a weakness). Kanade’s hiccups are so gosh-darn cute that people can’t control themselves around her and want to keep her to themselves no matter what. Kanade tells Subaru to fetch the tools needed to deal with these hiccups and while she’s doing that Kanade decides to play around with Kinjiro (scene here: //youtu.be/vJnabTjHUbg). Kinjiro manages to push her off and get away from her where he runs into Subaru in the hallway just as Kanade’s hiccups stopped (what a coincidence). As the three walk down the hallway Kanade accidently falls down a flight of stairs and injuries her ankle having to be rushed to the hospital (aren’t we over reacting here a little?). Subaru blames herself for this saying she failed in her duty as a butler. Nagare comes in and tells her she’s been relieved of her duty as butler much to the protest of Kanade who won’t stand for this (without those crutches you wouldn’t be standing at all). Subaru runs away feeling guilty with Kinjiro following her to an overpass where she kisses him causing him to pass out with a nosebleed (was all that training for nothing?).
Moving on to episode 12 Kinjiro gets woken up by Masamune who gives Kinjiro a ride on her scooter to the inn at the hotsprings resort figuring out that’s the most likely place Subaru would go to. Sure enough he’s right and the two spend the night together sleeping in the same room and futon together (and that’s all they did. If this had been a hentai the story would of probably been different). The next morning Kanade comes to pick them up (you two didn’t do anything fun without her now did you?). When Kinjiro goes to school he gets told that Subaru has transferred out from Kanade (lies) however Punyuru transfers in (you such a troll Kanade). Once Subaru (I’m sorry, Punyuru) expresses how much she enjoyed being a butler Kinjiro decides to make things right the only way he knows how. He goes to enlist the help of S4 (I’m surprised they didn’t burn the school down after finding out Subaru left) and starts a petition to get Subaru to come back. This works as Subaru not only returns as a butler but to the school as well. That night Subaru calls Kinjiro to the park where she thanks him for everything he’s done and kisses him on the lips (scene here: //youtu.be/DvIrnh16PqM).
The final episode can be considered an OVA and really doesn’t add much to the plot of the sorry. It’s a Nakura episode where we see she’s feeling down about herself. Worried about her, Kureha and Masamune follow her to her yaoi event dressed as Aria from Hidan no Aria and Natsuru from Kampfer (why? No idea, I’m just going to assume the authors are good friends or something) where she sells all of her doujins (impressive) but still shows signs of being down. After their cover gets blown Nakura asks them what they think about her breast (Baron: Well they’re nice, big, and I would like to motorboat them). Of course the two flat-chested girls in this series take offence to that question and instead have her go on a date with Kinjiro where she reveals she has a complex about her breast. In the past a boy asked to be her boyfriend for no apparent reason. Nakura turned him down and assumed the reason he took an interest in her is because of her breast (well he is a high school boy so yeah it wouldn’t surprise me). Kinjiro wanting to help her get over this complex unwillingly agrees to do bodily contact with her as she rubs her breast against him to prove that he’s attractive to her not because of her body. Kinjiro manages to endue this PDA and accidently knocks off her glasses where we see she’s quite the beauty (you know how someone always wears glasses but when they take them off they’re like 10 times hotter for some unknown reason? Well that’s what we got here. Nakura, a very pretty girl with glasses but without them she’s even hotter). Even Kinjiro is stunned by how pretty she is and comes to the conclusion that the guy wasn’t in her because of her breast (although I’m sure it did play a part. Those things are hard to miss folks) but rather he was attractive to her beauty. After she puts her glasses back on she feels better and starts to see Kinjiro in a new light where she begins to develop feelings for him (and the harem continues to grow).
Final Thoughts
And that was Mayo Chiki. There’s really not that much to say about it. Like I said before it’s your basic and classic romcom. Everything you expect to happen happens from the story, to the characters, to their actions, and to their setups. Yes, I have to admit it can be predictable with it’s up and along with not adding anything new or inventive to the genre it is a forgettable series. The characters are your basic characters you see in a romcom. Kinjiro the nice guy who always helps out people in need, Subaru the girl with troubles and just looking for a friend, Kureha the adorable sister, and Masamune the second love interest whose tsundere. The only characters that seemed to stick out to me the most was Kanade because of her playful sadistic nature which always kept advancing the plot and helping the ship sail and Nakura for being a BL enthusiast who is my favorite girl out of the group. There’s nothing really outstanding about the animation but the character designs are good, the soundtrack is decent, the fanservice was enjoyable and didn’t go overboard, and of course the comedy is spot on. Every episode will manage to get a good laugh out of you because of the scenarios and character interactions
Final Score
The final score for Mayo Chiki is a 5.5/10. Is this an anime I would recommend to people? No, I think you be better off checking out the manga or light novel as they go more in-depth with the characters and the story but if you wanted to check this anime out for a good laugh and a few interesting characters I say go ahead and watch it. It’s relaxing and a good romcom to make you laugh. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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