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is a Japanese
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series by
Hiro Fujiwara is a Japanese manga artist. The manga artist was once active under her previous pen name, at the end of the 1990s, but has abandoned the name after she won the Best Rookie award in the LMS for ''Kaeri Michi, Yuki no Netsu''. Her first series, ...
. It was serialized in
Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The com ...
's monthly '' shōjo'' magazine '' LaLa'' from December 2005 to September 2013, with its chapters collected in 18 ''
tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' volumes. A 26-episode
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
adaptation produced by J.C.Staff aired between April and September 2010.


Plot

Once an all-boys
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
, Seika High, infamous for its rowdy students, has recently become a co-ed school. However, with the female population remaining a minority even after the change over the recent years, Misaki Ayuzawa works hard to make the school a better place for girls. She puts a lot of effort into academics and athletics and earns the trust of the teachers. Eventually, she becomes the first female student council president. Misaki has gained a reputation among the male student body as a strict boy-hating demon dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. However, despite her reputation, she secretly works part-time at a maid café to support her mother and younger sister by returning the huge debt their father had left them. Unfortunately, Misaki's secret is soon discovered by Takumi Usui, a popular boy at Seika High. Instead of exposing it to the school, though, Usui keeps it for himself and even becomes a regular customer at the café, much to Misaki's chagrin. Known for being a genius in pretty much everything from academics to athletics and for having rejected numerous confessions of his female peers, Usui takes a liking to Misaki because he finds her 'interesting'. After going through various awkward situations, including being confronted by a forgotten childhood friend of hers, Misaki falls in love with Usui, who reciprocates, and the two soon become a couple. However, their relationship is troubled by Usui's difficult familial past coming back to haunt him. Being an illegitimate child of a wealthy English noble family, Usui technically cannot form a relationship with anyone not in his social standing, Misaki included. Misaki has to see Usui being forced to transfer to a prestigious rival school Miabigaoka, and then away from Japan completely when his family takes him back to England. However, they graduate and Usui and Misaki eventually marry ten years later.


Media


Manga

''Maid Sama!'' is written and illustrated by
Hiro Fujiwara is a Japanese manga artist. The manga artist was once active under her previous pen name, at the end of the 1990s, but has abandoned the name after she won the Best Rookie award in the LMS for ''Kaeri Michi, Yuki no Netsu''. Her first series, ...
. This series was serialized in
Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The com ...
's '' shōjo'' manga magazine '' LaLa'', from December 24, 2005 to September 24, 2013. The 85 individual chapters were collected into eighteen ''
tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...
'' volumes, released between September 5, 2006 and February 5, 2014. At their Anime Expo 2008 panel, North American publisher
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
announced its various newly licensed series and that ''Kaichō wa Maid-sama!'' would be titled ''Maid-sama!''. They published eight volumes from 2009 to 2011. The series has been relicensed by
Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...
in North America, JPF in Poland, Pika Édition in France,
Carlsen Verlag Carlsen Verlag is a subsidiary of the homonymous Danish publishing house which in turn belongs to the Swedish media company Bonnier. The branch was founded on 25 April 1953 in Hamburg. The publisher's program focuses on books for children, i.e ...
in Germany, Panini Comics in Italy, Mexico and Brazil, Everglory Publishing Co in Taiwan, M&C Comic in Indonesia and Rosman in Russia.


Volume list


Anime

The October 2009 issue of ''LaLa'' announced that a 26 episode anime television adaptation of the series would be produced. It was broadcast in TBS and
BS-TBS is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). Channels *Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS161ch - 163ch. *Radio: BS-i ...
during Spring 2010. The April 2010 issue of ''LaLa'' revealed the broadcast date to be on April 1, 2010 at 1:55 midnight. The adaptation was also present at the Tokyo International Anime Fair with Ayumi Fujimura, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kana Hanazawa and Yū Kobayashi's attendance. The anime series is licensed by Sentai Filmworks, with The
Anime Network Anime Network was an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscr ...
streaming the series on their video portal until
Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films, is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside ...
announced the discontinuation of Anime Network Online the 29th of August, 2017. Anime distributor
Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films, is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside ...
released the first subtitled-only set on DVD, June 7, 2011. The second subtitled-DVD set was released on August 2, 2011. A complete collection on DVD was released on October 9, 2012. Sentai Filmworks & Section23 re-released the series on DVD and Blu-ray, with an English dub on January 27, 2015. The staff list was announced and Hiroaki Sakurai directed the series with series composition done by Mamiko Ikeda who previously worked on the series composition for '' Emma: A Victorian Romance'' series and most recently the '' Rental Magica'' series and '' Hanasakeru Seishōnen'', while the animation character designs by Yuki Imoto and music composed by Tōru Motoyama. The series was animated by J.C.Staff who previously worked on '' Honey and Clover'', '' Toradora!'' and '' Nodame Cantabile''. Ayumi Fujimura and
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held at the Anime Expo, wh ...
took on the role of Misaki Ayuzawa and Takumi Usui respectively.


Drama CDs

A drama CD for ''Kaichō wa Maid-sama'' was released in Japan.


Reception

Connie C. described the manga as being "pretty entertaining, if shallow", feeling that it was sexist towards both genders, but lighthearted enough in this that offense could not be taken, saying that she would continue to read the series as a "guilty pleasure". Deb Aoki feels that the maid café setting provides both fanservice and a vehicle to critique gender roles. In contrast, Johanna Draper Carlson feels that the story is "a male fantasy, where the scary, strong, smart, self-possessed girl turns out to secretly be subservient to men. It’s sort of funny to read, until you think about what its real messages are." Robert Harris notes the formulaic beginnings, but feels that the characters make the manga enjoyable. Leroy Douresseaux found the character of Takumi unconvincing, describing him as a "cheap plot trick" to rescue Misaki when needed. Carlo Santos felt the premise was "
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
-tastic", but appreciated the lack of fanservice and panty shots in the maid cafe scenes, feeling that these marked the series as being shōjo. He also appreciated the chemistry between the leads, and the humour, but noted the stereotypical plot, and criticises the layouts and overly-talky characters. Connie C. described the second volume as reminding her that plot devices are plot devices because "they work wonderfully if used right", feeling that the sense of humour and character interactions lifted the stereotypical plots of the school sports day and rich new classmates. In a 2019 ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' article about the best anime of the 2010s decade, Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2010; she wrote, "Clever comedy with snappy delivery keeps this show sharp even ten years later".


References


External links


''Maid Sama!''
at
Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV series. The com ...

''Maid Sama!''
at TBS * {{J.C.Staff 2005 manga 2010 anime television series debuts Hakusensha franchises Hakusensha manga J.C.Staff Japanese high school television series NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Romantic comedy anime and manga Anime and manga set in schools Sentai Filmworks Shōjo manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming Tokyopop titles Viz Media manga