| Maid Sama! | |
 Cover of first manga volume featuring Takumi Usui (left) and Misaki Ayuzawa (right) | |
| 会長はメイド様! (Kaichō wa Maid-sama!) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Romantic comedy[1] |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Hiro Fujiwara |
| Published by | Hakusensha |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Hana to Yume Comics |
| Magazine | LaLa |
| Original run | December 24, 2005 –September 24, 2013 |
| Volumes | 18 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Hiroaki Sakurai |
| Produced by | Akio Matsuda |
| Written by | Mamiko Ikeda |
| Music by | Wataru Maeguchi |
| Studio | J.C.Staff |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | TBS,BS-TBS,Animax Asia |
| English network | |
| Original run | April 1, 2010 – September 23, 2010 |
| Episodes | 26 + 1 OVA(List of episodes) |
Maid Sama! (Japanese:会長はメイド様!,Hepburn:Kaichō wa Meido-sama!; "The Class President Is a Maid!") is a Japanesemanga series byHiro Fujiwara. It was serialized inHakusensha's monthlyshōjo magazineLaLa from December 2005 to September 2013, with its chapters collected in 18tankōbon volumes.
A 26-episodeanime adaptation produced byJ.C.Staff aired between April and September 2010.[2]
Once an all-boyshigh school, 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 femalestudent 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 amaid 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 byTakumi 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.
Maid Sama! is written and illustrated byHiro Fujiwara. This series was serialized inHakusensha'sshōjo manga magazineLaLa, from December 24, 2005 to September 24, 2013. The 85 individual chapters were collected into eighteentankōbon volumes, released between September 5, 2006 and February 5, 2014.
At theirAnime Expo 2008 panel, North American publisherTokyopop announced its various newly licensed series and thatKaichō wa Maid-sama! would be titledMaid-sama!.[3] They published eight volumes from 2009 to 2011.[4] The series has been relicensed byViz Media in North America,JPF in Poland,[5]Pika Édition in France,[6]Carlsen Verlag in Germany,[7] Panini Comics in Italy, Mexico and Brazil,[8][9] Everglory Publishing Co in Taiwan,[10]M&C Comic in Indonesia and Rosman in Russia.[11]
| No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 5, 2006[12] | 4-592-18431-9 | April 7, 2009 (Tokyopop) August 4, 2015 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1403-6 978-1-4215-8130-9 | ||
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| 2 | February 5, 2007 | 978-4-592-18432-4 | August 11, 2009 (Tokyopop) August 4, 2015 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1404-3 978-1-4215-8130-9 | ||
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| 3 | August 4, 2007 | 978-4-592-18433-1 | January 12, 2010 (Tokyopop) November 3, 2015 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1405-0 978-1-4215-8131-6 | ||
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| 4 | December 5, 2007 | 978-4-592-18434-8 | April 13, 2010 (Tokyopop) November 3, 2015 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1406-7 978-1-4215-8131-6 | ||
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| 5 | May 2, 2008 | 978-4-592-18435-5 | July 13, 2010 (Tokyopop) February 2, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1689-4 978-1-4215-8132-3 | ||
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| 6 | September 5, 2008 | 978-4-592-18686-1 | September 28, 2010 (Tokyopop) February 2, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1690-0 978-1-4215-8132-3 | ||
| ||||||
| 7 | April 3, 2009 | 978-4-592-18687-8 | November 30, 2010 (Tokyopop) May 3, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1819-5 978-1-4215-8133-0 | ||
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| 8 | September 4, 2009 | 978-4-592-18688-5 | March 1, 2011 (Tokyopop) May 3, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-1820-1 978-1-4215-8133-0 | ||
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| 9 | April 5, 2010 | 978-4-592-18689-2 | May 31, 2011 (Tokyopop, cancelled) August 2, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-0519-5 978-1-4215-8134-7 | ||
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| 10 | June 4, 2010 | 978-4-592-19180-3 | September 20, 2011 (Tokyopop, cancelled) August 2, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-3163-7 978-1-4215-8134-7 | ||
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| 11 | August 5, 2010 | 978-4-592-19181-0 | December 27, 2011 (Tokyopop, cancelled) November 1, 2016 (Viz) | 978-1-4278-3258-0 978-1-4215-8135-4 | ||
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| 12 | February 4, 2011 | 978-4-592-19182-7 | November 1, 2016 | 978-1-4215-8135-4 | ||
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| 13 | August 5, 2011 | 978-4-592-19183-4 | February 7, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8136-1 | ||
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| 14 | February 3, 2012 | 978-4-592-19184-1 | February 7, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8136-1 | ||
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| 15 | July 6, 2012 | 978-4-592-19185-8 | May 2, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8137-8 | ||
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| 16 | February 5, 2013 | 978-4-592-19186-5 | May 2, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8137-8 | ||
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| 17 | August 5, 2013 | 978-4-592-19187-2 | August 1, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8138-5 | ||
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| 18 | February 5, 2014 | 978-4-592-19188-9 | August 1, 2017 | 978-1-4215-8138-5 | ||
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The October 2009 issue ofLaLa announced that a 26 episode anime television adaptation of the series would be produced.[2] It was broadcast inTBS andBS-TBS during Spring 2010.[13] The April 2010 issue ofLaLa revealed the broadcast date to be on April 1, 2010 at 1:55 midnight. The adaptation was also present at theTokyo International Anime Fair with Ayumi Fujimura, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kana Hanazawa and Yū Kobayashi's attendance.[14] The anime series is licensed bySentai Filmworks, with TheAnime Network streaming the series on their video portal untilSection23 Films announced the discontinuation of Anime Network Online the 29th of August, 2017.[15][16] Anime distributorSection23 Films released the first subtitled-only set on DVD, June 7, 2011.[17] The second subtitled-DVD set was released on August 2, 2011.[18] A complete collection on DVD was released on October 9, 2012.[19] 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 andHiroaki Sakurai directed the series with series composition done byMamiko Ikeda who previously worked on the series composition forEmma: A Victorian Romance series and most recently theRental Magica series andHanasakeru Seishōnen, while the animation character designs by Yuki Imoto and music composed by Tōru Motoyama. The series was animated byJ.C.Staff who previously worked onHoney and Clover,Toradora! andNodame Cantabile.[20]Ayumi Fujimura andNobuhiko Okamoto took on the role of Misaki Ayuzawa and Takumi Usui respectively.
A drama CD forKaichō wa Maid-sama was released in Japan.[21]
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".[22] Deb Aoki feels that themaid café setting provides bothfanservice and a vehicle to critique gender roles.[23] 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."[24] Robert Harris notes the formulaic beginnings, but feels that the characters make the manga enjoyable.[25] Leroy Douresseaux found the character of Takumi unconvincing, describing him as a "cheap plot trick" to rescue Misaki when needed.[26] Carlo Santos felt the premise was "otaku-tastic", but appreciated the lack offanservice 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.[27] Connie C. described the second volume as reminding her thatplot 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.[28]
In a 2019Forbes 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".[29]
