天下制覇

 

Mmmmmm maids.

Impressions:

Zeus, Odin and any other assorted gods that can help me… but beefy man maids were just what the doctor ordered for this show. The first one… in the lingerie shop, was just so unexpected and bizarre that I couldn’t help but laughing, and even though the joke was predictable after that, the sheer dawning horror of the maid cafe afterwards was priceless. Don’t get me wrong, I still despise Mayu. The show definitely needs to either grow her a backbone or ship her off to Abu-Dhabi and let Reika take over, but I suppose if she’s going to spend her time slowly turning it into Inukami 2.0, there are worse things. I guess I do like that she’s a manga nut apparently. It finally adds another dimension to her beyond “crying like a whiny child.”

This is honestly the first episode of the show that I really enjoyed, and it finally has its (rather high quality) ED too. Or maybe it’s just the cheerleader uniforms affecting my… auditory cortex. Naaaaah. EDs with actual animation are a rare enough thing nowadays. Let us hail those that do bother to put forth the effort.

Ninomiya ED

The alarm clock rings and the new maid of the Ninomiya household gets up, her hair all akimbo. Good word… Akimbo. Reika quickly starts to curl it up… more and more… and then bursts out to begin her first day as a maid.

In the past, two kids kissed in a dilapidated house. The girl looked away after wards, but then said that they shared something special and that’s why… but the boy cut her off and kissed her again.

Ninomiya wakes up from his dream to see Mayu above him. She reaches towards him, but Ninomiya’s sister beans him in the back of the head with a thrown thing and yells at him for nearly giving in. From the doorway, Reika fumes silently.

A little later, training begins. Mayu runs forward in a bikini while Ninomiya holds a balloon. She trips as she runs towards him, making him drop the balloon and faceplant into her chest… and then fall backwards popping a ton more balloons. Reika continues to glare from the background.

ON TO THE NEXT TEST OF RESISTANCE. In the bath, Mayu walks in on Ninomiya in nothing but a towel. Ninomiya backs off, but then Reika busts in. She slips and slides, knocking both over with Mayu’s towel of course being sent flying.

Reika chews Mayu out for her continuous licentious behavior (good word, licentious). They both turn to Ninomiya for support, but he just sighs.

At school, Mayu sits alone, but she’s soon surrounded by guys.

Ninomiya sees this and starts to go to her aid, but a trio of girls block him and start poking fun at him for his relationship with Mayu. They prod at him, but then Mayu gets up and asks everybody to not make trouble for Ninomiya because of her. The guys quickly surround her  and force her back and down though. Reika watches with delight through binoculars and gets a wonderful idea.

At the end of the day, everybody is leaving. A girl comes up to Ninomiya to ask for his help. She introduces herself to Mayu, who responds nervously. Ninomiya apologizes to Mayu but says that he has to go with her for a bit. Mayu tells him that she’ll be fine on her own and the two walk off. As soon as they’re gone, Ninomiya’s foremost female annoyance comes up to Mayu with a proposition to go out for a bit.

Ninomiya and the girl go through the school. She gives him a flier to deliver to a teacher. He asks if that’s really all that she needed him for. She then steps close to his face… but walks on.

His work done, Ninomiya goes running back. He’s tripped up by Mayu’s brother in a janitor uniform who wonders what he’s doing away from Mayu and what could be going on in no uncertain veiled threats. Ninomiya gets up and runs onward.

Mayu and Ayakawa walk through town. Mayu can’t help but notice all the men leering at her while Ayakawa thinks on how to figure out Mayu’s ‘weakness’ in relation to Ninomiya. She gives Mayu a bit of a peptalk on trusting her and how this’ll make Ninomiya happy and they continue on. Reika continues lurking and declares Project BMH underway.

Ayakawa grabs Mayu’s arm and drags her into a lingerie shop. Ninomiya runs through town.

Inside… complete with dual bosom shot, Ayakawa is amazed at how big Mayu is and can’t help but feel her up. They leave the dressing room… but there’s the laugh of men and Mayu screams.

Niomiya hears the scream outside.

Inside, men in bunny suits are dancing outside of the dressing room. They declare “Let’s Boot Camp” in English. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, nor do I want to know. Ninomiya busts in to… “Oh! Pretty Boy!” Mayu and the girl take the opportunity to run off while Ninomiya gets dragged into the bunnyman dances. Reika ‘tchs’ to herself and follows Mayu.

Mayu and her companion run onward and decide to stop in a maid cafe. Unfortunately… it’s a maid cafe for men dressed as maids. Ninomiya ends up following them in upon hearing Mayu’s scream and creates another distraction for the girls to escape.

The adventure continues through a drag queen cafe. Reika starts to become despondant that Ninomiya keeps going despite it all.

The two girls keep walking through town. Mayu gets distracted by some manga. Ayakawa asks if Mayu likes them, but Mayu says that they’re kind of weird, but she still reads them quite a bit.

The two head over to a park, sit on a bench and bond over talking about the bad plots of romance manga and their mutual fandom of… sports manga of all things. Ayakawa yells at Mayu to perk up and Mayu responds with “Yes, Coachi!” The Engrish in this episode is strong. Ayakawa finally decides to really be friends with Mayu and tells her as much, including to call her Hinako.

Ninomiya pops out of a bush after they go, having kept an eye on them and kept trouble at bay. Reika is hot on his heels, asking him angrily why he’d go so far for Mayu. He says that he really doesn’t know and says “let’s go home.”

The next day, Mayu is sighing at her desk. Ayakawa comes up with the present that she promised… a collection of various manga.

One is a romance manga, one is a sports manga and one… makes Mayu turn bright red. Ninomiya grins to himself as they chatter about the manga.

The teacher walks in and announces… something… I kind of missed it, but it sends Mayu out into the hall in a panic. Ayakawa tells a confused Ninomiya that it’s a girl’s secret (complete with hi-mi-tsu). Mayu tries to run, but the teacher chases after her and knocks her over with a thrown book, spilling the manga out and sending her yaoi flying.