Maria Holic - Episode 1

After sitting out a season I was anxious to get back into anime with the start of the Winter season. A show that wasn't on my radar at all was Maria Holic. For primers Maria Holic tells the story of a new transfer student to a prestigious girls school with a Catholic theme, who seems to be a raging lesbian. Well perhaps that is a little to harsh, but she seems to have a trouble with boys which causes her to break out in hives. In any other series the transferee would be the "trap", this time it's a well established girl named Mariya. Of course Mariya is really a guy with a heavy attitude flanked by his faithful maid Matsurika.

Mariya seems comfortable in his skin, even going as far as to give a stunned Kanako a kiss on the cheek. Things are going fine with a meet and greet of all the main characters (see cat ears up top). Dorm Leader was amazingly cute, especially with her mini dog. Her first roommate is Ryuuken, who gives off another tomboyish vibe. I didn't catch the name of the head of the Archery club, but Kanako is attracted to her as well. Kanako happily sets off to meet Mariya only to catch Matsurika trying to tie a corset to him along with adding some padding to his chest.

 So of course Mariya would blackmail Kanako into basically being his pet for two years so his secret doesn't get out. Matsurika was great with her one liners, especially calling Mariya a "tranny" and dishing out various abuses to Kanako . Overall the animation is nice with Shaft at the helm. The style instantly brought me back to Ef and Sayonara Sensei with its simplistic yet highly detailed settings. Another plus is the music which has a very medieval feel to it if that makes sense. I'm a big fan of the piece of music used when Mariya decides to plant a kiss on Kanako's cheek.

Overall this is a series that I'll be following, if not for the gags and music but for the fact that Kanako actually went and grabbed Mariya's balls to check. Where else am I going to find that?