Mahoromatic 2: Something More Beautiful


Genre:Romantic Comedy
Creator:Bunjuro Nakayama
Manga/Anime/Both Anime/Manga
Seasons: 2 OVAs, 12 episodes each
Manga, 6 graphic novels

Spirit of Discord's Rating
3.5
out of 5
Trigun Kitties

Summary:

The second Mahoromatic OVA picks up a little after the end of the first. Mahoro's days continue to wind down as a new player enters the conflict between Saint and Vesper and a lost combat cyborg joins the cast, using Suguru's house as a hideout from unknown enemies while posing as Mohoro's younger sister. The intertwined fates and purposed of Saint, Vesper, Mahoro, Suguru, the new organization, and the future of mankind all come to light as Mahoro's last days and the coming of the final battle loom near.

By the by, I still hate the teacher.


Explanation for Rating:

Spirit of Discord:
Well this definitely caught me off guard. The first Marohomatic OVA had been mostly entertaining. They went a little overboard with the fan service, and the characters were a little shallow, but it had enough humor and action to keep my interest.

Mahoromatic 2 starts off with more of the same. Early on we're introduced to Minawa, the anemic cyborg, when Mahoro saves her from a bunch of fighting machines. But she's quickly relegated to side character as more of the antics from the first season resume. Like the first season, the day to day life of Suguru, Mahoro, and company is as entertaining as it is pointless. And it's very pointless. They're at least more innovative this time around. While the last series included things like a picnic and a school fair, this time they've gone into martial arts festivals (which is actually a good episode, in my humble opinion), holiday cheer, and an episode about breast enlargement (which is definitely not a good episode. I'd advise you to skip it).

But somewhere in all of this they somehow pull out a plot. Not only that, they pull out a pretty decent plot. There's a little more to this story than "Vesper's good, Saint is good but confused, and those other guys are evil!" When the story does actually get going, which takes longer than it should, it turns out being surprisingly good. The characters show more depth than they did in the first half, including the useless friends who still serve no real purpose.

The second half also takes into account something that didn't get nearly enough screen time in the first half: the fact that Mahoro is slowly dying. Yeah, she ended the first half with quite a while to live, but they should still have mentioned it, right? Well, now we get to see what happens as the clock winds down and harsh reality sets in.

Overall, it was a lot better than the first half, but still not as good as Love Hina, Photon: The Idiot Adventures, or the Tenchi Muyo! OVA. The last episode was a bit of a letdown, partially because it was so strange. If you do watch it, you may want to stop at episode 13, and skip a few before then (like the breast enlargement episode...). Mahoromatic 2 is less dirty, more wacky, and tells a better story than the first half. A must-see if you enjoyed the first and a worthy show if you're a fan of the "too many women" anime. Much better than it's lackluster first half, but still not great by any means.

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