Maji de Watashi ni Koshninasai – 12 (End) and Series Review

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[Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_05.20_[2011.12.19_14.03.34] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_11.25_[2011.12.19_14.09.55] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_21.01_[2011.12.19_14.17.16]

There were definitely some highly amusing moments in the 12 week-run of Majikoi, but not too many of them were in the finale.

This series started out with a bang, giving us one of the most random and frenetic anime episodes I’ve seen and explaining pretty much none of it.  I enjoyed that more than I expected, but unfortunately the show really bogged down when it tried to develop a “serious” plot.  At its best Majikoi relied on its outrageous humor and ecchi, but when it ventured into the realms of action and character drama it mostly missed for me.  Sadly, that’s the face of the series that dominated most of the last four episodes, and they weren’t the best it had to offer.

I started to suspect a while back that there were some unsettlingly nationalist sentiments creeping into the series, but I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions about that.  Well, the finale pretty much set aside any doubt.  With it’s unapologetic glorification of militarism it was always striking a bit of a right-wing tone, but it’s when the talk of “illegal aliens” started that I began to get really uncomfortable.  No doubt there are some very legitimate arguments being made here – those who serve their country in the military and often treated shabbily and that’s a crime, and the highest levels of Japanese government and industry have been riddled with corruption for decades.  And it’s certainly not wrong to argue that everyone should be able to declare their love for their country.  But there was an ugly, xenophobic tone to some of this stuff, and the stink of it was all over the last episode and really poisoned the whole affair.  We even got a “happy ending” where those nasty illegals were all blown up because of their own stupidity.  Fear of foreigners is not the prettiest side of the Japanese national character, and I hate to see it glorified in anime or anywhere else.

Which is all too bad, because the finale had small glimmers of the frenetic charm that the premiere had.  I enjoyed little touches like Yamato fighting with a light saber, and Mayucchi (who was responsible for about 90% of the best moments in Majikoi) getting so flustered by Yamato’s declaration that he was in love only with his crabs that she flipped the voices for herself and Matsukaze.  There were some nice moments throughout the series that focused on the harem’s puzzling obsession with the generally unlikeable Yamato, though most of the best moments were the ones played for flat-out comedy – like the series’ take on the famous “Penis Festival”.

Where the series lost its mojo – even setting aside the politics – was in the focus on Yamato’s weird past and the pseudo-military conflict with Tachibana.  Wakamoto-sama’s character and his entire thread felt like it was dropped out of an airplane, and was totally disjointed from the rest of the series.  Entire episodes were lost to battle sequences and irritatingly confusing and convoluted political intrigue, with nary a moment of humor.  The comedy in the series played OK without any exposition, but the serious stuff didn’t.  Majikoi probably made less attempt to explain its premise than any LN or VN/game adaptation that I can remember, and that was fine as long as it stuck to its agreeably random side.  But you can’t expect an audience to follow a conventional plot unless you give them some context to understand it – and a reason to care.

So, all in all, this was a decidedly mixed bag.  I’m always happy to hear Goto Yuko in a major role – she simply lacks the ability not to be hilarious, and she was splendid as Mayucchi.  Some of the romantic comedy worked, and much of the ecchi did.  But for what it ultimately decided it wanted to be, seemingly, Majikoi failed.  Even if the xenophobia didn’t bother you, in order to be the sort of show it ended up trying to be it would have needed another cour to develop the premise, or at least to have spend more of the first half doing so. As it was, I’m afraid Majikoi tried to have it both ways and ended up succeeding at neither.

[Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_03.05_[2011.12.19_14.01.20] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_05.13_[2011.12.19_14.03.28] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_15.44_[2011.12.19_14.14.24]
[Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_17.08_[2011.12.19_14.15.15] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_18.54_[2011.12.19_14.15.38] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 12 FINAL [720p][A05814E9].mkv_snapshot_21.01_[2011.12.19_14.17.16]
[Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 11 [720p][4C9A5F09].mkv_snapshot_10.11_[2011.12.11_18.21.27] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 01 [720p][819976DF].mkv_snapshot_13.29_[2011.10.02_20.38.14] [Hiryuu] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! 02 [1280x720 H264] [923E2F8B].mkv_snapshot_15.15_[2011.10.10_12.01.37]
[Hiryuu] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! 06 [1280x720 H264] [F492CB4F].mkv_snapshot_09.25_[2011.11.07_13.40.52] [Hiryuu] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!! 06 [1280x720 H264] [F492CB4F].mkv_snapshot_21.15_[2011.11.07_13.53.06] [Ahodomo] Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! - 07 [720p][A619F1F8].mkv_snapshot_12.31_[2011.11.16_15.29.23]
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12 comments

  1. A
    Anonymous
    December 20, 2011 at 3:12 am
    Reply

    Its funny that you didnt like the last four episodes bcuz thats when I dropped, ep 8. The drama just felt so unnatural in a show that was good for over the top ecchi and comedy.

    And the studio what were they thinking, the lst episode was so epic and then the rest are nowhere near as good.

    Studio: Ho Ho Ho, look what I can do (after episode 1)

    me: Yeah awesome

    Studio: Now im not gonna do it anymore, but do watch the rest of the show

    me:…………….

  2. S
    Spinarakk
    December 20, 2011 at 5:52 am
    Reply

    This is why I just don't get anime directors/scriptwriters etc. etc., why they have to completely create a new story instead of just adapting what they already have.

    I actually think that if they just animated select scenes from the visual novel and link them coherently, this could've been a very funny comedy action anime.

  3. K
    Karmafan
    December 20, 2011 at 6:39 am
    Reply

    I gave up on the series after 5-6 episodes because it seemed to be nothing but situations to set up ecchi comedy.

  4. admin
    December 20, 2011 at 6:42 am
    Reply

    I wish it'd stayed that way!

  5. S
    Stöt
    December 20, 2011 at 10:54 am
    Reply

    Really good first episode, completely different the rest of the series, but one or two episodes were batshit crazy and fun. The rest was either mediocre or stinky. I'm not gonna watch the finale.

  6. A
    Anonymous
    December 20, 2011 at 4:00 pm
    Reply

    went through was ok series give might add few more eps give mix balance.

    & if somehow pull a brick making s2 yea ok i'm in.

  7. M
    Mushyrulez
    December 20, 2011 at 8:44 pm
    Reply

    Eh, the visual novel was decidedly better (coming from a reliable source, that is to say, MAL Reviews, which are the most reliable source of information since Wikipedia), but similar to Horizon, there was too much material to condense into one cour.

    Xenophobia? I don't think I felt any of those vibes. Care to explain a little more? I'm not sure I understand where you're coming from from that angle :v

  8. admin
    December 20, 2011 at 9:47 pm
    Reply

    Very simple – anti-foreigner sentiment, militarism, and a general political POV that seemed frankly almost fascist.

  9. M
    Mushyrulez
    December 21, 2011 at 6:06 am
    Reply

    Eh, I can't see the anti-foreigner sentiment in Majikoi… it seemed to be about core values of loyalty, love, etc. Not sure how that would extend to xenophobia, really.

    Though there is a lot of otaku hate, what with Yamato hating his father and whatnot. His father was obviously an otaku that wanted to declare his undying love to 2D, but was shunned by his peers and thus retired to America, where he could be with his fellow otaku friends

  10. admin
    December 21, 2011 at 7:19 am
    Reply

    You didn't catch Wakamoto's character talking nonstop about "illegals" – "letting the illegals in", etc. And of course, blowing them up in the final scene?

  11. d
    deafvader
    December 21, 2011 at 9:54 am
    Reply

    Well, for one, i truthfully enjoyed the ride. This being one of the top 5 this season for me. Horizon and Haganai being the other two. I just like Random funny stupid stuff. Although insanity and loll icon humor does not rub off me. Gave this a 8/10

  12. M
    Mushyrulez
    December 21, 2011 at 7:44 pm
    Reply

    Eh, never mind then, I guess. Still think that I should note Chris not actually being Japanese, etc., but eh.

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