©しょたん／小学館／君は冥土様。製作委員会
After last week, Yuki—masquerading as Hitoyoshi's cousin—has now joined his class. Her main goal seems to be to achieve normalcy, but there also seems to be a part of her that wants to serve him as a maid, even at school. So when lunchtime approaches and it's Katsuda's rare bread day, chaos always ensues: on the one hand, you have the student community, among which this bread has a large number of people. Devoted fans are willing to flock and gather around to get their hands on this sandwich. It. Then there's Yuki: someone who loves sauce and hates sauce-induced FOMO (don't we all?). Of course, her goal is clear: to get this legendary Katsuda bread. Her obstacles: walking with the help of starving students and the fact that her and Hitoyoshi's classrooms are the furthest from where there is bread.
Are you familiar with the animated film Ben-To? It's a fun cartoon that aired in 2011, about people fighting over Ben-To discounts at grocery stores. If that sounds funny, that's because it is. It's completely absurd, and I love it. I remember watching it when it was airing and there was a joke about it being an anime about people fighting in an anime-esque style over Lunch. It's great. And I have to say: Of all the anime that Miss Servant could have reminded me of, I don't know if I would have guessed Ben-To. But that's what happened this week and I'm here for it.
Watching Yuki Naruto run and jump from rooftop to rooftop to get the Katsuda sandwich was definitely the highlight of the episode. Like last week, it's great that this series really delves into its silliness—I think, at this point, it's safe to say that moments like these are when it shines the brightest. The concept, the impressive camera angles, the dynamic movement (and great animation) — the whole thing feels over-the-top and very quintessentially anime. And for a show with a cool idea like this one in 2024, it fits perfectly.
In case you don't understand: I love the part about Katsuda bread. But I don't care much for the next segment: the scene where she feeds Hitoyoshi, and we see the movie trying to establish some romantic tension between the two. But personally, I don't feel much chemistry between the two of them. In fact, the whole thing seems quite forced. And maybe I'll change my mind as the series progresses (or more specifically: as Yuki and her life continue their quest for change), but for now, I don't think the series This needs to have a romantic element in it; At least for now, I think I'd like to see Yuki continue her quest for normalcy, without the strangeness this brings to the relationship between her and Hitoyoshi. So all this to say I hope this element will be removed and it will become a weird blip. I don't necessarily think that's what will happen, but I can dream.
And then we have the school nurse—who, in true anime style, is actually another assassin from Yuki's past. I get that she's not actually the school nurse—in fact, she's almost certainly just there to get Yuki back—but that doesn't make the scene where she's flirting with him, then suddenly Of course she was lying on top of him on the bed, no matter what. less uncomfortable. In the end she tried to play it off as if it was a joke, but I don't think anyone believed it. While I was hoping that the anime would give us more details about Yuki's backstory, this isn't quite what I had in mind. I'd love to be wrong about this, but unfortunately, I'm starting to think a monkey's paw curled up when I made that wish.
As a concluding note, the dub for Ms. The Servant came out and I gave him a watch. Our main characters, Yuki and Hitoyoshi, are played by Trina Nishimura and Abi Kumar, respectively. Of course, Nishimura is an industry icon—among many other roles, she played Kurisu Makise on Steins;Gate, Kyouka Jirou on My Hero AcadeKaren, and of course, Mikasa Ackerman on Attack on Titan (incidentally, she also voiced one of those roles). main characters—Sen Yarizui—from Ben-To). In contrast, with only a handful of roles to his name, Kumar is a newcomer to the field of anime dubbing. There aren't many characters in this movie so far, which means the two of them will be doing this dub, and it looks like they're both doing a great job. I want to give special praise to Kumar; When Hitoyoshi and Yuki meet, Hitoyoshi is trying his best to stay calm, but inside, he is panicking. Kumar sells this so well that I don't even need to keep the receipt. But this doesn't mean Nishimura allows herself to fade into the background—in fact, especially in any moment involving sauce, she always ends up taking over the scene.
Rating:
You're the Maid is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
