Maid-Sama!

Going into this show I definitely would not have expected my attention and interest to turn to an analytical side regarding psychology and behavior. And while that might not be the most evident point of view from which you can judge a show (mostly because I doubt that the aspects I'm going to mention were implemented with the conscious knowledge of their nature) it might still be useful to explore it from that angle.

But let's start with the typical criteria first. While it's not a show that can shine with expressive animation due to its lack of scenes where such things would be extremely obvious I didn't find it in any way bad. It's decent and doesn't break your immersion which is the most important aspect. Regarding art I want to mention the (two) different styles they use quite frequently throughout the show. One being way more detailed than the other "chibi-like" style which was often used for comedic relief. Overall while no artistic masterpiece it was sufficent enough (btw I've never seen so many "close-up-flower-shots" in one series before).

Shaking up my usual order a bit I want to talk about the soundtrack next. I definitely didn't expect it to be a powerhouse of diversity (which in most cases isn't even that great as a coherent theme throughout is more effective in my opinion) in regards of instruments used and overall tone and it definitely isn't. But the most important aspect when it comes to musical accompaniment is that it fits the current scene and underlines what's visually happening in front of you. That's something it did for me most of the time. The OP was not very unique visually speaking (which really isn't a trademark of romcoms) but the song used was quite good and I was satisfied with that combination.

With that out of the way I want to get into the main bulk of this review its heart so to speak which is the analysis of characters and their interaction. As mentioned in the opening paragraph I found quite a bit of value in watching this show with attention to psychological aspects. It is in many ways an exaggerated (how much so depends on your own personal experiences) portrayl of human dating concepts. It shows us the effects of the famous "pareto principle" regarding human pair-bonding in action. While quite interesting scientifically speaking here it simply boils down to almost every girl throwing themselves at one of our two main characters Usui (or that one lead singer that appears in two episodes). In this sense Usui's "perfection", which might be seen as boring by a few people, as it takes away all tension or "outside-threats", allows the show for exactly this exaggerated view of human relationships. In a way it is quite ironic that even our quite independent (and in the beginning rather feministic) main character Misaki falls prey to exactly this allure. Something else that is very noticeable is that the show doesn't hide the very real phenomenon that if you are attractive you can get away with much more even crimes like harassment and stalking compared to people that are not attractive. In the very regular event that Usui possessively interferes with a situation not to his liking, the show even glorifies stalking a bit. An aspect that I personally don't even find that bothersome as it has its basis in reality but which could seem quite annoying when looking at the show through a different lens.

Overall I can say that Kaichou wa Maid-sama! has been an interesting watching experience for me. It's a show that could benefit from a second season and everyone who has watched it probably agrees that the aftermath of the ending would have been more interesting to see story-wise compared to the path leading up to it (but I guess that's very the Manga comes into play). If you are a fan of aspects like uncertainty in outcome in regards to story or ambiguity in regards to character-goals and motivations then you might find some aspects a bit lackluster. However if you also like psychological analysis of human behavior like me or you are a fan of (female) fantasy explorations then you'll have quite a bit of fun with this one simply seeing how these things are quite evident.