Anime Reviews (2000s/2010s): Maria Holic: The Complete Series

Stylishly fun, unusual and quirky, “Maria Holic: The Complete Series” is definitely one of those unique anime series that you don’t often see released on Blu-ray, let alone, being released in the United States. For those wanting something different, fun and absolutely quirky, “Maria Holic: The Complete Series” is recommended!

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TITLE: Maria Holic: The Complete Series

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2009

DURATION: (Episodes 1-12) 300 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:33:1), English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATING: TV 14 D

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Originally created by Endo Minari

Series Director: Miyamoto Yukihiro

Directed by Shinbo Akiyuki

Series Composition by Yokotani Masahiro

Character Designs by Morioka Hideyuki

Art Director: Iijima Toshiharu

Music by Nishiwaki Tatsuya

Anime Production by SHAFT

Featuring the following voice talent:

Sanada Asami/Jessica Calvello as Kanako Miyamae

Inoue Marina/Caitlynn French as Matsurika Shinouji

Kobayashi Yu/Monica Rial as Mariya ShidÅ

Kanda Akemi/Carli Mosier as Nanami Kiri

Hirano Aya/Monica Rial as Shizu ShidÅ

Takada Hatsumi/Allison Sumrall as Honoka Tsutsui

Toyoguchi Megumi/Molly Searcy as Fumi Kumagai

Matsuki Miyu/Nancy Novotny as Ayari Shiki/Yonakuni-san

Sawashiro Miyuki/Brittney Karbowski as Dorm Leader-sensei (Dorm Supervisor “God”)

Shintani Ryoko/Margaret McDonald as Sachi Momoi

Goto Saori/Shannon Emerick as Yuzuru Inamori

Ueda Youji/George Maney as Narration

Kaida Yuko/Beth Lazarou as Ryuuken Ishima

Kanako likes girls and guys literally give her the hives, so she thought that attending an all-girls school would be the perfect place to meet the perfect girl. Then her hot new roommate turns out to be a guy in drag. Yikes. And when the most popular girl in school catches Kanako’s eye, our poor heroine has to compete with all of the school’s OTHER similarly obsessed girls… which seems to be most of them! To further complicate things are her roommate’s rude maid, their cat-eared dorm leader, her roommate’s identical twin sister, and WAY too many other attractive girls, and the question is whether Kanako will die from frustration first, or her almost constant nosebleeds! Still, she may be the girl voted least likely to succeed, but Kanako’s not ready to give up on love just yet in the ultimate collection of Maria Holic!

Back in 2006, “Maria Holic” manga series was realized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine “Monthly Comic Alive” by mangaka Endo Minari.

In Jan. 2009, the 12-episode anime television series “Maria-Holic” began airing in AT-X in Japan. While a second season of the series would air in April 2011 titled “Maria Holic: Alive”. And now, “Maria Holic: The Complete Series” featuring all 12 episodes for season one and two (24 total) is available on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

Adapted from the manga series by Minari Endo (“Dazzle”, “Hatenko Yugi”) for the Japanese seinen manga magazine, “Monthly Comic Alive” back in 2006, the anime series was produced by SHAFT (“Hidamari Sketch”, “Mahou Sensei Negima!”, “He is My Master”) and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo (“Hidamari Sketch”, “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha”, “Bakemonogatari”) and series composition by Masahiro Yokotani (“PoPoLoCrois”, “Himawari!”, “Sgt. Frog”). Character designs are by Hideyuki Morioka (“Arcade Gamer Fubuki”, “Sakura Wars”, “Ultimate Girls”), art direction by Toshiharu Iijima (“Uta~Kata”, “Gad Guard”, “Hidamari Sketch”) and music by Tatsuya Nishiwaki (“UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie”).

“Mario-Holic” is about main character Kanako Miyamae. Kanako has transferred to Ame-no Kisaki Girls Academy Dormitory Junior and Senior High School, the school where her mother met her father and hopes one day to find her true love at the school. The thing is, Ame-no Kisaki Girls Academy is an all girl’s school and Kanako is a lesbian who hasn’t come out of the closet and she also has a problem. She’s a horny teenage girl who can’t stop thinking about hot girls nude, in their underwear and each time she does think about them, she unfortunately gets a massive nose bleed.

But how long can she hide her wild thoughts? She surely can’t pretend that she likes guys because just a touch from a guy gives her hives.

Her first day of school started well as she meets the beautiful Shidou Mariya and her rude maid Shinouji Matsurika . Mariya’s grandmother is the former chairperson of the school and her family owns part of the grounds of the school. But Mariya’s beauty captivates Kanako’s attention. But it’s just the first day of school and already she sees a lot of beautiful girl’s that she’s interested in. As Mariya tells Kanako that she will show her around the school, for some reason, when she touches her, Kanako gets the hives?

As Kanako follows up with Mariya’s promise of showing her around the school, Mariya goes to her archery class and when she walks into the dressing room, Kanako finds out that Mariya is not a she but a he.

So, upset and devastated that Mariya is a guy dressing up as a girl, she vows to make her secret known. Until Mariya shows Kanako his bad side and reminds her that her family is powerful and that her grandmother was the former chairperson. And also, he knows that Kanako is in fact a lesbian. Immediately, Mariya goes into blackmail mode and has Kanako around his little finger. If she says anything, she’ll have more to lose than gain.

As for why Mariya is dressed up as a girl, we later learn that he and his twin sister Shizu are fulfilling their grandmother’s wish of switching genres (she being a guy at an all-boys school and thus developing a hatred towards guys).

But with Mariya using Kanako and toiling with her emotions and the fact that Mariya is her roommate, how much will Kanako be able to stand? Especially with beautiful women are all around her, can Kanako survive this school year?

VIDEO:

“Maria Holic: The Complete Series” is presented in 1080p High Definition.

What I enjoy about “Maria Holic” is its visual presentation. Instead of going with the traditional anime art backgrounds or character design, for the series, there are so many variations of presentation for the series. You get the standard presentation of the character design but the trees and surroundings are painted differently, you get visuals that look like oil paintings, visuals that look like 70s to 80s style of manga artwork, 8-bit video game style of artwork, 3-D artwork, hilarious super-deformed artwork and more. Needless to say, this is a different style of anime series that instead of focusing on the typical frames around a certain scene, each scene has a different style of background at times. So, “Maria-Holic” is pretty creative in presentation. Each scene is not consistent, so you get something different in short bursts in each episode.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for lossless audio, “Maria Holic: The Complete Series” is presented in Japanese and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with English subtitles. The series is front channel driven but dialogue and music is clear. For those who want a more immersive soundtrack can easily switch their receiver for stereo on all channels.

The Blu-ray release unlike the previous DVD release now contains an English dub featuring Jessica Calvello, Caitlynn French and Monica Rial. For those who previously owned the DVD release, the English dub definitely makes the series definitely a lot of fun and the voice acting is well-done in both Japanese and English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Maria Holic: The Complete Series” features the following special features:

Club AT-X Interview – (19:19) A featurette featuring the interview with â€œMaria Holicâ€ Japanese voice actresses Asami Sanada (Kanako Miyamae), Yu Kobayashi (Mariya Shidou) and Marina Inoue (Matsurika).Â An entertaining interview as the ladies talk about the series (they haven’t yet seen the final cut of the first episode yet) but overall, a lively and fun interview.
Special X’Mas Night – Amenokisaki Holy Night Festival – (22:02) A special screening of “Maria Holic” on Christmas Day 2008 at Ivy Hall Aogaku Kaikan Glory Chapel, the voice actresses talking to their fans, a contest giveaway and the voice actress performing a short live concert performance.
Japanese Commercial Collection (2:39) The Japanese television commercials
Japanese Promotional Video (2:08) The promotional video in Japan for “Maria Holic”.
Clean Closing Animation Episodes 1-12 (18:34) The ending animation themes for each episode of “Maria Holic”.

I really enjoyed “Maria Holic: The Complete Series”. Although not a deep or serious anime series, it’s one of those anime series that is so quirky and strange but yet presented in the most creative way as possible.

After watching “Maria Holic”, although not shown on a major television network in Japan, I hope the series receives some continuation because the characters are fun to watch and you wonder how this series will end, considering the manga series ended a few years after the second anime season aired. So, there are still more stories to tell and a third season would be appropriate.

As for the series, “Maria Holic” is neither demanding nor serious. It’s not for the serious-minded and truthfully, you can skip around from episode-to-episode because only a few are somewhat connected but its presentation is probably mostly driven by its quirkiness of its characters and its visual presentation.

As for the Blu-ray, for those who owned the previous DVD release, may want to upgrade for the better picture quality but most importantly, the new English dub. The voice acting is well-done on both lossless soundtracks but for those who have waited for the English dub, will no doubt enjoy this latest release as voice acting by Jessica Cavello, Monica Rial and Caitlynn French.

And as for special features, you get the Club At-X Interview, Special X’Mas Night – Amenokisaki Holy Night Festival and Japanese Commercial Collection as well!

Overall, “Maria-Holic: Complete Collection” is an anime series for anime fans who wants something different but at the same time fun, humorous, visually creative when it comes to artistic presentation. And the fact that you get both seasons together is a plus.

If you are looking for a series that isn’t too demanding or too serious, then definitely give “Maria Holic: The Complete Series” a try!

Click here to purchase this Blu-ray on Amazon