MariaHolic review

Mariaholic is a show about a girl who breaks out into hives if she touches boys and gets a nosebleed if she sees a cute girl. A big part of the show is that there's this really hawt cute girl and they show her off a lot to make you go "Oh, that's a really hot cute girl".. but then it turns out its actually a boy. But shes still a really hawt, cute gorl.

The show is made by Shaft, so you already know youre gonna be getting something that's interesting. The dialog doesn't pull any punches at all and reading the subs-- often makes you wonder if these are actually the correct translations or if the guy subbing them frequents a little too much 4channel. I mean, some of the things they say are a pretty crass reminder that anime is actually supposed to be for teenagers and not for cute little girls wearing pretty porpol pdresses whilst suckling on candy corn lollipops.

The humor is pretty good and actually had me chuckling a couple of times. I think one of the things that makes mariaholic a worthwhile watch is that its different, which is ever increasingly becoming a rarity in anime of the comedy genre. Well, anime in general, but comedy very much especially; most japanese "comedy" falls under two categories:

1. Character A does/says something stupid, silly, and/or unordinary.

2. Character B responds to Character A by pointing and loudly exclaiming how stupid, silly and weird character A's actions are (in an over the top manner for comedic effect) 

Its either that or just straight up softcore zorn/sexual harassment (can't forget the girl beating up the guy in slapstick fashion to break any potential sexual tension). 

Now you might be thinking: "but.. Muh monogatari wordplay!!"

And I would say: puns aren't funny. EVER. And the ironic thing would be that monogatari actually falls for those same two tropes just as often as any regular anime. But I will concede that Shaft goes so far with it that it ends up being enjoyable again. 

Like in Mariaholic. Did I mention this was made by Shaft? And the ED is a freaking bangor too.

Should you watch Mariaholic?

Yes.