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@@spookybooo101Same I hated him so much since episode 1 that I stopped watching the show. On the contrary I fell down sh*ta rabbit hole (censoring in case for YT lol)
Frrr even back then I never liked Usui bcs of all the harrassments towards Misaki, and the kid me hated how he always get in the way of Misaki being a badass and always have to be the one who saves her. I never understood why lots of people like him so much lol
And let's not forget the moment when Usui pinned Aoi down 'to teach her/him a lesson,' and Misaki even somewhat agreed with that action. Or the time when the entire class went on a trip to a Buddhist temple and stayed there for a while, only for the boys to later want to as*ault the girls, which was just brushed off as 'oh, that happens.' I loved this anime growing up, but there are so many aspects and moments that are highly questionable. As you mentioned, the worst part is the normalization, or even romanticization, of se*ual as*ault...
Thats what I was thinking the whole time 😭 they're already talking about sa and sh, whats the point in using words like that as if it matters whoever disagrees with this. Like there is no need to use those words, the sexual assault doesnt disappear because some people might say it didnt even happen. That's honestly the only reason I can see them having used words like "questionable" and "weird". But at the same time, I understand it is hard to talk about topics like these so it may simply be that.
When I was in middle school, I tried watching Maid-sama but I dropped it after a few episodes because I couldn’t consider Usui a ML for Misaki. Every time Usui was on screen, I would thought “When you have a crush on someone, you’d want them to trust you and have a great time with you, so why Usui is bothering Misaki if he was meant to love her?” Basically Usui took the “If they bully you, they like you” and somehow made it worse.
I hate the bully trope so much. I watched it in highschool and I thought it was fun but Usui was my least favorite too the way he’s just a typical shojo bad boy. I liked the childhood friend a lot more or even the shy teal haired classmate, someone less ‘alpha’ lol
The thing that really bothered me when I watched this anime was Usui did have his moments of kindness and sweetness towards Misaki. Even helping her in bad situations in the anime! But Usui was a stalker alien pervert! Dude did anything he could to get in Misaki’s personal space whenever he got a chance. Usually without her consent or it was forced by the plot. And because he was handsome and popular he got away with those weird actions! Just because Usui is handsome and the MC’s love interest doesn’t mean those inappropriate action of his is ok! I honestly didn’t like Usui a lot as a character so I just watched this for Misaki! She was cool, brave and kind! And fiercely protective of her family and friends!
Hiyaahhh vote this up! I also only like this anine because of Misaki and dislikes Usui. And my friends didn't get it! And some even don't get why Misaki hates men so much! They think Misaki is overreacting and cliché "I hate men trope".
I agree, but this is a wider problem than just this show. It's a massive critique of shoujo and romance for young ladies in general. I really wish romance for women wasn't so damn rapey and toxic. I love indulging in some toxic mess guilty pleasures but why's it gotta be such a huge chunk of the genre
@@Bala_Nirannafacts. Conceptually, dark romance should be a genre I love, but so many of them ditch the romance/falling in love part, instead double down on the toxicity and stalking, and r*ping.
I think the many SA scenes also stem from the pretty high SA rates in Japan itself. Generally, the objectification of girls/women seems to be quite a societal problem in Japan, I mean, they established train compartments solely for women. There’s even this thing that men will purposefully bump shoulders with you when they walk past, sometimes so hard that they can knock out the woman.
Good analysis. Anime seems to generally uphold the Western idea that women are to be respected, while at the same time there’s this sneaky misogyny in the background. The use of “bloomers” in school till recently, the relatively easy access to porn, the frequent references to “boys should escort girls at night, as it can get dangerous”… it’s a thinly-veiled misogyny. My guess would be that the culture generally keeps people in check with the ideas of “norms” which may or may not be acknowledged by individuals. Unlike “Abrahamic religions” that have clear stances on the treatment of women, the religions and cultures practiced there may be more “liberal” with regard to how men should and can treat women. And with the pressures of school and work in the forefront, this perspective has not been challenged.
I'm longing for the day that Japan gets their shit together with the blatant misogyny issue so that I can finally enjoy anime again (and even recommend it to people).
@@AnnaHans88 I wouldn’t hold my breath. After WW2, they adopted many Western things, like clothes and music. But they also retained much of their original culture, like bowing, deference to superiors and gender norms (to a certain degree). If they have not eliminated this misogyny by now, I doubt they will get around to it in the near future. Plus, their religious and cultural beliefs do not hold respect for women as a priority, so they will need a powerful sociological or political movement in order to force a change in perspective. Movements which, given the average worker’s workload, cannot easily gain traction. A sad truth.
I watched this anime like 10+ years ago and I loved it to death. Misaki is a gem. Compared to other shoujo animes in that era this was a gem. A lot of similar animes had completely helpless female leads, and guys who were much bigger of an ahole than Usui. I always though that Usui in the date/relationship department is just as big of an idiot as Misaki is, and he has actually no idea that what he does is sometimes creepy. I was sold when Usui jumped off a building to save some photos. (who does that, the creep )
I agree compared to other shoujo protags, Misaki really stands out and still means a lot of me as a character ✨ and that's a good point, Usui doesn't seem very good at conveying how he feels about her lol
if you’ve read the manga and know more about his background, him not knowing how to be in a relationship or how to properly convey his emotions actually makes a lot of sense as an explanation for his actions. In my opinion, his biggest downfall is that he never apologized or realized that some of the things he’s done were wrong or inappropriate, not even as an adult. But I guess we can always head canon that he apologized some time off-screen / off-page lol
@@macyskaggs3772I WAS JUST THINKING THAT, I’ve read the full manga and it really helps flush out things albeit definitely on the ‘invading personal space way too much, even borderline creepily’ side of things.. but I 100% agree with the argument that this show was SO much better than lots of the other male leads at the time who quite literally would be violent/straight manipulative whereas Usui at least seemed to genuinely care about her responses/safety
I loved this show when I was younger but later when I was older I was like yeaaa that was kinda weird but regardless I’ll probably still always have a special place in my heart bc it was just when I was getting into anime
It's official... youtube knows me too well coz how did this come up on my recommended list?? love the video and and still love the show although I agree that it hasn't aged as well as I would have wanted it to.
I still really love this anime. And yeah, Usui is pretty much an obsessed psycho stalker, but when you discover his hellish backstory (illegitimate child shunned by his remaining family and neglected by even his tutors) it kind of makes sense that he'd act the way he does. (Proof: Got stalked in high school too. Not the best time of my life.) His saving grace is that he never crosses any lines that hurts or traps her. Because, let's be real, in their story universe, Misaki could get back at him if she wanted. She could defeat the other guys too, but it's not in her nature to hurt others despite her strength. I guess that's why part of her secretly isn't bothered that Usui helps her out. They're like a power couple who are good at everything, but don't know how to deal with each other at first, because they'd never met anybody else like them before. Usui's an aloof guy with attachment issues, while Misaki is a hardened girl with financial problems. They both have family traumas that could destroy any other regular person. I don't know how many others here have read the complete manga, but that's the impression I got of them.
this is very well put! i havent read the manga myself not really a manga reader but i gathered hints about Usui's past just by watching the end credits music vid lol and also have read somewhere about his parents and why he lives alone. you are completely right about Misaki doesn't mind him at all and could have done something about his advances if she wanted to. i really do think Misaki kinda needs Usui in spite of being strong independent and a man hater, somewhere in her heart kinda wishes to have someone who has her back at times. She can show her vulnerabilities to Usui naturally, but tsundere as she is, regrets it afterwards. i have always hoped theres season 2 anime for this 😣, it might be more well received nowadays cos we can get a glimpse of their upbringing, perhaps.
Yona of the dawn changed me I think I love the main character she is very bold, resilient, works to improve herself and I really love how she evolved herself according to the situation. I just love her and want to be like her. well, my bad for not being in context to the topic of the video 😅😅but I just had to.
Yesss, I love Yona of the dawn! I feel like a female main character, or even side character, who isn’t helpless is so rare in more action oriented anime. Especially in the older ones. That’s why I love Frieren so much
I loved this anime for Misaki and Misaki alone when I was a teen. I had never seen another anime up to that point which attempted to challenge sexism and objectification, especially because many animes LEANED heavy into it. It’s crazy how I didn’t see Usui for who he truly was while watching the show in that context, especially since his behavior so strongly contradicts the main message of the show. I feel like maybe he was supposed to just embody everything Misaki hated, but they just went too far with all of it and he ends up looking like a creep instead of a womanizer which is how he is initially characterized.
I was older when Maid-sama came out and it's not my fav for a reason I'm so glad someone is talking about it cause so many people say it's their unproblematic fav and I'm like 😅
Omg I’m so glad to hear someone else praise the music in this anime it’s so underrated and genuinely one of my favorite anime osts and has lots of great tracks like Usui’s theme or the Main theme.
THANK YOU 😭😭 I rewatched this one night while i was braiding my hair and was FLOORED. The constant sexual assault and deleting of her agency (she's strong enough to fight these boys off but never does and has to be saved every last episode) left me slack jawed
The one thing I ask people when they say I’m weird for not liking Usui is “Would you be okay if someone you consider ugly did the same stuff as Usui because he/she is in love with you?” that makes them reconsider!
Crazy how Usui used to be much older than me, but now I'm much older than him. It's kinda sad. Same thing happened with the Miraculous characters. I've changed so much, but they've all stayed the same.
@@sumonovee6759 I loved stuff like hirunaka no ryusei, I'm sure there were more, but it was def hard to find something I vibed with. I just never liked the possessive, almost a bully type of ML. Another example is the ML from Ao Haru Ride. Cos I just end up rooting for the second ML. Tamaki, I just found annoying and that kyoya(?) scene where he had mc pinned on the bed... even as a kid I found it icky
finallyyyy i watched this cause i heard lots of good things about this but when i watched it i just thought "yikes that dude is so annoying why is he telling her what to do like who does he think he is?? " and of courrrseeee he doesnt put in any effort but is magically better than her at everything, just cause he is some random guy
finally someone is talking about that part, my little monster also has that trope and ruined it for me, you're gonna tell me that the fl worked her whole like studying hard and the ml is a school skipping delinquent and has better grades than her, screw that
@@lilypond5158 I mean it is explained later in the manga that he had a bunch of private tutors before highschool, so his skills are definitely not out of nowhere.
THANK YOU!!! Because I still have very fond memories of my close friend at the time (not anymore) we would both watch anime and talk about it. Yet I remember on Maid Sama we disagreed about Usui (which I know we were both young) but I remember I thought he was creep and she didn’t. To this day I never felt semi or even half validated on that cause to this day he’s one of the big problems I have when recommending this anime and when rewatching it!
Also I got to the end and a few anime I love are Kamisama Kiss, Love, Chunnibyo, & Other Delusions, Fruits Basket (all adaptions), Kodocha, OHSHC, and Snow White with the Red hair to name a few! I’m now subscribed after seeing this video pop up on my YT.
I always felt uncomfy watching that ep when he deadass stayed infront of her house all night after she told him to leave🧍🏾♀️never found it cute. Nor him looking under her skirt🧍🏾♀️
I loved maid sama, I still love it but it's purely out of nostalgia because people like Usui are a nightmare to date. People who annoy you even when you tell them off, don't respect boundaries, bottle up anger in quietness and act distant, awful
When I was getting into anime last year, my friend recommended me this anime. I was actually so shocked about the stuff ML would do to the FL that would be considered in the drama as romantic.
Definitely do Yona of the Dawn!! I’m subbing cause there are super cute in general, but yona is the perfect protagonist and I wish we got more seasons (I know it aged well but I want more people to watch this dhoweeeeee)
Same i really loved that i wish it had more seasons and i remember loving black dragon (that what i remembered him as Because he was very strong ,the black hair guy ml) and yona moment together they were one to none ok byt i love him black dragon
Toradora was the anime that changed my way of thinking. I remember watching it (and then rewatching it two more times) when I was 13. First of all, the main character is short, and I was always insecure about being one of the shortest in my class. I was happy to see a character who resembled me in this aspect. Additionally, she was always direct, didn’t hesitate to speak up if she didn’t like something, and was also quite independent for her age. I was a shy person who would rather make myself uncomfortable than risk making someone else dissatisfied with me. The main character definitely changed my perspective.
I feel like we are becoming very monothematic over "how something should be", like, I get the whole "it's a very possesive approach" but, are we gonna really ignore the fact that Misaki actually enjoyed it? that is the whole thing with the plot, we see how what happens with other guys that ARE NOT Usui bother Misaki, but when it's him, it doesn't. Even when there's "no consent" there is consent, 'cause Misaki CAN hit Usui and break free, and we know it, she actually complains to herself over the fact that "with him she's not able", which means, essentially, she does not want to. People always say "oh, it's because he's a handsome guy", well, yes, it doesn't matter if the love interest is handsome for us or for the main girl, if she likes it when that specific character does it, then it is consentual.
I came to say the same thing. Asia doesnt view concent the same way 2024/25 america does where it has to be explicitly stated. In asia, playing coy with the boy you like is part of the dating game. You see it in dramas, music videos, animes, ect. Culturally, romance is read differently. In maid sama, she is a strong, powerful female lead who can fight, yell, handle herself, but with usui shes able to lean more into being soft and feminine. He also makes most of his advances to make her uncomfortable. Its his way of flirting with her as much as her way of flirting is to call him a pervert, but not actually pull away. He would never do anything to cross her lines, and in a lot of situations she erases lines she might have drawn for others where hes involved. In a world where shes been forced to be tough and masculine, where shes had to feel comfortable in that, usui is the one person shes able to be soft and feminine with.
The one episode i remember seeing as a child was when usui left a kiss mark on her back, that episode made me feel uncomfortable and i never watched the rest of the show.
Another romance anime i watched when i was younger was "Kamisama Hajimemashita" and don't remember much of it, but even then I didn't like the fl forcing the ml into a contract against his wishes Looking back, there is also the age gap, but i am not sure i want to rewatch it and ruin it in my memory 😅 Also I think the idea for this review series is very interesting!
I remember watching a few episodes when i was a kid, but wasn't very good at english back then, so I it dropped fast. I tried getting back into it last year but with no success, I still think it's good but just not for me anymore. Really good video, would love to see more!
As far I'm aware of how some aspects of this anime are problematic it has still all love from me. It was not only my first anime but also the first romance I've watched because before that I thought that all romance stories are boring, stupid and lame. Not to mention that I really think character of Misaki really changed a lot in my life because I looked up to be like her. that's why I don't think I will ever change the score even if now it for sure would be lower.
felt weird cause she became more weak and protected and stalked later on and 12 yeard old me went "girl wheres u strenght why u calling usuis name after he harassed u when someone else is doing the same please"
That’s my favorite anime from my childhood ❤😢(I even had a fat crush on the ml lol) I loved special A, when i rewatched it I had so much second hand embarrassment though, it’s still good. And honestly I never really enjoyed watching maid sama when I was younger (I didn’t like the male lead and it was kind of boring)😅
Thank you for making this video. The concern highlighted is exactly why I struggle to finish the entire season even to this day. Not only they are highschoolers (15-18yo, and considering they were not in their final year the oldest they'd be are 17) the *romance* depends _heavily_ on those particular scenes, which only caters to a very specific group of people. While the character development is worth following, the fact that more than half of their romance develops on a very specific niché is just very disturbing and off putting. This pretty much explain why this series can't beat Ouran High Host Club eventhough OHHC itself has a very disturbing base story (highschoolers doing host club in the schoolground, using immeasurable wealth as a way to greenlight it is just wow) And also when this anime came out, I was transitioning to comedy+slice of life, so no wonder, ig.
I hated Usui, I was honestly surprised they still loved him after seeing him stalk and sexually harass Misaki. I wanted her to end up with the other guy (I forget his name, I haven't watched the show in so long and I don't plan to).
I never understood why Usui even liked Misaki in the first place- Don’t get me wrong she’s definitely a female lead that deserves to be loved, since she actually has good qualities but, it’s not like this guy gradually gets to know and fall in love with her after breaking her walls down. He has one interaction with her and is suddenly assaulting her every opportunity he gets. I remember reading the entire manga at 13 and searching it up right after because I didn’t recall there ever being a scene where he’s certain he loves this girl. Also things somehow proceed to get worse in the manga. Remember the super fluttery season finale, where there’s a classroom confession scene? Well, that actually meant absolutely nothing because this guy doesn’t want to date her?? 💀 Instead they had this teen orientated manga actually pull up a situationship for its main characters… (I wish i was joking). Misaki finally wants to date this guy but, for some reason only until the second ML shows up ,he’s possessive??
Tried watching this around 20yo and couldn’t finish it. I’m so glad I never watched it when I was a young impressionable girl because I feel like I would’ve thought the haras*ment and as*ault were nothing to be concerned about
I'm glad content creators are making more vids about this, cus I've also found it abit werid when i watch it as a kid but even den the others who watched it too normalised it, and the people in the anime also brushed many scenes off, or its just made into comedy. and so i eventually normalised it too, which is so dangerous, growing up i continued to love Misaki but my mind really started thinking and i slowly realised, other people are also weird for normalizing this. but since i am no one with influence on the internet like this, all i do is comment my thoughts once in awhile and thats dosen't get far, so i'm real glad content creators are talking about it.
Wasn't that surprised whenever people called Usui the definition of pretty privilege when this anime was brought up in conversations a couple years ago. Let this be rebooted and MAYBE people will see how bad he really was towards Misa 😅
I really love the strong woman being unabashedly loved by an almost stronger man. And even though they are really equally matched they both have their own issues which makes them think the other is stronger. Usui tries to let her see that she doesn’t have to be strong all the time because she should be able to rely on someone. Now does he want that someone to be him? Of course, but thats also why he keeps himself at a distance (at least at first) but since this is how he is, he wants her to get used to him, (which is why he tells the girls who ask him out all the things he does with misaki to get a reaction because he knows they could never be okay with something Misaki is okay with) but he wants her to fall in love with him because in the end hes an unloved child who, even though he does everything to get his family to love him to the point of almost being a god at everything he does, he still will never be loved in a way he desires. Essentially he’s a guy who’s not taking no for an answer with the woman he knows will be able to handle him because he’s tired of it. Which is why when he sees Misaki being kind to the boys she undoubtably hates, it gives him hope that she will give him that same treatment. And Misaki falls in love because she comes to rely on him and knows she can be her true self and he will understand despite her background. Thats my take and why even as an adult I still love this anime… But this is also my take after reading the manga which goes way deeper into their relationship.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this---and I agree, the manga goes way more into deeper aspects of their dynamic I would've liked to see in the anime. If the series focused more on what you've just pointed out I might have enjoyed it more!
I watched maid sama when I was little and even then I was like "eh something is not right" last year I decided to rewatch it and DAMN I realized how weird this anime is
One you should cover is "Snow white with red hair"! Shirayuki was a female lead that felt so fresh when I first watched it, able to be bold and true to herself without needing to be overly masculine like Misaki or go under physical training like yona. She uses her wit and kindness to solve problems rather than always relying on Zen or Obi.
Honestly, nothing bad to talk about that anime as much as I know of. Shirayuki reminds me of Jang Geum and that's why I like watching the anime. Both of them use their wit and kindness plus they want to help heal people. Both became associated with royal.
I watched this anime when i was in middle school/elementary and i always thought they were cute, but now im in college and its crazy how i thought that😭 thnaks for covering it!
I never watched maid sama but I did read it. I remember really liking misaki but being meh about usui. FRUITS BASKET ON THE OTHER HAND…!!! *sobs*. Is it over dramatic to say that Fruits Basket changed my life?? My first and only cat was named kyo. Just thinking about the last chapter still makes me tear up. I love the entire cast of characters, even the borderline villain ones lol. I reread it as an adult and I still got The Feels™. Justice for Momiji though that’s my baby 😭
Out of curiosity did you enjoy the remake of Fruit basket that released a few years ago? I can't remember much about fruit basket but recall loving it when I watched it too! Tho have yet to give the remake a try even tho I think I heard it's also great.
This is basically exactly how I feel about the anime / manga Boys Over Flowers when I was younger I loved the series but I tried watching it again recently and I couldn’t finish it the sexual harassment / assault was just too much. It’s crazy how we sometimes romanticize things like this when we are young. For some reason I dropped this anime when I was young even though its premise is similar to Boys Over Flowers.
Funny thing is I finished the series the day before this video released haha I enjoyed this anime but now when you bring up these points, yes I can't help but agreeing, why was there so much weird stuff, I really like Usui tho but I don't know anymore haha...
You should do My Little Monster, I barely remember it but I remember not getting why people wanted the protagonist with the blond guy over the male lead and as I grew up I definitely had a shift where suddenly I understood the appeal of characters like that
There's a new anime with the same mindset. It abt a girl in training for 10 years to be a queen, but then her fiancé allegedly cheating on her. She's so happy when she find out bcs she hate the training. But when she tried to escape the boy tried every mean to get her back. People justified his actions bcs he's so in love with her, when she hate everything abt being a queen for him.
I never saw Usui has a jerk or a pervert. The guy always helped Misaki when she is in danger or comfort her. He's really kind 🥰 Kyouya in Wolf girl and Black prince is a real jerk! Not only he made the heroine cry but he also treated her like an object and is always rude or insult her. Usui is an angel compare to him!
comparing horrible people is inherently bad as well, yes they have kindness in their own ways but at the end of the day the actions the author decided to write were both fucked up
I tried watching that second anime and I hated the Male Lead so much I dropped it on the first EP 🥴 If I had watched it when I first watched Kaichow wa Meido-sama, maaaybe I could've gone through it... but now that I'm grown? My patience towards badboys is thin!!!
Of course I remember this anime because it WAS MY FIRST ANIME EVER. I still rememer, almost 13 years ago, I was eating couscous and I was at my dad's laptop watching maid-sama
I feel proud to know something was wrong with this show when I was literally 10. I lost a close friend because of the argument I had with her that shows like these should be taken seriously because it is ruining the young kid’s mentality and everything
I’ll be blunt, I liked Maid Sama as a kid because I had the exact same personality, expressing style and issues as Mitski. To an almost alarming degree, but the show really helped me learn to grow and temper a lot of that behaviour and perspective in a way that was natural (if not cheesy) and incremental for a 7 year old. Usui was someone I could tell was more of an conglomeration of ideal of female troupes & idealised traits if not rough foil to her to me, and his character was more comprehensible than Special A’s (another anime) who attempted a similar dynamic. I mean, come on, who would jump off a school building for their crush? Even I knew it was weird as a literal 2nd grader lol. But this show is so cheesy and unabashedly forward it’s endearing. I always appreciated it because of how it dealt with objectification and having a girl who literally acted and sounded like that as a kid learn to keep going was really encouraging.
This used to be one of my all time favourites, I was sooo obsessed with Usui, I have the entire bundled version of this manga… and then I tried to re read it like a year ago and it was pain 💀
I'd definitely love a series of this! Another one that would be good to look at now I think is Lovely Complex 🤔 (also, yes, Akatsuki no Yona is OF COURSE amazing and holds up perfectly ❤❤❤)
The whole ‘possessive boyfriend was and still is a dream for young girls’ reminds me so much of Skip Beat where it turns out she has a bastard boyfriend in episode 1 and she breaks up with his arse and vows to get revenge by being a bigger star than him which she starts at a few episodes later. I never understood this even as a young teen, it never sat right with me in any anime, which is probably why me and my big sister (super girl girl whereas I’m a tomboy) had such different taste in anime: she ate Maid-sama right tf up but I was reading series were either boys don’t get away with this shit or straight up watching shounen romance like Toradora.
I loved this anime so much when i was kid, probably due to the fact that it was the first 5 animes i ever watched and it was THE first romance anime i ever watched. Suprisingly ive only rewatched it like 2-3 times in its entirety all times when i was still like around 12. I loved the mc a lot and while i even as a literal child noticed Usui was definitely pushy even back then, i mainy was just thirsting for anime dudes. So alot of it got shrouded behind nostalgia. Im probably never gonna give it a rewatch tho because, 1 i got other things to watch 2 imma keep my childhood nostalgia 😂
If I were to rewatch maid sama now as an adult I definitely won’t like it as much as my kid self did because as a kid, I definitely overlooked usui’s creepiness and stalking tendencies.
It was one of the first anime I stumbled upon, and I watched the whole thing because I was a 15 year old still discovering anime. I remember coming away from it thinking it was "fine", but wishing there was more genuinely romantic moments between the leads (as opposed to the ML doing stuff that made Misaki upset). Honestly, looking back while watching your video, I can see why it was never one of my "favorites". It was literally a gateway to other shoujo, which I quickly found that I liked better. My recommendations, based on what I watched during that time frame, are: "My Little Monster", "Kamisama Kiss", "Mermaid Melody", "Ouran Highschool Host Club", "Inuyasha", "The Wallflower", "Princess Jellyfish", "Princess Tutu", "Skip Beat", and "Kimi ni Todoke". They aren't a flawless list - My Little Monster ended way too soon, Inuyasha is technically a shounen, Skip Beat has that iffy age-gap, etc. - but they're the stuff that was most comparable to Maid-sama at the time, for one reason or another, and I do find them more nostalgic than it now. That being said, I also saw "Wolf Girl and Black Prince" and "Vampire Knight", which are so much worse than Maid-sama. You know, in case you want another "this is a shockingly, infuriatingly, bad kind of nostalgia" thing to review.
holy shit snow white with the red hair in the first few seconds wow!!! that was my first anime and still my favorite shoujo to this day honestly i've rewatched maid sama twice since childhood and the most recent time (about a year ago, and for context i'll be 18 soon) i was actually so shocked at how weird some shit was, like with usui and aoi or just how usui treated misaki at some points (like he lifted up her skirt near the beginning, wtf usui) i was so in love with usui as a kid and now like i do love certain scenes and aspects of him (like jfc jumping off a building for the picture of her) but he's kinda a freaky mf that i would probably hate irl😭
I mean…compared to the type of manhwas we have now adays, this is childs play. I dont condone sa of any sorts but we have sooo many stories that are coming out rn that are sooo trendy and popular and the main concept seems to be “the more toxic, the better for the redemption arc” which i think we can all focus on also.
Heck yeah, agreed!! It's one of my favourite anime of all time. I'm not sure if I will make a video about it, because I don't think I have anything unique/new to say though!
Glad people are noticing in these few years even as a kid i found some scenes that made me feel weird but as a kid i couldn't put my finger on it on top of that everyone loved Maid Sama (my older sister include) so sometimes it made me feel like i was just overthinking it & being an oddball that's why i couldn't voice my opinion as a kid that i wasn't really a fan of this anime
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It’s crazy how you don’t notice how creepy Usui is when you’re 10
Right?? Like I already knew I don't really like him even back then but I couldn't really pinpoint why😭
I agree. This is why I rooted for Misaki's childhood friend more. Unfortunately we know who she's ending up with.
Alot of young girls watched this and definitely ignored everything he did to Misaki & thought it was cute along with wanting a boyfriend like him
well I did I always hated him since!
@@spookybooo101Same I hated him so much since episode 1 that I stopped watching the show. On the contrary I fell down sh*ta rabbit hole (censoring in case for YT lol)
Even as a child I knew that some things about this anime were weird
Frrr even back then I never liked Usui bcs of all the harrassments towards Misaki, and the kid me hated how he always get in the way of Misaki being a badass and always have to be the one who saves her. I never understood why lots of people like him so much lol
Me too tbh
I used to hate it too...😂
Exactly my take😢
same
And let's not forget the moment when Usui pinned Aoi down 'to teach her/him a lesson,' and Misaki even somewhat agreed with that action. Or the time when the entire class went on a trip to a Buddhist temple and stayed there for a while, only for the boys to later want to as*ault the girls, which was just brushed off as 'oh, that happens.' I loved this anime growing up, but there are so many aspects and moments that are highly questionable. As you mentioned, the worst part is the normalization, or even romanticization, of se*ual as*ault...
As a kid I found that crazy and immediately thought what they were doing was wrong. I'm surprised how some others think that's cute and acceptable
The child scene was just so bad like usui is straight up a pedo for tht
Wait till you visit Japan
@@JJay-sb8cu we don't have to . The various medias of Japan already gives an insight.
I remember when he sexually assaulted a boy…
Let’s not sugar coat what it is with words like “weird” and “questionable”. It just downplays events: straight up sexual assault and harassment.
They literally use sexual assault and harassment in the video are u cuckoo in the head?
Thats what I was thinking the whole time 😭 they're already talking about sa and sh, whats the point in using words like that as if it matters whoever disagrees with this. Like there is no need to use those words, the sexual assault doesnt disappear because some people might say it didnt even happen. That's honestly the only reason I can see them having used words like "questionable" and "weird".
But at the same time, I understand it is hard to talk about topics like these so it may simply be that.
I think they do that because RUclips censors so much.
@blackroseillustrations6484 They already mentioned sexual assault so I don't think so, but it's more so just something they could improve upon. 🙂↕️
When I was in middle school, I tried watching Maid-sama but I dropped it after a few episodes because I couldn’t consider Usui a ML for Misaki. Every time Usui was on screen, I would thought “When you have a crush on someone, you’d want them to trust you and have a great time with you, so why Usui is bothering Misaki if he was meant to love her?”
Basically Usui took the “If they bully you, they like you” and somehow made it worse.
I though the country boy was better, i still this day ship those 2
I watched clips of it and got addicted to watching Misaki be strong but immediately dropped it before Usui made me iffy
samee i had to drop it
I hate the bully trope so much. I watched it in highschool and I thought it was fun but Usui was my least favorite too the way he’s just a typical shojo bad boy. I liked the childhood friend a lot more or even the shy teal haired classmate, someone less ‘alpha’ lol
No he didn't. He didn't bully her, this was teasing.
The thing that really bothered me when I watched this anime was Usui did have his moments of kindness and sweetness towards Misaki. Even helping her in bad situations in the anime! But Usui was a stalker alien pervert! Dude did anything he could to get in Misaki’s personal space whenever he got a chance. Usually without her consent or it was forced by the plot. And because he was handsome and popular he got away with those weird actions! Just because Usui is handsome and the MC’s love interest doesn’t mean those inappropriate action of his is ok! I honestly didn’t like Usui a lot as a character so I just watched this for Misaki! She was cool, brave and kind! And fiercely protective of her family and friends!
Hiyaahhh vote this up! I also only like this anine because of Misaki and dislikes Usui. And my friends didn't get it! And some even don't get why Misaki hates men so much! They think Misaki is overreacting and cliché "I hate men trope".
I agree, but this is a wider problem than just this show. It's a massive critique of shoujo and romance for young ladies in general. I really wish romance for women wasn't so damn rapey and toxic. I love indulging in some toxic mess guilty pleasures but why's it gotta be such a huge chunk of the genre
@@Bala_Nirannafacts. Conceptually, dark romance should be a genre I love, but so many of them ditch the romance/falling in love part, instead double down on the toxicity and stalking, and r*ping.
Finally! I have never liked Usui and it annoyed me how Usui is viewed as a Shoujo Romance God. I basically have the same complaints as you
So what? It’s a drawing character for women who fantasize about that. If u don’t like it, this isn’t about u. The whataboutism is so weird.
I think the many SA scenes also stem from the pretty high SA rates in Japan itself. Generally, the objectification of girls/women seems to be quite a societal problem in Japan, I mean, they established train compartments solely for women. There’s even this thing that men will purposefully bump shoulders with you when they walk past, sometimes so hard that they can knock out the woman.
Theres signs on the stairs to look out for skirt filmers too btw....genuinely disgusting
Good analysis. Anime seems to generally uphold the Western idea that women are to be respected, while at the same time there’s this sneaky misogyny in the background. The use of “bloomers” in school till recently, the relatively easy access to porn, the frequent references to “boys should escort girls at night, as it can get dangerous”… it’s a thinly-veiled misogyny. My guess would be that the culture generally keeps people in check with the ideas of “norms” which may or may not be acknowledged by individuals. Unlike “Abrahamic religions” that have clear stances on the treatment of women, the religions and cultures practiced there may be more “liberal” with regard to how men should and can treat women. And with the pressures of school and work in the forefront, this perspective has not been challenged.
Or its out of female fantasies. The author is woman
I'm longing for the day that Japan gets their shit together with the blatant misogyny issue so that I can finally enjoy anime again (and even recommend it to people).
@@AnnaHans88 I wouldn’t hold my breath. After WW2, they adopted many Western things, like clothes and music. But they also retained much of their original culture, like bowing, deference to superiors and gender norms (to a certain degree). If they have not eliminated this misogyny by now, I doubt they will get around to it in the near future. Plus, their religious and cultural beliefs do not hold respect for women as a priority, so they will need a powerful sociological or political movement in order to force a change in perspective. Movements which, given the average worker’s workload, cannot easily gain traction. A sad truth.
For whatever reason, whenever people bring up this anime, the first line of the opening theme just plays in my head.
@@jaywhangmakes The same thing happens for me with Ouran High School Host club--both theme songs are so iconic
@@Opalescent Oh this anime is also one of my favorites! Why the heck there is no season 2 for these animes!!
DOUKAAA CAN YOU PLEASE KEEP MY SECREEET
For me its the ending becuase I loved the guitair solo and the guy screaming DAKESHIMETTTAAA
DUOKAAA PLEASE CAN YOU KEEP MY SECUE-REET
I watched this anime like 10+ years ago and I loved it to death. Misaki is a gem. Compared to other shoujo animes in that era this was a gem. A lot of similar animes had completely helpless female leads, and guys who were much bigger of an ahole than Usui.
I always though that Usui in the date/relationship department is just as big of an idiot as Misaki is, and he has actually no idea that what he does is sometimes creepy. I was sold when Usui jumped off a building to save some photos. (who does that, the creep )
I agree compared to other shoujo protags, Misaki really stands out and still means a lot of me as a character ✨ and that's a good point, Usui doesn't seem very good at conveying how he feels about her lol
if you’ve read the manga and know more about his background, him not knowing how to be in a relationship or how to properly convey his emotions actually makes a lot of sense as an explanation for his actions. In my opinion, his biggest downfall is that he never apologized or realized that some of the things he’s done were wrong or inappropriate, not even as an adult. But I guess we can always head canon that he apologized some time off-screen / off-page lol
@@macyskaggs3772I WAS JUST THINKING THAT, I’ve read the full manga and it really helps flush out things albeit definitely on the ‘invading personal space way too much, even borderline creepily’ side of things.. but I 100% agree with the argument that this show was SO much better than lots of the other male leads at the time who quite literally would be violent/straight manipulative whereas Usui at least seemed to genuinely care about her responses/safety
I loved this show when I was younger but later when I was older I was like yeaaa that was kinda weird but regardless I’ll probably still always have a special place in my heart bc it was just when I was getting into anime
Ah yes, An anime that Made me realise i love masc women
@@Banana.600 A fellow cultured individual I see
It's official... youtube knows me too well coz how did this come up on my recommended list?? love the video and and still love the show although I agree that it hasn't aged as well as I would have wanted it to.
hehe the algorithm works in mysterious ways. I'm so glad you enjoyed! :D
rigth!
I still really love this anime. And yeah, Usui is pretty much an obsessed psycho stalker, but when you discover his hellish backstory (illegitimate child shunned by his remaining family and neglected by even his tutors) it kind of makes sense that he'd act the way he does. (Proof: Got stalked in high school too. Not the best time of my life.)
His saving grace is that he never crosses any lines that hurts or traps her. Because, let's be real, in their story universe, Misaki could get back at him if she wanted. She could defeat the other guys too, but it's not in her nature to hurt others despite her strength. I guess that's why part of her secretly isn't bothered that Usui helps her out.
They're like a power couple who are good at everything, but don't know how to deal with each other at first, because they'd never met anybody else like them before. Usui's an aloof guy with attachment issues, while Misaki is a hardened girl with financial problems. They both have family traumas that could destroy any other regular person. I don't know how many others here have read the complete manga, but that's the impression I got of them.
this is very well put! i havent read the manga myself not really a manga reader but i gathered hints about Usui's past just by watching the end credits music vid lol and also have read somewhere about his parents and why he lives alone.
you are completely right about Misaki doesn't mind him at all and could have done something about his advances if she wanted to. i really do think Misaki kinda needs Usui in spite of being strong independent and a man hater, somewhere in her heart kinda wishes to have someone who has her back at times. She can show her vulnerabilities to Usui naturally, but tsundere as she is, regrets it afterwards.
i have always hoped theres season 2 anime for this 😣, it might be more well received nowadays cos we can get a glimpse of their upbringing, perhaps.
Yona of the dawn changed me I think I love the main character she is very bold, resilient, works to improve herself and I really love how she evolved herself according to the situation. I just love her and want to be like her. well, my bad for not being in context to the topic of the video 😅😅but I just had to.
And Hak is a really good guy and treats Yona really well honestly. They do have a bit of that sibling dynamic tho.
Yesss, I love Yona of the dawn! I feel like a female main character, or even side character, who isn’t helpless is so rare in more action oriented anime. Especially in the older ones. That’s why I love Frieren so much
Do you recommend watching it now?
@@sushidashi6152 absolutely
watched and read manga, you should definitely give it a try!! @@sushidashi6152
I loved this anime for Misaki and Misaki alone when I was a teen. I had never seen another anime up to that point which attempted to challenge sexism and objectification, especially because many animes LEANED heavy into it. It’s crazy how I didn’t see Usui for who he truly was while watching the show in that context, especially since his behavior so strongly contradicts the main message of the show. I feel like maybe he was supposed to just embody everything Misaki hated, but they just went too far with all of it and he ends up looking like a creep instead of a womanizer which is how he is initially characterized.
I was older when Maid-sama came out and it's not my fav for a reason I'm so glad someone is talking about it cause so many people say it's their unproblematic fav and I'm like 😅
They know it's problematic but try to ignore it because it's their favorite
Omg I’m so glad to hear someone else praise the music in this anime it’s so underrated and genuinely one of my favorite anime osts and has lots of great tracks like Usui’s theme or the Main theme.
Yess!! Those tracks are super memorable, definitely something I'd listen to just in my free time
My Secret is on my j-pop playlist to this day ❤
Does anyone remember the indie band in the anime that put out music in real life?? Those were bangers 😭
Actually! I even used to listen to the songs of the fictional band UxMishi. They were amazing! I still listen to them occasionally!
@@st4rp0p Agreed!
THANK YOU 😭😭 I rewatched this one night while i was braiding my hair and was FLOORED. The constant sexual assault and deleting of her agency (she's strong enough to fight these boys off but never does and has to be saved every last episode) left me slack jawed
OMG a video abt maid sama in this AGE???😭
GOTTA LOVE U FOR THIS!!
Gen Z shoujo readers RISE UP
The one thing I ask people when they say I’m weird for not liking Usui is “Would you be okay if someone you consider ugly did the same stuff as Usui because he/she is in love with you?” that makes them reconsider!
This is the only anime I watched twice as a teen. Now 5 years later, I’m afraid to watch it because it might ruin the nostalgia I have for it.
Crazy how Usui used to be much older than me, but now I'm much older than him. It's kinda sad. Same thing happened with the Miraculous characters. I've changed so much, but they've all stayed the same.
Exactaly
Maid sama wasnt even the original one, for the story the mangaka took inspiration from “Special A”
Kei over Usui any day.
Neither I was ever a fan of, lmaoo. Then again, I never liked Ouran too
@@Bread_bread01 maybe you just dont like shoujo:/
@@sumonovee6759 I loved stuff like hirunaka no ryusei, I'm sure there were more, but it was def hard to find something I vibed with. I just never liked the possessive, almost a bully type of ML. Another example is the ML from Ao Haru Ride. Cos I just end up rooting for the second ML. Tamaki, I just found annoying and that kyoya(?) scene where he had mc pinned on the bed... even as a kid I found it icky
@@Bread_bread01SO TRUE
finallyyyy i watched this cause i heard lots of good things about this but when i watched it i just thought "yikes that dude is so annoying why is he telling her what to do like who does he think he is?? " and of courrrseeee he doesnt put in any effort but is magically better than her at everything, just cause he is some random guy
finally someone is talking about that part, my little monster also has that trope and ruined it for me, you're gonna tell me that the fl worked her whole like studying hard and the ml is a school skipping delinquent and has better grades than her, screw that
@@lilypond5158 I mean it is explained later in the manga that he had a bunch of private tutors before highschool, so his skills are definitely not out of nowhere.
@@real8304 I know the author explains it
THANK YOU!!! Because I still have very fond memories of my close friend at the time (not anymore) we would both watch anime and talk about it. Yet I remember on Maid Sama we disagreed about Usui (which I know we were both young) but I remember I thought he was creep and she didn’t. To this day I never felt semi or even half validated on that cause to this day he’s one of the big problems I have when recommending this anime and when rewatching it!
Also I got to the end and a few anime I love are Kamisama Kiss, Love, Chunnibyo, & Other Delusions, Fruits Basket (all adaptions), Kodocha, OHSHC, and Snow White with the Red hair to name a few! I’m now subscribed after seeing this video pop up on my YT.
Thanks so much for the recommendations and for your support! :D
I LOVE Snow White with the Red Hair and Fruits Basket
I always felt uncomfy watching that ep when he deadass stayed infront of her house all night after she told him to leave🧍🏾♀️never found it cute. Nor him looking under her skirt🧍🏾♀️
i remember finding his character very hot as a kid but now that I'm older and have been around people like him it just makes me so uncomfortable
I loved maid sama, I still love it but it's purely out of nostalgia because people like Usui are a nightmare to date. People who annoy you even when you tell them off, don't respect boundaries, bottle up anger in quietness and act distant, awful
i used to love this show back when i was 11 and i did NOT remember it being this weird omg.... good video!!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed! :D
When I was getting into anime last year, my friend recommended me this anime. I was actually so shocked about the stuff ML would do to the FL that would be considered in the drama as romantic.
Definitely do Yona of the Dawn!! I’m subbing cause there are super cute in general, but yona is the perfect protagonist and I wish we got more seasons (I know it aged well but I want more people to watch this dhoweeeeee)
YESS! Yona of the Dawn is one of my favs and I'm still keeping up with the manga
Same i really loved that i wish it had more seasons and i remember loving black dragon (that what i remembered him as Because he was very strong ,the black hair guy ml) and yona moment together they were one to none ok byt i love him black dragon
Toradora was the anime that changed my way of thinking. I remember watching it (and then rewatching it two more times) when I was 13. First of all, the main character is short, and I was always insecure about being one of the shortest in my class. I was happy to see a character who resembled me in this aspect. Additionally, she was always direct, didn’t hesitate to speak up if she didn’t like something, and was also quite independent for her age. I was a shy person who would rather make myself uncomfortable than risk making someone else dissatisfied with me. The main character definitely changed my perspective.
I feel like we are becoming very monothematic over "how something should be", like, I get the whole "it's a very possesive approach" but, are we gonna really ignore the fact that Misaki actually enjoyed it? that is the whole thing with the plot, we see how what happens with other guys that ARE NOT Usui bother Misaki, but when it's him, it doesn't. Even when there's "no consent" there is consent, 'cause Misaki CAN hit Usui and break free, and we know it, she actually complains to herself over the fact that "with him she's not able", which means, essentially, she does not want to.
People always say "oh, it's because he's a handsome guy", well, yes, it doesn't matter if the love interest is handsome for us or for the main girl, if she likes it when that specific character does it, then it is consentual.
and misaki is strong enough to handle herself, cause we’ve seen this many times in the show where she is strong enough to take care of herself
I came to say the same thing. Asia doesnt view concent the same way 2024/25 america does where it has to be explicitly stated. In asia, playing coy with the boy you like is part of the dating game. You see it in dramas, music videos, animes, ect. Culturally, romance is read differently. In maid sama, she is a strong, powerful female lead who can fight, yell, handle herself, but with usui shes able to lean more into being soft and feminine. He also makes most of his advances to make her uncomfortable. Its his way of flirting with her as much as her way of flirting is to call him a pervert, but not actually pull away. He would never do anything to cross her lines, and in a lot of situations she erases lines she might have drawn for others where hes involved. In a world where shes been forced to be tough and masculine, where shes had to feel comfortable in that, usui is the one person shes able to be soft and feminine with.
The one episode i remember seeing as a child was when usui left a kiss mark on her back, that episode made me feel uncomfortable and i never watched the rest of the show.
This is why i love Ouran Highschool Host Club more???????
Another romance anime i watched when i was younger was "Kamisama Hajimemashita" and don't remember much of it, but even then I didn't like the fl forcing the ml into a contract against his wishes
Looking back, there is also the age gap, but i am not sure i want to rewatch it and ruin it in my memory 😅
Also I think the idea for this review series is very interesting!
I remember that one, I watched it as a kid too!! And thanks a bunch :D
I loved this one when I was younger but it totally breaks down as an adult when I remember Naname is a high schooler and Tomoe is an adult 💀
For me the only shoujo that has held up since rewatching it is Kimi Ni Todoke
I remember watching a few episodes when i was a kid, but wasn't very good at english back then, so I it dropped fast.
I tried getting back into it last year but with no success, I still think it's good but just not for me anymore.
Really good video, would love to see more!
@@MixxedFreak Thanks so much!! ☺️
I CLICKED IMMEDIATELY ATER I SAW A RUclipsR TITLE MAID SAMA
As far I'm aware of how some aspects of this anime are problematic it has still all love from me. It was not only my first anime but also the first romance I've watched because before that I thought that all romance stories are boring, stupid and lame. Not to mention that I really think character of Misaki really changed a lot in my life because I looked up to be like her. that's why I don't think I will ever change the score even if now it for sure would be lower.
felt weird cause she became more weak and protected and stalked later on and 12 yeard old me went "girl wheres u strenght why u calling usuis name after he harassed u when someone else is doing the same please"
0:57 its giving 2019 gacha movies
Can you review “Special A”? Tbh I’ve always preferred this one over maid sama
Yes I totally can!! I used to love Special A too, but haven't seen it in so long
I hope it’s still as good as I remember
That’s my favorite anime from my childhood ❤😢(I even had a fat crush on the ml lol) I loved special A, when i rewatched it I had so much second hand embarrassment though, it’s still good. And honestly I never really enjoyed watching maid sama when I was younger (I didn’t like the male lead and it was kind of boring)😅
good idea! I totally forgot about it and really used to love it
Its good! I can't believe I forgot about it
Thank you for making this video.
The concern highlighted is exactly why I struggle to finish the entire season even to this day. Not only they are highschoolers (15-18yo, and considering they were not in their final year the oldest they'd be are 17) the *romance* depends _heavily_ on those particular scenes, which only caters to a very specific group of people.
While the character development is worth following, the fact that more than half of their romance develops on a very specific niché is just very disturbing and off putting.
This pretty much explain why this series can't beat Ouran High Host Club eventhough OHHC itself has a very disturbing base story (highschoolers doing host club in the schoolground, using immeasurable wealth as a way to greenlight it is just wow)
And also when this anime came out, I was transitioning to comedy+slice of life, so no wonder, ig.
I hated Usui, I was honestly surprised they still loved him after seeing him stalk and sexually harass Misaki. I wanted her to end up with the other guy (I forget his name, I haven't watched the show in so long and I don't plan to).
She deserved so much better.
Dude ikr
My brother got me into the manga so this always nice to watch.
I love this anime. Its manga ending was epic 💗😍
I never understood why Usui even liked Misaki in the first place- Don’t get me wrong she’s definitely a female lead that deserves to be loved, since she actually has good qualities but, it’s not like this guy gradually gets to know and fall in love with her after breaking her walls down. He has one interaction with her and is suddenly assaulting her every opportunity he gets. I remember reading the entire manga at 13 and searching it up right after because I didn’t recall there ever being a scene where he’s certain he loves this girl.
Also things somehow proceed to get worse in the manga. Remember the super fluttery season finale, where there’s a classroom confession scene? Well, that actually meant absolutely nothing because this guy doesn’t want to date her?? 💀
Instead they had this teen orientated manga actually pull up a situationship for its main characters… (I wish i was joking).
Misaki finally wants to date this guy but, for some reason only until the second ML shows up
,he’s possessive??
Tried watching this around 20yo and couldn’t finish it. I’m so glad I never watched it when I was a young impressionable girl because I feel like I would’ve thought the haras*ment and as*ault were nothing to be concerned about
I'm glad content creators are making more vids about this, cus I've also found it abit werid when i watch it as a kid but even den the others who watched it too normalised it, and the people in the anime also brushed many scenes off, or its just made into comedy. and so i eventually normalised it too, which is so dangerous, growing up i continued to love Misaki but my mind really started thinking and i slowly realised, other people are also weird for normalizing this. but since i am no one with influence on the internet like this, all i do is comment my thoughts once in awhile and thats dosen't get far, so i'm real glad content creators are talking about it.
Wasn't that surprised whenever people called Usui the definition of pretty privilege when this anime was brought up in conversations a couple years ago. Let this be rebooted and MAYBE people will see how bad he really was towards Misa 😅
LORD THIS WAS MY CHILDHOOD. seeing how weird it is now at my age is WILD.
Shugo chara was also something else
I really love the strong woman being unabashedly loved by an almost stronger man. And even though they are really equally matched they both have their own issues which makes them think the other is stronger.
Usui tries to let her see that she doesn’t have to be strong all the time because she should be able to rely on someone. Now does he want that someone to be him? Of course, but thats also why he keeps himself at a distance (at least at first) but since this is how he is, he wants her to get used to him, (which is why he tells the girls who ask him out all the things he does with misaki to get a reaction because he knows they could never be okay with something Misaki is okay with) but he wants her to fall in love with him because in the end hes an unloved child who, even though he does everything to get his family to love him to the point of almost being a god at everything he does, he still will never be loved in a way he desires. Essentially he’s a guy who’s not taking no for an answer with the woman he knows will be able to handle him because he’s tired of it.
Which is why when he sees Misaki being kind to the boys she undoubtably hates, it gives him hope that she will give him that same treatment.
And Misaki falls in love because she comes to rely on him and knows she can be her true self and he will understand despite her background.
Thats my take and why even as an adult I still love this anime…
But this is also my take after reading the manga which goes way deeper into their relationship.
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this---and I agree, the manga goes way more into deeper aspects of their dynamic I would've liked to see in the anime. If the series focused more on what you've just pointed out I might have enjoyed it more!
I watched maid sama when I was little and even then I was like "eh something is not right" last year I decided to rewatch it and DAMN I realized how weird this anime is
i literally distinctly remember dropping this series VERY early on when i was younger because it rubbed me wrong
I loved this show when i was a young teen. Misa calling him a "pervert alien" makes way more sense now
One you should cover is "Snow white with red hair"! Shirayuki was a female lead that felt so fresh when I first watched it, able to be bold and true to herself without needing to be overly masculine like Misaki or go under physical training like yona. She uses her wit and kindness to solve problems rather than always relying on Zen or Obi.
Honestly, nothing bad to talk about that anime as much as I know of. Shirayuki reminds me of Jang Geum and that's why I like watching the anime. Both of them use their wit and kindness plus they want to help heal people. Both became associated with royal.
I read the manga as a teen but for the love of god i cannot realy remember any of this. so thanks for bringen that back to my attention
I’ve been hating on Usui since I first read this manga in 9th grade, thank you for verbalizing why!!
I watched this anime when i was in middle school/elementary and i always thought they were cute, but now im in college and its crazy how i thought that😭 thnaks for covering it!
I never watched maid sama but I did read it. I remember really liking misaki but being meh about usui. FRUITS BASKET ON THE OTHER HAND…!!! *sobs*. Is it over dramatic to say that Fruits Basket changed my life?? My first and only cat was named kyo. Just thinking about the last chapter still makes me tear up. I love the entire cast of characters, even the borderline villain ones lol. I reread it as an adult and I still got The Feels™. Justice for Momiji though that’s my baby 😭
Out of curiosity did you enjoy the remake of Fruit basket that released a few years ago?
I can't remember much about fruit basket but recall loving it when I watched it too! Tho have yet to give the remake a try even tho I think I heard it's also great.
This is basically exactly how I feel about the anime / manga Boys Over Flowers when I was younger I loved the series but I tried watching it again recently and I couldn’t finish it the sexual harassment / assault was just too much. It’s crazy how we sometimes romanticize things like this when we are young.
For some reason I dropped this anime when I was young even though its premise is similar to Boys Over Flowers.
You should review Hana Yori dango and Wolf girl and black prince. Ouran high school host club is a good one too
Funny thing is I finished the series the day before this video released haha
I enjoyed this anime but now when you bring up these points, yes I can't help but agreeing, why was there so much weird stuff, I really like Usui tho but I don't know anymore haha...
I watched this anime when I was 11 and I genuinely could never finish it
You should do My Little Monster, I barely remember it but I remember not getting why people wanted the protagonist with the blond guy over the male lead and as I grew up I definitely had a shift where suddenly I understood the appeal of characters like that
still obsessed with this anime
Since you asked, how about "dinosaur king " it was my first anime and I love it ❤
tried watching this as an adult, dropped it fast 😭
Well… his makes me glad my first romance anime was Lovely Complex…
fr!! I’ve recently rewatched it and it’s still good
There's a new anime with the same mindset. It abt a girl in training for 10 years to be a queen, but then her fiancé allegedly cheating on her. She's so happy when she find out bcs she hate the training. But when she tried to escape the boy tried every mean to get her back. People justified his actions bcs he's so in love with her, when she hate everything abt being a queen for him.
ZEN FROM SNOW WHITE WITH RED HAIR MENTIONED??? 🔥🔥
You know it 😤🔥
I never saw Usui has a jerk or a pervert. The guy always helped Misaki when she is in danger or comfort her. He's really kind 🥰
Kyouya in Wolf girl and Black prince is a real jerk! Not only he made the heroine cry but he also treated her like an object and is always rude or insult her. Usui is an angel compare to him!
comparing horrible people is inherently bad as well, yes they have kindness in their own ways but at the end of the day the actions the author decided to write were both fucked up
I tried watching that second anime and I hated the Male Lead so much I dropped it on the first EP 🥴 If I had watched it when I first watched Kaichow wa Meido-sama, maaaybe I could've gone through it... but now that I'm grown? My patience towards badboys is thin!!!
I watched it like 2 years ago and I’m not sure how it held up so well.
The first time I watched this series I loved. Some years later I watched it again and I was like eh, this is not as good as I remember it.
ah man that op brought me top my teenage years
Omg Kaichou Wa Maid Sama I NEED a rewatch 😢
Of course I remember this anime because it WAS MY FIRST ANIME EVER. I still rememer, almost 13 years ago, I was eating couscous and I was at my dad's laptop watching maid-sama
I feel proud to know something was wrong with this show when I was literally 10. I lost a close friend because of the argument I had with her that shows like these should be taken seriously because it is ruining the young kid’s mentality and everything
I was 12-13 when i 1st watched this anime i liked it so much at that time
I’ll be blunt, I liked Maid Sama as a kid because I had the exact same personality, expressing style and issues as Mitski. To an almost alarming degree, but the show really helped me learn to grow and temper a lot of that behaviour and perspective in a way that was natural (if not cheesy) and incremental for a 7 year old. Usui was someone I could tell was more of an conglomeration of ideal of female troupes & idealised traits if not rough foil to her to me, and his character was more comprehensible than Special A’s (another anime) who attempted a similar dynamic. I mean, come on, who would jump off a school building for their crush? Even I knew it was weird as a literal 2nd grader lol. But this show is so cheesy and unabashedly forward it’s endearing. I always appreciated it because of how it dealt with objectification and having a girl who literally acted and sounded like that as a kid learn to keep going was really encouraging.
This used to be one of my all time favourites, I was sooo obsessed with Usui, I have the entire bundled version of this manga… and then I tried to re read it like a year ago and it was pain 💀
Id love a kamisama kiss review!! That was the first anime I ever watched
In the same breath I must mention how I will never understand how people loved Vampire Knight
I'd definitely love a series of this! Another one that would be good to look at now I think is Lovely Complex 🤔 (also, yes, Akatsuki no Yona is OF COURSE amazing and holds up perfectly ❤❤❤)
The whole ‘possessive boyfriend was and still is a dream for young girls’ reminds me so much of Skip Beat where it turns out she has a bastard boyfriend in episode 1 and she breaks up with his arse and vows to get revenge by being a bigger star than him which she starts at a few episodes later. I never understood this even as a young teen, it never sat right with me in any anime, which is probably why me and my big sister (super girl girl whereas I’m a tomboy) had such different taste in anime: she ate Maid-sama right tf up but I was reading series were either boys don’t get away with this shit or straight up watching shounen romance like Toradora.
God this is such a good series. Both the anime & manga are peak shoujo content. Romance moments, great humor etc.
I want another anime with all the same characters and the same premise but without all the questionable/problematic aspects
I loved this anime so much when i was kid, probably due to the fact that it was the first 5 animes i ever watched and it was THE first romance anime i ever watched. Suprisingly ive only rewatched it like 2-3 times in its entirety all times when i was still like around 12. I loved the mc a lot and while i even as a literal child noticed Usui was definitely pushy even back then, i mainy was just thirsting for anime dudes. So alot of it got shrouded behind nostalgia. Im probably never gonna give it a rewatch tho because, 1 i got other things to watch 2 imma keep my childhood nostalgia 😂
My first anime (T__T) truly nostalgia is the rose colored glasses for the past lol
every time i saw clips for this anime (i never watched it but it always popped up in mvs) it always made me like “uh this is strange”
If I were to rewatch maid sama now as an adult I definitely won’t like it as much as my kid self did because as a kid, I definitely overlooked usui’s creepiness and stalking tendencies.
It was one of the first anime I stumbled upon, and I watched the whole thing because I was a 15 year old still discovering anime. I remember coming away from it thinking it was "fine", but wishing there was more genuinely romantic moments between the leads (as opposed to the ML doing stuff that made Misaki upset). Honestly, looking back while watching your video, I can see why it was never one of my "favorites". It was literally a gateway to other shoujo, which I quickly found that I liked better.
My recommendations, based on what I watched during that time frame, are:
"My Little Monster", "Kamisama Kiss", "Mermaid Melody", "Ouran Highschool Host Club", "Inuyasha", "The Wallflower", "Princess Jellyfish", "Princess Tutu", "Skip Beat", and "Kimi ni Todoke". They aren't a flawless list - My Little Monster ended way too soon, Inuyasha is technically a shounen, Skip Beat has that iffy age-gap, etc. - but they're the stuff that was most comparable to Maid-sama at the time, for one reason or another, and I do find them more nostalgic than it now. That being said, I also saw "Wolf Girl and Black Prince" and "Vampire Knight", which are so much worse than Maid-sama. You know, in case you want another "this is a shockingly, infuriatingly, bad kind of nostalgia" thing to review.
Awesome, thanks so much for the recommendations!! I fully agree Wolf Girl and Black Prince and Vampire Knight are worse xD
holy shit snow white with the red hair in the first few seconds wow!!! that was my first anime and still my favorite shoujo to this day
honestly i've rewatched maid sama twice since childhood and the most recent time (about a year ago, and for context i'll be 18 soon) i was actually so shocked at how weird some shit was, like with usui and aoi or just how usui treated misaki at some points (like he lifted up her skirt near the beginning, wtf usui)
i was so in love with usui as a kid and now like i do love certain scenes and aspects of him (like jfc jumping off a building for the picture of her) but he's kinda a freaky mf that i would probably hate irl😭
When I was younger I avoided this show because I thought the title was weird 😭💀
I mean…compared to the type of manhwas we have now adays, this is childs play. I dont condone sa of any sorts but we have sooo many stories that are coming out rn that are sooo trendy and popular and the main concept seems to be “the more toxic, the better for the redemption arc” which i think we can all focus on also.
The way I screamed when you mentioned Fruits Basket. I know the hype train came and went but that is top teir!! Can you do a video about it? 💗💗👍
Heck yeah, agreed!! It's one of my favourite anime of all time. I'm not sure if I will make a video about it, because I don't think I have anything unique/new to say though!
Glad people are noticing in these few years even as a kid i found some scenes that made me feel weird but as a kid i couldn't put my finger on it on top of that everyone loved Maid Sama (my older sister include) so sometimes it made me feel like i was just overthinking it & being an oddball that's why i couldn't voice my opinion as a kid that i wasn't really a fan of this anime
4:53 OMG I LOVE SNOW WHITE WITH RED HAIR