#1 Poking fun at fetishists
UzuMaid centers around an 8-year-old Russian girl called Misha, who now lives with her stepfather in Japan since her mother passed away. Misha has since had trouble readjusting to normal life. She refuses to go to school, doesn’t have any friends, and scares off any help that her father hires to take care of her. That is until Tsubame Kamoi shows up on her doorstep; a former JSDF soldier turned maid, who is also a perverted lolicon.
The pranks and schemes that so effortlessly sent other maids running prove to be entirely ineffective against Tsubame. Can Misha come up with new strategies to frighten this military-grade pervert or is she doomed to be continuously preyed upon by her lolicon maid?
Anime about lolicons are icky for a lot of people and UzaMaid certainly looks suspect when viewed from a distance. However, rather than catering to lolicons this show actually makes fun of them. It’s about how weird it is to be attracted to kids and it mocks the flimsy justifications these people use for their actions. It does so in a lighthearted enough way to not feel mean-spirited, though certainly not in a way that can be interpreted as being supportive of lolicons. This satirical angle becomes even more obvious with the later introduction of a second maid, Midori Ukai, who is a deranged masochist that gets physically ill whenever her life is too pleasant.
What makes this work is that neither Misha nor any other kids are sexualized in the show. Misha is always covered up when undressed, her undergarments are only seen as laundry, and none of Tsubame’s interactions with her are presented erotically.
#2 Muscles!
Character design throughout the show is quite good, but special mention has to go to our star maid Tsubame. She is a powerhouse of a woman; peak physical condition and muscular all over. Combined with the frilly maid outfit, this creates a striking and unusual design that I grew to be very fond of.
I was also very fond of the ED, Tokimeki Climax, which shows off Tsubame’s training regimen while Misha tries to keep up with her. It’s very cute!
#3 Fuzzy friends
Misha’s only friend at the start of UzaMaid is her pet ferret Kumagorou, who was actually the main reason for why I wanted to see the show. We have owned ferrets for a while now and I was curious to see if the show could accurately depict the kind of antics they get up to. The answer was a resounding “Yes!”.
Kumagorou is a cute lil’ bastard that contributes immensely to the show’s comedy. Like actual ferrets, he’s just so fun to watch that he passively makes any scene he’s in so much more entertaining. However, he also frequently gets the spotlight all to his own, such as in an episode where he goes missing.
Later on, Kumagorou is joined by an assortment of hamsters that Misha ends up adopting. The cuteness resulting from this is irresistible, though I strongly advise not to put these two animals together in real-life.
#4 Hilarious music cues
The music in UzaMaid was composed by Yasuhiro Misawa, an expert when it comes to handling soundtracks for comedy anime. He’s done music for YuruYuri, Umaru-chan, and even Hinamatsuri. Though I haven’t seen everything that Yasuhiro has worked on yet, UzaMaid is the best I have heard from him so far.
Overall the soundtrack is plain nice. The music has the right level of presence; noticeable enough that you’re aware of it, but far enough in the background that the actual scenes and jokes aren’t interrupted by it. What really sells the soundtrack, though, are the various music cues and character themes.
One of the most noticeable and funny of these is the guitar riff that plays anytime Midori shows up for the first time in a scene. She’s absolutely not cool enough to deserve a guitar solo as her theme song, but it’s that disconnect that makes it so weirdly hilarious. Especially when her entrance is completely unimpressive or casual, but they still sneak in the guitar riff at a low volume anyway.
Another character theme I really enjoyed is Misha’s, which is a remixed version of the 19th century Russian folksong Kalinka. A brilliant pick, because the high speed of the song and it’s jaunty tone perfectly compliment some of the series’ more energetic comedy scenes.
#5 Reaction faces
The biggest flaw of UzaMaid is its lackluster production value. After episode 1, animation quality just outright tanks, resulting in a lot of static shots, animation mistakes, and scenes that just look weirdly directed. In spite of this struggle, UzaMaid continues to impress by focusing its comedic potential on Misha’s expressions.
There’s a reason why the AniList banner for this anime is just a collage of Misha pictures. She has such a range of expressions throughout the show, which really helps to sell every joke, gag, and funny line of dialogue that she reacts to. It’s a brilliant way to compensate for a lack of resources with creativity. At the same time, it adds a lot of characterization to Misha which pays off tremendously during some of the show’s more emotional moments.
I recommend giving the series a chance, even if it seems unimpressive at first. It has a lot more to offer than its rough exterior suggests.
More anime & manga like this
Hanaukyo Maid Team: Maid-themed comedy with mild age gap romance influences.
Girls und Panzer – Pravda Senki: Comedy story involving Russian girls
Yotsuba: Young female protagonist with a wide range of expressions
