Maid Sama!

Plot

Once an all-boys high school, Seika High, infamous for its rowdy students, has recently become a co-ed school. However, with the female population remaining a minority even after the change over the recent years, Misaki Ayuzawa works hard to make the school a better place for girls. She puts a lot of effort into academics and athletics and earns the trust of the teachers. Eventually, she becomes the first female student council president. Misaki has gained a reputation among the male student body as a strict boy-hating demon dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. Despite her reputation, however, Misaki secretly works part-time at a maid café to support her mother and younger sister by returning the huge debt their father had left them.

Misaki's secret is soon discovered by Takumi Usui, a popular boy at Seika High. Instead of exposing it to the school, though, Usui keeps it for himself and even becomes a regular customer at the café, much to Misaki's chagrin. Known for being a genius in pretty much everything from academics to athletics and for having rejected numerous confessions of his female peers, Usui takes a liking to Misaki because he finds her 'interesting'. After going through various awkward situations, including being confronted by a forgotten childhood friend of hers, Misaki falls in love with Usui, who reciprocates, and the two soon become a couple. However, their relationship is troubled by Usui's difficult familial past coming back to haunt him. Being an illegitimate child of a wealthy English noble family, Usui technically cannot form a relationship with anyone not in his social standing, Misaki included. Misaki has to see Usui being forced to transfer to a prestigious rival school Miabigaoka, and then away from Japan completely when his family takes him back to England. Nevertheless, they graduate, and ten years later, Usui and Misaki eventually marry.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Hiro Fujiwara, Maid Sama! was first published as one-shot in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine LaLa on December 24, 2005; it was later serialized in the magazine from April 24, 2006, to September 24, 2013. Hakusensha collected its 85 individual chapters in 18 tankōbon volumes, released between September 5, 2006, and February 5, 2014.

At its Anime Expo panel in July 2008, North American publisher Tokyopop announced that it had licensed the manga; the publisher only released the first eight volumes from April 7, 2009, to March 8, 2011. Viz Media re-licensed the series and published it in nine 2-in-1 volumes from August 4, 2015, to August 1, 2017.

A special spin-off one-shot, titled "Tora no Maki" (虎の巻; lit. 'Volume of Tora'), was published in LaLa Fantasy on November 8, 2013. A crossover one-shot chapter with Fujiwara's Yuki wa Jigoku ni Ochiru no ka manga series was published in LaLa on December 24, 2016. Two special chapters were respectively published in LaLa DX on February 10 and August 10, 2017. Another special chapter was published in LaLa on April 24, 2018. An extra volume, titled Maid Sama! Marriage (会長はメイド様！マリアージュ, Kaichō wa Maid-sama! Mariāju), which contains a total of seven chapters, including the previously published ones, was released on August 3, 2019. A special chapter was published in LaLa DX on February 5, 2025. Another special chapter was published in LaLa on July 24, 2026.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in August 2009. The series was animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Hiroaki Sakurai, with series composition handled by Mamiko Ikeda, character designs by Yuki Imoto and music composed by Wataru Maeguchi. The series was broadcast on TBS from April 2 to September 24, 2010. The opening theme song is "My Secret", performed by Saaya Mizuno, while the first ending theme song, "Yokan" (予感; lit. 'A Premonition'), and the second ending theme song, "∞ Loop" (∞ループ, Mugendai Rūpu), are both performed by Heidi.

In North America, the series was streamed by the Anime Network starting on June 15, 2010. Sentai Filmworks released the series in two DVD sets, in Japanese audio with English subtitles, on June 7 and August 2, 2011. A complete collection on DVD was released on October 9, 2012. The series was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray sets with an English dub on January 27, 2015. In the United Kingdom, the series was licensed by MVM Films, releasing the series on two DVD sets on November 16 and December 7, 2015. A complete collection volume was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD sets in April 2016. In Southeast Asia, the series was broadcast on Animax Asia.

Drama CDs

A drama CD, titled Goshujin-sama Anime-ka desu yo! Drama CD (ご主人様アニメ化ですよ！ドラマCD), was released on March 24, 2010, bundled with the May issue of LaLa. Another drama CD, Maid Sama! Marriage (会長はメイド様！マリアージュ, Kaichō wa Maid-sama! Mariāju), was bundled with the special edition of the 2018 extra manga volume, released on August 3 of that same year.

Reception

Connie C. of Pop Culture Shock characterized the manga as "pretty entertaining, if shallow", and considered it mildly sexist, though sufficiently lighthearted that it did not cause serious offense; she indicated that she would continue reading it as a "guilty pleasure." Deb Aoki of About.com observed that the maid café setting served both as a source of fanservice and as a means of critiquing gender roles. Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading, by contrast, viewed the narrative as "a male fantasy, where the scary, strong, smart, self-possessed girl turns out to secretly be subservient to men", adding that it was amusing only until one considered its underlying messages. Robert Harris of Mania.com acknowledged the formulaic opening but considered the characters to be the series' strength. Leroy Douresseaux of ComicBookBin found the character Takumi unconvincing, describing him as a "cheap plot trick" deployed to rescue Misaki when necessary. Carlo Santos of Anime News Network deemed the premise "otaku-tastic" but appreciated the restraint shown in the maid café scenes, which lacked fanservice and panty shots. He also praised the chemistry between the leads and the humor, though he noted the stereotypical plot and criticized the layouts and the characters' verbosity. Connie C. remarked that the second volume reminded her that plot devices are effective "if used right", and felt that the humor and character interactions elevated the otherwise conventional school sports day and new-classmate storylines.

In a 2019 Forbes article on the best anime of the 2010s, Lauren Orsini named it one of the five best anime of 2010, writing that its "clever comedy with snappy delivery" had kept it sharp even a decade later.