It used to be that every male Japanese Otaku worth his salt wanted nothing more than to pilot his own giant robot. Then later it became their ultimate fantasy to be surrounded by a harem of adoring females. In the last decade or so though these are starting to be replaced with the idea of having a gorgeous maid (or a handsome butler for the ladies) wait on them hand and foot. This frankly bizarre obsession with the outdated European custom has even led to a trend in Maid Cafes (which have no doubt paid a whole load of aspiring actresses through college). The fashion has of course been spearheaded by a whole slew of maid and butler themed anime and manga. Unsurprisingly, a lot of these have fallen on the more scuzzy side of things, but not all of them by any means.

Which brings us to Mahoromatic, one of the more entertaining series of its ilk. Mahoromatic was one of the earliest series to capitalise on the maid mania, with the manga starting publishing in 1998. It follows Mahoro, a retired battle android who decides for some reason to live out her remaining days as a maid, looking after 14 year old Suguru, the orphaned son of her late commander. Something More Beautiful is the second season of the anime adaptation. By this time Mahoro has pretty much settled into domestic life with Suguru and friends. The second series adds an extra character to the mix: another android mysteriously shows up and serves as a 'little sister' figure for Mahoro (and apprentice maid). This second disc serves up a generous helping of five episodes, kicking off with a New Year's episode. Only one episode - featuring Suguru's pervy grandfather - stands out as duff; the others are up to the usual standard of the show. The Valentine's episode also stands out; not as bad, but as being unusual.The animation and humour is a little more quirky and out of character for the series. While watching it, I couldn't help but be reminded of the style of Excel Saga. It was therefore no surprise to find that particular episode was directed by none other than Shinichiro Watanabe - better known as Nabeshin, series director of Excel. He even has his usual cameo so look out for his trademark afro! In another episode, a local traditional martial arts festival provides a highly entertaining parody of samurai movies combined with a kind of blood-free Battle Royale. Only with more boob jokes. The final episode of this collection sees things get more dramatic, as the show's sci-fi elements come back into play. Revelations fly as we discover the true reason for Minawa's sudden appearance and why Mahoro chose to look after Suguru. The episode is thrilling and ends with a hell of a cliff-hanger.

Mahoromatic may not be high art, but that doesn't mean it's not entertaining. I couldn't argue with anybody who dismissed it as fan-boy wish fulfilment, however this show is the very model of guilty pleasure anime. The humour is as broad as the side of a bus, and the characters aren't exactly deep, but this show is a lot of fun. Yes, it's formulaic and doesn't really break any new ground but what it does, it does well. It's nicely designed and animated well for the most part. The level of fan service is either a plus or a minus depending on your perspective, but by this point we've probably weeded out those who are offended by cartoon boobs. And crucially for a comedy, it's funny. The dub (handled by veteran voice actor Tony Oliver) is polished and the cast sound as if they were enjoying themselves. It's not a good place to start for newbies, and it's not going to change any maid-phobics' minds, but for fans of the show this will not disappoint.