Look, I’m not going to bury the lead here; the answer is: kinda yeah!
I mean, that’s what happens when your main character is a literal pedophile.
As in, “I only like girls who haven’t begun to menstruate” is an honest-to-god
actual quote that comes out of her mouth.
The series contains its fair share of questionable moments beyond this, earning the infamous
moniker of “PedoMaid.”
It’ll also most likely finish in my top 5 of the season.
This tends to catch some people off-guard, and understandably there’s tension between
those who find the show distasteful and those who enjoy its antics.
And I want to stress that if you fall into the former category that’s completely fine—all
of our lines are drawn at different distances.
I just think that there’s some mislabeling of people who actually enjoy this kind of
show, and I’d like to explain my reasoning—since to me, the show offers much more than simply
lolicon bait.
But first, a seemingly wildly unrelated tangent on a show that finished airing two seasons
ago.
Bear with me, it’ll circle back around eventually.
Back in the Winter 2018 season, I had a rare occurance of picking up a show I had initially
dropped—that show being Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san.
When I ran it through the three episode test, I thought there was a bit too much dry informational
content that just left me with a curious mixture of boredom and hunger.
But by far the biggest issue for me at the time was the main character.
Not only was she just annoying, she was also just actually stalking this poor girl who
just had an unhealthy obsession with ramen.
I got tired of watching her refuse Koizumi-san’s wishes for space and act like a complete creeper
over… and over… and over again.
When I picked it back up however, I approached it from a new perspective.
Before I was trying to interpret it as a somewhat grounded-in-reality slice of life anime, when
Koizumi-san isn’t framed that way at all.
When I stopped thinking “Man, this girl is actually insane” and started thinking
“Man, this girl is actually insane!” instead, I began to look forward to seeing just how
she’d try to forcibly insert herself into Koizumi-san’s life.
The problem was that I was trying to take something whose humor is grounded in absurdity
too seriously.
There’s differing levels of suspension of disbelief, and mine was tuned just a bit too
pointed towards normal.
Part of what makes anime so great is that it *can* be so out there, and I forgot that
this applies to school slice of life shows as well, at least if Nichijou and Slow Start
have anything to say about it.
You probably see what I’m getting at.
PedoMaid is so hilarious to me *because* it’s so brazen and irreverent, and it’s very
clear that the show is meant to be taken as seriously as a tsundere who says that they
“d-don’t really like you that way b-baka.”
I mean, our main character is an ex-JSDF ripped-to-all-hell pedophile maid that rocks an eyepatch, that
does things like hide in bathtubs, hang-glide to schools, and kidnap little girls to take
them on surprise camping trips.
These are moments that are clearly absurd and should be taken as such.
Which brings me to the pedo jokes.
These are the most contentious, and for good reason.
Obviously I don’t condone pedophilia, and I don’t think anyone should.
However…
I want to make the point that you can find something abhorrent *and* funny at the same
time, that’s the entire point of dark comedy.
For me personally at least, the humor of pedomaid is so audacious and over-the-top that it wraps
around and becomes funny again after the initial shock wears off.
I don’t think for a second we’re supposed to be “accepting” of Tsubame’s actions,
the entire reason it’s funny is because we as the audience *know* that her thoughts
and actions are taboo.
And I don’t think the show is exactly accepting of her tendencies either, nor is it trying
to create some kind of commentary on the subject that is the butt of its humor.
Just like how Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san doesn’t condone literal stalking.
And when the show *wants* to be serious, it succeeds.
The shift in tone is immediate and noticeable, and at the base of UzaMaid is a very human
story about loss, grief, and taking new steps forward.
I won’t pretend that this is some insightful realization, the show almost beats you over
the head with it.
But what I want to focus on is just how quickly it frame-shifts from the absurdist comedy
that populates the other 80% of the show.
In the first episode, when Misha screams at Tsubame to get away from her… she simply
says “okay” and immediately gives her space.
She realizes that she’s reached an actual boundary and lets off, giving Misha some breathing
room—like how any responsible adult should be treating a child.
In the second episode, when Misha lashes out and says Tsubame could never replace her mother,
she says “of course I can’t.”
Now, that is ruined by her immediate ogling, but the point stands, there’s moments where
the show snaps back to reality and provides reference points.
It’s due to this that, even though she’s said multiple times that she’s into prepubescent
girls, I don’t think there’s any chance this maid is harming or molesting this little
girl any time soon.
She romanticizes youth because of the innocence and purity that it represents, as indicated
by her comparison of young girls with angels who lose that divinity after “becoming women.”
They even lampshade this in the second episode by treating pedophiles in the online game
they play with the disgust and caution that they are warranted.
In anime, the lines of reality are often so blurred in service of a joke, that it can
be hard to know when something is actually problematic.
For example, I doubt Kousei is actually being concussed multiple times an episode in Shigatsu
wa Kimi no Uso.
But UzaMaid does a good job of setting lines, so when this crazy maid commits a felony by
kidnapping this poor girl up a mountain, the viewer knows from past experience that if
Misha wanted out of the situation then Tsubame would respect that.
Then there’s the miscellaneous stuff, like how UzaMaid is somehow among the most well-animated
shows of the season alongside big names like KyotoAnimation’s Tsurune.
It’s obvious that the DogaKobo are putting their all into this, showing that even with
staff changes they’re some of the best when it comes to character acting.
More evidence of their effort can be seen if one takes a look at the original source
material.
Despite the questionable and problematic premise, the most fanservice we get is of rock-hard
abs rather than lolicon-bait.
I can’t really say the same for the original manga…
This just goes to show that this adaptation is a deliberate undertaking—and shows like
K-On! show us just how adaptations can overcome their source’s shortcomings.
So there you go, I’ve somehow ended up attempting to defend a show that stars a pedo maid, even
though things like Gakuen Babysitters left a bad taste in my mouth.
Not only does its absurdist black humor appeal to me, I am eager to see Misha break out of
her shell and steadily come to terms with her circumstances—the set-up feels close
to Hinamatsuri or Dragon Maid in that regard.
Once again, I stress that this show isn’t for everyone and if you’re in that camp,
obviously that’s completely fine.
Where everyone draws their lines is different, and some, no, many many people won’t feel
comfortable with the show’s more problematic elements.
But I’m just tired of being accused of celebrating or attempting to downplay these problematic
elements as someone who likes the show, as if there’s no possible reason one would.
Thanks for watching, and be sure to like and subscribe for more content.
And of course, if anything I said was wrong, I’m sorry.
I must’ve stuttered.