Kaichou wa maid sama!

Seika High School, once an all-boys school notorious for its wild students and for generally being a terrifying place for girls, has recently become a co-ed school. With the female population still a minority and living in fear of the over-the-top antics of the males, Misaki Ayuzawa takes it into her own hands to reform the school and allow the girls to feel safe in the rough environment.

Training, studying, and even becoming the first female student council president of the school, Misaki has gained a reputation among the male students body as an uptight, boy-hating dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. However, despite her tough-as-nails appearance, she secretly works part-time at a maid café in order to support her family. Unfortunately, her hard-earned reputation is threatened when the popular, attractive, and somewhat impassive Takumi Usui takes an interest in her after discovering her in a maid uniform after school.

Looking at our couple as individual characters, Misaki is definitely in the class of tomboyish, tsundere shojo protagonists as opposed to meek, girly ones. I like the fact that she’s tough without being bitchy and tsundere without being violent. Her main flaw is that a lot of the things she says and does are typical of her character archetype. Usui on the other hand, is quite unique in my opinion, and I found him to be one of the most interesting characters I’ve seen in a while. He’s open to his feelings for Misaki right from the beginning and never falters, but he also loves to mess with her and act in vague, mischievous ways that confuse her into getting closer to him, while at the same time he’s always there when she needs him to save her from harm. I could never predict whether he was going to be honest and affectionate or manipulative and sneaky. As far as shojo male protagonists go, he’s not your typical nice guy or your typical snob, but somewhere in between. He’s just full of surprises.

To summarize, despite following the typical shojo comedy storyline, Kaichou wa Maid-sama! is fun nonetheless, with an entertaining main couple. The lack of emotional scenes and the insistent shojo-style animation and on-screen text could be annoying to some, but unique to others. I would recommend this series if you’re looking for simple, light, comical shojo fun that’s never too serious or emotional.