Maid Sama! Volume 2 by Hiro Fujiwara
As this volume opens, Misaki is more self-conscious around Usui after learning that he likes her in the previous volume. He senses her disquiet and uses a lame excuse to kiss her male student vice-president. She decides that Usui is an incorrigible flirt and is relieved that she doesn’t have to take his feelings seriously. Misaki is still dedicated to protecting the students at her school and when she finds out that some of her classmates got into a fight with students at an academy for the rich and privileged she attempts to diffuse the situation.
Unfortunately she has to deal with Tora, the president at the uber snooty Miyabi Gaoka Academy. He reminded me of Takami from Ouran High School Host Club, if Takami was actually evil and malicious. Tora tries to get Misaki to transfer to his school, wooing her with a red carpet and rickshaw. But things take a turn for the worse when he finds out about Misaki’s part-time job in a maid cafe. When Misaki goes to turn down his transfer offer, he contrives to make her put on a skimpy maid outfit. Oh no!
Usui is a little too perfect. He manages to save Misaki multiple times in this volume using a set of extraordinary abilities. He plays chess like a grandmaster, is a serviceable short order cook, and wins sports day at their school. I’m expecting that by volume 3 he will have managed to reverse global warming and bring back the dodo. I hope that if Misaki gradually becomes more emotionally intelligent she’ll be able to need less rescuing. Although the dynamic between the leads is fairly typical, Misaki’s relentless and driven personality introduces a harder edge to what would otherwise be predictable shoujo situations. There’s plenty of comedy from the “idiot trio” of students who follow Misaki around, and she accidentally discovers her ideal environment at the maid cafe when she dresses as a man to serve female clients instead of the usual male patrons.
Maid Sama isn’t profound, but it does very well as a breezy summer read. This is one of the recent Tokyopop series that I really enjoy, along with Shinobi Life and Silver Diamond.
Review copy provided by the publisher.