Maid cafes are a uniquely Japanese trend that mixes cosplay role-playing with coffee and cake. The concept is simple and somewhat sexist: young men pay to be served by pretty girls dressed up like maids. This phenomenon seems to both peeve and pique girls' interest. Many femmes find themselves asking, "In an era where women can be president (and secretary of state), why are these cafes that cater to male fantasies of subservience so popular?", and at the same time thinking "Ooh, that's a cute outfit. Where can I get one of those?"
That's an over-simplification of the issue, but then again, so is Maid Sama!, a new shojo manga series by Hiro Fujiwara from TokyoPop. In this modern day variation on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, Misaki is a hardworking, smart and fiercely independent high school girl who leads a double life as the over-achieving, hard-case class president and as a cute maid café waitress.
By day, Misaki is a hot-tempered perfectionist who is hell-bent on making her formerly all-male high school more female-friendly. But as she's busting the guys' chops for their locker room manners, Misaki lives in dread that her classmates will find out that their stern, boy-hating president serves tea and treats to oogling guys at a maid café. Of course, her secret can't stay a secret forever, so it only takes a few pages for class hunk (and her arch rival) Takumi to see her in her frilly frock, thus setting up this battle of the sexes romantic comedy.
Check out my review of Maid Sama! Volume 1, a new shojo manga series that's due out on April 7, 2009. Read on and see if this very Japanese romantic comedy has enough sizzle and spice to hook shojo manga readers in for a long-term relationship, or if it's just a disposable guilty pleasure.
Image credit: © Hiro Fujiwara / HAKUNSENSHA Inc.
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