Mayo Chiki!-Series Collection (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	More…-Textless Opening Song More…-Textless Ending Song Trailer-x 4 for other anime
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	301:26 (Case: 325)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Keiichirô Kawaguchi
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Satoshio Hino Blake Shepard Yuka Iguchi Genevieve Simmons Eri Kitamura Carli Mosier Kana Hanazawa Caitlyn French Kana Asumi Allison Sumrall Mariya Ise Margaret McDonald
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Yukari Hashimoto

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Seventeen year old high school student Jiro (voiced by Satoshio Hino / Blake Shepard) has a problem: he has an acute fear of being touched by females and when touched his nose bleeds profusely. This condition seems to have been caused by his mother and sister; his mother is a champion pro wrestler, currently training overseas, and his sister Kureha (Kana Hanazawa / Caitlyn French) is a budding wrestler who each morning tries out wrestling holds and training techniques on Jiro. Konoe (Yuka Iguchi / Genevieve Simmons) also has a problem. She is a student but is also the butler of Kanade Suzutsuki (Eri Kitamura / Carli Mosier) the richest and most beautiful girl in school. The male members of Konoe’s family have been butlers to the Suzutsuki family for generations, but not the girls. Konoe is an only child and desperately wants to be a butler, so the deal is that she must act as a boy at school and her secret remain undiscovered for three years.

     When Jiro accidentally discovers Konoe is a girl, Kanade proposes that if he keeps Konoe’s secret Kanade will help to cure Jiro of his fear of being touched by a female. As a result, Jiro and Konoe spend a lot of time together, which causes complications as Konoe (as a boy) is very popular at school with a number of adoring female fans including Nakuru (Kana Asumi / Allison Sumrall) and Masamune (Mariya Ise / Margaret McDonald) who resent Jiro becoming close to Konoe. And, as a further problem, Jiro’s sister believes she is in love with Konoe. Numerous complications, misunderstandings and suggestive situations ensure, mostly orchestrated by the wilful and mischievous Kanade.

     Mayo Chiki! may be every adolescent teenage boy’s fantasy: Jiro is surrounded by four sexy and beautiful girls, often in various stages of undress, who are out to help him cure his fear of women by draping themselves all over him! The series is also full of the usual short shirts, minute swim suits, impossibly rounded breasts and juvenile sexual humour. The situations in the series are contrived and often quite farcical, with Kanade being the manipulator, while Konoe looks nothing like a male and really should not fool anyone! Other than Jiro’s medical condition, Mayo Chiki! offers little that is new and the situations become a bit repetitive in the second half of the series where some episodes feel like filler. However the characters of Jiro and Konoe are sweet while Masamune has a surprising depth although Kanade is annoying and Nakuru seems to be there only because of her cute cat ears and big breasts. Yet, that said, Mayo Chiki! is full of such infectious fun and good natured humour it is impossible to dislike.

     This two disc DVD set of Mayo Chiki! Series Collection contains episodes 1-7 on disc 1 and episodes 8-13 plus minor extras on disc 2. It is labelled the “Dual Language Edition” as it contains both the original Japanese and an English dub.

Video

     Mayo Chiki! is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a pleasant looking print. The lines are solid although this is not the most detailed anime you will see. Colours have that nice pastel look with muted blues and greens, although the series adds some vibrant colours for emphasis in some scenes.

     I did not notice any marks or artefacts.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is very approximate in either audio track.

     The English subtitles are in American English using a yellow font. I noticed a couple of minor grammatical errors only.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English Dolby 2.0 at 224 Kbps. The languages and subtitles can be changed on the go with the remote so I watched a few episodes alternating the audio.

     Both tracks are surround encoded and there was little difference in the effects between the two streams, with music and slight ambient sounds in the rears, except that the Japanese was recorded at a slightly louder level. I did not notice anything directed to the subwoofer. Dialogue is clear in each track, although I did find the Japanese voice acting livelier.

     The score by Yukari Hashimoto was diverse, including orchestral classical music, piano and a few tangos, and was effective.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     All extras are on disc 2

Textless Opening (1:27)

     The opening song without the credits.

Textless Ending (1:27)

     The closing song without the credits.

Trailers

     Trailers for Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Collection (1:06), Maken-ki Series Collection (1:02), Is this a Zombie? Of the Dead! (Season 2) Collection (1:08) and High School DXD Series Collection (1:24).

     Our local release of Mayo Chiki! is identical to the Region 1 US version.

     The situations in Mayo Chiki! are farcical and juvenile, and may be every adolescent teenage boy’s fantasy, but the anime includes some appealing characters and is done in such good humour it is impossible to dislike.

     The video and audio are fine, extras are minimal but we get the same as whose available in other regions.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall