Orenchi no Maid-san
Maid-san in My House

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If you're like me, you might be growing sick of the constant need for drama a lot of anime and manga force into their stories. If so, this might just be the manga for you. It's a very simple manga, with simple characters and simple humour, but for the most part it does it's job very well, with the characters being likeable (with one exception), and the humour doing a great job of being cute and heartwarming without ever feeling cheesy.

Story:
The story is as simple as they get really. A girl named Sara gets hired to be a housemaid for her classmate Takaomi's family, and ... quickly grows close to the family. There really isn't much more to it than that. Don't let the genre tags fool you, this is NOT a drama in any sense of the word, and it is most definitely a romance manga. Nearly every character in the story is in a romance of some kind, and for the most part they're very enjoyable to read, even if the end results are mostly very predictable.

Art:
The art is absolutely adorable, every character is drawn in a way that's so cute it's hard not to smile just from seeing their cute expressions. The art is probably the manga's greatest strength, as it's the main reason I found this such an enjoyable read. If you have any love for chibi-style characters, you will definitely enjoy the visual gags of this manga. Not much else to say, but I dare anyone to read one chapter of this manga and never crack a smile.

Character:
This is where my biggest gripe with the manga lies. For as charming as this manga is, there is one character that's bound to be... controversial at the very least. Fairly early on in the manga we are introduced to the other servant of the household, a butler by the name of Akira. Akira seems to be an average 19-year old guy at first glance, but there is one major flaw to his character; he's a pedophile. Yes, an actual pedophile. He openly crushes on Ami, the 7-year old daughter of the household (yes, you read that right), and the only thing keeping him from entering a relationship with her immediately is that the oldest brother and head of the household, Hirofumi, has openly stated he will literally kill him if he tries anything before she's graduated high school. This whole situation is played for laughs, but it's still quite uncomfortable seeing an adult man basically grooming a child to be his girlfriend as soon as she's of age. Wether this is as big a deal for everyone as it was for me is up to each individual person, but to me at least this was a huge turn-off from what was otherwise a very cute and charming manga.

I will say that aside from Akira, every other character is very charming and likeable, and their interactions with each other are mostly very funny to read. The romances are also great (aside from the one previously mentioned exception), with Takaomi and Sara's budding romance being especially cute to watch unfold. Their contrasting personalties and dependence on each other makes them very cute together, and the way they constantly misunderstand each other makes for an adorable, if predictable romance. Other than them, Hirofumi and his romance with Sara's best friend is also quite enjoyable, though it's more focused on jokes than fluff in comparison to the other romances of the story.

Enjoyment:
The manga is totally devoid of ecchi, drama, action, or really anything overly negative in general. This is about cute characters doing cute things together, and it does that very well for the most part. The romances are mostly very cute, with each couple getting their moments in the spotlight, and no love triangles to create unnecessary drama. There are misunderstandings here and there which are big deals to the characters themselves, but it's always done with a undertone of humour, and the misunderstandings are for the most part resolved fairly quickly. Don't read this expecting some deep, interesting story though. This is cute characters doing cute things, and that's pretty much it.

The previously mentioned issue regarding Akira and his "love" for a child is the only real drawback this manga has. If you can stomach this, it really is worth reading, and I can say that as disturbing as his character was, I still managed to mostly ignore him and enjoy all the other great aspects of this manga. If Akira's creepy lust for a child isn't enough to deter you from reading the manga, I can practically guarantee you'll have a great time with this, as this manga nails pretty much everything else. It's such a shame too, because I really can't blame anyone who are unable to stomach such a character, and as such will avoid the entire manga altogether.

Overall:
Despite how much my review focuses on a single negative aspect of the manga, I had for the most part a great time with this one. A likeable cast, great humour, cute romances, and an adorable, if simplistic, art-style makes this a highly enjoyable read, that I would recommend to anyone who are looking for something that will them smile. My score might be a tad generous, but I really think that one very glaring issue aside, this is one of the most enjoyable manga's I've read for quite some time, and I'd hate to let that one bad aspect ruin what is otherwise one of the cutest manga's I've ever read.

Cute, but if you are looking for romance, sadly this is a serious teaser. After 50.5 chapters, they somehow haven't confessed yet.

However, it is funny and seeing the two main characters flustered is cool, except for the extreme denseness that radiates from them.

The art is cute and is enough. Even though there often wouldn't be a background or the background would be simple, it never felt empty. (Like in most Shoujo manga where there are random light spots and decorated text boxes)

The characters are distinguishable, albeit not very memorable.

I enjoyed reading this, but the teasing is too much and don't believe how they ... haven't confessed yet. (I'm scared that this will be like the average romcom where after they confess the manga will end)

Orenchi no maid-san is a cute read based on... A maid. The plot is simple. You have black haired MC with glasses thats acts like the cliche of the cold intellectual in shounen. The main girl is a maid but also MC's classmate. She's cheerful and kind. Both will quickly fall in love but unfortunately like 95% of shounen romance, they will take one life long to confess.

The manga is not only about those two, in fact it's probably just the half of the 61 chapters out at the moment. The other part is the romance plot for other characters. Unfortunately I find it pretty ... uninteresting for some.

You have MC's big brother, a man obsessed with maids and his love interest with maid's friend. This one works on a cafe. I didnt find at all their story interesting, i skipped the half because I really dont appreciate those two characters, I just didnt care about them.

You have the butler and the 7 years old MC's little sister (lolicon alert). It seems barbaric but it was not that bad. The little sister is lovable and the butler has a deal with MC's family : he wont confess until the little sister has 18 years old. He doesnt have any sexual intents or perverted thoughts about her. I quite liked it even if MC's story was better.

The last and the worst : MC's childhood friends. The guy is a popular and cheerful guy and he's in love with the other childhood friend that is also his maid, it's a kind of kuudere. This story was just plain. The man was uninteresting and the kuudere is just the cliche made to delight kuudere's fans..

As I already said, I didnt appreciate the fact that both MCs were in love with each other but never confess. It's frustrating I really dont like that kind of manga, the longer it goes, the harder it is for me to read so it usually ends up with a drop. At least this manga is faster to read because it's 4-koma.

"secondary" characters (the other love stories) was faster than mc's love story... At least we had an interesting aspect. Both MCs use the others relationship to accelerate their own. For instance if they see secondary character number 3 starting to date with secondary character number 4, MCs will begin to ask questions if whether of not they should make a move with one each other. Unfortunately it doesnt everytime end up with any progress...

The art was decent. Not beautiful but not ugly. Readable.

As you imagine, characters are not a masterpiece (well it's a 4-koma) but even for it, it isnt specifically good. Cliche characters like MC or the kuudere, uninteresting characters like MC's friend, girl's friend or MC's brother... At least the butler is respectable for his sincere love, the sister is really cute and the maid is cheerful and heart warming.

To conclude, it's a good story to read if you are interested by the setting (a maid romance with a cheerful girl) of if you want romcom if you are not disturbed by cliche characters or cliche plot about characters that never confess.