「ペア組み直しでフットマン」 (Pea Kuminaoshi de Futtoman)
“A Footman In A Reorganized Pair”

It’s the ultimate couple combination of Misaki and Usui, but it doesn’t look so hot when the former is looking rather dorky and accusing the latter of being a mysterious perverted alien from the planet Pheromone. That theme carried on throughout the footman audition, so it was a bit hard to get caught in the romantic flow when there really wasn’t much of one. Usui bragging about his limitless expertise in just about everything didn’t help either, though it did allow them breeze through the table setting round. Considering her panic, Misaki probably would’ve failed that round without a proper understanding of all the little nuances to upscale English tea drinking. I can’t say that Usui’s help justified the sexual harassment about touching her breast last time however, as he threw out ideas about how he should’ve complimented her on her rock-hard pecs rather than saying she’s as flat as a board. It was an insult either way regardless of whether her breasts were tied down or not, and something Misaki really didn’t want to hear after she was forced to use the men’s washroom when Tora happened to stroll by. The remark about “punishing her” if she pushes herself too hard was a bit too suggestive as well, especially considering how Usui said it in front of everyone. Both were entertaining from a Misaki-teasing standpoint, but neither was doing anything for them in the romance department.

For the romance, Usui sacrificing his body to save Misaki yet again was what actually did get the ball rolling. One stumble and broken ring ropes paved way for the heroics this time around, which seems to be the proven way to win Misaki over. It’s probably safe to say any other girl would’ve fallen head over heels for Usui to stalker-like obsession levels if he rescued them once, which makes Misaki one pretty damn hard girl to get in comparison. I’m usually accustomed to the whole challenge part of the chase going the other way around — where some girls like to make a project of a good-looking yet disinterested guy — but the roles are reversed here, with Mr. Popular going for the one girl in the entire world who doesn’t want anything to do with him. When I stop and look at it that way, Usui really does come off as a sexual predator of sorts, whose interest in Misaki stemmed from the thrill of the hunt. He clearly sees her as much more than that, though all the teasing at times makes me wonder if he’s enjoying the process of winning over Misaki a bit too much. There’s like no end to him acting cool either, with him smoothly hiding the fact that Misaki was covering for him in their the final customer service round by captivating everyone with his violin despite his injury.

If there’s one thing this episode reminded me of, it’s that Misaki is a definitely a girl worth going after. Not only does she have a tsundere personality and looks great in a maid outfit, but she also has a soft spot for people pushing themselves for her sake. Feeling appreciated is probably the ultimate reward to a guy who goes out on a limb for a girl, which even Usui couldn’t help but get caught up in when Misaki came by his place later on to check up on him. Following her surprise over the apartment he lives alone in and his lack of furniture, the entire scene at Usui’s place had the makings of what should have been a sure-fire deal to get these two lovebirds together. They even slipped in Misaki’s bad home cooking and Usui eating all of her congee simply because it was made by her — a tried and true way of winning a girl over in the anime world. Coincidentally, I loved Misaki’s reaction to Usui getting her to spoon feed him, whereas the finish with Usui giving Misaki a hug after she apologized for not being able to do anything for him after everything he’s done for her was really really sweet. While the moment didn’t last very long, it made it more apparent that Misaki’s winning over Usui just as much as he is her. Feeling appreciated! Guys love it.

As for the result of the footman audition, Misaki pulling out of the competition for Usui’s sake led to a surprise turnaround in Kanade’s character. Granted, he never seemed like that bad of a guy aside from doing Tora’s selfish bidding, but his change of heart about buying out Maid Latte prompted one in Tora as well. Now that I really wasn’t expecting, especially after all the crap Tora pulled before. In light of him not actively sabotaging Misaki’s efforts in this game of his and offering some of the Igarashi’s land instead of taking over Maid Latte, my opinion of his character has improved a fair bit. I wouldn’t say it’s enough to make everything water under the bridge, but it’s a step in the right direction at least. Next time it looks like he won’t be involved either, as we have a split episode shared between Yukimura’s 7-year-old sister Ruri and Aoi the Internet idol.

 

Preview

35 Comments

  1. woah. This episode is just full of win on so many levels. For one, the seemingly superman that is Usui Takumi actually got injured pretty badly this time. That followed by Misaki visiting his home and caring for him just made it all the more sweeter. Especially given their interactions~

    And i agree with u Divine, i certainly wasn’t expecting the change in the Miyabigaoka guys but like u said, Kanade wasn’t exactly a bad character from the start. The more surprising thing would be Tora’s seemingly change of heart.

    L3g0la5
  2. This episode is so sweet. Usui + hair down + glasses = WIN. Also, it’s now very transparent that they have mutual feelings for each other, it’s just a matter of time until they admit it.

    On the other hand, why do they have to animate another omakes =_=”. But at least they’ll squeeze in 2 omakes in one episode unlike the last 2.

    Mienaide
  3. Will the teasing stop?? First the beach now the apartment, I need that second lip kiss from this love birds pronto!!!! All the things they run into always manage to spoil that true moment. This is a great series as always and makes me happy. Maybe we’ll get more Misa punishment before the kiss…

    Island Esper
  4. Major developments here…. but then, which episode isn’t? Usui gets seriously injured for the first time in the show (I still can’t believe the roof stunt!), Misaki goes to his home, and we confirm that he lives alone and doesn’t feel the need to contact his family! He’s got a cat though. Gotta love cat lovers. Those are the good catches. 🙂

    Misaki is officially the most reluctant and stubborn tsundere in anime. Usui would be sackin’ any other girl in this situation!

    starss
      1. They did show the kitty eating at the end of 11 after Usui came out of the bath. I’m loving the addition of the kitty (who of course is not in the manga) and his/her hissing. It actually makes Usui’s living environment a little less sterile.

        huli
  5. Man I hope we get to see them kiss one more time before the season’s over and this time I hope Misaki makes the move on Usui. I know they wont be going out by the end of the season (I dont read the manga so Im just assuming that there not together even in the manga yet)so I hope we get a 2nd season. Also, I didnt see the picture with Misaki when she had that scrunched up ponytail with the rest. I guess because it was at the very end, but that was a very sexy picture of her. If anyone else saw it let me know, so I dont think Im seeing things.LOL ;P

    infinite
  6. Actually this episode was still much worse than Manga because they cut the part when Misaki washes Usuis body and tracing his scars. Now we get some shitty abrup hug while in manga it took more dialogue to get there.

    They also did not show Usui fridge wich I thought it was very important for the visual effect to show what life Usui was lkeading (as his fridge has only one pack of juices in it).

    In other words this episode was a disaster compared to manga as they cut short one of the most intimate and romantic moments in the manga. They should have cut the waiter part shorter instead not the good part in Usui’s apartment.

    Darknemo2000
    1. well we must also realize that they can’t really fit everything into an anime series as much as we would like them to. I haven’t read the manga yet butfrom your description, it kinda seems to take abit of a dark undertone regarding Usui’s life. Although yes, i would have loved to see it myself, not only for the added interactions between Misaki and Takumi, but also to see abit more about Usui’s past.

      The fact is that they’ve pretty much been marketing this anime series as a romance/comedy without a shred of any dark undertones or major drama happening. Although it would work fine in a manga series due to the detail that can be thrown in. It would be a hard sell for an anime series to suddenly change the entire mood that they’ve had up to this point. Its probably why in the course of this industry, there has hardly been an anime series that stuck to their manga counterparts faithfully all the way a 100% of the time.

      L3g0la5
      1. Please don’t make the excuses that they cannot fit everything when the next episode is another filler omake and when there were a lot of chances to cut some of waiter parts better than the really romantic and intimate moment in Usui’s apartment. This excuse just do not work when they throw pointless fillers hogging up the space.

        Darknemo2000
      2. Remind me of a faithful anime who would notsell well? this is just a myth, while there are plenty original interpretations which do not sell well at all (Kimikiss, Zero No Tsukaima etc.)

        Darknemo2000
      3. like i said in the 2nd part. Its about pacing. And i did not say there were faithful anime that would not sell well. I said it was hard for an anime series to stay a 100% faithful to the manga.

        L3g0la5
  7. This is by far the best episode I’ve seen in this series!
    The plot is developed beautifully!
    Usui-Misaki romance starts off with plain teasings and develops into a heart warming relationship 🙂
    Its becoming one of my favorite series!

    Fai D Fluorite
  8. https://randomc.net/image/Kaichou%20wa%20Maid-sama!/Kaichou%20wa%20Maid-sama!%20-%2019%20-%20Large%2033.jpg

    Misaki’s continuously reddening face here just got me giggling Usui’s excuses for not being able to eat got more and more intimate.

    Totally didn’t expect Tora to let Maid Latte of the hook just like that. Shoujo manga antagonists are either complete pricks, or they’re playful pricks that aren’t 100% evil.

    Next week, we have Aoi and Yukimura compete to see who is the real trap of the series. My money’s on Aoi-chan winning. 🙂

    Kinny Riddle
  9. I’ve noticed something, the way Misaki goes around beating adversity one after another with help from Usui – sounds like the perfect ingredients for a live action version.

    Shoujo-manga in real life settings (not fantasy settings) usually make the best live-action J-Dorama, Honey & Clover and Nodame Cantabile are two prime examples.

    Wonder who here would be interested in a live action Maid-sama series?

    Kinny Riddle
    1. i dun think it will be that easy, for one u gotta find an actor who can protray Usui’s awesomeness to the max while getting an actress to do justice to Misaki, in addition to making a maid uniform look good XD.

      L3g0la5

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