Review for Mahoromatic: Something More Beautiful - Volume 3 (Review)
Monday, 26th July 2010, 14:41

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Extras
The disc has static menus and a jacket picture, while each episode ends in a Satellite Poem.

This final disc also offers the Clean Credit Sequences, although only the OVA ending. You get an Art Gallery with some 45 line-art and cel images. The disc is rounded off with trailers for Romeo X Juliet and Rozen Maiden.

Conclusion
Mahoromatic does it to me again! The first series comprised two volumes of saucy comedy antics, followed by a volume of serious drama and depression. This second series has the same ingredients, with two volumes of comedy that invariably saw a whole lot of nudity and Carry On level humour, and it's all topped off with three episodes which see the humour drained out, and the downward spiral to the inevitable unhappy ending. I say three episodes, as the fourth and final episode goes all Gainax, taking the Mahoromatic story into a completely unexpected direction, which I will refrain from spoiling here. If you've seen Gurren Lagann's ending, you'll now what sort of radical departure from the script to expect, and while it does somehow manage to pull out a satisfactory conclusion for Mahoro and Suguru, it does feel in many ways a disappointment as well. It's definitely a disappointment if you are invested in any other characters aside from the central duo. All I can say is that it is a delight and a relief that this disc concludes with the Summer Special OVA, as this episode takes the show back to its strengths. There's none of the serious stuff, and more of the comedy, and plenty of the scantily clad females and nosebleed afflicted teen males. It's the perfect note to go out on.

But somehow the climax of Something More Beautiful turns out to be a lot more accessible than the conclusion of the first series. For one thing, the comedy isn't completely leeched away, and there is just enough lightness of tone, even in the darkness of the story, to not make fans of the first two-thirds of the show completely lose interest. The pacing of the conclusion is also strong, with a fairly detailed narrative unfolding in the final episodes, rather than having just one confrontation stretched out beyond the show's ability to sustain. More importantly is that the story gets a proper conclusion, the confrontation between Saint, Vesper, and The Management has to be resolved, and more importantly, the question of Mahoro's limited remaining lifespan has to be resolved as well. It may not be an ending to everyone's liking, indeed being a fan of the frivolous and saucy side of Mahoromatic, I'm not too fond of the conclusion myself, but you can't say that the story isn't resolved.

I'm also not all that fond of the Na-Geanna final episode, although perhaps it's better termed a coda to the story. Personally, I think that what it does to Suguru is little more than a character assassination, and where it takes the Mahoro character goes beyond sci-fi and comedy and into the realm of metaphysics. That it is a happy ending is undeniable, but I keep asking 'What the hell kind of happy ending is it?" Bittersweet is an understatement. But as I said, by at least putting the Summer Special at the end of the disc, Mahoromatic goes out doing what it does best, being silly.

I guess that if you bought the first two volumes, you'll buy this one, but don't say that I didn't warn you. For the denouement, it all goes a little too Gainax at the end. I'm just relieved that everyone didn't turn into bright red goo…

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