First Impression: Mao

Nanoka Kiba is a normal third-year middle schooler—well, normal except for the intense trauma she’s gone through. She was found by rescuers at the bottom of a sinkhole, bloody and not breathing; her family had fallen in while driving when she was a first grader. Now, all these years later, Nanoka finds herself at the scene of the tragedy once again. As she passes through an abandoned arcade near the site, she finds herself in what appears to be the exact same location a century or more earlier. But this is no vacation to the past—here, “humans” turn into monsters, ghosts wander the streets, and an onmyouji named Mao battles malevolent forces. Could it be that Nanoka has the power to fight them, too?

The adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s latest manga series, Mao premieres with an exciting and intriguing first episode! I’m a fan of Takahashi’s, but maybe a poor one, having skipped her last series, Rin-ne, but I’m glad I tuned in to this one. A supernatural isekai adventure, along the same lines as Inuyasha, Mao does what the other series didn’t at first—it establishes the heroine’s background. By the end of the episode, not only has Nanoka uncovered immense power, but she has a sense of how they came about; we also get to see her family life. Something similar could be said of Mao, who almost immediately lets Nanoka know about his curse. These are reveals that might have taken a hundred episodes of Inuyasha to get through! But even though we know quite a lot early on, I don’t get the sense that we’ll be at a loss for mysteries any time soon. I also appreciate how this series has a more dramatic feel than many of her earlier ones, reflected in Mao’s serious nature and the violence in episode one, including quite a shocking dismemberment. All this has me very excited for the potential of this new series—and maybe the beginnings of a new classic.

Mao can be streamed on Hulu.

Twwk
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One thought on “First Impression: Mao”

  1. What?! This got turned into an anime?! I read the manga and really loved it, but I had no idea it was an anime too. How did I miss this? Thank you for sharing ground breaking information that Otaku need to know! Wait, it’s on Hulu? B-but I don’t have any Hulus. (sad sniffling) okay.

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