Published in the US by Del Rey
Slugline: There is a very few machineguns here.
First of all, this is a novel. Which at first purports to be the experiences of a maid at a maid cafe. The first half of the book feels mostly like a slice of life tale, as Aaliyah, our viewpoint maid, trying to be a halfway decent maid while fully immersing herself into otaku culture. Especially when the maids decide to do a photobook for Comiket. I suspect their fear filled experience would be closer to what would really happen if an American went to Comiket without serious prep work and a native guide. But halfway through the book some other details about Aaliyah start coming to light, and the story takes a right turn away from slice of life into more conspiracy laden territory.
An interesting look at maid cafe culture along with an amusing look at Comiket from a non-hardcore's fan perspective. Aaliyah is cringeworthy, but that is the way she is written and the slice of life is rather solid, but when you hit the conspiracy bits towards the end the story starts to fall apart. The internal logic of it at least, so it feels like something that feels rather grounded right into super-deformed territory. That being said it's an okay read if you know what it is going into it.
Maid Machinegun is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
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