Jun 12 2011 12:33 PM Given how few responses there were regarding this show, I guess one could say that this show pretty much was as anticipated.
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru (or SoreMachi for short) is basically Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei centered around a maid theme. With that said, this show falls short significantly when compared to Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Considering that both shows have essentially the same staff behind it, they are considered comparable and thus it's not as if this is the first time doing this kind of show. For a SHAFT/Shinbou show, I had expected a bit more out of this despite a weak start. Unfortunately, the only good episode was really the last one. Ending strong with a decent bit of comedy along the way is never a bad thing but when the rest of the episodes were straight up boring, it's difficult to justify a higher rating.
Animation is pretty subpar for SHAFT. The show had quality less than that of Natsu no Arashi from last year, thus further hindering the advantages that this show has and thus deeming the show as a "C-Level" SHAFT work.
Music wise, the opening was only okay at best coming from Round Table and Maaya Sakamoto. The ED theme was hilarious lyrics wise but terrible rhythm wise. Though it may be a result of trying to bring out the mediocre/randomness theme of the show simultaneously. Now, seiyuu wise, for someone who voiced Maka from Soul Eater, I was very disappointed with Chiaki Omigawa's performance as Hotori. Hotori was straight up annoying and it really hurt my ears while watching this show. On the other hand, Kon's seiyuu is Rieka Yazawa, someone seemingly new to the industry and boy was her voice great. She really needs some more roles in the future. On another note, Josephine's seiyuu was hilarious all the way to the very end. Of course, they're not very funny if you don't get the jokes and the subs for this show weren't exactly the best ones around if you ask me.
Enjoyment? Not much. I chuckled every now and then, but for the most part, I was really bored with this show. Despite pulling manga chapters here and there, this show had no real head and tail. Occasionally, the show would do some nice tie-ins with previous episodes, but it failed to really bring out anything all that meaningful. While I haven't read the source material for this show, I find it unbelievable that the source material would be like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, and thus difficult to come to terms that this show could possibly be executed in a similar fashion in an anime adaptation. As I anticipated, however, this show did just that and failed miserably.
Overall, I wouldn't say this show had no real advantages, but it really doesn't have much rewatch value either. It's a decent laugh every now and then, but like Zetsubou Sensei, you need to understand the jokes to moderately enjoy SoreMachi, but even then it lacks anything that would really grab one's attention to continue sticking with the show for very long.
Preliminary Score: 6/10
Final Score: 6/10 To be honest, if it weren't for that amazing final episode, this show would be rotting right about now with a much lower rating.
