Maria†Holic Alive - Episode 2

There's nothing worse than being stuck inside on a rainy day.  Wait, scratch that, there is something worse... being stuck inside on a rainy day when everybody but you has their own card game to play.

At least, this is the Kanako's latest nightmare as presented by episode two of Maria†Holic Alive, as flood warnings leave her sharing her room with Maria, Matsurika, God and Ryuuken, the latter of which turns out to be a huge Romance of the Three Kingdoms fangirl - a scenario which makes Kanako feel rather intellectually deficient as it seems that even Yonakuni has read it.  From here, the other characters all roll out their own card games, and even Father Kanae makes the first in a number of unwelcome appearances in an attempt to help Miyamae out.

From here Kanako finds herself pondering other issues of the day - namely, why her side of the room is so slovenly compared to Maria's shining fortress of cleanliness (the answer, of course, is Matsurika), before going on to wonder why she can't treat herself to something luxurious under the pretence of improved grades, much like Sachi's purchase of some very specific screwdrivers (the girl is clearly considering setting up a Nintendo Wii repair outfit).  Needless to say, such ponderings only end in further pain and hardship for her protagonist, such is the way of Maria†Holic.

In a season that has been a bit light on truly decent comedy thus far, Maria†Holic Alive has been a surprising ray of light in such murky times in its opening couple of episodes - once again, this instalment brought forth some shrieks of laughter (not shrieks of "tonfa") from me and generally amused me from beginning to end.  Yes, it's largely stupid in terms of plot and characterisation, but really - who cares when it's so damned funny?  In fact, I dare say that the humour within Maria†Holic Alive so far has surpassed that of the first season, and I can only hope that it continues to do so.