Maria†Holic Alive - Episode 4

It might have seemed like a throwaway gag last episode, but Kanako's attack on Yonakuni at the height of her ill-advised diet has (with every pun intended) come back to bite her for Maria†Holic Alive's fourth episode.

This assault (or damage to property if you want to go by official Japanese law) sees Kanako brought to trial, with "God" as the judge, a jury made of of Kanako's friends (not that you'd guess it given the assistance they offer her), Maria giving the prosecution's case and Matsurika working on behalf of the defence, complete with inevitable Phoenix Wright-esque "Objection!" jokes.

Given the evidence against her, the trail doesn't really go too well for Kanako and even calling up the "creature" in her bag (yes, we're referencing the first season here too) does nothing to aid her - not that Kanako seems to mind all that much as she very much looks on the bright side of potentially being locked up in an all-girls prison, as you might expect; a train of thought only tempered by concerns about the future of the anime series she stars in.  Still, disaster (or perhaps heaven for Kanako) is eventually averted by the call of Sunday evening television for the dorm manager, leaving the accused facing justice (quite literally) at the hands of Father Kanae...

Overall, this wasn't as funny as previous episodes of Maria†Holic Alive, perhaps inevitably given its more limited scope, but it still managed to pull a fair number of laughs out of its hat.  "Objection!" jokes somehow never get old, and Kanako's lesbian fantasies as they pertain to doing prison time was hugely funny before the episode's "bonus segment" leaves us with a brief Madoka†Holic parody for no other reason than "because they can" and which I got a thrill out of regardless.  Even when it's a bit off-form, Maria†Holic Alive remains resolutely entertaining.