Maria†Holic Alive - Episode 9

If you didn't expect Kanako's enforced punishment of an episode of silence to take effect this week then... well, you must be new to watching Maria†Holic I guess.  Although Kanako's voice may not be required however, she still has her part to play in the goings-on of this tenth episode.

On that note, this weeks instalment of Maria†Holic Alive sees a visit to Ame-no-Kisaki from a young, precocious and self-important ten year-old boy named Tota... a boy who also claims to be Ryuken Ishima's fiancé, a fact which (coupled with the suggestion that she is less than beautiful) doesn't go down too well with Kanako.

Unsurprisingly given his age, Tota's obsession with Ryuken (which turns out to be little more than a joke that he took too seriously) is matched or even surpassed by another passion of his - collecting stag beetles.  It's here that Kanako spots her opportunity to challenge this usurper, while also allowing Maria†Holic to carry on in its usual random fashion, this time with the addition of commentary from Rindo and God thanks to the lack of speech from Kanako.

Overall, this was one of those episodes that was almost too random to the point of distracting from some of the things that make watching the series fun, although this was made up for to some extent by some of its other diversions, not least Rindo and God's commentary on proceedings, while Tota also had some amusing lines of his own.  Still, things just aren't the same without Kanako opening her mouth and spewing forth stupidity, so I for one will be glad to see her regain her voice next week.