MAO – Episode 1

Content considerations: Fantastical violence/death and dismemberment (kids/teens).

What’s it about? As a first-grader, Nanoka narrowly survived a strange car accident that killed her parents. Eight years later, she lives happily with her grandfather, housekeeper, and classmates. When she hears rumors of ghosts near the site of her family’s accident, the curious Nanoka goes to investigate—and finds herself transported back to the Taisho era! Can she survive monster attacks, stoic mystics, and her own awakening powers?

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It’s hard to talk about MAO without comparing it to Inuyasha, and that’s not just because they share the same manga author. If you scrub away the details, the premise of both boils down to: “a plucky girl stumbles across a portal to the past where she meets a mysterious man, engages with the supernatural, and awakens to her own special powers.”

Which, in fairness, is also more-or-less the premise to most of my favorite shojo isekai. So y’know what? Let’s scrap the comparisons and dig into those details instead.

As someone who’s frequently tried and frequently failed to get into Rumiko Takahashi series, I was thoroughly entertained by this premiere. It’s spirited and well-paced, bouncing between action and dialogue to introduce us to its central cast and Shinto-inspired premise without getting too bogged down in lore or revealing too much of its narrative hand.

There are a lot of mysteries at play here to help hook audiences. Nanoka needs to figure out the source of her sudden supernatural abilities and changing body, the true story behind her parents’ deaths, and why Mao claims she’s an ayakashi (typically defined as a malevolent ghost). Mao, meanwhile, is looking to uncover the truth behind the curse placed on him. It seems likely they’ve both been impacted by the same Byoki (demon cat), which will tangle their stories together going forward.

I’ve used words like “ghost” and “death” a lot, which may suggest that this is a horror story or grimdark fantasy. It’s not, but it does lean into horror imagery. The fight scenes are gorier than your average shonen (our protagonists’ blood melts ayakashi like they’re in an Indiana Jones flick) and the humor has a grotesque undercurrent, particularly when Nanoka briefly gets her arm lopped off (don’t worry, she gets better).

That said, the supernatural spookiness is tempered by Takahashi’s trademark round-faced, fluffy-haired character designs and the bright color palette that often accompanies her manga’s anime adaptations. It’s a little pulpy but never truly unsettling. Viewers with a low tolerance for violence will want to steer clear, but this strikes me as the kind of series you could watch with a young teen or preteen who’s into ghost stories.

As an adaptation, it reminds me of basically every Takahashi anime I’ve watched: pleasant to look at but with the kind of animation that feels rationed out, as if it’s going to run for a while and they need to budget resources. Which is probably true, given Mao is a popular ongoing shonen with 27 volumes(!) already under its belt.

Staring down the barrel of that kind of commitment, the question becomes less “is the story interesting?” and more “do you want to hang out with these characters for the next 100 episodes?” And, you know, Mao just might have the juice there.

I liked Nanoka immediately—she’s realistically freaked out by what’s happening but is also courageous and curious, ready to power through her fear to find answers—and I’m excited to see how she develops as a character. The sober Mao is a tougher sell in a single episode. I have a soft spot for broody lads with hearts as warm and squishy as baked potatoes, but I need to spend more time with him before I can slot him into that camp. There’s also a Little Guy, who’s mostly there for exposition but still seems like a nice fella.

In truth, though, my chief concern with Mao is the same one I have with every shonen adaptation: is Nanoka going to get sidelined or even damseled in favor of the titular character? Takahashi has a better track record than many shonen manga authors, and this first episode sets the stage for Nanoka to become a monster-hunter in her own right. But man, she sure doesn’t do much except stand around looking scared in the opening theme, huh?

My typical concerns (and general fatigue) about long-running shonen aside, I gotta admit this premiere dug its charming, spooky li’l hooks into me. Have I finally found my Takahashi niche? It’s way too early to call, but I’m willing to give this one a few more episodes to find out.