The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious

Episode 1

This premiere episode of The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious left me with two rather conflicting impressions. The first is that this show is probably going to be my wholesome comfort food for this season. The relatively light tone, the very soft line work on the characters, and the cute character dynamics all left me feeling appropriately sweet and warm inside. There were a lot of funny moments in this episode, balanced with a decent mystery revolving around the identity of the titular maid. My current guess is that she's something along the lines of a childhood friend trying to fulfill a promise, but that could also be because there's a lot about the show that reminds of The Duke of Death and His Maid, despite the obvious differences in the characters' ages. Yuuri's suspicions and assumptions about this mysterious maid are equal parts understandable as well as adorable since he is very much a child coming to rather outlandish conclusions to justify his own personal feelings. My favorite parts are when he keeps blaming his obvious attraction to her (because I mean why wouldn't you) on being charmed or given a love potion. That feels childish in the most endearing way, and while I do think the jokes are running a bit thin by the end of this episode, I was nevertheless entertained by their dynamic.

However, there are also some particular details to this episode that left me feeling confused. For example, I have no idea why Lilith reacted the way that she did when Yuuri calls her cute. I guess I was sort of expecting a maid with such a mysterious air about her—and one that is clearly older, no less—to be unfazed or entertained, not bashful like a shy schoolgirl. And while that can be a nice contrast to how playful she acts after leaning into the curious conspiracies, the fact that this adult woman is getting infatuated with being called cute by a child does feel a bit offputting. I'm sure her reaction has something to do with the implied history between these two that Yuuri is either unaware of or forgotten about; I just wasn't expecting the show to go that direction with their dynamic. If these are all indeed gestures towards a romance between the two, I wonder how that's going to work out.

The other thing that somewhat bothered me is how a kid this young, with no immediate family members, is able to live by himself in a manor like that. I know he received an inheritance from his late parents, but he also makes it clear that it isn't a lot of money, so I wonder how things like expenses are being handled. Also, what is the legality behind Yuuri owning a manor like that or receiving any sort of inheritance at his age? At first I thought this takes place in some kind of alternate historical setting given the show's overall aesthetic, but the characters have washing machines and computers so it's definitely something resembling our modern-day society. And while we're on the note of details that just stuck out to me, how the heck did Yuuri let this woman stay in his house and not even have the courtesy to ask her what her name was? There's even a whole skit revolving around him trying to one-up her by learning more information about her, and while I do find the bit cute, I don't know why learning that her name was Lilith needed to be played up like a reveal when he's literally hiring her as a stay-at-home maid.

Am I overthinking things? Maybe. They're not ruining the show for me or anything—I wouldn't be watching the show if I wasn't already willing to buy the rather unorthodox premise at face value. I guess I just find it weird that The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious is seemingly trying to justify some of the circumstances surrounding its lead with details that only lead to more questions than answers. But now that the overall premise is set up, I'm hoping that the show will focus on building its central mystery and creating those wholesome moments instead of trying for something more ambitious than it necessarily needs to be.

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The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.