The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious

Episode 5

I keep bringing this up but I am still genuinely confused as to what exactly The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious is going for. It seems to be telling a story about an adoptive family and how you can welcome people into your life when you're feeling lonely, even if they seem a bit weird and suspicious at first glance. The fact that this is all basically told through the eyes of a very honest child is also really interesting and has comedic potential. But I can't tell if these themes of found family are what the show is building towards, especially when it's also simultaneously really laying on the romantic implications between our two leads. It doesn't help that the first half of this episode was agonizingly slow, focusing on the training and build up for the sports festival.

I like the fact that Yuuri is asking Lilith to come to his school again, similar to last episode where she is effectively taking the place of his parents (even though I would keep arguing that Lilith has more of a big sister dynamic with Yuuri). At the very end of the episode, when those kids say that it's not fair that he brought hired help to take the place of his family and he retaliated by saying that Lilith is his family, I felt that it was a very good, genuine and natural evolution to both Lilith and Yuuri's relationship and the show's found family themes. I was even willing to forgive the ending punchline about how Yuuri doesn't seem to be distinguishing the fact that he likes Lilith potentially more than as a family member and he's just misinterpreting these feelings as familial love when the show is very heavily hinting that it's something more intimate and romantic. The problem is, the show beats that idea over your head without ever really addressing the fact that a romance between them isn't really something that should be seriously entertained. None of this is helped by the fact that we have a side character who is basically enamored with that idea of a forbidden love. I think Tsukasa is hilarious and her glorifying the relationship between our two protagonists would be even funnier if it was meant to be seen as a sort of contrast to how they actually are. But I don't think that these taboo aspirations are brought up for the sake of parody, it just feels like another way of repeating the same thing, just shy of going all the way with that idea.

I don't think Lilith is genuinely trying to pursue a romantic relationship with Yuuri, especially if we're bringing up the plot point that he doesn't understand romantic feelings because he's too young. Lilith seems to understand the affection that is now being directed towards her but I don't know if she's actually going to do anything with that considering how bashful and affectionate it's hinted that she does want to be with him. It also doesn't help the fact that this was the most fanservice-heavy episode yet; I love Lilith's design and the fanservice was mostly tasteful but I got to be honest, I am a bit worried about the direction the show is going in. It feels like it's not fully committing to any ideas just yet or at the very least, the one idea it seems to want to commit to is one that I just don't see working out in any way shape or form without completely changing the atmosphere of the show. But that's just me and who's to say what will happen next.

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