まいちゃんの日常

MAI-CHAN NO NICHIJOU

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
April 21, 2004
CHAPTERS
12

DESCRIPTION

The story of a 17 year old maid/slave who is immortal and has impressive regenerative properties.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Includes chapter 0.

CAST

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO MAI-CHAN NO NICHIJOU

MANGA FantasyGAME OVER

REVIEWS

VukVuj
0/100
A gruesome dark comedy exploring some important life truths.
Mai-chan's Daily Life by Uziga Waita, the (in)famous adult manga, regarded by some to be the most disturbing thing they ever read; disregarded as just another guro hentai, made by and for degenerates. However, I didn't view it as such. I viewed it as a story about how changing one's mindset can lead to them leading a happier life, not paying mind to the negatives, but also having respect for oneself and setting limits to the amount of suffering we can endure.
__The following review contains spoilers, so if you didn't read the manga, now's the time to do so. It's only one volume.__ _Score is 0/100 because I don't rate anything._ __------------------------------------------------__
She can't die... She's a physical idiosyncrasy. - Kaede

In the first (technically zeroth) chapter we are introduced to our main protagonist, a cute maid called Mai, and we are asked a question: What would we do if we had a girl we could do anything to and with? It's an interesting and pretty thought provoking question. Throughout my first reading of this manga, through the occasional chuckles at the absurd dialogue and the general appreciation for the art itself, I asked myself: "Who would actually do this?" Granted, it may be a silly question, but I was genuinely wondering if anyone would actually be deranged and remorseless enough to do something like this. However, a couple of years later, I found about Marina Abrabramović's genius "Rhythm 0", where she put herself in the same situation as Mai, without the immortality obviously, and to my surprise, people, after some time, acted violently. This was the first time I realized what this manga wanted to show (or maybe it was just me seeing stuff that isn't there.) The chapter continues in regular guro hentai fashion, with her getting brutally raped and "murdered". As this chapter serves as just an introduction to the character and the story, nothing of major importance happens.
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I submit to any request that the customer makes. To anything they wish or desire. - Mai

The actual first chapter starts with a theme which we'll be seeing a bunch through the whole manga: Mai-smiling
This may not even seem like a theme, and even if she may be acting in this case, thinking about it, and her circumstances, how could anyone smile, knowing that in just a few hours they may be submitted to the worst torture mankind can think of. This is where my viewing of the message of the manga comes in: despite her circumstances, she's able to experience joy; happiness. Yet, we also see her crying, knowing great pain is just a few seconds away. Pain and happiness aren't mutually exclusive. And later on, when Kaede is gifting her a pet, we see her actually smiling, not acting, further building onto my point. She knows what her fate is; she suffers, yet she smiles. As mentioned, she gets a pet which is an important plot point in the next chapter.
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On the menu this time is... Thin sliced meat fried with ginger. - Mai

The pet turns out to be a girl with no arms or legs called Sayurin, and Mai's task is to prepare food for her, using her own flesh. A bizarre idea, yet also an amazing metaphor. Through the pain she endures, when serving the food, she puts up a smiling front to Sayurin, making it look as if everything was ok. This is something I really liked, showing another important human skill, one that I consider invaluable to healthy relationships: acting. While having a relationship based on trust is important, having it be 100% truthful is not a good thing either; we want to spare the other person the pain of our own lives, hence why we put up a smiling front.
Another topic this chapter explores is the pain caused by the inaction of others. The whole reason Mai is additionally tortured this chapter is because of Sayurin refusing to eat the meals prepared. While she didn't do anything, that's exactly the problem which brings Mai more pain. Not acting is the same as being directly involved.
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I can't believe it... This is way too cruel!! - Mai

This chapter is one that is quite important, theme-wise. Mai is seen shopping, smiling, thinking about what to buy Sayurin, and just having what most people would call a day-to-day life, which again shows us that suffering and regular life aren't mutually exclusive. While under absolute torment, I consider her to be happier than most people are today, taking her suffering stoically and leading a regular daily life, which is a mindset 99% of people aren't able to achieve.
She then gets attacked by a tiger and the chapter ends quite abruptly.
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I'm... O-okay... I'll be... Fine, Sayurin... D-don't worry... - Mai

This chapter continues onto the theme of putting up a front in front of other, but also of reacting to other's pain much more than our own. Mai is rented out to customers wanting to test out new knives, and Sayurin is also there. While getting stabbed, she sees Sayurin watching her with a terrified expression, where the Mai gives her one of the most pained looks I've seen in this manga, and reassures her that she'll be fine. Even during her own pain, she's paying more mind to her close ones than to herself, and she seems more concerned about the emotional trauma Sayurin is experiencing than her own physical pain. We then get a flashback where we see Mai defending Sayurin, not wanting her to get brought there as well, saying that she isn't like her; we see the opposite of a behavior many people exhibit, that being wanting to pull others into their pain. She is actively trying to prevent someone experiencing the same thing as her, bearing her suffering with a smile without dragging everyone down with her.
We also get introduced to Kizuna, another immortal, a kid who says he wishes he could also one day treat someone like those people treated Mai. At the end, Sayurin is killed in an accident where a knife falls from Mai's eye down onto her.
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Did she manage to overcome her grief? Did she escape from it? Or did she instinctively seal herself out from it all...? - Kaede

As Sayurin dies, and Mai heals, we see a dream Mai experiences, where she is finally conversing with Sayurin, and being thanked for all she did for her, for looking after her, and for allowing her to have fun in despite the life she had up until that point. Before she wakes up, she's told not to blame herself for this. The gratefulness Sayurin showed juxtaposed with her dead body and Mai's terrified expression sets the scene for a mental breakdown Mai has, expressing how funny it is that it only took one knife to kill her, after she is called a weakling by Kaede. The mental trauma she experiences in those few moments manages to remove that smile she wore through all the physical pain she endured, showing how much more impactful that can be. She's then given time to mourn Sayurin's death until her body decomposes. In that time, she blames herself, apologizing to the now long lifeless Sayurin, while we the audience, and she herself, deep down, knows that she isn't to blame. After that, she forgets Sayurin completely, making us see a coping mechanism, but also cries when seeing her earrings, not knowign why, showing us PTSD she endured, and the subconscious level that pain went to. It's one of the most important chapters for her character.
She's then also introduced to Kizuna, her immortal "brother".
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I'm not a baked sweet potato!!! - Mai

This chapter is pretty strange, however, we see that Kizuna feels pain as pleasure, making Mai think she's gonna get fired, since he's superior. That doesn't happen however. As far as the message of the manga, the important part is actually the tame one, where we see Mai teaching Kizuna her maid activities. We're shows she's clumsy, gets hurt all the time, and yet she keeps going strong, not giving up, and getting up no matter how many times she falls down. Not a lot more to say about this though.
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Animals like you guys... You really shouldn't be allowed to marry real humans or to have children.

The new customers are sadistic little girls who torture Kizuna and Mai. The part I'll focus on is the duel between the two. The customers order them to have a fight each other, in a duel. Here we see another example of Mai not wanting to drag others into her own pain, protesting against that idea yet knowing that she has no power to do anything about it. She then sacrifices herself, not wanting to hurt Kizuna, and willfully loses, gets beaten with a mace and insulted, which actually seems to leave the biggest impression on her, again showing how much mental pain can overpower the bodily one.
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T-that means... I-I'm probably next... - Mai

While uneventful story-wise, we do get another example of Mai reacting to the pain of others more than herself, when seeing Kizuna's head cut off, and while she does fear for herself, it looks more like a surprise than real fear. Other than that, this chapter focuses mainly on the shock factor of the manga.
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Mai? Could it be... That you're...? - Kaede

Kizuna is sold off to the sadistic girl from two chapters ago, and Mai is sad that she didn't get to say goodbye, so she goes to visit. However she gets raped and beaten, as per orders, now showing us another side of the same coin we have seen when Sayurin refused to eat her meal; we see an event where actions with noble ideas get met with repression and hate, an event where acting out of good intent brings unexpected and undeserved pain. She later grieves the fact she couldn't see Kizuna, but soon regains her composure, to eat, only to puke. We find out Mai is pregnant.
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I know all of that, and that... To let the child into this world would be inhumane. - Mai

Mai is shown getting tortured by a client, begging them not to hurt the baby, yet the client pays no mind. We then see a flashback where it's revealed that the child is Kizuna's. Mai is being indecisive what to do. She isn't sure what to do: she is aware that giving birth to the child will only bring it suffering, yet also can't bear to not let it be born and experience the world. The dichotomy here is a difficult one: is it more cruel giving birth to someone who will experience lots pain, or having them not be born at all, and never experiencing the good parts of life? Is giving someone a chance to fight pain better than removing the fight altogether?
Kaede is wounded by the client and we enter the final stretch.
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Time for the customers to leave. Mai. - Kaede

Kaede gets raped, and Mai's baby gets murdered gruesomely, and here we see a new theme explored: setting boundaries. Mai, who, while sometimes feeling emotional pain, never fought back, hits the client, after which he gets murdered by Kaede. After all the pain and suffering Mai went through without question, we see a point where someone crossed the line, and this can apply to anyone: even if you can deal with almost anything thrown at you, boundaries should exist, cause if they don't, you are nothing but a people's punching bag and a complacent fool.
We then see Mai afterwards, still doing her daily activities, but now with a content facial smile: she's accepting of her circumstances, and doesn't let the pain she experiences shape her; instead she shapes herself, she's the master of her own life.
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Closing Thoughts

While this manga is gruesome and bloody, when you look past the abuse and gore, in its core, it's a story of stoicism, learning to live with one's own circumstances, being accepting of the hand we've been dealt, and playing it the best we can, bluffing when necessary, and fighting 'till the last card; it's a story of a poor, clumsy, and joyous girl living in a corrupt and painful world, yet embracing it, and then looking beyond it, through the layers of grime, down to the true beauty of life, existence, and the seemingly mundane daily life.
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