メイド！

I’ve decided to write about maids!



A few reasons to this sudden, and expected, enthusiasm:
1) to clear up a few concepts of “the maid”
2) to try writing something intellectual after not writing them for a long time. You want a slightly lighter version? Imagine me saying all these with a very serious face.
3) to put an mental shield around myself. I can feel my cousin breathing down my neck! She's in San Fran, and that's scary.

Whenever I consume anything, I look for representation – what is means to me. That would explain why I chose a cheery white Toshiba lappy over a dull black IBM one, even though it was slightly cheaper and more high-ended. (of course, Toshiba being a Japanese brand would win my heart over anytime) It’ll also explain why I watch so much anime, and be interested in merchandises.

So why maids? Don’t simply wave it off as a dysfunction, analysis is needed. Know: not all maids will do. *nod head*

They are Japanese. Easy to understand, ya? Then again, not all Japanese will fit the maid image. What the industry (yes, it is an industry now) require is people belonging to the 萌系, or the “cute classification”. And again, not all “cute” will do, since cute is hard to define, and probably be able to be broken down into more subclasses.

Maids represent loyalty and absolute kindness. It isn’t so hard to understand why otakus would like maids that much because of their societal issues. At these cafes, they are accepted as a normal person, meeting people who will not look down on you. Hey, I even think it’s a step to help those hikikomoris (people who hole themselves in the room away from society) to leave their room!

In view of this, I love theme restaurants. Why should you just tantalize your tastebuds and leave you eyes free? These maid cafes are colourful and interesting. Why? Simply because maids are walking around. Hahah…

The clothes of a maid is as important. I’m interested in costumes and cosplays (that is not to say I’m good at it), so the costume is an important factor. Much like fashion, the design has to be dynamic, thus you can’t just don a blouse, skirt and an apron and call it a maid costume. Using my friends words, you must “look like a character out of an anime”. Not exaggeration. Dynamism. Furthermore, I have a small but sufficient exposure to the French culture, thus their style appears elegant. This gives an additional representation of elegance to the maids.

I should be getting back to studying. B4 I go, here is a video of Arisa and her maid café Mai:lish. It's a good intro to those who are not sure about these maid cafes. (Umm, ignore the last part abt the frog. It’s something the couple who went to film included. Read the comments if you want to find out more though.)