Mao Episode 1 Review: A Familiar Formula With a Surprisingly Empowered Heroine

Spoiler warning:

Mao can be seen on Hulu and Disney+,

The anime Mao is from the creator of Inuyasha. It is very similar to its predecessor. Just like in Inuyasha, you have a high school girl, Nanoka, who can travel back in time, only this time it is by a shopping arcade where her parents had died years prior. She is transported to 1923 Japan. Similar to Kagome, Nanoka gets attacked by a monster in her first bout of time travel.

One interesting thing about the attack is that they didn’t have the male lead, Mao, immediately save her when she was being chased by the monster. He watches at first while she struggles, thinking that she could handle the situation. That baffles Nanoka until the monster cuts her arm off, and her blood gets all over the monster, injuring it. As the monster tries to escape, Mao intervenes and apprehends it. I like that the female lead has her own supernatural powers that have some kick, and I look forward to seeing how her powers develop as time goes on.

What do you guys think of episode 1? Post in the comments!