By Hiro Fujiwara. Released in Japan as “Kaichō wa Maid-sama!” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine LaLa. Released in North America by Tokyopop.

There’s not much forward motion here in this volume. Misaki is still tsundere (count the blushes on her face here – you’ll lose count after the first hundred or so), Usui is still a smirking hero who dotes on her, and there are no major new characters introduced.

So much of this manga seems to be driven by trying to make Misaki realize that she doesn’t have to take everything on herself all the time, and can let others be there for her. It’s surprising, then, that the best moments are where Usui is not trying to get her to show feelings and be protected by him, but instead showing her being an utter badass. The whole hypnotist arc is built around a guy who thinks that women are weak and defenseless, and Misaki and Usui showing him the error of his ways, not just by Misaki beating people up (though she does), but by the other girls in the school merely being strong and competent.

Speaking of which, Usui’s methods of keeping Misaki awake towards the end of the first chapter is probably the best moment of the book. We’ve seen him, on occasion in previous volumes, get upset with Misaki for taking on fights she can’t win, and not letting him protect her. He knows how much this ‘I will save you from the evil baddies you can’t defeat’ thing pisses her off. So seeing him whisper “It’s OK, master’s here” is both hysterical and brilliant, guaranteeing that she’ll stay awake out of pure rage.

After that it gets a bit more traditional, with Misaki being afraid of ghosts and unable to admit it, and her valiant attempts to help Aoi in a beach volleyball competition (while failing to see the overall picture). These are less good, in that they remind us of the utter possessive streak that Usui has. As smirking shoujo guys go, he’s near the lighter end of the scale, but I’m still bothered by this on occasion. Admittedly, he’s also dealing with frustration as Misaki won’t get that he really does love her. He tries to be more honest and less perverse towards the end, but it ends up in failure as always.

There’s two extra chapters at the end, one a fairy-tale AU with Misaki as a demon hunter being assisted by Mad Hatter-type Usui, and the other dealing with the three idiots and their POV. Which no one cares about, which is probably why the fairy tale is a full-length chapter and the idiots’ omake is about 4 pages.

This is pretty decent if not spectacular shoujo, with the artist trying to present strong women kicking ass while still going for the princess being swept up by her loving prince plot. Watching them clash is the point of the manga, but can also be a weakness. Still, as long as we get to see Misaki’s well-drawn expressions of determination, frustration, and humiliation, it’s still well worth reading.