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Hand Maid May (HAND MAID メイ, Hand Maid
Mei
?) is an anime series released in 2000 in Japan, directed by Shinichiro Kimura, written by Kazuki
Matsui and Jyuzo Mutsuki, and produced by Pioneer Animation (now Geneon Entertainment). It is an eleven
episode maid comedy series with elements of a harem anime, and
also makes use of plenty of fan service. It centers on the adventures
of the main character, Kazuya Saotome and a robotic cyberdoll named
May. Formerly available from Pioneer/Geneon in the United States, it
is now out of print.
Story
Kazuya Saotome is a nerdy second year engineering student at
Ochanomizu Kougyou Daigaku (Ochanomizu Industrial University), in
the Denshi Kougakubu, Denshi Ouyougaku (Electrical Engineering,
Applied Electronics) program. His birthday is October 18, 1981, and
his dream is to build a Doraemon (robot). He is currently trying to
develop an artificially intelligent robot that happens to look like
a toy squid. The story begins when Kazuya’s wealthy rival, Kotaro
Nanbara, gives him a computer program that supposedly will provide
valuable information to help with Kazuya’s research and
development. In actuality, the program is a virus that Nanbara
created in order to infect Kazuya’s computer and destroy all of his
work. While attempting to fix his infected computer, Kazuya somehow
accidentally orders a cyberdoll from the Cyberdyne
Corporation website. Almost immediately, a woman appears at
Kazuya’s door with a small package containing a cyberdoll named
Hand Maid May. May is a palm-sized robotic doll who’s very
sensitive and sympathetic to Kazuya’s feelings, likes, and needs.
She has to be plugged into Kazuya’s computer via a homemade cable
in order to recharge her batteries because May’s official
recharging equipment was accidentally broken when Kazuya first
received her. The early part of the storyline focuses on Nanbara
trying to get May taken away from Kazuya due to his inability to
pay for her. Nanbara enlists the help of several other cyberdolls
to attempt to take May away from Kazuya, but all of them end up
falling for Kazuya and failing to retrieve May.
In the latter part of the anime May is upgraded to a lifesize
version of herself, after Kazuya receives a visit from a mysterious
visitor who wishes to promote Kazuya's artificial intelligence
research. The situation complicates further when Kazuya's human
friend Kasumi begins to get jealous of all the cyberdolls flirting
with Kazuya and they all compete to see who can go on a date with
him. The last segment of the story deals with Kazuya and May having
to deal with a virus which is shutting down all of the cyberdolls,
and a couple of mysterious visitors who turn out to be related to
Kazuya and Nanbara in the future.
Characters
- Kazuya Saotome (早乙女 和也, Saotome
Kazuya
?)
- Voice: Takayuki Yamaguchi / Steve Cannon
Kazuya is an 19 year old electrical engineering student with a
passion for building robots, primarily a robot squid which he calls
Ikariya and implementing an AI system into it. He's a bit
absent-minded and is clueless when it comes to girls. He has two
sisters as shown in the 7th episode. However it is later revealed
that in the future, his work with Ikariya will eventually become
the basis for the M.a.i.d. Program (short for Meet Ai Departure, a
Japanese in-joke for the entire series, as Ai means Love in
Japanese). Kazuya lives in apartment 204 of Kasumi Sou (Kasumi
House). His life becomes more complicated but yet more satisfying
after the arrival of cyberdoll May and the subsequent Cyberdolls
that become part of his life.
- Cyberdoll May (サイバドール・メイ, Saibadōru Mei
?)
- Voice: Maria Yamamoto / Lia Sargent
Kazuya receives May, a hand sized 1/6th scale cyberdoll, in a
package from Cyberdyne Co. (not to be confused with The Terminator's
robotic company, Cyberdyne Systems) because of an accidental order
which happened as a result of a revenge tactic planted in a CD from
his rival, Nanbara. A cyberdoll, May was never paid for by Kazuya.
Cyberdolls can control traffic lights and simple electronics and
connect to personal computers via what may or may not be USB
cables. She later becomes a human-sized 17 year old version (Type
G-99(D)-JPS). Her personality is innocent, and at times childish
and naive, though she also shows surprising insight and is always
able to cheer Kazuya up. Unlike the other Cyberdolls, May's Maid
Program had evolved, making her more human and resistant to the
retro-cybervirus that threatened the other Cyberdolls. She shows
strong feelings of affection toward Kazuya and is often competing
with Kasumi. In the last episode it has also been stated that she
can give birth.
- Kasumi Tani (谷 かすみ, Tani
Kasumi
?)
- Voice: Mikako Takahashi / Michelle Ruff
Kasumi is the 18 year old daughter of the owners of Kasumi house, a
small wooden apartment building. Her window faces Kazuya's window,
so she uses a long ladder that runs from his balcony to hers as a
bridge to pay him a visit, along with Rena. Because she's a close
friend of Kazuya's, she often lets him get away with overdue rent
payments. In addition to being a college student, Kasumi is very
active, athletic, and likes baseball. She is a coach for the local
little league baseball team, and her uniform number is 33. She is
very active, and has been known to refer to herself as "boku" (the
Japanese male form of I). Kasumi is also somewhat of a tomboy but
she has a very kind side. She holds special feelings toward Kazuya
and will wear more revealing outfits when coming to visit him. She
sees the Cyberdolls, primarily May, as a friendly rival for his
affections.
- Kotaro Nanbara (南原 耕太郎, Nanbara
Kōtarō
?)
- Voice: Yūji Ueda / Bob Marx
He is the self-proclaimed "best friend and worst enemy" of Kazuya
Saotome. Nanbara is very rich with an eccentric, egomaniacal
personality. He is jealous of constantly being outdone in projects
by the poor Kazuya and will do anything to see him suffer. It was
his virus that caused Kazuya to inadvertently to order May. Nanbara
gets Sara to do his chores by offering ramen in exchange. Though
very antagonistic against May in her smaller form, he falls head
over heels in love when she is enlarged to human size. It was later
revealed that he and Kazuya will form the Cyberdyne Corporation
that produces the Cyberdolls and will be run by their
descendants.
- Cyberdoll Sara (サイバドール・サラ, Saibadōru Sara
?)
- Voice: Kyōko Hikami / Wendee Lee
Sara (Af-77LC-CHN) is a 23 year old cyberdoll from Cyberdyne's
customer service division, and is apparently Chinese in origin. She
is very addicted to ramen and
seems to have an endless stomach for it. Her goal early on is to
repossess Cyberdoll May because Kazuya did not pay for her. Sara's
name is inspired by Sarah Connor from the
Terminator series. The company that she works for is yet another
reference to the same movie series. She later develops a bit of a
crush on Kazuya. It is worth noting that in the last episode
another delivery CyberDoll comes to Kazuya's apartment that looks
exactly like Sara except with pink hair.
- Cyberdoll Rena (サイバドール・レナ, Saibadōru Rena
?)
- Voice: Rie Kugimiya / Reba West
At first Rena (Cf-3357L-JPA) appears to be a lost 9 year old girl,
discovered by Kazuya and May. However, she is another cyberdoll
sent by Cyberdyne to recover May. Rena decides that she likes
Kazuya and Ikariya and does not return with May to Cyberdyne,
instead she moves in with Kasumi. In the Japanese audio, she is
referred to by everyone, including herself, exclusively as
"Rena-chan."
- Cyberdoll Kei (サイバドール・ケイ, Saibadōru Kei
?)
- Voice: Omi
Minami / Jane Arden
Kei (Af-444LC-JPN) is a 21 year old genius cyberdoll said to have
an IQ of 50,000 in human terms. Kei
is originally given the mission of formulating a strategy to get
May back. She becomes interested in Kazuya after hearing how he
regards cyberdolls and changes her mind. Kei's memory bank of facts
is extensive, but she often takes a while to process information
that is more abstract. At times, abstract or philosophical
questions can cause her CPU to lock up. She later forms a crush on
Kazuya and takes up residence in his closet.
- Cyberdoll Mami (サイバドール・マミ, Saibadōru Mami
?)
- Voice: Kikuko Inoue / Dorothy
Melendrez
Mami (Af-863LD-USNY), age 31, is from Cyberdyne's American branch
and is a combination of both Japanese and American cultures (such
has both a kimono and roller blades). She arrives later to help
Kazuya around the house, and is extraordinarily gifted at all
domestic tasks, which causes May to be jealous. Even so, Mami tries
to pair Kazuya and May up. She's an absolute genius in domestic
skills and child care, and is later revealed to be the caretaker of
Kazuya's descendant Takuya Saotome. Instead of shoes, she gets
around on roller blades and is quite the skater. She
is able to maneuver around traffic at high speeds, and can even
skate on walls.
- Ikariya (イカリヤ,
Ikariya
?)
- Voice: Miwa
Yasuda / Ian
Hawk
A robotic squid, Kazuya's
Doraemon Research Project. It is primitive compared to the
cyberdolls. Rena has a fondness for Ikariya, taking it where she
goes. It is probable that Ikariya may be the prototype to Kazuya's
AI project in which eventually becomes the Maid Program, the core
OS of all Cyberdolls. Kazuya make periodical upgrades to Ikariya
throughout the anime. With those upgrades, Ikariya gains his own
personality.
- Shikishima
- He is Saotome Kazuya's next door neighbour. He sometimes make
huge crushing sounds causing Kasumi to run back to chase him for
the rent. He also helps to provide ice blocks for Kasumi to lower
the temperature of the cyberdolls in Episode 10. He shows up again
with no appearance but with crushing sounds in the Last Episode. It
also seems only Kasumi and May saw his appearance. The name
Shikishima might be a reference to Professor Shikishima of Tetsujin 28 and the crushing sounds
might be the attempts Shikishima trying to rebuild Tetsujin. After
the credits in episode 10, it is hinted that Shikishima has
possibly finished rebuilding Tetsujin.
- Cyber-X/Takuya Saotome
- He is Kazuya's descendant. His appearance comes with a red
trenchcoat, white pants, and a yellow hat. He wears a type of
muscle suit that covers his torso and arms with specifications
(Which is to hide his obese body). He has specially designed helmet
that has an opening mouthpiece to eat or drink (Especially milk
which is his favorite). He first appears in the second episode
watching over May. In the same episode he guides Kazuya (Without
his knowledge) to May who was lost in the city. He fully introduces
himself in the 5th episode after May is repossessed. He shows
interest in Kazuya's research with Artificial Intelligence, he then
allows Kazuya to choose a CyberDoll for research. To Kazuya's
request he arranges May to be returned to him and in a full-sized
body as a bonus. His main ability lies in his incredibly fast
typing skills, which even with only one hand was able to keep up
with Kotoro's long and fast password. He isn't fully unmasked until
after the credits in the 10th episode. He shown with green hair and
wearing orange lens glasses with red trim.
- Commando Z/Totaro Nabara
- The so-called 'Wandering President of Cyberdyne,' is every bit
as egomaniacal as his ancestor Kotaro, although he has a stronger
streak of common sense. He normally wears a kind of scarlet
bodysuit and cape (A reference to Kaiketsu Zubat), and makes a big
production during his introductions (His introduction dialogue is
very similar to Kaiketsu Zubat's). Apparently, he and Kazuya's
descendant has formed a partnership in running Cyberdyne, with
Takuya in research and development and Totaro handling the
financial ends. He comes to Kotaro to warn him and Kazuya about the
virus.
In the last episode, it is revealed that Cyberdolls are
capable of conceiving and bearing children (or just May). This
leaves the future spouse of Saotome undecided.
Theme
songs
Opening Theme
- "Jump ~ Meippai Dakishimete" by P-Chicks
Ending Themes
- "Honto no Kimochi" (True Feelings) by Mikako
Takahashi
Supporting
voice cast
Some VA's are hard to identify in the English version due to
insufficient credits.
Trivia
- There is a different title sequence for the 10th episode for
the ending credits, where most of the scenes with May in are
substituted for scenes with her in her full-size body, and some new
footage is added to replace footage showing how Kazuya coped with
having a pocket-sized maid. In the final episode the beginning part
of the sequence is the same for 10th episode but the rest of the
sequence is the original opening as May without a full body.
- Chobits uses a similar
joke to Hand Maid May in that Chii's power button is in her crotch
area, similar to how May has her USB cable fitted to the same
area.
- Milk is the primary drink in the entire series, and can be seen
in most episodes.
- Cyberdyne Systems is also the name of
a fictional company in the Terminator series which
manufactured the Terminator.
- In the 11th episode, it is revealed that Cyberdolls are capable
of bearing children, which is a nod toward Armitage III.
- The names adopted by Takuya and Totaro - Cyber X and Commander
Z, respectively - are obvious nods to the names of the mecha from
the Mazinger franchise.
Another wink at said franchise are the names of two professors at
Ochanomizu Industrial University, Doctor Yumi and Professor Hell,
who are, respectively, the main villain (Dr. Hell) and a recurring minor hero (Sayaka Yumi) of that
series.
- In keeping with the shout-outs to other anime and manga, the
names of the Zin siblings - Miyuki and Masato - may be a nod toward
the main characters of Miyuki.
- Any time a scene is in a restaurant, the background music is
the opening theme "Jump ~ Meippai Dakishimete" by P-Chicks.
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