Line #35 Anime/HandMaidMay


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3	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hand_maid_may.jpg]]
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5	''Hand Maid May'' is an eleven episode comedy anime series released in Japan in 2000.
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7	It centers on the adventures of 19-year-old engineering student and hopeless nerd [[LovableNerd Kazuya Saotome]] and a hand-sized robotic Cyberdoll named [[RobotGirl May]] that Kazuya accidentally orders from the Cyberdyne Corporation website while trying to fix the damage caused by a computer virus. May is programmed to serve Kazuya's needs and desires, but must be plugged into Kazuya's computer at night to recharge her batteries because her standard charger was damaged when he first received her.
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9	Further complications develop due to May, the first being his inability to pay for her. This causes Kazuya's rival Nanbara to try to take May away with the aid of several Cyberdyne Cyberdolls ([[HaremAnime all of whom wind up falling for Kazuya]]).
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11	This was followed by the three-episode 2003 OAV spinoff series, ''Hand Maid Mai'' (note different spelling), which is about Hideo Ozu, a struggling adult film editor, who received three Cyberdolls named Mai, Ai, and Mie, who resemble actress and childhood friend, Mai Kurosawa, at different ages, with Mai as the oldest, Ai as the middle aged, and Mie the youngest. It also features cameos by Kasumi and Sara, dubbed Cyberdoll Sara Mk. II. Despite all three episodes being completed, only the first episode was released, as the series' original distributor, Five Ways, went bankrupt in mid-2003.
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13	Compare ''Anime/BusouShinki'' and ''Anime/FrameArmsGirls'', where the little robot girls are combat-capable.
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15	----
16	!! This anime contains examples of:
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18	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Used a few times, but a superb example occurs in episode 7 (spoilered since it's such a fun surprise). [[spoiler:The scene is at a DutchAngle indicating the characters' surprise at Mami's... arrival, and Kasumi stomps on the floor until they're level again.]]
19	%%* CasanovaWannabe: Nanbara.
20	* CatchPhrase: May's "I'll do my best!"
21	* ChekhovsGun: In the first episode, Kotaro sends a DVD-ROM to Kazuya, but the disc contains a ComputerVirus that would try to crash Kazuya's computer, which led to Kazuya accidentally ordering May from the Cyberdyne website. [[spoiler:It turns out that same virus had infected the present and future Cyberdolls in the final story arc.]]
22	%%* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Unlucky Kasumi.
23	%%* CuteLittleFang: Mami.
24	* DarkestHour: The final two episodes, where all of the Cyberdolls became mysteriously infected with a virus, leading to them being permanently shut down; Kazuya and May would try to find the cause of the Cyberdolls's infection.
25	* {{Ecchi}}: There's {{Fanservice}} ''in spades'' in this anime.
26	* {{Expy}}: Nanbara of Jinnai from ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'', even down to his English dub voice.
27	%%* FaceFault
28	* FestivalEpisode: Episode 6 takes place at one, with Sara trying out yakisoba, believing it to be a "new form of ramen", and Kei attending a goldfish scooping stand.
29	* FriendlyEnemy: Kotaro Nanbara, the self-proclaimed "best friend and worst enemy".
30	* GoldfishScoopingGame: Kei attends a goldfish scooping stand at the school festival in episode 6, and is an expert at it.
31	* GratuitousJapanese: The English subtitles translate Cyberdoll Mami's GratuitousEnglish into GratuitousJapanese; the dub averts this trope.
32	* KeepItForeign: See GratuitousJapanese, above.
33	* KidFromTheFuture: Cyber-X [[spoiler:and Commando Z, who are descendants of Kazuya and Kotaro, respectively.]]
34	%%* {{Meido}}: The cyberdolls.
35	%%* {{Otaku}}: Kisaragi.
36	%%* PersonalSeals
37	* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: The Cyberdolls, who are hinted to be capable of getting pregnant.
38	* RobotBuddy: Ikariya, the robot Kazuya is building.
39	%%* RobotMaid: May.
40	%%* SayMyName: The soap opera.
41	%%* SheIsAllGrownUp: Not in the usual way, mind you.
42	* ShoutOut: The Cyberdyne robotic company has the same name as the robotic company from ''The Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' franchise. Also, Cyberdoll Sara is one for Sarah Connor.
43	** At the end of episode 2, Kazuya and Sarah have one to ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', including Rhett Butler's iconic phrase.
44	* ShowWithinAShow: "The Whirlwind of Love", watched by the Cyberdolls; it consists of the main couple saying each other's names.
45	* SittingOnTheRoof: Variant: The ladder between their apartments serves as the private place for Kazuya Saotome and Kasumi Tani, but since it becomes practically an expressway in the anime, they head for the traditional roof escape later.
46	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "I wasn't thinking of taking you apart at all."
47	* SmallNameBigEgo: Subverted with Kotaro Nanbara. He actually ''is'' very good at the things he does, but people don't like him.
48	%%* ThirdPersonPerson: Rena
49	%%* TokenMiniMoe: Rena
50	* TwelveEpisodeAnime: Well, Ten Episode Anime, [[BonusEpisode plus one]], which is still within the limits of this trope.
51	%%* ATwinkleInTheSky
52	%%* {{Tomboy}}: Kasumi Tani
53	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Cyberdoll Sara loves ramen, despite being a cyborg. Kazuya and Cyber-X enjoy a specific brand of milk.
54	* VerbalTic: Mami says "Ara Ara Ara" ("Oh my my!" in the dubbed version) quite frequently.
55	* YamatoNadeshiko: Mami was created with this idea in mind; she's a domestic genius who wears a kimono (and she's voiced by Creator/KikukoInoue), but in a variation she has American traits and can skate up walls.

Context Anime / HandMaidMay