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Hand Maid May - Maid to Order (Vol. 1)

Hand Maid May - Maid to Order (Vol. 1)

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A story about a boy and his doll...
Review: (Note: This review is based on watching the original Japanese edition. Based on other Pioneer dubs I have watched, not much should be changed for the English dubbed version.)

Kazuya Saotome is a college student who lives at the Kasumi Sou (Inn). His dream is to build a doraemon (robot). He is always being followed by his school rival Kotaro Nanbara. One day Kotaro gives Kazuya a computer disc. Kazuya runs the disc, which turns out to be a net virus. While the virus was running, unknowing to Kazuya, an order is placed at the Cyberdyne Co. Several minutes later, there's a knock on the door. Kazuya receives a parcel. Inside the box is CBD May, a cyberdoll about 1/6 the size of a human girl. The doll is an excellent work of artificial intelligence. Once Kotaro finds out about May, he is doing whatever he can to get the cyberdoll. But Kotaro is not the only one. The Cyberdyne Co. is also looking for payment of the US$1.45 million price tag for the CBD May.

This anime series, although short (10 episodes plus a "video only" episode), is truely a winner. Hand Maid May allows you to use your imagination and realize that it does not matter what someone is (human or cyberdoll), you can care for them just the same. Overall, I give this series an A-.

Parents: Hand Maid May is the story of a boy who has several lifelike robots (cyberdolls) fall in love with him. Almost every episode contains at least one or two borderline ecchi (suggestive) references such as bouncing breasts and up the skirt scenes that many animes are known for. Besides this, there is no sex in this series. The only violence is the comical type that is typical in anime. As with most anime, the storyline is the focus and most episodes have a cliffhanger. I recommend Hand Maid May to 13 and up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the funniest animes in recent memory !!!
Review: Actually, I was quite reluctant to purchase Hand Maid May as I feel that anime seems to be getting more and more expensive. However I decided to give it a try, and I definitely think I got my money's worth.

Satome Kazuya is a your typical comedy anime hero : poor, has weird friends, but is surrounded AND adored by girls and has genius level intellect. He's very much into computer programming, and is finalising an Artificial Intelligence program to be used in his squid robot, Ikariya (such a cute thing !!! If there were a soft toy of Ikariya I would definitely buy it). Insanely jealous of his past successes, his disgustingly rich best "friend" cum jealous rival from childhood, Nanbara, (perhaps the most obnoxious and yet endearingly FUNNY character to ever appear in an anime ever !!!) gives him a CD-ROM promising Satome that the software within contains the most up-to-date A.I program ever developed.

Not surprisingly, Satome, the most innocent character this side of Tenchi, loads the program which contains Nanbara's personal virus. Hijinks and laughter ensue as the virus is an insult program that proclaims Nanbara's everlasting greatness. (Hit the rewind button on this one over and over again...it's one of the funniest sequences in anime history !!!) With the virus uploaded into the computer, Satome accidentally orders a cyber doll from Cyberdyne, and thus, Hand Maid May is introduced into the series as a 1-foot cyberdoll that relies frequent recharging using a USB cable plugged into...erm...ahem...her unmentionables.

Every character in the Hand Maid May series is instantly lovable. You have the hero, Satome, who blushes constantly even though he seems to harbour a hidden desire to stare at the "taboo" areas of the females that surround him.

Then there is Kasumi, the tomboy but sentimental daughter of Kasumi hostel, who is not only Satome's best friend, but also shows a lot of romantic interest in Satome.

May, the cyberdoll, is sweet and innocent and is SOOOOO adorably cute !!! She always tries her best to help Satome with the housework and daily chores, but for the first few episodes, makes quite a mess of things.

And of course, Nanbara himself, the most HILARIOUS "villain" ever to appear in an anime !!! Nanbara is pompous and greedy, and most of the show's funniest moments involve him; if he's not being hit by giant stuffed bears or falling down from ladders, he's generally making a fool of himself by overexaggerating his movements and actions. The two other characters in the first four episodes, Rena, the child cyberdoll who has a penchant for being overly cute and getting her way through crying, and Sala, the ramen-devouring cyberdoll who appears to be a villain at first glance, but actually has a sensitive side AND a thing for Satome as well, are equally lovable and able to identify with. In fact, you should be able to identify with anyone of the characters, or at least know someone who resembles their personalities.

Hand Maid May is definitely a must-see for fans of Tenchi Muyo. In my opinion, it's much more hilarious, and the characters are definitely cuter than any other anime character, even Cardcaptor Sakura !!! The one thing I must caution you about though, is the amount of fan service in the series. There's a LOT of bouncy chests, bra straps slipping and panty shots, but there's no real nudity shown at all, nor is sex suggested at any time in the series. In fact, the fan service adds to the appeal of the show by making moments more awkward and thus funnier.

Both the opening and ending themes are catchy and will leave you humming at the beginning and after each episode. The "Next episode" blurbs don't make much sense though, you just get more of Nanbara screaming in his weird but endearingly humourous voice. Give this anime a try if you're looking for an anime with either (1) funny or (2) extremely cutesy characters and plots !!!

Story : 5 of 5
Picture Quality : 5 of 5
Sound Quality : 4 of 5
Price : 4 of 5 (still a bit too expensive for me though)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cutest anime I have ever seen!
Review: Hand Maid May is cute, funny, and fun to watch. It's a bit racy, but if you can get around that, it's worth watching.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Funny, if you don't mind the nudity
Review: Hand Maid May is cute, funny, and fun to watch. It's a bit racy, but if you can get around that, it's worth watching.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cutest anime I have ever seen!
Review: Hand Maid May is one of the cutest anime I have ever seen! It's funny, but most of all, it's just so darn cute. This is a must see for any anime fan! I rate it 5 out of 5. I have all the volumes, and I think it's just great! So if you're looking for something cute and funny, Hand Maid May is the anime you should buy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Little girl, BIG story
Review: Hand Maid May is the story of Kazuya Saotome and his misadventures with his pint size robotic maid named May. At first glance one might brush off HMM as just another Anime with loads of fan service. Though, indeed the show does have alot of it, it never ecalates to the point where it ruins the show. Infact, what really drives this show are the emotions and relationships that the characters have for and with each other. Oh and what characters this show has! I can honestly say the character designs are truly wonderful and are quite a site to behold.They are some of the most likeable charaters to date and really win your fancy quickly.I look forward to seeing what happens to the characters and finding out the fates of Kazuya and May.If you enjoyed Magic Users Club then you'll really like HMM. I highly recommend it:)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Pioneer Made Maid...
Review: Hand Maid May...what can I say? Well, it looks as if Pioneer has taken Tenchi Muyo and added a little more fan service to it, plus added some more "computerized" elements, too. The story appeals highly to "Tenchi" fans: an apartment full of women throwing themselves at him for whatever reason. Kazuya's *he's a little older than Tenchi just FYI* college rival, Nanbara, has always tried his hardest *and spent the most he could* to be successful and superior. However, Kazuya *unintentionally* finds ways to attract everyone's attention *especially the ladies* whether he means to or not. Nanbara decides to give Kazuya a computer virus with the intent to set back his rival's work considerably. The only thing that the virus does is accidentally orders a $1,450,000 cyber maid the size of a large mouse. The cyber maid, May, then causes all sorts of havoc that gets in plenty of plot development and quick-paced action. The reason I didn't rate it very high is that it really does have quite a lot of unnecessary fan service running throughout the whole series. It gets a little redundant after the first 30 minutes. Some people *guys I would imagine* would find this to be a gem of a show and well worth the money. I am an avid Tenchi fan and decided to give this series a go because of all the suggestions that were given to me from other Tenchi addicts. I can't say that it was a bad experience; it just wasn't what I was looking for. The general characterizations are very well done and I would like to see more episodes just for that sake. Just be warned that there are A LOT of ecchi jokes, detailed undies shots, bra straps slipping, and wiggle-jiggle breasts. Hand Maid May is just something that would appeal to a certain type of anime fan, but not all. I rate it a STRONG PG-13.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is just so cute and funny!
Review: I ordered this video from a place called Media Play. They have all kinds of anime DVDS and videos. When I first watched it, I totally loved it! I loved the animation, but most of all, the characters! They were funny, and cute, and they made me laugh all throughout the film. I give Hand Maid May 5 stars!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally something funny in my life
Review: I rather enjoyed thise series for its humor. It is a touching tale, even though I haven't seen the other two DVDs yet...cause I don't have much time lately...

Good ol' Kazuya, gets the girls, even if the majority of them are robots. Too bad Nambara get in his way, though, trying in every way possible to destroy Kazuya's life. BTW, doesn't Nambara remind you of Katshuihito Jinnai (from EL Hazard)?

Anyway, I say get this anime if you are into fanservice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally something funny in my life
Review: I rather enjoyed thise series for its humor. It is a touching tale, even though I haven't seen the other two DVDs yet...cause I don't have much time lately...

Good ol' Kazuya, gets the girls, even if the majority of them are robots. Too bad Nambara get in his way, though, trying in every way possible to destroy Kazuya's life. BTW, doesn't Nambara remind you of Katshuihito Jinnai (from EL Hazard)?

Anyway, I say get this anime if you are into fanservice.


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