OK, you should know right up front that this is my most favorite anime. So, the question arises as to whether I can give a balanced review without getting spotty about it (“It’s the greatest anime ever!!!!!!!!!!” “It stinks.”), so I will do my best to be objective.

The plot is pretty straightforward, even if the title gets muddled. (Is it “Mahoromatic” or “Automatic Maiden” or “Mahoromatic Automatic Maiden”? Rightstuf.com calls it “Mahoromatic”, so that is the standard). Mahoro Ando is a combat android, made by Vesper, an organization formed to do battle against the invading alien forces of Saint, who are bent on world conquest and domination. With hostilities currently at a standstill, they are decommissioning Mahoro (actually, retiring her). But she gobbles up too much power and if she remains in combat mode, she will last another 17 days. However, if they can remove almost everything, it will extend her life 395 days, but she will only be at about 30% of her previous capacity. The big question is: what does she want to do with this extra time? She decides that she wants to be a maid to the son of her commander, whom she was forced to kill.

However, the son knows nothing about what his father really did, thinking he was killed in an industrial accident overseas. Suguru Misato has been living on his own for four years, and that’s the time since his father was killed. His mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years before that, so by the age of 14, he has had a very rough life when Mahoro shows up. (more…)