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Hand Maid May

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Hand Maid May
Anime
Directed byShinichiro Kimura
StudioPioneer Animation, Wonder Farm

Hand Maid May (HAND MAID メイ) 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 Animation). It is an eleven episode maid comedy series with elements of a harem anime, and also makes use of plenty of fanservice. It centers on the adventures of the main character, Kazuya Saotome and a robotic cyberdoll named May.

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Story

Kazuya Saotome is a nerdy engineer who's trying to work on developing a robot. His rival, Kotaro Nanbara, offers him a chance to use a computer program which should supposedly give him some valuable information, but is meant to give him a virus. Kazuya accidentally orders a cyberdoll named May while trying to get rid of the virus. Hand Maid May is a palm-sized robotic doll who's very sensitive, sympathetic to Kazuya, and has to be plugged in. The early part of the storyline focuses on Nanbara trying to get Kazuya to return the cyberdoll since he's unable to pay for it, and Nanbara enlists the help of several other cyberdolls, all of whom end up falling for Kazuya.

In the latter part of the anime May is traded up for 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)
Kazuya is an electrical engineering student with a passion for building his robot squid which he calls Ikariya and implenting an A.I. (artificial intelligence) system into it.
Cyberdoll May (サイバドール・メイ, Saibadōru Mei)
Kazuya receives May, a hand sized cyberdoll, in a package from Cyberdyne Co. (not to be confused with The Terminator's robotic company) 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. May tries to help Saotome win over the heart of Kasumi, his landlord's daughter, but at times she becomes a hinderance.
Kasumi Tani (谷 かすみ, Tani Kasumi)
Kasumi lives in an apartment across a roof with a window that points towards Kazuya's. Kasumi is very active and athletic and likes baseball. She is the coach of the local childrens baseball team. A close friend of Kazuya's she often lets him get away overdue rent payments. Kasumi and Rena often jump out their window, jump across the roof and come through Saotome's window to visit him.
Kotaro Nanbara (南原　耕太郎, Nanbara Kōtarō)
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. Nanbara gets Sara to do his chores by offering ramen in exchange.
Cyberdoll Sara (サイバドール・サラ, Saibadōru Sara)
Sara is a cyberdoll from Cyberdyne's customer service division. 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.
Cyberdoll Rena (サイバドール・レナ, Saibadōru Rena)
At first Rena appears to be a lost 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.
Cyberdoll Kei (サイバドール・ケイ, Saibadōru Kei)
She is a 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.
Cyberdoll Mami (サイバドール・マミ, Saibadōru Mami)
Mami (built from Cyberdyne's American branch) arrives later to help Kazuya around the house. She is extraordinarily gifted at all domestic tasks, which causes May to be jealous. Even so, Mami tries to pair Kazuya and May up.
Ikariya (イカリヤ, Ikariya)
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.

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Voice cast

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