It’s sort of fitting that Nishimura Junji hits the airwaves with a new series on the same weekend the new Ranma ½ returns. Nishimura was the main director for most of the original version – which premiered 36 years ago. So yeah, he’s experienced to say the least. Nishimura’s involvement is one of the reasons I circled Kikaijikake no Marie as a sleeper this season. Another factor is that the shoujo manga it’s based on is finished and six volumes – which should allow a one-cour adaptation without any reconstructive surgery.
The premise here is that the butler of a wealthy misanthrope hires a deadpan girl (a martial-arts expert) to pose as the robot maid his master demanded. There’s a lot of suspension of disbelief with this show, that has to be said up front. Presumably the technology of the setting (which is the present as far as I can tell) doesn’t allow for the possibility. But broadly speaking no one bats an eye at the idea that “Marie” is actually a robot. A lot of very silly stuff builds off that conceit, but if you don’t think too hard about what’s happening it’s not an insurmountable hurdle to overcome.
Arthur, the master in question, is indeed a misanthrope. He hates people and to be fair, many seem to hate him. He’s an illegitimate son of the former head of the family, and deeply resented by the rest of the clan. Especially his half-brother Maynard, who spends much of the episode trying to have him killed. Behind close doors Arthur’s mask comes off and he reveals himself to be an emotionally needy child, which softens Marie’s attitudes towards him. But the fact that she herself is lying to him casts a shadow on the emotional comfort he takes in her presence.
I could see this having a certain amount of traction – I mean, there is pathos in the premise as silly as it is. The balance of comedy to character drama will be an interesting factor – there’s a lot of absurdity in the premiere to say the least. There are also indications that Arthur already suspects the truth – and if he’s got any sense how could he not – so that could be another direction the show takes, both of them pretending for the benefit of the other. I won’t say the premiere of Mechanical Marie blew me away either with the production or the writing, but it’s an interesting oddity worth keeping an eye on for now.
