Saber Marionette J

(TV Series 1996 - 26 episodes)

3 reviews - 10.0 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (3.3)

3. Iodine

One of the better "robotic girlfriend" romantic comedies, Saber Marionette J has our hero, Otaru Mamiya, contend with not one, but three "marionette" girls: super-genki Lime, motherly Cherry, and fiery Bloodberry. The series comes up with a semi-plausible reason for their existence, namely that everything takes place on a future-world colonized by the clones of a male-only astronaut team, where women exist only in manufactured form. There is also a plot involving the search for a possible female survivor, but the show is mainly interested in Otaru nurturing the emerging humanity in his three charges. The marionettes are the stars of the show here, displaying a vim and vigor of personality well beyond the usual cooing ideals of female perfection. Otaru may be the center of their universe, but Lime and her sisters extend their devotion to include their whole country and beyond. It helps that they also have plenty of chances to lay some smackdown upon the evil invading hordes of a quasi-Germanic dictator with his own trio of robo-babes. Add healthy portions of humor, heartbreak, and everybody's favorite gay-best-friend Hanagata, for a series that might be cliched and cheesy, but has a heck of a lot of fun being that way.

Done in the same comedy style as Slayers, there's not much to say about the designs and animation, except that they could be better, but don't really hurt anything either. Generally, the writing is stronger with comedy than drama, and falls flat whenever it has to handle too many made-up techie elements at once. Anyone looking for anything terribly serious is in the wrong place. This is obviously a low-budget project, but one that is perfectly aware of its own limitations, and a great little series in spite of them.

2. Konoha

What happens when 3 girls move in with a boy, and he isn't a wimp? Saber Marionette J uses a tried-and-true formula, but thankfully fleshes it out with a backstory and an interesting world. Almost the entire cast is likable, and there are some episodes that really shine. However, I felt the show meandered around a little too much and had some pacing problems. I would have liked to see the girls working together earlier, and some of the episodes could have easily been cut.

1. Tempy

In a world with no females, marionettes exist to serve the men. Otaru awakens three special marionettes with maiden circuits built in them: Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry. While fighting the evil Gartland Empire and the three saber dolls Panther, Tiger and Luchs, Otaru teaches the marionettes what it is to be human and alive. Saber Marionette J starts out cute enough, Lime is especially adoring (voiced by Megumi Hayashibara). Soon enough it degenerates into repetitiveness and blandness however. The action sequences are unexciting, and while there are some humorous parts, most of the jokes are rather lame. Early on the girls fight for Otaru's attention, much to Otaru's and the audience's annoyance. Shows with a guy surrounded by cute girls have been done better before. And there have also been better shows which do the android-becoming-human thing. Skip this one.