Saber Marionette J

I heard about this anime way back when I was in high school, but I was never able to check it out until about a week ago. And well, I must say I don't regret watching this anime. I really enjoyed it. Story: A boy named Otaru Mamiya awakens three marionettes called Lime, Cherry, and Blood Berry, who are all different from other marionettes on Terra 2. What makes them different from all the other female robots/androids? Well, Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry have this thing called a Maiden Circuit, which acts like their heart. And that means they get to experience emotions. Basically, this story is aboutOtaru's daily life with the three mechanical girls and of course throw in a plot about an evil ruler from a German-inspired country/kingdom that wants to conquer Japaness (Otaru's Japanese inspired homeland) with his own Marionettes with Maiden Circuits, and you got one hell of a story. Of course, all the episodes had me hooked. I enjoyed watching the crazy antics of Otaru's marionettes as they fought for his affections (Tenchi Muyo style might I add) all the while of learning about the daily lives of humans. The first half of the season is mostly about Otaru adjusting to life with the girls, with him teaching them about various human experiences such as life and death, and the second half of the series delves more into the reason for Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry all having Maiden Circuits and why there are only men on Terra 2, oh and the war against the German-inspired country of Gartland. At first glance, this might seem like another sci fi-ish harem that's trying to be like Evangelion and Tenchi Muyo but honestly, it's not. It's not as goofy and lighthearted as TM but at the same time it doesn't try to be all that serious like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but the similarities are still there. Each episode, believe it or not, carried the story on, adding onto the characters and their own little arcs. This series wasn't afraid to slow down and make you cry over something as trivial as Lime's pet squirrel dying (Ugh, yes there was an episode where Lime learned first hand about death...) or learning about the past of the antagonist, Lord Faust. There's also plenty of action scenes as well. Art: I'll admit that the art style of the characters all looked a little weird to me at first but I quickly got used to it. Everything looked great, even albeit a bit dated. The character designs really showed off the personality of all the characters, from the intimidating Lord Faust to the cute adorable Cherry. The action sequences were really fluid and the characters were really well done and expressive. And the scenery. There was a lot of pretty scenery. Sound: So, I watched the English dub and not the Japanese dub, and well, eh, I will say that the English Dub isn't bad, I mean it's not the best out there. But I liked it. I especially liked Lime's VA. But all of the actors brought life to their characters and the music, the opening theme got stuck in my head while I watched this. The ending song was pretty catchy. All the sounds overall were pretty good, from the cracks of plasma lightning(?) being heard in the sky, to the cute squeaks of the weird Ponta creatures in the forest, and the punches and kicks that Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry dealt out when protecting Otaru. Characters: Ah yes, I will say that while the story did feel a bit awkward, the characters are really what makes Saber Marionette J shine. We have the serious yet kindhearted Otaru Mamiya, the cheerful and childish Lime, the soft-spoken and modest Cherry, and the tough badass yet flirty Bloodberry. There are other characters but I don't really wanna spoil anything. All I gotta say is that I loved these characters, especially Lime, she was really adorable and I actually cried whenever Lime cried. All the characters all added something to the overall plot of this anime. From Lime learning about life and death to Bloodberry being conflicted over possibly liking another character who was similar to Otaru. Enjoyment; I had a lot of fun watching this series though I will admit that there were a few episodes that were sad but they didn't evoke any emotions out of me at all, except for the one about Lime and her pet squirrel and possibly another one that I'm not gonna say anything about. Let's just say I was hooked on this series until the end. Overall: Overall, I'd say give this series a watch because while it seems like it's trying to be another Tenchi Muyo or another Neon Genesis Evangelion, it isn't. Saber Marionette J has the perfect balance of romance, drama, action, and sci fi.

Saber Marionette J can be described as a Sci-Fi-Harem-Comedy that is basically light-hearted with a bit of action thrown in. The story is about Otaru, three female androids called Marionettes, and there struggles to cope in a world without actual women. It came to be this way because of an accident on a colonization ship that left six men alive on the surface, and they use genetics to populate the planet of Terra II. The direct clones of the six survivors rule the six nations that exist on the planet, Otaru being from Japoness which looks like feudal Japan. Otaru tries to grow the personality ofthe three Marionettes throughout the series while having to deal with Gartland's (Germany during World War II) ruler Faust and his own set of three Marionettes. The story is alright if you don't have a problem with small details that could be considered giant plot holes with a lot of thought. The art is dated even for a show from 12 years ago. The marionettes look vibrant, but completely out of place. The backgrounds of the other nations seemed to have been picked because they are easier to depict. Action scenes look merely average. It's not horrific, but it would be hard to call it good. Characters are a much stronger point. Otaru is not your typical male harem lead. The marionettes show diversity in character as the series progress from one-dimensional to something more. Overall, Saber Marionette J is a solid, if not spectacular, series. It sets the table well for the OVA and second series that followed, though a conclusion could have been provided in this series if they really would have wanted it.

If you're looking for a fun oldie full of comedy, action, romance, and sci-fi, then this might be the series for you, especially if you aren't too picky about the quality. I found this series by pressing the “random anime series” button on a website, and honestly I'm glad I did. The premise of the series is that sometime in the future, a group of 6 explorers made an emergency crash onto the Planet of Terra. There was the inconvenient problem that they landed without any females. Rather than wither off on this distant planet, the six decided to make clones of themselves, and thusrepopulated the planet, but without females. The compensation for the lack of females is the development of female-appearing robots called marionettes, who can function like a human, but can't experience feelings of their own, except, that is, for a few special marionettes whom our intrepid protagonist discovers, leading to ever more grand adventures until the fate of the planet is at stake. A few complaints with this show are that it has a very obvious plot, most of the jokes aren't funny, an irritating worm put in for comic relief really degrades this series, and a lot of the story is patronizing. I think this series is made especially for kids. The OP & ED are quite catchy, the animation is bad by today's standards, and the characters are a bit flat. It's still good clean fun though, worth watching with popcorn and friends.

Man you gotta stick with this until the end. It's a harem definitely for the most part, but even if that's not your thing, the ending is a straight 10/10 and worth waiting for

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