Hand Maid May Blu-ray Review

In my earliest days of anime fandom, I came across an eleven episode series called Hand Maid May. Despite its ecchi nature, it had such a level of charm to it that I bought the DVDs as soon as I could afford them. I didn’t plan to get the Blu-ray release from Discotek Media. But I had a change of mind and decided to get it while I could.

Note: Normally I skip story reviews, but I am going to include one here even though I previously did one.

–> Buy Hand Maid May Blu-ray from Amazon.com!

* * * S P O I L E R S * * *

The Story in Brief

College student SAOTOME Kazuya lives in a small apartment complex. He’s working on the Doraemon Project, where he has an A.I. squid robot toy he’s named Ikariya. Next door is the landlady’s daughter Kasumi, who’s in love with Kazuya, but despite provocative dress, he never asks her out.

Kazuya’s long-time classmate Nanbara gives Kazuya a disc with a virus out of jealousy. When Kazuya installs it, the virus somehow orders him a Cyberdoll. Immediately, a Cyberdyne Corporation delivery girl hands over Kazuya’s order. It is a ~7-inch tall maid android named May with full A.I. capacity. May’s worry is that she won’t be useful to Kazuya.

Meanwhile, CBD Sara, a dark skinned elf-type, shows up a week later to collect the ¥1,470,000 owed. Nanbara ends up messing up her retrieval. However, in exchange for copious amounts of ramen, Sara agrees to work with Nanbara on the retrieval so he can bask in Kazuya’s despair. Cyberdyne initially sends CBD Rena, a little sister type, to get May. This fails and Rena goes to live with Kasumi.

Later, Cyberdyne sends the oneesan type CBD Kei, who also ends up refusing to get May since May is growing beyond her original programming. Sara forces Kazuya to hand over May. As a result, a man named Cyber-X from Cyberdyne arrives. He offers Kazuya the cyberdoll of his choice for free. Kazuya chooses May. Instead of the 7-inch version returning, a full-sized version shows up, complete with May’s original memories. Now, new adventures can begin, including dealing with Nanbara’s original virus.

Anime Review

I’ll be the first to admit that Hand Maid May isn’t anything special in terms of art, animation, or even story. This is an anime made on a budget that was broadcast on the premium pay channel WOWOW in Japan. I suppose that’s why the series clocked in with only 10 episodes for TV followed by an OVA “episode 11/10” a year later.

Further, this series is filled with pointless fan service for panty shots, jiggling breasts, cleavage and underboob reveals. I will never like this element. Yet despite this, there is an innate charm to the series. The characters are all memorably and likable, including the over the top, insanely boisterous “Nanbara-sama” (as he addresses himself).

In addition, characters like May and Kasumi get a somewhat deeper exploration as the two main rivals for Kazuya’s affection. And for May, since she was not programmed to have the feelings she does, it is more of a struggle for her to reconcile things. It is little touches like these that make the anime worthwhile.

As to the plot, well, don’t look too deeply at it. That’s because we have paradoxes galore since the Cyber-X character is a descendant of Kazuya. Yet Kazuya develops the MAID O/S used by Cyberdolls, which they wouldn’t hav eif they didn’t travel back in time. Also, Commando Z is a descendant of Nanbara. No explanation is given on how they or any of the Cyberdolls travel back in time.

Blu-ray Release

If you decide to spring for Hand Maid May on Blu-ray, here’s what you get. For a start, the Blu-ray case comes with a slip cover. The case insert has a fan service artwork of May on it.

All eleven episodes of the series are on one Blu-ray disc. On a 4K TV, the Blu-ray did look noticeably better than my old DVDs. Sound-wise, I couldn’t tell a difference. The subtitles are from the old Pioneer release.

Inexplicably, the “-chan” honorific shows up twice in episode 1 for some referenced character. Otherwise, honorifics are avoided like the plague, even going so far as to use a French honorific in once instance. 🙄 I suppose because Nanbara sometimes says something French, the translator/adapter of the time thought it clever to use a French honorific.

The extras are from the old DVD release–Clean Opening (SD), Clean Endings (SD), TV Promos (SD), and the Kasumi Files (SD). However, there is one modification. The old DVD menu system is gone. Instead, Discotek have all of the old menu option screens and the responses done as a single video.

This also includes the annoying Nanbara’s Room pre-menu from the first DVD. You had to select the correct answer to get to the actual menu. Otherwise you got subjected to Nanbara hijinks. This too has been done as a single video to show all responses.

The only annoying thing about the Blu-ray release was the inexplicable decision to have a music video start playing rather than take me to the menu page.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, I’m glad I decided to go ahead an pull the trigger for the Blu-ray release of Hand Maid May. I had a ton of fun rewatching the series for the umpteenth time (but the first time in my current home).