Hand Maid May revolves around Kazuya Saotome, a well-meaning computer nerd that has NO clue as to what goes on around him at times. After receiving a disc from his "best friend and greatest rival" Kotaro Nanbara, Kazuya ends up going face to face with a virus that could destroy his life's work: a robotic squid code named "Project Doraemon," nicknamed "Ikariya." To defeat the virus, Kazuya must keep up with the spoken prompt, which is all spoken in a extremely fast ditty. After averting said virus, Kazuya is sent to a strange web site that leaves him with an "order confirmed" message before closing itself out. Before he has time to think twice, a strange woman knocks on the door with a package for him. Once Kazuya turns his back however, the delivery woman disappears just as quickly as she appeared, and Kazuya is left with the odd package. Upon hearing cries of "Let me out! It's dark in here!", he opens the box and finds a tiny set of eyes staring out at him coupled with a polite "Thank you." In his surprise, he tosses the box, sending its contents flying over the balcony. The one thing he DOES catch in the incident is possibly the most important item: a 1/6 scale android named May, manufactured by the Cyberdyne corporation to serve him. Now, Kazuya must deal with taking care of this new member of the household on top of earning enough to meet rent for the building's pretty landlady!

If the story sounds like it's been done before, it has. However, Hand Maid May has a quality about it that just seems to hit the right notes. Maybe it is the odd combination of characters that creates an atmosphere which just feels "right". The story itself isn't all that bad, but at first glance it seems to degrade to mindless fanservice for the second disc. However, in the end, like most series of this type, everything comes together to form a sappy, happy ending for everybody. Of course, with shows of this type, it's never about the ending... it's all about the buildup. Hand Maid May has its fair share of memorable moments from the obnoxious Nanbara being brained by a tanooki to a teary farewell when one of the characters says goodbye. Although the setup sounds a bit general, things are much deeper than they seem. Everything, from the major characters to the soap opera snippets that are shown from time to time, has some relevance to the big picture and helps to form a living, breathing world. Relationships between the characters grow and change as the series moves on, as little by little the characters show more and more of their true selves to the viewer.

The best expressions in the series come from this guy.	Sexual humor in the most subtle way possible.

As much as many hate to admit it, several of the characters are not exactly the most unique in the anime world. Just about every one is a stereotype of a general trait. Sadly, it seems like a few of the cyberdolls were simply pulled from a tutorial and given a few small modifications. May is, like it or not, a very general maid character, just as Kei is the requisite "Pretty Ugly Girl". Of course, that is not to say there aren't interesting characters. Nanbara, for instance, is possibly the most interesting character, with his wild attire and unique facial expressions. Stereotyping aside, the characters all do seem to have at least a few details that set them apart from the rest of the crowd, such as Mami's tendency to always wear rollerblades, or May's USB cable. It's small touches like this that save the characters from being pure "BLAHnime" and place them a bit higher in the eyes of viewers.

Fortunately, Hand Maid May sports very nice animation, saving it from total damnation in mediocrity. It's apparent that a lot of work went into this aspect, as the series sports near-OVA quality animation. The characters move fluidly and seem to mesh well with the world, from May cleaning the apartment to Nanbara screaming and thrusting his hips with "Commando Z". There are a few very well-orchestrated scenes dispersed through the series that typically feature the ever-prominent Nanbara and Sara being placed into another fine mess by their own ignorance. Overall, the series shines with wonderfully fluid animation that keeps its high quality from beginning to end.

Music has always been an excellent mood-setter. Fortunately, Hand Maid May sports a few very nice tracks to help the series along. The opening and the closing themes both set the mood for the range of tones the series takes. The background music isn't as spectacular, sadly. Although the tunes are very fitting, they are equally forgettable, which detracts a little from the entire experience. It is apparent that the music is meant to be just a supplement to the series, with no outstanding standalone pieces. However, it does serve its purpose and serve it well.

To make a few comments on the voice work, the Japanese track is excellent. The seiyuu all do a good job and fit their parts nicely, especially those for Nanbara and May who both seem to breathe a lot of personality into the show. Sadly, the same cannot be same for the English dub. While the English performance was nowhere near "bad", many of the American actors seem too old for their parts, or just out of place, which greatly detracts from the overall enjoyment of the show. In my opinion, the original voice track won over the English dub several times over for this series.

Overall, Hand Maid May is possibly the quintessential idea of "fanservice comedy" gone right. Its story and comedy tend to overshadow the "fanservice" part of the genre, leading to an overall satisfying experience despite the series' shortcomings.

Distributor: Pioneer
Creator: Studio AX
Released: 2001

Plot: B+
Character Design: C+
Animation Quality: A-
Music: B-
Overall: B-