Saber Marionette J

The story of SMJ began with the overpopulation of Earth, forcing a mass migration off into space. One of these migrating vessels, the Mesopotamia, malfunctioned near the planet of Terra 2. Only six survivors made it to Terra 2, all of which were male.

In order to prosper on Terra 2, these six survivors took to cloning versions of themselves, which could be males only. (Not realistically, I realize, but yes, male only in the Saber Marionette universe.) The only memory of the human female is in the form of androids, called marionettes. They are mainly unfeeling robots that do menial chores for the men on Terra 2.

However, 300 years after the malfunction of the Mesopotamia, Otaru Mamiya of Japoness (one of the six countries of Terra 2, one for each of the original six survivors) awakens Lime, a marionette unlike the others. Soon thereafter, he awakens two more, Cherry and Bloodberry. These three marionettes possess maiden circuits, which allows them to feel, or have a heart. They team up with Otaru to fight against Faust and along the way, realize the purpose of their maiden circuits.

Saber Marionette J is often considered to be a cheap copy of the anime Tenchi Muyo. You have your tough girl who drinks a lot of sake, your pompous girl who is the stereotypical perfect wife, and your oblivious younger girl who's main mode is 'cute'. Despite the similarities, however, Saber Marionette J tends to stand on its own.

There are several different Saber Marionette series; the first one, Saber Marionette R, has drastically different artwork and has little do to with the rest of them. After Saber Marionette J came two follow-up series: Saber Marionette J Again and Saber Marionette J to X. The letters are supposed to represent what town each series takes place in. Saber Marionette J takes place in the town of Japoness, which of course is a play on Japan.

Up until the climactic ending battle, it seems that Otaru's affection for the robots who can think and feel is a victory for feminism. The other men believe that Marionettes should be unquestioning and loyal, and denounce Lime and the others as defective. It isn't too long before they grow to love the girls for who they are, theoretically trying to get across the point that women, also, can have personalities and feelings. Towards the end of the series, however, the majority of each episode is spent on the three girls describing how they would blindly do anything for Otaru, which seems to rob the series of its positive girl power.

SMJ features the single most flamingly homosexual character in all of anime. His name is Hanagata, and the lengths to which he pursues Otaru are some of the best scenes in the series. He is always funny in his antics, but some fans see him as an example of gay bashing and take offense to his character.