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Saber Marionette J is a TV series in the Saber Marionette universe created by anime artist Akahori Satoru (NG Knight Lamune, Bakuretsu Hunter, Bakuen Campus Guardress...) and featuring character concepts by Kotobuki Tsukasa (Toshinden (the game)). Saber Marionette consists of several manga/radio/TV/OVA series, each loosely connected (but not always compatible) with the others. SMJ's 25-episode run on Japanese television ended in March of 1997, but the story continues in a 6-part SMJ OVA series (both SMJ TV and OVA series are available from AnimeVillage). What I love about this series (apart from the hilarious gags ^_^) are the great character designs (which can be rather extreme in both the looks of the characters and their fashions. It may take a while to get used to, but once you're there, you won't have it any other way ^_^) and the simple yet endearing and charming story. Oh and the songs and music are cool too. This is one of the few anime series that I wanted to re-watch right away after watching the last episode, both because there are lots of memorable moments worth revisiting, and because it's simply an enjoyable show to behold. The story of SMJ began in the 22nd century when over-population on Earth forced mass migration of humanity off to the stars. One of the space arks Mesopotamia malfunctioned upon arriving near planet Terra 2. Only 6 survivors, all male, made it to the planet surface. In order to procreate, they used cloning to populate the planet with male-only copies of themselves (most of the clones are mixed clones, only the rulers are pure clones). (note that this isn't really very reasonable because we all know that human males bear both an X and a Y chromosome in the 23rd chromosome pair, and it should be rather straight forward, given their level of technology, to produce clones with two X chromosomes, i.e. a female. Perhaps they're so obsessed with androids that they forgot they can make real women instead ^_^) The descendents of these 6 men built 6 city states on Terra 2: Japones (Japan-like), Germania (Germany-like, also called Gartland), Petelburg (Russia-like), Seian (or Xi-An, China-like), New Texas (U.S.-like) and Romana (Rome-like?). Because there's no human female, people of Terra 2 invented female-looking androids called Marionettes, which are just emotionless machines... mostly. SMJ's hero Mamiya Otaru lives in Japones 300 years after Mesopotamia. As the name suggests, Japones resembles the old Japan on Earth. Otaru is just an ordinary-looking boy except that he seems to treat marionettes with respect, unlike other people around him. One day he accidentally stumbles upon the old history musuem of Japones. Inside, while he's gazing at a portrait of Lorelei (a female scientist onboard the Mesopotamia), his reactions triggered a trap underneath which brings him to an underground chamber where he finds a marionette in suspended animation. Inevitably Otaru awakens the marionette which instantly springs to life, I mean really springing to life ^_^; This marionette calls herself Lime and is only one of the three unusual fruit-name-bearing marionettes that Otaru is destined to awaken in later episodes (the other two being Cherry and Bloodberry). These three marionettes are different from others because they have the otome kairo (maiden circuit) which makes them behave like ordinary human girls. Together the four of them will fight to protect Japones from invasion by the ambitious Faust of Germania... (i.e. when Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry aren't fighting each other over Otaru ^_^;) There is however, a much more important mission awaiting Otaru and his marionettes... SMJ is not a show of super-intelligent plots, it's rather a wonderful story about the simplest and purest of emotions: Love, Friendship and Loyalty. In a word, this show, the story of which involves more non-humans than humans, is ultimately about humanity, about what it means to be human...