My Dear Marie

by Keith Rhee

Hiroshi is your typical underdog character: he is somewhat nerdy, wears glasses, and is too shy to approach, Mari, the girl he has a crush on. Despite the fact that he is terrible at sports, Hiroshi joins the tennis club in the hopes of getting closer to Mari. But even when he gets the chance to talk to her, he becomes too red-faced and tongue-tied to actually do anything. Besides, it seems the more outgoing, fashionable captain of the tennis club, Tanaka, has a better chance at getting Mari's attention than Hiroshi.
Frustrated in his attempts, Hiroshi tries a different tack. After collecting data on Mari's outer appearance, our super-genius protagonist creates a high-tech android replica of Mari and names her Marie. Telling his somewhat skeptical friends that Marie is his sister ("Why haven't we met her earlier, then?" asks Mari), Hiroshi begins living together with Marie, and soon Marie begins shaping up as the perfect younger sister.
After a while, Mari begins to get along well with the new look-alike Marie, and Hiroshi is thus able to approach Mari more freely. Hiding the truth about Marie from his friends still takes Hiroshi a lot of effort, however, and to make matters more complicated, Marie begins to realize why she was created, and that Hiroshi actually likes Mari. But knowing that fact doesn't stop Marie from developing feelings for Hiroshi.

Hiroshi begins building the android Mari.

Based on the popular comic serialized in YOUNG JUMP, and brought to life as an anime title by the staff of DIRTY PAIR FLASH 3, MY DEAR MARIE is a very entertaining romantic comedy. The visual style and comedy is reminiscent of Yuuki Masami's ASSEMBLE INSERT. In the light of recent heavyweights such as ESCAFLOWNE, the drawing style and BGM of MY DEAR MARIE may seem overly simplistic, but the simple characters and surroundings feel more than appropriate for the lighthearted tone of the show. The relationship between Mari, Marie and Hiroshi is very sweet, and while the situations aren't nearly as serious like the ones seen in KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD or MAISON IKKOKU, they are just as heartwarming.
The main selling point of the show is the comedy. Having a surrogate sister in Marie has not made Hiroshi any better with dealing with girls, and this, combined with the fact that Marie is an android (with the tendency to blow a fuse at the worst possible moment) puts him in some very awkward and funny situations. When Hiroshi tries to buy underwear for Marie, for instance, he asks Mari directly for her bust size much to his great embarrassment, and Hiroshi is too squeamish to enter the lingerie store, especially with all the cute girls shopping there.
Fans of ASSEMBLE INSERT's drawing style and humor will probably find MY DEAR MARIE to their liking. If you are into lighthearted shows with plenty of wacky antics in general, MY DEAR MARIE is definitely worth a shot.