Android Ana Maico 2010

—by Maria M. Rider

From the Pony Canyon's Anime Complex collection comes ANDROID ANA MAICO 2010, a unique and fun show that looks at a radio show through the eyes of its star voice personality, Maico. Ana Maico, or Maico for short, is an android programmed to be a radio personality on a show that is not doing very well in the ratings. The cast is quite small and a lot of the story takes place in the recording studio itself. The radio show is aptly named "Maico 2010" to denote a sense of the futuristic way this radio station is presenting it.
Maico's name stands for Multi-Artificial Intelligence Computer because she is 100% android, not a robot as the director always refers to her as. One would think that an android used for a radio show would look boxy or metallic, but Maico is certainly not robotic looking, in fact, she looks like a normal, pink-haired girl. This causes a bit of tension with some of the male characters in the show and oddly enough with Maico as well. She is a very special android who learns from her experiences and reacts with as much emotion as any other human girl.
The rest of the cast is very well-rounded. First is the mysterious Ryoko who introduces Maico to the radio show as a way to boost its ratings. She is mostly quiet, but seems to be the creator of the program Maico is utilizing to sound more human. Matsuo Densuke, a production assistant, seems to be one of Maico's greatest supporters and admirers. He helps Maico get situated in the first episode as well as keep the overall production going smoothly. Matsuo is the director's right hand man and is usually used as a punching bag by the director when the show is not going as planned. Maico seems to be concerned for Matsuo, who seems to always get the short end of the stick when it comes to the director's unhappiness. Izumi, the other production assistant, seems to nothing, but read up on the latest fashion magazines. Other than just "being there," Izumi will sometimes put a little bit of her own insight into situations that may help, or not.
Katten, the Tech assistant to Ryoko, is there to make sure Maico functions properly and hopes she doesn't say the wrong thing. Suga-chan is the scriptwriter and comes up with the lines that Maico has to say on a daily basis. Suga-chan seems to sleep most of the time and smokes a lot. Then, finally, Matsuan, the stressed director of the show, keeps on using some hair growth spray, which is probably Rogaine, to keep his precious hair from falling out. Unfortunately, the Director has a lot of "hair loss" moments as mishaps and mayhem happens in the studio on a regular basis. Finally, the mysterious sound effects man, Ume-san, talks and reacts only in sound effects. A rather tall and muscly guy, Ume-san lends sound effects to the situations that arise at the station.
ANDROID ANA MAICO 2010 has merit both in concept and in story. An android changes the lives of a small group of people and gives them a change for the better. Maico grows from the glitched android from the first episode to a very caring young woman in just the span of a few episodes. The art is well done for a 24 episode series, as it is very colorful and vibrant. The animation is a bit limited, however, especially in things like backgrounds because there are not many location changes in show at all. The whole series looks to be done solely on a computer as seen by the obviously computer generated 3D background and objects. It takes away from the show in a sense that it is rather obvious instead of subtle.
The opening song "Maico wa Odoru" (Maico's dancing) sung by the voice actress for Maico, Tange Sakura (Sakura in CARAD CAPTOR SAKUA) is very bouncy and catchy. "Maico wa Odoru" has no real words per se as it uses variations of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, and Ti, the musical scale, which make it very easy to sing along with Maico.
The beginning of the series starts out with the first day of the start of the new show, "Tobidase Maico 2010" where the staff is assembling in the studio. Director Matsuan is unaware of the "new concept" Suga-chan and Ryoko have in mind for the show, but all he knows is that it involves some personality named Maico. To his surprise, as well as most of the others, Maico is an android personality, unfortunately, she is "not all there" as half of her is missing! Matsuan orders Densuke to quickly get Maico assembled and functioning, which Densuke does immediately. With a few adjustments, such as propping up a naked Maico in a chair and securing her with ropes to a chair, the show is ready to go, but unfortunately someone forgot to bring the Japanese language disk and Maico starts speaking in English. The show continues after a bit of awkwardness and then everyone is quite relieved.
There are quite a number of veteran seiyuu on this show. such as Tange Sakura sounds a lot older in Maico than in Card Captor Sakura, but still sounds cute. The mostly silent and smart, Ryoko, who is played by the popular Ogata Megumi (Yukito in CARD CAPTOR SAKURA and Shinji in NEON GENESIS EVANGELION) doesn't have many speaking lines at first, but definitely makes her point in a lot of instances using her deep female voice. Okiayu Ryoutarou (Yuu in MARMALADE BOY and Jinnai in EL HAZARD) plays the unlucky Matsuo Densuke and does a great job at it.
Overall, ANDROID ANA MAICO is quite fun and enjoyable. It has a feel reminiscent of KEY: THE METAL IDOL, but it is more geared towards comedy than drama. Part of the Anime Complex series on the WOWOW network, Maico consisted of 24-15 minute episodes. The release is set for six LDs or DVDs with four episodes a volume; the first two volumes are currently available. MAICO is a cute show and it will definitely not disappoint!

24 episodes / 6 volumes

vol 1 (PCLG-00069) (59 min)
vol 2 (PCLG-00071) (59 min)
vol 3 (PCLG-00072) (59 min)
vol 4 (PCLG-00078) (59 min)
vol 5 (PCLG-00081) (59 min)
vol 6 (PCLG-00082) (59 min)
Available now in Japan
Where to buy