, also known as ''Metal Angel Marie'', is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by Sakura Takeuchi. It was serialized in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' from 1994 to 1997. A three-episode

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

(OVA) was animated by

Pierrot Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''Pi ...

and released in 1996. The OVA was licensed for English release in North America by

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt G ...

Story

Hiroshi Karigari, a college student, is shy and awkward with humans, but a genius in robotics. He has a crush on certain other student named Marie. Utterly failing to communicate his feelings to her, he creates an android almost exactly like her, close enough to pass for her twin, and names her Marie. But though he programmed her to be the perfect wife, she turns out to be quite different. Then Marie accidentally meets the original Marie, and Hiroshi starts telling people that he and Marie are siblings as a cover story. Soon, a tough girl, Hibiki, enters the picture, and threatens to reveal the truth about Marie, unless Hiroshi becomes her boyfriend.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Sakura Takeuchi, ''My Dear Marie'' was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from 1994 to 1997. Its chapters were collected in ten ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes released from July 24, 1994, to July 23, 1997.

Original video animation

A three-episode

(OVA) animated by

was released from March 6 to August 21, 1996. The OVA was licensed for English release in North America by

and released on VHS, in Japanese with English subtitles, in 1998. ADV Films released an English dub on VHS, with the series re-titled as ''Metal Angel Marie'', in 1999. It was later released on DVD, with the original title ''My Dear Marie'', on September 28, 2004. The OVA was licensed in Australia and New Zealand by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

Episode list

Reception

Keith Rhee of EX commented that the series' comedy is the "main selling point of the show", comparing as well the series to Masami Yuki's ''

Assemble Insert is a 1985 manga series by Masami Yuki (best known for his manga and anime series '' Mobile Police Patlabor''). The main character is a young would-be idol singer and high school student, Maron Namikaze, who has superhuman strength. She battl ...

'', and concluded: "If you are into lighthearted shows with plenty of wacky antics in general, ''MY DEAR MARIE'' is definitely worth a shot." Carlos Ross of

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums. ...

also praised the OVA, highlighting its "stunning animation, unique character designs", and story, calling it "alternately hilarious and really touching". Ross stated: "''My Dear Marie'' is an adorable little romance story where you don't expect to find one, and it's definitely on my list of tapes to buy in the near future." Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD called the characters and story "sweet", praising as well the animation, character designs and overall artwork, adding: "It's very easy to like the characters here and it's a rarity to actually like the male lead but ''My Dear Marie'' pulls it off successfully." In a negative review, Bamboo Dong of

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...

wrote: "Visually, it's hideous. Story-wise, it's awful. Emotionally, it's insulting", criticizing as well the randomness of its plot, concluding: "Maybe to old school anime fans, this will bring back some fond memories of when they watched this crap on VHS, but welcome to The Present. It's a beautiful land where you don't have to settle for junk like this anymore. Do you like romance, comedy, drama, science fiction, and heart-tugging emotions? You'll find none of that here."

References

External links

* {{Pierrot films 1994 manga 1996 anime OVAs ADV Films Pierrot (company) Romantic comedy anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga