Mechanical Marie

Episode 9

It's lonely pretending to be a robotic maid to a human-hating upper-class socialite. Although Marie dutifully attends school along with her master Arthur, the closest person she has to a friend there is Noah, a would-be assassin who threatens other potential bullies that “the only person who gets to bully Marie is me.” At the mansion, at least she has Marie 2, but as an actual robot, perhaps she doesn't count. So when Arthur tells her he won't be able to join her for the annual after-school fireworks display, she's desperate to find someone to share the experience with. Anyone except Noah, we assume

Setting her sights on the five troublingly obsessed girls of the Arthur Fan Club (who fantasize about Arthur putting them down, including literally stepping on them, in the most un-Arthur-like way), the first half of the episode is all about Marie's socially inept attempts at befriending them. Everything goes wrong, from her actually inspired “Ojousama Mode” (complete with silly wig), to her attempts to enhance the protein content of afternoon tea, to the unexpected triggering of the ringleader girl's extremely specific allergy to four-leaf clovers.

It's only once Marie sheds the artifice that the girls accept her, even if only as a “rival” for Arthur's affections. I think they like her, it's just that spoiled rich girls struggle to express it. Thankfully, Arthur makes it to the fireworks anyway, his devotion to his maid triggering complicated feelings in the observing Noah.

So far, so standard for Mechanical Marie. Yet everything changes in the second half, when Marie inexplicably leaves the sheaf of papers given to her by Roy, which remain the sole proof of her human backstory, beside an open window. Although she's almost always hyper-competent, she can make silly mistakes sometimes, and of course, this time, the incriminating evidence finds its way under Arthur's nose. (I found it hilarious that Roy had doctored all of the internet pictures of Marie by photo-shopping Marie 2's face on her body, though!) It was a matter of time before Arthur learned the truth about Marie anyway, and I'm glad the show doesn't leave this development until the final episode. Good grief, could that possibly be some plot progression in my anime romcom?

The worrisomely creaky gears in Arthur's mind start to grind, as he puts two plus two together to equal four for the first time. Aggregating all of the evidence from his memories, he comes to the inevitable conclusion that Marie is, in fact, a human being, and he's not a closeted robosexual. It's only confirmed by the fact of her beatific smile when she sees that she makes her master happy. As Arthur correctly intuits, for once, that's not the reaction of a programmed automaton. The fact that she has a pulse and a heartbeat helps, too, though it's hard to believe he's not noticed those already.

Complicating matters is both Marie's and Roy's belief that Arthur will blow a gasket if he learns Marie has been lying to him all this time. With horror, he overhears that Marie will consent to being sent far away if they discover he's learned of her true nature. So now begins a further complication in the comedy of deceptions – Arthur can't let Marie and Roy know that he knows what they don't want him to know. There are only three episodes left before the show's conclusion, but this new status quo should be good for a few more laughs before the hopefully inevitable happy ending.

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Mechanical Marie is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.