Tenchi Muyo!, eat your heart out. Hand Maid May, created during a time when anime series featuring robotic maids seemed to never stop coming, feels like a bizarre crossbreed of Tenchi Muyo! and Buttobi CPU — that right there is a guaranteed formula for a winning series. However, if you replace all of the women in this anime with normal humans, all you come up with is another anime that's exactly the same as Love Hina. I mean, it even has the two dorky friends of the equally dorky main characters.

So, is there anything at all that separates Hand Maid May from your average, run-of-the-mill harem anime? Well, yes and no, actually. I say "yes" because, unlike so many other harem series that just show off as much fan service as possible and have a cheesy love story that is as predictable as could be, Hand Maid May features a well-developed plot that goes far beyond your usual love story. However, as I was disappointed to discover, sometimes having a complicated story in a harem anime spanning 11 episodes (10, if you count the 11th as separate) is a double-edged sword.

First of all, you have to realize that the story loses all plausibility by the middle of the first episode. By then, Kazuya's computer has already begun ordering things online by itself and the delivery person arrives at the house within seconds. I'm willing to let that slide, though. I watch anime for the sole reason of watching these stories unfold.

Then... it sort of just goes downhill from then on. A rather interesting relationship develops between Kazuya and May (the nature of which is shown in the actual opening sequence, which is shown even in the first episode), but then completely stops moving by the fifth episode and somehow manages to completely halt any and all progression. In fact, by the fifth episode, all of the existing characters just stop developing and it stays that way until the ending of the series. The only purpose of the final six episodes is to introduce several uninteresting characters that just don't stack up at all to the great characters introduced in the first half.

Don't even get me started on the ending. I don't think a cheesy, corny story about time travel will ever, ever work — at least not in my lifetime. However, the series really held on to the story for dear life, and it's pretty obvious why. Really, when you take away the story, Hand Maid May is exactly like every other harem anime that's come out. All you're left with without the ridiculous, over-the-top story is just a bunch of busty, bouncy girls falling over a totally nerdy male lead.

Other than the rarely funny forced fan service comedy that involves Kazuya getting into embarassing situations with the maids that aren't shy about anything, Hand Maid May does have a saving grace, and that's its characters and the relationships that builds up between them. I have to say that besides Nanbara and Takuya, I liked every single character in Hand Maid May. In fact, probably the only character that actually fits into one of the multitude of archetypes that have been established in this genre would be Rena, who is nothing more than an obvious attempt to introduce the "cutesy" element to Hand Maid May. Speaking of which, Hand Maid May sure is about as cutesy as you can get in a harem anime. From the energetic pop music in the beginning to the... energetic pop music in the ending, along with the er... energetic pop background music in the middle, everything was so energetic and cute!

What I was really surprised about in Hand Maid May, though, is how there wasn't one central love interest for the main character. Instead, there are two female leads that he is constantly bobbling in between. The rather open-ended conclusion to the series leaves the question of whom Kazuya hooks up with to the viewer. However, I'm not really sure whether or not the tenth episode was meant to be the ending originally. You see, each episode begins with the number of the episode over ten. The first episode shows up as "1/10", and the tenth episode shows up as "10/10". The tenth episode rolls special ending credits and has a lovey-dovey conclusion, but then there's a preview for the next episode which shows up as "11/10".

One thing is for sure, though. I thought I had all of the characters' futures figured out by the end of episode ten, and then I watched the last episode and I was left scratching my head. Everything was wrapped up in a neat little package. Every character fit, and I knew just who Kazuya was going to end up with in the future. Episode eleven not only introduces five more characters all at the same time, but it also leaves the series more open for a second season than even Hellsing. Why the creators haven't capitalized on the success of this series by continuing the ridiculous story is anyone's guess. My only idea is that they, like so many other anime fans, have come to the realization that there are enough harem series flooding the anime world already.