Android Ana Maico 2010

I’ll admit that one of the main reasons I heard about Android Announcer Maico 2010 is the fact that we are now in the year it is set in. Given that it was produced in 1998, it’s certainly not as much of a leap to guess the future as Nineteen Eighty-four was. And yet, we still haven’t managed to invent android disc jockeys. What a tragedy.

The premise of the show seems interesting at a glance – the Japan Broadcasting System (Fuji TV if you regard the blatant logos everywhere) wants to get the listening figures up, so brings in an android radio announcer to present a show, and brings together a rag-tag group of the “best” staff to work on the radio show. The anime is based on a much racier manga involving crime-fighting and sexdroids as well as radio presenting, but the anime removes the blue parts, and is probably better for it. The premise of the manga seems jarring to me, though I can’t say I’ve ever read any of it.

Thinking past the premise, it’s hard to visualise what the anime can actually do with such a restricted set-up. And sure enough, the majority of the short 15 minute episodes are set entirely in the broadcast studio of “Jump Out Maico 2010”. This anime is supposed to be funny, so Maico and the team get themselves involved in shenanigans involving the guests, the sponsors and each other, but it gets somewhat repetitive after a while. Read more