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Saber Marionette J can be described as a Sci-Fi-Harem-Comedy that is basically light-hearted with a bit of action thrown in. The story is about Otaru, three female androids called Marionettes, and there struggles to cope in a world without actual women.

It came to be this way because of an accident on a colonization ship that left six men alive on the surface, and they use genetics to populate the planet of Terra II. The direct clones of the six survivors rule the six nations that exist on the planet, Otaru being from Japoness which looks like feudal Japan.

Otaru tries to grow the personality of ... the three Marionettes throughout the series while having to deal with Gartland's (Germany during World War II) ruler Faust and his own set of three Marionettes. The story is alright if you don't have a problem with small details that could be considered giant plot holes with a lot of thought.

The art is dated even for a show from 12 years ago. The marionettes look vibrant, but completely out of place. The backgrounds of the other nations seemed to have been picked because they are easier to depict. Action scenes look merely average. It's not horrific, but it would be hard to call it good.

Characters are a much stronger point. Otaru is not your typical male harem lead. The marionettes show diversity in character as the series progress from one-dimensional to something more.

Overall, Saber Marionette J is a solid, if not spectacular, series. It sets the table well for the OVA and second series that followed, though a conclusion could have been provided in this series if they really would have wanted it.

If someone were to take all the most popular elements of a typical harem anime, add nothing new and make a new show out of it, you would end up as something like Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun. Coming from the same studio that produced Girls Bravo, this isn't all too surprising to be fair.

Story
The story is pedestrian by most standards for the harem genre. The focus is primarily on the daily life of Ninomiya Shungo, and is really only pushed forward by his recalling of long suppressed memories of his childhood. There are a couple moments in which the plot strives to be something greater than is ... typical, but those are short-lived.

Art
The artwork is solid if unspectacular. Character designs are fairly average, although at times quality degrades significantly despite this only being a 12 episode series. More money may have been spent on the commercial break fan service than on animation, which while quite good, detracts from the show as a whole.

Sound
The OP theme is catchy for about the first 45 seconds then falls off at the chorus. The ED theme, not so much, and as a result can be easily skipped without regret after hearing it once.

Character
The main character, Ninomiya Shungo, is not the everyman typical of the harem genre. He's quite capable in a fight, but then again, so is every other male character with any plot significance. He's also extremely popular with all the girls at school vying for the attention he would rather not give anyone. The two women fighting over him are Tsukimura Mayu, a succubus with androphobia and feeds of the life force of men, and Hojo Reika, in the tsundere role. Most any other character in the series is an archetype that has been seen before.

Enjoyment
For a harem show, the series does have some good moments. There's a certain absurdity to some of the comedy. The omake segments in some of the episodes are well worth watching. Other times, however, the story dragged on and on for long periods, or worse, forgotten just minutes after watching the episode.

Overall
If you are looking for a harem anime that in no way challenges the sensibilities of the viewer, this could be well worth a watch. It's fairly good at what it does in that it sticks to genre conventions. Could this series be better? Probably, with a little bit more money for animation, but honestly, it provides plenty for anyone who would possibly be interested in watching this in fan service alone. And really, what more could you possibly ask for from anything in this genre.