Anime and manga have types of characters we see all the time: maids, idols, mysterious transfer students, catgirls, and the comically wealthy, just to name a few. But one type we don’t see as much of anymore (at least in romcom anime) is the classic robot girl.
These characters tend to fill a few different roles. They may act as a loyal maid or as a bodyguard, complete with built-in missiles or even a combination of both. Quite often, they have some sort of conflict about their lack of humanity. It may be about lacking or not understanding emotions, being somewhat of a blank slate that only knows how to follow orders, or having some limitation related to their robotic nature.
You can still find them in modern anime on occasion, but it feels like this character type’s popularity peaked in the 2000s, and we then began to see fewer of them as time went on. But they’re still wonderful, if sometimes a little tragic, and I wanted to take a moment to shine a light on a few of my favorite examples.
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Miharu Amakase – Da Capo
From the 2002 visual novel (and later the 2003 anime), Miharu is an oddity for robot characters. She’s energetic, goofy, and a close friend of the protagonist’s adoptive sister. There’s quite a lot of history to Miharu’s character, though we soon find out that not all as it seems.
Miharu’s essentially like an energetic puppy and always a joy to see on screen. Her character arc is particularly touching too, so she’s an easy inclusion on this list.
Find our review here and Take a Look at Available Merch Here (Maybe You’ll Find a Miharu Figure!)
Chii – Chobits
Chii from Chobits is another early 2000s example. She’s a ‘Persocom’, many of which appear human except for their ear coverings, which contain all sorts of slots for cable connections. Owing to this series’s popularity at the time in featuring a society with many cute robot girls, those ear coverings were common sights at anime conventions a couple decades ago, in a mix of cosplays ranging from casual to detailed recreations.
Chii falls into the ‘blank slate’ type of robot (though purposely not called as such) to an even higher degree than most others. She wakes up not even knowing words, so much of the series shows the protagonist trying to teach her how to act appropriately, while she slowly develops unexpected feelings that Persocoms shouldn’t have. This results in a nice mix of comedic moments caused by her lack of knowledge and more serious themes about relationships later on.
Take a Look at Available Merch Here (including some of those Persocom Ears)
Mahoro Andou – Mahoromatic
Mahoromatic begins by making it clear that the clock is ticking for Mahoro. If she doesn’t stop fighting aliens in defence of Earth, she’ll stop operating within 37 days. Due to her meritorious service, she’s given the chance to hang up her combat armor and live out her dream for 398 days. For certain reasons, she decided to spend the remainder of her time as a maid to Suguru, a middle schooler.
Despite the idea of a limited lifespan and more serious moments, it’s quite a comical series, with Mahoro often throwing out Suguru’s dirty magazines with her well-known catchphrase, “I think dirty thoughts are bad!” and finding herself in situations where she needs to pull out some of her old combat gear. Outside of this, Mahoro shows herself to be quite caring and protective of him.
Take a Look At Available Merch Here (There’s a Great Artbook)
HMX-12 Multi – ToHeart
Multi is a robot maid sent to a high school for a short time for testing. Her model is still in development, and unlike her ‘sister model’ Serio, she’s quite limited in functionality.
Adorable is the word that comes to mind when thinking of Multi. She’s bright, energetic, and loves to help people, even if she’s not great at most things at first. There are certainly some more serious themes that fall in line with other robot characters in anime (explored further in the visual novel), but she mostly stands out for being a ray of sunshine.
Find Our Review Here and Take a Look At Available Merch Here (There’s a Lot with the Recent Remake)
Nano Shinonome – Nichijou (My Ordinary Life)
A comedic take on the Pinocchio archetype, Nano is a robot girl who wishes to live a life as ordinary as the show title would suggest. Alas, she was created by an 8 year old gremlin of an engineer known as Professor (Hakase), who modified her otherwise incredibly human appearance with a massive wind-up key in the back. Nano has a whole bunch of other more inconspicuous yet incredibly robot features entirely for the amusement of the Professor, which cause Nano no shortage of grief.
Still, in a show full of goofballs, Nano is one of the nicest and immediately likeable characters. Despite her issues with her creator’s tinkering and literal childishness, the two still have a sweet relationship. And despite being a robot, Nano has a rather relatable character type, with her desire to fit in and fear of being rejected for her differences. While Nichijou is a lighthearted yet often over-the-top kind of comedy, Nano is a part of a good chunk of the series’ more heartwarming moments as well due to her warm personality and the way others around her come to appreciate her in spite of her being an obvious automaton.
Take a Look At Available Merch Here (There’s Are Lots of Cosplay Items)
Isla – Plastic Memories
Plastic Memories was released in 2015, making it the first title on this list that’s only a decade old (as of the time of writing). Similar to Mahoromatic, it also deals with limited lifespans. Isla’s job involves working with the protagonist to recover other robots (called Giftia) who are reaching the end of their lifespan for decommissioning. As they go beyond this limit, their personalities and memories degrade, with some even having violent outbursts.
It’s revealed very early on that Isla’s own lifespan is nearing its end, which makes it even sadder that this is when we start to see Isla learning more about being human, opening up to the protagonist about her past, and growing closer to him.
Take a Look At Available Merch Here (Maybe a Tapestry or the Retro Visual Novel?)
Shion Ashimori – Sing a Bit of Harmony
Sing a Bit of Harmony is even more recent, being a 2021 release and one of the relatively rare modern robot girls in anime. Similar to Multi, Shion is sent to attend high school as part of a test. She certainly doesn’t fit in though, being more prone to breaking into song than a Disney Princess. Unlike most of the above examples, this series isn’t a romantic comedy, though it still has some romance.
Much like some of the other robot girls, Shion doesn’t quite understand humans, which leads to some pretty quirky interactions. But all she wants is to make sure the protagonist is happy and the musical moments along the way are a joy to watch.
Take a Look At Available Merch Here (There Are Some Nice Acrylic Stands)
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If you are looking for more posts about anime, you may enjoy our look at Our Favorite 7s – Visual Novels That Can Outshine Their Scores.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
