Saber Marionette J (Collection 2)
The bizarre premise of this fan-favorite anime TV series gave it plenty of room to grow, leaving behind the mildly suggestive sitcom farce of its early episodes in favor of real suspense and imaginative science fiction extrapolation, elements that come increasingly to the fore in this second set of eight episodes. After wrapping up the first phase of the Japoness versus Garlant story arc elaborated in the first collection, our goof-ball hero Otaru and his nubile robot companions take a breather and confront some pressing personal issues. The most important new wrinkle is the budding humanity of Otaru's three love-struck "marionettes," Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry, experimental models outfitted with emotion-generating "maiden circuits." We now learn that these bio-engineered circuits have the capacity to learn and evolve, perhaps toward full-fledged human autonomy. It is suggested that with their help the all-male human settlements on Terra 2 (which for generations have been sustained only by cloning) may finally be able to reproduce again the old-fashioned way; in time they could even overcome the stagnant nostalgia that has turned every society on the planet into a retro theme-park copy of a dimly remembered Old Earth original. Presumably we'll have to wait for the next collection to learn if this promise of rebirth ever comes fully to fruition. Don't touch that dial!--David Chute