Maid-Droid
Synopsis. In the near future, Ueno is a man who has been raised with his parents' cyborg maid Maria. His parents pass away while he is a teenager, leaving Maria to care for Ueno. As an adult, Ueno's attachment to Maria leads him to attempt to program her for sex. This attempted consummation of their relationship fails, and when Ueno is an old man, Maria's power supply comes to an end, leaving Ueno alone. Meanwhile, a series of rapes occur in the city and Detective Yuri Akagi suspects a droid is responsible. Critical appraisal. "Maid-Droid  won several honors at the annual Pink Grand Prix. Besides winning the second place in the Best Film category, Naoyuki Tomomatsu was awarded Best Director for his work on this film. Prizes for Best Actor (Masayoshi Nogami) and Best Screenplay (Chisato Ōgawara) were also given for Maid-Droid". The German-language site molodezhnaja, however, gives "Maid-Droid" a less-than-positive review, awarding it two out of five stars. While admitting that it can be enjoyed for its trashiness, and some good sex scenes, the review complains about the perceived misogynistic message behind the film. A scene in which young  robots are praised while women over 30 are labeled "ugly" and physically abused for this reason is singled out as a particularly offensive jab at feminism. The review concludes that despite a few interesting ideas, the film as a whole is a clumsy misfire on the part of director Tomomatsu. Availability. "Maid-Droid" was released under the title as an original video in Japan in 2008. The "pink film" studio, Xces gave the film a theatrical release in Japan on January 30, 2009 under the title . It was released on DVD in Japan on March 6, 2009 under the title  . Cinema Epoch released "Maid-Droid" on DVD in the US through its Tokyo Erotique series on December 22, 2009.