Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden DVD

For nine years, the android Mahoro has fought as VESPER's most powerful battle unit in a secret war against the alien organization SAINT — a conflict humanity has no idea is happening. The fighting has cost her nearly everything: her energy reserves are nearly spent, and in full combat mode she has approximately two weeks left to live. VESPER offers her a choice. If she surrenders her combat capabilities and switches to civilian mode, her remaining power will stretch to just over a year. Mahoro accepts — and then makes a second, more surprising request. She wants to spend her remaining time as a maid, in the service of Suguru Misato: a fourteen-year-old boy living alone in his late parents' house whose chronic inability to clean anything has become something of a local legend. The connection between them is something Suguru doesn't know yet. Mahoro arrives, begins cooking and cleaning and scolding him about the adult magazines under his mattress, and settles into something that feels, cautiously, like ordinary life. SAINT has not forgotten about her. And the countdown on her remaining days does not stop.

Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden is a 12-episode television series jointly produced by Gainax — the studio behind Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Wings of Honneamise — and Shaft, directed by Shouji Saeki and based on the manga by Bow Ditama and Bunjuro Nakayama serialized in Comic Gum. The series opens as a warm, comedic domestic story and gradually deepens into genuine science fiction drama and emotional weight as the reality of Mahoro's situation becomes impossible to ignore. Each episode ends with a countdown of her remaining days, a structural choice that gives even the lightest comedy episodes an undertone of quiet urgency. 

Originally released in North America by Geneon Entertainment across four individual DVD volumes between December 2002 and April 2003; a 7-disc Complete Box Set including both seasons and the Summer Special OVA was released November 8, 2005. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Shouji Saeki
Original Manga: Bow Ditama & Bunjuro Nakayama (serialized in Comic Gum, Wani Books)
Character Design: Kazuhiro Takamura
Studio: Gainax / Shaft
Music: Toshio Masuda (Naruto, Flame of Recca)
Opening Theme: "Kaerimichi" by Ayako Kawasumi
Ending Theme: "Mahoro de MAMBO" by Triomatic

Japanese Cast:
• Ayako Kawasumi as Mahoro Andou (Great Dangaioh, Pilot Candidate, AD Police)
• Atsushi Kisaichi as Suguru Misato
• Takehito Koyasu as Minato Hokaze (Slayers, Escaflowne, Gate Keepers, Z.O.E. Dolores I)
• Unsho Ishizuka as Feldlance (éX-Driver, Z.O.E. Dolores I)
• Hiroyuki Yamaga as Ryuga (Gainax founder, Royal Space Force: Wings of Honneamise director)

English Dub Cast (Geneon Entertainment):
• Bridget Hoffman as Mahoro Andou
• Richard Cansino as Suguru Misato
• Mona Marshall as Miyuki Shikijo
• Steve Blum as Feldlance (Cowboy Bebop, Trigun)
• Dorothy Elias-Fahn as Saori Shikijo
• Melissa Fahn as Rin Misato

DVD Features

• Full Color Art Gallery
• Non-Credit Opening & Ending Animations
• Season Promo Videos & Trailers
• TV Commercials
• Geneon Entertainment Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: まほろまてぃっく (Mahoromatikku: Automatic Maiden)
Runtime: ~300 Minutes (Complete Season 1, 12 Episodes)
Director: Shouji Saeki
DVD Release Year: 2002–2003 (U.S. Release, Geneon Entertainment); Complete Box Set (both seasons + Summer Special) November 2005
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): September 10, 2001 – January 28, 2002 (BS-i)
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment (Pioneer)
Rating: 16+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy, Romance, Action
Themes: Android Maid, Countdown to Death, Secret Alien War, Domestic Comedy, Gainax Emotional Gut-Punch

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.