Boku no Tsuma wa Kanjou ga Nai

My Wife has No Emotion is a series that I watched at the behest of an offline buddy who has always fancied himself as somewhat of a contrarian. He goes out of his way to avoid watching anything popular or anything that anyone in his social group recommends to him. Instead, he searches for hidden gems that aren’t well liked but that he can try find his own value in as opposed to trying to appreciate masterpieces based on what other people have said about them. “An ounce of my own wit is worth more to me than a ton of knowledge that comes from ... others”. This quote actually comes from the narrator’s father in the novel Tristram Shandy but could easily be something my longtime friend would say. Anyways, this anime is much like the man who recommended it to me in that it’s difficult to easily categorize and also really frustrating at times.

My Wife has no Emotion is the story of a 24-year-old virgin male who slaves away at a shitty office job and doesn’t have the time to really bother with dating. Even if he tried to make time, he’s socially awkward and in the bottom 20% of the social pecking order. He’s completely given up that he will ever find anyone. So, he decides to alleviate his crippling loneliness by ordering a gynoid robot that is programmed to cook, clean, and obey his every command. However, something odd happens with her programming and she begins to show signs that she cares for him, which causes him to fall madly in love with her and marry her. The immediate assumption that one might have based on this description is that this series is a shameless fantasy for Japanese incels in their 20s. To this I would have to respond with the cliché answer of “Yes…but also no.” In a traditional fantasy for lonely guys, the robot girl Mina would be heavily sexualized, and this would lead to a lot of spicy moments. This anime really doesn’t have a sexual element. This is entirely about some form of companionship to battle against lifelong loneliness. Mina looks like a robot, talks like a robot, and acts like a robot. She is incapable of performing sexual acts and nobody would even want her to. This is a fantasy aimed at extremely lonely guys, but nobody is going to point fingers at it and call it “gross” or “sexist”. Instead, the first half of the series is best described as just…sad. Really sad. This is a fantasy in which the answer is just to completely give up and buy yourself a ChatGPT with a vaguely female shaped body and live with a mediocre imitation of other men’s fulfilling relationships rather than having nothing. We’re not that far off from having the technology where this could be entirely feasible, and this series is here celebrating it. I don’t know how to feel about that.

This is an anime that will keep you guessing, by which I mean that it never really goes the way you think it will go. There are a number of directions that the story could take with its premise. You could have a slapstick comedy with jokes coming from the fact that she’s just a robot and it leads to hilarious misunderstandings. You could have a wholesome romance that wishes to defend non-traditional relationships by teaching the audience that not every couple needs to have kids to have meaning and value. You could create a dystopian satire that skewers Japan’s work culture and the modern dating scene in the internet age. You could create a psychological drama in which the guy sees his robot as his beautiful wife, but it’s clear to the audience and everyone else in the series that the guy is completely insane. My Wife decides to go with an odd mixture of option 1 and 2. However, it doesn’t really accomplish either very well. It doesn’t succeed as a comedy because it’s not funny. It’s never funny, even on accident. It doesn’t really accomplish the second because Mina is a robot that acts like a robot. Chobits works because Hideki and Chii have chemistry. They’re actually really cute together. Chii is an actual AI that doesn’t act like a stereotypical robot. Chobits doesn’t give a shit about the 3 Laws of Robotics or the legal ramifications of owning a robot or any of the stuff that My Wife goes into detail with. That’s because Chobits is largely using human x robot relations as a metaphor for something else. Something that would have been a little controversial to outright celebrate in a 2002 anime airing on Japanese television. Japan was culturally at different place in 2002, where even the Utena manga had the cut down on the gayness since one of the illustrators was deeply disgusted by homosexuality and threatened to leave the project if Ikuhara insisted on making Utena lesbian. I went WAY off topic, where was I? Ah yes, back to My wife. My Wife really does want to be about human x robot relations, and make it wholesome, and celebrate it as an alternative to being a forever alone loser. I honestly don’t think it succeeds very well in this.

In the second half of the series, Mina buys a medical robot to take Takuma’s temperature and keep him healthy while she’s getting some upgrades at the factory. Due to a plot convenient programming error, his factory set personality is deleted and his AI learning picks up habits and characteristics of both Takuma and Mina, making this weird little bird robot their “son”. The little bastard looks and sounds like this toy called “Gotta Go Flamingo”…and yet he’s the best part of this show. Mina’s jealousy and resentment towards her “son” Mamoru offers the first bits of character drama and development in this mess. This was a show entirely without conflict or drama of any kind, so this is very welcome. The little shit is also pretty cute, which allows My Wife to actually hit some of those wholesome scenes that it’s been wildly missing up to this point. In the climax of the series, Takuma presents his wife and son to his parents. You would think that they’d be deeply disappointed which leads to a big confrontation for the finale. Nope! They are maybe just a little disappointed, but they had no hopes for the lad anyways and this is better than nothing. Um…cool? There is actually a pretty well-done scene where Takuma is talking to his father and his dad tells him that not everyone needs to have biological children to be loved and accepted. He tells Takuma that he needs to stop worrying so much about what others think and focus on living his own best life. I must give credit where it’s due to My Wife for the fact that its last episode was easily its best. It went out swinging and I have to respect that! It was sadly too little too late to save the series from a 4 rating, but it actually tried when I thought it was just going to rest on its haunches.

My Wife Has no Emotion is one of the odder entries of the season. It’s not a great anime I would recommend to people, but it’s not just pure trash. It’s certainly wish fulfillment for lonely men, but not like you would expect. It made me think and question things, but this is far from being an artsy or philosophical series. This was made by Tezuka Productions and some talented people worked on this, but most of the time it doesn’t really live up to its pedigree in the visuals department. Both the OP and ED are quite catchy as if someone really had faith in this production, but based on its visuals I don’t think it was a high budget project for Tezuka Productions. The manga this series is based on isn’t very popular or critically acclaimed on either side of the Pacific, so I’m not entirely sure how this even got made. Not only did it get made, but it aired on Japanese television on the same mainstream channel that aired all the JoJo anime and Attack on Titan! It’s puzzling, it’s bizarre, it’s…kind of meh. I’d probably just skip this one if I were you.

A rather shady story, but it still tries to make you the only one who thinks it's shady.

The theme of a relationship between a robot and a human has been explored in many other works, so it shouldn't be something new. The problem is the way in which they decide to approach this theme. In the case of this anime, from the beginning they sold you in a very convincing way that the robot is an appliance. She can't process emotions or understand the emotions she receives. The protagonist often treats her like an appliance, but they still want to sell you that they are ... in a marriage. The whole story from chapter 1 to chapter 12 is a mere self-indulgence of the protagonist. They constantly show you situations that are not right or feel strange or uncomfortable, but they still give it to you as any other event of the romance genre. The truth is that the robot, unable to process emotions, only bases her actions on an algorithm that is based on the desires and requests of the protagonist. Which makes the robot the ideal woman for the protagonist, but with no conflict.

The romance never grows, because from the beginning you can see that what there is between them is not love. It is something sadder, it is an illusion created by a lonely man with enough money. I think that exploring the loneliness of the average Japanese was an interesting idea and it tries to show this idea but it falls short. They may have realized that showing the reality of the situation would be too sad for a "romance". The work feels like we take our cell phone, set the assistant to a female voice and introduce her to our friends and family as our wife. Just thinking about it feels weird, it feels uncomfortable and yet the protagonist's environment is written to satisfy his selfishness and not tear down the weak happy life he has built.

Multiple scenarios, multiple events where they try to recreate the typical events of romance, but instead of generating a warm feeling, everything feels so cold. The robot constantly reminds us that she is a household appliance, that she only plays along with the marriage because it is an order from her owner and denies being part of the family that the protagonist claims to have. Not only us, the viewers, notice something strange in this situation, the protagonist's relatives also notice it and question it. What happens is that the script handles the claims superficially so as not to delve deeper into the issue of loneliness and ends up supporting the relationship with weak arguments and without support from the protagonist.

If what you are looking for is a romance or a criticism of modern technology, you will not find anything here. You will only see the sad reality of a man who only has as consolation what his money can buy.

Approaching My Wife Has No Emotion blind, it appeared to be an unwatchable bargain-bin drama or romcom where the salaryman's waifu is frigid and maybe even suffering from some kind of disorder to explain a "lack of emotions." That's not far off from the truth, but this is an android-raising simulator featuring one of the creepiest couple of bridge trolls for main characters that I've ever seen. It doesn't even work as passable fetish fuel like Chobits, where the pervert fishes his waifu out of the garbage. Instead, Mina is built like a Tesla, and you can't smother the fire by normal means and have ... to let it die out on its own, so this is an extra-toasty dumpster fire.

Mina, effectively making the show look like Chobits with down syndrome, has a sharp uncanny valley vibe: Metallic plates cover her whole body other than her face (making for peak try-not-to-cringe comedy when characters blush from seeing her full-metal body), her eyes bulge like zoom lenses, and she possesses a face with only one beep-boop expression, making her resemble a moeblob blow up doll from hell. The clear idea is that she will develop her emotions and the like, but these shows operate on an illusion: The girl must be cute and visibly completely human except for exotic moebits that might accentuate her appearance compared to real women, like those distinct robot ears they sometimes have. Typically, the android is supposed to be more moe than the human girls, but it's the other way around here. It's so strange to see them try and pull this off with Mina looking barely a step up from a kitchen appliance attached to a doll carcass someone fished out of the scrapyard...

Anime gets a bad rap for pandering to otakus with incel or loser mains who get the wamans without even trying, but this dude is the lowest of the low. The MC is downright creepy. Look at his eyes! Vertical slits, just like a snake! The pupils and irises are so thin, stretched, and reptillian within the sclera of his moeblob-sized eye sockets, slapped down upon his long, oval-shaped face, and it appears as if the character designer is intentionally or inadvertently presenting this guy to be as unpleasant as possible. Yet I've never seen anyone else mention this, so it seems to be working on a primarily subconscious level. While this is an unwise decision from a marketing standpoint and will reduce the appeal of self-insertion fantasies (a problem considering that's the entire anime), it's the perfect design for this creep, who has a face not even his own mother could trust. His appearance, behavior, mannerisms, and stammering dialogue are so slimy that I'm waiting for him to slip out of his skin as a molting snake would. Always slithering around on his underbelly, he grovels and is so uncomfortable with women that he's too embarrassed to even maintain eye contact with his waifu appliance that he bought, until he downs an entire fridge of beer, that is.

Ruddy-faced and chugging his beer to summon every ounce of courage he can muster to flirt with his appliance, he tilts his head in this creepy way, saying, "*Hiccup* You're what I like best Mina-chan. Think you'd be okay with being my wife?" This is nearly the first "meaningful" interaction with her, and—poof!—he's married to his appliance—a glorified rice cooker—before episode 1 is even half over. Mina's quizzical probing about his actions humiliates him, so he blushes, closes his eyes, and does the cliched hand-behind-his-head-school-boy routine. Upon showing this miserable (sub)human being the slightest affection, which is presumably part of her programming, he's infatuated with her, thinking to himself, "I wonder if she likes me? I hope she does." In a roundabout way, he more or less asks her what kind of men she likes. Is this guy, who "went on a date once, but it didn't work out," really so delusional and love-starved? The answer is, unfortunately, yes. I'm convinced the "date" the MC went on was with an instant messenger chatbot that he immediately asked to marry him, which turned him down, obviously.

The situations in the first few episodes can be roughly paraphrased as... "Dishwasher-chan (literal appliance), you're so moe that I want to ease your burden, and I don't feel like a man unless I help you wash half the dishes. M-m-maybe someday you'd, uh, like me to get out the dolley and, ermmm, roll you to the park, and, ah, we'll go on a date and eat ice cream. You t-twist my heart into knots every time I, uh, go into the kitchen! M-maybe you'd like to sleep with me tonight on the futon, dishwasher-chan? You make me, um, sooooo horny. NOOO... Dishwasher-chan don't ask me what horny means. NOOOOOOO, DON'T SEARCH IT ON THE INTERNET, DISHWASHER-CHAN! I'm so ashamed!" That's exactly how this show feels, just that the appliance is a bit more human looking, can talk like a seasoned ventriloquist, and spit out Wikipedia phrases and dictionary definitions.

In one of the most cringe scenes I've ever seen, the MC's co-worker says his bento lunch looks full of love and inquires as to whether he has a girlfriend. The MC admits the cook is an appliance. Later, he corners his senpai in the breakroom because of his nagging guilt at having besmirched his waifu in the previous scene by calling her an appliance. "Ummm... S-Senpai, earlier I said she was just appliance, but she is so much more than appliance. She's, um, the best, and she is family!" The senpai plays it cool, takes a swig (probably wishing it were alcohol), and delivers a polite, encouraging response, giving off a "I'll say whatever you want me to say, buddy" path-of-least-resistance vibe. Other great lines of dialogue include "There's a girl who will 'vibrate' for me."

Predictable as ever, this series raises a question about the possibility of androids possessing or developing emotions, where a certain amount of experience and "precious memories" will make them sentient by some abstracted magical sci-fi something something process. This title is an inferior Frankenstein product that seemingly grafts on every tired idea it could find from android-raising simulators, shut-in romcom trash, and slave fetish shows. Most of these series present the female android as hyper-feminine and more desirable than the surrounding moeblobs, yet there is one difference that makes this title potentially semi-unique.

The author presents our doting bag-of-bolts automaton as primitive and outdated. For basic improvements, she applies makeup and upgrades her wardrobe. I've heard she gets a leg extension upgrade (she needs a bolster when cooking or cleaning at the kitchen counter because she's short), and she is looking at upgrades in one episode, so there is the promise of her gradually becoming more woman-like in a physical sense. There's even a hysterical bit of potential foreshadowing: Mina reveals a compartment situated in her lower torso that seems oddly womb-like, in which she places an egg and heats it up. To appear more feminine, Mina lets her long hair down to flow freely in the wind. The MC, of course, blushes in response. Despite there being some admitted irrationality to what she did with the egg, she wanted to do it, anyway, meaning she went against her programming in what would constitute an error. This is clearly an important scene for either foreshadowing or bait. If anything, this drives home the android's attempted transformation into a "woman" far more than usual. Another seemingly throwaway comedy scene, following an escalation in intimacy, involves water pouring out of her "womb," which might have one thinking of a woman "breaking water" during pregnancy. Additionally, Super Mina is a separate character and a more advanced version of Mina, representing an ideal to strive toward and go beyond for our determined little rice cooker that could.

Armitage III already had androids with reproductive capabilities and similar themes were in Blade Runner and a bunch of sci-fi novels, so an idea like that wouldn't be much of a stretch here. These series tend to be anti-natal due to the non-reproductive nature of machines, but this is not about mere attraction or romance like other titles. Skipping any formalities or buildup, the series represents an intense wish-fulfillment scenario of having a subservient wife and the typical family setup. Remember, "she is not just appliance, she is family!"

A recent trend in terrible anime, including this rice-cooker special, is wish-fulfillment so heavy that there's not even any conflict. It's like when one dozes off, thinking about how he saved his romantic interest's life and became king without any effort. Even most isekai usually have easy conflict. While I would hesitate to call the MC a Mary Sue because of his hideousness, the setting and plot are Mary Sueish, for everyone is highly tolerant of what is presumed to be transgressive. However, if no one cares, is it even transgressive at all? Most of the MC's anxiety seems unfounded because everyone in his immediate circle bends over backwards to please him and are like, "that's cool/great/hot that you're married to a rice cooker." Some even praise the anime for eschewing conflict and focusing entirely on the slow-cooked development of the relationship, but what we're left with is a tasteless paste.

The android effectively doesn't have a free will or there are obvious limitations, though she goes against some of her programming and clearly has poorly communicated emotions from the get-go, in spite of the title. The MC foists a more "equal" arrangement upon her, but he could always take it away if he wanted. Hey, it's none of my business what someone does with his rice cooker in private, but it's hard to believe anyone would create this series and think it was a story worth telling in its current state. Either way, this "family" thing won't end well if taken to its logical conclusion; since it looks and reads like a hentai gone "wholesome," imagine what'll happen when the main gets his wish completed and this jittery mess has to take his non-functioning waifu in for repairs after filling it with a gallon of semen. Have fun explaining that one, given that you're almost too flustered to even cross the street side by side with your "wife."

Granted, the guy can only have this idealized arrangement through buying a machine, and the series would be far more interesting as a harem with a less pathetic protagonist, where the android whom he saw only as a rice cooker had to gradually gain his affection, preferably from a combination of emotional development and appealing upgrades. Would anyone want to admit they're in love with an android (a highly primitive one, no less) and make it visible to the world? At least make it seem like something more "meaningful" than a last resort for a snake-eyed, down-on-his-luck loser who seeks companionship with an archaic AOL chatbot on steroids that can cook an omelet. While this is a standard wish-fulfillment series, it's hard to to tell if it's meant to be a super-cringe "so bad it's good" comedy or a "cozy and wholesome" romcom meant to be enjoyed unironically.

With technology advanced this far in our society today, we may wonder when robots and machines will take over our lives. It's no secret that AI has emerged as a tool in recent years in various sectors of the industry. When will we have robots roaming around our neighborhood? Or even more interesting to ask, what if robots can build a meaningful relationship with humans?

My Wife Has No Emotions is an anime that crosses the boundary into those questions. It's not the first title that explored such a premise. One might remember a show called 'Chobits' that aired in 2002 that featured a prominent relationship ... between a robot and human. Nonetheless, My Wife Has No Emotion experiments with how a robot interact with a human in similar ways. Because in this show's world, robots truly has evolved to a point where they can become partners with their customers. Takuma Kosugi finds this out after issuing a command to his robot Mina to become his "wife".

As simple as the plot sounds, it can also be deceptively complex. The story presents the opportunity to explore how and what robots feel. The most prominent is the Mina we see in the promotional videos and poster. There are other models including the Super Mina but at its core, the main premise deals with Takuma and Mina's relationship. Their chemistry at its most fundamental level can be described as awkward. While Takuma does have geninue feelings towards Mina, the latter has a hard time realizing what love is. She adapts with her environment, while learning about the real world in a slice-of-life style. Every episode sets off an adventure that experiments with Mina's behavior. At times, it also feels like a sitcom as certain events are situational with various results. It adds humor whenever we see Mina defy common sense. However, adapting this show also faces challenges with it relates to romance. There's no doubt that Takuma adores Mina as a wife. However, Mina has difficulty expressing her own emotions because of her programming. Watching this anime will tests the viewers' patience as it takes time for her to learn about love.

Even as a housewife, Mina displays a remarkingly amount of human-like emotions even in early episodes. She's programmed to do household chores but that doesn't stop her from stepping out of her comfort zone. This includes places such as the beach, going to picnics, or even interacting with other Mina models. She has such a presence that it's impossible to just see her as a preprogrammed bot. It's noticable that throughout the series, she builds an unique relationship with another machine called Mamoru. Unlike Mina, Mamoru is much less human-like. This contrasts with characters such as the Super Mina, who is able to express a hyper level of energy.

With 12 episodes, it adapts the fundamental elements of the series' themes. Beyond exploring the relationship between human and machine, there's also more in depth character study of Takuma. We see that he is deep down a lonely man who wants companionship. Even though he realizes it's not completely real, Takuma values Mina as a wife. No, not trophy wife but a geninue wife that he cares of. It's also no secret that his lonliness causes self doubt. The show skillfully adapts Takuma as a salarayman that we can relate to in the real world.

This show isn't known for its production quality but we should accept that Mina is adapted with care and credibility. She looks, acts, and behaves like a robot when performing her daily duties. The most noticable features are her eyes and lack of smile when on-screen. Because she has no real emotion, Mina behaves like how we expect her to. She says what Takuma wants to hear although at times, she also questions herself that even goes against her programming. Nonetheless, Mina has a delicate face for a robot and her chemistry with Takuma is undeniable. Tezuka Productions is a very old studio but they managed to bring this show to a modern audience.

While not achieving mainstream success, My Wife Has No Emotion can be watched just about anyone. It's recommendable because of how both simple and deceptively complex both the main characters are. Also, it's a breath of fresh air when every season in recent years is dominated by fantasy, isekai, and rom-coms. Sometimes, a show like this is just made to enjoy.

This is an odd one. The premise sounds interesting and the execution thusfar is, well I don't really have anything to compare it too. Many people mention Chobits thou I haven't seen that. The story sums up to a guy falls in love with a android, shocker I know, and it slowly learns about being human. Initially I figured it would be all in the guys head, but as the episodes go it looks to be more a study of one of the possibilities of AI evolution.

It's not a bad show, thou it feels lacking. Probably because when most people think emotionless they think what ... is it Kuudere which this is not, but it is as the android does not have the ability to change facial expressions. I kind of gives me Bicentennial man vibes but a much slower burn, and the android does not start with human emotions and then work to express them but starts with no to perhaps very basic emotional understanding and grows them. As far as recommending it, like I said at the start it's an odd one. If your looking for Romcom this probably isn't for you, at least not as of ep 3. If your are looking for Strick romance its probably the same. If your interested in AI and its possible implications this may be worth a watch. I think the biggest thing holding this back is the MMC as while again he's fine, he doesn't do much to bring up the show.

The art is solid, good even.

The sound direction is good, OP and ED probably aren't going on any playlists but they are a fun listen too.

and yea that's about it.

“My Wife Has No Emotion” is what happens when You combine writing suited for a child with subjects and themes aimed at adults.

In 1973 “Soylent Green” was released. A dystopian, detective thriller with Charlton Heston playing an opportunistic but ultimately good detective. I’m not going to go deep into that movie but it is worth watching. In “Soylent Green” some people are considered furniture - basically enslaved poor that are “paid” in food, shelter and other things people nowadays would consider normal. The protagonist of the movie even uses one of those women-furniture to satisfy his urges. Despite being human they are treated as nothing ... more than items.
For some reason the premise of “My Wife Has No Emotion” had me thinking about those furniture and that the authors of the show just inverted the main premise of the interaction. Instead of dehumanizing a human they gave humanity to something not human.

Before we start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page…
I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result”.

I’m gonna be honest I simultaneously like and hate the writing in this show. I like it because it touches on some pretty important and mature subjects like loneliness, morality when it comes to AI and even what are the limits of love (I was a therapist so You don’t really want to know the true answer to that one, trust me), and I hate it because in most cases it does so in a very naive and childish way with a lot of deus ex machina resolutions. Despite some pretty good setups that could lead to some really heavy hitting brain teasers, the most this show does is “It will work itself out”... and in almost all cases it does.

I’m not sure who is supposed to be the target audience. It is classified as seinen, but to be fair the writing is a bit too childish for this group. The main hero - Takuma, is an adult and not some teenager, has a job and presumably all other responsibilities that come from being a living alone adult. He even has two different sides to him. He is a pretty well adjusted young man in public, even willing to help those in need as was shown with his first interaction with Super Mina, and can act like a spoiled child when alone with his robot-wife - Mina. I actually like that. Different sides for different occasions. I would consider this pretty solid writing. Most anime and manga don’t really bother giving characters more than one side of personality, so credit where it’s due. It could give You hope that there will be more of this level of thought. Oh my sweet summer child…
Don’t get me wrong, having simple writing isn’t a bad thing, especially when You want to serve mature subjects, like this anime does, to a wider audience. There is “simple”, and there is “childish”. This show has problems balancing that. Unfortunately the pacing and messaging suffer for it immensely.

Now, there is the problem with the world itself. Despite Takuma and Mina going into public places the world feels empty. The only moment when the world felt a bit organic was when they went for a picnic and some (probably) highschool girls commented on Mina. That is the first and only moment when the world seemed, for a lack of a better word, real. Something unusual happened so of course some people will comment on that. Unfortunately no such event took place when they were at the park itself or when they went to the beach.
The beach episode is actually one of two that shows how empty the world is. Without getting into spoilers I will just say that Takuma and Mina get separated and help two different people. The problem? None of them think to ask other people on the beach for any sort of help. Why? That would probably speed up their tasks a lot. No one even comments on seeing a robot with a lot of visible metal in a swimsuit. Nothing. It’s almost like the setting was just a poor excuse to have our MCs meet some new semi useful, plot demanding NPCs.
Unfortunately that ends up being the case. Super Mina even becomes the reason for a terrible info dump about Mina’s past. The same info dump could be used as a set up for something more but it isn't. It’s not exactly forgotten, there are moments later that are consequences of it but it’s not a payoff per se.

The second episode that showed how empty the world is, showed also that the writers didn’t exactly have a solid idea about Mina herself. First the world. Mina and Mamoru (I’ll get to him) find themself in an unnerving situation. Her GPS doesn’t work and they don’t know how to get home. Now any normal person would just ask for directions. Especially that Mina knows her home address. The problem? There is no one to ask. They end up walking, for what seems like a few hours and meet no one. They live in a city. Before this incident it was even shown that there were people around. Not the case when they get into trouble. The solution that they find isn’t exactly a Deus Ex Machina since it is a logical step and doesn’t use elements that weren’t shown before, but there are some problems with the whole situation:
1. The fact that a robot that mostly acts logically wasn’t able to record it’s path, or even ask anyone for direction is just lazy writing to create a situation where Mina has to work together with Mamoru
2. Why didn't the solution come to Mina earlier? It’s logical, simple and easy. That should be, if not the first, the second option she would take into account.
The whole episode just showed me that Mina, despite being a robot is incompetent and probably shouldn't be out on her own. She’s the “wife” and yet she acted without thinking, she was worse than a child at that point. I actually liked Mina as a character up until that point but after that episode my sympathy declined.

Mamoru - the “child” of Mina and Takuma, is a good idea but with terrible execution. His eyes and reactions remind me of Inko - a parakeet from “Toradora” (not the worst association if You ask me). The idea of a “child” for Mina and Takuma isn’t a bad one. They should have something like that at some point to give Mina new challenges in her role as a wife so turning her into a “mother” is solid. Takuma also could benefit from something like that to add character development, something he really needs.
The problem? It’s way too soon. Neither Mina nor Takuma are in the state where that could be beneficial to the story. They still have a long way to develop as a couple. There is no need to add another element to that. I would first like to see some sort of crisis in their relationship. Maybe have Takuma meet a human woman and become friends (just friends) with her. Get Takuma to go with her for some drink or dinner. Normal things that friends do. Let that not sit well with Mina. Have her have a few days of treating Takuma cold and acting capricious. She is capable of that, that much was shown early in the show. Let them find a solution the adult way. By talking and explaining things.

The last two episodes really annoyed me. They were set up for something great. A real hit with reality for Takuma. Takuma visits his parents with his “wife”. The beginning is good. They don’t see her as a family member and treat her 100% as a house appliance. It was nice. I thought that maybe now Takuma will have some sort of crisis. Maybe he will rethink his “marriage” and the way he treats Mina and Mamoru. Maybe he will have a pause and think that he’s just projecting and both of them are just a pair of robots with unusual programming and that they don’t love him back. Maybe we will get a proper, meaningful conflict. Yeah… no. Everything works out great with little to no effort. The amount of potential that was destroyed within those two episodes is astonishing. That could have been an amazing ending to the season. What we got was… abysmal to say at least.

I think the best part, with the exception of that one episode I mentioned, is Mina herself. Despite being a robot with programmed functions she often acts in ways that clearly weren’t intended by the corporation that mass produces her model. That makes her unique and perfect for someone like Takuma. During the info dump with Super Mina, we get to know the reason for that but… I don’t really think it worked in the story’s favour. Without that knowledge Mina was unique, one of a kind, something that, we could speculate, happened only because of her encounter with Takuma. After the revelation… it lost a lot of its charm. Turns out that yes, she probably still is one of a kind, but it kills the speculations that it was because of Takuma.
From Takuma’s point of view very little changes, he doesn’t even get to know the info that the viewers get, Mina is still his wife and his remedy for loneliness. From the viewer pov however a lot has changed. Mina doesn’t act abnormally from her programming. She is acting like she should. Still the program has to deal with a lot of subjectivity and she’s doing rather well so maybe there is something more to this.
Nonthe less almost every episode shows some new “human” actions of Mina. She defends having a wedding ring, is fussy, gets annoyed and even gossips with the girls. It’s actually interesting and keeps You wondering what else she will do.

I really wanted to like this show. The premise is awesome, the story is good but the plot destroys much. If the show slowed down a bit and gave some more thought to the plot point it could have been a good show. As it stands… It’s just bad. I still liked the ending song and animation for it.

I am at risk of coming off as really pretentious talking about a seasonal rom-com show the way I'm about to, but whatever. I believe the subject matter of this show elevates it and makes it something special. This isn't a show about a guy falling in love with a normal anime girl that just happens to be a robot, Mina is made out of metal, she cannot feel emotions, her love for Takumi is explicitly an emulation, she is pre-programmed to be loyal to him. By engaging with this anime the same way we engage with any other rom-com show, the viewer is forced ... to deal with the question of whether or not Mina and Takuma's love is real or if it ultimately matters that Mina's displays of affection are coming from mechanic programming. Obviously the writer has an answer for this already, he clearly thinks that love between man and machine can be sincere, but I think he does a really good job of tackling the question in a nuanced manner. Because of this I really do believe this show is genuinely fascinating, and it concerns a topic that will be way more important as we move into the future.

Also Mina is really really cute

The idea of love between man and machine is nothing new in fiction. Even when looking at just anime you can point to one of the first series to exist. Astro Boy begins with a grieving father creating a mechanical boy to replace his son who tragically died in a car accident. The question of “if love like this can be truly realized” has been on our minds for as long as mechanical men have existed in the imagination of authors around the world.

Many stories feature a robot learning to love although it often requires the robot to change and become more human first. The ... little wooden puppet must first become a REAL boy, THEN we can accept him and see him as one of us. This is mirrored by the common tale of the nerdy girl who must cast off her glasses, let down her hair, and shed the “ugly” parts of herself before she can be loved by the handsome football star. There is a reason this tired trope has been mostly derided by modern sensibilities.

Change, in and of itself, is not bad or unexpected in a romance story. It would be false to say that a person does not change when they are in love. As the iconic meme featuring the long-loved Garfield plush who has become warped and deformed after years of being held reads “to be loved, is to be changed”. This is true for us all. It is another thing altogether to say we must first change ourselves and abandon our identity to even be worthy of that love in the first place.

This story takes a different approach. In this world advanced robots already exist, the uncanny valley already conquered. Superior machines built to be seen as human with soft skin and realistic personalities walk the streets. We are outright told that people choose to purchase these robots to fill familial roles. Regardless of if we are shown directly, we can easily believe that love between humans and these “Super Minas" can exist.

But here we have OUR Mina, our regular Mina. An extremely limited base model designed only for cooking. No realistic skin, no emotive faceplate, seemingly no emotions at all behind her cold monotone voice. Truly a machine that was never built to be loved. And yet, despite everything, she is loved all the same.

The question of “Is the love Mina shows real or just an emulation?” may never be answered. But that doesn't matter. No matter her faults, no matter her shortcomings, She will always be worthy of the love she has been shown. If that's true for her, then maybe it's true for us too.

I mainly started watching this purely for the curiosity of the premise's potential. How far can they take the concept of a human and robot falling in love and keep things believable and interesting? How long until robots start exuding human qualities too much to the point where it doesn't really make sense anymore? And why does this particular human fall in love with this robot and are those reasons something to be appreciated or validated? All these questions raced through my mind as I gave this a try.

And yeah the show's relatively interesting so far I'd say. The robot maid so far pretty much ... acts like a believable robot. Her actions and logic are not driven by human-like reasoning or emotions, rather by analyzing human sociology and psychology through the internet. There may be a couple of times where some subtle actions may seem irrational or human, but even then you could circle instances like that by computer reasoning and logic if you wanted to.

And as for the MC, he's not all talk. He loves this robot, and it's very wholesome and cute to see. Every new thing he learns about her is a moment he relishes in and admires. There wasn't a moment where I believed he ever regretted his decision, and his reasons for these convictions are fair. Even when challenges present themselves that could paint his robot as emotionless or outdated does his love not waver.

The robot's interesting, the romance's interesting, the MC's cute. This show's interesting and cute.

This hidden gem has left me smiling, laughing, and even tearing up a bit. As someone who's grown skeptical of romance anime, this series completely won me over.

The premise intrigued me. I was worried it'd be cheesy or cringeworthy, but trust me, it's anything but. Our protagonist, Takuma, is relatable and endearing. His past heartbreak makes his journey with Mina, the female robot, all the more poignant.

Mina's character development is phenomenal. From her initial kitchen-assistant programming to gradually exhibiting emotions, I found myself rooting for her. Their relationship's progression feels organic and genuine, making their interactions adorable and heartfelt.

What struck me was how well the ... anime balanced lighthearted moments with deeper themes. Takuma's family accepting Mina as his partner warmed my heart, and their jealousy-fueled moments had me blushing and chuckling.

The animation is sleek, and the soundtrack is infectious. That opening song still has me humming along (I'm guilty of replaying it multiple times). The ending theme, too, is ridiculously cute.

Special mention to Konomi, Mina's voice actress - your performance brought Mina to life!

This series deserves more love. It's underrated, but its thoughtful storytelling and lovable characters make it a must-watch. I'm craving an OVA or movie to explore more of Takuma and Mina's daily life.

If you're looking for a feel-good, unique romance anime, look no further. "Boku no Tsuma wa Kanjou ga Nai" will capture your heart.

Favorite Moments:

- Takuma's drunken confession
- Mina's first emotional response
- Takuma's family's heartwarming acceptance

Favorite Quote:

"I want to be with you, Mina." - Takuma

Recommendation: If you enjoyed "Clannad," "Toradora!", or "March Comes in Like a Lion," you'll adore this.

Give this hidden gem a chance. You won't regret it!

With this anime, I felt very conflicted with my feelings.

At the beginning I am someone who felt very heartbroken for the main character, Especially episodes one and two.. Because it just felt off and it just didn't feel right.

It's like someone gives up on love to... "marry" a robot which is a household appliance that has no choice but to accept his demands.

The time he does this, He is very much drunk.. And acts really really desperate.

So my heart breaks for him that, He's someone at the very bottom of life, Who doesn't really know what he is doing and doesn't care for himself, And ... then just out of the blue and out of so much drunkardness , He asks Mina to be his wife..

Now a real girl would never accept that.. And a real girl would never allow him in that state in the first place, But Mina has no choice, Because he is Mina's owner, So she has to accept what he does and has to accept anything he says he wants.

Now from the very first episode, I almost quit this anime, Because Mina has no choice, Which is sad for her (and she also doesn't feel anything) and at the same time, Takuma is making the worst choice of his life during his worst time, Trapping him in that state forever.

Now , As the anime progresses, It becomes more of a romantic sweet thing, And Mina also behaves in ways you wouldn't expect.

Takuma also matures and becomes more of a person he should be, Rather than the state he was in at the beginning..

Now question is : Does Mina really love him, Or is she.. Just doing these things because she was ordered to?

Well.. I warm upto to the fact that she does, But others may still see things differently, And I wouldn't blame them for doing so.

And the other question is: Is this enough for Takuma's personal growth, And his overall wellbeing? Is this the best for him?

The anime really leaves you feeling conflicted in this way, And based on your own morality, You will see things differently.

When is love, Really love?

This anime really brings up that question too.

Based on who you are you will see things differently ^ ^

So all of these things considered, You will either feel very bitter and heartbroken like I did in the beginning.. Or you might warm upto them in the end, Or you might continue to feel bitter and heartbroken.

It's all upto you and down to who you are as a person ^ ^

As for me, I still much prefer an anime with a human girl or a human like girl *like an elf* ~ Because it much better represents what a real girl is really like~ And I like to be able to relate to that~ It's nice to watch someone who has had the same sorts of experiences as you or is like you in some way ^ ^

So if you're a girl watching this anime, You're not going to find any girls to relate to here, Or maybe, Very little if you do!

Otherwise, It's a cute anime ^ ^

That's my take on it!

This anime is definitely worth watching. I saw a lot of myself in the robot heroine. Like her, I often feel like I don't fully understand the world and live my life by chance. Many feelings seem out of reach for me, and I lack experience in interacting with people. That’s why this story resonated with me so deeply.

Boku no Tsuma wa Kanjou ga Nai explores themes that aren’t commonly discussed in popular shows. It delves into the relationship between a human and an android, raising questions about self-identity, emotions, and social interaction. These kinds of stories can be really touching and thought-provoking, making us ... reflect on what makes us human and how we perceive love and connection.

What I found especially moving is the way the anime portrays love. It presents love as a complex and mysterious force, something that can be profoundly felt even in the absence of traditional emotions. There's a sensitivity in how small changes or words can deeply affect the characters. This subtlety and mystery make the anime not just a narrative about love, but also a reflection on our own emotional experiences and connections.

For me, the anime captures the essence of what true love might be – a great mystery that isn’t fully revealed. It's this nuanced portrayal of emotions and relationships that makes "Boku no Tsuma wa Kanjou ga Nai" such a special and memorable experience.

Super cute and wholesome! I had a low expectation for the show going in, but I was quickly swept away by the story. Solid 8/10 for this romantic slice of life anime. This is definitely worth the watch.

Also, I'm usually the type to watch the intro/outro for a show just once and then skip them afterwards in later episodes. But the outro song for this show was so good and catchy that I just had to listen to it every time.

I highly recommend this anime to watch. I binge watched all 12 episodes because I just couldn't stop once I had started.

A simple, feel-good slice-of-life with charming characters.

What's Good:
• Adult Cast—Huzzah!
• Voice Acting—Outside of a couple of characters, the VA is pretty grounded.
• Easy on Anime Tropes—There is a distinct lack of MCs looking at their hands and saying "I hAvE tO gEt StRoNgEr."
• No Fan Service—Thank god.

What's Not Good:
• Animation—It's not bad and fits within the scope of the show, but there are a few scenes where it definitely could've been better.
... • OP & ED—Unmemorable.
• Voice Acting—There's one character who talks like a child and you might find it insufferable.

I bet their apartment sounds like a mechanic's shop at night. 😏

It's an average anime, watch it unpretentiously.
An “ok” anime that remains on the edge of the superficial, several times when we think that deeper and more complex themes are going to be debated, this doesn't happen, any slight adversity quickly disappears with everyone around the MC magically accepting it, without the slightest ethical, moral or sociological questioning being addressed.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting some Blade Runner stuff, but the author is simply coward/incompetent in trying to make the work have a minimum depth, greater than that of a saucer of water.

Maybe the manga will have more depth, but if it's going to have ... 300 chapters full of nothing like other novels nowadays, we won't see it in an anime until the year 2050.

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. There are many aspects to this story I found interesting but, the most interesting to me were those that pertain to what constitutes as sentience and what can be considered real love.

I was overjoyed to watch the wife learn, experience more and expand beyond her designed purpose. I find the idea of a sentient robot fascinating.

The husband and wife's relationship is also rather interesting to explore. Is this really the best relationship to have? What of the moral implications? (Considering he owns her), Is Mina even capable of real love? Is she sentient ... at all?

All in all, I would say this is worth a watch.

Kosugi Takuma, the protagonist, can be disturbing.
The plot centers on how Takuma falls in love with Mina, the kitchen robot he buys, and how he progressively loses touch with reality until he considers her his wife.
Overall, it is an anime worth watching, with an intriguing story and moments that reflect our society and technological and AI development; it has very good quality animation and the character development is curious, particularly seeing a robot “fall in love” with a human and how Takuma's society and family perceives this relationship.
The only flaw is that the main character is a bit generic at times.

An anime with an interesting premise, a robot which the world expect to obey commands with obedience, but what if the robot actually has its own likes and dislike. This anime explores when a robot who is just a kitchen appliance received love and affections what would it respond? The writing at its core is just a simple love story. If you really like unconventional/forbidden love then I think this anime would suit you, but if you're expecting this anime to be revolutionary or world changing then this I don't think it would suit you. The anime is just a love story with hardships along ... the way. The robot wife-mina rarely shows affections, but when she does it's really cute. I recommend this anime to anyone who's like me, just wants a little love in their boring and mundane life

The animation is not really amazing it's simple and detailed enough when it needs, as for the pacing it's not slow or fast.

I didn't originally plan to watch this one, but I gave it a chance because it started when I had not much else to watch. I was really surprised how much I ended up liking it. A guy starts a relationship with his cooking robot is a premise that could go in so many directions and I'm glad this one went in a direction that was fun to watch. There was a lot of humor in this series and some truly heartfelt moments. It was cute at times and it was also nice to see the reality of the situation creep in from time to ... time as well. I'm glad that I watched it.

If you're looking for something that's a little odd without being offputtingly strange, then this is a good anime to watch. If you're looking for something a little sexy then this will probably disappoint you.

Some might take a pessimistic approach and view Bokutsuma as a romance of convenience, one in which the female lead is only with the male lead because of obligation due to her being a robot. I see things differently. For me this is a wholesome story about the ever disappearing line between humanity and technology and what makes us human. While the premise might sound off putting and like pure otaku escapism, I really found it to be a sweet story and enjoyed seeing Mina growing closer with Takuma. I think if you go in with an open mind you’ll find this to be a ... really cute watch.

Bokutsuma’s story isn’t particularly complex or nuanced, it’s a rather simple story at its core about Mina gaining emotions and becoming more human like over the course of the show. She starts robotic and apathetic and then we gradually see her evolve to have emotions and desires. She originally starts as a robot maid essentially who’s kind to Takuma because she has to, before developing into someone who’s nice to him because she wants to and consciously making the choice in the way that a human would to commit to a person. It’s not a perfect show, there’s definitely a lot of fantastical elements and you can tell it’s speaking to the large percentage of Japanese salarymen who are lonely and single, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable. Personally enjoyed every episode and there were so many moments where I covered my face squealing like a girl.

It’s a simple slice of life romance so the production values aren’t crazy here,but they’re good enough. Character designs have grown on me after initially not being keen on the designs. Animation is passable and there’s not much of an OST to speak of. Outside of the main two leads, I found Mamoru and Super Mina to be great additions to the cast who added a lot of personality to the story while not detracting from the main purpose.

Bokutsuma is a cute romance story that I believe fans of series like Tenshi-Sama, Tenshitsuki and other series where men are taken care of by angelic like women will enjoy. I encourage people to look at it from the perspective of a character developing right in front of our eyes rather than “oh escapism wish fulfilment robo waifu”.

Bokutsuma gets 8 out of 10!