Capitalism keeps a man busy. Too busy for basic household chores, so Takuma purchases a second-hand robot, Mina, to tend to the chores. It’s a simple master-servant relationship initially, but Takuma, whose first and last girlfriend was in middle school, begins looking at Mina in a more romantic light. The two become unofficial husband and wife, and what follows are days of trying to figure out how, or if, their romance can succeed.
The Miscommunication:
It’s a pretty common trope for robots and androids to miss the subtleties and context in human cues and interpret their language literally, and Mina and Takuma’s interactions are played straight in that regard. Regardless, there’s a wealth of entertainment in seeing how a communication barrier misconstrues terms and phrases, sometimes in little things, like when Mina assumes that just holding one finger up is a way of telling someone hush. It’s charming.
The Blossoming Romance:
The entire premise of the manga is whether a human and a robot not designed for more than cooking and cleaning can become romantically linked, and there are obvious signs that the answer is yes. It’s cute seeing the two grow closer, despite the many hiccups along the way. I’m just concerned with how it handles Mina in the long-run. Having not been built for romance, Mina shouldn’t display any affection toward Takuma, yet she does. Hopefully, there’s a rational explanation for her behavior, like her previous owner reprogramming her, and it doesn’t chalk things up to the power of love.
The Jumpy Pacing:
Much as I enjoy reading about their everyday lives, the pacing of chapters can be a bit wonky. Rarely is there setup that builds up to a climax, chapters often just end, and scenes sometimes transition so drastically that I thought I had started a new chapter, only to a page or two later learn that there’s a thin thread holding the two scenes together. It’s nothing unreadable, but it does sometimes feel like some pages were lost in publication.
The Verdict:
It’s an adorable, chill manga about a niche sort of love. Don’t have much to say to wrap things up. Just looking forward to more.
CCC Yabbering 