On a planet of men, where cloning has made only men possible, the only women are androids, or marionettes. The Saber Marionettes are a group of girl androids equipped with a special circut in their hearts making them capable of emotional growth, able to love unlike other androids. The androids are Lime (the bubble-headed ditz), Cherry (the compassionate, motherly one), and Bloodberry (the aggressive one). Their guardian is Otaru Mayima, a young martial arts student, who each of the girls is enamored with. Together they have already saved the planet from destruction once.

PHASE SIX: Two Otaru's? The Tightrope of Love- Bloodberry gets extremely upset when she plans a date with Otaru and he, not realizing the seriousness of Bloodberry's newly emerging feelings, brings Lime along. She storms off and goes to the circus alone where she meets a tightrope walker named Akashi, who coincidentally looks just like Otaru. Aakshi is kind and compassionate, attentive to her emotions. She begins to develop feelings for him and he offers to take her away, but she must solve the dilemma of which boy is the one she really loves, Akashi or Otaru?

PHASE SEVEN: The Lonely Fairy- While playing in the forest, Lime discovers what she believes is a fairy, named Lido, but only Lime can see and hear this girl. Lorelei, the scientist who is the girls technician, believes that because they are pure of heart, the girls may be open to seeing things normal people cannot. But, just what is the mystery of Lido?

PHASE EIGHT: Cherry's Babysitting Diary- Cherry discovers a baby clone which floats down river like a little baby Noah. The missing baby is reported on the news, offering a reward that profit seeking rough bounty hunters are quick to want to cash in on. But, Cherry's motherly instincts take over and she doesn't feel anyone else is fit to protect the child, so she begins to defend it against anyone who disagrees. [Subtitles translate the episode title as "Cherry's Temporary Motherhood", which makes more sense.]

PHASE NINE: The Forest, Iron Bell, and Everybody- When the city decides to build a park in the forest and it involves cutting down Limes favorite tree that she has named Mr. Echo, Lime decides to take a stand and stop the construction. Along with her fellow Marionettes and inventor Grandpa Gennai, they fight off the logging crew, bulldozers, and wrecking balls until the city can come to a decision that will make everyone happy.

PHASE TEN: Onogiri Tastes Like Peace?- Otaru and the Marionettes hatch a scheme to take the overworked Lorelei out for the day and have a picnic in the mountains. After they sneak her out, trouble erupts in the form of a new enemy who calls himself Gettel. Dispatching an army of robot dogs, the evil Gettel abducts Lorelei, and the crew is left wondering what will happen next and how will they get Lorelei back from this new threat.

Pretty teen/girl oriented anime fantasy comedy. Having never seen the show before, I say it has a very feminine slant because it prefers the emotional drama and cutesy stuff instead of action. It has your usual anime robo plotline, the old superior robots with their purer than human hearts business. And of course, its the usual cliched personalities of each girl fitting some niche, all revolving around and having a crush on the teen dream guy, much like Tenchi Muyo and many other series. Mostly it seems to be a pretty good show for preteenage kids/girls. Episodes 6 and 7 were pretty puerile and sappy, but episode 8 (for lighthearted anmie) was a pretty touching look at the instinct of nurturing. There were a few things that may be questionable, culture gaps in humor we may find taboo like one character getting a flower put in his butt, and the fact that the initial reward offered for the missing clone baby was for it "Alive or Dead"... I'm a guy, so it really wasn't my my cup of tea, but I can see why it would be a popular series.

The DVD: BANDAI Entertainment

Picture- 1.33.1 Nice designs and quality animation series, shows considerable color details, nice palette of pastels, good sharpness and contrast. Considering the newness of the series, there is an occasional spot of minor wear or slight shimmer but barely noticeable.

Sound- English or Japanese Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 with optional yellow English subtitles. The audio gets no real complaints, very nice and clear stereo sound mix. The only curious thing is that the volume of the opening title song is a little low compared to the actual shows.

Extras- Episode/Chapter Selections--- Trailers for Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Attack, Ronin Warriors and Love Hina--- Credits--- Tsukasa Kotobuki Interview (5 mins)

Conclusion: If you are a fan of the series, go ahead and get it. Pretty good value even though it is light on extras because the total running time of the episodes themselves clock in at just over two hours.