Anime Summer 2024: MY WIFE HAS NO EMOTION, Tell Me About It

Yesterday, we reviewed Sunny, a new darkly comic mystery series starring Rashida Jones, debuting on Apple TV+. Today, we look at the premise's flip side, sliding towards the decidedly skeevy.

My Wife Has No Emotion
The first two episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Saturday.

This article launches Screen Anarchy's coverage of the Summer 2024 anime season, albeit a bit late due to -- *cough* *cough* -- personal things. Since I just watched and enjoyed Sunny (reviewed here), my interest was drawn by the premise of My Wife Has No Emotion. To quote the official synopsis:

"Takuma isn't the most exciting guy. He's awkward, single, and does nothing but go to work and come home. Tired of doing chores, he decides to buy a housekeeping robot named Mina. She can cook and clean perfectly, and the two get to know each other better over time.

"Soon, Takuma starts to fall for Mina! But could a robot ever love him back?"

That line about "soon" is a bit deceptive; it happens in the very first episode. After buying the second-hand robot, he comes home after work to find her making him a meal, and immediately starts looking at the robot as though it was a human.

My skeeve-meter was instantly triggered, which was only modified a bit when Takuma gets embarrassed and recants that night. In the second episode, though, he decides to take Mina outside for a picnic -- ???!!! -- and, after an unexpected rainstorm, spends the night with her at the park to look out for her, despite her insistence that he leave her there alone.

My skeeve-meter was again triggered when he invites her under the covers on his single bed. Yikes! Even without any activity of an intimate nature, the fact that he gives her a wedding ring -- ???!!! -- and starts calling her "my wife" is disturbing to me.

The animation by Nikkatsu is good, with good character designs, and attention to detail in the landscapes and backgrounds. The episodes aim for the lighter side, and some of the jokes land, especially those that highlight the lonely desperation that comes for most of us who are single, at least from time to time.

It's at that point that single people know they need to reach out to a trusted friend, not a household robot. But then, where would the fun be?

Summary: Too skeevy for me.