It's a good time to follow Yen Press manga, given how many of the recent series released in 2025 are getting anime adaptations. Lil' Miss Vampire Can't Suck Right is one. The other manga series heading to anime streaming services is Mechanical Marie. It shares something else in common with that other series I mentioned, too. It features a silly, goofy story that works out well because everyone is leaning so heavily into its absurd notion. That is, that a young woman working as a maid is a robot and not an actual human.
The concept behind Mechanical Marie essentially goes to extremes even from the outset of the manga, which I feel it needs to really sell the concept. Arthur Louis Zetes is an illegitimate son of the head of a major company known worldwide. His father picked him as the successor over his legitimate children. Because this is such a prominent role, there are constant kidnappings, death threats, assassinations, and generally terrible people surrounding him. So much so that Arthur hates human beings. But he does need help around the house, so an executive with Zetes Corporation named Mr. Roy promised him a robot maid who could act as an assistant. Except... he couldn't exactly get that done, so he hired Marie Evans, a martial arts prodigy renowned for being emotionless and expressionless to fill the role. She agreed, because her family is so poor that they need help with the debts and she'd like to be able to attend a good school.
Both characters are played to the extremes for maximum silliness. Marie is an incredibly strong heroine. She does have strong emotions, even though they don't show. She genuinely comes to appreciate, understand, and feel for what Arthur is going through. Especially as she sees the kindness she shows a "supposedly inorganic and unfeeling" being (her). As a result, she actually starts going above and beyond to protect him, assist him, and do well by him, even though she's also a bit terrified of him ever finding out she is a human woman and not a robot.
Which is another part of why this manga is so funny. Arthur is so traumatized that he has little to no patience with people. He despises those who lie to him. But he adores the opportunity to have a robot maid around. He treats her with the utmost kindness and respect. So much so that instead of having her work, initially he asks her to watch anime with him and just... be a companion. To see the drastic shift between reactions is entertaining and so goofy to watch in Mechanical Marie, but also a little sad since we also see al the examples in the manga that made this teenager this way.
But because she is maintaining this lie, there are tons of silly situations. Marie being so adept at fighting means it is both badass and hilarious when she's taking down opponents. (There's a kidnapping situation around the halfway point of the first volume involving a car that is fantastic.) But it's also great because while Marie is so nearly expressionless, as we read more we do get to see more "tells." We get to watch emotions play out across her face. We also get to see her react more as someone might "expect" a 16-year-old to. So because of the goofiness, we're seeing just as many sides of her as we are of Arthur.
The Mechanical Marie manga fully embraces the absurdity of the situation, and it makes me hope the anime will do the same. Both Marie and Arthur are fun characters who operate at opposite ends of the spectrum. The idea of someone being oblivious enough to suspect she's a robot is so goofy. But then, others also seeming to buy it is equally funny. It feels like the first volume never hesitates to go over the top.