For three long years, Akira has been saving to buy is very own computer. So when the model 9821 finally goes on sale, he races to the store only to discover that it sold out in just 5 minutes! Yet, as luck would have it, Akira also manages to stumble across a man who just happens to be willing to sell him the exact model he was looking for! Unfortunately, Akira doesn’t look close enough at the packaging. Instead of the 9821, he ends up with a model 2198 – super advance, biomechanical computer girl named Mimi!

She’s cute, she’s got the super fast processor he’s always wanted, and she can fix up the house in an instant. But this cute little computer genie also comes with a few catches. Mimi is being mysteriously targeted for destruction by other bio-types and she’s going to require memory upgrades in order to fend them off. Lucky for Akira, upgrades aren’t expensive, just extremely embarrassing – since the only way to upgrade a bio-type is to use the master’s active molecules. So much for saving himself for marriage.

So now, poor Akira’s life has been turned upside down. How can he possibly explain Mimi to friends? Why is Mimi being attacked? The future’s uncertain, but one thing is for sure – Akira’s in for a wild ride.

The “I dream of Mimi” DVD contains 3 episodes.

Extreme Access – Akira’s hope of buying a new computer are crushed in just 5 minutes, instead he purchase a bio-type computer named Mimi. Whose sole purpose is to please Akira. What adventures await Akira, and how does he explain Mimi to his friends? Why is Mimi being attacked?

Hang up gently – After Akira’s friends stumble on Mimi by accident, Akira must act quickly to convince them that Mimi is a cousin that visited from abroad. Who are the Nacintosh sisters and what are their plans?

Graceful Reset – Can Mimi adapt to the college life? Will anyone find out her secret, and what of this rivalry that’s building between Mimi and Shimida. What is wrong with Mimi, has she crashed and if so can she be rebooted? The Nacintosh sisters are back and what are their plans for Japanese bio-types.

After watching I dream of Mimi a couple of times, to get a good idea of what this whacky anime is about, I’m left with the feeling that I’ve wasted a couple of hours of my life watching it. The story to go with the animation is cheesy at best. Without any real character or story development. It is simple, Mimi has an enemy, master does a molecule upgrade, and Mimi beats the enemy. I know this is supposed to be more of an ecchi or hentai series. Without sounding like a pervert or anything, I’ve seen more questionable series with better plot and story development that deserves the 17+ mark.

This DVD features both English and Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio, the sound quality wasn’t too bad. However the video quality was seriously lacking, at one point during the viewing there was about 10 seconds worth of macro blocks where the quality was so poor it was almost impossible to watch. I’m not sure if this problem is with the video or with possibly with the disc itself.

What special features from the disc have to offer? As special features go, this disc is lacking anything overly special. However an attempt was made to create a user friendly interface. The main menu features a MAC style desktop with several folder representing the various options. Play all, plays all the episodes in their proper sequence. Extras folder lead to the extra’s included with the disc is the original US “I Dream of Mimi trailer”, Outtakes, and Art gallery. Also, trailers from Right stuff which I’ll talk about in a second. The remaining options in the main menu include the setup tab and a trash can, that if you access locks your DVD player. The trash can ploy is nothing serious, it’s just displays a warning message and in order to make it go away you have to reset your player.

As for the extra’s, there is the original US “I dream of Mimi trailer”, an art gallery with various screen shots of the characters. The Out takes, are from the English voice actors having a little fun during some of the scenes that are being dubbed over. The remaining extra are trailers from upcoming releases from The Right Stuff.

The disc is rated 17+ and for the most part I would agree with that statement, there aren’t any scene that depict disgusting or lewd acts of sexuality. However, there were a few breast shots from out main character Mimi and suggestive activities between her and Akira. To be honest, I don’t think this is a great series start with and probably not one for the collection. Not that I have seen them, but I know of a few “questionable” anime series

out there that maybe a little bit more suggestive, show a little more, and have better story lines that the view would enjoy. If not better story lines maybe characters that don’t seem quite as annoying and ditzy. For those that might wish to view this series, see about renting it, before adding it to your collection.

Animation: 6 / 10
Story: 4 / 10
Audio: 8 / 10
Video: 7/ 10
Extras: 6 / 10
Impact Rating: 3 / 10

Overall rating 34/60 or 56%

By Matt Capranos