Alma is a lean, mean, kawaii fighting machine built in the body of a young girl. Her name is short for “Autonomous Learning Military Android,” and baby girl is the secret brainchild of recluse scientists Enji Kamisato and Suzume Yobane. All seems to be going well until after a series of experiments, Alma looks at the raw data and reaches the conclusion that these two dopes are more than just her constructors—they’re her actual mother and father, and they should live together as such. Of course, our two scientists, who seem to have underlying feelings for each other, decide to go along with it to continue developing Alma into the ultimate fighting robot, while keeping her mechanical nature a secret from the public at the same time. And so Enji and Suzume become a makeshift family of three, living under the same roof and going through the day-to-day ups and downs of life with a daughter who has enough firepower to flatten a small country. You know, like all kids her age. Cue the Familial Shenanigans!
Now that’s more like it. I admittedly went into this one with a very wary eye after the absolute foolishness of last year’s My Wife Has No Emotion. I didn’t know exactly how this one would play out! Thankfully, my fears were allayed, as this was really good. The whole concept of a robot wanting to have a family sounds crazy on its face, but in a wild way, it makes total sense. After all, if you look at things through the eye of Alma, Enji and Suzume got together, formed a relationship, and after many months, she was born. So she is, for all intents and purposes, their “daughter,” and as such, they should be a family. I’m also interested in seeing how Enji and Suzume’s new co-parenting relationship will affect their obvious underlying feelings for each other. Also, I love how Alma’s little Interface Headset on top of her head swirls around when she’s processing something, much like an Amazon Echo speaker does. Oh, have mercy, I hope they don’t sue.
The OP this time around, “Dramatic Overlay” by Zaq, matches the tone of the overall anime and shows our little haptic family going about their day, along with other characters we’ll no doubt meet later on. It’s a cute little song, and thankfully not an earworm. The ending song, “Arifuretetai” by Kaf, is sweet and calming as it shows a 360-degree shot of our family going about their day-to-day activities.
So, where does that leave us with Alma-chan Wants To Be a Family? Yeah, this is a gimmick anime, and yes, this show does look like it’s trying to ride the coattails of Spy X Family, but dang it, the gimmick is so cute, and it works! Our characters are likable, the premise is out in left field, but not so outrageous that it puts you off. This one is going to be a follow for me! I am more than interested in seeing the daily lives of these two socially awkward mad scientists and their adorable mecha daughter.
Alma-Chan Wants To Be a Family is Streaming on Crunchyroll.
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