"Sing a Bit of Harmony"
In the not too distant future, Satomi is a schoolgirl living in a high tech house. Her mother Mitsuko works for a lab who have made an AI robot, called Shion, and decide to test her out at Satomi's school. If Shion can pass as a human there, it'll be a success! And so this all singing, all dancing robot is thrust into the lives of Satomi and a ragtag bunch of her friends...
This was a rather pleasant surprise. It starts off strong, gets a bit wonky, but has a rich emotional payoff towards the third act, with a genuinely clever little twist regarding Shion. Yes, it is embracing the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" trope we've all grown rather tired of, but there's a freshness here, a unique spin to it all, thanks to rather sweet supporting characters, some musical numbers (the lyrics have had a rather blunt-force translation, but Megan Shipman has a beautiful voice which carries it) and I got a bit emotional at the end. It's a rather endearing piece, despite its bland and unnecessary villain, with some gorgeous visuals and a tight little story.
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