Synopsis:
Signal is a robot built by Dr. Otoi, an aging robotics genius. He is supposed to keep the doctor's lonely grandson Nobuhiko company and out of mischief. Signal is almost perfect -- tall, handsome, super strong, athletic, and intelligent. Unfortunately he is plagued by one bug, whenever Nobuhiko sneezes, Signal is miniaturized -- that is to say he becomes a cute tiny version of himself with the mentality to match! The Otoi household is staffed with robots of all shapes and sizes, the most popular one being Elara, a pretty female robot who specializes in housekeeping. It's all sunshine and laughter until one day, agents of Dr. Otoi's arch-rival steals and reprograms Pulse, a prototype robot he had been working on...

Review:
Twin Signal is based on a manga series, super condensed into three short-ish OAV episodes that are about half an hour each. What there is of it in anime format is a hoot, nothing more and nothing less.

While there is some action, there's no epic plot-line or any brooding sense of danger. Those who have a heart condition can safely sit down with a cup of cocoa to enjoy this anime without straining their pacemaker. The emphasis is mostly on the humor and the odd fight scenes thrown in. The artwork is generally very pleasant, and all the characters are nicely drawn.

Unfortunately, Twin Signal does not deliver all it promises because of its length, or rather shortage thereof. Athough there are no loose ends after the final episode, I wanted to see further adventures of this colorful and amiable cast of characters. I wanted to get to know them a bit more than the superficial acquaintance afforded by the measly number of anime episodes. Indeed there's much more happening in the manga version of Twin Signal, so I can only conclude that Twin Signal the anime is like one of those American TV pilots that failed to attract enough audience to become a full-blown series. Whatever the reason, the abruptness of the Twin Signal anime prevents it from reaching its full potential. Nevertheless, it is more than sufficiently entertaining and is definitely worth more than an hour of anyone's time.

Miscellanies:
Elara, the pretty and sweet housekeeping robot, is a little like Kasumi from Ranma 1/2, but endowed with super-strength. It's a pity we don't see nearly enough of her in the anime.

Screenshots:

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Twin Signal (DVD)
Twin Signal (Graphic Novel)
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Twin Signal (Graphic Novel)

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