Kikaijikake no Marie Mini Anime Episode 0

Drowning in debt with nothing but a martial arts prodigy background to her name, Marie Evans finds a desperate solution. Accept a job as a maid for Arthur Louis Zetes, the heir to a massive conglomerate who hates humans so much he'll only interact with robots. The catch is exactly what you think — Marie has to pretend she's a machine. Luckily, her naturally deadpan personality makes the act surprisingly convincing. This ONA episode from Studio AQUA ARIS sets up the premise of the manga, where Marie's day-to-day involves keeping up the robot charade while also fending off assassination attempts on Arthur, because apparently being filthy rich comes with people constantly trying to kill you. The comedy lands in the gap between what Arthur thinks is happening and what's actually going on — he's slowly catching feelings for a maid he believes is mechanical, while Marie is over there sweating through every near-exposure moment. It's a shoujo romance with a genuinely fun gimmick at its core. If you liked the maid-and-master dynamic in Maid Sama or the absurd bodyguard comedy of Hayate the Combat Butler, this hits a similar sweet spot. It's only one episode, so the time investment is basically nothing. The tone is light, the premise does a lot of the heavy lifting for humor, and there's just enough warmth underneath the ridiculousness to make you want more.