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The original Mechanical Buddy Universe felt like there was room for something more, given how the android mercenary Blau and human baby Rainy met, and the 1.0 manga series delivers on that. So much so that I think it’s even better than Takuji Kato’s original tale. It’s so perfectly executed as not only a showcase of the original relationship, with a fantastic introduction to Blau and Rainy, but of many other bonds between humans and both androids, and artificial intelligence entities.
Editor’s note: There will be light spoilers for the Mechanical Buddy Universe 1.0 manga below.
The first thing I love about Mechanical Buddy Universe 1.0 is how it perfectly establishes who Blau is, which is critical given her role as one of the main focal points of the series. At the outset, you wouldn’t know she’s an android. Yes, her text boxes look different from her son Rainy’s, but she looks human and even has similar blond hair and facial features. But the story then immediately jumps into a flashback showing how she got her name as she reminisces about the sky and becoming a mercenary partner to a human named Lawrence.
Back then, this android was known as M3-C227 and looked completely mechanical. Even so, Lawrence treated her as a human, offering her his coat. We see glimpses of their relationship, resulting them trading in “favors” that started with that initial gift of a coat, and eventually resulting in him naming her Blau for the blue sky after they survived an especially dangerous situation. It’s a perfect way to set up one human/artificial being relationship.
From there, the structure in Kato’s series is such that we witness other, similar bonds because of their eventual association with either Blau or Rainy as they go about mercenary missions or life. This does give us plenty of opportunities to see exactly how Blau is like a mother to Rainy and he behaves exactly as her biological son regardless of their differences while highlighting how other, similar relationships compare. The context allows us to compare and appreciate the similarities and differences, as well as see how other bonds are formed.
For example, immediately after this, we see Blau preparing for a mission to take down the Street Sniper that’s causing trouble for folks in the city. As she’s doing so, Rainy is with her and they’re shopping at a local store with familiar faces. There are also references to another sniper called Hawkeye. We then meet Hawkeye when Blau is on that mission and discover it is a duo made up of a human and AI that the android knew named Hawk. Said AI used to reside in a stationary gun and enjoyed watching people below, becoming fond of their partner from afar. But then, due to happenstance, they got to meet, and now they work as a pair to try and do good as Hawkeye.
My favorite one involves a more mechanical take on the kuchisake-onna yokai. It presents a complicated relationship between an enhanced, inhuman individuals and ones who are. Because we see an ordinary scavenger named Joey who, with his band of individuals, happens upon a futuristic take on that myth. The resulting partnership that comes from Joey’s encounter with what feels like a futuristic urban legend really ensures things end on an interesting note that also provides an incredible cliffhanger.
The original Mechanical Buddy Universe introduced an unexpected family, and the 1.0 sequel manga series seems like an even stronger one. The pairing of Blau and Rainy highlights a wonderful, loving, familial relationship between a mother and her son. By following them on their mercenary roles and assignments, we then also get to see how other bonds between humans and mechanical or artificial beings go. Each one is unique in its own way and worth witnessing.
Mechanical Buddy Universe 1.0 volume 1 is available now, and Square Enix will release volume 2 of the manga in June 2026.
