This lanky, blue-haired robot hero is Signal, an extremely human-like combat android created by the elderly Dr. Otoi as a gift to grandson Nobuhiko. And yes, due to some improbable crossing of wires in Signal's circuitry, he transforms into a babyish, huge-headed mode if Nobuhiko lets out a sneeze. The two live comfortably with Otoi and his vain, red-haired female apprentice, Chris, whose maniacal eagerness to build her own robot pretty much assures that the doctor won't let her do it.

However, Otoi also has an arch-rival named Dr. Umenokoji, and this rogue scientist dispatches two goons straight out of a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon to steal Otoi's research. The thugs aren't Umenokoji's sole weapon, as he also swipes Pulse, the prototype android for Signal, and sends it off to destroy Signal. Chris, in the meantime, takes advantage of the general confusion and fashions a huge, goofy-looking robot called Epsilon, which promptly goes berserk.

With its ridiculous premise and a constantly exaggerated animation style, Twin Signal aspires to be the type of bizarre, chirpy, borderline surrealist comedy exemplified by Dragon Half or Elf Princess Rane. To this end, the show stocks itself with idiosyncrasies: Signal takes himself far more seriously than his comfy pastoral lifestyle permits, Nobuhiko plays his unwilling younger brother, Chris vacillates between egotistical fury and self-centered self-pity, and there's an even stranger supporting cast, consisting of an exasperated, pint-size mecha-dragon named Flag, an aviator's cap-wearing fox, and the team of a robot-hating police detective, his cute female partner, and his legion of irritatingly helpful patrol midget robots (who, dare I suggest it, may have been the forerunners of the Servbots in Mega Man Legends). Oh, and then there's Elara, a shy, kitchen-obsessed female android who can't even make toast.

Yet Twin Signal is only amusing in a disposable sense, offering gags that are sometimes funny, but always forgettable. The animation is no help, either. Though it's only three episodes long, Twin Signal was bankrolled in part by TV Tokyo and intended for Japanese television. As such, its appearance is fairly cheap – certain character designs are simplified to a laughable degree, the animation is stiff even during fight sequences, and static images are used and re-used. I actually started counting the number of times I saw the same shot of Dr. Otoi's house.

Still, it's hard to heap too much criticism on a show that's clearly intended as a frivolous piece of nonsense. Director Takashi Sogabe keeps things intentionally lightweight, defusing even the third episode's attempts at mediocre melodrama. Twin Signal also enjoys a fairly decent pace, even though it's adapted from Sachi Oshimizu's far larger manga series. This is made clear by the opening animation, which depicts half a dozen characters that never appear in the actual show.

The undiluted goofiness of things is bolstered by the English dub, which features fine performances by David Thund as Signal, Kevin Collins (Griffith in Berserk) as Pulse, and the ever-versatile Rachel Lillis (Pokemon's Jesse) as the meek Elara. Lisa Ortiz (Lina Inverse of Slayers fame, Lala Ru in Now and Then, Here and There) nearly steals the production, voicing Chris with a histrionic glee that's a perfect match for the character.

As anime puffballs go, Twin Signal is far too generic to claim the same territory as first-rate comedies like Excel Saga or Dragon Half. But this sort of thing doesn't need to be perfect in order to entertain, and Twin Signal is certainly good for a few justifiable laughs. Don't expect anything more, and don't expect to remember it when you're done.