Company - TOKYOPOP
Episode 1 to 2 Preview

This one review constitutes the only time I ever received anything DVD wise from TOKYOPOP for review.
Unfortunately I'm not entirely certain what kind of presence TOKYOPOP has in the UK, or if they are even releasing Animes in the UK so I'm not sure if this is available in Region 2 yet.

Since it's a preview it's a straight out thing.
The preview is the English Dub, with no options to choose the Japanese Sub, but then again that is a complaint some (including me) have with some TOKYOPOP releases.... More on that later.

No Optional Extras. No nothing much in the way of bells and whistles.
So this is a straight out episode only review.

Marmalade Boy
Before We Begin...
Eagle eyed viewers will notice the opening credits is set in NYC, and that for a few seconds as the credits begin you can spot the World Trade Center in the background.
This is, after all, a pre-9/11 Anime series so it was still there at the time of production.

Episode 1
Divorce? Sucks. No two ways about it. It sucks like nobody's business.
Hence why our main star here, Miki, is bummed out.
She did want something exciting to happen to her, but somehow this is probably not the excitement she was thinking about... definitely not.
Ah. Her parents. Smiles when contemplating divorce. Looks disturbing yet so cheerful.
Miki's parents are the kind of people you fondly think of... when considering a restraining order.

Heck, they just came back from Hawaii and that's how it all started...
Oh-kay, you don't need me to give you the spiel about how we don't take responsibility for this mess, right? Right. But just in case...

The State of Hawaii, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, and myself in general denies all responsibility for these two couples breaking up and playing "Spouse Swap" between themselves... only without the swap back.
Of course it's not as harsh as her friend's Meiko's family situation, but it's still bad.

So maybe a pow-wow dinner sit & talk will sort it all out... then again maybe not.
Dinner is no doubt destined to be a disaster, but that won't stop Miki from throwing one of Ratchet's wrenches into the divorce/re-marriage plot... and maybe Clank, a few guns, Captain Qwark... more.
Too bad the Maatsuras (the family

on the opposite end of this whole swapping scheme) has a son that seems to be rather non-chalant about the whole thing, even if he's suddenly glowing which is an evil sign that the main girl may one day fall in love with her future brother-in-law which will be quite twisted.

Yeah. This definitely puts the fun in "dysfunctional".

Short end of the stick? Nothing Miki can do will derail the nightmare of the divorce/marriage rollercoaster, and it's way too late to unlatch the restraints and bail mid-ride... not to mention it'd be bloody and painful to bail at this moment while using a rollercoaster comparison so she's just plain doomed. Tough.
But then again that comes from being the ONLY one opposed to the plan, so it's expected that she fails.

But if she's worried that she'll lose a parent she has nothing to fear!
Because apparently, while in Hawaii, they ran a Brady Bunch marathon that they watched in the hotel because it seems they want to move together into one big house ala the Brady Bunch... only with twice the moms and dads, no Alice, and... well... uh... never mind.
(Marsha! Marsha! Marsha!)

So as Mission Brady kicks into full gear with the divorce and moving in... uh? No marriage? Looks like she has one saving grace thanks to Japanese law. Eh? Apparently while a guy can hook up quickly again and get remarried in Japan, and woman has to wait six months... which is kind of confusing because the guys can marry but the women can't... better not think of it.

Anyway as Mission Brady kicks into full gear can Miki survive this new "life" as one family becomes two, especially since it seems her future brother-in-law is a total jerk?
She's going to keep it a secret though. With only Meiko knowing the truth she doesn't have to face the... eh?!? What the... why is HE going to her school... oh boy, he's going to her school.
Sheesh. What an evil double family.

Episode 2
It seems that Miki isn't going to get off the hook so easily.
Just because it seemed that things aren't going well that doesn't mean things can't get worse... because they can get worse... and worse.
Her soon to be brother in law now goes to

her school, and he's making things difficult for her.
Her friend Jinta is becoming jealous of the soon to be brother in law, which is a little bit of the too late since he had a chance to be Miki's boyfriend before (sometime ago) but blew it.
Top it off with a secret spring/fall relationship between student and teacher (gee, wonder who) and the unfortunate fact that the two "rivals" for Miki will end up having to play tennis together? Not to mention there is yet more things that'll complicate things before this first volume of episodes is over?

Yeah. Dysfunctional is just the beginning in terms of the strangeness going on here.
But don't take my word for it, check it out yourself... if you can, and if you can afford to check it out.
Okay. Moving on now.

Optional Extras
Guess I have to buy the first volume to see the extras in action. There's no extras on this demo.

Marmalade Boy Breakdown
What's Hot? - It's a good series. Being dysfunctional doesn't mean it's not good, because it is.
As far as romantic comedies goes it's one of those strange titles I just have to recommend from me to you, though I'm abit wary of the price for the first volume though... sheesh!

What's Not? - If TOKYOPOP was trying to win me over with the English voice dubbing? They failed.
I don't like the English voice dubbing. No, no I don't. Wish they gave me the option to watch the preview in either English Dub or Japanese Sub, but that is a complaint I have about TOKYOPOP.

Mainly it seems they're fixated on English Dub, lest we forget their release of Saint Tail.
Saint Tail? Oh, that series came out with only an English Dub version, and no original Japanese language (with English Subtitles) version... eh? And then halfway through the series they suddenly packed the last DVDs together into one set and finished it quickly without much said as to why they rushed the end of the DVD release... other than a suspicion on my part that it wasn't selling well.

Let's face it, 90% of the time I am not reviewing the English Dub version.
I am clicking on the Japanese dialogue, English subs, and reviewing the original version as it was seen the first time out... in Japanese. Sometimes I do happen to like the English Dub... but those are few and far between and I can't even name 10 shows I liked in English.
So, then, with that being said WHY no Japanese sub version?

Ok. I'm sure this release (Marmalade Boy) doesn't fall into that trap, and has a Japanese sub option, but previous releases could have used that as well (starting with Saint Tail).

I like the series, but I would have liked to have reviewed the Japanese sub version.

Moments to Remember?
Hmmm... the comedy. It's abit askew, as is Miki's family (ditto with the Maatsuras) but it's good.
As Romantic Comedies goes it's a good view... HOWEVER...

What to Ignore?
HOWEVER considering they bundled so many episodes into the first volume, then asked for an outrageous price to buy said volume? I've ignored this series since it came out and have no intention of reversing that decision until a more affordable release (lesser episodes, lesser money put out of my pocket) comes out.

What were they thinking? As a reviewer with a set budget that move put this series way out of my reach in terms of reviewing. I couldn't buy it because it was too out of hand, and TOKYOPOP was not generous enough to supply me with a full review copy, so that was a double negative right there.

I can't spend the kind of money they wanted just for VOLUME 1!! That's nuts!
And while I haven't checked the pricetag on future volumes somehow I'm expecting they won't be anymore merciful than Volume 1 was not merciful.

So I probably won't be reviewing this anytime soon... unless I find it marked down severely somewhere and it becomes affordable... or TOKYOPOP sends me a full review copy of Volume 1... Or something.

Overall
I like this series, and while I would love to review it... practical common sense says otherwise.
Unless I can either win a free Volume 1, get one for review purposes, or find a severely marked down Volume 1 that I can easily afford? No way am I going to be reviewing this anytime soon.

It's just way out of my limits, and my limits are not that high so that is a difficulty.