Strawberry Marshmallow

Director
Takuya Sato
Production
Doumu, TBS
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
12 episodes
Year
2005

Strawberry Marshmallow (Ichigo Mashimaro) DVD V. 1

By David Rasmussen
23rd Jul 06

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it. It has been awhile since the end of Azumanga Daioh.
And ever since that series ended (and I finally knew my collection was completed with the final order I put out to Right Stuf International) I knew I had to find my next fix. The next series whose star I needed to hang my reviewing best on, and one I could promote without shame as the best I’m watching right now.

It wasn’t until I got ahold of this DVD to review, and I saw it for myself, did I realize that I had in my hand that series which I was thinking of… the next thing to carry me out of 2006 as the one I would hype and promote as the best I’m watching right now.
Say hello to my new little friend : Ichigo Mashimaro, aka Strawberry Marshmallow.

From the first moments I began to watch the DVD I began to realize what a dysfunctional little piece of quirk this was. From the “Zero” episode (which set off the launch of the series way back when it first aired on Japanese TV, the station TBS… as in the TBS NOT owned by Ted Turner) to the end of Episode 4 I saw the quirkitude, the enjoyable storytelling and characters that you really could get hooked on, and the overall well made animation and music which wrapped the entire first DVD up in a highly recommendable bundle of viewing. This is what I’m pitching at you, and telling you you should check out today.
Let’s start with the episodes.

Strawberry Marshmallow DVD V. 1
“Cute is as Cute Does”
Episode 0
(aka the 2001 Experience)
The series is about to premiere, but where are the cast? Apparently they’re on their way to Earth in a 2001 parody, and you know what that means… something goes wrong, the familiar spacesuits are donned, and somebody screws the Frank Poo(d)le and takes a long walk out the short airlock.
Yeah, this is “normal”… right.

(NOTE - Get used to seeing character Chika’s bedroom, as what I figure to be a cost cutting animation trick you’ll see her room reused over and over again with only the details altered here and there.)

Episode 1 - Birthday
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to be introduced to the cast.
As the cherry blossom pedals fall, and the five girl cast’s only “adult” cast member (the other four girls being in the 5th & 6th grade respectively) contemplates her ill fortunes due to her running low on a vital “resource”, it’s time to start (via the use of a cellphone camera) take the pictures of the cast of presently four and see what’s up with them.

Nobue - This is the only “adult” of the cast. Nobue is the older sister of 6th grader Chika, who is the keeper of the treasury… or at the very least the one with more on hand yen than Nobue.
Yeah, yeah, you probably think I’m tooting the horn of the latest cutesy fluffy anime and we got ourselves a woman with little problems… not really. Nobue is a chain smokin’, beer guzzlin’, part time working motorbike riding to work, constantly “borrowing” money from Chika to pay for her habits, and having a strange fetish for cosplaying costumes that seemingly are big enough for the 11-12 year old girls to wear character. Yeah, so little her problems are… not.

As the episode opens she has once again run low of her favorite cancer sticks of death and has to borrow money from Chika, which brings us to…

Chika - This is the Spock to your as yet seen girl Miu’s Kirk. Though for the life of me I don’t know why Nobue insists her most endearing distinguishing trait is that she has no distinguishing traits… eh?

Miu - Over the close rooftops like Batman and through the window flies Miu, the one who is the series’ required loudmouth arrogant troublemaking instigator of mischief and mayhem, aka she who puts dysfunctional into the dysfunctional part of the series.

Though she is incredibly durable as she is only minorly affected by the many harsh blows to her head required to silence her for the 30 or so brief seconds of bliss that comes from her falling into a comatose state for even a few seconds at a time. (She might be a pain, by the way, but she is also one of the most interesting of the girls for her wildside that would seemingly make her and Tomo separated at birth even if she’s trying to foster the Chiyo-chan look).

Matsuri - Coming through the front door (a thing seldomly seen from the rooftop running next door neighbor Miu) is Matsuri, she who is the emotionally fragile one of the cast.
Soft spoken, and kind of meek, she is the one who completes the combination of extreme Miu and kind of “Safe” Chika by being her lovable self (despite the fact she is very easy to manipulate and seems to be abit of the “dumb” one of the cast).

Matsuri is also the owner of what I think is a ferret, which is a grand excuse for the marketers of this show to sell a fistful of plush ferret toys with the Ichigo Mashimaro logo on it… mostly because nobody is that dumb as to attempt to peddle Ichigo Mashimaro strawberry flavored cigarettes or beer… (don’t tell Phillip Morris though, they might be dumb enough to try it.)

In this first “adventure” the girls, after Chika relinquishes the 100 yen to Nobue for ciggies, realize that Nobue’s birthday is coming up and they need a gift. Well, nothing says love like a homemade gift (in these series at any rate), so the girls decide to make Nobue a new ashtray… because she smokes like a coal factory, though why Miu has Nobue’s room diagramed out in her mind’s eye as she does is beyond me… not hard, though, since Nobue’s room is basically (from what I can see of it) a recycle of Chika’s room down to furniture placement (with only a few things like the contents of the desk changing between rooms to note “difference” in the rooms).

Any rate since Nobue’s birthday is tomorrow, and Miu will not “rest” (yeah, right) until that gift and the birthday cards are made, they set out for an all nighter that will test their wills, stress their strengths, and give 101 excuses to (bleep) slap people with a paper fan (ala the one seen in the beginning of Read or Die V. 1). Oh, yeah, happy birthday indeed.

Episode 2 - Ana
And now meet Girl #4, the second 5th grader (Matsuri being the first).
Ana was born in Cornwall in the UK, but her parents moved to Japan 5 years ago for her father’s work. Now she has become very well entrenched in the society to the point that she can even speak Japanese, but after a humiliating experience in her last school which torments her to today she has decided to pretend she doesn’t speak Japanese in an attempt to fit in… which, by the way, is a miserable experience of errors, though she does make a friend in Matsuri before the end of her failing day.

Then she makes more friends when she meets Matsuri’s friends and meets Nobue for the first time, which -- ahh -- (-_-)… you… (cough)… better see this for yourself… yeah, you better, really.

(NOTE - Unlike other characters you might have seen in the past which Ana seems to emulate, I.e. the annoying characters, Ana is not one of those you will hate from the word go. In fact you’ll become very sympathetic to her plight and even like her as a character, even as she becomes at times her own worst enemy even if she doesn’t mean to.)

Episode 3 - House Call
Ana wants to speak English to her class as she is a “foreigner” (which she is), but she has almost completely forgotten the English language so she has been relying on her new friend Matsuri to help her learn English again. However one study day (the first actually) at her house is only doomed to trouble as Matsuri spends the day at Chika’s house only to end up with the girls (including the “Adult” Nobue) following Matsuri right back to Ana’s house no matter how hard (in her own way) she tries to ditch them.

Also this is the first time you find out about Nobue’s Tomoyo Daidouji cosplaying fetish as she gives Matsuri a “Cat” outfit to wear, and teaches her (while she’s trying to ditch her “escorts” to go to Ana’s house alone) how to end her sentences by saying “nya”… that’s normal, isn’t it? To have so many costumes that can fit a 11-12 year old girl, right? Right… right?

Anyway Ana ends up with more houseguests than she knows what to do with, which ends up being a rollercoaster ride for her in the emotions dept. (You’ll see.)

Episode 4 - Part-time Job
As you probably have already guessed, this episode is about Nobue’s need for a new (or another) part time job. Apparently she is a college student who needs more money so she doesn’t constantly have to “borrow” money from Chika. So, to this end she gets a part time job (but not before participating in a “what job do you want” skit with the girls which leads to some odd job skit sequences… oh, and a costume change).

Apparently trouble can only follow when Miu and the gang find out where Nobue is working parttime, which wraps up the DVD… and this review. So let’s break it down already so you can stop sitting there and go buy a DVD for yourself already.

Ichigo Mashimaro Breakdown the 1st
What’s Hot?
I’ve been hankering for a new addiction for awhile now, and now I got my hook-up.
A finely done little series that could, this is well animated, well written, well cast (at least in terms of the Japanese version since I haven’t brought myself to watch the English version yet), well scored (musically) and overall well done. A keen slice of dysfunctional anime pie for your collection that should fit you nicely and really make a good impression with you. Highly recommended.

What’s Not?
Hmm… watching Ana struggle in Episode 2 is abit grating, but I think I can get over it.
Otherwise that’s not an actual complaint if you are thinking I’m complaining, because I’m not.

Moments to Remember?
Everything, everything, everything… which I seem to say since it‘s easier than listing a long laundry list of great moments that‘ll spoil it for everyone if I did such a list… so let‘s just say Everything and leave it at that then, OK? OK!

What to Ignore?
I can’t think of a thing to ignore.

Overall?
How hyped am I about Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow)? As of this review I have already ordered Ichigo Mashimaro DVD V. 2 (August), DVD V. 3 (October), Manga V. 1 (July) and Manga V. 2 (November)… hmm… think I missed some-- oh, wait… (note to self - buy CD)… OK, think I got the essentials there. Right? Right. Take my cue and check this out as soon as you can.

Otherwise that’s that. And, for the record now -- I’m making this my recommendation of 2006, and giving it a damn good perfect score of a 5... Out of 5 (Adam Sessler accent).

-- David Rasmussen 23rd Jul 06

Strawberry Marshmallow Images