Strawberry Marshmallow
Director
Takuya Sato
Production
Doumu, TBS
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
12 episodes
Year
2005
Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow) DVD V. 2
By David Rasmussen
20th Aug 06  It’s been awhile since I last reviewed DVD V. 1 of Ichigo Mashimaro, and in the series spring (which was in full swing in V. 1) swings into the hot blazing summer as the second DVD opens.
So, now that we’re nearing the end of a hot summer let’s say hello once again to my new little friend : Ichigo Mashimaro, aka Strawberry Marshmallow DVD V. 2. This brings us to the recent confusion over the series, and it’s “content”.
Recently questions of the titles’ “girly-ness” has come to light.
With a title like “Strawberry Marshmallow” (Strawberry & Marshmallow in the same title) you might be lead to think that this is a sugary sweet fluff fest that might put you into a sugar induced coma… and yet I stand (or sit as it may be) before you today to denounce this error. Strawberry Marshmallow is some kind of quirky dysfunctional humor that should find a solid hit amongst both male and female viewers, with nary a sugary fluffernut to be found. Here, let’s review again so you can see what I’m up to with this title. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to be introduced to the cast once again (so we can prove there‘s no fluffernutter here). As the hot summer sun begins to scorch down on the cast from the sky above, let’s recap the five main characters of the show and their quirks that is so not sugary sweet. 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 (though now in this DVD she is peddling out abit more money than she was in DVD V. 1). Sugary sweet? Far from it. Nobue is a chain smokin’, beer guzzlin’, part time working (in several part time jobs no less), 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 if that is sugary sweet then sugar is something I’ve never seen before. Chika - Once again this is the Spock to your as yet seen girl Miu’s Kirk (though she does swing at the “fences“ when the Miu goes dysfunctional at times). According to Nobue (first DVD, first Episode), Chika’s most endearing distinguishing trait is supposed to be that she has no distinguishing traits… that might be true at that, now that we’re up to Volume 2 of the DVDs. Miu - Dysfunctional as all let out, Miu does not change in the slightest in this DVD though she DOES have a totally out of character emote in Episode 5 (check it out). Otherwise once again 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. Matsuri - The ever lovable, ever emotionally fragile Matsuri returns… but her ferret (John) does NOT! At no point in this DVD will you see John the Ferret! (Apparently you see more of Satake the dog, who barely appeared in DVD V. 1, to compensate for the missing John). Ana - Finally the troubled girl who is trying to pretend to be a “foreigner” in school returns.
She 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. This time, however, it may be that the cat (concerning Anna) might finally be out of the bag…
(PS - There’s a recap of the first two episodes of DVD V. 1 on this DVD if you wanted abit more of an intro to the girls to go on past this one.) Strawberry Marshmallow DVD V. 2
“Summer Heat”
Episode 5 - Sleepover
The first thing you might notice about this DVD, if you picked up the first volume of the manga prior to this, is that a lot of this DVD is story rethreads from the first manga volume. Let’s start with this one, which is a rethread of the third manga “episode” Sinister Sleepover.
The first thing that is different about this episode from the manga, right off the bat, is the focus of the story. Originally it was concerning the “dysfunction” between Matsuri and Miu, because Matsuri didn’t like how Miu teased her about her white hair (which comes off as a more tannish tone in the Anime version). However in order for that to have worked in the Anime? You would have had to throw out the fact that Matsuri’s personality would have to take a 360 alteration since she had a different attitude in the manga in comparison to her soft spoken nature in the Anime (which comes forth in later manga “episodes). So out goes Matsuri, in goes Anna (who now has a major ax to grind with Miu after she stormed into her class while retrieving an errant ball that went through the classroom window only to blurt out “Coppola” (Anna’s last name) in front of her class). But this isn’t just about Anna’s feelings against Miu, as (in a twist) we also take a look at Miu’s feeling of being “odd girl out” in the group which comes up in full force in a touching scene between Nobue/Miu during the “sleepover‘ at Nobue/Chika‘s house. Episode 6 - Hot Summer Day
School is moving towards summer break, the heat is rising higher and higher, and the girls soon find themselves stranded in Chika’s cool air conditioned room as the raging heat of a hot summer day holds them hostage indoors. A good deal of the episode takes place in the tight confines of the room, but there is also outside scenes as the girls struggle against the heat that is affecting them in so many ways. And now, randomly, let’s take a completely non sensical look at this Japanese Public Education public broadcast lesson of practical English in… It’s PRACTICAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRONOUNCIATION WITH A SCARY OLD MAN!
Today’s lesson… “How to say “GINGER ALE” in scary old man talk!” Strangely enough the word ‘Ginger Ale’ can completely be misread in Japanese, and be pronounced to be something akin to “Milky Way Silver Frog”… or something like that.
But since that isn’t as exciting as listening to “O’Reilly talks about them in the same words as “pedophile” and “sex offender” (allegedly)” old dudes saying it, and now… a scary old man saying GINGER ALE. Scary Old Man - “Gee - eye - Nnnn - Gee - Eeee - Rharr - Ayyy-ellll-eeee…. GINGER ALE…”
(It looks a lot creepier when you watch the episode in Japanese Language version.) And that was a scary old man saying “GIN--” (silence) “… no I don’t remember you from that family restaurant you like so much… stop… no, I do like L&L Drive In but that’s not the… stop… STOP STARING AT ME!! STOP IT!! STOP IT!! ST… DAMMIT, I‘M GETTING THE CHAINSAW!! JU--” (deleted scene) Uh… where was I again? Oh, right, anyway the episode is all about heat avoidal and the insanity that comes from being land locked in an air conditioned room for at least half the episode, which includes weird “role playing“ (no costumes though until the last episode of this DVD), saying “I‘m so flushed“ in a weird way (flushed?) while recording it to somebody‘s cell phone, and taking turn sleeping in Chika‘s bed (and a few minutes where no spoken dialogue is given). Episode 7 - Beach Trip
This episode is a first, in that it’s the combination of TWO manga episodes in one.
The first half of the episode focuses on Miu’s “critical examination” of her friends for a report she has to turn in to school at the end of the Summer break (which you see resolved at the end of the episode), only in the episode she seems to title her report (summer homework) as an examination of Nobue/Chika only.
Several moments, like Miu following (stalking) Matsuri home to record her is not here, but the cookies (that Chika gave Matsuri in the manga version) are here (and return next episode). The second half concerns the beach trip episode from the manga, but different.
In the original version this trip was to “test” Matsuri and toughen her up, while this is just an excuse to “help” Miu finish her “critical examination” report (but since Miu wasn’t working on that report in this manga episode she doesn’t do it in this second half of the anime episode). Oh, and while I’m on the topic of Miu’s investigations… friends don’t let friends sneak into their room in the dark of night, shove stuffed animals down the front of their pajama top, and proclaim them to be “boobs” while filming them sleeping… yeah, right, guess who‘s the “victim“ of this timely warning! Episode 8 - Festival
This might be from Manga Volume 2, but since it looks like the manga won’t hit it’s second volume until AFTER Ichigo Mashimaro ends it’s run (allegedly) with possibly DVD V. 3... Well, I’ll take it this might be in that volume. School is on again, and seemingly everyone forgot about Anna not being able to “talk” Japanese because she’s clearly talking to Matsuri in class (during art lesson) and nobody seems to be noticing (especially since Anna takes this moment to confess that she‘s never wore a… well, you‘ll see…).
But the focus is a trip to a festival (which Miu is slowly driving her class crazy about at the start of the episode as she raps diligently on her desk with her recorder while chanting out loud during a quiet time Math test), which is a staple of these kinds of series. Lots of fun, and we wrap up.
OK, time to break this down so you can stop sitting on the wall over this and start buying DVDs. Ichigo Mashimaro Breakdown the 2nd
What’s Hot?
Now you listen to me, oh you critics who accuse Ichigo Mashimaro of being sugary sweet fluff! This series is a finely done little series that could, which is well animated, well written, well cast (at least in terms of the Japanese version since I still 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, and no it‘s NOT fluff!!
No no no no no no no no absolutely not! No fluffernutter here… I’m still not sure what fluffernutter is, but it sounds sugary sweet… I think. What’s Not?
Hmm… all this miscommunication about the true nature of Ichigo Mashimaro. If you miss out on this because you think it’s sugary sweet nonsense then you’re the one losing out, not me. Don’t lose out. Moments to Remember?
Everything, everything, everything… again. OK? OK! What to Ignore?
Just because it’s a show entitled “Strawberry Marshmallow” (Ichigo Mashimaro) it doesn’t make it guilty of being mindless sugary slush! Give it a decent break before you condemn it as bad for your intellectual teeth! Overall?
How hyped am I about Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow)?
As of this review I have already working on ordering Ichigo Mashimaro DVD V. 3 (October), while I wait (continue to wait) for Manga V. 2 (November)… yawn, so long to wait… bleah. Otherwise that’s that. No more of this nonsense about it being sugary slush already! I’m going to continue to make this my recommendation of 2006, and (once again) I’m sticking to my reviewing guns by giving it a damn good perfect score of a 5... Out of 5... Take that sugary slush!
-- David Rasmussen 20th Aug 06
Strawberry Marshmallow Images         
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