Ichigo Mashimaro 1
Opening: 「いちごコンプリート」 (Ichigo Complete) by Chika, Miu, Matsuri, and Ana - ka... kawaii~~! Song's catchy as well.
Ending: 「クラス・メート」 (Classmate) by Fumiko Orikasa: Can't quite think this is the same person that was just Miu in the show. Nice :)
A technical note first: Like last year's Rozen Maiden, Ichigo Mashimaro is broadcast on both TBS (now) and BS-i (starting August 4th). And just like it, the TBS broadcast is a 4:3 pan and scan of the original 16:9, so that's why things seem to be cut off in places (like the shot of the girls at the end of the OP, for example). The BS-i broadcast will be 16:9. So I'll be downloading it all over again when the BS-i broadcast starts ;)
And secondly, let me make clear what Ichigo Mashimaro is and is not here. It has no drama, it has no plot, it has no point at all. It is about really cute girls doing really cute and silly things and just going about everyday life. It's cute... very cute... kawaii... did I mention it was cute? So you should watch it much like Futago Hime, though with even less thinking going on. Just have fun and enjoy the cuteness ;)
Now, with that out of the way, let's introduce the characters. First, we're introduced to Nobue Itou@Hitomi Nabatame, 16 years old.. no, she's actually 20 (she was telling the truth the first time. She's 16 in the manga), and a very heavy smoker and drinker. She just ran out of smokes, so she goes over to her sister's room to ask to borrow some money. Her sister is Chika Itou (Chii-chan)@Saeko Chiba, 12 years old, nothing too special about her ;) Another girl comes jumping through the open window -- she's Miu Matsuoka (Micchan)@Fumiko Orikasa, 12 years old, lives next door, and is a troublemaker. Like Nobue, I have no idea what could possibly be going on inside of Miu's head. Nobue can't quite remember what she came to do... and before Miu can finish making fun of her for that she's on the ground, face down. Miu will end up like that quite a few times (and she'll deserve it, too). The doorbell rings, and a crying meganekko is there. She's Matsuri Sakuragi@Ayako Kawasumi, 11 years old. Nobue comforts her as Matsuri says that her dad ate her pudding. Nobue says she'll buy her some more pudding. Miu puts on her best crying face as she asks for pudding, too... nope. Miu ends up outside on the roof, face down (again).
Nobue finally remembers she was there to ask... well, to steal some of Chika's money to buy some smokes. However, she can't find Chika's wallet. Chika gives her 100 yen and asks her to pay it back. Meanwhile, Miu is all over poor Matsuri. Miu ends up in the trash can and Nobue leaves. Matsuri plays with her pet ferret John while Chika does homework. Miu asks to copy Chika's homework. Nope.. Now Miu wants to go out and play. They end up going to a park and Chika and Matsuri try to figure out what's so special about tomorrow to Nobue while Miu swings. Miu jumps off the swing and tells them -- it's her birthday.
So they've got to figure out what to do for Nobue's birthday. They don't have money to buy a present for her... so they'll have to make something by themselves. Miu comes up with an idea -- why not make her an ashtray? Chika and Matsuri agree so they all go back to Chika's house. After Nobue goes off to work they're about to get started... but Miu's hungry. After eating up they finally get started... but now Matsuri's tired. They try various things to stay awake -- drinking coffee, eating icecubes, but they don't work. Pretty soon they all get tired and start falling asleep, either being woken up by a smack to the head by a fan or Miu's loud talking while she sleeps.
When Nobue gets home she grabs some beer from the fridge and runs upstairs. She checks in Chika's room and finds all of them fast asleep. Along with the ashtray, each made a birthday card for her. At the bottom of Chika's card she sees this: "To Nobue, who's gotten fatter lately". Nobue grabs a black marker ;)
Chika wakes up in a hurry to get dressed and go to school. Miu's there in the window as always. She smiles a bit.. They meet up with Matsuri, still looking pretty tired. Matsuri tries to tell Chika about that, but Miu stops her. We finally see what Nobue wrote on Chika's face -- 家出中, "running away from home" ;) Nobue fires off a text message to everybody: "I'll take the sucky ashtray. Thank you"
Ichigo Mashimaro ended up being pretty much what I expected. Not too bad a start ;) The material for this time was mostly adapted from chapter 4 of the manga, with some things added in to lengthen it out some and fill in the gaps a bit. Perhaps with this kind of content it would've been better to structure the show as 2 x 15 minutes, but if it goes like this first time I really can't complain. There are plenty of things I like from the manga that I'd like to see in the anime -- Neko Mimi Mode Matsuri or ninja Miu among others, so we'll see.
Doumu's done a decent job with the animation. Character design is pretty cute and close to the original as can be expected. Cast is made up of top-notch seiyuu. We'll add the last member next time when we're introduced to Ana@Mamiko Noto. I'm an Ana fan so I'll be looking forward to that :) And Moy, would you really, really want to have Miu for a little sister? I dunno if I would. She's a bit too insane for me. I'd rather have Ana... or maybe Matsuri ;)
By the way, I noticed Geneon Entertainment USA was listed in the credits under "Production Assistance". I suppose that means we'll be getting Ichigo Mashimaro over here relatively quickly. Hopefully :)
Will BS-i be broadcasting at 720p?
Why do the characters all look about 7 or 8 years old? The grand anime tradition lives on.....
That ferret is really cute. I want one :D
I guess I'd enjoy the insanity of a wild younger sister than the normality (is that a word?) of Ana or Matsuri.
... also, the older brother instincts would be in overdrive once Ana got older! You'll have to protect her from all those peverted guys 'ya know! ;)
Good review. But I'd say the show does have a point: it gives us some of the subtlest, smartest, most adult humor in anime, despite its childish setting. Futagohime is definitely not something to compare it to. It's closer to South Park, or maybe Garry Shandling.
are there any male characters in this at all 0_o
Hashihime - I presume you mean, later on? Either that or my Innuend-O-Meter is acting worse than usual.
I do agree it's rather less childish than Futago Hime. I think the show shares some of the 'carefreeness', and all-around 'license to have fun', so to speak, of Futago Hime. It's just a more refined take on the theme.
I'd personally rather have Chi-chan as a younger sister. I don't want to lay blame but I know what it's like to have a younger sibling like Miu..:p I liked her "what are you, a moron?" remark. (Of course it turned out in the end that Chika'd forgotten about the birthday, but whatever..)
Oh, and yes, normality is a word, moyism. Sorry, but your attempts to morph the English language to suit your needs have failed, this time. :p
I wouldn't want Miu for a little sister, the girl's flat out insane! She can also be pretty mean, she picks on Matsuri and Ana a lot. She'd be a lot of trouble. :P
I'd rather have Matsuri-chan as a little sister myself. She gets picked on a lot and cries a lot so she needs someone to watch out for her. :)
Iris: They look 7 or 8 because that's what age you see them as. They could easily be 7 or 8, or the 11 or 12 they're supposed to be. Kids in general, and girls in particular, seem to mature physically at much different rates. These three (well four once Ana is introduced) just aren't maturing as fast. :)
Besides, I'm sure it's mainly because they look adorably cute the way they're drawn now. That seems to be the entire purpose of the manga, cute girls doing cute things. :)
actually if I think about it, if my younger brother (16 now) had been a girl I think she'd have ended up like Miu considering my family. Just can't decide if that'd have been good or bad (probably real real bad). ^_^;;
If I had to be realistic, I'll hands down want Chi-chan instead. She seems like the most level-headed of the group and also knows how to cook. Extra plus would be she'll have the kick-ass voice of Saeko Chiba!
I liked the harisen ranking chart :P