[ TV ]

Reviewer : Kylara

A sweet, funny anime with a wacky name is the exact description of Marmalade Boy. Starring the messed-up, strange, and confusing life of high-school student Koishikawa Miki, this 76-episode anime revolves around the problems and sweet moments that her teenage life demands. It begins when her normal, perfectly happy parents calmly inform Miki that not only are they getting a divorce, but they're swapping spouses with another couple, the Matsuuras. They all plan to live in one house, as to ensure that Miki, as well as Yuu, the Matsuuraas' son, live with their same parents. Yuu happens to be Miki's age, as well… and in Miki's eyes, very handsome. Sparks fly in her eyes, as she falls for Yuu (like a rock), but other complications arise at the same time. Her best female friend, Akizuki Meiko, is in love with their teacher - and her good male friend, Suou Ginta, is falling in love with her. This results in one huge love - pentagon? And several more messy love triangles.

I enjoyed the first season (episodes 1-26), but after that, the show became much like a soap-opera. For instance, a plot element in the first season is who Yuu's true father really is- but you don't find out until the very last episode of the show. New characters are brought in at an amazing rate; if I tried to count all the love triangles and characters, my head would spin. Characters in this anime are almost always either A: In love with Miki, or B: In love with Yuu. In the first season, it was very cute and fluffy, but for fifty more episodes? It's done to death. Also, Miki, whom almost everyone seems to be in love with, doesn't really have any endearing qualities. She's very insecure, especially about Yuu, is indecisive, and acts very much like a little girl much of the time. Everything is fine in the first season, but the problems (and the drama) are just too over-done as time goes on.

I would recommend people to watch the first season - and to read ALL of the manga - but the only point to watching this to the end is to see if the couple, Yuu and Miki, will break up or not. Overall, it wasn't bad, just too much repetitiveness.

[ Movie ]

Reviewer : Kylara

An accompaniment to the series of the same name, this is a sweet, fresh look at the show. Released some time after the show was released (I think the show might have finished, actually, by the time this was shown), it looks very similar to the episodes themselves, both in length and style. For some odd reason, this is called a 'movie,' even though it's only 20-odd minutes long.

[Ed. note: I think Kylara ends up detailing half of the movie in the next section in order to set up the basic plot. :P]

Set right after the end of episode one, Matsuura Yuu is grinning happily to himself, proud of just having managed to ultimately confuse Miki and get a kiss, all in one. As he reminisces about it, he goes back to the reason why he kissed her in the first place. Flashbacking to Yuu's point of view to his parents' partner-exchanging fiasco, it details his reaction and various other emotions he goes through. (In the show, you only saw Miki's reaction.) While out in the park, he spots a pony-tailed brunette playing tennis against a wall - he's impressed, because she's fairly good at it. When a little squad of power-ranger look-alikes attack her with a water gun, he's amused to find that she, although obviously twice their age, is perfectly willing to play along with the kids. When she runs after the kids, hollering war cries, he notices (after he stops laughing) that her [pink] armband, with the initials "M.K.," has been left behind in her haste, to, er, play with the kids. Picking it up, he walks off. The next day, he sees her again as he is having coffee at the shop he works out - freaking out his boss, he runs off after her. Eavesdropping on the conversations she has with the girl she's shopping with [who, from watching the show, you know is her best friend Akizuki Meiko] and the squad of little kids from the day before, he realizes that her name is Miki Koishikawa, and that she is the daughter of the couple that his parents are swapping partners with. Intrigued by his realization, he proceeds to stalk her for the rest of the day. Very funny and very cute, this movie provides an insight as to why Yuu feels for Miki so strongly right off the bat, ending with the first time that Miki saw Yuu.

Interestingly enough, this movie is anime-only, meaning it didn't happen in the mange. The manga artist enjoyed the movie, but didn't quite like the idea [she entertained the idea of love at first sight for both of them at the same time]. The idea didn't even exist when the show started, but that makes it enjoyable. I liked the movie a lot - more than I did some parts of the show! [Ed. note: I find it kind of ironic that the movie review is a great deal longer than that for the 76 episode tv show. ;p] It was pure cuteness and enjoyable because you're seeing the characters before all the love triangles mess up their lives. Also, it was delightful because throughout the show, you usually see Miki's point of view, not Yuu, and even if you're just watching the show, Yuu is fairly hard to read (he hides all his emotions very well). Seeing all of Yuu's sentiments about Miki is rare, and that much more fun to watch. Anyone who likes the show should watch the movie, for it's really cute! However, I'd recommend watching the show first - the movie loses a good deal of its appeal if you aren't already in love with the characters.