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Japanese title
苺ましまろ
Manga-ka/Author
ばらスィー Barasui
Genre
comedy, slice-of-life, shoujo
Volumes: 4
Distributor: Tokyopop
Classification: 12
Originally serialised in
月刊コミック電撃大王
Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh
Rating
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Strawberry Marshmallow (or Ichigo Mashimaro as it is more commonly
known) is the simple story of four young girls who live in the same
neighbourhood in Japan. The oldest is Nobue Ito, a 16 year old in her first year
of high school, who has problems with drinking and smoking. Chika is her
cheerful 12 year old sister. Their friends are Miu Matsuoka, Chika's classmate
(and their next-door neighbour) and Matsuri Sakuragi, an 11 year old with a
timid personality and a pet ferret.
The story follows these four girls as they deal with their daily problems, a
good part of which include the annoying habits of each other. Nobue acts as a
big sister to the other three, but in reality it's her little sister Chika who
is often the most mature. Miu often arrives unannounced through their bedroom
window, just one of the strange habits she has; while Matsuri is easily upset
and has problems getting along with Miu.
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Strawberry
Marshmallow is one of those series that is infamous among anime and manga
fans. I had heard of it before picking the manga, and my original impression of
the series haven't changed much now I've read it.
This manga is a very cute slice-of-life style series with a deadpan sense of
humour not unlike that found in the anime series Azumanga Daioh. There is
a slight strangeness in the overall feel which will be off-putting to some readers
(for example, the fact that Nobue is an addicted smoker and drinker at 16 jars with
the art style).
Similarly with Azumanga, I would say that Strawberry Marshmallow
requires a reasonable amount of familiarity with anime and manga to appreciate the
style of humour. One of the major themes running through this series is moe,
and if you don't know what that is, this series is more likely to irritate and/or
bore you than entertain you.
That said, Strawberry Marshmallow did puzzle me a little at first, especially
in the inconsistent character designs (the girls sometimes look very different in
different chapters), but that aside, this series is very funny and cute.
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Manga
Strawberry
Marshmallow is a pretty recent manga release, even by Japanese standards
(2003), so its immediate success has made the series available very quickly in
the West (especially America). I found the first volume in my local book shop.
Anime
Strawberry
Marshmallow also has an anime TV series and an OVA,
which are (like Azumanga) more popular than their manga counterpart. Wildly popular in
Japan (yet altered to be more socially acceptable in that Nobue is a 20 year old),
these spawned a Playstation 2 game. The TV series has been released in the West.
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