Well it seems it has been a long time since my last post. A few days ago I thought I should get off my bum and write something and as I said way back when, my next post would be about the super cute show Ichgo Mashimaro Encore OVA 2 and so it is. On a slightly more personal note it seems i’m kinda losing my interest in anime. Mabye it’s just i’m not following more than 2 shows, 1 of which finishes this week. I’ll miss you K-ON!. So in an attempt to help spark this back up again here the latest (subbed) OVA there is. This one has a few stories packed into it like all the episodes and if you have read the manga, then you should be able to remember where they all came from. This isn’t so much a review like I normaly do but rather just a gallery from the episode and my random thoughts on it.

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When I first heard about this needless to say I was quite extatic as this is quite possibly my favorite anime i’ve seen. It’s cute as hell, real funny, has lolis and a perv of an older character. What more could you want? Well judging from the look of these pictures that I capped, a new production crew. They have managed to take the most simplistic and loveable art work and turn it arse up.

 Yeah, I know what you’re thinking

 Trying to force out a poo?

While Chika and Miu look downright wrong, at least Matsuri (my fav) and Nobue look somewhat decent still. I’m really not a fan of this new style but i’ll take whatever they want to make because I love the series. Oh and incase you’re wondering, no I don’t like Ana 1 bit as her voice is like nails on a chalk board to me so I can’t be bothered capping a picture of her. She is more or less the same as she was in the 1st series.

 Aww she’s just so damn cute!

 Yeah, the internet will make you do that occasionaly

Really? They ditched Barasui’s wonderful style infavor of a Manabi Straight approach? Seriously, when something has been proven to work why do people immedialy think “LETS CHANGE IT“. IT WORKED THE FIRST TIME, DON’T ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE WHAT IS BRILLIANT.

Thankfully these pictures are just a few from the 30 min show and thank GOD they aren’t all like that. See? Nobue looks almost exactly the same as she did in her first appearance.

At least it isn’t all bad and there are 2 more episodes to come yet. Now if Barasui can just disown this company and go back to the original we’ll be all set

Since it had been so long since I actualy bought set of manga books, at least 4 months, I figured that I  would purchase some random series that sounded interesting to me and ones I already follow but hadn’t  bought in a long time. This is just a rough summary of a few of the ones I bought.

Strawberry Marshmallow 5

I have been waiting on this book for quite a long time. Going on 8 months I believe. I’m so glad I don’t  have to wait anymore. As you may or may not know, this is 1 of my favorite show/manga series ever and  there isn’t an episode or a book that I don’t love that is related to it. Even the SM art book I have is  wonderful. As in the last 4 books, this has a great selection of short stories in it that are a joy to  read. Wether it is Nobue’s history on smoking, the girls finding out what their names mean or them talking  about best friends (I didn’t expect the “guess what Chika? we’re lesbians” comment Miu makes to find its  way into the offical book) each section is a wonderful read and there are quite a bit of laugh out loud  moments I found.

While Barasui’s style has changed slightly, the way he does eyes mainly, it still remains a fantastic  running series that looks as good as when it first started. Usualy this wouldn’t be a good thing as  character designs and the general look of things seems to change for the better as time goes on, this  series was always well done to me and didn’t need much improvement. Ok so the first 3/4 of the 1st book  the characters look very different and change a fair bit but as Barasui has stated, he never expected the  series to take off as it did so the characters looked different. Toward the end though he found the right  style for the girls and has run with it ever since. Bravo. If you love comedy and lolis this should be a  no brainer to buy.

Sunshine Sketch AKA Hidamari Sketch 1

Anyone who enjoys slice-of-life style anime I would wager has no doubt heard of this series. With a first  season already down, and a new one currently airing, it’s a very good thing that Yen Press decided to pick  this series up along with a few others. This manga seems to follow the newer series (x365) rather than the  original anime series. It may just be my opinion on this but perhaps the 1st series never followed the  original manga so they decided to redo it? Whatever the reason this was a great read and should be on  everyones list of manga to buy.

In true Hidamari Sketch fashion, all the character designs are the same and works so very well. After  seeing so much of the anime it is quite easy to imagine the japanese voices when reading which really  works so much better. Oh and lets not forget that it is a rather impressive looking book too. I’m very  glad there are more of these types coming out. Being perhaps 1 1/2 inches taller than most other books,  the panels are very easy to read and the book feels very sturdy in your hands. Much tougher than normal  flimsy flascid soft covers. Now while I wouldn’t go as far as to call this a hard cover book, it certianly  has more strength to it than a floppy Shonen Jump style cover. Also an awesome feature is that there is  perhaps 3 or 4 pages at the beginning that are in full colour which I always love to see. Ah if only the  entire series was done in full colour. I’d pay an extra $5 – $10 for that. I know many others would too.  Back on topic though I love both the manga and anime series of this and am eagerly waiting the next book  of the series. The worst part about all this? There is still a few more months to wait until more Sae +  Hiro yuri love. Issue 2 will be released apparently on 11/30/2008. yay.

Ichigeki Sachhu Hoihoi San

I picked this up a few days before hand while I was in the city while staying with some friends for a few  days. What caught my attention was the cover. It was quite unlike nearly every other anime on the shelf  because this one, like Sunshine/Hidamari Sketch, is taller than most other books as well as coming with a  dust jacket. This seems to be a trend with Infinity Studio’s work, much like Blood Alone. This is 1 of  those series that I am actualy mad that I can’t find any merch for. This entire book reads like a  elaborated instruction manual. Perhaps the story may be needed to fully understand this.

In the year 20XX, all bugs (but mainly cockroaches apprentlly) have become immune to all types of  pesticides and sprays. In order to kill these bugs, rival companies have started making tiny, 10″ tall  robots that hunt down, and exterminate them. Think of them as tiny bug terminators. They are programmed  only to fight bugs, and in some cases, rival brands of robots.

Due to the storyline, as I said this book plays out like an instruction manual on what to do, and what not  to do. There are a few other characters but the main focus is on the robots (1st and main character robot  type is called Hoihoi-san). On top of instructions for your Hoihoi-san, there are also advertisements for  newly created items such as weapons, addons, vehicals and such. Again this is a wonderful read and is cute  as hell for such an odd topic such as tiny robot bug killers. At only 1 book long this is a great buy I  though. Actually after I finished reading this, I was really mad that there are no Hoihoi’s to buy. They  did make them as a limited edition (grrr) release but I missed out by a year or something. Buu

Konkon Kokon 1

The small petite book caught my attention on the shelf. It’s a bit smaller than regular manga and had an  interesting spine so I picked it out of the shelf. Awesome thing I did. By Broccoli Books (i’m starting to  really love their stuff) it is about a boy called Ren who is a huge monster nerd. He loves everything  about them, however he hides this from everyone due to him going “nerdy” when he talks about them. 1 day  when he is in class this little girl shows up claming that she has to repay her debt to him. He has no  clue what she is talking about but since she is a fox girl, he is naturaly intrigued by her and keeps her  around accepting to let her “repay him”. He picks up more monsters along the way. Be warned, there is a  trap amongst the monsters he befriends though -_-; damn traps.

Anyway this sort of reminds me of Hidamari Sketch as the reaction faces in this title are so over the top  it’s great. It has that really super cute quality thing about them. Oh and did I mention that all the  girls are lolis? I’m quite sure I did. So this is a win win book. While it cost me $25 (even though the  book clearly states $9.99 US) I don’t regret it at all and glad I picked it up. Only 1 in the series has  been released yet so if you enjoy it like I did, you’ll be forced to wait for issue #2.

Ghosttalker’s Daydream 1

I came across this book while browsing perhaps the only place I trust to buy manga from. It sounded  interesting enough and after finishing reading this about 30 min ago I can say that it was indeed well  worth the price. While the sticker on the book clearly says “warning explicit content” much as you would  find on any heavy metal album, there wasn’t much shocking imagery or content in said book. Anyway onto the  story. I can’t be bothered to try and remember the base storyline right now as i’m feeling exceptionaly  lazy, so i’ll just write what is on the back of the book.

“Say hello to Saiki Misaki, your garden variety girl working hard to make a living, holding down two jobs  at once to get buy. Yes, like so many others, Misaki has a normal day job… as a dominatrix and a writing  for a sex magazine. But really, that’s a pretty normal job, considering she moonlights as a necromancer.  If that isn’t odd enough, Saiki is an albino, and a virgin.”

Now while that sounds like it should be worthy of an adult sticker, I personally don’t but that is just  me. Yes there are a few outfits she wears in the book that are pretty revealing, a small number of times  when either her top is pulled off, or she falls over flashing everyone in the vacinity her obviously  shaved (or mabye shes just lucky)… er… nether region, but it is never explicit and you never really  see anything such as boobs or kitty. Actualy in the case where she falls over either the original artist  or the manga company who has aquired this, has put a big black rectangle over her naughty part so you  don’t actualy see anything.

As for the story itself it has me very interested. She acts as a spirit talker for hire. When someone has  a problem with ghosts, or something related to them, they call her employer (I guess thats what you’d call  him at least) and he gets her on the job if she accepts it. This could mean getting rid of a ghost, seeing  if a place is haunted or hunting down someone that a ghost wants to see… stuff like that. She also has  this odd demon weapon which reminds me of Spawn’s cape. It seems to have a life of its own and obeys her.  So it is great stuff to read. Oh and did I mention she is pretty cute too?

So that about sums up a few of the titles I’m glad I payed for. The only real issue I have is how damn long it takes for new books to come out. Does it really take like 4 – 6 months to translate a 150 – 200 page book and get it mass produced? If I can read an entire manga in 10 – 15 min then someone should be able to translate it in a week or less no problems. Take a certain person who manages to translate a full 24 or so pages in under 1 day, every month a new installment of Kodomo no Jikan is released. He isn’t even getting payed I don’t think to do that. Someone on a wage should be able to move their ass and still do a good job at things. Ok that’s my small rant over.

Or Ichigo Mashimaro for those who prefer japanese titles. This could very well be one of the cutest animes you will ever see. There are very few anime/manga I give my “must see” rating to, however this deffinatly is 1 of them. The most simple way to sum this up in 1 sentence would be, really cute girls do everyday things in cute ways. Because this series runs in both an Anime and a manga series, this will review both of them seperaly and sum up at the end my thoughts. Onward to the main characters of the story however as they are the whole focus of the show/manga.

Ito Nobue – Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese), Carol-Anne Day (English)

The oldest character in the series at 16 and is a high school student. In the anime however she is a 20 year old college student. This is presumably because she drinks and smokes, which in japan is illegal until your 20. Her personality changes a bit in 2 formats of the series. In the anime she is pretty mature, where as in the manga she is often shown as a bit of a kid herself. Personaly I like the manga version more but that is beside the point. Quite possibly her most notable and refered to personality trait is her love for the moe aesthetic. She is often found near Matsuri or Ana quitely watching them wether they are reading or bathing together. She is often called Nobue-Onee-chan by Miu, Matsuri and Ana.

Ito Chika – Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Caitlynne Medrek (English)

12 years old and the little sister of Nobue. She is in the same class as Miu and appears in the manga and anime, as the most sensible and typical girl you would expect to find of her age. She is very skilled at cooking and seems to throughly enjoy doing so. Her nickname is Chi-chan. Due to her normality (is that even a word?) there isn’t much to say about her.

Matsoka Miu – Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Caitlynne Medrek (English)

The best way to describe Miu would to use the word Trouble. She is always loud, bossy and has the least common sence out of any of the girls. She is very vocal with her odd and sometimes downright wierd thoughts. Saying something completely random out of the blue is no oddity with Miu. She lives next door to Chika and Nobue and is also 12. For some reason her usual method of entering Chika’s room is to come through her window. She is rather jelious of both Matsuri and Ana as they get more attention and affection from Nobue, who she seems to really like. I suppose its only natural as everyone has someone they want praise from right? Because of her odd thoughts and ideas, she is often found lying face down on the ground. I gather this is supposed to mean Nobue hits her a lot which sounds bad, but is often very comical.

Sakugari Matsuri – Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Kylie Beaven (English)

Matsuri, or Mats as she is called in the manga, is a very timid and softly spoken girl. She is quite physicaly weak and is very easy to trick. She wears glasses and has grey hair in the anime, and white in the manga. She is my personal favorite character of the series and just love her to death. Because of her gullable nature, Miu is always playing pranks or teasing her which causes Nobue to step in and set Miu straight (meaning a beating). She is a grade lower than Chika and Miu and is best friends with the last girl in the series, Ana. She has a pet ferret named John too.
 
Coppola Ana – Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Katie Rowan (English)

She is 11 years old also and is friends with Matsuri. She is originaly from england but due to her father’s work, has moved to japan 5 years before the series. Oddly enough she seems to have totaly forgotten how to speak english and refuses to speak japanese while in class, which leads her to speak engrish (long story, you’d have to read that part to understand I suppose). She makes friends with Matsuri after she figures out Ana can speak fluient japanese. Ana also seems to hate her last name too and is sometimes subjected to Mius jabs and teasings. Personality wise she is an extremely polite speaking and feminine girl. Also having blue eyes, fair skin and blonde hair, it is little wonder why she is Nobue’s favorite.

Anime Incarnation

Having introduced the characters, the next part I will start to comment on is the anime itself. Believe me when I say that this show may not be for everyone. There is almost no violence (if you count the Miu beatings that is) and the show goes at it’s own pace, which for some may be unbearably slow. Reciently I have started to adore these slower shows such as Aria and Sketchbook ~Full Colour’s~, so this show was right up my Alley. When I first decided to buy this show, I knew nothing about it. It was a spur of the moment I-have-money-and-want-to-get-something-cute thing. I bought the dvd boxed set and all 4 mangas. Looking back now I can say without doubt it was 1 of the best anime/manga related purchases I have ever made. I’ve rewatched the anime countless times and still enjoy it now. This is beside my point however so lets continue.

The anime series follows the manga events for the most part as one would expect. Sometimes characters are missing or added when an event takes place sooner/later than what it did in its counterpart but thats nothing to major. However being only 12 episodes long (and 3 OVAs which i wont count) it was required to strech, shrink and mix up the many stories that make up the 4 mangas. Parts from diffrent stories are meshed pretty smoothly together until you have a series to watch. The artwork itself is quite relaxing to watch. There are no seazure enducing flashes or dramatic images to be seen in this show. Everything is animated quite well and flows together nicely. The backgrounds and locations are reused a LOT in this show so that may a downfall for some. However I found it fine and didnt really notice for the most part. The voice acting, for me, is what made this series. The girl’s voices are so damn cute and distinguishable. After 1 episode you will be able to seperate each character from their voice alone. Something not many shows could do I feel. Wether it is Miu’s shouting or Matsuri’s timidness, the voices really fit the characters well and does a wonderful job enhancing the show.

If I had to pick a fault with the show, and I believe I do, it would be that there just isn’t enough episodes. The only thing I can honestly say that is bad about the show (at least for me) is that 12 episodes isn’t nearly enough because you grow to love the characters and humor they have. I really hope that in the future this show gets another anime series, because it deserves it.

Physicaly the dvd boxed set is quite appealing too. All 3 dvds from Geneon are packaged in a pretty collection box which has pictures of Miu on it. Each dvd comes with 4 episodes,  a bright and colourful insert which is also reverseable and an artwork insert which could very well be used as a mini-poster if you wished to. I bought mine when it was on sale for just $40 US so I got a pretty good deal.

Manga Incarnation

While I dont have a whole lot to say that hasn’t already beeen said for the anime series, here is the manga part of the series review. Published by Tokyopop and my prefered method of seeing this series. I adore the girls cute voices but there is something about the manga itself that I just love and cant really put into words. Perhaps its just a case of prefering 1 medium over another but as is the case with all mangas though, the first issue of Strawberry Marshmallow is quite diffrent from the rest of the series. The creator Barasui has said he never expected this to become a series so the girls had very diffrent looks as they do in the later issumes/anime episodes. The same can be said about their personalities to a degree too. For Example Nobue has gone through the most drastic changes out of all the girls. At the beginning she has long blonde (i’m guessing) hair. Over the next few chapters she cuts and dyes her hair until she final gets her short, brown hair.

Miu also goes through a change like this so it may be a bit confusing at first as to which girl is which but eventualy it settles on the styles they have now. I just noticed i’m about as far off the point of the manga as I could be without breaking into another chain of thought so lets get back to the book itself. The art for the manga, like the anime, is simple and yet it works really well. The faces and reaction on the characters are cute and sometimes quite humorious. There are even some situations and story parts that are left out in the anime which are pretty funny to read.

If I had to fault the manga however it would be that sometimes there is no explanations of puns and jokes. I guess this is something that cant be helped with every manga or anime that gets an english version. There is always going to be things we just dont understand because of culture diffrences or so forth. However a few pages at the end of the book just letting you know what X joke ment would of been nice to have.

Physicaly the manga is pretty much what you would expect. It has nice artwork on the front and back, a very clearly labeled and numbered spine and is printed in classic, right-to-left manga style. Between each chapter/story it seems there is also a nice double sidded artwork picture of 1 of the girls in a random outfit, Say a waitress, astronaut, doctor and such. Quite a pretty looking book set if I do say so.

Final Overview

As i’ve said already, this series belongs in everyones collection. The stories, artwork, characters and humor are all just so well done that the show really becomes to cute to not like. Yes there are faults with it, like the mentioned reuse of backdrops and slow pacing, but if you can deal with them you will throughly enjoy the show. All in all these books are cheap and if you see these in a store, pick it up and have a quick flick through. Chances are you will enjoy it.

I’d give the anime a  8/10 myself.

I’d give the manga a 9/10 if your looking for a slice-of-life comedy about 4 cute girls and an older sister