Categories
Anime DVD Review

Strawberry Marshmallow Vol. 1 – Anime DVD Review

ichigo-mashimaro.jpg

Strawberry Marshmallow is that one series that guys are afraid to buy in public, lest they be accused of lolicon tendencies. But it’s all just good clean fun! Good, clean, elementary school girls in neko-mimi mode saying ‘nya’ fun! For some reason I’m doubting myself now…

ichigo-mashimaro.jpg

Strawberry Marshmallow is that one series that guys are afraid to buy in public, lest they be accused of lolicon tendencies. But it’s all just good clean fun! Good, clean, elementary school girls in neko-mimi mode saying ‘nya’ fun! For some reason I’m doubting myself now…

Story:
There really isn’t a story to Strawberry Marshmallow. Stuff just happens between a bunch of middle school girls and their big sister. Well, one of them is blood related to her, and the rest are just tag-alongs. Miu is the loud weird one, Matsuri is the shy quiet one, Ana is the gaikokujin, and Chika is sister to Nobue, the perverted one. The only reason Nobue can get away with her fetishes is that she’s a girl, methinks.

Analysis:
On the outside, Strawberry Marshmallow is just a collection of stories about these girls doing random cute stuff. It’s the ultimate slice-of-life anime because nothing really ever gets accomplished. Much of the first DVD is spent introducing the foreigner, Ana, who has a pretty astute understanding of the Japanese way of life. The other episodes have the girls making a present for Nobue’s birthday (an ashtray, how sad!) and the girls terrorizing Nobue at her part time job.

The humor ranges from random cute stuff (like Matsuri in the neko-mimi saying ‘nya’ awesomeness) to Miu doing incredibly random stuff. Like testing Chika’s promotional paper tissue handing skills. There’s also this running joke where the teacher totally bullies Sazasuka-kun. Poor kid. Some of the humor is merely “chuckle silently to yourself” funny, but the tissue thing was definitely LOL funny.

Now, if you want to do a complete analysis on Strawberry Marshmallow, you’ll also look at the lolicon side of the story. There’s nothing hardcore, but it seems like the anime is definitely aware of itself and panders to the viewer accordingly. Like with Miu’s amazing stretching ability…

The Actual DVD:
I tried watching the English dub for a while. Matsuri’s voice actress is actually appropriately cute. But the rest of the girls sound too old to be elementary school kids. As far as extras go, there’s a short “episode 0” that has the girls in space for some odd reason. It’s like this Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey tribute that functions merely to announce that the anime is arriving soon.

A lot of the humor in Strawberry Marshmallow is dependent on understanding of Japanese culture. I got a lot of the references, but the average Joe probably won’t. For instance, there’s this part where Miu points to Eromanga island in Australia. The name of the island is translated, but there’s no explanation as to why it’s funny that there’s an island called “Eromanga.” It’s too bad the DVD doesn’t have any cultural notes, since it’d especially help for an anime like this.

Character Designs and Art:
Matsuri is way too moe. That’s all I have to say. Oh, I have maybe one addition: I have no idea why I find elementary school girls with graying hair to be so moe.

Conclusion:
Strawberry Marshmallow is a really sweet slice-of-life-watch-and-chill anime. I don’t have a problem with the actual anime, but I think the handling of an anime like this needs special attention. Any cultural referencing should be explained, since half of the jokes rely on that understanding. Or you could just study Japan (and be a weeaboo like me) for a few years…

Many thanks to Geneon for sending me a review copy of Strawberry Marshmallow Volume 1!

4 replies on “Strawberry Marshmallow Vol. 1 – Anime DVD Review”

Don’t doubt yourself, your not the perv, Nobue is. This series is terrific and if you feel embarrassed picking it up, just order it online it will probably be cheaper anyways. I did just pickup the manga at borders, and the clerk didn’t look at me too funny.

The girls are supposed to be in middle school. Despite looking like 6 year olds, they are in the 11-12 range. And Nobue is “21” (in the anime; she’s 16 in the manga)

nobue’s reaction made me wonder about her preferences too (esp. since it’s not definitively shown in the series if she’s interested in a GUY), but in the end i realized it’s all rather harmless. when i bought my own copy i checked around me for a bit (nobody i knew was in sight, luckily), then plunged on 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *