Jump to content

Marmalade Boy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Hanachan01 (talk | contribs) at 04:15, 10 August 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Marmalade Boy
Marmalade Boy Ultimate Scrapbook Vol3 (DVD cover)
GenreShōjo
Manga
Written byWataru Yoshizumi
Published byJapanToei Animation
United StatesTOKYOPOP
GermanyEMA
Anime
Directed byAkinori Yabe
StudioJapanToei Animation
United StatesTOKYOPOP
Anime
Marmalade Boy (Movie)
Directed byAkinori Yabe
StudioToei Animation
Video game
Marmalade Boy
DeveloperBandai
PublisherBandai
GenreDating simulation
PlatformSuper Famicom, Game Boy

Marmalade Boy (ママレード・ボーイ Mamarēdo Bōi) is a manga created by Wataru Yoshizumi and serialized in the monthly manga magazine Ribon. The manga was later adapted by Toei Animation into a 76 episode anime TV series which aired on Fuji Television. There was also a short animated movie (only slightly longer than a normal episode) produced in 1995, which was a sort of prequel to the series. The manga is published in English by TOKYOPOP which has now begun releasing the anime as well with the co-operation of Studio E.

Plot

Template:Spoiler The storyline revolves around Miki Koishikawa (小石川光希 Koishikawa Miki), a high-school girl whose parents go on vacation, meet another couple, and decide to swap partners. As Miki does not want to be separated from either parent, the two newly-formed couples decide to live together in the same house, despite Miki's objections to the new plan. The situation becomes even more complicated with the addition of her new (double) step-brother Yuu Matsuura (松浦遊 Matsuura Yū). She is initially attracted to him, but is put off by his indifferent and somewhat cold attitude toward their odd family situation. Yū also likes to tease Miki, which alternately turns her on and off depending on the situation.

Nevertheless, a love triangle develops between Miki, Yuu, and her old flame and childhood friend Ginta Suou (須王銀太 Suō Ginta), who once rejected her love for him due to a misunderstanding. It becomes a love rectangle with the inclusion of Arimi Suzuki (鈴木亜梨実 Suzuki Arimi), Yuu's beautiful ex-girlfriend. Arimi devises a plan to pose as Ginta's new girlfriend to make the new couple jealous, but Yū and Miki's bond becomes stronger under the tests, and Arimi and Ginta eventually develop real feelings for each other.

Even after Yuu and Miki begin dating (which itself is a situation full with complications), new obstacles pop up: in addition to many other potential lovers for both Miki and Yuu, there is also Yuu studying architecture in New York City and stumbling onto the possibility that he and Miki are, in fact, biological half-siblings.

Meanwhile, Miki's best friend Meiko Akizuki (秋月茗子 Akizuki Meiko) has a romantic relationship with Shinichi Namura (名村慎一 Namura Shin'ichi), the popular and handsome homeroom teacher for Miki, Yuu, Meiko, and Ginta's class, who is affectionately referred to as "Na-chan" by his students. A similar love rectangle is set up involving Satoshi Miwa (Yuu's best friend, who pursues Meiko) and Ryouko Momoi (桃井亮子 Momoi Ryōko) Namura's best friend who loved him since they were in high school together.

Relationships get more complicated as other characters Tsutomu Rokutanda (六反田務 Rokutanda Tsutomu) (crush on Arimi), Suzu Sakuma (佐久間すず Sakuma Suzu) (crush on Yuu), Kei Tsuchiya (土屋蛍 Tsuchiya Kei) (crush on Miki), Anju Kitahara (北原杏樹 Kitahara Anju) (crush on Yuu), Yayoi Takase (高瀨彌生Takase Yayoi) (becomes Tsutomu's girlfriend after he gives up on Arimi), Michael Grant, and subsequently Jinny Golding, Bill Matheson, Doris O'Conner, and Brian Grant are introduced, resulting in what anime fans call "the love dodecahedron" because of its ridiculous complexity. The manga is slightly less complex, since Anju, Ryouko, Yayoi and the American characters are introduced only in the anime.

Wataru Yoshizumi has joked about how many relationships there were in the anime compared to the manga. Another thing she disliked was how most of the characters were coupled up in the anime whereas in the manga not everyone had a happy ending and some characters were left single, which she has stated is more realistic.

Because of the highly emotional and whimsical female lead, the emphasis on the multitude of relationships, and the sometimes soap opera-like levels of melodrama, Marmalade Boy is sometimes offered as a defining example of shōjo manga. Some viewers feel that Miki is an unsympathetic character, and label her as fickle, indecisive or a "whiner", while others are attracted to the complexity of the emotions portrayed and how Miki gradually matures.

Originally, all the main characters' genders were reversed, with Miki and Meiko being boys and Yuu and Ginta being girls. The title referred to the original Miki's personality. However, early in production Yoshizumi's editor made her change the genders of the characters. Having no desire to change the name, she justified it by making a scene between Miki and Yuu early on in the series: Miki calls Yuu a "marmalade boy" because he has both a bitter side and a sweet side, but his appearance fools people into overlooking that. Yuu retaliates by describing Miki as a "mustard girl," who is "very hot and spicy." The lyrics of the opening theme song play off Miki's simile, equating love with the bittersweet taste of marmalade on burnt toast. Template:Endspoiler

Characters

The following characters appear only in the anime:

Manga

A page from the Marmalade Boy manga, volume 1 (Japanese version)
Manga
  Japan Kanzenban North America
Volume 1 ISBN 408853641X ISBN 4088551079 ISBN 1931514542
Volume 2 ISBN 4088536681 ISBN 4088551087 ISBN 1931514550
Volume 3 ISBN 4088536924 ISBN 4088551095 ISBN 1931514569
Volume 4 ISBN 4088537262 ISBN 4088551109 ISBN 1931514577
Volume 5 ISBN 4088537521 ISBN 4088551117 ISBN 1591820715
Volume 6 ISBN 4088537807 ISBN 4088551125 ISBN 1591821908
Volume 7 ISBN 4088538099   ISBN 1591821916
Volume 8 ISBN 4088538390   ISBN 1591821924
Novels
The novels are written by Yumi Kageyama, and illustrated by Wataru Yoshizumi.
Japan
  • Volume 1, ISBN 4086118726
  • Volume 2, ISBN 4086118939
  • Volume 3, ISBN 4086140136
  • Volume 4, ISBN 4086140330
  • Volume 5, ISBN 408614056X
  • Volume 6, ISBN 408614073X
  • Volume 7, ISBN 4086141051
  • Volume 8, ISBN 4086141248
  • Volume 9, ISBN 4086141566
  • Volume 10, ISBN 4086141760
Art books
  • Marmalade Boy: Koi no Style Book, ISBN
  • Marmalade Boy: Yoshizumi Wataru Illust-shuu, ISBN 4088550919

Anime

File:Eyecatch.jpg
This cell shows one of the many eyecatches that appears in the Marmalade Boy anime

Theme songs

Opening
笑顔に会いたい (Egao ni Aitai) by Rie Hamada
Ending
素敵な小夜曲[セレナーデ] (Suteki na Serenade) by Miho Fujiwara (Episodes 01-31)
枯れ葉色のクレッシェンド (Kareha Iro no Crescendo) by Yasuhiro Mizushima (Episodes 32-53)
夜明けのエチュード (Yoake no Etude) by Yoko Ichikawa (Episodes 54-76)

Production

Staff

Games

A Super Famicom game based on the anime was released in Japan in 1995. In the game you play the role of Miki trying to win the heart of one of the three major male characters in the series (Yuu, Ginta and Kei). This game has been highly criticised as being a poor imitation copy of the famous Tokimeki Memorial series by Konami. A Game Boy title based on the series also exists.

Trivia

  • Sana and Akito from Kodomo no Omocha look somewhat similar to Miki and Yuu (albeit younger versions of them). A fansub website has even compared the two series and calls Kodocha "Marmalade Boy on crack" [1]
  • It has been known to many old fans of Marmalade Boy that the anime staff had originally intended for Anju Kitahara and Namura Shinichi to die in the series. However Wataru Yoshizumi objected to it, believing that it will make the series too close to a tragedy. Eventually, the anime staff gave in and allowed the two characters to live.
  • This series marked the debut of voice actress Sakura Tange, who would later become infamous for her role as Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura.
  • Some of the characters that apppear in the third season are taken from Handsome na Konojo, another Wataru Yoshizumi manga that ran from the late 1980s to early 1990s. An OVA based on the series was released in 1991.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marmalade_Boy&oldid=68754877"