Customer Reviews

Marmalade Boy: Ultimate Scrapbook, Vol. 2

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished the third scrapbook volume and I can't wait for the fourth and final one. As for this one I gave it five stars mostly because of the episode commentary in the extras section on disc two. I have never laughed so hard in my life. The voice actor for Yuu is hilarious and so is the voice actor for Miki. The volume itself is excelent. I was surprised with the new character Kei I can't help but like him even though he's a little devious. Poor misguided piano player, Miki will set you straight. Any way this was a great volume and again you have to see the episode commentaries they are hilarious.

In this anime, Miki Koishikawa is a happy high school student, then her parents decide to get a divorce. But that's not the worst of it; not only are they getting a divorce, they are marrying another couple who has also decided to divorce (all of them having met while on vacation) and are going to live in the same house. To top it all off, Miki now has a new step-brother (Yuu) who is very cute. The rest of the series involves Miki struggling to accept this new family, sorting out her feelings for Yuu, and dealing with all of the guys who like her and being jealous of the girls who like Yuu. It all ends well, the last scene being Yuu and Miki's marriage, but in between you can get a bit tired of the love triangles (just when you think they have sorted out one problem, they add a new character!). Overall, however, it is a very good shoujo (girly anime). (Also, the name for this anime comes from a conversation between Miki and Yuu at breakfast in which Yuu calls her mustard girl and she counters by calling him Marmalade Boy- because he is bitter on the outside, but sweet inside.)
I do not know what the English version is like, having watched the whole thing in Japanese, but I doubt that it has changed much.

Shoujo stories honestly are very hit or miss with me, and not just because I'm a guy! But they tend to be much too sweet, too fluffy and indulgent for it's own good. Catering to the daydream love fantasies of both young girls and middle aged women alike, I heard the name Marmalade Boy for a few years, and even considered picking it up at one point when I read an article about the series on another site. But a critical opinion of the show, given to me by a friend made me lose any interest in pursuing this one.

About 2 years later, I took the plunge and decided to give an actual try...and I think it's safe to say that I'm glad I did. Marmalade Boy is a classic shoujo series from the 90's, and it's influence is probably seen in just about every other shoujo manga ever since. There are love triangles galore, angst, hormones, crying, everything you'd expect from a show like this! But what makes MB stand out is the fact that it plays out like a Soap-Opera-- In that it's twist come at such fierce speed that you can't help but go"Wait...what?", and boy is like crack. MB turned out to be one of the most addicting animes that I've seen in quite some time, you can never really comprehend how or why the melodramatic 'drama' entices you so to keep on going.

Miki Koishikawa is your average highschool girl, aside from being rather at first embarrassed by her parents' eccentric and illogical behavior by switching spouses from another couple, then all together moving into one big house, bringing daughter Miki and son(from the second couple of course) Yuu with them. Miki and Yuu soon fall in love together though, and their relationship is challenged and manipulated many times by jealous ex's. There will not be a single moment where you don't think"Why are some of these kids so damn selfish?", but then you realize that that's the point of MB in the first place. It's about young men and women falling in love for the first time, and acting on their emotions, not logic. What makes MB work is that it's so addicting in it's own indulgent little way, but at the same time it shows an innocent and honest side to the human heart.

The animation and art can be an acquired taste-- this is an anime from 1994, and it shows by rearing it's low budget head pretty often, but it's quite manageable once you get used to it. The ost also fares well, my only complaint regarding it is that they use/reuse/remix the main theme way too many times, making the song too tedious to listen to outside of watching. Regardless, I have to say that the final ending theme("Yoake no Etude") really complimented on the events of the final half.

While I may have have enjoyed it quite a bit, like all shoujo-- It's probably not for everyone, especially people who nitpick and complain about as many illogical fallacies they can find in a show. Because frankly, there will be too many to really even count. The best example would have to be the New York City arc that pops up during the 3rd quater of the anime. These kids will infuriate you, baffle you and annoy you at how stupid they can act by being so self-absorbed. But like I said earlier, MB continued to hold a charm that kept me from losing my composure. It may sound like it's not even worth a shot, but in an odd way, it's still worth plowing through.

MB really was a wild ride in the end, so much that after the final episode was complete, and the final credits rolled, I couldn't help myself but feel saddened that I had to say goodbye to this cast of folk that I soon found myself attached to. And I'm confident to tell you guys that I thought the ending tightened up all the loose ends we wanted tightened by the end, so no annoying cliffhangers.

I believe that it's a fantastic anime that provides a lovable cast, and shows us a very sweet and sincere look at growing, learning and falling in love with someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. With an open mind, and despite some of it's issues with the wonky mindsets, MB is a very enjoyable watch for both women and men.

This series is adorable. I have yet to watch this season, but I know it will live up to my expectations of the first. The price and quality of this box set was great.

When it comes to shoujo anime, I loathe it. It's probably one of my least favorite genres. So when a friend of mine wanted me to sit down and watch Marmalade Boy with her, I was considering either becoming unexplainably ill or coming up with a "sudden death in the family" to keep me from the agony of a romantic plot line. However I ended up watching it with her anyway, and the unthinkable happened... I got hooked. We were watching it on dub and at first the only thing keeping me going were the horrible voices on one or two of the characters (I think I was laughing at all the moments I shouldn't have been laughing at), but after a while I got used to the voices and all of a sudden the plot was dragging me in! The majority of the characters actually interested me, save the main character Miki who would have been better off swallowing a knife. The character Satoshi Miwa, in my opinion, was probably the best of them all. Of course, most of my fascination probably comes from his blue mullet, but still his character was quite humorous and I enjoyed it. So, seeing as how I liked Marmalade Boy (which is still somehow a shock to me) I ended up purchasing and watching Scrapbooks 1 and 2, and now I have disk sets three and four coming in the mail right now, and I can't wait to watch the rest of this series. So yes, from a person who typically HATES shoujo, I would reccomend this title. And if you watch it, make sure to also watch the commentary... it was flippin hilarious.

just when you thought you found a show that was onley going to be short you get one that takes you from japan to american and back arrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh when will it end

Marmalade Boy is an excellent anime and I recommend it for anyone to watch. It's a drama between Miki Koishikawa and Yuu Matsurra. I won't say too much because incase you havn't seen the first volume. I will critique one and two.

When I bought the first I was quite extactic at how excellent it was. The opening theme song is superb but, the end is a little confusing. Who's house is that? You'll see what I mean. It isn't the best animation in the world but, remember it's from 1994. It took them 10 years to get it to the U.S. and translated. In volume one, Miki's parents suddenly decide to swap "parters" with the Matsuuras. Miki is not okay with this at all and she won't allow it. Finally she gives in and they all move in together in one giant house. Over the course of volume one and partially into two, Miki hides it because she thinks people will assume her family is nuts. Miki has to battle between two people. Yuu and her best guy friend Ginta. When Miki was younger she told Ginta something, and wrongly assuming his response, her heart was shattered by it. There happens to be a love triangle between these three! Then you learn about Yuu's past, Miki's best friend Meiko's secret, and a character named Arimi comes in and spoils the fun for all!

I am giving volume two four stars for a few reasons. I thought it was a bit dissapointing on how it seems to drag on. If you have read the Marmalade Boy manga, you can see that the anime has much much more than the manga. In the anime they add a key item that is so important I don't know how they added it in even though it wasn't in the manga, the medallion! That is one of the main things in the anime as well as the robot diary! Also, in the anime they portray Miki as a winy little girl. If you watch it a few times she won't seem like that but, in the manga she wasn't such a "drama queen." Well in this volume a few things are uncovered and Miki learns things from Yuu and Yuu from Miki. As pressures high, love is spuring in the air. In this volume you meet four new characters, Satoshi Miwa, Suzu Sakuma, Anju, and Kei Tsuchiya. Suzu stirs up mishchief, Satoshi "interferes", Anju is a childhood friend with a secret love, and Kei is just a hot head with one thing on his mind, MIKI! Will Yuu and Miki be tested or will "love conquer all"? Also, there is a band that plays and the ending title changes! It's wonderful! ^^

I recommend this to any who likes, shojo, romance, or drama. It's is packed with excitement and is appealing to the heart. This happens to be one of my all-time favorite anime's. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as well!

Marmalade Boy is a super cute series for the hopelessly romantic, and funny enough to hold the interest of the male species :)

Okay here i go, buckle up.
I started watching marmalade boy when I was eight years old. I adored it. Completely hooked is an understatement. I taped every episode and even made addicts out of a couple of friends. I got all the manga (yes, it was published and aired in Spain a long time ago) and bought the soundtracks.

The reason for all of this?

An eight year old doesn't know any better.
You want a real review of marmalade boy, here it is:
Lets start off with the title shall we? Marmalade boy sounds quite appetizing does it not? Well the feeling ends after the credits have stopped rolling. Exchanging partners is the most normal thing in the world. If they can exchange with another married couple with a cute son included thats a bonus I guess. This anime should have been called `six people get it on'. Your mother gets it on with my farther, my mother gets it on with your farther. And us, since we love each other so much, should get it on as well. That's the animes premise. Well lets start on the characters, miki koishikawa (typical shoujo protagonist) and yuu matsura (another calcium kid). The sun and the moon. She speaks off the top of her head, he doesn't know how to open his mouth. She's kind, him...well, a bit of a pansy. She is quite courageous and tries to get things sorted, and he (a lot of poor me syndrome) prefers to suffer in silence...and kisses miki while she is sleeping (so she doesn't find out he like her, bla!). In a nutshell, they are complete opposites of each other. Come on, with a guy like this your libido goes to hell.

The plot?

Miki: should I stay with yuu? Or ginta? With keikun?...ohhhh I've got such problems!
We also have ginta suou, a hot head who always speaks his mind. And lets not forget the fountain of tears and mikis best friend, meiko akizuki. She's intelligent, comprehensive, is loaded and reminds you of a thoroughbred horse, as miwa satoshi would say. Ahh satoshi, promiscuous...err, no, not in the end. But I haven't finished with meiko yet. Quite a perfect girl...what is she doing having a secret relationship with her teacher? (Not that I find anything wrong with that) She could have the whole football team but no, she prefers a teacher. (There is no reason why a mature and intelligent girl prefers a cultured gentleman then a band of stupid boys whose only interests are video games and sports). This series deals with relationships between a teacher and a student 12 years his junior, guys that don't know if they are gay, incestuous relationships (miki and yuu still decide to be together even after they find out that they are brother and sister), parents the are more immature then there own children...

Whose fault is this?

Well its wataru yoshizumis', the creator of this pile of crap. But by the way that's not her real name, it's her pen name. Yes the poor girl would be accosted by rabid fans and angry mobs if she gave her real name away. Or perhaps she is just too ashamed to admit that she is the creator of this so-called masterpiece. This woman also has a passion for tennis. The problem is she sucks at it so she decided to become a mangaka(no comment), and so now she always finds ways to insert tennis games into her mangas. At least one of the main characters has to play tennis. This woman has some fierce resentment. She also seems to resent the character of satoshi miwa, who is the only one the end up with no partner. He probably ended up with some guy. We all know that he's a closet gay right? This woman is cruel.

So, can we blame wataru yoshizumi for this failure of this anime? Perhaps we should blame the viewers. Those hysterical pre pubescent girls that love yuu (my god they have bad taste).

The animation quality?

Walking sticks that talk and fall in love. It doesn't give a very good impression to the maturing youth of today, who believe that anorexia is the sign of beauty. To put it bluntly the animation quality is terrible, however it seems to improve in the last season.

Marmalade boy isn't a good anime (is it a good anything?). The drama plays out like a bad Latin-American soap opera. This...thing that I am reviewing shouldn't be branded with the title of an excellent shoujo and has no point in its favour.

The creator should...dissapear somewhere and do the world a favour of never coming back and creating any more crap.
The series is...suitable for little girls, whose brains are full of cherry blossom petals.