Marmalade Boy # 08

Marmlade Boy has a fairly soap operish premise: A young teenage girls parents go on a cruise and meet another married couple, they both fall in love, decide to get divorced, move in together in one big house so that they families can stay a family, and get married. Now of course this turns the childrens lives upside-down. Especially Miki's, she is very determined to make them see what a mistake this is, while the other couple's child Yuu, only (seemingly)cares about his parent's own happiness and disregards his own. Miki is taken aback by his calm and collected attitude, she just DOESN'T understand how ANYONE could act like that, in this sort of situation. Needless to say there are many other complications in Miki's life as well. Such as a past love, a friend named "Ginta" who "supposedly" burned her really badly when she professed her love to him. Oh, and this is just the first Volume. ;P Marmlade Boy may have soap operish themes, but that doesn't make it a soap Opera at all. Because in my opinion a soap opera is something that takes itself waaaaaay to seriously when it should, and ends up being hilarious as a result. Marmalade Boy on the other hand doesn't take itself completely seriously. It has a balance, it is a very delicate and thin line that Mataru Yoshizumi walks across with assurance and handles the subject matter wonderfully. Marmalde Boy is very funny, not because it takes itself to seriously and has a lousy and laughable story, but because it has a great sense of humor and is genuinely funny. On top of all that, the High School students are Freshman, and they ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE FRESHMAN.! Wow! hehe Its just, most of the time in manga, the characters look a lot older then they are(unless they are older to begin with). So it is refreshing to see a manga with the teenagers look like teenagers. hehe I HIGHLY reccomend "Marmalade Boy" Volume 1, to anyone who likes quality manga or Shoujo. The series continues on with the same quality, and I would reccomend the subsequent volumes as well. God Bless & *enjoy* ~Amy

Marmalade Boy is a shojo (girls') manga by Wataru Yoshizumi, centering around high school student Miki Koishikawa and her crazy circle of family and friends. In this, the first volume, Miki's parents are divorcing in order to swap spouses with another couple, the Matsuuras. While Miki's less than thrilled with this turn of events, the other couple's son, Yuu, is awfully good-looking...Once Miki, Yuu, and their parents have all moved into one house as one big happy family, a new wrinkle is added. Ginta Suou, Miki's tennis club captain and long-time friend, rejected her in junior high when she wrote him a love letter. They're just friends now...or at least Miki feels that way. Ginta may feel a bit differently...Yoshizumi's elegant (though anatomically disastrous) art does a handy job of realizing the quirky characters, and the top-notch localization helps pull you into Miki's world. The plotting is expert also (though on occasion soap-operaish). This is one of my favorite manga series, and I highly recommend it.

I must admit, this wasn't a blind buy, so I can't take credit for my clairvoyant ability to choose fabulous manga. Quite the opposite, I was intrigued by an anime magazine which listed Miki and Yuu as the 5th most romantic couple in anime/manga. And let me assure you, it's the truth."Marmalade Boy" is a triumph of beautiful artwork and characters that you will love from the moment you open the book. Koishikawa Miki has an ordinary life, with an ordinary family. Until her parents return from a Hawiian vacation with the news that they are in love...but not with each other! Miki's parents have fallen in love with another couple, the Matsuura's. Enter Yuu, the Matsuura's son, and a crazy plan for all six of them to live together, and wacky, romantic and touching hijinks ensue. "Marmalade Boy" is a fun loving, romantic story with memorable characters and enough twists to keep you guessing. And even better, it is published right to left, so none of the artwork has been altered in any way!

A lot of people compare Marmalade Boy to a soap opera, and I understand why, but I think that gives a slightly wrong impression. There *is* an enormous love polygon in this series, but instead of being shallow and nonsensical like a soap, the relationships in Marmalade Boy are true to life. This series touches on topics that so many other love stories gloss over: problems getting along with one's family, the complicated feelings people have about their friends, envy, the importance of trust, and the difficulty of a couple staying together when everyone seems to want to tear them apart. I don't want to make it sound like Marmalade Boy is full of angst; it has it's share, but it's full of laughs as well. It's light but deep at the same time. The characters are well-rounded, but take some time to get to know. I prefer the anime to the manga (coming soon from TOKYOPOP as well ^_^), but out of all the shoujo manga I've read, this series is one of the best.

Marmalade Boy is something that many people have said would never be licensed, because it has no audience in America. This applies to the anime in particular, since there are over 70 episodes. However, thankfully that's been proven wrong in the fact that both the anime and manga have been licensed by TOKYOPOP.Marmalade Boy is like a soap opera in a way. There are no magical powers, no giant robots and no dragons. Instead we follow the day-to-day life of Miki Koishikawa. The story starts with a bizarre turn of events that result in teenage Miki living in one house with four parents and her new step-brother, Yuu. Yuu seems like a jerk (albeit a very good-looking one) to her, but is very popular at school. Naturally she finds herself getting caught under Yuu's spell, but things become complicated as it is revealed that both Miki and Yuu have old flames (Ginta and Arimi respectively) who are still interested in them. Marmalade Boy is light-hearted, romantic fun. This highlights a fundamental difference between Marmalade Boy and most soaps: Instead of making you want to throw things at the screen because the characters are so stupid, Marmalade Boy makes you smile when you read it.I have one word to describe the translation: Incredible. Anyone who still holds a grudge against Mixx/Tokyopop for how they treated some of their older titles will find themselves converted upon reading this. And anyone who's worried that reading right-to-left style will confuse you, don't worry, it becomes second nature after a few minutes :DAnd what's the title of my review all about? Simple: I have to wait a month until the next book. What should I do!?