REVIEW of:
 Marmalade Boy

Marmalade Boy       Miki's parents return home from their Hawaiin vacation with horrible news...they're getting divorced! Miki's horror turns into exasperation when they go on to tell her that they met this wonderful couple (Chiyako and Youji) on their trip, they fell in love, and they're switching partners. Miki is utterly against this situation, even more so when she finds out that they will be all living in the same house. She recovers a little when she meets Yuu (Chiyako and Youji's son). Miki tries to adapt to this new living situation, which she keeps a secret from her classmates, but then everyone seems to be keeping a secret. Meiko, Miki's best friend, is keeping more than one from her best friend. One that could, perhaps, destroy their friendship. Then there's Yuu, the closer he gets to Miki the more she realizes how little she really knows about him. The plot is full of twists and love triangles. It centers around the choices we all have to make, why we shouldn't run from them, and the fact that, sometimes, we have to let those we love go.                         - Ari

-Quick Scale- (click here for the details on scoring)
  10 = EXCELLENT!!
   5 = Average
   0 = TERRIBLE!!

Mizu
(info)
Ari-chan
(info)
Shinma-san
(info)
Artistry 5 5 5
Character
Development
8 7 8
Clarity 9 6 5
Plot &
Storyline
7 7 5
Style 7 6 4
Comments First thing I wanna say is it's very soap operaish. THe drawing isn't bad, but not great either. Like all soap operas, the plot is very interesting. I dunno...it's pretty good for a while, but then you might get bored cuz you feel like anyting goes. Don't get me wrong, it's still realistic sorta...it's not outright insane in the membrane stuff...okays...just felt like saying that. I'm crazy..nevermind me. Back to the review. While you watch the first few episodes, you'll get hooked. There are funny parts and many of them too. Overall it's a good anime to watch if you have the time that is (76 episodes..acks!). MY favorite part of this anime was the twisty plot, and the subplots. I didn't think that it was as effective as it could be partly because of the music (which I did not like at all) and the color palette didn't set the mood very well. Parts of it reminded me of Sailor Moon (not the good parts but the whinny Serena parts), Miki was either running away from her problems, avoiding people, or crying. It actually got better as it went along though because she started to grow a backbone. The artistry was okay, not as bad as it could have been, but not as good either. On the whole, it was an enjoyable series, which started off really funny. It was also easy to empathize with Meiko who's home life isn't as great as it appears to be. Another good point was that the characters emotional reactions were pretty realistic which added to it's appeal. On the whole I give it a 6. This was a decent series, perfectly aimed at it's target audience, teenage girls. The anime as a while was very average, but it had a few redeaming qualities, such as the character development. The character development as the series progressed was good, you see Miki go from an annoying average teenage girl, to a mature young woman who gets her problems worked out .. Eventually. Now I acn't build this up without breaking it down some. MY origonal feelings about halfway through this 76 episode giant were "NANI?! They're throwing *another* love intrest at Miki and Yuu?!". The author threw so many soap opera like qualities in this that I couldn't sit down and watch more than one tape or two at a time. Let's just say Miki and Yuu have more relationship problems than you can shake a stick at. The quality of the animation is average for a tv series, not too detailed, but not choppy at all. Overall this anime is good for you soap opera fans, but if you don't like shows that are mushy (Which Marmalade Boy *definately* is) avoid this title like the plague. Taking everything into consideration, I gave it a 5. Even tho it doesn't have everything I look for in a good flick, the audience it was targeted at would apreciate it.
OVERALL 6 6 5

TOTAL OVERALL RATING = 6- (5.66)

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