Strawberry Marshmallow

Strawberry Marshmallow (苺ましまろ) is a 12 episode slice of live comedy based on the manga of the same name by Barasui.  The series originally aired during the Summer of 2005.

 

    Itou Chika and Matsuoka Miu are neighbors, classmates and best friends. Sakurai Matsuri and Anna Coppola are classmates and a year younger than the previous two. Itou Nobue is a college student and Chika's older sister. The series follows these five girls on mundane everyday encounters and events. Chika is the most adjusted of the characters, she is normal and average. Miu is rambunctious and a bit of an idiot. Matsuri is the glasses wearing, quiet, insecure one. Anna is a transfer student of English decent who has become more Japanese than she likes to admit; she has even forgotten English. Nobue is sarcastic, chain smokes, chain drinks, picks on everyone but looks after the girls and protects their general well being.

    There really isn't a general plot that the series follows. Each episode is all unto it's self with no real plot continuation beyond the passage of time. The only major event is the introduction of Anna. The series stretches from April of one year until April of the next year. Unlike most school anime this one does not have an episode dealing with New Years or any school festivals, which is a nice change, although there is the usual day at the beach and night at the festival episodes. Aside from the five girls the only characters that even make any kind of residual appearance are two teachers and an old man that runs a candy shop they go to. You don't even see anyone's parents, except for Anna's (which is rare). You get the feeling that the series was designed to feel like a candid look at these girls lives, left uninhibited by any parents or guardians. They don't talk about love or live expectations; they all just live in the moment. One episode finds Nobue and three of the girls busting their chops to try and keep Santa alive in Matsuri's eyes.

 

    The series is quite sweet and goofy at times, it is nice and relaxing. You just feel all of your tension melt away watching these cute characters amble about in their ways, paying no attention to the passage of time. Ah to be innocent and carefree again.  This series is well done, the animation fits the mood of the story and the music is all airy and soft. This series really does remind me of a softer, more laid back Azumanga Daioh. It's a nice thing to return to something that feels so comfortable. Unfortunately the series was only 12 episodes long, yet that was partially remedied when 3 OAV's were released. The OAV's don't really fall into any particular timeline in the series and don't change anything about the series. So they are just like lost episodes, aside from different OP and ED themes.

    I highly recommend this series if you enjoy nice, relaxing stories about school kids being their normal selves and going about their days experiencing life, but not being controlled by it.

UPDATE: This series was licensed by Geneon in North America and is available on DVD.