Marmalade Boy



Marmalade Boy is a very famous shojo manga series penned by Wataru Yoshizumi (Mint na Bokura, Ultra Maniac), originally published from 1992 to 1995. Its most famous adaptation is the 76 episode anime by Toei Animation in 1994, but it has been adapted to live action twice, as a TV series in Taiwan and as a film in Japan.

Miki Koishikawa's parents pull her aside one day after school to announce to her that they're getting a divorce. It seems that they met another couple on their recent trip to Hawaii, and hit it off so well that both couples want to divorce each other, swap partners, and remarry. Even more incredibly, the four want to all live together in one household... and the other couple have a boy Miki's age, the handsome Yuu.

Miki is dead set against the plan, but Yuu says that he's okay with it. The following day, Yuu enrolls at Miki's school. Miki has an accident in PE class and faints, and as she lays in the infirmary pretending to be unconscious, Yuu comes to check on her... and abruptly kisses her.

Romantic Comedy-Drama ensues.


 * Against the Setting Sun
 * Akira Ishida: As Kei
 * Always Someone Better: Miki and several of her love rivals, specially Arimi and Suzu.
 * Ascended Extra: Kijima, Yuu's boss at the Junk Jungle. Started out as a one-panel character stuck in there just to let Miki know that Yuu quit his job so she wouldn't be home alone during their parents' honeymoons, became an all-wise mentorly type who had a history with Ryouko and Nachan.
 * Badass Adorable: Meiko, in a (generally) non-violent fashion. Her gaze of steel has even made Yuu quail.
 * Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: The fashionable and popular Arimi is the Beauty, the booksmart and calm Meiko is the Brains, and the sporty and emotional Miki is the Brawns
 * The Three Faces of Eve: With Arimi as the Seductress, Meiko as the Mother, and Miki as the Maiden.
 * Bicep-Polishing Gesture
 * Big Brother Mentor: Kijima, as mentioned. His wife Rei becomes Miki's Big Sister Mentor as well.
 * Arguably, to Yuu Satoshi is both this and his best friend. At the, he lampshades this by quipping
 * In the anime, he's also this to Miki sometimes. Specially
 * Big Fancy House: Yuu and Miki's new house. And Meiko's, which is so big that Miki is all dumbfounded when she goes spend the night there. Also, Miwa and Suzu's houses: justified as their dads are very well-known architects and quite well-off
 * Bishonen: Yuu, Kei, Satoshi, Ginta, etc.
 * Bratty Teenage Daughter: To a degree, Miki and Suzu.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: They do that a number of times. Quite unusual for a shojo manga.
 * Brother-Sister Incest:
 * Squared in the last episode when . And you thought polygamists had it bad.
 * Calling Your Attacks: subverted in The Movie.
 * The Cameo: The manga has a very brief mention and image of Hagiwara Mio from Handsome Girlfriend, another manga series by Marmalade Boy's manga-ka.
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Canon Foreigner: Ryouko, Anju, Yayoi, all of the American characters...
 * Class Trip: the one to Hokkaido, where Arimi and Ginta start their Operation: Jealousy.
 * Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends: If you go after either Yuu or Miki, it's highly likely you'll team up with someone else... and you guys will fall in love between yourselves.
 * Clingy Jealous Girl - Crazy Jealous Guy: Lots. There's Miki and Yuu around eachother, Suzu, Jenny, Arimi around Yuu. Kei, Ginta, and Michael around Miki. Satoshi around Meiko, etc.
 * Cool Big Sis: Doris from the American arc. She's not really happy about it, since it works against her in the romance field: men, and specially her crush, only see her as a friend and not as a prospect girlfriend.
 * Crossdresser: Just once, but it's memorable:
 * Deadpan Snarker: Yuu, in the beginning.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: As demonstrated by Yuu and Miki's huge circle of friends by series' end. It comes with the bonus that sooner or later said defeated romantic rivals end up meeting their perfect matches.
 * Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: Subverted: Miki was pretending she was unconscious when this happened, hoping Yuu wouldn't tease her for a recent and embarrassing accident. It didn't work, obviously.
 * Education Mama: Both of Kei's parents. This drives him to stop playing the piano and run away from home.
 * Eagle Land: The Americans, specially Michael.
 * Elaborate University High: Two of 'em.
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: Anju Kitahara used to have long hair as a pre-teen girl, but when we see her for the first time, she's already keeping it much shorter. Also, Meiko has straight hair, but she starts perming it after she starts going out with Namura
 * First Girl Wins: Subverted: Arimi and Anju actually are first girls who knew Yuu from before he met Miki, yet Miki is presented first in the series and she ends up winning.
 * First Kiss: What Yuu took away from Miki in their Dude, She's Like, in a Coma moment.
 * Flirty Stepsiblings: The point of the whole series.
 * Forceful Kiss: Ginta on Miki in episode 3, and later Michael on Miki too, in episode 58.
 * Genki Girl: Miki.
 * Happily Married: Jin and Chiyako, Youji and Rumi. Even before they swapped partners, the couples seemed to be fairly happy.
 * More than that: they're quite happy to, all four plus the respective children, live together in the same house, and spend their free time together. And they even refer to themselves collectively as the parents of Miki and Yuu. This troper has long suspected their marriages to be even more unconventional than they seem at first blush.
 * Miki may be just a touch more Genre Savvy than she lets on; after she warms to the spouse-swapping, she is heard calling her parents' new spouses "Chiyako-mama" and "Youji-papa" in the subtitled version.
 * As unconventional as the Koishikawa/Matsuura marriages are, they seem to be the only one shown in-series to be happy.  Meiko's parents are shown to be unhappy and unfaithful (and for added drama, Mrs. Akizuki is a Lady Drunk), and Satoshi's father's chronic philandering seems to have put noticeable strain on his marriage (not to mention his relationship with his son).
 * Hikikomori: Yuu almost became one at age 12, spending a month locked in his room.
 * Hot-Blooded: Ginta and Rokutanda are the Slice of Life Shojo version of this.
 * Also, the two Grant brothers. Michael is more of a Genki Guy, tho.
 * Hot for Student Namura-sensei and Meiko are among the very rare cases where this situation is protrayed sympathetically.
 * Hot Mom: Chiyako and Rumi certainly apply, even if they are slightly older appearance-wise than the norm.
 * Hot Dad: Jin and Youji, too.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Anju, Satoshi, Ryouko-sensei.
 * Ill Girl: Anju, who has a weak heart.
 * Important Haircut: After their big misunderstanding over her love letter, Meiko jokely suggests that Miki invoke this right before it is revealed that Ginta cut his hair to apologize to Miki. After
 * Innocent Cohabitation: Miki and Yuu.
 * It's Not You, It's Me: Invoked by  and by  . There's a major difference, though: the first straightforwardly says "this won't work", while the other Cannot Spit It Out.
 * Jerk Jock: Brian, in his first apparition. But soon, Defeat Means Friendship and he becomes a Hot-Blooded Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Arguably, the majority of the male cast qualify for this (albeit with varying degrees of "jerk"). Notable exceptions include Jin, Youji, Akira, and Kijima (who omit the "jerk") and Satoshi's dad (who omits the "heart of gold").
 * Just a Kid: Miki discards Michael because she sees him this way. Michael does NOT approve. In the manga, this is also how she treats Kei, scolding him for being immature and nagging him to go back to school.
 * She does that in the anime too, to the degree of slapping Kei when he goes too far.
 * Karma Houdini: Mr. Miwa, Satoshi's famous architect dad. Notorious for womanizing,  And the deal is borderline Played for Laughs in The Reveal moment itself, Face Fault and funny faces included.
 * Kawaiiko: Miki, Suzu.
 * Leitmotif: "Moment," by Miki's very own seiyuu. The series' music of choice for moments of tension, catharsis, and romantic drama. Frequently, the last piece of music in an episode.
 * Lethal Chef: Miki's mother Rumi is infamous for her bad cooking.
 * Long-Distance Relationship: Miki and Yuu try this in the anime. It... doesn't work.
 * Love Dodecahedron: so many love triangles it's confusing.
 * Love Letter Lunacy: Part of the Backstory: Miki writes Ginta a love letter, and sticks it in a magazine in his bag. This magazine was actually borrowed from another boy, so the owner takes it out and reads the letter, humiliating Ginta, who vehemently denies any feelings for Miki, claiming she's one of the guys. Miki and Meiko, of course, came back to get something and heard every word...
 * Luke, You Are My Father: By Yuu, repeatedly. He really ought to know better by the third time...
 * Meganekko: Chigusa, Miki and Meiko's school friend.
 * Mistaken for Gay: Hilariously done with Satoshi and Yuu..
 * Don't forget.
 * Names to Know in Anime: Where do we start?! Mariko Kouda (Miki), Ryotaro Okiayu (Yuu, his debut role), Junichi Kanemaru (Ginta), Aya Hisakawa (Arimi), Wakana Yamazaki (Meiko), Kikuko Inoue (Anju), Akira Ishida (Kei), Sakura Tange (Suzu, also debuting here), Tohru Furuya (Namura), Hiroko Emori (Yuu's mother), Hideyuki Tanaka (Miki's father), Hikaru Midorikawa (Michael), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Brian), Nobuyuki Hiyama (Bill), the late Shiho Niiyama (Doris)...
 * New Old Flame:.
 * For some real recursion, some fanfics,
 * New Transfer Student: Michael, Yuu in regards to the Americans.
 * The Ojou: Meiko, though just partially.
 * Only Six Faces: Several characters have pretty much the same features.
 * Pair the Spares: Ginta and Arimi, Kei and Suzu.
 * The anime takes this to dizzying heights. . The only character.
 * Pinky Swear
 * Poor Communication Kills: The source of many problems for Yuu, Miki and others.
 * Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: Miki and Meiko give small vibes at the beginning.
 * Say It with Hearts: Parodied. Miki's parents announce "We're getting a divorce! ♥" and she is absolutely pissed that they could say that with a heart mark.
 * School Festival
 * Second Episode Morning
 * Secret Keeper: Yuu, for.
 * Secret Relationship: Meiko and Natchan, Yuu and Miki.
 * Sentai: Brilliantly parodied in The Movie.
 * School Newspaper Newshound: Miwa's friend Furutachi.
 * Shipper on Deck:, in the manga. She didn't want Yuu for herself there, but wanted to hook him with . Possibly a Shout-Out to Yoshizumi's earlier shipping plans.
 * By the end of the anime,
 * Also, Miki and Yuu ship Namura/Meiko. Though their deal is quite more complicated.
 * Tsutomu, once he stops being Arimi's Dogged Nice Guy, openly supports her and Ginta. In the anime, he goes as far as
 * Shojo: Arguably, one of the defining examples of the genre.
 * Short Anime Movie: The Movie is onle half an hour long.
 * Shorttank: Miki. Also, Anju when she was young.
 * Shrines and Temples: The New Years episode.
 * Slap Slap Kiss: Yuu and Miki started like that.
 * Spoiler Opening: The very first shot is of Yuu and Miki kissing. Gosh, I wonder who she's gonna choose?! That there is a scene later in the sequence of Miki standing between Yuu and Ginta, looking adorably confused, does not help.
 * That's because that one is the second opening, supposed to air when they are already together anyway. For some reason they decided to skip the first Japanese opening, perfectly spoiler free.
 * Arguably worse were the Spoiler Eyecatches. Every triangle on the show showed up in at least one, complete with the resolution, and they almost always showed up long before the actual resolution took place.
 * Stalker with a Crush: Kei's rather possessive of Miki, as she's one of his very few friends, and he does some serious work towards isolating her from Yuu. Anime only characters Michael and Jinny arguably qualify, as well as anime!Suzu. Satoshi is a more gentle version of this trope in regards to Meiko.
 * Watch the movie, and compare  This makes Marmalade Boy an instance of a Stalker with a Crush being
 * Sugar and Ice Guy: Yuu starts as this, hiding his feelings for Miki and his thoughts on the parental deal under his Deadpan Snarker facade. He aknowledges it as well when he confesses this to Miki, openly saying he liked how open she was on her disapprovement while he just couldn't spit it out.
 * Sure Why Not: Yoshizumi originally didn't intend for Ginta and Arimi to actually get together, but fan letters gave her the idea.
 * Throw the Dog a Bone: In the anime, Tsutomu meets Yayoi and ends up dating her.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Miki and Meiko. Later, Miki and either Arimi or Anju. Also, Jenny and Doris.
 * Twisted Knee Collapse: Miki, at least twice.
 * Two-Teacher School: Namura, Ryouko, Kyoto-sensei and the Principal seem to be the only ones.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: Ginta, Arimi, Anju, Kijima, Ryouko.
 * Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Subverted: Miki only thought her love was unrequited, because of the Love Letter Lunacy detailed above. Ginta actually loved her all along, but she got over him after the whole mess.
 * Wager Slave: Tsutomu loses a tennis match, and as punishment has to shave his head.
 * What Could Have Been: The original plan for the series, according to Yoshizumi herself, was to have Yuu and Miki find out they were really blood siblings, break up, and find love with other people. When she put this idea through to her editor the response was basically "You crazy, woman? The readers love Yuu and Miki as a couple!", and thus the two characters find out they were Not Blood Siblings.
 * There's more. An even earlier plan was to have each of four main characters (Miki, Yuu, Meiko, and Ginta) Gender Flipped, so it was originally going to be a boy with Miki's angst and drama experiences and a Genki Girl that eventually became Yuu. Yoshizumi changed it when the editors told her that male protagonists of shoujo manga tended to be weak and unlikable.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: Anju. Again, voiced by Kikuko Inoue.
 * Also, Ryouko Momoi.