Strawberry Shorthand: Difference between revisions

{{quote box|[[File:StrawberryTortoise.jpg|frame|You will never know what it's like to be this happy.<ref>[[Big No|NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO]][[Subverted Trope|M!]]</ref>]]}}

Mmmm, strawberries! With their bright red bodies, charming star-shaped leaves, and tart, juicy taste, it's not hard to see why they're so well-liked the world over. They go great with [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Chocolate|chocolate]]. They make a good flavoring for ice cream, milk, or yogurt. They make delicious jams and syrups, perfect for toast, pancakes, or [[Date Crepe|crepes]]. They're just plain ''good'' all by themselves.

It's not surprising, then, that strawberries have also become one of the more popular symbolic fruit. Not quite as much as [[How Do You Like Them Apples?|apples]], but they've earned their own place. They generally show up in order to imply one of two things:

# Love, especially passion. Perhaps it's because they're shaped kind of like hearts. In Western examples, strawberries as symbols of love and/or passion tends to come with a side-order of [[Erotic Eating]] -- especially—especially if the strawberry involved is covered in chocolate. (See also describing someone as "Tasting like strawberries.") In Eastern productions, strawberries can mean more innocent love -- andlove—and even occasionally [[Girls Love]].

In Japan, "Strawberry" is a popular word for [[Word Salad Title|utterly random anime titles]], though you can bet that series with "Strawberry" in the title will be [[Tastes Like Diabetes|an adorable shojou series]]... or at the very least, [[Widget Series|quirky]]. As it happens, the Japanese word for "Strawberry" is similar to (as in sounds exactly the same as) the popular name "Ichigo," though there are lots of different ways of spelling it. As such, expect puns.

{{examples|Examples:}}

* ''[[I My Me! Strawberry Eggs]]''

* ''[[Strawberry Shake Sweet]]'' and ''[[Strawberry Panic (Light Novel)!|Strawberry Panic]]'' are [[Girls Love]] examples.

* ''[[Ichigo One Hundred Percent (Manga)|Ichigo 100%]]''/''Strawberry 100%''.

* L from ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' loves strawberries, although he wasn't intended to be cute. His love of the fruit is played up in [[Fan Art]].

* The main character of ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' is named Ichigo, and all her weapons and attacks have some variation of "strawberry" in the name. And yes -- sheyes—she's cute.

* In an [[Erotic Eating]] variation in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'', Ayumu eats a strawberry so seductively it gets ''censored.'' (The strawberry, we mean.)

* The first [[Opening Theme]] for ''Wagamama Fairy [[Mirumo Dede Pon]]!'' included a line that translates to "with a strawberry-like feeling" ("ichigo no you na kibun de"). Appropriately, the [http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg78/evalana/kaedeichigo.png accompanying image] was Kaede's head on a strawberry being held by her [[Sweat Drop|Sweat Dropping]]ping crush.

* ''[[Gintama (Manga)|Gintama]]'', and "Strawberry milk!"

* The [[Hentai|quirky]] [[Absurdly Powerful Student Council|student council president]] in the spinoff, [[Please Twins|Onegai Twins!]] (and the [[Hot for Teacher|main character's]] friend in the original [[Please Teacher|Onegai Teacher!]]) is named "Ichigo" (using the kanji for "strawberry"). And is even voiced by [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Tamura]] [[When They Cry|Yukari]].

* According to the villain in ''[[GoldeneyeGoldenEye (Filmfilm)|GoldeneyeGoldenEye]]'', [[Distressed Damsel in Distress|Natalya]] [[You Taste Delicious|tastes like strawberries]] (to [[James Bond]] replies "I wouldn't know", as she hadn't fallen for him yet).

* ''[[To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar (Film)|To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar]]'': The town's distinguishing tradition (and one of the things that perks the trio up) is their Strawberry Pie competition. The [[Drag Queen|Drag Queens]]s convince them to go all out and try and range of strawberry themes and dress in glorious bright red. The actual day and the strawberry explosion occurs at a climax of a series of events where they draw out the passions of several of the town folk. The symbolism of the bright red lace in the grainy agricultural town is obvious.

* ''[[Sleeper (Filmfilm)|Sleeper]]'': Woody Allen is foraging at a farm growing enormous produce, and knocks out a guard with a strawberry the size of a beachball.

* ''[[Across the Universe (Filmfilm)|Across the Universe]]''. SO MUCH STRAWBERRY! And it can be interpreted however you darn well want to interpret it.

* While ''[[Kamikaze Girls (Light Novel)|Kamikaze Girls]]'' doesn't feature strawberries in any way, there is a scene where [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|girly Momoko]] discovers that [[Tomboy and Girly Girl|tomboy "Ichiko"'s]] real name is actually [[Embarrassing First Name|"Ichigo"]]. Momoko then procedes to call her "Strawberry" repeatedly. [[Berserk Button|Violent]] [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' neither Granny Weatherwax (bitter old witch) nor Moist Lipwig (conman and a crook) like strawberries.

* In ''[[Lost]],'' when Kate kisses Sawyer, he says she tastes like strawberries (to which she replies "you taste like fish biscuits").

** ... and is [[Nightmare Fuel|absolutely]] [[Last -Note Nightmare|terrifying]].

{{quote| Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine,<br />

I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine<br />

A million tomorrows shall all pass away<br />

* Strawberries also feature on Desdemona's handkerchief in ''Othello''. Iago specifically describes the hanky while using it as a plot device to convince Othello of his wife's betrayal. The symbolism of pure white cloth stained by blood-red spots is evident, and it's echoed in the bedroom murder scene -- unusuallyscene—unusually, strawberries mean just the ''opposite'' of happiness and sweetness here.

* ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'': One of the Prince's ''[[Loads and Loads of Characters|many]]'' [[Katamari Damacy|Royal Cousins]] is Ichigo, a [[Kawaiiko]] who boasts her 'strawberry figure' as one of her [[Charm Point|Charm Points]]s. However, she's also a [[Green -Eyed Monster]] and a pure [[Attention Whore]], something the [[King of All Cosmos]] himself has repeatedly noted.

* [[King's Quest VII]]: When the [[Rhymes Onon a Dime|packrat]] is offered salt, he offers to trade it for a [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Chocolate|chocolate malt]]. Valanice will refuse because she wants to "watch [her] figure" (I hope [[Happily Married|Graham]] appreciates that, Val). Rosella will ask if the rat's got strawberry instead. (She inherited her daddy's sweet tooth, apparently).

* In ''[[Kirby]] [[Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards (Video Game)|64]]'', the first course of Neo Star takes place in a jungle teeming with strawberry plants in fruiting season.

* ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'': "I'll have you know I like strawberries much more than [[Erotic Eating|bananas!]]"

* It is often mentioned in the 18+ Otome Game ''[[Under the Moon (Visual Novel)|Under the Moon]]'' that female lead Ashe's favorite food is strawberries, and she is presented as being cute, innocent and irresistible. (Just ask the male characters, they all concur.)

* ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]'' is about as [[Tastes Like Diabetes|sickeningly cute]] as this trope gets.

* When Beast Boy and Cyborg go inside Raven's head in ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' the place where Raven's happy side lives has flying strawberries in it.

* A [[Noodle Incident]] in ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (Animation)|Galaxy Rangers]]'' has Shane snarking about [[Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables|an early attempt at Kiwi-engineered]] strawberries the "size of a basketball. Tasted like it had been through a hoop a million times."

* Lotso from ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'' smells like strawberries, which makes him appear [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|more likable than he is]].

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