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Ichigo Mashimaro
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Animation - 8.6 |
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Sound - 8.2 |
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Story - 7.7 |
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Character - 9.0 |
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Value - 8.7 |
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Enjoyment - 9.1 |
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Average - 8.6 |
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andy |
(2008-02-13 01:38:19) 2008-02-09 23:55:56 |
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| The concept of Ichigo Mashimaro sounds like a potential nightmare. I kept imagining it as a giant, comic vaccum of nothing but the same 4 gags recycled with disturbingly "moe" 10 year old girls providing a crapchunk of fanservice. Luckily, most of those worries turned out to be false.
As weird as this sounds, you almost don't expect a comedy Anime centered around a group of 10 year olds to be kid friendly. It's usually all kinds of dirty, but this is an exception. Ichigo's humor isn't especially mature. It has some decency and most of it is probably within the grasp of preteen children.
In too many Comedy series', all the characters fall into the same gags that their extremely quirky personalities are designed for. The whole series runs on the same exact gags as the ones shown in the first few episodes, and the it just becomes dry and boring before the halfway point. While a couple of the characters in Ichigo are walking recycled gags, the center of most of the jokes, Miu, remains unpredictable to the end. Her most notable quirk is that she's random, which inherently saves her from the most common pitfall of characters in comedy Anime. A lot of what she does is completely out of left field. It's often difficult to hold back the laughter against this kind of shock and awe humor.
There are 5 characters in all: Nobue, a mild mannered 20 year old, her younger sister Chika, who is equally mild mannered, the aforementioned Miu, a neighbor, Matsuri, who is at times unbearably sweet, and the well mannered English immigrant Ana, who is completely Asian-washed, but still strives everyday to be more English. Besides Nobue, the other characters are all somewhere in their preteen years. Ana and Matsuri seem to be there more for cuteness than anything else. Ana's one gag is her failure to un-Japanize herself and Matsuri's is just her timidness. Miu's role seems to be the biggest, and thankfully, she is the most interesting. Besides her randomness, she also has some other personality quirks that lead to funny situations. She has a strange attachment to the 20 year old, and is prone to jealousy if she's not Nobue's center of attention. Miu is also shockingly precocious, and has quite a few "Kids say the darndest things" moments.
A lot of Ichigo's humor actually resembles a kid's sense of humor. When kids try to be funny, they usually can't come up with something witty or clever that suits the situation, so instead, they just throw every random thought they have at you. Most of Ichigo's jokes are in this fashion, which is why it's something kids might appreciate.
Perhaps if this series was stretched out to a full 26 episodes, it would grow repetitive and tiresome, it's hard to say, but as it stands, it's the only comedy series I've seen that doesn't fizzle and dry up by the end.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Its a comedy. Its like azumanga daio, but it is not as ground breaking as azumanga diao. Think of it as azumanga daio+ashiterezu baby and kids around 10-12 years old. The story relies heavily on the cuteness of the anime characters rather than the jokes to move around which is good, if you like kids.
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Its only until recently that i've taken anime as a comic relief option whenever i need a laugh and its all thanks to Ichigo mashimaro. This show is absolutely hilarious right from the start. The first thing that will probably get you will be in the introductions where the narrator claims there pet dog to be a tiger lol. Its from there that the anime ventures through the lives of 4 jr high school girls and a college student, i know that if you just read the sypnosis you wouldnt watch it because its just about childern's everyday life, but Miu will take care of that. Miu, single handed, turns an average day to a funny situation. She's definately what makes the show better but thats not to say that the other characters aren't enjoyable because the director does a good job of portraying each character's unique comic side, meaning each one is funny in there own way. I cant stress enough how much you must see this anime, you'll be glad you did, and you'll be happy to find out that there comming out with an OVA for it so hope its gets licensed and released in the US soon.
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Encu |
(2007-02-18 14:39:47) 2007-02-18 14:37:38 |
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| Average |
6.2 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| I liked Ichigo Mashimaro and could recommend it to some fans.
It's a slow-paced slice of life type wholly resting on the characters that make the series enjoyable.
I most compared this while watching to Azumanga Daioh, as it shares many similar traits, but it's unique enough that comparing it to AD is a stretch.
It's a good anime, and if you want a short, funny, and cute anime, then you can watch this. Just don't call them cute...
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| a cute anime with much info about the japanese culture , fun , and great graphics , not forgetting the opening song was really wonderful
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
2 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Ichigo Mashimaro is one of those animes that strives to provide a little something different in our anime watching days, what with the hardcore, more mature anime shows hanging around our airwaves, Ichigo Mashimaro provides the neccessary relief of being a great anime that doesn't fall into the same vein as others.
Its cuteness factor is high up, what with characters like Ana and Chi being my fave characters in the show. Mui, being the attention-seeker that she is gains much of the screen-time and with that she is still an annoying little character that surprises me sometimes, especially one episode where she needed the attenttion from Nobue, who is one of the better characters in this short series. Miatsuri is also there, but like her personality, not very exciting and usually off-screen.
Thus, the series is a collection of seemless random episodes of the 5 girls and their lives, no story, just how they act in their lives in different events like going to the beach or bath etc. But one of the important factors of this show is the hilarity of it, Ichigo Mashimaro is a funny anime, similar to Bottle Fairy in terms of overall style, theres glimpses of funniness that you can't help but laugh. Hardly repetitive joeks are great and definetely makes this show consistently worth watching.
However, the shortness of the show, the invisible air of unfunniness is there as well, it sometimes tries too hard, but you can't help but smile at their antics. The lack of story is not a big downer, but with that its hard to find a good time when all the episodes can be watched together, a smaller more steady watching approach is needed if you're able to compete the cuteness thats provided here.
Overall: 9/10
Grade: A
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| This anime is essentially for younger viewers, but there are enough genuine comedy to keep a bit older viewers like myself content throughout the 12 episodes.
I like animes that really know what it is at exploit it well. Dokuro Chan for example knows it nothing more then a short, dumb, and hillarious comedy and don't try to be anything more then that. It was the same case with Azumanga Daioh. The makers knew azumanga was only to be a school comedy revolving around daily events.
Having said that Ichigo Mashimaro knows well that it's strong points are the cute, tiny, and funny elementary school kids who go through their daily life. For 12 episode this anime does nothing else but show the life of a college student who hangs around with these four little kids who sometimes can be quite trouble, but sweet as well.
But I think this is where this animes biggest problem lie: it's repetitiveness in relationship to its length. 12 episodes are definetely not that much. But this anime is even meant to be much shorter. In fact, I think 6 episode OVA would've been perfect for this anime. Watching 12 episodes of virtually all similar episodes are a bit of a drag. Comedy that worked before, such as dumb little Miu, begins to get a little bit annoying, and episodes get more predictable by the minute.
But certainly this anime wasn't drag enough for me to completely abandon this anime. there are funny cute moments that will make you finish all 12 episodes... certainly that was the case for me. The chemistry between the kids and Nobue certainly worked very well. Jealous Miu and a bit uptight Chika go together so well in this anime. Ana is a funny complimentary character and so is the shy one.
However as It mentioned before character chemistry itself cannot carry the anime for 12 episodes. It's lack of story/plotline is its ultimate downfall.
Having said all that, the animation is not bad at all. It's clean and simple just as it needs to be. I did crave for a bit for music or sound effects however. I think some punchline sound effects would've really helped out. For example in Chobits everytime Hideki thought of something perverted there was a woman moaning that made themoment al the more funnier. Of course woman moaning wouldn't fit this anime for sure, but the point is made: this anime lacks the extra spice that could have made this anime a bit funnier.
In the end, this is an enjoyable anime that really should've been a bit shorter. Character chemistry is there, but it is not enough to carry the anime for 12 episodes. If you are wanting to watching something that is simple, cute and funny and nothing more, this anime just might suit your taste.
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lauren. |
(2007-03-20 11:39:45) 2006-06-17 06:01:17 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| FIRST OF ALL let me just say I'm not fond of Azumanga Daioh, that anime just bored me to pieces. Therefore I don't agree with any kinda comparisons with ichigo mashimaro and azumanga daioh.
Unlike Azumanga Daioh, Ichigo mashimaro does the every day ordinary things and presents it in an interesting way. azumanga daioh does every day ordinary things in the most boring way it is done.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| A smart brilliant anime, with memorable moments of enjoyment, and other ones a bit of slower, but soothing and leading to fun and relaxament.
A show based on "cuteness" may not be overall's cup of tea, but if you don't mind that, give it a try and it won't be wasted.
Animation: very stilish and peculiar. The colours are used well, the cuteness of the characters is just perfect and overall I have nothing to objectionate about arts on Ichigo Mashimaro.
The final result is very meaningful and suggestive.
Sound: Probably the stronges point of the show with the brilliant cast of voice actors featuring here. So we happen to have Mami Mami (Mamiko Noto - Yakumo (School Rumble) and many others) , Kawasumi Ayako (Saber - Fate stay night - just to mention one of the most hyped show currently). And then Chiba Saeko and the brilliant singer Orisaka Fumiko.
Such a cast features a 10 all the way from me.
I also love the Opening Theme. The ED isn't outstanding at the same level, but still good.
Story: slice of life. Humor based. Sketches over sketches without a common basis. Well, we have one basis actually, Miu against all.
The fun is never missing, though, and as said, the suggestive moments are in , too.
Character: it's a wonderful set of characters indeed, but there seems to be too much discrepancy on the roles. While Miu is constantly the one having the spotlight on her, and Chika strongly tries to contrast her, there two characters who just, all in all, stand in for the uber cuteness, being them Matsuri and Ana.
They're very cute (Ana above all) but we don't get much of their personalities. Yes, Matsuri is weak and naive, Ana is proud yet clumsy, but we don't go further than this.
As for Nobue, she's sometimes interesting but sometimes repetitive. Her presence is good for the show, overall though.
Value: -1 point for shortness. 12 episodes of this aren't enough. and -1 for having wasted a bit of a potentially enormous potential.
Props for overall smartness and brilliancy.
Enjoyment: 9. Pratically always at high levels, except some excessive slowliness here and there. But IM never gets to be boring, and those moments are quite rare as a matter of facts.
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nauXolo |
(2006-04-07 02:01:26) 2006-04-07 01:47:33 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| After I watched the first episode, I felt very hesitant in watching this anime - a humor anime with a cast of elementary school students as the main characters. I thought this was just an excuse for some guy to have extremely young girls as the subject matter and therefore I coud not take it very seriously. Well, this is partly true and partly not. In a way, this is just the style this anime chooses to present things and they do not really do anything indecent with the elementary school students.
The charm of Ichigo Mashimaro is that somehow managed to infuse some humor elements into a somewhat potentially realistic full day. This anime does not rely on overly extravagant actions or awkward situations to convey humor. Instead, a nice combination of character personalities, some puns, and word play make this somewhat interesting to watch. The light hearted nature of everything also makes this anime easy to start and pick up at any point.
The down side of this anime is the pacing. I usually do not like animes that have a lack of any strong story elements or interesting character interactions and dilemmas, and this is no exception. They usually lead to something unmemorable and boring in the end. Furthermore, I still feel that having elementary school students as characters really makes it hard to enjoy this fully. They don't feel like elementary students yet they look it? Weird. Sometimes I feel that they are taking advantage of their young forms to do something indecent.
Overall, Ichigo Mashimaro is not very impressive. Although definitely different than most slow paced animes out there that have no story... I still could not fully get into it. Humor is overall dull to my tastes... and I can not imagine what else this anime is for entertainment wise. No fluid story, somewhat mediocre cast of characters (I only think Ana is awesome), and the rare 1/20 chance of a "fun" event makes me dislike Ichigo Mashimaro as a whole. The ONLY reason why I gave this 7 in enjoyment was because of Ana and her whole thing with trying to pretend not to speak Japanese. Ana is hilarious... everything else is boring.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| This anime shows the life of elementary school girls and an older sister. The pace of this anime is somewhat slow, but it has lots of funny moments.
Each character has a unique personality. My favourite was Miu, the mischievious one. Though the story is basically about how they go about their everyday lives. Somehow, it's able to bring me back to how I was like back then. I'm sure that the anime scores in the fact that everyone is able to relate to the characters in some way or the other.
Animation is simplistic, nothing fancy, but enough to get the message across. Now, the OP was impressive, it brought out the mood of the anime. The ED was alright.
Overall, this anime suits anyone. If you like a light-hearted anime without too much action and sad moments, this one will definitely brighten up your day.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This anime is about nothing more than the ordinary everyday life of three elementary schoolers and a college student. If hot romance is spice and mecha fights is salt, this anime is just a plain old bowl of rice.
Yet this anime took this theme and turned it into a humourous, heart-felt comedy. Viewers are brought back to their elementary school days, when they lived everyday to the utmost and tried to act as mature as adults (with a few exceptions). I could hardly supress my smiles and be reminded of my own childhood as the young girls make silly mistakes. This story ends with the beginning of another school year, the start of another cycle, with some changes for the better.
Another aspect of the anime that I really liked was the animation. The artist certainly did not relent on details and blew life into the characters, with subtle yet expressive facial expressions and bodily gestures, bringing out the cutest of each young girl in the story.
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isokana |
(2006-03-06 13:28:41) 2006-03-06 13:26:00 |
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| Average |
8.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I just love silly shows. Like Ichigo Mashimaro. It lets me laugh my heart out with cute girls and leave me feeling positive and happy afterwards.
So what's this brilliant comedy about? Four little girls and one bigger who live their life. Go to school, loiter around, talk etc. Nothing else. And damn it's funny. Most of the humor comes from the energetic Miu, who is a bit like Sana from Kodocha only with a little devilish twist. She likes to abuse her friends and get them in embarrasing situations. Some of her tricks are simply ingenious (the ring tone one really hit me hard) and some just make me nod when the physical retribution comes (her skull must be getting thick as hell with all those blows). All in all, she's the one who makes the series so damn hilarious. Not to say other characters are boring either. Ana is lovely personality trying to appear less Japanese than she really is. Language really plays tricks on her. And I'm amused as hell. Matsuri is traditional girl made of glass. Seeing her jump up and down when anything happens equals more funniness. Even though Chika herself isn't that funny as she's the decent, hard-working girl, there are a lot of golden moments seeing her react to Miu's antics. The girls form a nice dynamic group that manages to make any situation fun. But it wouldn't be perfect without big sister Nobue. She's the one watching the girls outside and laughs along with the viewer (although she more fond cute little girls than I can admit myself to be). Still she's also inside the girls group and the motor for most of the themes of the series. The only other characters are only glimpsed and true, the 12 episode really doesn't need anymore characters.
The production doesn't do anything spectacular on the animation side. Clean and colorful animation without any tricks. It is enough to convey the various feelings to the viewer. Where Ichigo Mashimaro shines are the voice actors. My English isn't good enough to convey the right words on how perfect they are but from Miu's spunky to Ana's refined speech they emphasize the differences in characters and make the series a enjoyable to hear. Add to that incredibly catchy opening song and you got yourself a winner. Once again I'm at loss what was played in the background but it wasn't anything bad at least.
I haven't mentioned anything on the story because there isn't one. The show is another addition to slice-of-life genre that let's the characters do everything with only slight pushes on circumstances to make things move. Ichigo Mashimaro is one funny show that really gets the sun shining on my day.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Ichigo Mashimaro is an anime very hard not to like. Not because that it has a fantastic storyline or it has cool animation but because it has overly cute characters. Characters like Chi, Miu, Matsuri and Ana are all just gushing with cuteness. IM started very well. I truly had quite a bit of laughter during the early episodes. However, as the series went on, it seemed to run out of ideas for comedy. The later episodes were pretty dull sometimes except for a few moments. If you don't want action or intense drama, and just want a slow relaxing anime to watch, IM is for you.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is a comedic gem! The stories are quite simple, well everything about it seems quite simple but its very character driven and its handled brilliantly. So far each episode is a self contained story, with no real continuing plotline but you wont notice too much as each story is great. Eps 2 is especially funny:). The animation is quite simple but suits the anime and the voices are all great and suit the characters.
The only irritating thing is the slow release of fansubs, but stick with it, its one of the most rewarding animes i've seen ;).
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Shortly-it's a top-notch comedy series, with excellent original style.
To begin with, the series is about grade-schooler girls, and a college student; and their everyday life.
What really got me was the random and really ORIGINAL gags. The scenes are often slow-paced, but even when nothing happens humor is in the air.
I also liked the influence of japanese comedy. Some scenes' crazyness was equal to the ones in Excel Saga, but I liked how they were more 'real-life-like' :)
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| A very delightful and funny series. Ichigo Mashimaro is a light comedy anime that manages to entertain without heavy plot elements. The characters designs were nice and their varying personalities became the high points of this show.
The humor was very well done, even having me laughing out loud on numerous occasions. Instead of relying on fast paced in your face kind of comedy gags (like Excel Saga), it catches you off guard with witty dialogue and occasionally haliarious facial expressions. It's very funny how they made the little kids the smartest characters in the whole show ;)
A must watch for anyone who likes comedy
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Coyote |
(2006-01-15 13:34:27) 2006-01-15 13:33:13 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Enjoyment: I really enjoyed this series, it leaves you with a warm feeling almost every episode. And the comedy isnt just slapstick or dumb humor its well thought out and fits the characters perfectly. I only wish it were longer, I havnt seen any definiative proof but it looks like its only 12 episodes. But the manga seems to go longer.
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
|
| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Basically everyone that reviewed this one before me said it all. Clever, cute, funny, every detail well developed, and the girls... I'm a 30 y.o. but they remind me of my 8-to-10 year old little neighbors, so I can relate to the story, which is pretty much credible.
Just like everyone here, I recommend it for its clever humor, altought some people would feel bored with because it's a slow-paced anime, which works perfectly with this one since it takes its time to develop the scenes.
No plot, just a examination on the characters and the relationships, bonds and little grudges between them on everyday life. For me, a must-watch even for people that aren't much into anime.
A special "wow" to the cast, by the way. Amazing voice actresses, they fitted perfectly. Probably the best cast work I've heard on anime. The animation isn't that great, but the series itself didn't need an AIR-like animation.
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|
|
| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| WOOO!! When I first saw the picture for Ichigo Mashimaro here, I thought it was going to one of those really shoujo, immature show. Boy, was I wrong. This show presents elemetary school students with a fun perception of life.
The animation if nicely done. It is not a masterpiece but easily good enough for this show.
The music is very light and very fun. It is not outstanding music but it fits the theme of this show. But I gave the sound a 10 because of the acting cast. WOW! THIS CAST IS AMAZING! All of the actors should be familiar to any anime fan. All of the voices matched the character perfectly. I couldn't ask for a better cast.
This show is not a epic show so the story is limited. They basically just hang out and find ways to punish Miu. The story doesn't really matter because I think the creator of the show wanted the viewers to concentrate on character relationships.
WOOOO! That best part of the show; the characters. I loved the comedic duo of Miu and Chika. Miu would make a pun and Chika would bring on the ridiculing. They represent the Japanese comedic style. I also enjoyed the fact that Anna and Matsuri form a special bond from an unexpected truth about Anna. I wasn't sure about Nobue hanging out with them so much since she was in college and I thought that was weird but it did not make the show awkward at all. The characters are definitely the best part of the show.
Overall, this show is very GOOD! If you like a smart anime through the words of little girls then you should definitely check it out. Definitely one of the best of 2005.
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