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yblees
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Joined: 10 Jul 2008
Posts: 111
Location: New Zealand
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 Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:15 pm |
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| cool3865 wrote: | | not just female, i think anyone that likes the shoujo genre......im a male and love the shoujo genre. |
Interesting you should mention this. I picked up with a few secondhand volumes of Marmalade Boy manga a while back and couldn't get into it at all due to having an extremely low tolerance for melodrama/soap opera/teen angst type stories.
But the person who bought the entire set off me was a guy. He said it was one of his favourite series and he was going to "force" his girlfriend to read it. 
Mind you, my husband sat entralled through the entire xxx-episode series of Maison Ikkoku  |
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sabriyahm
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Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 277
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:46 pm |
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| Vikio wrote: | | Everybody's saying that its too long to just casually watch, so I have a suggestion. Why don't you read the Marmalade Boy manga? It's got the same emotional rollercoaster, but won't take you nearly as long to finish. |
I read the manga instead of watching the show because it was much easier to get my hands on the manga. I didn't like it and decided not to bother with the anime after all. I love HYD so this one had always been on my list but the manga story was so boring. It was hard to read it all. Maybe because all the twists it had have been copied so much by manga that came a ong later. I know this work was the original but it was predictable as hell. Is the anime so much better then the manga that it's worth watching? I remember when reading the manga that the manga author was not a fan of the anime, She had a lot of complaints in the sidebars. |
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seryass
Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:14 pm |
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Hooray. More love for Marmalade Boy. I fell in love with this series years ago (must be almost 15 now) and because of it I found one of my all time favorite mangaka, Wataru Yoshizumi.
Whilst the manga is more tight and plot driven (the latter half a vast deal better than the anime) the anime still had it's own charm partly because of the New York arc.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned though that I feel should is the music. Not only did the series have a great opening song (complete with good accompanying animation) as well as some good endings it also had extremely good instrumental music that suited the show to a tee. Rarely can I say that about an animated series as usually the music is just there but I loved Marmalade Boy's so much I bought all 8 OSTs because of it (some of which are also vocal CDs). Mariko Kouda was excellent as Miki and her songs reflect that really well too.
| Grico wrote: | | The manga is enjoyable as well, although apparently the mangaka had to stretch out the end of the book due to the anime. |
That's not true. It's actually the other way around. The whole reason for the New York arc in the anime is because the mangaka hadn't finished the manga by that point and was still working on it so the anime staff had to create a new arc. The book was never stretched out and ended a month after the anime. The manga's ending expands on the story behind the anime's ending quite a bit and I wholeheartedly recommend it as I find it a more satisfying ending.
In fact one bit of trivia is that Wataru Yoshizumi was upset that all of the characters virtually get paired off in the anime which she thought a tad unrealistic as opposed to a couple not ending up with anyone in the manga.
enurtsol is partly right about the meaning of the title. Whilst the lyrics are correct the real reason for the title as explained by Miki in both the manga and anime is that she compares Yuu to Marmalade. Marmalade looks sweet on the outside but in reality is actually very bitter rather like Yuu's personality. She does this after they have only just met and before she really gets to know him and the fact that he is very lonely and insecure but hides it under all the teasing
Oh and I have read Ultra Maniac and seen the anime. Whilst the manga is better and actually has a proper resolution I really loved the anime. Yes it had it's divergences from the manga but then Marmalade Boy actually had a lot more. I found the characters fun and more realistic actually than Marmalade Boy despite Ultra Maniac's premise. Kaji in particular has a good scene later on in the anime which shows some quite good character development for a shojo series. However Marmalade Boy will forever hold a place in my heart for the best Wataru Yoshizumi series because it was the first series I read and watched of hers.
Incidentally Justin your not alone. I own the Japanese video of Handsome na Kanojo and quite a few manga of hers which sadly even now have not been licensed. |
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sailornova
Joined: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:30 pm |
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MB will always have a special place in my heart -- I was going through some pretty serious medical testing when I first found it many years ago and I started watching it when I could barely get out of bed -- truthfully just enough to change the tape -- I did pick up the DVDs when they came out. I finished the series in 3 days but it made the pain ease up a bit as you watch through Miki's and Yuu's life with their friends and family develop. A great show and truthfully, many of today's anime could take a look at it for its depth of story telling and the continuation from episodes to episodes. Good choice for a review. Thanks
Nova |
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Ggultra2764
Joined: 21 Jan 2004
Posts: 654
Location: New York state.
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| Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:54 pm |
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Here's a series I've been wanting to see for years yet haven't gotten to since I keep finding other titles to dive into. If I remember right, it was one of the big fansubbed romantic comedy-dramas of the mid-1990s alongside Kodocha and Hana Yori Dango. I'm a sap for shoujo romance titles so I should be coming to Marmalade Boy at some point.  |
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Strephon
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 176
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 7:17 am |
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| seryass wrote: |
enurtsol is partly right about the meaning of the title. Whilst the lyrics are correct the real reason for the title as explained by Miki in both the manga and anime is that she compares Yuu to Marmalade. Marmalade looks sweet on the outside but in reality is actually very bitter rather like Yuu's personality. She does this after they have only just met and before she really gets to know him and the fact that he is very lonely and insecure but hides it under all the teasing |
In the last volume of the manga Yoshizumi gives the out-of-story explanation for the title: The four main characters were originally the opposite genders; therefore, Miki was a boy and the title referred to him and his sweet-but-naive nature. She eventually decided to make the main character a girl instead, and later came up with the alternate explanation to fit the title. |
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aluria
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 347
Location: Surrey, BC, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 11:44 am |
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| Woot, I series I not only have heard of, but own part of! Heh, currently in the process of picking up the manga, halfway through. I actually starting reading the series after I finished Ultra Maniac. |
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seryass
Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 12:24 pm |
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| Strephon wrote: | | seryass wrote: |
enurtsol is partly right about the meaning of the title. Whilst the lyrics are correct the real reason for the title as explained by Miki in both the manga and anime is that she compares Yuu to Marmalade. Marmalade looks sweet on the outside but in reality is actually very bitter rather like Yuu's personality. She does this after they have only just met and before she really gets to know him and the fact that he is very lonely and insecure but hides it under all the teasing |
In the last volume of the manga Yoshizumi gives the out-of-story explanation for the title: The four main characters were originally the opposite genders; therefore, Miki was a boy and the title referred to him and his sweet-but-naive nature. She eventually decided to make the main character a girl instead, and later came up with the alternate explanation to fit the title. |
I did actually know that as I own the original mangas but thanks for mentioning it anyway. I didn't want to mention it since I haven't read the English versions so I don't know if that was included in them or not and more importantly that isn't what happened in the end and so I felt it might confuse some people that may be new to the series.
I did actually like the way the original was going to end as I felt it more realistic particularly in Meiko's case since she (or he in the original synopsis) would have ended up with Yuu and Ginta would have ended up with Miki. Nevetheless I loved the series as it was eventually realised and thought that Ginta and Arimi made a perfect couple (they're my two favoruite characters) and co-incidentally the two main characters from my other favorite Wataru Yoshizumi manga "Kimi shika Iranai" bear a strong resemblance to them. |
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Frogstaff
Joined: 17 Oct 2008
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:25 pm |
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| Can anyone spoil the ep 62-onward twist for me? I watched a good third of so of the series waaaaaaay back in the VHS fansub days, but fell out of interest with it. |
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Orange_Popsicle
Joined: 01 Mar 2008
Posts: 34
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:32 am |
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I love Marmalade Boy. Enough said.
I keep meaning to buy the anime, but, somehow, I've just never gotten around to doing so. *sighs* |
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Zin5ki
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Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 2184
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:48 am |
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| seryass wrote: | | she compares Yuu to Marmalade. Marmalade looks sweet on the outside but in reality is actually very bitter rather like Yuu's personality. |
I suppose that explains things. Marmalades can come in varying degrees of bitterness however; I once got a jar from an aunt which had hardly any tang and was almost too viscous to spread.
I find it's best when the sweetness isn't offset too much, without it becoming as sickly as some jams can be.
Perhaps this show's name sounds a little better to those to whom the word 'marmalade' brings fewer connotations. That's a feeling I've also had about Bastard!!. |
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doublegravi
Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Moscow, Russia
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:46 am |
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Good day to the community!
MB is a good anime which I've been relactant to get for many years. ANN reminded me what I ought to do and I surfed the net. Justin marked MB as "still in stock most places" and writes that "most of the four boxed sets can be found online for as little as $30 each", but after looking into well-known places such as TRSI, DVD Pasific and BestBuy I found zero of MB. Ebay was my next stop where only two sellers have MB presently and they do not ship internationally. I'm outside of USA and Canada so it is a dead end for me at the moment. I'd prefer to buy new discs until it is proved impossible. Can anyone recommend a reliable store to find MB boxes? |
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jsevakis
ANN Director of New Media
Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 876
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:56 am |
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I'm often forced to split hairs when it comes to dividing up those categories. Marmalade Boy is a little harder to find than that. It's easy to get online, but most major stores have depleted their stock.
However, I was easily able to find all four sets from Amazon's Marketplace section (which stocks new as well as used) and half.com. Those items are from individual sellers and may be marked used, but in perfect condition. You may wish to contact them before you order to ask if they'll ship internationally. Both are good places to get hosed with HK bootlegs, so also ask if it's an "import" or if there's Chinese subtitles (a sure tip-off that it's a boot). In this case you're probably OK. |
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doublegravi
Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 2
Location: Moscow, Russia
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:23 am |
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| jsevakis wrote: | I'm often forced to split hairs when it comes to dividing up those categories. Marmalade Boy is a little harder to find than that. It's easy to get online, but most major stores have depleted their stock.
However, I was easily able to find all four sets from Amazon's Marketplace section (which stocks new as well as used) and half.com. Those items are from individual sellers and may be marked used, but in perfect condition. You may wish to contact them before you order to ask if they'll ship internationally. Both are good places to get hosed with HK bootlegs, so also ask if it's an "import" or if there's Chinese subtitles (a sure tip-off that it's a boot). In this case you're probably OK. |
Thank you for the answer. Unfortunately, Amazon Marketplace doesn't cover Russia  so I never can use it no matter how good a deal I see there. Didn't know about half.com so gonna check it out. |
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meruhime
Joined: 03 May 2007
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:54 am |
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| Reading your article on the show brought back all my favorite memories of Marmalade Boy. I have this show on VHS fansub tapes and last year I bought it all on Tokyopop's DVD sets that went out of print. This is definitely my favorite shoujo anime of all time, but Hana Yori Dango comes in at a close second. But after reading your article, I went searching on e-bay and ended up buying a Marmalade Boy medallion that played Miki's and Yuu's song "Moment," lol. You made me broke Buried Treasure! ^^; |
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