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AKA: ใ„ใกใ”100%, Strawberry 100%
Genre: Romantic ecchi comedy
Length: Television series, 12 episodes, 25 minutes each
Distributor: Currently licensed by Viz Entertainment
Content Rating: PG (fanservice)
Related Series: Ichigo 100% OAV, Ichigo 100% Special
Also Recommended: Ichigo Mashimaro. A normal cookbook (other than the WWF one that got into Wrestlecrap). Strawberry milk.
Notes: Based on manga by Mizuki Kawashita.
Rating:

Ichigo 100%

Synopsis

Manaka Junpei is an aspiring filmmaker. One day, he walks up to the roof of his school while talking about the view when suddenly a girl falls from seemingly nowhere. Junpei catches a view of her panties, which happen to be strawberry panties (strawberries seem to play a part of the general theme of the show). Before Junpei could identify this girl, she runs away. Now he looks for that girl with the strawberry panties and ends up with no less than four women.


Review

There are plenty of romantic comedy shows out there. Some of which are very good and well made. Ichigo is not one of them. While there have been shows that have vaguely similar plots to this one, they are saved by the virtue that they don't have this random roster of oddballs.

First of all, I'll point out that the show circles around strawberries...or at least the opening and closing videos do, which most of the "strawberry theme" in the main show is the aforementioned strawberry panties. Cheesy, I know, but the anime had to go and centralize half the plot around the panties, which, as a plot item, sounds vaguely familiar...
Anyway, there is more to the plot than just fanservice intervention, for you see, this show is also a romantic show, with Junpei becoming friends with four women (one of which goes insane after they meet). One of them happens to overhear Junpei discussing panties with his friends and then tells him, after telling him he has a panty fetish, that she is wearing strawberry panties that day. This plot sucks and it shall only get worse.

Next up to the bat, the characters. I have not read the manga, but judging by the characters in here, I don't think I care to. Junpei is the nutty male lead who almost always gets the girl (four times no less), making his friends jealous in the process and also making disturbing faces. In one instance, he is taking a test to go to college when the girl who he saw on that fateful evening comes walking in (forget the fact we saw this girl constantly, but just with glasses and ponytails. SUBTLE!) and then he goes off the wall in thought, ending up giving us a crazed face that reminds us of our old friend Luca Blight from Suikoden II (annexing his famous line "DIE PIGS!" fortunately). As for the females, we have Nishino Tsukasa, a blonde haired girl who fills the role as the most popular girl in school who has turned down everyone save Junpei after he does pullups (oh, I'm sorry, that's too kind. He bombs the very first pullup) and confessed to her. This is the girl who says that she was wearing strawberry panties that day. Next up is Toujou Aya, the memory girl from the first episode. She's the smart girl of the school who helps out with everyone's schoolwork problems (and also plays Jillia Blight to Junpei's Luca). Minamito Yui makes her first appearance in the bedroom of Junpei (lord no) and apparently comes and leaves just like that before we get to associate with her. Finally, we have Kitaooji Satsuki, the insane girl who goes crazy after wind blows her skirt up while Junpei was playing with his new camera. Nearly everyone else falls into the sleazy and shameful category. It's like the Dating Game, only it's gone horribly awry.

I wish I could say the music was better, but only the opening song barely scores anything. That song is an oldie-upbeat type song with an anime twister. The song itself isn't all that bad, but the vocalist could be a bit better. The same can't be said for the end theme, a crazy song with a chipper singer on a background song that sounds suspiciously like the Six Flags song (unfortunately, the dancing man is not here). The mood is chipper (as in happy and energetic), but the song is chipper (as in a woodchipper shredding your ears to make a coffee table).

Artwise, the show is somewhat good, but there are quite a few places where the art falls short. I like the nice colors and the vibrant frames, but that's all. The characters are designed in an way that doesn't really strike me as unique considering they look similar to many other productions. I also wish the animation was just as good, but that falls under "wishful thinking" as the show goes at an odd pace throughout the episodes I watched. At times, the animation was just right, while at other times the show speeds up or slows down awkwardly.

The voices are not very well casted, because they aren't the best matches for the characters that have them. For instance, Nishino boasts a calm, light voice that more reflects of a traditional Japanese girl instead of the most popular high school girl while her mother speaks in a younger voice than normal (about maybe 2 years younger, give or take a few more years). Only Junpei has a decent voice, one that fits his joyous persona.

Overall, this show should mostly be avoided. I hear quite a lot of good things about this show, but I myself don't see where the good things come into play yet, and I'm already off the show because there is only enough time for such bad anime. If you REALLY want to enjoy something with strawberries, do the following:

-Go to the store and buy some strawberry syrup and some milk
-Take these items home and get out a glass.
-Open the milk and syrup and pour the milk into the glass.
-Squeeze some syrup into the milk, but not enough to overdo it.
-Get a spoon and stir.
-Drink to your heart's content and think about how you have spent your time off this show.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!Jake L Godek

Recommended Audience: The show doesn't have many tense scenes and the only thing to watch out for is the fanservice (which comes naturally since the show is built around strawberry panties). Overall, I say this should be PG-13.



Version(s) Viewed: digital source.
Review Status: Partial (5/12)
Ichigo 100% © 2005 Mizuki Kawashita / Shueisha / 100% Production Committee
 
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