Marmalade Boy may be a high school situation comedy because of its setting, but the locale is secondary to the teenage soap-opera melodrama. © TOKYOPOP.

Marmalade Boy Ultimate Scrapbook. V.1 - V.4.
TV series (76 episodes), 1994-1995. Series Director: Akinori Yabe. V.1-4, 19 episodes/475 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $99.99. Distributor: TOKYOPOP.

Marmalade Boy, based upon the popular teen romance manga by Wataru Yoshizumi, ran for 76 episodes from March 13, 1994 through September 3, 1995 (produced by Toei Animation Co., Ltd.). TOKYOPOP is releasing it in four "ultimate scrapbook" boxed sets of three DVDs containing 19 episodes each; almost eight hours, not counting the DVD extras.

Miki Koishikawa is a junior at Toryo High School, a normal adolescent girl developing a social life with her classmates and not paying too much attention to her parents -- until they announce that they just met another married couple during a vacation in Hawaii, and they became such good friends that they have all decided to get divorced, remarry each other's spouses, and move into the same mansion together. Oh, and the other family has a son Miki's age, so she will be gaining a stepbrother in addition to two more parents. Talk about a teenager's parents doing something so silly that she could die of embarrassment!

Japanese law does not allow divorced women to remarry for six months, so the Koishikawas and the Matsuuras must a low profile during this period, though they will not let this stop them from setting up housekeeping together. Miki hopes to keep the situation a secret from her classmates, though this becomes difficult after the Matsuuras' son, Yuu, transfers to her school. Yuu is so handsome that she is elated yet mortified at having such a good-looking boy move into the bedroom next to hers. She is also infuriated by the way he patronizes her like a kid sister. Yuu is agreeable to keeping their parents' secret, but he and Miki cannot keep their classmates from noticing that the two always arrive at school together and have the same address.

Miki had a crush on a boy, Ginta, in junior high school but he laughed her off when she sent him a love letter. Now that they are a couple of years older and he is discovering girls, Ginta is showing obvious jealousy of Yuu. Miki is thrilled that Yuu's presence may awaken romantic feelings in Ginta towards her. Then Yuu's girlfriend from his old high school shows up, and Miki is horrified to realize that she is also getting jealous. Is she more attracted to Yuu than to Ginta? Does he feel anything more for her than a big brother? And what are the social proprieties regarding a romance between a stepbrother and stepsister?

The slapstick parent-swapping scenario is downplayed almost immediately. Most of the humor in Marmalade Boy is based on either mildly risqué "brother and sister" situations (such as when all four parents go on another vacation and leave Miki and Yuu un-chaperoned in their house -- Miki cannot decide whether she wants anything to happen or not), and the expanding romantic complications around Miki, Yuu and Ginta. Arimi, Yuu's former girlfriend, realizes that Miki is undecided between Yuu and Ginta, so Arimi persuades Ginta to pretend to fall in love with her to make Miki jealous enough to abandon Yuu. But Miki dithers for so long that Ginta begins to get seriously interested in Arimi.

Tsutomo, who has a crush on Arimi, declares a vendetta on both Yuu and Ginta. Meiko, Miki's best friend who she is counting on for levelheaded romantic advice, turns out to be carrying on a secret affair with handsome teacher Mr. Namura -- a definite no-no in teacher-student relations.

Each romantic entanglement runs three or four episodes before being replaced by a new one, which often adds a new supporting character. Yuu is hired to tutor Suzu, a prestigious juvenile model. She develops a crush on Yuu, and even though she is a couple of years younger, Miki worries that she will not be able to match Suzu's professional sophistication. Why has Kei, a handsomely talented young jazz player, abandoned a promising career; and does Miki have a moral obligation to re-inspire him? Many of these situations take place during school trips to colorful tourist sites around Japan.

Marmalade Boy may be a high school situation comedy because of its setting, but the locale is secondary to the teenage soap opera melodrama. The animation quality was not notable even by 1994 TV standards, but the adolescent romantic angst among the upper class (Miki's and Yuu's parents are always going on round-the-world vacations and leaving them alone in a mansion; their private high school is almost as fancy as a royal court) won enough TV viewers to keep it on the air for a year and a half. That popularity is still high among America's growing audience among young girls for anime.