Ichigo Mashimaro OVA

Information of Anime

Ichigo Mashimaro follows the everyday lives of five girls named Nobue Itoh, Chika Itoh, Matsuri Sakuragi, Miu Matsuoka, & Ana Coppola.  The OVA is a continuation or add-on to the TV show.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  This section does contain some spoilers.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

There's no plot line again like the TV show.  It's just about the lives of Nobue Itoh, a college student, & the 4 other girls who are in elementary school.  The show focuses on their everyday daily activities yet again up to summer vacation.

My Personal Review

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA is simply an anime show where you get to laugh at life's simple pleasures.  With unique characters, it quite a entertaining show to watch.  However, it's better to watch the TV show first to get an understanding of the girls' backgrounds.

Animation

Same as the TV show.  The drawings are okay & unique.  Round faces & large eyes.  Really mashimaro faces.  It's something you don't see a lot in anime shows today.  In fact, it's quite simple.

The colours are quite soft & dull, which is quite easy on the eyes.  In fact, it gives the backgrounds somewhat of an artistic touch.  And the backgrounds are very simple & contain very little details.  The studio manage to retain this quality for the OVA.

Animation flow seem to be unnatural at times.  It looks slow & has some sort of floating effect.  When the girls walk, it does look like they are floating as they aren't firmly touching the ground.

Sound

Same as the TV show again.  The sound effects are ok.  They look like the things were are & it's quite natural.  The volume is set at a reasonable level & doesn't create any fuzz.

There is hardly background music in the show.  In fact, the ballads are so soft you can hardly recognize them.  It's very calm & sets the mood quite well.

The voices are not bad to some extent & they are the same ones from the TV show.  No need to adjust your ears to new voices.  Still, Ana's voice really sounds much older than her age.  In terms of role playing their characters, it's done well.  They really give off the impression of elementary school girls.

Story

No story here again.  Basically watching the lives of these five girls in the entire series.  It's mainly to see the simple things in life.  However, it's more focused on the elementary school girls & they steal the show.

Overall Conclusion

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA is a delightful show to watch.  Although it doesn't have a storyline, this is probably just an add-on to the popularity of the series.  However, it's got some adult references such as breast size.  So, it should be watch by a young teenage audience at the least.  Personally, I recommend this if you want something to relax with.

Ichigo Mashimaro OVA gets an eight out of ten from me.  The OVA is lighthearted & quite entertaining to watch.  Even with a lack of a storyline once again, it's still entertaining to watch.