Marmalade Boy (Japanese: ママレード·ボーイ, Hepburn: Mamarēdo Bōi) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Wataru Yoshizumi. It was published in Shueisha’s shōjo manga magazine Ribon from May 1992 to October 1995 and collected in eight book volumes. Toei Animation adapted the series into a 76-episode anime television series that aired on TV Asahi from 1994 to 1995. A movie that came before the series was released in 1995. A live-action television series with 30 episodes was broadcast in Taiwan in 2002. A live-action film version was released in Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 27, 2018.

Plot

Miki Koishikawa's life as a second-year high school student changes completely when her parents announce they are getting divorced and will exchange partners with a couple they met in Hawaii. When Miki says she does not want to decide which parent she will live with, her parents tell her not to worry because they plan to move into a large house with the other couple and their son. They ask for her approval of this surprising change. During dinner at a restaurant, Miki meets the other couple and their teenage son, Yuu Matsura, who is about her age. She agrees to the arrangement, even though she is not happy about it. At first, Yuu seems unfriendly and teases Miki, but he later becomes kind and fun. Miki begins to like him, and over time, she accepts her new family situation and becomes close friends with Yuu.

Later, Miki and Yuu's relationship becomes more complicated because of their past connections with other people. These include Miki's long-time classmate and former crush from middle school, Ginta Suou, and Yuu's former girlfriend from his previous school, Arimi Suzuki. At the same time, Miki's best friend, Meiko Akizuki, faces her own challenges due to a relationship she has with a school teacher, Shin'ichi Namura.

Throughout the story, Miki and Yuu's relationship continues to develop and face difficulties, influenced by the people around them and the connections they form with others.

Characters

The characters in Marmalade Boy are varied and are often shown through their connections to Miki Koishikawa and Yuu Matsuura. While the story mainly follows the relationship between these two main characters, other characters in the series are also given detailed development.

Production

When Wataru Yoshizumi first planned Marmalade Boy, the characters Miki, Yuu, Ginta, and Meiko were originally of different genders than they became in the final story. Miki's early design resembled Yuu's final appearance, while Yuu was initially described as a girl with long black hair and a personality that was "devilish" and "unpredictable." Yoshizumi explained that changes were made for several reasons. One reason was a request from the Ribon publishers, who wanted a female character as the main focus because the story would be included in a "Mother's Day" set with character magnets. Her associate editor also worried that a male hero written by a female author might be seen as "sissy." Yoshizumi herself decided to create a heroine instead of a hero because most Ribon readers are girls.

In the original story, the title Marmalade Boy reflected Miki's cheerful, sweet, and naive personality. After revising the story, Yoshizumi kept the title but changed its meaning to match the first volume's description: Yuu "has lots of bitter bits inside" but appears sweet on the outside.

The original ending of the series was also different from the final version. In the early plan, Ginta and Arimi were not meant to be a couple, and Meiko was not meant to reunite with Namura. Yoshizumi originally intended for Miki and Yuu to be real siblings, forcing them to break up. Ginta would then comfort Miki, promising to wait for her to move on from Yuu. Later, Yuu and Meiko would meet four years later, both having failed in previous relationships. This ending would have been more open-ended, leaving readers to imagine what happened next. However, as Yoshizumi wrote the third chapter, she became unsure about this ending because it made Miki and Yuu's parents seem harsh for separating their children. She also worried about how readers would react and felt "empty" about the sad conclusion. Her editor agreed the ending was too negative, so Yoshizumi changed it to the happier version now found in the series.

Media

Marmalade Boy first appeared in the May 1992 issue of Ribon, where it was published each month until its final issue in October 1995. The 39 chapters, which were not given titles, were later collected into eight book volumes by Shueisha, beginning on December 12, 1992. The last of these volumes was released on February 20, 1996. Shueisha later released the series again in six special edition volumes. The first of these special editions was published on March 15, 2004, with new volumes released each month until the final one on August 11, 2004.

The series was made available in English in North America by Tokyopop. Individual chapters were published in Tokyopop’s Smile magazine from December 2001 to April 2002. Tokyopop released the first English book volume on April 23, 2002, with new volumes published monthly until the final volume was released on August 5, 2003. This was one of the first manga series published by Tokyopop in the original Japanese reading direction (from right to left) and with original sound effects included. Tokyopop’s English versions of the series are no longer available for sale. Shueisha stopped Tokyopop’s license to publish the series after Shueisha became a part-owner of Viz Media, a competing publisher. At Anime Expo 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they would publish the series in a collector’s edition format. The series is also available in other languages, including French (Glenat), Mexican (Grupo Editorial Vid), Spanish (Planeta DeAgostini Comics), Italian (Planet Manga), and German (Egmont).

From March 2013 to September 2018, a sequel titled Marmalade Boy Little was published in Cocohana. While characters Miki and Yuu appear, the story takes place 13 years after the original series and focuses on new characters: Rikka Matsuura and Saku Koishikawa, who are Yuu and Miki’s sister and brother, respectively.

A series of Japanese light novels based on Marmalade Boy was written by Yumi Kageyama, with illustrations by Wataru Yoshizumi. These ten volumes were published by Shueisha under the Cobalt Bunko label from July 1994 to March 1996.

Toei Animation created a 76-episode anime television series of Marmalade Boy, which aired on TV Asahi from 1994 to 1995. This was followed by a movie that serves as a prequel to the story. The anime was released on DVD by Tokyopop in four box sets, but these are no longer available for sale. In May 2017, Discotek Media announced they would publish the anime in two DVD sets. The first set, containing episodes 1–38, was released on August 29, 2017, and the second set, with episodes 39–76, was released on November 28, 2017. A special edition Blu-ray set was announced for 2018. The movie is included in the second Discotek set and the upcoming Blu-ray set.

The movie shows a flashback of Yuu meeting Miki before their families joined together. It takes place after Yuu kisses Miki in the nurse’s office and shows the first time he met her, shortly after learning his parents were getting divorced and would be living with new spouses. He found Miki practicing tennis in the park and followed her for the rest of the day, eventually learning she would be his new stepsister. The movie explains that Yuu was already in love with Miki before their families met.

• Marmalade Boy: Koi no Style Book, ISBN
• Marmalade Boy: Yoshizumi Wataru Illust-shū, ISBN 4-08-855091-9

A video game based on Marmalade Boy was released by Bandai Entertainment for the Nintendo Game Boy in Japan on January 27, 1995. The game lets players take the role of Miki and try to win the heart of either Yuu or Ginta, two characters from the series. In Famicom Tsūshin, four reviewers gave the game a score of 5/10 each, saying it was not the type of game they usually enjoy but that fans of the original story might like it.

A new version of the game was released for the Super Famicom in Japan on April 21, 1995. This version was described by Famicom Tsūshin as an improved version of the Game Boy game with added features. Three reviewers were not interested in the game, finding it slow or not as good as other similar games like Tokimeki Memorial (1994). Two reviewers praised the ability to play as a female lead, with one saying it helped them understand what it is like to be a popular girl and the other saying they felt like an observer in the game’s choices.

In Taiwan, Marmalade Boy was adapted into a 30-episode live-action television series called Júzǐjiāng Nánhái (pinyin: Greenhouse Flower). The series featured pop star Stella as Miki and F4 member Ken Zhu as Yuu. Stella also

Reception

The English version of the manga Marmalade Boy received a B+ rating from Jason Sondhi of Anime News Network. He described it as a classic, light-hearted shōjo romance that is sweet, endearing, and easy to read. Sondhi noted that Marmalade Boy is an engaging story that does not require a lot of time or money compared to longer shōjo titles. He acknowledged that the story has some clichés and predictable outcomes, but he said readers will still enjoy following it.

The manga was first published in Tokyopop's Smile magazine in 2001 and later collected into a book in 2002. Written by Wataru Yoshizumi, Marmalade Boy introduced English-speaking readers to a common theme in shōjo manga: two teenagers whose lives change when their parents exchange spouses. The manga has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Carlos Ross of THEM Anime Reviews gave the anime adaptation a 4 out of 5 stars. He praised the story for being engaging, the characters for being memorable, the voice acting, the soundtrack, and the character designs for closely matching the original manga. However, he criticized the anime's low-quality animation, the third season, and the scriptwriters for showing little knowledge of the New York metropolitan area, where the third season is set. Ross concluded that Marmalade Boy is a good series that appeals to a mostly female audience and is worth watching.