History Manga / StrawberryMarshmallow

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In the English dub, Nobue mispronounced the name of Frusciante, Ana's dog, as "Fruanshite/Fruit and shite".

* {{Kotatsu}}

* HairDecorations: Miu and Chika are usually shown wearing hair decorations.

* PottyDance: Miu does it while lying on the bed because holding it in is temporarily preferable to entering the bathroom without a [[{{Metroid}} Varia Suit]].

* ChristmasSpecial: The finale of the anime. Nobue pretends to be Santa Claus in order to preserve Matsuri's innocence.

* SantaClaus

* CuteLittleFangs

** And Nobue back to Miu. As the series goes on, their relationship gets more antagonistic and outright violent, with Nobue doing things to Miu that are pretty unacceptable for a 16-year-old to do a 12-year-old such as kicking her in the stomach and throwing her into hard furniture (one panel in a Christmas chapter even implies she was thrown from a [i]second-story bedroom[/i] to the ground below, which should've caused major injury). All the same, you'll still find Nobue demonstrating some care for Miu here and there, and she drops the jerkass thing entirely on the times Miu gets seriously hurt by something or sick. The times she started running a major fever and knocked herself out doing a backflip, Nobue immediately went for medical help. She was so concerned for Miu that she even dragged a sicker Chika out of bed just to go to the hospital!

** And Nobue back to Miu. As the series goes on, their relationship gets more antagonistic and outright violent, with Nobue doing things to Miu that are pretty unacceptable for a 16-year-old to do a 12-year-old such as kicking her in the stomach and throwing her into hard furniture (one panel in a Christmas chapter even implies she was thrown from a <i>second-story bedroom</i> to the ground below, which should've caused major injury). All the same, you'll still find Nobue demonstrating some care for Miu here and there, and she drops the jerkass thing entirely on the times Miu gets seriously hurt by something or sick. The times she started running a major fever and knocked herself out doing a backflip, Nobue immediately went for medical help. She was so concerned for Miu that she even dragged a sicker Chika out of bed just to go to the hospital!

* {{Jerkass}}: Miu.

* {{Lolicon}}: Nobue is accused and [[LittleMissSnarker teased]] about this this by Miu on occasion for her ImTakingHerHomeWithMe tendencies and reactions to Matsuri and Ana's CutenessProximity.

This series is absolute garbage. It shouldn't exist.

[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo_mashimaro_encore2_small.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Chika, Miu, Ana, Nobue & Matsuri]]

Depicting the [[SliceOfLife everyday life]] of four pre-adolescent girls and their older sister figure, ''Strawberry Marshmallow'' (''Ichigo Mashimaro'' in the original Japanese) doesn't have excessive drama, or supernatural events, or giant robots. Just the antics of four girls, two 12 year olds, two 11 year olds, acting somewhat cuter and more childlike than perhaps is entirely realistic.

Originally a {{shonen}} manga series by Barasui, created in 2001, later adapted in 2005 to a video game, and an anime series in 2005. An OAV adaptation was released in early 2007 and another one, entitled ''Encore'' in early 2009.

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!!This show provides examples of:

* ACupAngst: Oh Miu, poor deluded Miu.
* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Chika occasionally has this reaction to Miu.
* AllJustADream: The first episode of ''Encore'', after Miu gets knocked out while attempting to do a backflip.
* AnimeAccentAbsence: [[{{AvertedTrope}} Averted]]. Ana Coppola is notably a Japanophile who knows more about Japanese culture than her native friends. Plus she forgot how to speak English despite being from England.
* ArtEvolution: ''Very'' noticeable if one reads the series from the first few issues.
* AsleepInClass: At one point Ana falls asleep, and when the teacher goes to wake her, Matsuri protests that they should let her sleep. In another classroom, {{Jerkass}} [[BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine boke]] {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Miu falls asleep, and the ''teacher'' asks ''Chika'' not to wake her.
** Given how she acts in class, this is more the teacher knowing she can't change Miu's behavior, and rather than pointlessly waking her and having to deal with it during class, taking advantage of her falling asleep to teach properly.
* AttentionWhore: Miu.
* AudienceSurrogate: Nobue.
* BeachBury: Done to Miu (buried in the sand standing up so only the head is sticking out, just like Sayid in Film/WhiteSunOfTheDesert, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kDABLl5Lzc&t=0m31s just have a look]]), after she exposed Nobue's [[BuxomIsBetter really nice boobs]] to the public by stealing her bikini. After calling them "no-chest sisters", they play SmashingWatermelons, with Miu's head replacing the melon, although they stop before hitting her head.
* BeachEpisode: Episode 10, "Beach Challenge".
* BigSisterInstinct
* BigFancyHouse: Ana's.
* BigFriendlyDog: Frusciante, who is friendly to anyone but Miu.
* BirdRun
* BlandNameProduct: Nobue's Mild Even cigarettes. And the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haagen_Dazs M(a)ild Dazs]]. And Chika's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTT_DoCoMo DoWoMu]] cellphone.
* BlankWhiteEyes: Episode 5.
* BlindWithoutEm: Matsuri, which leads to some very dangerous situations in the public bath.
* BlushSticker: The girls have them often.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: Every scene involving Miu doing something stupid and Chika commenting on it.
** Taken UpToEleven in chapter 61 with many repeated cuts of Miu giving a dumb excuse for her mistakes and Chika giving a different comment each time.
---> '''Miu:''' "I'm worried about the future of Japan."
---> '''Chika:''' "How does that make you late?!"
* BrokeEpisode: An ongoing theme is Nobue's lack of funds.
* ButNotTooForeign: Ana, who hails from [[UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry the West Country]] (Cornwall, to be precise), in South West England.
** Ana's actually an interesting variation, in that she really is pure-blooded British, but has lived in Japan so long she's for all intents and purposes a [[GoingNative native]].
*** Its a RunningGag that out of all the girls, Ana is actually the '''WORST''' at speaking English.
* ButtMonkey: Whenever the younger-younger girls' rarely-seen male classmate Sasazuka does appear, he's usually being told by the teacher to [[StandingInTheHall stand in the hall]].
** Miu seems to think that Ana and Matsuri are this. Everyone else ''knows'' Miu is.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Likely non-romantic, although with Miu all bets are off.
* ConversationCut: Hiroki Matsui, cosmetics salesman, is punched in the eye, breaking his glasses and causing them to hang under his nose by one ear, thanks to Nobue becoming convinced that he's a pedophile. A few panels later, he's in front of the company president, resigning. For whatever reason, he has not removed his glasses.
* CoolBigSis: Nobue.
* CuteClumsyGirl: Matsuri.
* CuteLittleFangs
* TheCutie: Miu.
* DiggingYourselfDeeper: Happens to Ana whenever she shows that she can actually speak very good Japanese (and next to no English).
* DropInCharacter: Miu, even in the middle of the night.
* FauxPaw: In episode 51, Matsuri and Miu each don kitty ears. Matsuri does the FauxPaw maneuver (just batting, no licking), to Nobue's delight. Miu behaves more like a cat that's lashing out. Nobue doesn't think so highly of this.
* FestivalEpisode: "The Matsuri".
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Miu.
** To a point. Occasionally [[{{AvertedTrope}} Averted]] in some parts of the anime and manga where the girls still invite her to places and include her in their general daily life despite what a pain she is. Nobue outright states in the manga "You and Chika are our best friends too." and goes to effort to console Miu when she has her breakdown. Chika is arguably Miu's toughest critic and she still gets the most visibly and tearfully upset if Miu is seriously hurt. It's more that she's just a loopy sister to these girls instead of being someone they resent on any level.
* FriendlyTickleTorture: Nobue and Miu are pretending that Miu's dead. One of Nobue's "proofs" is that Miu, despite "having been" very ticklish, doesn't react to the most severe tickling. Except that she does, of course.
* GagBoobs: In "Miu's News", Miu shoves stuffed toys under Chika's shirt while she's sleeping.
--> '''Miu:''' It's you! With bazooka boobs!
* TheGenericGuy: Chika.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In the English dub, Nobue mispronounced the name of Frusciante, Ana's dog, as "Fruanshite/Fruit and shite".
* GirlishPigtails: Miu.
* GoldfishScoopingGame: Miu happens to be very good at this.
* HairColors: Miu is the classic red-haired anime character, British-born Ana the blond, Chika the typical anime brown or black haired girl, and Matsuri is ''gray'' at ''eleven'', just to round out the mix with a touch of the unusual.
* HairDecorations: Miu and Chika are usually shown wearing hair decorations.
* HeadbuttThermometer: Nobue to Chika and Miu in episode 19, "Sick Jokes".
* HotSpringsEpisode: Episode 17, "Into Hot Water".
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe: Nobue's first interaction with the character Ana is to examine her, note things about her that make her cute, and then suddenly grab her proclaiming, "She's MINE!!" In her defense, she was really drunk when this happened.
* {{Jerkass}}: Miu.
* {{Kotatsu}}
* LimitedWardrobe: Averted, there's quite a variety of clothes worn throughout the series.
* {{Lolicon}}: Nobue is accused and [[LittleMissSnarker teased]] about this this by Miu on occasion for her ImTakingHerHomeWithMe tendencies and reactions to Matsuri and Ana's CutenessProximity.
* LookBehindYou: Subverted and played straight in one scene.
* MagicalGirl: Shinohara the angel, from Miu's dream sequence.
* ManChild: Nobue, to an extent; on more than one occasion, she acts less mature than her 12 year old sister.
** Nobue isn't really a 20 year old, [[NoSmoking she just plays one on TV]], so some childish behaviour is to be expected.
* {{Meganekko}}: Matsuri. Ana's mother also appears to be one.
* MustHaveNicotine: Nobue. Big time.
* NoFourthWall
* NoSmoking: Nobue is 16 in the manga, but is depicted as 20 in the anime, giving her an excuse to freely smoke and drink.
** Though she first claims to be 20 while wearing what is clearly a high school uniform.
** There is a chapter in the manga in which Nobue tries to stop smoking, [[MustHaveNicotine with funny results]]. At the beginning she actually addresses the reader that 16 year old girl's aren't allowed to smoke in Japan.
* ObliviousYoungerSibling: Subverted.
* TheOjou: Ana.
* OtakuSurrogate: Downplayed. The girls sometimes read manga and play video games but this is not treated as a major character trait.
* PantyShot: After staying "clean" for 15 episodes, Miu finally has a pair of them in Encore.
** There are a few in the manga as well.
* PaperFanOfDoom: Used in Episode 1 to keep the girls awake when they're making the ashtray. Miu is the recipient of the most hits according to the score board.
** Miu also uses one in "Proverbs".
* ParentalAbandonment
* PhenotypeStereotype: Nobue fawns over Ana's "typically British" blond hair & blue eyes, while Miu is jealous of Ana's breasts developing before hers.
** And of course Ana's mother is blond too.
** Light hair is fairly common in Britain (compared to the more southerly European nations), so arguably it is "typical" that Ana and her mum are fair-haired.
* PokeThePoodle: ''Encore'' introduces the cutest, most pathetic attempts at a demon facilitating hell.
* PottyDance: Miu does it while lying on the bed because holding it in is temporarily preferable to entering the bathroom without a [[{{Metroid}} Varia Suit]].
* PuniPlush: Rather evident, but throttled to new heights in the ''Encore'' {{OVA}}.
* RealPlaceBackground: The girls apparently live in the town of Hamamatsu in Japan's Shizuoka prefecture, and the author sometimes sneaks in local landmarks.
* RubberFace: Nobue does that to Miu, after she starts making fun of her for wearing a girly dress on a part-time job as waitress.
* RunningGag: Miu lying face-down on the floor after skipping some off-screen violence.
** This is played with one time in the manga where in the following panel Nobue says she hasn't hit her yet, and Miu says she thought she could skip that part if she lay down in advance. Cue Miu lying down again, this time with a bump on her head.
* SadistTeacher: The teacher in Ana's class is constantly punishing one particular student at any opportunity and for no reason.
--> ''Ana is sleeping in class. The teacher walks over to her desk''
--> '''Teacher:''' "My my, what a magnificent nap we're having."
--> '''Matsuri:''' "Shhhhh! Shhhhh! Please don't wake her up!"
--> ''Teacher stares at Matsuri for a moment''
--> '''Teacher:''' "Wouldn't Sasazuka like to have a nap too?"
--> '''Sasazuka:''' "Huh?"
--> ''cut to teacher starting his lesson with Sasazuka absent''
** In the last episode of the the main amime, the Teacher tells Saszuka to go stand in the hall, to which he replies "I don't want to." Cuts to Teacher standing out in the hall.
* SantaClaus
* SceneryPorn
* {{Seinen}}
* ShoutOut:
** Matsuri's ferret is named John, and Ana's dog is called Frusciante, leading one to believe that Barasui is a Music/RedHotChiliPeppers fan.
** Barasui references a lot of western music in various ways throughout - for example, Nobue is a big fan of Music/AphexTwin and µ-Ziq.
** Ana has the cat Sakamoto from ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'' on her pajama.
* StandingInTheHall: Poor, poor Sasazuka.
** Happens to Miu in "Miu's News".
** And Ana and Matsuri's Teacher in "Present."
* StraightMan: Chika.
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Both Miu and Nobue's friend, when independently asked, think of Nobue like a boss.
* StrawberryShorthand
* SurpriseSantaEncounter
* TalkingWithSigns: Manga chapter 24, "Speak No Evil".
* ToiletHumour: Miu farts in the hot tub during "Into Hot Water". The other girls are not amused.
** A bigger deal is made out of it in the anime. This is somewhat of a [[RunningGag running gag]] seeing how she not only does this again in the 3rd OVA as well, but also in the video game depending on the scenario.
* TwelveEpisodeAnime
* VoodooShark: A [[NoSmoking censorship example]]. Nobue claims to be twenty while wearing a high school uniform.
* WeaselMascot: John, a normal, if mischievous, ferret.
* WeNeedADistraction
* WholePlotReference: Miu retells Cinderella in one chapter of the manga, with Matsuri as Cinderella, Chika and Ana as the stepsisters, Nobue as the prince, and herself as the fairy godmother who [[spoiler: marries the prince at the end]].
* WikiWalk
* WilliamTelling: On [[SideStoryBonusArt a picture after the chapter]], [[http://mangafox.me/manga/ichigo_mashimaro/v03/c025/18.html Miu wants to let Nobue shoot an apple off her head with an arrow and Chika tries to talk her out of]] [[TooDumbToLive this insanity]].
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* {{Dojikko}}: Matsuri.

* [[WeaselMascot Ferret Mascot]]: John, a normal, if mischievous, ferret.

* ShoutOut: Matsuri's ferret is named John, and Ana's dog is called Frusciante, leading one to believe that Barasui is a Music/RedHotChiliPeppers fan.

** Ana has [[{{Nichijou}} the cat Sakamoto from Nichijou]] on her pajama.

* WilliamTelling: On [[SideStoryBonusArt a picture after the chapter]], Miu wants to let Nobue shoot an apple off her head with an arrow and Chika tries to talk her out of [[TooDumbToLive this insanity]].

** That's not because of her being Japanophile, but her coming to Japan at a very young age and her parents only speaking Japanese at home (so she could learn Japanese faster, which has GoneHorriblyRight, since she did actually amost entirely forgot, how to speak English).

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Quite a few people mis-labeled it as {{Shojo}}, such as [[http://www.amazon.com/Strawberry-Marshmallow-Cute-Does-Vol/dp/B000F3AAMK Amazon.com]] They even go so far as to say that it's obviously targeted at adolescent girls and that older viewers will find it cloying.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Matsuri, while still the ButtMonkey, was just as much of a jerk as [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Miu]] and less willing to deal with her crap in [[http://manga.animea.net/ichigo-mashimaro-chapter-.4-page-6.html#.U7eSNvldWSo earlier chapters]] before the first book was released.
-->'''Miu:''' Hey, white hair!
-->'''Matsuri:''' Shut up, you hag.
** Chika and Nobue also had an [[http://manga.animea.net/ichigo-mashimaro-chapter-.2-page-4.html#.U7eTHvldWSo older brother named Takanori]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In the English dub, Nobue mispronounced the name of Frusciante, Ana's dog, as "Fruanshite/Fru and shite".

Depicting the [[SliceOfLife everyday life]] of four pre-adolescent girls and their older sister figure, ''Strawberry Marshmallow'' (''Ichigo Mashimaro'' in the original Japanese) doesn't have excessive drama, or supernatural events, or giant robots. Just the antics of four girls, two 12 year olds, two 11 year olds, acting somewhat cuter and more childlike than perhaps is entirely realistic. This notwithstanding, for raw cuteness with added snark, the anime, and the manga, should be recommended.

* ButNotTooForeign: Ana, who hails from [[TheWestCountry the West Country]] (Cornwall, to be precise), in South West England.

** Barasui references a lot of western music in various ways throughout - for example, Nobue is a big fan of AphexTwin and µ-Ziq.

* {{Woolseyism}}

* Woolseyism

* HairDecorations: Miu and Chika are usually shown wearing hair decorations.