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Characters / Strawberry Marshmallow

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Tropes (and other stuff) about the main girls of Barasui's Slice of Life comedy, Strawberry Marshmallow.

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    In General 
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience:
    • For Nobue, black or grey are her usual clothing colors of choice.
    • Blue is the primary clothing color for Chika.
    • Miu prefers her clothes to be Pink/Red.
    • Matsuri wears primarily green clothing.
    • Ana's clothes are either Lavender or White.
  • Kiddie Kid: The younger girls are 11 and 12 years old, but tend to act more like eight-year-olds.
  • Meaningful Name: In the dictionary episode, the girls look up the meaning of their own names - Nobue means "increase faith," Chika implies "thousands of skills" - basically being good at lots of things, Miu means "beautiful wings", (and she's very proud of it), and Matsuri means "festival", and it's also a type of flower.
    • Ana is furious when Miu spells her name in kanji to mean "hole", "bone", and "cave", which becomes a Running Gag.

    Nobue Ito 

Nobue Ito

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese), Carol-Anne Day (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo-mashimaro-nobue_7300.jpg

The oldest of the bunch, at 16 years old (20 in the anime). Elder sister to Chika, whom she loves to mess with when in need of money to feed her smoking habit.


  • Age Lift: Goes from 16 in the manga to 20 in the anime in order to keep from displaying underage smoking and drinking (in the anime, she at first claims to be 16, but then admits, that it was a lie).
  • Audience Surrogate: Arguably; she acts more like a teenage boy, the target audience of the work.
  • Berserk Button: Don't make jokes about her age or weight, or else she'll kick your ass, or at least scribble nonsense on your face.
  • Big Sister Instinct: Frequently exhibits a protective attitude towards Matsuri and Ana, hardly ever to her actual sister, however.
  • Cool Big Sis: She nominally functions as one to Chika, but acts more like this toward Chika's friends (except Miu, of course)
  • Cuteness Proximity: Her trigger is Ana and Matsuri.
  • Evil Chef: One time, when Miu kept dragging the rest of the crew to the café, where Nobue worked part-time and repeatedly extorted fancy ice cream from her, she spiked Miu's ice cream with hot sauce. This escalated to a big food fight between Miu and Nobue, which got Nobue fired and not only without pay for the days she worked there, but even with debts to the café for cleaning and damages.
  • Gallows Humor: Loves to mess with the girls and nothing’s particularly off limits, no matter how dark.
    Nobue: "Matsuri! it's Miu! She's dead!"
  • Must Have Nicotine: Gets really tetchy and irritable when she’s out of cigarettes — and too broke to buy more.
  • Tomboy: She's deeply embarrassed by the frilly skirt and pinny she has to wear for her part-time job at a family restaurant - the girls can't believe what she's wearing.
  • Womanchild: She's definitely not above playing pranks on the girls...

    Chika Ito 

Chika Ito

Voiced by: Saeko Chiba (Japanese), Wendy Morrison (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo-mashimaro-chika_3737.jpg

Nobue's younger sister, a laid-back 6th grader. Described by her as the "normal" one of the group.


  • The Generic Guy: Her sister describes her as such, and she’s presented as an ordinary, relatively nondescript kid whose role in the series is to act as “the normal one” or Straight Man to her sister and wackier friends.
  • Only Sane Man: Amongst a cast of eccentrics of various types, Chika stands out as the sensible one of the gang.
  • Straight Man: She’s frequently the butt of both Nobue and Miu’s jokes, especially when she’s peacefully trying to get on with her homework.
  • Straight Man and Wise Guy: With Miu playing the part of the "wise guy".
  • Team Chef: She’s constantly cajoled into making treats for the girls, but a lot of the time, she’s happy to oblige.

    Miu Matsuoka 

Miu Matsuoka

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Caitlynne Medrek (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo-mashimaro-miu_7729.jpg

Nobue and Chika's neighbor, who seems to spend a lot more time at the Ito house than her own. She is in the same grade as Chika, and has been friends with Chika since they were little.


  • Actually Pretty Funny: Though Chika doesn't like to admit it, she does secretly find some of Miu's pranks funny.
  • Attention Whore: Miu does everything she can to "act cute" to try to get Nobue to notice her over Ana and Matsuri, often resulting in Miu getting bonked on the head.
  • Black Comedy Rape: As seen when Ana needs a yukata:
    Nobue: "Miu, take off your clothes."
    Miu: "Oh please no, Lord Magistrate!"
    Nobue: "Idiot..."
  • The Chew Toy: She has it coming, since she's often a pain in other people's asses and gets faceplanted by Nobue and the others for this.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: She’s completely nuts, with a bizarre sense of self-perception and a trolling sense of humour.
    Miu (whilst dressed as a doctor): "I'd describe your condition as "clenchy".
  • Cute Little Fangs: Occasionally flashes these in moments of mischief.
  • Deliberately Cute Child: Tries to use this to her advantage, but fails repeatedly.
  • Drop-In Character: Her bedroom window is literally a short hop across the rooftop from Chika’s, and she frequently climbs in through the latter’s window, almost-always uninvited.
  • The Fake Cutie: She's very fixated on being the cutest girl ever, but it's largely to get attention and she's actually more of a bratty Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Fiery Redhead: Sports (dyed) orangey-brown hair and is quick to meltdown if things don’t go her way.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: But they still invite and include her in their daily lives, so it's only on a shallow level.
  • Homosexual Reproduction: After she spent a night in Nobue's bed, she stuffed two pillows under her shirt and pretended to be pregnant.
    Nobue (after seeing Miu pretending to be pregnant): Everything about this is wrong.
  • Girlish Pigtails: Always wears her hair like this as part of her Girly Girl schtick.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Especially where Ana and Matsuri are concerned, if they are shown more attention.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Practically runs on this. Chika hangs a lampshade on it when Miu suggests how the other girls can become "more flexible".
    Chika: Watch, it's going to be totally deranged, like, "bury rubber bands in your garden" or something.
    Miu: I'm not gonna give you some fruitcake advice. I was about to say you should do stretching exercises after every bath!
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's mostly jerkish, though she does have some Pet the Dog moments with the Itou sisters and even Matsuri. Also, deep down, she just wants to be loved and admired.
  • Skinship Grope: When Miu discovered a bikini in Ana's wardrobe, she checked if Ana has the assets for it. Turned out, she hasn't any more than herself.
  • Straight Man and Wise Guy: With Chika playing the part of the Straight Man
  • Toilet Humour: 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 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
  • Unlimited Wardrobe: To a deranged degree, including a santa costume and 3 matching reindeer outfits, ninja gi's, obscure basket-hats and nurses outfits, as well as an extensive amount of Kawaiiko every-day clothes.
  • Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: She’s mostly this, though her rarely glimpses vulnerable side mitigates her being completely unsympathetic.

    Matsuri Sakuragi 

Matsuri Sakuragi

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Kylie Beaven (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo-mashimaro-matsuri_855.jpg

A 5th grader who is friends with Chika and Miu. She is timid and tends to scare (and fall down) easily. Nevertheless, Nobue seems to be attracted to her particular brand of cuteness for some reason.


  • Bespectacled Cutie: A classic example, she sports huge, round glasses and is of a studious, gentle disposition.
  • Blind Without 'Em: Literally can’t see more than a few feet in front of her without her specs.
  • Butt-Monkey: Miu takes great pleasure in messing with her — especially as she’s such a wet-wipe and almost never fights back.
  • Cat Girl: Ashamed of her odd hair, she invests in a cute hat with cat-ears attached. Bizarrely, she spontaneously sprouts a cat tail as well. Nobue, quite taken with her new look, insists she add a little "Nyah" (meow!) to the end of every sentence...
    Matsuri: "Konnichi-nyah~"
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: In one episode, Ana recounts her day spent with Matsuri — a catalogue of unfortunate mishaps that culminates with her having to have a lay down in the school nurse’s office.
  • Loyal Animal Companion: Her ferret, Jon.
  • Prematurely Grey-Haired: Matsuri’s previously brown hair grows out grey from the roots — perhaps due to the stress of having to deal with Miu’s gags, and her overall timid, nervous personality.
  • Shrinking Violet: She’s painfully shy and hates speaking up in class.

    Ana Coppola 

Ana Coppola

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Katie Rowan (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ichigo-mashimaro-ana_9780.jpg

Originally from Cornwall, England, Ana is one of Matsuri's classmates. She loves Japanese culture, but tries to disguise this fact in front of her peers even though her family has lived in Japan for a while and, as a result, don't speak English as much anymore.

Ana first appears in Episode 2 of the anime, and chapter 11 of the manga.


  • Big Fancy House: Ana's house is huge by Japanese comparison, and actually has a proper lawn (as well as a fancy gate-buzzer), which is a rarity reserved for only the very wealthy.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Her yellow labrador, Frusciante (dubbed "Fu-chan" by Miu).
  • British Stuffiness / Japanese Politeness: She presents a curious blend of both, and is often seen to be very flustered and confounded by the mayhem surrounding her.
  • English Rose: A beautiful Cornish girl with skin described as being “white as porcelain” and looking “like a porcelain doll”, who comports herself properly at all times and is of a reserved, charmingly polite disposition. Nobue and the rest of the girls are instantly captivated and intrigued by her.
  • Fauxreigner: Zig-zagged: Although she is a foreigner (she and both of her parents are British), she lived in Japan from a young age and only spoke only Japanese even at home, resulting in her almost entirely forgetting her own mother tongue. She tried to feign ignorance of Japanese language and customs and proficiency in the English language, but failed at both tasks (the Japanese language and culture were too deeply ingrained in her for that, her Japanese classmates speak English better than her and she has a better command of the Japanese language than her native Japanese classmates have). That bothers and embarrasses her very much, since she wants to keep her cultural identity and connection with her country of birth and even tries to re-learn English with her friend Matsuri's help.
  • Gorgeous Gaijin: In-universe example — when Nobue meets Ana for the first time (whilst a little tipsy), she's instantly smitten with her.
    Nobue (thinking): "Smooth, blonde hair, clear blue eyes, skin as white as porcelain, slender long legs..."
    Nobue: "She's mine!!!" *Glomp*
  • Gratuitous English: Having lived in Japan for so long has seriously impaired her ability to speak her native tongue, so when she actually does try to speak English, it comes out like this.
  • Heritage Disconnect: She has lived in Japan so long she's more Japanese than her Japanese peers, culturally speaking. This bothers her enough to ramp up the "foreignness" at school and work with Matsuri to re-learn English.
  • Named After Somebody Famous: She was named after film director Sofia Coppola.
  • New Transfer Student: She turns up in book 2 of the manga and Matsuri is allocated to be her school buddy and show her the ropes — something she’s utterly terrified to do.
  • Occidental Otaku: Though she'd never admit it of course, as she's a proud Brit.
  • Ojou: A classic example; Mr and Mrs Coppola are clearly enormously wealthy, judging by their huge house, and Ana is their only child. However, her mother, briefly seen in one episode, doesn’t spoil her and is seen to be quite firm when Ana initially refuses to finish her broccoli.
  • Phenotype Stereotype: Blue eyes? Check. Golden hair? Check. Originally from an English-speaking country? Check. It's fairly justified where Ana is concerned, as England (being in Northern Europe) is a nation with a relatively high occurrence of fair-hair, especially amongst children.
  • Token White: She's the only non-Japanese member of the main cast.
  • The West Country: Her origin, more specifically Cornwall, before the move to Japan.

Alternative Title(s): Ichigo Mashimaro

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