Tonight, we continue with the Marmalade Boy television series that we began showing last year. For those of you new to the series, MB is a romantic comedy featuring the life of a high school girl (Miki Koishikawa) and her relationships with friends and schoolmates. The story revolves around the bitter-sweet romance that develops between her and Yuu Matsuura. The story begins when Miki's parents, Jin and Rumi, return from a vacation in Hawaii to announce that they are getting a divorce. It turns out that they met the Matsuura couple and decided to switch partners. Jin fell in love with Chiyako and Rumi fell in love with Youji. Miki can't believe her ears. Her parents tell her not to worry because all four of them will still be living together in a big house as a big family. Miki can't handle such a devastating development in her life, and she breaks down. She then finds out that the Matsuuras have a son (Yuu) who is Miki's age. While Miki is devoutly opposed to her parents' plan of remarrying, Yuu, to Miki's amazement, doesn't seem to care. Yuu's initial reaction to Miki changes between politely cold and downright rude. The show continues on at warp speed as Yuu's personality is slowly revealed to Miki and the two grow closer together. In recent events, because of Miki's insistence, Yuu appears in a commercial, where he meets the famous model Suzu. Suzu decides that she wants Yuu and herself to be a couple, since they look perfect together. This ends up troubling Miki's relationship with Yuu. Later, Yuu and Miki make up when Yuu accepts back Miki's school medallion. After their relationship is mended, Anju, Yuu's childhood friend, shows up. Miki, who hasn't learned a thing, is worried again that she is going to lose Yuu. Tonight, we resume with the Anju episodes. Cast of Main Characters: Miki Koishikawa: the star of this famed drama. She is a junior in high school when the show starts. She has been in love with Ginta since middle school, but Ginta initially appeared to reject her because of his fear of being ridiculed by his classmates. In the beginning of the show, she is torn between her old feelings for Ginta and her new ones for Yuu. Eventually, she sorts things out and is firmly in love with Yuu. Yuu Matsuura: Miki's new brother-in-law and love interest. Yuu usually hides his emotions behind a carefully constructed wall, exposing only a cool, unfeeling exterior. Part of the appeal of MB is waiting to see the hidden pieces of Yuu's personality reveal themselves to Miki. He is very interested in architecture, and he is MB's most complicated character. Ginta Suou: a close student friend of Miki, who once had a shot at her heart, but has now settled for being her friend. He is currently dating Arimi. Meiko Akizuki: Miki's closest friend who is also in the school's literary club. Meiko's character is a bit of a mystery. She is desperately in love with her teacher Namura-sensei, who resigned his teaching position and left for Hiroshima so that he would not be a distraction for her. So far, she is the most tragic and melancholy character in MB. Arimi Suzuki: She was the only girl to ever date Yuu. After he broke it off, she said that Yuu's heart would remain forever closed off from anyone. Satoshi Miwa: He is the president of the student body at Miki's school who tries for Meiko's heart. He becomes VERY close, and important, to Yuu as time progresses. His father is a famous Japanese architect. Tsutomu Rokutanda: comedy relief or annoyance, I haven't figured out which yet. He is Suou's dreaded cousin. Suzu Sakuma: A young and famous model with a seemingly shallow personality. She joins in the chase for Yuu. She is Miwa's cousin, and her father is also a famous Japanese architect. Kei Tsuchiya: Like Yuu, he is another complicated character who also loves Miki. He is a very talented pianist who rebelled from his family. He quit school to live by himself because of a disagreement with his teacher and parents over the music that he should be playing. Anju Kitahara: Yuu's only known childhood friend. She was introduced in the previous episode and will become more important as the series progresses. |