Tonight, instead of showing episode 27 of Marmalade Boy (aka "Mustard Girl" in last meeting's newsletter), CJAS is showing the Marmalade Boy movie. The term "movie," though, is sort of a misnomer since it's only about 30 minutes long, but nevertheless, it was shown in Japanese theaters in March 1995. This coincided with the TV air dates of episodes in the early 50s. However, nothing is lost by not having watched the episodes in between; the story of this movie actually takes place before episode 1. It tells of Yuu's first encounter with Miki, and what's more, it's told from Yuu's point of view.

Because the story is told from Yuu's point of view, and knowing Yuu's stable mentality, there won't be any of the usual angst that is prevalent in the TV series. Also, there won't be any super pastel modes, and Yuu won't be uttering "doushiyou..." anytime soon. We will find out what Yuu's reaction is when his parents tell him that they are going to get divorced and then marry the Koishikawas. We will also discover the reasoning behind Yuu's actions in episode 1 -- why he walks into the restaurant with a smile and why he kisses Miki in the school infirmary.

The Marmalade Boy movie also includes "Melody - dakishimete -," a catchy song sung by Mariko Kouda, Miki's seiyuu. This is the only instance in the entire series that this song will be played. The opening sequence of the movie is the usual opening (song -- "egao ni aitai"), while the ending sequence is the ending that is used for the last third of the TV series (song -- "yoake no etude"). As a total package, the Marmalade Boy movie is very well done, and it offers us a nice little break from the TV series while also giving us a little more insight into Yuu's character.

[Technical Audio Info: Throughout this movie, it may seem that the audio doesn't sound quite right. This is due to the way the original LD for this movie was pressed. On the digital side of the LD, all speech and sound effects will only be heard coming out of the left speaker, while all the BGMs will come out on both speakers in stereo.] [BGMs = background music tracks -Ed.]