Marmalade Boy (ママレード・ボーイ) is a 76 episode anime that aired in the mid-1990s on Japanese television. This series was based on a manga with the same title, created by Wataru Yoshizumi and serialized in Ribbon magazine . There was also a short movie (only slightly longer than a normal episode) in 1995, which was a prequel to the series. The manga is published in English by TokyoPop which has now begun releasing the anime as well.
The storyline revolves around Miki Koishikawa, a high-school girl whose parents divorce — only to switch partners with another couple and marry their new partners. The two newly formed couples then decide to live together in the same house, despite Miki's objections. The situation complicates when Miki meets and instantly falls in love with her new step-brother, the other couple's son. A love triangle soon develops between Miki, her step-brother Yuu Matsuura (Matsūra Yū), and her old flame/childhood pal Ginta. It becomes a love rectangle with the inclusion of Arimi, Yuu's ex-girlfriend.
Meanwhile, Miki's best friend Meiko has a relationship with Shinichi Namura, the homeroom teacher for Miki, Yuu, Meiko, and Ginta's class, who is affectionately referred to as "Na-chan" by his students. A similar love rectangle is set up involving Miwa (Yuu's friend, who pursues Meiko) and Ryoko (another teacher with a crush on Namura.) Relationships get more complicated as Ginta and Arimi fall in love and other characters (Tsutomu, Suzu, Kei, Anju, Michael, and subsequently Jinny, Bill, Doris, and Brian) are introduced, resulting in what anime fans call "the love dodecahedron" because of its ridiculous complexity. The manga is slightly less complex, since Anju and the American characters are introduced only in the anime.
Because of the female lead, the emphasis on the multitude of relationships, and the sometimes soap opera-like levels of melodrama, Marmalade Boy is sometimes offered as a defining example of shōjo.
The title refers to a simile Miki uses early in the series to describe Yuu: she calls him a "marmalade boy" because he has both a bitter side and a sweet side, but his appearance fools people into overlooking that. Yuu retaliates by describing Miki as a "mustard girl," who is "just bitter all over." The lyrics of the opening theme song play off Miki's simile, equating love with the bittersweet taste of marmalade on burnt toast.
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