If you’re into shoujo manga, 90’s shoujo anime and/or Japanese dramas, you’ve probably heard of Marmalade Boy. It’s an incredibly popular shoujo manga series from the early 90s. It was one of the earlier titles that Tokyopop released in English back in the day. It was a series I picked a few volumes up back when I was 12/13, and it was a series that I always meant to finish. But one that, due to it going out of print and me being a kid who didn’t think to hunt it down online…I never did.
So I’m so glad that Seven Seas have bought the rights and are now rereleasing this series in some stunning collectors’ editions. I obviously preordered volume 1 and read it super quickly after getting it.
But it’s also a very dated series with some content I was leery of even reading it as a kid. So I was curious about how I’d feel about this series now. I wasn’t put off knowing some of the content in this book. However, some newer readers might wind up DNFing due to the issues. Still, the 90s/00s style drama isn’t usually something I enjoy anymore. And this series is packed full of that.
Marmalade Boy follows 16-year-old Miki, whose life was turned upside down when her parents return from a holiday only to tell her they’re getting divorced. On the trip, they met another couple, and now they’ve decided to switch partners! They move in together to keep the family units together, including Miki’s new step-brother, Yuu.
Just a quick warning that this post will contain spoilers for this and later volumes, so read on if you’re okay with that.
Unsurprisingly, I still enjoyed this first volume so much.
I still remember the problematic stuff. I knew Meiko and her teacher were a thing. I’m still not okay with it. I wish it ended worse for him. I’m pretty sure he does lose his job, which is good. But they also get married and have a kid, so….yeahhhh. I wish that wasn’t a thing. Especially as on my reread, Meiko is definitely turning out to be one of my favourite characters. She definitely deserves better.
This series also includes a step-sibling relationship which I know many people don’t like. This is a case where I am okay with it. They barely treat each other as siblings; they suddenly met in their late teens and aren’t being raised as siblings. There are many other manga and game series where a love interest is an adopted sibling who’d been raised with the protagonist, which I have a much bigger problem with.
Some of the romance scenes in this book were a little uncomfortable now. Like Yuu kissing Miki when he thought she was asleep, and Ginta is still a whole-ass problem at this point. Elements of this really haven’t aged well.
But I still had a good time. It was the fun, wild teen romance that I remembered it being. Sure, you’ll probably stop in places and grimace a little as it’s dated. We’ll have to accept that as the norm with a lot of old media, we love. They’re all products of their time and culture.
If you are looking for a fun shoujo manga packed with drama, this is definitely the series for you. And it’s very much still a series for me too.
Lace and Dagger Books 