Ichigo Mashimaro OVA

[WanderingKnight]

Oh my God, congratulations to the HgM fansub team, one of the best fansubs I've seen lately!

Although, a side note could have added in the Miu vs Teacher showdown:

Spoiler:

What Miu's confused about is that ３分の一時間　could also mean "an hour of 3 minutes". A bit of the joke is lost in there without a side note.

Wheew. This was my fourth view (two views of the raw plus one with the seiyuu's commentaries), and it still made me laugh out loud a lot of times. Though after reading the manga, the anime designs (especially those of the OVA) have started to bother me. The IM girls with round eyes look much, much better.

[Sorrow-K]

Ep 1.

Standard IM ep. I wouldn't really say this was anywhere near the best that this show can offer, though. It did have its moments, nonetheless. A few almost-recycled jokes, but it seemed this OVA was more focused on fan-nostalgia than taking the comedy to new places.

Edit: Just for the record, fan-nostalgia doesn't really do it for me the way it'll inevitably do it for a lot of other people who see this OVA, purely because IM didn't quite do enough to turn me into a fully-fledged fan. I enjoyed the first series, but after I walked away from it, I just felt it didn't do enough for me to consider it special.

[zrdb]

I loved the series and these ovas are more of the same-only better!!

[Daniel E.]

Is this thread going to be moved to the fansubbed section?

[Vexx]

Probably... but its possible they haven't thought about it or more likely - things are all being left alone until the server move is complete, running, and backed up.

[xxanimefan4_ever]

Originally Posted by currywu

Anyone else notice this?

What's up with this cameo?

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

An Azumanga Daioh cameo eh!?

I sure as hell missed that one.

actually... from the fansubber's site

So a few have already spotted the Kimura-sensei cameo in Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 01. I’d like to clarify that this isn’t part of the actual episode; it’s one of many easter eggs added by us! Have fun looking for the rest. Some are more subtle that others — those with the h264 version will find them more easily since they can switch between the raw video stream and the video stream with overlays.

[Vexx]

urk..... I had downloaded the xvid version (which apparently has the easter eggs rather than not) ... now I'm compelled to download the other (though more to get the seiyuu commentaries...)

Interesting use of overlays though... I don't mind the idea but I'd prefer some warning in the OP I guess.

[xat]

Originally Posted by Vexx

urk..... I had downloaded the xvid version (which apparently has the easter eggs rather than not) ... now I'm compelled to download the other (though more to get the seiyuu commentaries...)

The commentary track is not to be found in either version, and that's mainly due to how much more difficult it would be to time/translate. We wouldn't want to serve you something we knew wouldn't be quite up to the quality of the episode subs; perhaps some time in the future it'll be done, and if you have the h264 version, you'll easily be able to mux it into the mkv.

Sorry if you don't like the easter eggs -- most of them are subtle and easy to miss; one of them actually requires some knowledge of Japanese to notice. I guess they weren't subtle enough... although it's interesting to see how many viewers thought they were actually part of the episode.

Interesting use of overlays though... I don't mind the idea but I'd prefer some warning in the OP I guess.

I wanted to do this, but bd_ said it'd spoil the surprise.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by xat

although it's interesting to see how many viewers thought they were actually part of the episode.

If you do it for the second OVA, I'll probably believe is part of the episode again.

Originally Posted by Vexx

Probably... but its possible they haven't thought about it or more likely - things are all being left alone until the server move is complete, running, and backed up.

It got moved shortly after the post.

I guess it does pay to ask.

[Kamui4356]

Ah how I was looking forward to this. Needless to say, the ova doesn't dissapoint. Yes, it's really more of the same, but why change what works? I was a bit concerned that it wouldn't live up to the tv series, but it looks like those concerns were misplaced. Can't wait for episode 2.

[Vexx]

Darn.... would have been great to hear the actresses hamming it up in the commentaries (even if it were untranslated).

I'm not disliking the easter eggs. But just from a "is it Memorex or Live?" kind of mentality ... its nice to be informed.

[WanderingKnight]

Darn.... would have been great to hear the actresses hamming it up in the commentaries (even if it were untranslated).

You can still download the raw and turn on the second audio channel.

[rooboy]

Originally Posted by xxanimefan4_ever

actually... from the fansubber's site

So a few have already spotted the Kimura-sensei cameo in Ichigo Mashimaro OVA 01. I’d like to clarify that this isn’t part of the actual episode; it’s one of many easter eggs added by us! Have fun looking for the rest. Some are more subtle that others — those with the h264 version will find them more easily since they can switch between the raw video stream and the video stream with overlays.

Good, that explains the "Mahoro shuts down in xxx days" at the end of the episode. I hadn't seen it in the raw and was confused.

[Vexx]

yup, I realized that about two minutes after I posted it.... I'm just used to raw torrents vanishing seconds after they get subbed for lack of seeds.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Vexx

urk..... I had downloaded the xvid version (which apparently has the easter eggs rather than not)

Damn. I wanted to download this one too because the h264 version let my xine die on me. Seems I have to compile a new xine version instead. No offense, but I prefer to see the video the creators intended us to see and not the results of somebody's ideas of improved funniness.

I just hope this is not becoming a new trend. First Hidamari Sketch and now this. Well, back to my Japanese lectures.

[Srin Tuar]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Damn. I wanted to download this one too because the h264 version let my xine die on me. Seems I have to compile a new xine version instead.

I used to use xine, but have now been using mplayer instead. (fresh compile from subversion)
Seems to use less cpu time, and hasnt crashed on any files.

[xat]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Damn. I wanted to download this one too because the h264 version let my xine die on me. Seems I have to compile a new xine version instead. No offense, but I prefer to see the video the creators intended us to see and not the results of somebody's ideas of improved funniness.

I just hope this is not becoming a new trend. First Hidamari Sketch and now this. Well, back to my Japanese lectures.

None taken, although to our defense I would say the easter eggs we've included are substantially more subtle; you'll find virtually no difference unless you were really looking for the eggs. I'll probably make another article noting the remaining ones people haven't pointed out yet.

[Cal-Reflector]

"It is something which tired businessmen on international flights can enjoy even with their minds dulled due to lack of oxygen."

~Someone not talkinga bout Ichigo Mashimaro, but they might as well have been.

Actually, the above quote, possibly from Hayao Miyazaki, referred to the Kurenai no Buta. Nevertheless my point is made; that Ichigo Mashimaro is built on the same sort of philosophy. Relaxing slice of life moe... Hidmari Sketch, which I haven't seen much of, Aria, which I also haven't seen much of, and to a lesser extent Yokohama Kaidashi no Kikou and Yotsubato fall into roughly the same category.

I enjoyed it; in the menu of Anime, simple shows like Ichigo Mashimaro have their place alongside the fanservice, gore, drama, angst, and crack.

An observation: I can't help thinking of Fuuka from Yotsubato as I watched Nobue from this episode. Physically, they're of a similar mold, but with amusing and contrasting personalities. It's interesting to imagine what would happen if the two of them were to become acquainted. Nor is this entirely a thought out of the blue, I recall a one page comic a while ago which featured Yotsuabto and Miu together at a table.

[bdonlan]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

An observation: I can't help thinking of Fuuka from Yotsubato as I watched Nobue from this episode. Physically, they're of a similar mold, but with amusing and contrasting personalities. It's interesting to imagine what would happen if the two of them were to become acquainted. Nor is this entirely a thought out of the blue, I recall a one page comic a while ago which featured Yotsuabto and Miu together at a table.

Alas, Fuuka and Nobue were not present.

The pic in question

[Vexx]

That's an interesting comparison (Nobue and Fuuka)... though Nobue is a bit more jaded after a few years of Miu They're both delightful characters though.

Hmmm, as far as "no oxygen required to enjoy" ... I'm going to give I.M. a few more points in subtlety than Yotsubato. I'm going to pull up a phrase that I use instead to describe a certain type of show (no idea where it originates but it was used as the title to a piece of music).
"Nostalgia for Things that Never Were..."

These shows are nostalgic but not because of actual memories but the way things 'ought to be' perhaps. They're slice of life, they communicate cultural axioms (time passing -- the seasons, seasonal food, matsuri, holidays, sakura time, etc; the bonds of friends or enemies...).

On an irrelevant note, I've tried two raws now and both have failed to complete due to seed vanishing or tracker corruption. Ah well. I'll try again later ... wasting too much bandwidth on it. The sad thing is we probably won't get the commentary track on an R1 release.