I My Me! Strawberry Eggs

I My Me! Strawberry Eggs (あぃまぃみぃ!ストロベリー・エッグ, Ai Mai Mi! Sutoroberī Eggu), occasionally shortened to Strawberry Eggs, is a 2001 Japanese anime television series animated by TNK with co-production by Pioneer, LDC. The series aired from July 4 to September 26, 2001 by WOWOW and in August 2002 was licensed by Geneon Entertainment.

Plot

Hibiki Amawa is an enthusiastic young man whose dream career is to be a professional teacher, having graduated from college with a certificate in athletics. When he is unable to pay his landlady, Lulu Sanjo, the monthly rent for his apartment, he rushes off to the nearby Seito Sannomiya Private School to apply for a position that is open, but is summarily denied employment because of his gender. Offended, and more determined than ever to have his way, Hibiki vows to demonstrate the merits of his educational philosophy to his detractors, and with offered help from Lulu, agrees to disguise himself by cross-dressing in order to deceive the school's female-only administration. With assistance from some gadgets Lulu engineered for this purpose, he disguises himself very convincingly. Following an initial demonstration of his merits as an educator, he is hired.

Unfortunately for Hibiki, however, life as a gym teacher at this school does not go completely smoothly. With interpersonal conflicts among students causing fights and occasional mild missteps endangering his disguise, Hibiki must not only mediate his class, but also keep up appearances and navigate life in disguise.

Characters

Primary characters

Hibiki Amawa (天和 響, Amawa Hibiki)

Voiced by: Yūji Kishi (male-Japanese), Yuki Masuda (female-Japanese), Crispin Freeman (male-English), Sally Dana (female-English)

The central protagonist of the series, Hibiki Amawa is a fairly typical college graduate whose goal is to become a professional school teacher. His life takes an unexpected turn in the process when, in order to pay off his apartment rent, he is forced to cross-dress in order to gain employment at the female-favouring Seito Sannomiya Private School. His situation only gets more complicated when the school board grows suspicious of him, students take to fighting with each other, and one of the girls of his class (Fuko) develops romantic feelings for him.

Lulu Sanjo (三条 るる, Sanjō Ruru)

Voiced by: Kujira (Japanese), J.E. Jaress (English)

Lulu Sanjo, more often referred to as "Baa-chan" ("Granny") by her tenants, is the tough-as-nails, pistol-packing landlady of the Gochiso apartments, which double as a school supply store that she also owns. Impressed by Hibiki's strong determination, she offers to help him in his mission, helping him disguise himself as a woman and maintain the disguise throughout his time on campus.

Fuko Kuzuha (樟葉 楓子, Kuzuha Fūko)

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English)

Clumsy but selfless, Fuko Kuzuha is a student at the Seito Sannomiya Private School. Despite being accident prone, mild-mannered, and easily flustered, Fuko is a very strong-willed girl. Much to her personal anxiety, she starts admiring Hibiki's personality, and this admiration develops into a powerful romantic attraction, bringing her considerable confusion and feelings of shame. Her mother died when she was six years old and her widower father is a traveling businessman. Fuko resides at the school dormitories. Fuko also speaks up for Hibiki in the final episode, changing everyone's negative opinion of him when Hibiki's true gender is exposed.

Secondary characters

Morikoji

Voiced by: Katashi Ishizuka (Japanese), Taliesin Jaffe (English)

Morikoji is a salaryman who is a tenant at the Gochiso apartments; room 101. He is also known as Mori. He is a pervert with a fascination with photographing female uniforms with his camera and unusually large mirror; frequently strapped on his back. He is good friends with Tofu Tofukuji.

Tofu "Kochi" Tofukuji

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese), William Frederick Knight (English)

Tofu Tofukuji is a retired, elderly man lodging at the Gochiso apartments.

Kurage

Voiced by: Mae Yoshida

Hibiki's pet dog. Lulu often uses Kurage as motivational collateral for the unpaid rent. While the breed of Kurage is never mentioned, he seems to resemble a Bichon.

Chieko Sannomiya

Voiced by: Rika Taniguchi (Japanese), Noelle DePaula (English)

Chieko Sannomiya is the eponymous principal of the Seito Sannomiya Private School. She was appointed office a decade prior to the story and carries herself in a conceited, yet formal, aristocratic manner.

Reiko Mukogawa

Voiced by: Eriko Kawasaki (Japanese), Erica Shaffer (English)

Vice-principal of the Seito Sannomiya Private School. She works closely with Chieko Sannomiya, and like her, is a stern man-hater, resulting from a failed marriage. Reiko grows suspicious of Hibiki early into his career and tries debunking his identity several times. Reiko was successful in exposing Hibiki's true gender in the end, but her plan in turning Seito into an all-girls school was tarnished by Fuko's defensive speech for Hibiki.

Fujio Himejima (姫島 藤緒, Himejima Fujio)

Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (Japanese), Jennifer Sekiguchi (English)

An aggressive tomboy, Fujio Himejima is a student at Seito. She wears her hair in two loose pigtails, tied by her signature green bows. She has a black belt in Aikido and develops a crush on fellow student Akira Fukae, who unfortunately, does not reciprocate. Fujio resides in the dormitories.

Miho Umeda (梅田 美保, Umeda Miho)

Voiced by: Omi Minami (Japanese), Suzy Harbulak (English)

Miho Umeda is a student at the school and is Fujio's closest friend. Her maturity is considerably more developed than her friends and this at times makes her behave in an arrogant manner; especially when it comes to her past and current experiences with boys. As a result, the other girls tend to look up to her and this prompts her to act like a role model for them. Miho resides in the dormitories. She is a foil to Seiko Kasuganomichi.

Seiko Kasuganomichi (春日野道 聖子, Kasuganomichi Seiko)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese), Sienna Canyon (English)

Seiko Kasuganomichi is a fairly quiet student. Her family is wealthy and she is often seen sheltered. She gets uncomfortable at the sight of naked men, in photographs or in the flesh.

Akira Fukae (深江 晃, Fukae Akira)

Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese), Ted Sroka (English)

Quiet and composed, Akira Fukae is one of the primary male students on campus. Even though he usually tends to be level-headed, Akira is not afraid to speak his mind or take a stand for what he believes he is fair and just. His father is a private investigator.

Kyosuke Aoki

Voiced by: Takayuki Yamaguchi (Japanese), Josh Phillips (English)

Kyosuke Aoki is another one of the few male students at the school, arguably the most energetic and is also the tallest; comparable to Miho Umeda to the girls. He is takes the biggest interest in Hibiki's drag and frequently proclaims it to her and the others. Kyosuke is good friends with Akira Fukae and Shoichi.

Shoichi Iwaya

Voiced by: U-ko Tachibana (Japanese), Jaime Gallardo (English)

Another enrolled male student at the school and a close friend of Kyosuke Aoki.

Shiro Naruo

Voiced by: Norihisa Naruo (Japanese), Jonas Ball (English)

Another of the few male students. He is a gentle and quiet boy, who in episode eight stole Reiko Mukogawa's salary when he is asked by Hibiki to visit the teacher's lounge and retrieve his grade book. Shiro has a girlfriend named Makoto Uozaki.

Production

The anime series is produced by TNK, with co-production by Pioneer, LDC, and is directed by Yuji Yamaguchi. The series aired in Japan on WOWOW between July 4 and September 26, 2001 containing thirteen episodes. The anime's original concept was by Yom who was assisted by Kenichi Murakami. The series structure and screenplay was written by Yasuko Kobayashi. The series was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in August 2002 . As of December 2007, the series is out of print

Two pieces of theme music were used for the anime; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Dearest" sung by Hitomi Nozaki, with lyrics by Syoko Sawada, and arrangement by Masala Nishida. The ending theme is "White Station" by Acefile composed of Mae Yoshikawa, Marina Kushi, Asagi Kudo, Saori Nara, with lyrics by Rei Yoshii, and arrangement by Masala Nishida. Other music was provided by Masala Nishida.

Episodes

Adaptations

Manga

A manga adaption was serialized in MediaWorks' Dengeki Daioh magazine between December 21, 2001 to February 25, 2002.

References

External links

• Anime official website (Japanese)
• I My Me! Strawberry Eggs (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia