I My Me! Strawberry Eggs

The coronavirus pandemic afforded me the luxury of time to start catching up on leftovers from previous years, so after the recent heads-up on the interesting Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo, I figured it was time to check out some more of Grek1's recommendations, this time from AkiCon 2018. I am not exactly sure why I picked I My Me! Strawberry Eggs, perhaps it was because I was intrigued by Grek's reference to SJW and could not understand how he meant it, although now I pretty much get it... I started watching the first couple of episodes and thought that someone like me, who is familiar with the three most famous cross-dressing movies (Some Like It Hot, Tootsie, and Mrs. Doubtfire) could not have been very shocked by anything in this show. Wrong! Anyway, it also reminded me of some other movies and anime series, like Ranma ½, Great Teacher Onizuka, or even Fack ju Göhte/Suck Me Shakespeer... At first, this anime series seems like a really crazy, wacky, goofy fun comedy and probably the closest thing to the aforementioned Tootsie. This is nothing out of the ordinary for someone who has seen anime shows like this before, although what is interesting is the setting, the jokes are just insane, plus, it has a promising plot twist. From the second half of the season, specifically from the eighth episode onwards, this anime series starts to come into its own, and there is a lot of food for thought. Gender discrimination (and all the prejudices associated with it) is the first interesting subject matter which features throughout most of the season, and this theme is brought to a head in the eighth episode, and perhaps surprisingly, rebellion against this obvious injustice is resolved quite logically for the school and its students. It seems surprising how an anime series that is this crazy can suddenly deal with the subject matter in a completely serious and natural way, say what needs to be said, and more or less resolve everything to my complete satisfaction. Then comes something even the most hardened SJW would not expect - understandable defiance with a reasonable attitude, outlining the problem in a different way to how it is perhaps done usually - I had a pretty good feeling about this episode... Then, it just keeps on going! They tackle the anguishes of adolescent romantic relationships, with the storyline being pretty clichéd. However, in the end, I was still left stunned with only one question in my mind - what is actually unacceptable in the context of romance, and therefore love? The ending itself was perfectly acceptable and satisfying according to my own established standards. However, the question remained, as well as the thought of whether this was really the best ending... This anime was a pleasant surprise that scored points with me in just about everything it set out to achieve. Very entertaining, interesting romantic relationships, lots of ambiguous issues, and well-thought-out solutions. It still resonates with me now... The characters were very good, Fujio and Akira (plus Kuzuha actually), were very believable and probably the most normal in the whole anime series. However, the most interesting character was definitely the landlady with her special training and motorbike, who adds another dimension to the narrative during her last conversation with the headmistress (and causes me to imagine another narrative - a prequel, which I would now like to see...). If it all were just a silly comedy, like the first few episodes, I would have rated it as slightly above average, knowing I found it quite entertaining. However, thanks to all the interesting implications, now I do not even know who I am, yet feel I have just watched something that was very good! Run, Fuko, run!  8.3/10. (03/05/2020) (less) (more)