Chika, Matsuri, Miu, Ana are young children exploring life. Throughout this 12 episode set, the children go to the beach, celebrate Christmas, throw a birthday party for Chika's sister Nobue, and embark on other various activities. It's a simple slice of life tale.

Even though "Strawberry" has a "been there, done that" feel, the heartfelt characters and storylines manage to stand out. Unlike many of these wacky supernatural anime series, audiences can relate to these characters. We were all children once. We all went to school, explored new things, helped people out, and hung out with our friends. We all knew (or had) a loud-mouthed, annoying friend like Miu. The show is like reliving your childhood, only hopefully your childhood was more exciting.

The series is not without flaws. The episodes have strange uncomfortable silences every now and then that make the pacing awkward, but I think that was the point. If the show had frantic editing and characters were running around unrealistically, the series wouldn't work. If that was the case, there would be no realism and therefore no character to connect with. Still, the writers could have made stories more engaging. There were a few times when I began to nod off!

The DVD

Video:
The 16X9 Anamorphic widescreen video is superb. I'm just glad I didn't have to suffer through another mediocre quality fullscreen anime disk. Thank you Geneon.

Sound: The Dolby Digital track suits this disk just fine. You can't ask for a better audio track for an anime series.

Extras: The usual Geneon previews and DVD credits are present on all three disks. In addition, disk one includes a non-credit opening, disk two has a non-credit ending with a promo video, and disk three has a few TV spots and music video clips. There is also the option for an English dub or English subtitles.

Final Thoughts:
For those looking for a non-action, non-adult anime series, "Strawberry Marshmallow" might be up your alley. It's a show with its heart in the right place that can appeal to both children and adults alike.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.