365 Days of Manga, Day 223: The Gorgeous Life of Strawberry-chan

THE GORGEOUS LIFE OF STRAWBERRY-CHAN • Anime Works • Ai Morinaga • 16+
Ai Morinaga is at her funniest when she’s sadistic; My Heavenly Hockey Club is merely snarky, but she really shines in stories like Strawberry-chan, the tale of a hapless frog who is the pet of cold-hearted Taro Akiyoshi, a teenager who relieves stress at his all-boys’ school by sticking a frog up Strawberry-chan’s butt and inflating him like a balloon. And yet, Strawberry-chan loves his master (even if he doesn’t like being tortured), and dreams of becoming human so they can share a special relationship. But what about Masayuki, Taro’s handsome roommate who wants to be a gentler master to Strawberry-chan? And what about Kaoru, the cute gay kid who has a crush on Taro and dresses up in a giant frog suit thinking “I want him to abuse me like that”? Words can’t describe how sick and ridiculous this manga is, but it’s also hilarious. The sadistic behavior of callous tsundere doms in Boy’s Love manga is here expressed through comical animal abuse, as frogs (and occasionally humans) are smacked into a bloody pulp, stepped on, experimented on by mad scientists, and so forth. Each chapter is only three or four pages long, about the length of a youtube animation, which feels about right. The second volume is titled The Super-Cool Life of Strawberry-chan. (Review by Jason Thompson; originally printed in Otaku USA magazine)
*** 1/2 (three and a half stars)
Today’s winner is Charles D. of Iowa. Congratulations, Charles! In other news, Jason K., one of our recent winners, sent me a shot of himself with his manga.