[Spoilers] I My Me! Strawberry Eggs 25th Anniversary Rewatch -- Episode 3

Hey, guys. Holofan4life here.

Welcome to the I My Me! Strawberry Eggs 25th anniversary rewatch!

^Just ^ignore ^the ^25th ^anniversary ^is ^in ^July…

Crossdressing and comedy. It has a long, storied history.

Nowadays, crossdressing in comedy is considered insensitive with accusations of it being transphobic and borderline homophobic. And while there is probably some truth to that, the reality is a lot of times it’s played with sincerity.

Some Like It Hot and Tootsie are two of the greatest comedies of all time. Mrs. Doubtfire is considered iconic and a defining part of Robin Williams legacy. All three movies play the crossdressing up for laughs but there’s quite sincerity about it to where the joke isn’t just “Lol, it’s a guy dressed as a woman”. And I think that sincerity applies to I My Me! Strawberry Eggs.

Strawberry Eggs, which is how I’ll be referring to it going forward, is very much a product of its time. It has that wacky slapstick type of humor common in anime at the time, like with shows such as Ranma and Love Hina. It also has a lot of heart that I think makes it a show worth revisiting.

This is easily the most obscure show I’ve ever hosted. I hope with this rewatch I can introduce people to this series that have never seen it before so they can become fans of it just like me. It’s been over two years since I last saw the show, so will my memory hold up or will it prove to be an outdated relic best forgotten to time? Let’s find out!

With that out of the way, let’s begin.

I’m watching the dub, by the way.

Well, I hope this episode is better than the last one. I imagine it will be.

Everyone not named Hibiki eating food.

Hibiki looking for pleated skirts.

He's wearing one now, and it's hard to move in.

I like that Lulu randomly has a puppet of the principal.

Kōji and Tofu listening in

They are excited at the prospect of buruma as a skirt alternative.

Hibiki waking up

First day on the job

Is it?

Hey, there's Fuko

And she calls him the bra man lol

She wants nothing to do with him.

Hibiki helping Fuko after she trips.

She says she bought food for the animals.

And so she nervously takes off

"I'm so pathetically misunderstood."

Same here, Hibiki. Same here.

At school now

The principal and vice principal in front of all the teachers.

This is like a cult almost

Lulu walking with an apple

He wonders what Kōji and Tofu are up to.

Hibiki in front of her students

Fuko is really excited that Hibiki is her homeroom teacher.

Talks of going to a retirement home.

Gotta send one member from each homeroom.

And Fuko offers to do so

This episode is all about how considerate and thoughtful Fuko is.

Lulu on the lookout

She's now flying with a parachute

You know, like you do

Hibiki showing the girls the buruma.

The girls are worried it might be too provocative.

Fuko doesn't seem too against the idea.

And of course, the male students were listening in on the conversation.

Buncha pervs

Speaking of perverts

Kōji brushing his teeth

And Lulu gives him what for

Same for Tofu

At least them getting beat up is entertaining.

Fuko doing a long jump

Unfortunately, she lands on top XD

Hibiki able to catch her

She blames the pleated skirt

Fuko says she'll wear them, and Hibiki says he'll wear them with her.

How thoughtful?

A nice crotch shot of Hibiki

Lulu with the undies save

She really is the best character

All the guys staring at Hibiki

Maybe Hibiki now understands where the principal is coming from...

Time for the long jump part deux

She did much better here

Principal in front of a bunch of burumas.

Hibiki pleading her case

She says the boys were just being boys.

Principal isn't buying it, however.

Hibiki with Fuko now

Fuko says she liked the buruma.

Even still, it was embarrassing.

Things are seemingly not coming up Hibiki.

Fuko returning stuff

And she bumps into Hibiki again.

Fuko really helps out probably way too much.

Hibiki notices something on his computer.

Her, sorry

Gotta select a different class rep for the volunteer committee.

Fuko a member of too many things.

Hibiki going to the faculty room now.

Fuko, stop saying you'll do everything. Please.

And Hibiki returns and Fuko is by herself.

Fuko...

"It's fine. I don't mind doing it."

FUKOOOOOOOOO

This poor girl is too kind for her own good.

Hibiki with Lulu

Lulu says human beings are selfish creatures.

Fuko not human confirmed?

Maybe she's a ghost :P

Hibiki in front of everyone again

She wants people to stop taking advantage of Fuko's generosity.

And now we get a flashback of Fuko practicing on the vaulting horse.

And she's wearing the buruma

At least her friends seem to care about her.

And so now the students are volunteering to help.

But Hibiki feels they're missing the point.

"Don't you care about your classmates? Don't they matter to you at all?"

I like this conflict. I like that Hibiki is looking out for Fuko and showing it's okay not to be a total pushover.

Hibiki telling Fuko to come with her.

That one boy classmate is really being focused on.

Hibiki says she'll leave wearing the Buruma up to her.

And next thing you know, the girls all want to wear them.

It seems like the girls have all come to an understanding.

Same for the guys

And look at that, Fuko cleared the vaulting horse.

Everyone is having fun

"Physical freedom releases the kind as well as the body."

And so the principal and vice principal, albeit reluctantly, agrees to allow Buruma to be the new gym clothes.

Lulu mad because she was planning on selling buruma herself.

Bought them by the bulk, with no way of returning them.

So, now she's gonna wear them herself.

See what you did, Kōji and Tofu? Bunch of dumbasses.

Overall, this was a very well done episode. It was about gym outfits, but it was more about Hibiki and Fuko's relationship and how Hibiki felt people were taking advantage of Fuko's generosity. Hibiki making the students realize the error of their ways was done believably in a way that made sense. It also serves to continue the trend of Hibiki making an impact on the school that serves to make Hibiki a thorn in the principal's side.

And hey, Kōji and Tofu's roles in the episode were kept to a minimum, with Lulu basically torturing them. That was good.

This was my favorite episode of the series so far. A nice bounce back from the last one that showed more of the heart of the show. I thought it did a really good job of fleshing out Fuko's character and having her conflict be also her biggest strength, that being the level of compassion she shows for others. There was a prefect blend of heart, humility, and comedy.

First timer!

>Thoughts on Buruma being talked as a skirt alternative?

Absolutely fucking not. That's borderline underwear and shouldn't be used at school.

>What are your thoughts on Hibiki wearing the Buruma with Fuko so she feels comfortable wearing it?

I really wish he hadn't.

>What are your thoughts on it being revealed that Fuko's classmates take advantage of her kindness by getting her to do everything?

That was sad. She wasn't straight up being bullied, but I still felt really sorry for her. Good on Hibiki for taking care of it!

>What are your thoughts on Hibiki being mad because even though Fuko's classmates agreed to help Fuko out, it's like they haven't learned what exactly they did wrong?

Kids will be kids, as long as they agreed to help out in the end, I don't think it really matters why, but on him for helping Fuko out!

>What are your thoughts on one of the lessons of this episode which is physical freedom releases the mind as well as the body?

Too philosophical for me.

On to the episode!

Should Hibiki be mentioning anything school related in front of the perverts? That's gonna bite him in the ass...

Oh boy, Fuko remembers the bra thing, I sort of expected it was one of those gags that would later be ignored lol.

Man, the principal is running that school like a full on cult. How is everyone playing along with her?!

The vaulting horse thing was one of the few things I didn't mind too much in PE.

I kind of agree with the girls. Bloomers are way too provocative, but you see them in a lot of school anime... Are they actually worn in real schools?!

Oh my God, Hibiki wearing those is so wrong!

Every time Fuko runs into Hibiki I wonder if his breasts will finally fall off lol.

I'm proud of Hibiki for helping out Fuko.

Jesus, why won't they just wear regular shorts?! I actually looked it up, apparently bloomers were common between the 1960s and 1980s, but not anymore. Good, because it's very fucking weird that kids would wear those.

And in the end, Fuko succeeded jumping over the horse! I'm proud of her!

It seems Hibiki is actually being a good teacher, and not making it weird with the girls, not what I expected to be honest.

Oh God, I don't want to imagine granny wearing those bloomers :|

Bit of a different episode, focused more on drama than comedy, still a good episode though!

**First Timer**

I'm a little busy today so I may not be able to respond much tonight.

So today’s episode is about bloomers or as the dub calls them, buruma. This is how it’s pronounced in Japanese but it’s weird hearing the English dub pronounce it like that.

Bloomers are an old timey style of women’s underwear but it’s also the name for gym shorts that used to be a standard part of girls gym uniforms in Japan.

It’s also where Bulma from Dragon Ball gets her name.

Fun fact by the way, by the time this anime came out bloomers were already falling out of favor in Japanese schools. Throughout the 90s and into the 2000s schools ended up dropping bloomers for more standard gym shorts.

But the trope of bloomers as the standard anime girls gym uniform persisted into the 2000s and even into the early 2010s, likely because most of the people working on anime and manga at the time had just grown up with that.

But in newer anime you’re not likely to see that as part of a gym uniform anymore.

So ironically despite this episode being about Hibiki trying to get the headmistress to modernise the gym uniforms he himself is already outdated.

It also makes the whole premise of the episode a bit silly. It treats it like the only options are bloomers or long skirts, while the idea of just using gym shorts never comes up.

Man, I do not like these two characters who live with Hibiki. I’m usually annoyed by other pervert characters in anime, but at least someone like Master Roshi is over the top. These guys seem way too much like actual weird perverts. Especially the old guy.

At least Lulu tracks them down to beat them up in an over the top way.

Once again, I am on the side of these girls not wanting to wear those bloomers. Especially since the male characters in this show are kinda proving them right about why they don’t want to wear them.

Where did Hibiki get so many bloomers on short notice anyway? Clearly the headmistress wouldn’t approve of that. Did Lulu just keep a collection or something?

I know I mentioned it earlier but I am still not used to the dub using the Japanese pronunciation of bloomers. Like, this is probably the first ever official dub to feel like an early 2000s fansub.

(I swear if they say “keikaku” instead of plan in this dub I’m gonna lose it)

Okay I do like Hibiki as a protagonist, but he really shouldn’t dismiss the way the boys are acting like that. Not a very responsible thing for a teacher to do. Like the girls have a very valid reason to not be comfortable with the boys acting this way.

Alright, I have been kinda critical of this episode, but I do like the latter part of this episode focusing on Hibiki realizing other students are taking advantage of Fuko’s good nature and generosity.

Hibiki really can be a good teacher when it counts.

I guess it tries to tie everything together at the end. But I don’t quite get the connection between bloomers and everyone relying on Fuko too much.

**First Timer, Dubbed**

Why are you listening with them stethoscopes now 😭

I’m looking at those two perverts like 😑 I’m surprised no one suggested just…wearing boy’s shorts instead of running around in a heavy skirt.

What type of school chant is that…

Tuck, girl! Tuck!

Is Baachan 🏳️‍🌈?

Hibiki, your ass and those thighs though 👀 He has such a great figure.

It does suck when the class doesn’t participate in some events.

Buruma Power! It would not surprise me if there’s some obscure manga out there about buruma giving people magical powers.

Aw, that’s nice.

Score for Hibiki!

***

**Additional Thoughts**

I hope the perv squad simmers the fuck down 😭

I’m surprised buruma was the solutions instead of wearing male shorts. But I assume this was either made when buruma were in fashion or it’s…because of the fetish.

Really sucks Fuko is fine with this treatment. Poor kid. Granted, while her classmates should help her, she needs to learn the lesson of having boundaries. And that’s difficult to navigate if you’re a people-pleaser or conflict-avoidant.

Baachan feels like an old queer granny who would have every gender-affirming item under the sun and gives you some stuff no problem when you’re struggling and then walk away. She has NYC attitude. I like that.

***

**QotD**

1. Why? Why not just wear boy shorts?
2. How does Baachan know about all this, is what I was wondering.
3. It was sad to see how normalized it is and previous teachers did nothing.
4. I’d be mad too. I don’t want someone to do something to just shut up the conversation. Do it because you genuinely and authentically want to.
5. What an ironic message given Hibiki does not have physical freedom while working.

And then I owe you answers to your questions yesterday, hold on.

# First timer sub

The scene begins with Hibiki requesting a girls' school uniform. He wanted to experience "[jumping over vaulting box](https://imgur.com/HMJGpze)" in a traditional uniform, which really brought back childhood memories. In elementary and middle school, my classmates and I often played this during breaks; we called it "[~~跳马~~跳山羊](https://imgur.com/XxGvxYf)." First, we'd play rock-paper-scissors, and the loser would become the "~~horse~~goat" (support point).

To begin with, there's the issue of the uniform. I have to say, this kind of girls' uniform is quite pretty, but it's not very suitable for sports. Ironically, my area also has a uniform problem, but it's completely different. Here, everyone wears the same rather "baggy" sportswear as their school uniform, prioritizing practicality above all else, with no aesthetic appeal whatsoever. When he tried to peopose ~~new sports shorts~~ Buluma during breaks, he encountered resistance from two sides. First, the girls demanded that Hibiki demonstrate first—if Ruru hadn't brought him some tight underwear, things would’ve been even worse. Then the boys started to jeer. Hibiki could temporarily control these issues, but when the principal saw the chaos in his classroom, she immediately intervened and demanded that things be restored to normal. So he had no choice but to comply. I imagine the reality in Japan is even harsher. It's a hierarchical society, and perhaps there are very few teachers like Hibiki who would step forward to promote their new ideas. They wouldn't dare disobey their superiors, even if it benefits the students. But seeing this scene of a teacher caring for his students, seeing this anime, I believe this situation will gradually improve in the near future…

Then the conflict shifted from the athletic shorts to Fuko taking on too many duties. I want to say this didn't happen suddenly. Following Hibiki into the school, the issue of long skirts existed from the very beginning of the interview. During this time, our focus was on Fuko because she was the first to actively respond to the teacher's call. Seeing her practicing jumping over wooden boxes at night was truly heartbreaking. Then we encountered more problems. It seemed Fuko was helping to fetch teaching equipment during every break, then falling down, and even taking on 5-6 class duties! [You can't let her suffer alone!](https://imgur.com/ZpvP5bF) Even if she says she likes it!

Although these are two seemingly unrelated issues, Hibiki saw through their selfish unwillingness to take responsibility, [which earned his a great deal of authority](https://imgur.com/XlBCKD3). [If the students cooperated and the classroom remained orderly](https://imgur.com/ShYr2zG), then at least the principal had no reason to continue interfering. Of course, I want to emphasize that in reality, in East Asia, most teachers wouldn't disobey orders from their superiors if the principal explicitly objected. But that wouldn't be romantic, which is perhaps one of the reasons I've always stuck with anime. I suspect the later plot will involve Hibiki encountering other students' problems and gradually resolving them. Although the plot is quite predictable. I'll still watch it with great anticipation. The atmosphere of this anime is simply too romantic and cute to resist.

ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)

Thoughts on Buruma being talked as a skirt alternative?

It's really short; it shows all of Fuko's legs.

What are your thoughts on Hibiki wearing the Buruma with Fuko so she feels comfortable wearing it?

Heart-warming

What are your thoughts on it being revealed that Fuko's classmates take advantage of her kindness by getting her to do everything?

selfish

What are your thoughts on Hibiki being mad because even though Fuko's classmates agreed to help Fuko out, it's like they haven't learned what exactly they did wrong?

It was a scene I didn't expect. They just raised their hands reluctantly, but really didn't think about Fuko's situation.

What are your thoughts on one of the lessons of this episode which is physical freedom releases the mind as well as the body?

Interesting. Kind of materialistic.