I My Me! Strawberry Eggs (あぃまぃみぃ! ストロベリー・エッグ), occasionally shortened to Strawberry Eggs, is a Japanese anime television series conceptualized by YOM. Produced by Pioneer LDC, Toshiba Digital Frontiers Inc., Pioneer Entertainment (USA) LP., TNK and Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, the series is directed by Yūji Yamaguchi, with Yasuko Kobayashi handling series composition, Maki Fujii designing the characters and Masara Nishida composing the music. The anime aired in Japan from July 4 to September 26, 2001, on Wowow and was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in August 2002.

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 Seitō Sannomiya Private School to apply for a position that is open, but is summarily denied employment because of his gender, as they only hire women. 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

Some of the characters' surnames and the school's name are derived from train station names in the Kinki area. In addition, most of the surnames of the characters of the Seitō Sannomiya Private School, except for Fūko Kuzuha, are adopted from the names of stations on the Hanshin Main Line.

Secondary characters

Episode list

The anime series is animated by TNK and directed by Yūji Yamaguchi. It first aired in Japan on Wowow between July 4 and September 26, 2001, running for 13 episodes. 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," a modified version of Shoko Sawada's "Shin'ai naru Hitoe," performed by Hitomi Mieno and arranged by Masara Nishida. The ending theme is "White Station" by Ace File 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 adaptation illustrated by the anime's character designer Maki Fujii was serialized in MediaWorks' Dengeki Daioh magazine between December 21, 2001, and February 25, 2002. A total of 3 chapters have been published.