| title = Okashina Okashi - Strange Candy
| image =
| caption =
| author =
| url = http://www.strangecandy.net/
| status = Updates Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday; with Strange English Project on Saturday
| began = 2001
| ended = N/A
| genre = Anime / Fantasy / Comedy / Science Fiction / Parody
| ratings =
}}
''Okashina Okashi'' (aka Strange Candy or OO for short) is a . It was started in 2001 by Emi-chan and has also been written by Tanzy and Kourin, both of whom have since stopped contributing. Tanzy was its first writer, with Kourin added to the team in October 2001 .
In July 2004 , Emi-chan announced that Kourin would no longer be writing the comic due to her commitment to school. She began to search for a new writer and in August chose Xuanwu after going through several applications from fans.
OO currently has its forum on POnju , an Internet Forum with several other Webcomic forums and over 7000 members.
Characters
Warning: Spoilers follow!
The Travelers
''Information from the Okashina Okashi Character page ''
- Ellie James, aka Eri-chan - Ellie is a 16-year old American high school student who is studying in Japan for a semester. Keiko's family is her host family. Ellie is a very hyper, gullible, obsessed otaku/anime fangirl. She does know an AMAZING amount of stuff, but it is all about strange topics. Eri-chan loves bishounen, loves shoujo manga, is a yaoi fangirl and wishes real life were like anime. She likes to daydream and write fanfiction when things don't happen the way she wants them to. Keiko calls her "Eri-chan." First appearance: OO #1 .
- Keiko Hasegawa - Keiko's family (mama, papa, older brother) is the host family for Ellie. Keiko is usually very calm and practical and responsible. She feels very protective towards Eri-chan, and feels it is her responsibility to keep her safe through this whole adventure. Keiko has many facets. Sometimes she can be very sensitive ane emotional, and she can fall in love easily. However she does have a little bloodthirsty streak that shows up when she gets really enthusiastic or excited about something. Keiko seems to be the most mature member of the group. First appearance: OO #1 .
- Petra - Petra (no last name) is an 18 year old high school senior. She is captain (and only member of) the weapons club at school. She is known for her violent temper and her firepower to back it up. Petra's weapons collection includes all sorts of knives, guns, rocket launchers, throwing stars, etc. Considering just about all of these items are illegal, it can be said that she is not one to obey the rules. She does not have very good social skills (she is either flustered or bossy) and has a secret habit of reading romance novels. First appearance: OO #2 .
- Lycidia - Lycidia (she named herself) is an independently wealthy teenager with great ambitions. She plans to take over the world eventually, starting with Tokyo. Most of her spare time is spent devising grand schemes to get herself into power, but she has yet to actually try any of them. Perhaps because she has yet to recruit her faceless minions. But she KNOWS she will someday rule. She is very dramatic, and likes to wear things that will draw attention to herself. Yes, there is an ego here. She has a LOT of money at her disposal thanks to her late papa. She has an older brother who is the president of a very large company. First appearance: OO #4 .
- Eeichi Shinohara - Eeichi is a struggling musician in Tokyo. He used to have a band, but recently quit due to musical differences. He wants to start a new band, and he already has the perfect name in mind. However, never let this man write song lyrics! He can be very moody and quiet when preoccupied with problems, or very outgoing and carefree when things are going well. He really likes people.. so much that one of his favorite things is to be ecchi with them, boy or girl. He appreciates beauty in all forms. ^_^ He is a good counterpart to Hoshiko, for he has a very active imagination also, and very sexy taste in clothes. First appearance: OO #3 .
- Hoshiko Yamano, aka Ho-chan - Hoshiko freely admits that she is a genki pervert. She likes to do naughty things and is not shy! She has a very free-spirited nature, and a dirty mind that always sees the ecchi side in any situation. Besides her obvious enjoyment of being naughty, she has the more grounded hobbies of cooking and gardening. She specializes in Italian cuisine (and wishes she could have been a contestant on Iron Chef). Hoshiko isn't exactly good at gardening, but she likes the quiet time alone outdoors sometimes. It gives her plenty of time to think of new ecchi things to do! She has an overactive imagination and a lot of energy. First appearance: OO #3 . Origin of "Ho-chan": OO #54 .
- Daisuke Dohmoto - Daisuke is a 17 year old geeky-looking boy. He apparently lives alone, and does not have a girlfriend. Having watched too many infomercials on TV, Daisuke finally broke down and ordered a book from Nade-Nade-Publishing on how to summon his very own harem of girls. After following the instructions in the book, Daisuke summoned Petra, Keiko, Lycidia, Eeichi-kun, Hoshiko, and Eri-chan from Tokyo Tower. Unfortunately, they did not become the loving harem he had hoped for, and instead decided to leave him and go find a way home. Lycidia decided to make Daisuke her Loyal Minion, and now he is stuck going along for the ride also. He seems nice and friendly, and pretty timid. No one knows exactly what Daisuke does for a living (work? go to school?), if he has any friends or family, or even what he looks like without the very thick glasses that cover his face. First appearance: OO #5 .
- Takeshi Shirokane - Takeshi is a multitalented individual. He was born and raised in a very 'shoujo' place. In high school he joined the Kendo club, and soon became its captain. He has won several championship awards for his prowess. He is also very rich due to his other career as an idol singer. A crossdressing Idol singer. His sparkly bishounen good looks have enabled him to fool the world. He has had 4 idol incarnations so far, the most recent being 'Aiko' and 'Shizuka'. In addition to his amazing ability to pass himself off as female, he has the hidden skill of idol talent management, no doubt a result of his years as an idol. His abilities as a manager increase when he wears black sunglasses. Especially if he is indoors. Takeshi is in love with Keiko, and is determined to be with her forever, and follows her and her friends as they hop from one strange place to the next. First appearance: OO #89 .
Kerisu's Horde
- Kerisu - Evil Lord Kerisu is the Evil Overlord of ÜberTokyo. He has his own evil dungeon lair, his own loyal minions (such as Dom and Tim) and he has a cute kitty named Teneko :) Kerisu is partial to spiky shoulder armor, long capes, and tight leather. He likes to speak in a dramatic tone of voice and thinks he is always right. He has been an Evil Overlord in ÜberTokyo for quite some time now, but he is currently having some problems with his harem of groupie-girls who are supposed to pleasure him. They are on strike! This is why he has his eye on a new set of girls, just arrived in ÜberTokyo. Cute girls who would make great new groupies... First appearance: OO #12 .
- Loyal Minion Tim - Tim is Evil Lord Kerisu's Number 1 Loyal Minion. Yes, he is even higher ranked than Dom. (Though I don't think Dom really cares ^_^;) Tim is easygoing, friendly, and generally someone who seems to be too nice to be working for an Evil Overlord, but apparently the benefits are really good. He always appears in dress casual, favoring polo shirts and khaki pants. He wears the wings in order to avoid the possibility of being forced to crossdress as Dom was. Tim has been working on negotiating with Kerisu's groupies who are on strike, but has been unsuccessful so far. Recently his mission has been changed, and he now works towards supplying Kerisu with cute android maid girls. First appearance: OO #24 .
- Dom - By Day, Dom is a desk-worker at Sega, and by night.... (well okay, sometimes by day also) he is a Loyal Minion to Evil Lord Kerisu in the alternate world known as UberTokyo. How exactly Dom became a Loyal Minion is not known, but it seems to have involved blackmail. Dom is not happy about being a Loyal Minion (perhaps he would be happier about it if it didn't involve cross-dressing or the constant threat of having to wear wings) and he follows his orders with great reluctance. His main rival is a guy named Ed. Dom also has another life in a place called Megatokyo . He is a busy guy! First appearance: OO #12 .
- Teneko - Kerisu's pet cat(girl). She can transform between a cat and a catgirl at will, though her personality is much the same in both forms. Teneko is playful and curious, and rather ecchi. She loves Kerisu very much, and gets jealous if he gives other people attention. Teneko especially hates Minami, Kerisu's Fetish Android. First appearance (cat): OO #21 First appearance (catgirl): OO #189 .
- Minami - The first of a line of "Combat Bondage Elf Schoolgirl Android Maid with Glasses" robots that Ty creates for Lord Kerisu. She is meant to serve as a replacement for Kerisu's groupies that are on strike. She has multiple personalities, including a "Uber-Obsequious Slave Girl mode," "Fangirl mode," and "Rei mode." She's also very good at karaoke. Teneko hates her for stealing away the affections of Lord Kerisu. First appearance: OO #327
- Ty - One of Kerisu's minions and the creator of Minami. He is very laid back and practical, traits you wouldn't expect from a guy with a strange fetish for hamsters and black leather. Ty wears the wings required of a Loyal Minion, however his are cool and metal. First appearance: OO #301 .
- Alex - Kerisu's former 5 year old advisor. First appearance: OO #122 . Last appearance on-panel: OO #158 . (Apparently) final fate: OO #183 .
- Kayori - Kerisu's most recent 5 year old advisor, who Tim hires after OO #183 at the request of Kerisu. He likes to cosplay as Bridget from Guilty Gear. First appearance: OO #480 .
- Saiai - An uke Kayori freed from a local Beauty Man Garden. Together, he and Kayori can launch the special "Uke Beam" to transform semes into ukes. Since being freed, he's joined Kayori as his playmate together with several other ukes. First appearance: OO #585
- Yumi - A demon that Teneko summoned to kill Minami. However, the demon possessed her body and then fell in love with Minami. It fought Kerisu in a battle of "Godhood: The Assembly" (a CCG) to take possession of Minami, but lost and was subsequently banished to the Bikini Amazon realm. First appearance (as possessing Teneko): OO #433 First appearance (in own body): OO #551
- Groupies - Kerisu likes groupies. He finds them especially attractive when they're wearing metal bikinis and going on about how great he is. The problem is, there aren't many girls willing to put up with that these days. All of Kerisu's original groupies went on strike. This led to his interest in conscripting the travelers for the role and the development of Minami androids as replacements. Kerisu has since acquired a new batch of Magical Girl groupies.
- The Call Center of DOOM - Evil Lord Kerisu is an enterprising kind of guy. Not only does he have Legions of DOOM, he also has a Call Center of DOOM. It is responsible for relentless collections and telemarketing calls made to the oppressed citizens of his domain. Telemarketing is one of the greatest sources of Evil in the Universe, and Kerisu's use of it is a clear example of his diabolical mind.
Other
- Spike and V - The two catboys that run Nade-Nade Publishing, a company that sells magical books. Spike is shorter, with purple hair, while Vicious (aka V-chan) is the tall one with silver hair. They're quite clearly lovers. While it's not stated in so many words, Spike appears to be the Uke , V the Seme .
- Momi-neko - Momi is the catgirl administrative assistant at Nade-Nade Publishing. She is bright and friendly, and manages to keep from blushing at Spike and V-chan's antics (most of the time...). She has long white hair, aqua blue eyes, and white tiger-striped ears and tail.
- Professor Li - The mad scientist of OO. He is responsible for a number of things in the comic, the most significant appears to be some indirect involvement in the main cast first coming here. How he is involved in this is unknown. He was also caused the destruction of a sports stadium in the Sports Arc World and he created the tentacle-summoning magical powers that Teneko used in an attempt to destroy Minami. He has only appeared infrequently to date. His character design is based on a character created by Xuanwu dating back to early 2001 . First appearance: OO #514
- Terra - Professor Li's female assistant. she is the more sensible of the two, often reminding Li of his failures in the past to make sure he doesn't repeat them. However, she is very kind and tolerant of Li's love of hentai and other perverted things. First appearance: OO #556
- Yamichi - A dark skinned mysterious bishounen, whose character design was intended as a parody of '''Junichi''' from the webcomic '' Tsunami Channel ''. First appearance: OO #510
- Dr. Arkaville - First seen in the "Org Y and Pie" one comic trilogy. She's an old woman and apparent lesbian who wants to make all men homosexual so she can take the women for herself. She also commands an army of Robot Ninja Monkeys. She's defeated by Eeichi and Takeshi when they're temporarily granted magical powers. First appearance: OO #610a
Additional Cast
Fantasy Arc
- Storeowner - There seems to be only one way a storeowner can appear in the world, with only slight variations in hair color.
SF Arc
- Marissa Deckard
- Makaris Makario
- Kayin Makario
- Captain Sheraton
- Dr. Buyao Guanshi
- Juro Mein
- Athrus, Kiwa, Shinyi - Mecha pilots aboard the Space Battleship Yamato.
Sports Arc
- Lymaran - Based on a real life person. She shares Petra's love of weapons and drives a red Vespa . First appearance: OO #474
- P. Striker Sphabmixay - The winner of a special contest to see who could guess how many comics Xuanwu had penned at that point. He's a ghost of a sports samurai and gives Eeichi the "Lovely Eyepiece" to allow him perfect aim with a rocket launcher. First appearance: OO #539
- Mayu
- Umiko
- Lady Justine - Lycidia's rival. Her father owns the league.
- Kaoru - The head of PR for the team. He serves as Dom's boss when the minion becomes the mascot for the team.
- Fleur - The team's weapon's trainer. While only 10 years old, she is capable of wielding guns larger than her body and field stripping virtually all forms of firearms known to man.
- Nurse Wendi Ma
- Dr. Mayou Guanshi
- Coach
Sentai Arc
- Ulrich - Ulrich is a surly teen from the Hornwing Alliance. His father was a famous mech pilot, while his mother is a former Miss Wingmay. Stuck living with his overbearing and glory-hungry mother, Ulrich rebels in typical teenage fashion by dressing all in black. He even dyes his wings black. Ulrich's attitude is very grumpy, and he doesn't seem to care about anything. This is quite a contrast to the bubbly and happy Eri-chan, who is totally in love with him. Ulrich acts like he doesn't care about Eri, but we all really know he is secretly attracted to her. Not that he would ever admit it.
- Ulrich's Mom - Imari Linz was a beautiful idol singer and former Miss Wingmay, whose amazing voice and heartfelt singing once stopped a galactic war. Those days are long past however, and now she is a has-been who is in the middle of staging a grand comeback.
- Ulrich's Father
- Daisuke's father
Pr0n Arc
Shoujo Arc
- Himeko
- Emiko and the 7 Warriors
- The School Doctor
- Mysterious Older Man
Amazon Arc
Plot Summaries
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
FOOM! The Beginning
Each of the main characters is introduced (except Takeshi) as Daisuke summons them all to his room to become his harem. Instead, the travelers leave to find the author of the book that brought them to UberTokyo, hoping to find a way back. Daisuke becomes Lycidia's loyal minion.
On their way to Nade Nade Publishing, the group stops to eat at the Beauty Man Garden (BMG) - a running gag present in all following arcs. When they arrive, they find two catboys, Spike and V, who tell them to go to a love hotel room in order to track down the book's source.
They find the special "room with a mirror ceiling" and wound up being pulled through a plot hole into a new land...
Bikini Amazons
The Travelers end up in a world of bikini amazons, where great power comes with small bikinis. Daisuke and Eeichi are taken captive. Petra is forced to do battle with the amazon's champion, Misa, and triumphs by hammer sparkling. They find a plot hole in hammer space and move on to the next world...
Shoujo High School
Everyone lands on the roof of a high school themed after Shōjo Manga , where Keiko meets Takeshi.
A parody of Clamp and similar manga.
Pr0n Shop
The group appears in a soapland in Ubershinjuku. Looking for jobs and a place to stay, the group finds two avenues of work. The girls (except for Eri) and Daisuke get a job at Ero Ero video, a porn shop. Eri is relegated to staying in the upstairs loft and babysitting the two creatures they've met in this world: A catlike creature called an Ecchibi and a female tentacle monster Eri calls Nyarrr-chan.
Eeichi, on the other hand, manages (through very unorthodox tactics) to get a job as a BMG waiter.
Galactic Sentai Adventure
A Scifi storyline, taking place in space, introducing the "Hornwings".
After entering the plothole in Pr0nland, the group was split up. Eri-chan, Takeshi, Nyarrr, and Petra landed in the Hornwing Alliance. They appeared in middle of the coronation ceremony for the latest "Miss Wingmay," exposing the winner as a fraud. Eri-chan was crowned the new Miss Wingmay, and embarked on a career as an idol singer. She soon met Ulrich, the son of a previous Miss Wingmay, and promptly fell in love with him, in spite of his surly demeanor.
The rest of the group (Hoshiko, Eeichi, Daisuke, Keiko, Lycidia, and the Ecchibi) landed on the side of the Tokyoto Empire, and became the pilots of their greatest weapon: "Tokyoto Dairobo Saviour Battler V!"
The Hornwing Alliance and the Tokyoto Empire are sworn enemies and have been engaged in a galactic war that has lasted for generations. One of the main points of contention between the nations is The Void, a mysterious energy field.
Mostly a parody of Macross and Voltron .
Sports Land
The main focus of this arc involves the group's joining and competing in a Cutthroat Combat Croquet league.
Boldly Go
Ho-chan and Daisuke are stranded in the Sentai Land. Fortunately, the Tokyoto Empire and Hornwing Alliance have made peace and decide to make Ho-chan their new queen. After selling the Uke Preservation Project to the BMG, Ho-chan board Beauty Man 5, a BMG space station, to finally inspect the latest addition to her fleet: the Space Battleship Yamano. Aboard, she meets Captain Marissa Deckard and Engineers Makaris Makario and Kayin Makario.
Strange English Project
The Strange English Project began in July 2005. Xuanwu, then an English teacher in the Republic Of China (ROC) working for Hess Educational Organization , took OO comics and blotted out the dialogue. He then distributed these comics to his students who proceeded to fill in the words based on the vocabulary and sentence structures that they knew.
The results of this writing activity were typed into comics and posted to the OO main site every Saturday. These comics are still being posted as of January, 2006 , albeit irregularly.
The Strange English Project itself has become adopted by Hess and is now part of its recommended games and activities (under the name "Create a Comic Project"). Other Hess employees have been given access to the comic templates so that schools across the ROC can benefit from the creative exercise. Hess also has branches in Singapore and Mainland China , where the comics are also used. This formal endorsement by a private provider of English instruction makes the Strange English Project the largest project of its kind, with a greater impact than similar projects done with Dinosaur Comics and Penny Arcade , both in terms of geographic area covered and number of students reached.
External links
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