I'm not particularly familiar with the original manga, so all I can really do at this point is take the anime adaptation of Ichigo 100% at face value. And, so far, I like what I see.

That's not to say the show doesn't look extremely generic. There's nothing special about the production, and it's not like harem-themed romantic comedies aren't 10 yen a dozen nowadays (if that much). On the other hand, it looks as if our male protagonist (who doesn't seem too bad a guy, thankfully) will only have the affection of four girls to juggle - four normal (apparently) and extremely cute girls. In the age of Negima and endless bishoujo game conversions, a simple four girl harem is a breath of fresh air.

So, I'm definitely interested to see how the story progresses. And, I'll sheepishly admit that I'm already rooting for Tsukasa!

Haha, of course, Tsukasa is the cutest one of all.
Now, to be honest, I'm really dissapointed at how bad the art is in this series, the girls lost 50% of their cuteness in this adaptation, besides they did some really 'drastic' changes to the characters designs (brown hair for Aya, and Komiyama, and a not so bishounish look for Ookusa). Also, Manaka sounds a little too goofy sometimes... but that I can tolerate.

It's kinda scary if you compare it to the OVA which was just released by Yanime, the art in the ova is great... i wonder if they had a different staff or something...

yep, the OVA art sh*ts on the series art, but I thought the voices here were more tolerable

the sound effects in this were like out of Looney Toons... like a cartoonish *booom* sound whenever someone falls over

Madhouse seems to be supremely skimping on animation quality in their TV releases as of late :( What's wrong with them? They're certainly capable of getting together excellent animation if they wanted to - like their Kon films, Paranoia Agent and some of the Animatrix.

On another entirely different note, just as you were going on about Duran Duran in Mai-Hime, the REAL one shows up in another anime! The OP for SPeed Grapher is Girls on Film... translated as Gravure no Bishoujo...

You should really start getting into the manga. It's generic and what not, but a very addicting story.

And wait until you meet the blue haired one, Yui!

i think a 5th girl was recently introduced in the manga. dont know how long the anime will run for though, maybe we'll never see her.

Actually, there are 6 girls in the manga right now. The 5th one was in the OVA episode of the anime, so she might be introduced in a later episode of the TV show. I doubt they'll get to the 6th one unless there's another season.

In the end, I believe only Aya, Tsukasa, Satsuki, and Yui will of any importance in the series. The other girls will probably be static and/or just there for the sake of looking at.

And we can always hope for some yuri action. But with the help of Madhouse, the animation on that would turn out mediocre.