I am her and... She is me?
"Macaron… Waffle… Scone… Chocolate… Marshmallow… Pudding… Tart… Aah… I'm hungry…"
— Marie-Thérèse Charlotte
A legend says that the ghost of a girl stands on the top of an old Catholic church, inhabited by the Sagimiya family. Said family has a hateful rivalry with the Bijogi, who manage a Taoist temple next door. In the middle of all this, Bijogi Taiga has had a crush on Sagimiya Anna, the demure daughter of the priest, since childhood.
Little did he know, the Sagimiya turn out to be involved in very un-Catholic activities: trying to resurrect the spirit of Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the daughter of late French queen Marie Antoinette. And since he has found out, he will have to "collaborate" − i.e. be the human sacrifice to that end. Nevertheless, just before the "ritual", Taiga decides to confess his love to Anna… and is struck by a lightning bolt the second after. He miraculously survives without a scratch, but somehow finds himself in a body slightly more… blonde and feminine.
Hungry Marie (Harapeko no Marie) is a supernatural shonen manga from Tamura Ryuuhei, of Beelzebub fame. Like its predecessor, it features a healthy dose of absurd humor. Unfortunately, it only had a short serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump due to lack of popularity, running from February to October 2017 for 44 chapters and later compiled into four volumes.
Tropes found in Hungry Marie:
- Anime Catholicism: The Sagimiya family admits that necromancy is against the rules of the Church, but Father Sagimiya has clearly not been celibate as is required for a priest, and this may go back generations.
- Antiquated Linguistics: Marie-Thérèse when she appears in Taiga's body.
- Artistic License – History: With a mix of Voodoo Shark. In Real Life, Marie-Therese lived to old age, so why is her ghost a teenager? It's explained that the Marie history knows was a double, and the real one was taken to Japan, only to die and haunt a Catholic church. Except that at the time this would have happened, foreigners were restricted to one Japanese trading post, and Catholic churches were strictly forbidden by law.
- Badass Preacher: Taoist variant with Taiga's grandmother (and Taiga himself by extension) who is also a martial art expert.
- Berserk Button:
- Marie goes into Tranquil Fury mode when she sees somebody waste food. She goes even more mental when you steal and eat her food. The result is a Hellgate from which dozens of 18th century French skeletons begin pouring out.
- Taiga, meanwhile, snaps if he sees someone harassing Anna.
- Big Eater: Downplayed regarding quantity, but Marie's brain seems to be in her stomach nonetheless. You have to be quite gluttonous to down a entire bowl of udon without chopsticks.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Chapter 12 shatters the fourth wall into a million pieces, from Taiga and Anna somehow responding to each other's thoughts to Leo starting a flashback, interrupting it, and Taiga calling him out for "wasting a panel" before starting the flashback again, where Taiga and Anna respond to the floating narration.
- Cut Short: The manga was cancelled after only eight months of serialization, thanks to several weeks of low rankings in the reader polls.
- Deadpan Snarker: Marie has her moments, like telling Taiga to die and be reincarnated to die again in their "dream". Anna is also slowing becoming this, as she discovers Taiga's less commendable personality traits.
- Democracy Is Bad: The Knight Templar higher ups seem to believe that democracy is responsible for the corruption and decay the world has fallen into.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Quite an unusual example, being combined with Sharing a Body. Taiga's spirit ends up in Marie-Thérèse's body… and when they're hungry, it switches to Marie's spirit in Taiga's body. When they're full again, they switch back.
- Generation Xerox: Marie's flashback in chapter 15 is chock-full of lookalikes from two centuries ago, including what is apparently Taiga and Anna's ancestors, who helped her flee to Japan.
- Hell Gate: Denying Marie any food that tames her hunger results in her opening a portal to the underworld.
- I See Dead People: Anna's always been able to see Marie-Thérèse's ghost since she was little, which helps when dealing with the spiritual shenanigans Taiga and Marie-Thérèse get into. Taiga's friend Mamoru also looks to have some spiritual sensitivity.
- Ironic Name: "Bijo" means "pretty woman". It becomes quite appropriate for Taiga after the… little incident.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Well, "her" finery, as Taiga's learned martial arts from his family, and it remains in his female form.
- Living MacGuffin: The goal of the Knights Templar is to use Marie to rewrite world history from the French Revolution, though it's unclear how exactly.
- Love at First Sight: Leo apparently does this a lot (outside of also crushing on his little sister) and falls for Marie instantly after she gulps down a bowl of udon he offers her. Don't ask.
- Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Unsurprisingly, the first thing Taiga realizes and checks when he comes to is that his chest is a bit softer and heavier.
- Nuns Are Mikos: Anna works as a nun in her father's church after school. Her situation and duties are typical for a miko but unheard-of for a Catholic nun.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Being French, Marie Antoinette and Marie-Thérèse Charlotte are, obviously, blue-eyed blondes.
- Sharing a Body: Initially, the ritual to resurrect Marie was to have Taiga sacrificed and bringing her back that way. However, it was botched, resulting in Taiga and Marie sharing a body which transforms between their forms, but overlaps with "Freaky Friday" Flip above due to Taiga controlling Marie's form and vice versa. The main trigger is Marie's hunger: if she is hungry, she takes control as Taiga and when her hunger is fulfilled, Taiga is in charge.
- It turns out they can be temporarily separated as long as there's a vessel for one of them to go in, which in this case is Marie's stuffed toy. However, the "Freaky Friday" Flip still holds, so Taiga's in the toy when Marie's hungry and vice versa.
- Shout-Out:
- Anna's father compares the organization he belongs to with the Black Organization from Case Closed.
- Chapter 5's cover is a reference to the popular ending dance of the live action adaptation of The Full-Time Wife Escapist
. They even reference the internet title of the phenomenon ("A taste of love that makes you want to dance").
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Anna's father and Taiga's grandmother do not approve of the two having contacts with the "enemy". It's mostly played for laughs though.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: When Leo mistakes Marie('s body) for Taiga's little sister (since Marie!Taiga took the name "Bijogi Marie"), Taiga just decides to go with the flow instead of denying it. As a result, Leo concludes that he has to beat Taiga to date his "little sister".
- Tiny Tyrannical Girl: Lilith, the queen of the campus and daughter of the Principal, is tiny (about a head shorter than Marie, who isn't that tall herself), but she has an army of flunkies that will remind you not to get on her bad side.
- You Fight Like a Cow: Downplayed in chapter 16, in that the insult exchange happens before the duel begins, but Marie and Lilith comply to the tradition nonetheless.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Leo proposes to Marie in chapter 10 after she downs a bowl of udon he offers to her. Problem is, after that Marie goes to sleep so Leo unwittingly proposes to Taiga. He's welcomed with a German Suplex and falls for Marie even harder.
