Ranked #775

Strawberry Panic

I don't remember how I found out about Strawberry Panic, but I'm glad I did, because it was quite an enjoyable show. But enjoyable does not translate into genius.

Story: The story is interesting, especially if you're into lesbians. And as a yuri genre anime, what else would you expect? The show is not episodic, but the episodes don't segue well to each other. The story is about a girl that's new to the school, and her first day there she meets the Etoile, kinda like the Queen (sorta) of the school and there is an immediate attraction between the two. One of the faults of this anime is that it was extremely predictable (at least i thought so). One of the guidelines to write a review is try not to reveal spoilers, and I won't have to, you'll probably figure it out as you watch.

Art: The girls were drawn in a typical shoujo type of art, tall looking thin girls with large breasts, and huge eyes (but not too big...the eyes). The animation is consistent throughout, though not amazing. Even though the art was fine, one of the things that i noticed was that almost all of the girls' faces look alike, the only difference being the difference in eye shape (some of them). The only other way to really tell them apart without listening to them is by their hairstyle and uniform.

Sound: The soundtrack of the anime was fine, but nothing impressed me. One of the biggest deciding factors for a good grade on sound for me is a good OP/ED, but neither caught my attention enough for me to look for the OST. The background music is okay, but i think they use the same one for many "dramatic" situations, making it old (unless i can't tell the difference, and they weren't the same)

Character: Pretty much what you see is what you get with your characters. They don't really progress, personality wise, but there are lots of changes in relationships. Again predictability plays a factor here, and what you expect the character to do, they'll most likely do. The characters are unique and don't have overlapping counterparts, but there are lots of the same character relationships, and example being... love triangle with one unrequited lover that loves the lower level characer, one upper level character that loves a lower level character, and that lower level character admires/loves the upper level character

Enjoyment: I enjoyed this show, not a lot, because i noticed some of its faults, but enough for me that i could watch it again and not consider it a waste of time. This is far from a masterpiece, but it might be good fun to watch, especially if you're in a "i don't want to watch yaoi/shonen-ai anime dangit, let's watch some yuri/shojo-ai" mood

Overall: It was a good anime, and it could've done better in my opinion if the story had been a bit more compelling, and not so predictable. And though this is personal opinion, i was kind of disappointed at the ending (though i expected it), with none of my characters matching up with who i wanted. :( read more

Strawberry Panic Review
Or girls maccin' on girls maccin' on girls

Let me start by saying this: “If you are a fan of series about girls maccin' on girls because there are girls maccin' on girls in them, you will almost undoubtedly love Strawberry Panic.” However, if the presence of girls making doe eyes at each other and blushing constantly does not sound like the primary component of a good series, or the only necessary ones, then you might want to think twice about viewing this particular shoujo ai series. Strawberry Panic does have its share of positive traits, albeit a very small share, but it's main draw is simply that it features pretty anime girls making googly eyes—and other significantly less tame things—at each other for 26 episodes.

Strawberry Panic is full of beautiful stills in smooth, pastel colors. The backdrops are wonderfully rendered and the character art is equally impressive. The trouble begins when those characters begin to move and interact with each other. As a series of loosely animated still images Strawberry Panic fares pretty well, and it usually manages to stick to its guns. However, the series does make a number of ill-advised decisions to break from its formula, when it should have simply polished up what it did have, instead of allowing some of the most important aspects of the series to atrophy in a disappointing display of what happens when good animators—or at the very least good artists—decide to get lazy. In a show so focused around drama and interaction between characters, the lack of expressive facial animations and the extensive shortcuts taken with reactions is mysterious, and, frankly, inexcusable. The tennis match late in the series also was a foolish animation decision, along with being a ridiculous and nearly worthless event on all sides, likely costing significant amount of money and not delivering even a remotely positive effect. In fact, it stands as one of the worst animated sports sequences I have seen in my entire time watching anime.

Also questionable is Strawberry Panic's reliance on an interesting all-or-nothing sort of fanservice, which features very few low angle shots or panty shots in general, instead inundating the viewer with essentially still images of two girls—usually in advanced stages of undress—entwined, accompanied by either slow camera zooms and pans or the constant gasping and cooing of the two girls anime fans are likely to know only too well. A lot of people are into that sort of thing, but it serves no purpose in the series. It does not enhance the romantic elements in any way, and because the fact that the entire school is comprised mostly of lesbians is taken for granted, it has no bearing on themes of sexuality it might otherwise have. If you're into that sort of thing:great, but if that does nothing or even little for you then you aren't very likely to enjoy most of the Strawberry Panic experience, as the entire series hinges on these exchanges to some degree.

As far as audio is concerned, Strawberry Panic is an unimpressive, but ultimately positive, experience. Though the classical score speaks nothing of any ingenuity of any sort, it does nothing to take away from the series and is tolerable at establishing the mood. During the googly-eyed make-out sequences, though, the absence of much noise aside from the dull soundtrack is supremely noticeable, especially when they don't even bother to throw in some sighs and gasps. Variety would have served the soundtrack very well as well, as the same tracks are repeated time and time again. This is fairly common in anime, but it is more noticeable in Strawberry Panic because of the frequency of periods where the music is the only noise.

The voice-acting is similarly vanilla. Most of the cast performs passably, but there aren't any real standouts, and the overall product is mediocre, at best, when it comes to the voice-acting. It isn't likely to stand out as especially bad, but neither will it remain in your mind as a paragon of any kind. I will say, though, that the actors perform admirably in many of the spots towards the end of the show, somehow lessening the idiotic melodrama of the latter events of the series. Much of the mediocrity of the voice-acting is also likely, in part, due to poor writing, which is most certainly present in full force.

This brings me to the plot, which begins normally and pleasantly enough, but which quickly transforms into a monster of a melodramatic mess. Splitting across multiple storylines like a soap opera on crack—with delightfully fewer pregnancies and deaths—Strawberry Panic tries to cram as much drama into as few episodes as possible at every turn, only to suddenly retreat back into a feel good slice of life vibe that carries it to the next dramatic event. These events are sometimes tame events blown horribly out of proportion and sometimes massively ridiculous affairs that actually come off as humorous. By the end of the series it feels as if they were simply proving to the world that they weren't done throwing drama into this sucker. I am still amazed how a series with such a languid pace overall can feel so rushed at the end. Final episodes in anime tend to be jam-packed, but the entirety of the last six or seven episodes is like a triathlon of bullshit. I kept waiting for it to pull back into safe territory, but Strawberry Panic was content to plunge headfirst into mediocrity and keep digging for the very bottom. It didn't quite reach, but it was one hell of an effort.

All in all, Strawberry Panic is a series targeted at a very specific audience, to the detriment of any who watch who does not count themselves as a strong proponent of moe, not as a device but simply for the sake of itself. The series was built around moe, all aspects pointing centrally to accentuate it. The problem is, unlike some moe series which have other things to offer those less interested, Strawberry Panic has very little beyond the moe. The character design and art are good enough, so if moe is something you're really into, Strawberry Panic might very well be a good pick. All others, though, should stay away, as this series was not designed with the general viewer in mind.

Final Score: 3/10
read more

I don't normally write reviews, but given this is my favorite anime I figured I'd give it a shot. I started watching this anime because I wanted a yurified yurifest with some yuri on top, which, to my great satisfaction, i got. However what I wasn't expecting is a touching(and at times heartbreaking) love story that most people who watch this anime seem to over-look. Basically, you have three girl schools, which means three harems, two of which have their own love story, and one of which is for hilarity, comic relief, and general epic-ness. During the more Slice-of-lifey parts of the series, the characters of the three schools hang out and interact together, but as far as love goes, most romance stays inside it's own school harem.

Story: 7/10. This is a very character driven story, and as such there are very few outside influences that actually drive the story forward themselves. Of course, this is a love story, so that hardly comes as a surprise. Many of the events come across as cliche' and sometimes down right cheesy. While there are many moments that are truly touching(I've been brought to tears on multiple occasions), there are others that just make you want to gag. Luckily, these points aren't nearly common enough to totally ruin the enjoyment of the series as a whole, and the rest of this series make that barf worth swallowing.(This being a character driven story, i'll cover that in the "characters" portion)

Art: 5/10. This isn't to say the art itself was poor, there are some truly spectacular scenes on Astraea. However, for the majority of a 26 episode series to take place in the same locations, the same forest, the same dormitories, the same everything, is just tedious. The lush hill-top Citadel and mansions, surrounded by forest and lake, are beautiful for the first half or so of the anime, but when you start noticing these backgrounds becoming used and reused through-out the series, they start to become old and tired. There are certain points every episode or two when new locations will be introduced and provide a refreshing change, but for the most part, you better get used to those trees and hallways.

Sound: 9/10. Hands down, as far as openings go, this anime has two of the best I've ever heard. Both of them are amazing both in terms of music and accompanying animation, and serves the mood of this anime... dare I use the word... perfectly. Unfortunately, the music played during the anime itself lets this category down slightly. As if this wasn't a big enough problem, the "orchestra-ish" music, while in all honesty is somewhat enjoyable on it's own, only serves to add to the "cheesy soap-opera" feel this series has at times, especially when played during the already nearly unbearable corny moments.

Characters: 10/10. This is where Strawberry Panic truly shines. One of the greatest casts I've seen in a yuri, and in anime in general. With three schools, each with their own unique "onee-sama" character, love interest, "love interest's best friend", loli, and a fair amount of other, equally awesome cast members, there is no shortage of characters to fall in love with. By the end of the series, you would have to be heart-less to not feel a sense of attachment to the majority of them. Most anime with large casts become annoying and tedious to follow, but the characters in Strawberry Panic are all so unique and interesting, that the large-cast-harem theme was handled, dare i say it again, perfectly. When this series ended, I was almost as sad about missing the characters themselves as I was that the anime was over. The only gripe I can come up with is that certain characters, such as Chiyo(resident loli of Miator) fall into generic anime arch-typesy, though this is hardly noticeable in the diverse cast SP offers.

Enjoyment: 10/10. What can I say? Anime that I enjoyed as much as this one are few and far between. I laughed , I cried, I am head-over-heels in love with 90% of the characters. There is one thing I would like to address that didn't belong anywhere else in my review... the fan-service. I think one of the biggest things that make me love this series so much is not the presence of fan-service, but the type of fanservice that it has. It has a fair amount of ecchi, bath scenes, shower scenes, "waking-up-naked-together-after-a-night-of-sweet-passionate-love" scenes and other "convenient censoring" moments. What this series doesn't contain, however, is just as important. You will not find panty-shot upskirts, you will not find boobs that seem to defy the laws of physics and anatomy, and you will not find "Oops I tripped and my face is in your cleavage", or anything to that effect.

Overall: 9/10. On my list, I gave it a 10 as well as a comfy spot on my favorites list, but I want this review to be as un-biased as possible, and i cannot ignore it's flaws. I leave you with this: If you want a realistic, true to life romance-drama that addresses the difficulties of life, angst and love, search else where. Search FAR FAR AWAY, because you're not even in the ballpark, kid. If you want a sweet, touching, heart-warming love story about an all-girls school, my friend, you've come to the right place. read more

This anime is a typical shoujo/yuri that explores different portrayals of love whether its jealous, superficial, friendly, or passionate in an emotional love docehedron at an all girls school. It's a classic and popular shoujo-ai/yuri type anime and please take note I don't recall a single male character in the series (Which is fine). It is not as deep as Mari-Mite as it maintains some school-age wit and a faster storyline. It follows a normal high school storyline routine however it does get quite slow in the second half of the series. It makes balance of color contrasts well and its accompanied with a couple of violin and piano sonatas. The antagonists stand out and the characters are written so that you may feel enough sympathy so by the final episodes you wonder how the love triangles will conclude. Overall it was enjoyable to watch from beginning to end and it is best for those whom love to follow character's relationships. As a shoujo/yuri fan, the main reason I don't think it was perfect is that I figured it could have gone deeper or further in the storyline in the time that it used for the second half. read more

Strawberry panic seemed to be a popular 'yuri-shipper' anime so i decided to give it a try..sadly i was a bit dissapointed.[i know there a few of my MaL friends who loved it ..so sorry and hear me out] I'll start with the story.
Story left much to be desired. The pace of it for was felt so slow. im not sure if i was the constant --lets have a tea party-- or -- make some cookies-- fillers but for me, it felt as if the episode wouldnt end. [not good if im constantly looking at the timer to see if and ep is almost done yet] Not to
say there arnt shipper-arks that i wasnt curious about their ending but where
i was taken in the story was either typical or bland. Somthing that also bothered me was the lack of male characters...ANYWHERE!! no male teachers, vistors...brothers...umm..fathers! O.o someone has to have dad iright?! i understand this is a girls school and yuri..but come on! the setting of the story also bothered me they seemed to never leave their school area ..either to shop or do typical high school stuff [in im guessing japan]
when they did leave it was for romantic tryst in the country or priviate beach. the only thing these girls did for fun were tea parties,school politics,
and make up diff clubs everyday[where id be xD if i was stuck there] just not realistic..even for anime.
Art was pleasent to the eye. i did like their character design; Main
character shizuma's eyes were very pretty. The design of the outfit design was great w/ the 3 schools having diff dress. i liked the layout of the school
and strawberry dorms w/ it heavy cathloic school feel. some charc seem to
have huge craniums and somes the their legs look like flesh colored sticks,but
still not many complaints.
Music meh..not a strong point it seems not even for people
who enjoy this series intro and endings were cutsy ,but not really catchy
or anything memorable..neither was backround music..so meh
Characters i found to be a bit sterotypical either for their
character type or for women in general. Good ex: is Amane: silent,but
kind prince type [she even rides a white horse..star bride..really *face palm*] and the shy sweet princess type:Hikari. is it suprising that she fell for Amane..nope! even if she has perfectly nice,funny, smexy roomate
right next to who'madly in love with her Do they do anything unexpected with this story..they tried xP u wana see a good girl whos
a prince w/ girl princess story watch Rev. Girl Utena..unless u love predictable story. The fact the complex feeling of love and desire wre either limited to one person or solved w/ tea parties or solved w/ tears[via end w/ hikari and her secrect admier] of hopful --i know you love me,but i wana be just friends
sooo can u help me put on this dress for the ultimate date w/ girl i choose over you..thanx ..friend!-- that irked me be/c no one would do that. it also
kinda botherd me that EVERYONE was girlxgirl..there was a mention of male fiance at one point but that was it. but i guess if i was stuck in strawberry dorms for 3-4years id sneak into my roomates bed too xD
So overall This anime could have been much better but hasnt turned
me off of yuri ill just research better on the story next time. Wasnt all bad
even if it took forever for a kiss to happen [and it did!] It had it cute moments
and sexy-steamy moments [some still a let down] but still i cant say it was enjoyable to watch. more frustrating than anythign else. So if you like pridictable story, stereotypical main characters, constant tea parties spiced
w/ few steamy yuri-shipper scenes then this is one anime u shouldnt miss..otherwise wait for another more intracate yuri to come out.
which is what i should have did x3
--feel free comment to me/give feedback if you have some gripes/compliments-- read more

What if the characters of Maria Sama just decided to forego all that sexual tension and just got it on with one another. Well, you'd have this. Maria Sama on crack, or maybe a healthy dose of GHB.

Lesbian schoolgirl love story.

The story introduces everygirl, Nagisa, who gets sent to a private all girls' boarding school where she meets the mysterious, aloof (I hate that word, but it's fitting), and oft-worshipped silver-haired maiden Shizuma. Shizuma immediately wants to jump Nagisa's bones, but for no real good reason. Maybe becuse she's an Etoile, the elected focus of worship in the school.

The rest of the show focuses on Shizuma and Nagisa's budding relationship and I'm left scratching my head AS TO WHY, since the reason is delayed in presentation. Like, 14-15 episodes in.

There are other girls who do the nasty, and we're treated to their backstories and obvious denoument of their infatuation--but for some reason I don't seem to remember them all that well and they don't seem that important to the story.

So, um, back to Shizuma and Nagisa. Once Nagisa realizes that a creepy older woman wanting to sleep with her is alright, we're treated to why Shizuma is like the way she is. Guess what, there's a TRAGIC BACKSTORY TOLD IN FLASHBACKS, albeit this is when the show arguably becomes somewhat tasteful and takes itself seriously and tries to treat the characters with some actual depth, especially at the point where grief ridden Shizuma forces herself on Nagisa. This moment, shockingly, is very realistic and sad (and likely unintentionally so). That and the fact that unloading dark, unresolved emotional baggage on someone does not make them love you more, like most other anime seems to imply.

These few episodes really shone above and beyond the rest of the anime and showed an alarming insight that quickly was buried and abandoned for more filler. The problem is for every convincing chrarcter and plot development, we have a bunch of hormone-ridden fluff to distract us and kill the pacing. Add that with the inexplicable introduction of a Tamao, Nagisa's roommate, was clearly meant to create tension between Nagisa and Shizuma as she has no other role and the show falls apart again.

Watching the entire series is totally redeemed by the incredibly absurd and entertaining ending which is the most bizarre parody of the Graduate wedding scene since Grampa Simpson ran off with Marge's mother. It almost makes me think different people wrote different arcs, and they all hated each other and finally settled on the most pointless resolution to their conflict. read more

This anime is a Yuri anime, so it's girl loves girl.

Details:
There are 3 different schools (so there are 3 different uniforms),
The uniforms change in summer and winter,
And two girls per room.

Why I liked it:
I think the reason WHY I like it is becauses it's a Yuri anime, for some reason (no affence to boys) Boy loving a girl I don't think would work out unless you truely know that they will help you, care for you, and respect you.

What you can expect:
There are some love scenes of course, but their really cute! =^_^= You can expect things pretty put of the ordinary in this series of anime. So if your gonna watch it, Prepair yourself. read more

I think this anime is damn awesome. It's very cute and well done. You just can love this, if you're a real Shoujo-Ai/Yuri-Fan.

This anime rocks but that is just not enough to suffice.

Meet Nagisa our little strawberry hair girl though she is a mary sue what makes the story fun is Shizuma honestly she is the prettiest girl on anime that I have seen(some people might agree with this statement).

I'll give to whoever wrote the plot a clap not only that he/she makes you laugh at some point of the story the romance is just REALLY intruiging(chuckles).

Overall I give this anime a 9.5 it rocks but its not that perfect :)

Definitely one of my favorite animes. If you read the manga or the light novel(I'm reading this now) it is completely different. over all its a very good series. i do believe it could have been longer and there are some random filler episodes. but my favorite amongst the best.