Strawberry Panic

This is one of my favorite Yuri based anime's I have come to find. Once I began watching it, I couldn't stop. If you really want an anime that you can get into whole heartedly it is this one. The in depth analysis on all the variety of characters makes it so you can relate to at least one of them. The play on suspense, romance, and other relationships is so perfect for anyone who is into anything that may make your eyes tear up.

If you are in anyway a fan of yuri anime, then Strawberry Panic is a bit of a rite of passage for entry into the genre. It probably garners the highest amount of fanaticism and emotionalism from its supporters and detractors. Though I wouldn’t call it a love or hate it kind of show as you might expect from that. I think of myself as a reasonably objective person and found that my opinion of it split almost right down the middle between absolute love and complete contempt.

Strawberry Panic's story centers on a new student to a prestigious all girls’ school, Nagisa ... Aoi. The school is divided into three separate campuses which operate separately, have different uniforms, but are functionally really the same institution. Oh, and basically the entire student body are lesbians... hey this is yuri after all! There isn’t any amazing drama or nefarious villains as the story almost totally revolves around relationship angst. The story walks the line on being a light hearted romantic comedy to having some pretty deep drama but for the most part it is a lot of fun. I would imagine most people are going to enjoy it a lot, until you get to the last five to six episodes. Here is where there is likely to be disagreement amongst viewers as pairings finalize and plot twists emerge. This is where my enjoyment also suffered, because I intensely disliked almost every final pairing and the ending to the final story arc itself left me quite angry and disappointed.

The characters have some magnificent highs but also some annoying lows. As far as Nagisa goes, whom just about every important plotline flows through, she is a sweet and likable character. Immediately people are going to gravitate to her much as characters do in the story and find something to like about her. However as the story unfolds, I found her becoming increasingly unlikable and idiotic. The decisions she makes, her inability to see the obvious right in front of her face, and her ditzy nature (while extremely endearing at the beginning of the series) becomes annoying and tired. You want to feel for her angst and conflict but in the end you're just so over with her.

Shizuma, next to Nagisa, is the most important character in the story and probably the most interesting. Though that doesn’t mean she is particularly likable. A friend once referred to her as the "Mac-Daddy" of the school. She seems willing to go after any girl in the school while seemingly not really caring about them or the consequences of her actions. Her past is tragic and explains the reasons why she is the way she is. But she is a psychologically damaged person and hurts a lot of people along the way, though probably not intentionally. She simply just can’t help it. While she does make a lot of progress and matures some over the story I still couldn’t help but think that in the end in her heart of hearts she really hadn’t changed.

Tamao is the last of the main cast. She will be instantly likable by all though will not come across as a terribly unique character in the annals of anime history. As the other love interest for Nagisa, this is where viewers of the show are going to start to separate themselves. You’re going to be a Tamao fan or a Shizuma one. Depending on which character you find yourself rooting for is likely to affect the way you view the anime in the end. I did like her, though she has a lot of Nagisa's personality traits and her ditzy nature does get annoying towards the end

Now for the bad and it pretty much starts and ends for me with Amane and Hikari. Amane is the stereotypical character we seem to always have forced on us in anime. The emotionless robot who happens to be admired by all despite having no personality and looking and dressing like a man. Yes, this is YURI; I am watching it for the girls! So what is this mannish toad-face doing in my show! I found absolutely nothing redeeming about her and the only reason I could even think of that all these girls revered her so much was that at an all girls school she was the most likely to have a sausage in her pants. This all being said, it seems fitting that she is linked with the second worst character in the show, Hikari. Hikari is basically a functional retard. She has no personality attributes besides being moe to the extreme that would make anyone care about her. She spends all of her time in constant angst over what Amane thinks of her and ignores the people who truly care about her (though heaven only knows why they do). Honestly I think if nobody guided her along and told her when to wake up and eat she would just stand in the corner and starve to death.

The rest of the supporting cast is actually pretty good. Yaya and Chikaru stand out above all the others. I would liked to have seen both of those characters get better endings and felt they were ignored a bit too much. Almost everyone would be considered likable and friendly, the kind of people you would want to be friends with. The only exception would be Kaname and Momomi. I really found them to be despicable characters and their actions and motivations were pretty hard for me to stomach.

Art and animation is exceptional. I really enjoyed the beautiful settings and costumes and with the exception of Amane, all of the girls were quite stunning to look at. The voice acting and music was also very good. A few of the character voices grated on me, but mostly because they were characters I didn’t like. (Hikari, Amane) The OP and EN songs were performed by Nagisa's and Tamao's voice actress and I thought fit the theme and feel of the show wonderfully.

Your enjoyment of Strawberry Panic is going to greatly depend on how you felt about the final pairings. Some people are really going to like this a lot and others are going to feel very disappointed as I was. In addition I very much disliked how the final arc played out and that several key characters basically got the shaft in terms of their own romances. It’s a fun show for the most part, required viewing for yuri fans and probably one of the better shows of the genre out there. That in itself is an indictment of yuri anime.

I really should not have enjoyed this series nearly as much as I did. As a bit of a technical story snob, I usually find that well-animated and voiced series with somewhat weak storylines tend to rate quite poorly with me. I find myself dropping them, or rating them well below a seven, but this series just has that something compelling about it that makes you enjoy it thoroughly-- despite some glaring problems with the plot. If I had to sum this series up in two words, it would quite easily be: Guilty pleasure.

It is one of a very small number of series that ... I can watch repeatedly and still enjoy quite a bit, despite my somewhat low 'overall' score. As you can see, I found this series ridiculously entertaining which--for me--is sometimes more important than a good technical overall score.

Possibly the weakest part of this series was the plot. It was, at times, ridiculous, superficial, far-fetched, full of cheese and melodrama, but still oddly compelling. If it were a novel, the story would most likely be in a two-dollar bin in your local book store, yet there is somehow still enough substance buried in there to keep it afloat. Despite all I may say about the plot there are some truly touching moments buried in there -- and those are the little gems that keep you wanting more, despite yourself.

Essentially the plot is separated into two mini-stories: The main following bumbling transfer-student Aoi Nagisa from Miator, and the secondary following Konohana Hikari, a timid choir-girl from Spica. While the majority of the plot centres around Nagisa, there is enough material from Hikari's story to keep you entertained if you find yourself uninterested by the protagonist's antics.

With healthy doses of fluff and comedy, hefty smearings of romance and the odd tragic moment or two, there is certainly enough going on to keep the plot from idling. It was just a slight pity that they couldn't inject just a little more substance to enable me to rate it a little higher.

Visually this series is quite beautiful. While not on par with KyotoAni's breath-taking animation, gorgeous scenery, dynamic colours and interesting character designs, it makes for quite the pleasant viewing experience. That said-- there are times when the artwork looks a little awkward, though fortunately they are few and far between. And if you can quickly adjust to the stick-thin legs and arms that are common in this series, the character designs are quite striking, of special note are Hanazono Shizuma and Minamoto Chikaru, though with an ensemble cast of well over twelve there is bound to be at least one design to find pleasing.

Musically, Strawberry Panic is neither ground-breaking nor particularly breath-taking, yet there is a simplicity in the classical tracks that fit with the setting and overall tone of the series. Seiyuu performances are rather exquisite, with a cast consisting of: Nabatame Hitomi, Nakahara Mai, Shimizu Ai, Noda Junko and Kuwatani Natsuko there is more than enough skill to inject feeling into sometimes two-dimensional characters. Certainly there are some emotional scenes that are simply made by the skill of these masterful seiyuu.

As I mentioned earlier, this series is made of an ensemble cast, but unfortunately they tend to be rather two-dimensional or stereotypical characters. That said, there is a wonderfully subtle build-up in a few of the characters that really does surprise, and you can't help but empathise with your favourites as they are put through an emotional blender.

Despite it all I found myself strangely addicted to this series. Yes, the plot is weak, uses cliche plot progressions, makes no sense at times and is borderline ridiculous, yet I found it to be one of the most entertaining series in my collection. The chemistry between the characters, some brilliant work by the cast and some truly spectacular scenes mean that I enjoyed this series for what it was-- mindless fun. By episode twenty-six, I was more than disappointed that this series was over, and I would have to go elsewhere to find my fix of cheesy-goodness.

If you want a deep and sophisticated plot in a similar vein, watch Maria-sama ga Miteru; if you want hours of cheesy, light-hearted goodness: Sit down, buckle in and prepare to turn off your brain and watch something that will have you going through severe withdrawal when it is all over.

For my first yuri, it wasn’t as shocking or surprising as I thought it would be. I guess it’s because of the look and feel of the anime – the girls didn’t really look like they would engage in such “activities” – they all looked very innocent and sweet. It’s a good thing the anime focused more on the dramatic side than sex scenes. There weren’t a lot of sex scenes too, which is a huge sigh of relief for me.

Poor Nagisa. She’s obviously straight when she first came in and Shizuma had to corrupt her mind. I don’t get how Shizuma would fall for ... someone like Nagisa though. Nagisa is one ditzy girl and Shizuma’s elegant and classy (with stone cold glances and stares too). I felt like Nagisa would have been better off with Tamao, and Shizuma with Rokujou. Hikari and Amane were a more convincing couple – mostly because Amane actually looks like a guy and Hikari’s very ladylike.

There’s a part of me that still can’t believe there were no male characters throughout the entire series. It reminded me even more of the 11 years I went to an all girls school wherein males are a rare commodity. I’m a bit disappointed with the characters, because they didn’t have much depth in them, so I’m thought how interesting it would be if at least one guy showed up. They all had similar personalities too – with the exception of the older students such as Shizuma, Rokujou and Amane. Chikaru was a joy to watch though. She could very much be Haruhi Suzumiya’s long lost sister. I bet if they ever meet they’ll have a blast with each other.

Animation and art were actually pretty good, as expected of Madhouse. Everything was drawn and designed well, from the meticulous, colorful backgrounds to the characters. The only problem I have is that the characters faces were almost too similar – the only thing that kept them distinct from each other (appearance – wise) were their hair color. Speaking of hair color, I noticed that only the main characters had different hair colors. The main characters had pink, blue, orange, etc. colored hair, while the background characters (extras) only had black or brown hair. Because of that the main characters really popped up when in a scene with many people. The character’s eyes were very well drawn too.

I’m actually not familiar with most of the cast, but I do know Mai Nakahara. I loved her as Midori in Midori days – I really thought she made Midori 2-3 times cuter. She sounded a lot different as Nagisa though, which is why I didn’t recognize her at first. I also know Shizuma’s VA, Hitomi Nabatame, but sadly Shizuma didn’t have a lot of lines for me to notice her either. Most of the scenes with Shizuma has her staring off into space or crying, etc.

Strawberry Panic’s music was very interesting. I love the very poppy and catchy themes of the show. It was a good contrast from the dramatic and moody BGM heard throughout the series. The BGM was classically-influenced, consisting of piano tracks, which fit the sophisticated atmosphere of Astraea hill. I also like the Ai Shimizu and Mai Nakahara’s contribution to the soundtrack. They were a joy to watch and they brought something different to the table. I rarely see live action videos as ending/opening theme sequences.

Generally, the anime is a lot like Maria-sama ga miteru. The two series have a lot of elements in common, such as the All girls’ catholic school, the French undertones and of course the girl-girl love. There was even a hint of a soeur system during the series. I have to say I still like Marimite more, it is my favorite series, but Strawberry Panic! wasn’t that bad. It did get over dramatic sometimes, making me want to take a nap almost every time I watch it, but I still think it’s worth watching.

I watched this when I was 15 and had a completely wrong impression of how to go about a relationship with a girl. Now I find it to be one of the worst starters for girls who are lesbian or bisexual, it teaches you that manipulation and perversion is okay to push onto another, and that consent doesn't matter. At 15 I thought it was magical and incredible, but at 23, just seeing the first few episodes I already feel sickened by the portrayal of lesbians as creepy and abusive, and I think of all the young girls (like I was) watching this and thinking ... this is how lesbian relationships must work, that it's okay to kiss another girl without her consent, or use any excuse to touch her (measure her body parts), humiliate her, and just full on objectify and assault her, and all the while the excuse for these abuses is that the subject is 'too cute', and finding another cute and child-like is enough of an excuse to treat her like an object.

According to this signs of embarrassment in another girl is cute and a green flag for more humiliation with sexual undertones. Not only this but any sign of a character being uncomfortable, or non consenting is 'kawaii-fied' and another green flag for disturbing behaviour. It lead me as a teen to the impression that this abusive and fetishizing behaviour is acceptable between girls.

Yes as a 15 year old I loved it, all of this I thought was Romantic, and I yearned for the kind of unequal relationship that Nagisa and Shizuma had, but looking back I can see how badly it affected me as a young and confused bisexual female, and I wish I had never watched it and given into the ideas that were put across in this anime. So I refuse to notice anything that might be good in this because it's impact is so destructive to a young girl's idea of a healthy lesbian relationships.

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

Kinda slow, but overall a very touching story.
The plot was substantial enough to keep it interesting and on your toes, it was difficult to find a location to stop watching for the day since each episode kinda left it open to the next one, but that was okay. theres more than just one plot line going on at once too, with multiple characters acting out different situations at the same time.

The art was good, not KyoAni standards but it was better than some others. the colors were duller and details were not as prevalent (at least in the sub i watched). however, it didn't take ... away from the story and development, if anything the lack of sharp colors added some depth to the main storyline.

The character and plot development was pretty good as well. the plot was a little slow to develop, and a few things were easy to point out. but then again i was surprised at the way a few things turned out and just at how everything was played. as for the characters, theres a very good variety of them, each holding some form of an archtype, but not blatantly so. the differences were subtle, and not cookie-cutter. unlike the plot development, the character development was a lot faster; you can tell what kind of person the characters were usually within the first few episodes after they were introduced. it didn't delve into the back story often, mostly concentrating on the present and the situations occurring now. so the development as a whole was a little lacking, but the delivery was well enough to make it enjoyable and easy to understand.

the music was repetitive. though the opening and ending changed halfway into it, the music within the series was static, much like Madlax. (if you have ever seen it. if not, then its basically one lyric song played about 5-6 times through the series.) the regular BMG was nothing new either. but the impression wasn't a bad one, and it didn't take away from the series at all.

overall, i'd give the show a solid 8/10. it didn't have the real attention grabbing ability of a true masterpiece, and i felt that a few characters were neglected too much. but other than that it was well worth watching!

Strawberry Panic is a cascading wonderland of endless enjoyment trying to suffocate you with it's charm and intense love story that grips you like cold hard reality grips an orphan. Do you feel? Do you breath? are you or are you not a individual that can handle this masterpiece as pure as white snow on a enchanting December morning? This incredible adaptation of the famous light novel and manga series that changed a nation goes above and beyond the call of brilliance. On the surface it is just a stunningly animated showcase of vague feelings and a environment that evokes the senses. But as you ... dig deeper you see the true heart of these dames and what they really seek. The joy of a easy going life but the yearning for something more, something real. The pain and anguish that rattles through all of us when emotions clash, damaging our psyche and leaving us scarred. The trivial love that is not so easy to seize and drives us to stride for greatness. All of this along with medleys that will send you into a state of unprecedented tranquility and voice acting that will be remembered for decades to come. Strawberry Panic is perfection, a truly incredible entry in the history of Japanese Animation.

The only anime I've seen with satisfactory animation quality yet overwhelmingly splendid in other factors. I had so much fun watching this anime, and I'd quality it as one of the best yuri anime I've seen in all my years. Watching this made me feel guilty for not giving it a shot sooner. Still, this was so worth my time!

Story : 9/10

The story development was great all through the series, it showed signs of improvement as the story proceeds. The main blemish of this anime in my opinion is the story sometimes become slightly cliche and it made me feel uneasy while watching. ... The ending was likewise satisfactory, it didn't clear up everything. In spite of the fact that I could consider it as a "decent" ending. There are numerous things that are left unanswered.

**SPOILER BELOW**

For an example, what might happen to Tamao and Nagisa after the occasion where Shizuma took Nagisa and fleed? Or on the other hand what might happen to Shizuma? I thought she'll be graduating in months. Furthermore, that question prompts to what about Nagisa? After Shizuma leaves the school, what'd happen next?

I'm almost certain the writer wants us to envision the rest of the story with our imagination, however I loathe little cliffhangers like this. A couple special episodes to clear these things would be great.

**SPOILER END**

Art : 6/10

The art isn't terrible for an anime from 2006. Be that as it may, but my perspective in anime is "If an anime quality sucks, then everything else sucks as well." still, as I referenced previously. The other factors were excellent, therefore made me give this anime a high score. So I won't compose more criticisms about the animation quality of this anime or I'll feel guilty doing so. In addition, I believe it's fine for an anime this old anyways.

Sound : 7/10

I don't care the slightest bit about the sound. There were nothing extraordinary about the overall sound in this anime except the main opening which I slightly enjoyed it. There were also nothing terrible about the sounds either. I have no comment about the sound, I think giving it a solid score is fine.

Character : 8/10

The characters inside this anime are likable, however, I feel irritated that the main characters are getting practically the same attention as the supporting characters. For a precedent, Amane and Hikari. They gain so much development. While Tamao doesn't generally get enough development ( in my opinion ) in spite of the fact that she is one of the MAIN character.

This would've gotten a lower score, but I don't really mind and plus the majority of the characters gain a substantial amount of attention and development anyways. With that, it is enough for me.

Enjoyment : 9/10

A good Shoujo Ai with 26 episodes. How could anyone possibly dislike this? I enjoyed watching this, and I think this anime really should deserve more attention. If you're looking for a good yuri with many episodes, this is your next destination. Just try it out! Don't judge a book by it's cover!

Overall : 9/10

I enjoyed this anime A LOT! It could've easily gotten 10/10 if things were clearer. But this much is enough for me already. Watch this anime, you won't regret it!

Hearken unto me, my dear brothers and sisters,

I am a prolific anime historian; I scour the bottomless pits of anime hell so that you don't have to. I ponder over the shadowy pages of the otaku necronomicon and bear the burden of wisdom that comes with it in order to protect my fellow weebs from ever having to do so themselves. As the selfless individual I am, I will always bear this metaphorical cross for you.

Recently, in my research, I have made an unexpected discovery: The worst yuri anime adaptation ever conceived.

As I poured over the noxious wasteland of foul and tasteless anime, I came ... upon a classic girls love series from Spring 2006 titled 'Strawberry Panic.' It was a treacherous path that I walked in order to uncover this cryptic knowledge from a long-forgotten age. After 10 episodes of hogwash and slag I realized that this series wouldn't get any better; but still I carried on.

Most of the main cast is shallow and the writers never really let any of them develop. Because of this we're left with a steaming basket of half-baked characters. On top of that, this series is exceptionally predictable from beginning to end: Whatever you think is going to happen is probably going to happen. But even with these negatives, I found two positives: Passionate voice acting and a beautiful soundtrack. But even with the good aspects, watching this anime to completion left me feeling like I had just ran an ultra-marathon through the Gobi Desert.

Upon finishing Strawberry Panic, time stopped for me. An unseen weight was lifted off of my shoulders. As I write this post I feel as if the universe has finally reached it's inevitable thermal equilibrium and that I am being embraced by the warm nothingness of the ever-expanding universe. God's course is truly one eternal round and it has brought me back out of the endless pits of hell and into the warm embrace of reality. I've enjoyed every Yuri that I've seen up to now and I love romance anime in general, but this one was an Irish car bomb.

Now, if you love super campy romance series, you might get some kind of satisfaction out of Strawberry Panic. It just didn't have anything for me; I tried so hard but I couldn't find anything to truly enjoy about this series. I wish you the best of luck if you decide to take the plunge into this boiling pit of eldritch waste.

Godspeed.

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FYI: This isn't plagarized, I took the format for this review from a Reddit post I made while watching this series.

A bit of a drag, but that didn't stop me from LOVING it! I really really want the novel and manga to this, and I've got posters on my wall. If you like yuri, it's not really my biggest recommendation, but that still doesn't mean I'm telling you not to watch it, it's still worth the watch for sure, at least in my opinion anyway :)

The novel has 3 volumes, and the manga has 2 and I don't think there's anything I want more right now than them 5 books. I have a growing manga collection and I'd absolutely LOVE to have them be apart ... of it, I really do think that Strawberry Panic is a masterpiece

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 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", 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 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, 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.

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.

Warning:
"Strawberry Panic!" is a Yuri anime. It follows the story of lesbian
couples and if you have an aversion to homosexuality, or things of
that nature, I would not recommend this anime to you.

Anime: Strawberry Panic!

Format: DVD Video, Region Code 2 (Middle East,Iceland,Western Europe,Central Europe,Egypt,French overseas territories,Greenland,Japan,Lesotho,South Africa, and Swaziland only) Subtitles: None, Audio Track: Japanese: Dolby Digital
Stereo

... Creator: Sakurako KIMINO

Publisher: Madhouse Studios/IMAGIN (Japan)

Release Date: 2006 (Japan)

Rating: TV-14-SD (May be inappropriate for childern under 14)

Genre: Romance, Drama, Yuri


Format:
Story:
Strawberry Panic revolves around three all-girls schools: St.
Miator's Girls' Academy, St. Spica's Girls' Institute, and St. Lulim's
Girls' School. In Miator, Nagisa Aoi is the main love interest of
three of the girls in that school and they are Tamao Suzumi, Shizuma
Hanazono and Chiyo Tsukidate. In Spica, Hikari Konohana is the main
love interest of three of the girls in that school and they are Yaya
Nanto, Amane Ohtori, and Tsubomi Okuwaka. In the third school, the
characters play a very small role in the anime, except for one named
Chikaru Minamoto. The other characters there are important to the
story, but not main characters.
The story that "Strawberry Panic" weaves is like being on a
emotional roller-coaster. There will be times you feel happy, then
sad, then angry. You will almost certainly laugh and cry throughout
the episodes.
The Strawberry Dorms (Proper Name is Astrea Dormitory) is where the
characters interact the most. The dormitorys are on the campus of a
very large catholic church near a lake, which are all located on
Astrea Hill.

Art:
The animation is amazing, crisp, and clean in my opinion. One of the
things I have always loved about anime, is the characters eyes. The
eyes are used to convey such emotion that you might not normally see
in an animation. When there are close ups, it is even better.
It is refreshing to see an anime using the older style of animation.
Not making it flashy with bright colors, and CG animation. The colors
and the animation are some what dulled compared to what we are
accustomed to with newer anime. I'm not at all pointing this out as a
flaw in the anime, or saying it is a bad thing at all. It is really
well done in Strawberry Panic, and it gives almost a feeling of
nostalgia for old school anime. I have been watching anime all of my
life, and the art in this specific one brought back memories of animes
like Vampire Hunter D, Iria - Zeiram The Animation, The Fantastic
Adventures of Unico, Sailor Moon, and Speed Racer. All of these animes
are less flashy, don't use bright colors, and don't use CG Animation
but are still just amazing, great animes, and watching them makes me
feel great too.

Sound:
The Opening Theme Songs are
#1: "Shoujo Meiro de Tsukamaete" by Aki Misato (EP's 1-13)
#2: "Kuchibiru Daydream" by Aki Misato (EP's 14-26)
both opening songs really really good

The Ending Theme Songs are
#1: "Himitsu Dolls" by Mai Nakahara and Ai Shimizu (EP's 1-13)
#2: "Ichigo Tsumi Monogatari" by Mai Nakahara and Ai Shimizu (EP's 14-25)
#3: "Shoujo Meiro de Tsukamaete" by Aki Misato (EP 26)
now #1 and #3 are really good songs but #2 is not all that good, the
Soundscore is done by Composer Yoshihisa Hirano, (Hirano Yoshihisa ,
born December 7. 1971 in Wakayama Prefecture) he studied composing at
Juilliard School in 1992, and later at Eastman School of Music, he has
composed music for concert,dance,film,radio and anime soundtracks. The
sound score for Strawberry Panic is mostly classical style and it is
really good. Much like the anime itself, the sound score can be
happy,lively, sad, mysterious, haunting, and overall is just very
beautiful and really good music.

Other:
The Etoile System is a system in place to govern the Internal Politics
and operations of all three school , Etoile is a French word meaning
Star. The Etoile is a figurehead of Astrea Hill and the Etoile has
specific duties like greeting new students to Astrea Hill,
participating in important school events, and acting as a mediator
between disputes in student council meetings of the three schools, and
other duties. They have a private greenhouse to grow flowers for using
in school events. The Etoile is a very important and respected person.
Etoile system is a big part of the story. There is a lot more to the
Etoile System but you will find this out when you watch the anime, I
did not want to give away any more then I had to because this
something you have to find out on your own.

Pros:
-Great story and well done characters.
-Amazing animation and great art work.
-Really good sound score and great songs.

Cons:
None

Final Thoughts:
Now I might go on too much about this so please bear with me. I have
read a few forum's and reviews that suggest that Strawberry Panic is
a ripoff of an anime called Maria-sama ga Miteru. This is something I
completely disagree with. I have watched all of Strawberry Panic and
Maria-sama ga Miteru they are nothing alike.
Now as I said to start, if you are uncomfortable with homosexuality,
this might not be the anime for you. However it was an amazing anime,
basically in my eyes about romance, no matter who it occurs between.
Its about the ups and downs of love, and I thought it was great.

I\'m fair, and yet I have to give Strawberry Panic an overall 8, not only because it\'s shojo ai and we get to see the goddess character almost get it on with the cute and often clueless main character, but it\'s also because the painful feelings that the characters have for each other.

Strawberry Panic is a shojo-ai show thorough and thorough. While all the elements in this show would suggest a old-time shojo show - classical music, beautiful senpai with classic shojo drawings of big hair and an elegant aura, a (not so secret) garden, Catholic school complete with a cathedral, a fountain and classrooms, ... sports that Japanese girls admire, and other classic shojo things, it\'s clearly a show aimed at male Otakus because of all the yuri scenes going on, with some fanservice for males.

It\'s kind of odd because in the early days of shojo anime, shows with only women or almost only women and very few men in there would never be aimed at males. Boys/young men/men had always watched shows with men fighting in mechas, with swords, on a sports field, fighting and beating each other bloody, and so on. But with the obsessiveness of the Otaku, whom are often terrible when dealing with women - wanting to be with women but severely uncomfortable in women\'s presence, shows that discover what women do around each other and alone (real and imaginary) are created.

In any case, conflicts of love go on in this show, as various characters fall in love with different women (heehee), some of their love interests respond in kind, others fail to recipicate. A lot of conflicts and a dark past is revealed when love is being sparked. We follow Nagisa, our protagonist\'s steps as she slowly discovers this campus, herself, her relationships with her roommate, who\'s deep in love with her, her friends and surroundings, and her real love - the seemingly distant and playful Shizuma - the top of the top of the 3 campuses. Other characters also get developed.

It\'s hard to definite this as a shojo show or not. I call it the "shori" show - shonen fan service with Yuri elements in it. I simply cannot classify it as a shojo show because too many lesbian love in there, I mean, sometimes there are almost no normal female relationships in this show.

Love the design of the characters, they\'re all beautiful, or cute, and all distinctive enough. The music is OK for me. Mostly classical and light music with nothing standing out. The characters are nicely fleshed out, with some shojo and imaginary lesbian stereotypes - this is made for shy male otakus after all. The plots are shojoesque with infighting and competition over the top title of the 3 campuses but it isn\'t terribly boring. Maybe it\'s because I love seeing shojo-ai and I appreciate the seiyuu for their work in this show.

Recommended for all who love shojo-ai/yuri. This is a shining example of yuri done right.

If someone would ask me what love is.. I would say.. the unstoppable and the immovable with the adequate risks of paradox involved. Love is something strong that can't be understood with mere words. Picture yourself in a fateful encounter with a person that once you met you cannot get enough of. That is the smallest fraction of what love is and can be related to in words.

For our protagonist Aoi Nagisa lies ahead a school life filled with laughter,joy,cries and sorrow as she meets Hanazono Shizuma, a mysterious figure of little words and a great deal of feelings. Feelings that blossom like a beautiful ... and fragile flower bud when it is properly nurtured or withers when not properly cared for by her fateful encounters with the main heroine.

I have been enthralled by the story so I do not have much to say about the artwork other than edgy character faces that i do not enjoy. What I really liked about the artwork are the background scenes of the Hill where the action takes place. Everything down to the last detail is like in a well made painting.

I am not one to talk about intros and outros so I will go on and say that it is an understatement to say that the music is largely exquisite. Masterful piano plays emphasize the dramatic moments as well as the undisturbed sceneries as well as the happy moments. A well made repertoire.

Most of the characters are largely similar with small differences with a few exceptions. Most of them are happy smiling girls that get along just fine with nothing worrying them. It is later on during the series that the character reactions become interesting.

I have really enjoyed the story that left me with a burning ache in my heart throughout the episodes. This is what the series left me with. Are you curious if that ache was extinguished or about what will the series leave you with... only one way to find out!

Strawberry Panic is depressing, confusing, really REALLY badly drawn and plagerises Maria-sama ga Miteru at every given opurtunity. Also, in one episode it over uses dramatic lightning/thunder to the point where you either laugh or have a stress induced heart attack. Saying that... I love this anime!
Whilst it's depressing, it's also very funny and rather heart warming. It's deffinitely a must see for yuri fans, although I shouldn't think it's limited to them.

I must say though, if you've read the manga beforehand, be warned! The 'plot'(tbh, I'm not totally convinced it actually HAS a plotT.T) is pretty much completely different. So, when you get half ... way through, and you're thinking 'Where's the damned horse race?', that's why.

Finally, this is my first time writing something like this, so I apologise if it sucked.(>///

Well, this was an....experience. And that's about it. Compared to newer titles like Sakura Trick and Bloom Into You, the flaws in Strawberry Panic really shine through. There's so much to go into so I'll try to break down my gripes with this anime.


Story: 5/10

The anime does have a clearly defined story and major plot points that make up this story but it meanders so much and is packed with filler that makes it a slog to get through. It does its best to build this world and flesh out the history behind the schools and how they're all connected and what their functions are ... but it just leads to a bunch of melodramatic politics and painfully slow set ups for other plot points. Students are shown being chastised for sneaking around during lights out and never get caught again. There are a bunch of painful cliches and there are entire episodes I wanted to skip because the series made it hard to care. It's just oozing melodrama.


Art: 4/10

When there is animation, it's kind of bad. The backgrounds are nice enough and I enjoyed the architecture. The one area that actually looks very nice is the greenhouse, but the flower art seems to have more thought and effort put into it than most of the art in the series.


Sound: 3/10

I might be alone on hating the soundtrack for this series. The background music can often be shrill and ear piercing, and because there are a lot of melodies that are so distinct that get reused often, I got tired of hearing them over and over again. The lip flaps are wonky and don't match in a few places as well.


Character: 5/10

My biggest gripe with this anime is the protagonists love interest. We are supposed to view her as a brooding, beautiful, tortured soul that is loved and respected by everyone. But what we're introduced to is a woman that refuses to do her most basic duties and plays with the emotions of those around her because she's brooding and lonely. She goes out of her way to hurt her friends and the main character due to her incredibly selfish nature. I could not stand this character and sadly she's given the most backstory. But for me, this past did not in any way excuse her actions. One of the other love interests for the main character that is far more caring and shown to have been far better in every aspect is shoved to the side in favor of this selfish character.
The main character is plain and almost serves as a husk for the viewer to project themselves on. There are multiple romance plots but because the characters involved in them are so one dimensional and boring even the multi love interest love polygons are boring.
Most of the women portrayed have love interests in other women, and while not necessarily a bad thing (kind of the point of the show) there could have been a scene where characters caught in the act of such things are reprimanded and warned to not do it. Then at least there would be some stakes involved with where and when these people reciprocate their feelings. On top of that, they throw themselves at each other without consent and it isn't shown as a problem until much later on in the series.


Enjoyment: 4/10

It's hard to enjoy something when the plot keeps getting diverted and then you're given more melodrama from undeveloped characters that you can't possibly care for. I fell asleep watching this so many times and would restart an episode because it is filled with so much useless dialogue and is lacking in animation. I had to stop the series halfway through and then watched the entirety of Bloom Into You before going back to it. I needed to find a better romance anime and watch the whole thing in the middle of this one to keep watching it. That's how boring it is. It tries to paint itself as mature but lacks a likable cast and consists mostly of meaningless plot developments and painfully overblown melodrama.


Overall: 4

I recommend this only to see where things can go horribly wrong in this genre. Then to compare that with some of the more modern titles that have come out that are more accurate, more romantic, and far more wholesome than Strawberry Panic. Otherwise I would not point anyone looking for a good romantic story to watch it.

There's a lot to say about Strawberry Panic... It was quite a journey watching. And WOW, it's an emotional journey.

Even though I crushed all 26 episodes in about 3 days, I had a great time watching the story unfold. The characters are fantastic and all adorable as hell. The bottom line is that this is a great anime. It's actually one of the few anime dramas I've seen, and it was quite sad at times. If you can muscle through the sad moments, you'll have a great time watching.

The only problem I had with some of the characters is that they seem more significant then ... they become while the series unfolds. For example, Chiyo, who adores Nagisa to death, seems to fall short of having any real impact on Nagisa despite the fact that Chiyo is a main character. A few other of the "first year" characters who are actively involved with Nagisa and Tamao also fall into this shortcoming.

Aside from a few flaws here and there, this anime builds up at a very tense pace developing relationships and characters with every single episode. Once you reach home stretch of the last 5 episodes, you'll sit there holding your breath anxiously awaiting the ending. It's worth every single episode, and in fact one of the most rewarding shows I've completed.

This is what i consider a (Real) Master-piece.

the anime really did put some heavy emphasis on the story, which in some scenes somehow overshadowed all sidebased activities that would normally have taken place in the anime otherwise.

Something that i think that everyone that eventually comes around to watching Strawberry Panic will absolutely love about it, is that the team behinde the series gave almost "Every" main and supporting character that where starred in the anime, fully developed personalities and master-crafted backstories that gave them extra deepth. The anime also didnt just focus on one single couple, but focused on a hole 5 couples total (this ... includes a former relationship and a missunderstod one).

The series really did go for a emotional show-down in the later-half of the series by putting in one of the biggest missunderstandings and one heck-of-a seriously tragic backstory that surrounded one of the main-characters.

To be honest, i personaly think that the later half of SBP was so well carried out that it even made me share a tear.

There are not very many yuri anime out there. Among them, not many sink its teeth into character-driven plots or relationships with drama that is more than mere 'misunderstandings.' What Strawberry Panic attempts to portray are various views of first-love in the setting of Astraea Hill. Love at first sight. Love for someone admired by all. Unrequited love. The loss of love. And, learning to love. Along with the joys, sorrow, anguish, and bliss that comes with it.

An ambitious undertaking for sure. However, one that, even with 24 episodes, was not executed well. The pacing often either stagnates or jumps around; while the overall ... story can be followed despite this, what the characters experience feels off. Something intense happens one moment, then whiplashes to another mood the next. Two events may be happening at once, but they don't share similar qualities, sometimes they conflict, causing confusion in the viewing experience. Thus, the pacing feels, incoherent at times.

I am not one to suggest alternatives to the plot to make the story better; that would make an entirely different material. But I will say that there are elements with potential that could've been used to more naturally and further develop characters. It is brought up several times, "what is an Etoile?" This show would have you believe it is the most popular person(s) on campus, but I believe the characters think it represents more than just that. Without much spoilers, as an unused element, I think it's high up there. Another element would be the wider world. The entire show takes place on Astraea Hill, an isolated campus. But the world beyond the campus is almost never mentioned; not for describing someone's past, nor for their future. If characters were to think beyond their campus, or relate their campus to the wider world, some developments would be more natural.

Perhaps my biggest criticism with this show is how some character arcs were lacking: both in cause-and-effect, and resolution. To give credit where it's due, when something big happens, it does affect the character(s) involved. They will cry their hearts out, open their hearts to those close, and find comfort with friends. But... what happens next...? The same thing, then again, and again. It is incredible how these characters do not grow through their experiences, only to fall prey to it again and again without addressing why. One thing I love in other shows like this, is how a character has grown into a stronger person by the end of their ordeal; be it in how they carry themselves, or how they interact with others. But in this show, if you watch the first the first three episodes, and the last 3 episodes, the characters stay mostly the same, save for one... kinda.

In conclusion, Strawberry Panic certainly kept me tuned-in. But not in excitement, but rather how incredulous of an event would have to occur to further these characters. I do think the premise and themes are interesting, but not expanded upon to the extent that would make it inspiring. Not every work needs to have a deep intrigue to it, nor does it have to lean towards such an extreme. But this work fails to dive deep enough to accomplish what I think it wants to do.