Strawberry Panic

Nagisa Aoi begins her new school life as a transfer student at St. Miator’s Girls Academy, one of three prestigious all-girls institutions atop Astraea Hill. Getting lost on her first day, Nagisa encounters a mysterious student whose elegance and charm is so bewitching, she ends up in the infirmary.

There to greet her when she awakens is Tamao Suzumi, her roommate, who enthusiastically introduces Nagisa to the daily life and social structure on campus. Most notably, Tamao informs her of the existence of an exceptional student representative among all three schools—the Etoile, or "star." Eager to meet this person, Nagisa learns that the ethereal beauty she met earlier, Shizuma Hanazono, is the one and only Etoile herself! Not only that, Shizuma seems openly interested in Nagisa! Her interactions with Shizuma naturally make her a hot topic on campus; yet despite being so captivated, Nagisa can’t help but wonder if something is off.

Strawberry Panic! follows the everyday routines of Nagisa, Shizuma, and her friends at St. Miator’s, St. Spica, and St. Lulim as they navigate through the challenge of relationships while confronting hidden feelings, lingering regrets, and new possibilities.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hanazono, Shizuma Main

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Aoi, Nagisa Main

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Suzumi, Tamao Main

Shimizu, Ai Japanese

Minamoto, Chikaru Supporting

Nakajima, Saki Japanese

Nanto, Yaya Supporting

Kuwatani, Natsuko Japanese

Ootori, Amane Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Konohana, Hikari Supporting

Matsuki, Miyu Japanese

Rokujou, Miyuki Supporting

Noda, Junko Japanese

Byakudan, Kagome Supporting

Fukui, Yukari Japanese

Sakuragi, Kaori Supporting

Iwamura, Kotomi Japanese

Maruyama, Hajime Producer

Watanabe, Kazuya Producer

Sakai, Akio Producer

Tafu, Naohiro Producer

Reviews

Dec 18, 2007

k8m0nst3r

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 16, 2008

TweetleCake

Mixed Feelings

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--

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 15, 2008

jukugo

Not Recommended

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

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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