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(NON-SPOILER REVIEW)
It's funny, I wouldn't say I was delightfully surprised by this anime (as I liked the premise initially), but I'm not sure what I was expecting. I think I was expecting to like it for sure, but a feeling I got immediately upon watching the first episode was that it would be an anime that would hold a special place in my heart, and I think that's true. This is one that I think I'll be able to revisit fondly. Others have brought up inconsistencies with the plot, that it was trying to address a little more than it could handle, etc. and honestly ... I'm not here to argue that. I definitely think plot wise there are probably many ways it could be fixed, but as of now, none that impaired my viewing experience.

I just found that I enjoyed it and it made me happy to watch, I loved the characters and I was invested in their internal struggles and lives, as well as relationships to one another. They were a group that really made me happy, and I felt for them when things went poorly. In the good moments they warmed my heart and made me giggle. I just had a good time and I enjoyed it! It makes me want to read the manga, and I think I will!

Romance wise, I don't necessarily think things will turn out the way I want, but I'm not sure I even necessarily mind.

**MILD SPOILERS FROM HERE**

It is somewhat a romance, and romance-wise while the marketed couple seems to be Makoto and Aoi, I definitely liked Makoto and Ryuji better. I'm not sure how it's going to go, and I kind of think they'll still lean towards Aoi eventually. In regards to this in the anime, the name of the anime in general suggests we're seeing things from Aoi's perspective ("SENPAI is an otokonoko", only she calls Makoto senpai, ofc) but at least in the anime, the main character is definitely Makoto over Aoi, and you have certain scenes of them emphasized in the opening(and ending as well I think).

I was fully convinced Ryuji was going to be so much less of an option, but you find out a little ways in that Aoi doesn't actually seem to have proper romantic feelings for Makoto and is somewhat projecting, and hoping that she will. She seems to have feelings of adoration, and maybe a surface-level crush but not much more than that, which is why she doesn't get shy around Makoto and feels inferior when she learns of Ryuji's feelings for Makoto. She's more of a fan if anything. Where as Ryuji's romantic feelings for Makoto are definitely better... stated? and developed, I feel. However Makoto, at least at this point, doesn't necessarily seem to reciprocate Ryuji's feelings, or at least hasn't realized them yet. Obviously that's not necessarily a fault, and instead Makoto seems to be developing feelings for Aoi by the end of it.

I think rather the point I'm trying to make it is, while at first I thought Ryuji would have MAD second-lead syndrome (where you know he was never a choice anyway), they seem to take the rug out from under you regarding Aoi's feelings for Makoto. While they develop Ryuji's romantic feelings for Makoto, it's made sort of clear that Aoi just doesn't feel the same, even though she desperately wants to. It definitely took me out of rooting for Aoi and feeling like she would be a viable option, and then right at the end it seems to start to build up Makoto's feelings for her when I had already sort of tossed aside any notion that those two were an option. All this to say, that introduction of it at the end has me convinced that the series is working towards a Makoto/Aoi end-game, that I'm now worried I won't be invested in because they spent the whole season getting me invested in Ryuji's romantic feelings instead. I know I had a lot to say about it but truly it's not that big a deal, I think it's just the only thing I distinctly had long thoughts about. It doesn't stop me from recommending it, regardless of how which way I think it'll end!

I was pleasantly surprised by Strawberry Panic. It's not life changing, it's not my favourite anime out there, but I honestly wasn't going into it looking for a masterpiece. Truly I was just going into with the hope that I would at least be interested in what was happening, and I was.

I would say "mixed feelings" on this one because while I had fun, I can see how this would be a little divisive. Just because I went into it with no expectations and enjoyed it, doesn't mean everyone who does that will. I don't behold it as a revolutionary work, but it was ... fun! I can see how for someone else watching this might be boring and grating, but I liked it.

I've watched a lot of BL and enjoy much of it, but I've had a harder time when it comes to GL. As a sapphic myself it's made me feel a bit like something's wrong with me lmao, or perhaps I just have higher standards but I find a big problem with a lot of GLs is I just don't enjoy the character tropes they employ, like they sometimes forget to make one of the characters a functioning human being so it's hard to root for the two of them when one of them is barely a person for the sake of being a cute little girl, or you'll have the perfect "oneesama" type character who is secretly flawed and a pervert. I can't really stand that stuff, and it's funny because I'm sure people will have similar opinions when it comes to this show. Besides the side characters, Nagisa and Hikari would probably come closest to the former, but I didn't find they bothered me, they felt realized enough beyond "cute innocent little girl" and what does that for me the most is probably that they know what they're feeling. They certainly fall into character tropes but they can stand on their own two feet and they were very sure in their feelings. I don't need every character to be sure in their feelings to enjoy something, that can make a story exciting, but for once I wanted to watch a GL where the characters actually liked each other.

I almost find Shizuma to fall into BL tropes more than the GL I've seen, honestly watching her and Amane made me giggle because I've never seen two yuri girls who scream "seme" so bad. A lot of the supporting cast was cute and fun. I wouldn't say there's any impeccable character writing going on, but if you're not expecting that then I think you'll be fine!

I think a lot of critiques about the show are valid for sure, I would just say they didn't impact my viewing experience because I wasn't expecting anything necessarily. I was expecting moody, angsty romance and while there are definitely elements of that, a lot of it was slice of life friend group shenanigans. Definitely a tonal dissonance between scenes during certain episodes. Sometimes it decides to get serious and it clashes with the previous lighthearted nature of the show, but I didn't mind that.

When it comes to the romance I have thoughts. Amane and Hikari were definitely my favourite immediately. They're the second couple, and so they probably had less over all screen time but they get some dedicated episodes and I think those, along with their other moments, did a decent job at developing their relationship. I was invested, in them and their story (and not just because I love Amane). When it comes to the main couple, Nagisa and Shizuma, I honestly just feel like they didn't get enough time. Nagisa get a lot of time absent of Shizuma with her friends, in fact a majority of the first half of the series barely features Shizuma. Shizuma also gets a lot of brooding time separate from Nagisa. It feels like they're rarely together. If you compared it by numbers, Amane and Hikari might have a similar amount or less time on screen for their relationship, but their time is used wisely. If you told me there was more of them I wouldn't be surprised.

Nagisa and Shizuma also spend a decent amount of their time brooding and yearning for one another if you will, they have a few happy moments but it feels like there's not enough buildup, and then they kind of get stuck in this...limbo of yearning once Shizuma hurts Nagisa. They look back on their five moments together constantly and it results in this odd... like I'm invested in each of them separately and their feelings for each other, but not them together as a couple. Best I can maybe describe it is if your best friend has a crush on someone they've barely talked to. You might want things to turn out well and you want them to get more time together, but you don't necessarily think they make a great pair because you've barely seen them together. I was happy with the ending but if they hadn't sidelined Shizuma so severely I think the payoff would've been better. Character wise, I started off not even liking her, but she started to grow on me through the small moments they showed. If they allowed Nagisa and Shizuma to have way more casual and fun moments I think it would've done wonders for Shizuma as a character and them together.

Side note: if you've watched Ouran you might find the ost to be eerily similar. I believe it was composed by the same guy, in the same year too lmao so I think he reused quite a few musical motifs for the soundtrack. It really had me feeling like I was watching something Ouran-adjacent at times.

TW: Sexual assault

My ACTUAL biggest problem is the way sexual assault (or the assaulters I should say) is handled. And unfortunately the victim is always darling Hikari. Kaname attempts to rape Hikari at least TWICE, and although her and Momomi are both behind it only one of them is doing the assaulting!! It's interesting to me that Kaname is the one they decide to sort of redeem, and her epiphany happens while she's on her third attempt to assault Hikari lmao. Hikari's words reach her heart and there you have it! Like idk if she wasn't an attempted rapist maybe I'd be here for it but no. The worst for me is Yaya. When Yaya kisses Hikari, they should've left it at that. Yes a non-consensual kiss isn't good but if I'm watching an anime from 2006 I'll be a little lenient. But she starts fondling Hikari, Hikari has tears in her eyes and she pushes Yaya away. She's very obviously affected by it. She has an adverse reaction to it, she stays in bed and isn't herself. The worst part truly is that they portray Hikari's reaction to it like that, but then they want you to just forgive Yaya. The rest of the girls obviously don't know what happened, and Hikari as the victim can forgive as she pleases, but the narrative really just wants you to feel bad and forgive her. I really liked her as a character too so it hurt. And I don't think Hikari was acting that way just because of the "fight" between the two of them. In a later episode Yaya accidentally touches her while they're practicing a song and Hikari jumps causing Yaya to feel bad. Like they're still having her be affected by this but we're supposed to be all good huh. I don't think it was necessary for them to make Yaya do all that if they just want you to forgive her. And having Yaya do that after having saved Hikari from an attempted rape the same day..... stab to the heart.