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Daydreaming, feeling happy, acting stupid just because "that" person is there. Doesn't being in love feel the same, regardless the gender? Just as tragic yuri stories became getting on my nerves, I found this one.

Being girls doesn't seem to get in the way of anyone except of Julia's manager, who tends to smack Julia on the head whenever doing something stupid. Getting mushy on some small parts, but mostly being purely a comedy, this is a manga about that awkward, cute love story between "an incompetent and an airhead", called that multiple times.

The art was nice, a little bit old-fashioned though, with big eyes and ... shiny hair. As models, everyone dresses really pretty. I liked how the girls are easily recognizeable: in such a big cast for its length, I never accidentally mixed two characters.

Talking about the characters, they are certainly the most important thing when it comes to comedies. Characters in Strawberry Shake Sweet are funny, goofy and cute. No matter how many times Julia gets a nosebleed because of fantacizing over Ran, the beauty salon owner stirs up all the trouble for her entertainment, or (a half of) Zlay begins over with their antics, I found it as hilarious as at first.

Julia is hardworking, lovesick baka protagonist who fell (hard) for her kouhai Ran. Ran is honest, goofy and dense, completely oblivious to being the subject of Julia's musings.

What I liked is that the roles the two of them had weren't that of the stereotypical "male/female" character as in the rest of yuri (and yaoi, for that matter) that I watched/read. There isn't the line of seme/uke, these girls are simply teenagers in love. A little confused and unexperienced, sure, a little stupid, and most of the time outright hilarious, their misunderstandings made me laugh out loud at several points.

Isn't love, at first, always like that? Awkward, cute and kinda complicated. Before we make it even more complicated.
:)

What happens to the gods when people stop believing in them? Do they disappear, or simply go back home? While finding a person you love, is "forever" a simple word?

This is, simply, a story about a merchant travelling and selling goods, trying to get by the best way possible, with a little fantasy put in as his companion is a pagan goddess, trying to get home. The story is simple, at the same time deep and complex, it relaxes you while making you think. Being composed almost completely out of dialogue, it never becomes repetitive or boring.

People, nature, rural buildings appearing around them while travelling ... are all done nicely. It creates a feeling as if you were there too, sitting in the cart listening Lawrence and Horo bicker. The only thing I didn't like is that the characters were sometimes looking a little stiff.

Sound is perfectly composed with the nature of the anime. Voice actors, background music and the opening song were completely adapted to the nature of the anime, never sounding sudden or weird. The ending song makes me happy :)

The relationship between the two main characters is progressive and subtle. From complete strangers, bickering partners then friends, it is completely natural that it would eventually turn into love.
Listening to their conversation would be similar to imagining a ball flying from one to another end during a tennis match. There is passing, bluffing or playing cute, but, unlike many other couples, everything's completely honest and said out loud. Both of the characters say everything that's on their mind, be it embarrassing or maybe a little teasing.

Lawrence is a successful merchant, charismatic and smart. Still, he would be far from perfect. As every human being, he makes stupid mistakes and gets angry, despite being a "nice guy". Being much more mature than most anime mains, in the eyes of Horo, he's still just an innocent, little boy.

Horo is a beautiful wolf pagan deity. She is much more cunning then Lawrence, she doesn't miss saying that to him, too. Despite being hundreds of centuries old, she still likes playing around, sometimes greeedy like a little child. Though, behind a playful smile, hides a past of centuries of loneliness, which comes out only in her most vulnerable times, when she's not strong enough to hide it.

It is funny, how most of the time the dominant role's being switched back and forth between the two of them. Being older and wiser, Horo often regards Lawrence as a little boy who just started learning about the world. At the same time, when she starts looking for food or is just being weak, Lawrence acts with her as if with a child.

Historical anime. If it's not unusual beasts and fantasy creatures, or knights, swords and fighting, then it must be a samurai story or at least an action with magic. It's nice to see anime that breaks out of a cliche at so many places.
Relationship is natural and warm, and the people feel alive.

Being one of my all-time favorites, and probably will always be, I enjoyed this anime a lot. :)

What is right and wrong? Who decides this anyway? When the time comes, will you do things based on what you think is right, or what other people say is?

When I first started watching this, it was some form of a "guilty pleasure" decision, while I thought it was going to be just another under-developed hentai (or half-hentai, as I used to call it). I was very pleasantly surprised.
Believe me, this is NOT a hentai. Yes, the main character does have sex with multiple girls over the course of the series, but these scenes have a meaning. More important thing is how they got to ... it, the story behind each girl, more than just the act of having sex.

This was made after a visual novel, so it's reasonable that every girl gets a story. Still, in this anime, stories are seperated from each other and only in the last arc, some of the elements from other ones come together. It is obvious that every story, a lot of things change related to each other, but I think it would be more correct to say that the only thing that's really changed is one: the main character.

One of the main reasons why I started watching this anime, was the art. Everything was done fluid and crisp; I equally enjoyed watching the nature and surroundings, and... hmm... body parts. (lol) The people seem real, and the girls are differently built (I really hate it when in anime, all girls look the same). The endings of each episode are made using chibi art, with normal one only used during a ecchi scene. I thought Akira's enourmous chibi head was hilarious, though xD

Sound is great too, both voice actors and music. The background music was done nicely, and it didn't feel weird in any part.

In the beginning, the characters seem chiched and boring: tsundere girl, meganekko slut, awkward class president, childish/mature girl convo... but at the end almost every character has depth.
During the different timelines, as Haruka's personality changes for a little, girls' personalities change a little too. Maybe out of jealousy, the non-main girls become much less likeable than they are in their own arc, even though it is made that the personalities are believable: they didn't change the essence, only circumstances.

Haruka is a main character out of the cliche from the very beginning. Even though he isn't one of the typical male harem leads, he seems a little too perfect; nice and charming, so much that all the girls love him. Though, he is a "Prince Charming" only on the surface; when the time comes for it, he becomes undecisive and weak. The thing changing over the acrs isn't only the girl he likes, it's his personality as well. Even though, in the end, he always stays the same.

Sora is a troubled girl, so much that you can't actually hate her, even if you try. She is clingy, moody, dishonest and insecure, maybe because of the time spent at a hospital that made her delicate like a doll. But, unlike Haru, she knows exactly what she wants and doesn't care what others'll think about it. And it is, being with Haru.

Aside from the main arc's, the other timelines' heroines were likeable too: at the start, Nao seems annoying for some reason, but every time there is a need, whichever timeline, she is there to help like an older sister of some sort. Akira reminds me of those theather masks that only have smile on them: regardless the situation, she will mask everything with a smile. Kazuha tries and tries to be like a strict older sister, despite her real gentle personality.

The order of arcs was the backwards one of my enjoyment as well. I liked the Kazuha one the least, Akira a little more, and so. Motoka chibis in the ending were hilarious, too.

If insecure, try to make the best decision possible. At the end, at least one person must be hurt, and that is the natural course of things. When loving someone, you shouldn't care what other people think or say. That's what I think, at least!

I enjoyed this "half-hentai" a lot more than I previously thought. :)