Nagisa Aoi was just an ordinary girl. She wasnt especially smart she wasnt especially pretty she wasnt especially noble There was really nothing special about her. Then one day she transferred into Miator Academy one of three all girl schools located at the top of Astraea hill a sacred place where no males are allowed to enter. The three schools are affiliated and they only accept female students from proper upstanding families Well theres one other possible qualifier but well talk more about that later. Students are expected to live on campus in two person dorm rooms and as a right of passage first year students are expected to act as maids for their elders. Luckily Nagisa was able to avoid this fate transferring to the school in her third year of education because of Reasons And it was at this school that the once ordinary Nagisa would become Well still an ordinary girl. Theres no evidence that that part of her is ever going to change. But somehow despite this ugly duckling slowly growing into an average duck there is one thing about her life that is about become extraordinary. For you see at these three schools way up on Astraea Hill they elect more than just a student council They also elect an Etoile who represent the school in all of its glamour and prestige. For now the Etoile is Shizuna a tall mysterious girl with long white hair and a spirit that radiates with ennui and depression and for seemingly no reason at all she appears to have taken a very special interest in young Nagisa. From long measuring glances to sudden uninvited embraces that come within a hairs breadth of ending in a sultry kiss the most beloved and respected student on campus has her empty eyes on Nagisa and theyre filling up fast. Nagisa has no idea how she attracted this kind of romantic attention but luckily for the older girl she doesnt seem to be in any hurry to try to lose it either. As the two young ladies become closer and the bond between them begins to form theyll find that the Astraea Hill School System is both a political and social minefield full of backstabbing sabotage and political intrigue. Will our perfectly ordinary heroine brave the dangers of Astraea Hill for the sake of a love thats truly extraordinary or will her destiny fall short in the end? The Strawberry Panic anime was produced by Studio Madhouse to capitalize on the successful magazine run of a series of short stories all focusing on different allfemale romances taking place at the Astraea Hill Schools. Productions from Madhouse rarely ever have generous amounts of money poured into them which can lead to even beloved classics like Trigun looking wonky half the time but on the plus side some shows can still flourish visually without a lot of financial backing like the dialogueheavy Death Note. Well Strawberry Panic may have a lot of dialogue in it but the nicest thing I can probably say about it is that its not the worst looking anime Ive ever seen. They clearly tried their hardest with it but theres only so much a bare bones budget can do when its attached to a light fluffy show that doesnt have the benefit of heavy shadows or obscure angles to hide its flaws. Im honestly not sure how good this show even COULD look as its clearly the kind of show that Kyoto animation was born for. Madhouse tries to hide the limitations of this shows movements and for the most part it does manage to pull it off relying on as many staticky conversations and panning shots as it possibly can and it treads water at least well enough to well not enough that the shoestring budget goes unnoticed but well enough that you can ignore it and focus on the story. Having said that the very second the motion needs to pick up even the slightest bit the returns can be flat out embarrassing. Characters walking often look like profile images bouncing up and down as they move across the background a tragic horse accident in the latter episodes is clumsy enough to bring inappropriate roars of laughter to whats supposed to be somber scene and if you can tear yourself away from the beautiful piano melody in one particular scene youll feel duped when you realize that youre just looking at a panning shot where a couple of frozen characters just move their upper arms ever so slightly. You cant even watch a character fall down the stairs on screen no theres a very intentional cutaway. Its a nice looking show in terms of design however as every named character has a specific look that you probably wont forget even if you havent seen them or thought of them for extended stretches of episodes. In fact I got so used to having their looks inform their identities that towards the end I briefly mistook one of the main characters for being two separate girls all because her hair was sometimes down. Their designs are generic but theyre at least different enough to distinguish one girl from another and the use of different uniforms for each school also helped this to happen. Miator has black uniforms Spica has white uniforms and Lulim have yellow vests paired with checkered skirts all three of these designs being popular ones from the history of high school anime. Oh and of course there are also maid outfits present. The backgrounds are serviceable enough and although it doesnt really have anything to do with the story the architecture is also really pretty to look at. Theres also a lot of flowers Yeah I know its a yuri big surprise But theyre not just border decoration theres a greenhouse full of them and a lot of care clearly went into their rendering. As I mentioned before whatever beauty the visuals may lack is made up for tenfold with the soundtrack. The instrumentation is mostly comprised of violin piano and cello and while the standard sliceoflife music that occurs while nothings really going on can be a bit on the underwhelming side theres a lot of melancholy and pain in this anime and the music translates this beautifully. There are a couple of classical songs that are played when Shizuna and Nagisa are bonding over the piano the instantly recognizable but still very wellchosen Moonlight sonata and Maidens Prayer. As for the original music Yoshihisa Hirano put together a powerful score that almost manages to lend gravity to the melodramatic nature of the series. There are several emotionally gripping moments that work hand in hand with the score to rip your tear ducts out through your throat But at the same time honestly there are several moments in this show that are so uncomfortable that the music will wind up being the only thing you WANT to remember them for. Kaoris theme tends to be a popular favorite but I strongly prefer the tension present in Unmei and Fui ni Semararete. The aversion to movement is unfortunately carried through to the first opening which appears to do the bare minimum on a visual scale showing the different characters in leisurely glamour shots reacting to the camera before the next character can get their spotlight. The song Shoujo Meiro de Tsukamaete by Aki Misato is a fine song on its own a little on the generic side but still well orchestrated and catchy. Its a good enough op but its also a really predictable one so Im glad the second opening threw all of this convention out the window. Its called Kuchibiru Daydream once again by Aki Misato but it comes off as a lot more lively and inspired with more force and flow behind the vocals. The imagery in this opening is also a massive improvement as it still kinda reeks of budget restrictions but its able to do a lot more with it on account of the fact that it TRIES to do a lot more with it. This mirrors the level of effort present in the anime which started off a little lackluster before picking up steam towards the second half. The endings surprisingly enough are mostly live action. You dont see that very often nowadays and for good reason but these ones actually do manage to skew past the awkwardness thanks to the chemistry of the two ladies on screen Mai Nakahara and Ai Shimizu. They also happen to be the singers of Secret Dolls which has a distinctive gothrock feel to it. Makes sense I guess since theyre both all dressed up in gothloli costumes which I would consider overkill if it didnt fit the doll theme so well. They sell the yearning between them mostly through facial expressions and clever directing and finish by sealing the song with a kiss. The same two singers reprise their roles for the second ending song Ichigo Tsumi monogatari which is A thing. A really weird thing. It goes off in an entirely different direction with creepy singing paper cutout CGI and thats all fine compared to the fact that the energy and set design remind me of Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi which is one of those things nothing should ever remind me of . So yeah the second opening and the first closing were really great. And since theres no English dub I guess we should get right into the writing huh? Well I do have a few comments about the Japanese sub even though Im woefully underqualified to judge Japanese acting. First of all there are a lot of times where the lip flaps didnt match the voice of the people speaking which is a mistake I thought only dubs could make and its a shame that I was only able to watch it with subtitles because I had trouble keeping up with the dialogue whenever my eyes started to involuntarily close over how bored I was. Oh yeah were starting on this note There are a few things Strawberry Panic is known for and Im pretty sure one of them is just how much of a train wreck the story and plot are. That is when theres even story and plot present. Right off the bat were introduced to some meek little redhead with so special or distinguishable characteristics in a cast thats already bloated from the start and while it feels like youre supposed to care about her youre never told or shown why shes worth that kind of attention. The only interesting thing we learn about her Possibly ever now that I think about it Is that she has the ability to uncontrollably run through forests like shes a WWE wrestler waiting to encounter a rope to bounce off of. Aside from Shizunas abrupt attraction to her nothing else of consequence happens for a very long time. Were dropped into a story that has at least a dozen characters little to no attempts at worldbuilding and a bunch of creepy nonconsensual almostkisses being our only clue as to what or who were supposed to care about. I would honestly recommend keeping a pillow handy during the first six episodes and on and off after that just in case you decide that a dream might be more interesting than whats going on onscreen. It meanders through fields of inconsequential fluff before it ever approaches anything resembling a point wasting time on characters who wind up getting shoved to the side anyway including almost everybody from the Lulim school like a loli with a teddy bear a pair of useless girls who I just wound up calling Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and one named Chikaru who I wish was important because she feels really likeable. There is a point of course but it takes an inexcusably long time to get there and even then there are problems present. The actual meat of the story is the romance between Shizuna and Nagisa and while youre never really given a clear reason as to why Nagisa would develop feelings for the older girl Shizunas attraction to her is VERY well defined and while I wont spoil it here it carries an admittedly compelling layer of conflict and tragedy to the idea of the two of them being together. Besides while Nagisas feelings may be undefined they still feel more than real enough to make the audience genuinely care where their romance goes. Theyre not the only major romance though as theres another subplot involving an equestrian and a young blonde student and it starts out okay Its really sweet and heartwarming at first then it dives into a bit more drama as it evolves into a love triangle but it all goes south as the two villain characters standing in their way get drawn in making it a love pentagon with enough going on in it to make it feel beyond convoluted and thats BEFORE the hokeyasfuck amnesia plot twist. Honestly thinking back Im tempted to say that Shizuna is the only character in the cast who really feels developed and fleshed out by the end. We know what happened to her why it happened how it started how it made her the person she is and how it motivated her actions in the present and theres a lot of room to interpret whether shes a selfish character a sympathetic character or both. For the most part everybody else has personalities that have been defined just enough to differentiate them from each other but their personalities are almost entirely informed by their role in the story and their interactions with others. With the exception of a few girls from Lulim you wont have any trouble remembering whos who but youll have a hard time caring for any of them aside from the two main couples and maybe Nagisas roommate but thats a hard maybe. Youll probably wind up hating the little girl with the teddy bear Well a lot of people seem to I personally just ignored her And there are a few characters who after theyve disappeared for a while might just coax a Hey I remember you out of you when they appear again. But you know what? There was one story arc where everyone generally came out looking good. Yeah some of the best moments in the series take place when Shizuna and Nagisa are alonedepending on your tolerance for questionable levels of consent but the one arc that really worked as an ensemble was when the three schools decided to put on a play. They pick the European classic Carmen and just about everybody plays a fun role in this arc. Egos are challenged in the cast listing Nagisa gets a little extra depth the villains get to be nasty for what feels like no real reason theres intrigue and last minute improvisation beautiful costumes The problem is that it only lasts two episodes despite spanning a period of several weeks. In a smarter anime theyd have expanded this arc to at least a quarter of the show using it as a backdrop to other less consequential stories tying them into it so that thered be something to look forward to through other boring or forgettable moments. But they dont do that here Strawberry Panic never comes near the level of effort or inspiration that it would take to come up with a solution like that. Well fine you wanna get lazy? Theres another solution they could have tried Cut the length of the series down to 13 episodes. Theres a ton of material they could have cut and Im sorry to say as pleasant as it was in the beginning the entire Hikari/Amane/Yaya thing could have gone byebye along with it. I mean seriously would anyone miss that subplot? They could have cut the story down to just focusing on one school Miator and still had enough time to develop Nagisa and the few supporting characters around her more properly. The problem is and I cant believe more people havent noticed this is because this isnt a show youre supposed to think about. Youre supposed to be drawn into the emotion and the romantic and political intrigue because if you stop to think about what youre watching for one second youll realize that very little of what youre seeing makes even a lick of sense. For example I cant be the only one who found the Etoile system to be confusing as fuck. Lets see if Ive got this right Its an elected position where youre basically an ornament meant to uphold the beauty and nobility ideals of the school and youre not the Student council president even though you have to sign a lot of undefined papers. You apparently keep this position until you graduate which can take up to six years If you follow the plot closely Shizunas been doing it about three years And its vital that you have two of them but if you lose one for whatever reason they just carry on without making any attempt to replace her. Oh and you can be from different grades so what happens when one graduates and the other hasnt yet? And are you supposed to be a couple with your partner? If not why would you have to run away and abandon the election just to be with the person you love? And why do the people in charge tell prospective candidates that they dont have a choice when they clearly do? And why is it okay for one school to not submit any candidates? Is any of this explained in the source material? On top of that I had trouble understanding why every girl we meet who has even the most slightly established sexuality is a lesbian. Yeah okay its a story about lesbians but the context it creates feels really weird like the story exists in some postapocalyptic society where men have gone extinct. It kind of feels like it was influenced by the Japanese Romantic Friendship custom where adolescent young women are able and even encouraged to engage in close emotionally strong bonds with one another although such bonds are strictly platonic and theyre expected to leave it all behind when they grow up so they can marry and reproduce. One show that took a harsh metaphorical look at these customs was From the New World which took Romantic Friendships and evolved them into more sexual territory but Panic takes it into a different direction treating these bonds as actual romance The difference being that unlike New World Panic ignores the effect these relationships might have long term. Nobody ever brings up what their futures will be like once they graduate and reenter Japans heavily patriarchal society which almost makes the series feel vapid. It has no stakes. I was honestly confused by the conflict in the final episode which made no sense from too many angles to count. No I know exactly what they were going for with this Its an escapist fantasy. You know the kind of story where the reader can experience a situation or lifestyle that would be impossible or really troublesome in real life. Its unrealistic by design. This series was written for the viewer to escape into a world full of beautiful girls who want nothing more than other beautiful girls with no conflict outside of their romantic woes and social standings. Now is that a bad thing? Honestly it depends on who the fantasy is designed for. A lot of lesbian media is intentionally designed to exploit queer people for the sake of fetishizing them for the enjoyment of straight malesTo be fair yaois market is just as bad and that was my initial impression of the series. Of course there was also the possibility that the lesbian fantasy in this show was created as an escape FOR lesbians especially when you consider just how badly oppressed they are in Japan NOW let alone in 2006 when this series was released. Its an important distinction to make in cases like this Whos it for? On the one hand it creates an environment where samesex relationships are the norm and are explicitly romantic in nature which sounds nice but it also refuses to acknowledge said relationships ever leaving the school which leans more heavily towards the idea of homosexuality being a phase you grow out of which is more of a patriarchal idea. To try and answer this dilemma I took to social media and asked for anybody whos seen the series to let me know what they thought of it along with their gender and sexual preferences. I didnt get a lot of responses which isnt very surprising when you consider how personal a question that is but what was surprising was that the few responses I did get were from queer women who had generally favorable opinions of it. They were well aware that the show had issues and that its problematic in spots and a little dumb but they all said that when they watched it as teenagers Remember this show is now 11 years old It helped them come to terms with their sexualities and even taught them that it was possible even okay for a woman to have romantic feelings for another woman. They even said that the material that was obviously meant for titillation was just as enjoyable for them as it was for presumed straight male viewers barring the few nonconsensual moments. Admittedly my sample size was small but it was still very revealing in terms of what it means to the people I thought it was just exploiting. Its not much but it does earn the series a little redemption in my book. Strawberry Panic is available from Anime works a division of Media blasters. The 5 disk thin pack has unfortunately doubled in average price since it was released five years ago but used copies on Ebay can be found at a reasonable price. The original novels are available stateside from Seven Seas and the original manga is available from the same company. While the process of reviewing this title has been enlightening my opinion on it has remained largely unchanged. I still consider it a train wreck full of random fluff way more characters than it could handle and an ending that was entirely unsatisfying and wound up raising far more questions than it answered. Having said all that I do understand that it has an important place in LGBT anime. It doesnt tackle the struggle to define ones self as Utena did and it doesnt satirize the oppressive patriarchal society of Japan the way Yurikuma Arashi eventually would but it does manage to present the idea of same sex romance in a somewhat progressive way and I cant really fault it for that. It presents an escapist fantasy where queer women both younger and older can set aside the idea of forbidden love and guilt so they can just feel normal in a world thats constantly telling them theyre not. I still cant justifiably call it a good show but at the very least I do now know that there are people out there that I can confidently recommend it to even if that demographic is a small one. I give Strawberry Panic a 4/10