Strawberry Panic!
A yuri series set in three all-girl schools on Astraea Hill.
Strawberry Panic! is a Japanese illustrated short story series by Sakurako Kimino, set in three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. The stories center on teenage girls and prominently feature intimate lesbian relationships. Chitose Maki was the original artist, later replaced by Namuchi Takumi when the manga and light novels were produced. The series first ran in Dengeki G's Magazine; after six months, readership showed it was a growing success, leading to manga and light novel adaptations. Its popularity led Seven Seas Entertainment to license these for English release, and Strawberry Panic! was among the company’s first titles in its light novel and yuri manga lines. An anime television series by Madhouse aired in 2006, licensed by Media Blasters, and a visual novel for PlayStation 2 was released by MediaWorks that same year.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Romance, yuri
Facts from the source article.
Plot
The setting for Strawberry Panic! is Astraea Hill, a very large hilltop where the three affiliated schools of Miator, Spica and Lulim are located. Each school has its own student council, which governs the matters of each respective school. Periodically the three student councils, along with the Etoiles, meet in the Astraea Joint Student Council. The hill is known as a sacred area which no men are allowed to enter. A prominent feature is a very large Catholic church in the center of the hill near a small lake. There is a horse ranch at Spica. The students may go and study at a library on the lake's shore. Although only implied in the anime, the manga explains that the library building has another name, 'The Secret Garden,' well known on campus as a rendezvous for secret lovers. Students living on campus occupy a dormitory referred to as the 'Strawberry Dorms,' although its correct name is Astraea Dormitory. The building is a triangular shape, allowing for the segregation of students from the three schools. It was built about 100 years before the story begins, around the same time that Miator was established. Each student is assigned a roommate in their year until graduation. If there is an odd number of students enrolled in a given year, one of the new students must live alone until a student in their year transfers into their school. The building's name is based on its similarity to the cross-section of a strawberry viewed from above. When Strawberry Panic! was initially created, the three schools were arranged in a triangle, with the Strawberry Dorms in the center, and the dormitory was not a single building but three separate dormitories also arranged in a triangle around a central courtyard. The plot revolves around the lives of the adolescents who attend one of the three affiliated all-girl schools. The story's main character is Nagisa Aoi, a young girl entering her fourth year at St. Miator after being transferred from another school. On first entering the campus grounds, she is overcome with joy by the overall appearance of the surrounding area, but her joy is soon turned to sorrow as she accidentally stumbles down a hill, causing her to be lost and disoriented. While walking around the grounds, Nagisa comes across an older student named Shizuma Hanazono, who happens to be Astraea Hill's Etoile. Nagisa is instantly overcome by Shizuma's beauty, and after Shizuma kisses her on the forehead, Nagisa loses consciousness and awakens in the school's infirmary. In an adjacent chair is another girl of the same age, Tamao Suzumi, who informs her that they are to be roommates in the dormitory. The series encompasses the relationships the characters build with each other, climaxing whenever two of the characters start dating. The central focuses are the lesbian relationships and friendships between the girls from the three schools and the Etoile position and competition; the anime is more relationship-heavy while the manga is more competition-heavy. A hint of astronomical star imagery is seen throughout the series, as well as minor Catholic religious undertones including a St. Mary statue on campus and a large Catholic church in the center of Astraea Hill.
Media
The original short stories, manga, light novels, and video game used the exclamation mark in the title; the anime excluded it. When the manga and light novel series were licensed for English language distribution, Seven Seas Entertainment did not use the exclamation mark in the title. The logo for Strawberry Panic! has changed four times. The subtitle 'Girls' School in Fullbloom' was added during the short stories stage, and later appeared on the Japanese covers of the light novels, manga, and video game version, but was excluded from the anime adaptation and the English covers of the light novels and manga. An anime television series was produced in 2006 by Madhouse and is licensed by Media Blasters. A visual novel was produced in 2006 by MediaWorks for the PlayStation 2.
More in Japanese Television Series with Live Action and Animation
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced