StoryDrawn in by one of the ubiquitous "I Kissed a Girl" AMVs, I came to Strawberry Panic! wondering why all those girls were making out with each other. I can't
say that I left the series entirely sure of the characters'
motivations, but I can say that I've come to love the silly, racy,
melodramatic, and heartbreaking world of shoujo-ai anime. Despite its
mediocre looks, occasionally vapid storytelling, and frustrating
characters, I fell in love with this show. And then Hikari and Amane
ruined everything.
Strawberry Panic! tells the interwoven story of two transfer
students at a collection of three all-girls schools with mixed results.
While the absurd frequency of lesbian relationships initially makes
little sense, the cloistered feel of the campus and the purposeful
omission of anything that could conclusively tie the story to a
specific time eventually draw the viewer--and the protagonist,
Nagisa--into this charming world.
Nagisa's story centers around her bizarre and tumultuous relationship
with the upperclasswoman Shizuma, which reads more like a coy romance novel than a steamy bodice-ripper. Nagisa's uncertainty combines with
her roommate's creepy infatuation (and steadfast friendship) to provide
plenty of twists and turns from the younger girls' side of the plot;
throw in the sempai's "tragic past" and the will-they-won't-they
tension carries much of the series. While this narrative suffers a
little from its younger lead's amorphous characterization, Shizuma
turns out to be interesting enough to support the drama all by herself.
Sadly, the show also tells Hikari's story. Having transferred into St.
Spica in the previous year, the blonde waif sings in the choir team
with her roommate and best buddy, Yaya, and a younger girl Tsubomi. For
some unfathomable reason these two girls dote on the oblivious and meek
singer, who falls instead for St. Spica's "Prince" Amane. The juicier
events playing out in this academy include school political intrigue,
attempted rape, unrequited love, a tennis match, and amnesia. While all
of these twists and turns should have made this drama more compelling,
the lackluster protagonists hamstring much of the emotional content.
Skittish and cowardly, the flaxen-haired lead allows all of this
interesting plot to happen to her until the show's very end.
Because Hikari refuses to seize her own destiny until the final moment,
her ultimate resolution feels more like an intrusion on Nagisa's
unresolved drama than the emotional culmination of a standalone love
story.AnimationStrawberry Panic!'s visuals suffer heavily from being only
passing fair. Adding a touch of much needed believability, Nagisa,
Tamao, Hikari and Yaya all look clearly younger than their sempais and
obviously older than the featured kouhai characters, which sets the art
design apart from many high school series. Of the characters, the main
romantic leads deserve special attention. Amane's design emphasizes her
"Prince" status. Tall and strong, she looks equally at home in the
feminine St. Spica jacket and skirt or astride her white horse in full
hero mode. Shizuma, on the other hand, left much to be desired. While
the silver hair, gold eyes, and full figure communicate "beauty"
adequately, I had trouble reading her bizarre magnetism from her
character design. Given that she enthralls Nagisa on sight in their
first encounter, the fact that I can't see a glimmer of what the
younger girl sees makes it hard for me to buy into their plot line
until Shizuma's character traits overcome her inadequate design.
Many of the scenes and characters also lack significant detail. The
rich environments and charming school uniforms should provide ample
opportunity for beautiful stills at least, but the line work doesn't rise to the occasion. The backgrounds similarly lack definition without
achieving the impressionistic aesthetic that makes the static backdrops
in series like Nodame Cantabile so attractive. While it's
possible that the art design represents a deliberate choice to
communicate "ephemeral", the accomplished effect reads more like
"cheap".SoundAside from one gratuitous moment of English, the voice acting is
competent and emotive. Nakahara Mai manages the chipper Nagisa ably,
but her usual partner (Mai-HiME, Mai-Otome) Shimizu Ai
delivers the better performance as Tamao, owing mostly to her
character's rich complexity, which offers more opportunities for
subtlety. Yaya and Hikari's voice actors tackle the awkward challenge
of pretending to be high school choir singers, each one delivering a
solo song in a convincingly amateur manner without offending the ears.
The highlights of Strawberry Panic!'s aural component come from
the music, however. The series sports two emotionally epic OPs (my
favorite being the first opener, "Shoujo Miero Tsukamaete") paired with
two playful ending themes sung by Tamao and Nagisa's seiyuus. While
there is some dissonance between the EDs and the dramatic content of
the series in the second half, I found that the closing songs added a
needed air of levity--the situations are somewhat ridiculous and the
series seems to know it. During the episodes, classical themes abound,
with piano music punctuating the more important emotional moments, and
not without reason. Shizuma and Nagisa share more than one moment at a
piano and its mournful strains reflect back into the text of the story
itself.CharactersWhile unimaginative and underdeveloped, the cast's verve and humor
carry the show. Supporting the mewling Hikari and princely Amane, the
student cast of St. Spica reads like it has been plucked from any
standard boarding-school teen novella. Momo and Kaname provide buckets
of intrigue and racy fan-service while the St. Spica student council
president plots to win the upcoming Etoile election for her school.
Their scheming combines with the more delicate machinations and desires
of the sexy and outgoing Yaya and her tsundere sidekick, Tsubomi, to round out the complex love polygon that dominates Hikari's storyline.
However, even the strong side characters can't compensate for the
weakness of the romantic leads. Amane's regal manner comes across more
as wooden than anything else and her infatuation with the doe-eyed
singer seems to appear out of nowhere. Hikari, for her part, doesn't
offer the viewer any justification for her sempai's affection. The
younger girl spends the majority of her time on screen praying,
apologizing, or running away from people. While pretty, the younger
lead has none of her roommate's sex appeal and looks uncomfortable
nearly the entire time. In the end, the viewer has to wonder why the
perfectly well-adjusted and attractive Yaya and Tsubomi find her
appealing.
In St. Miatre, Shizuma smolders with pent up sexual energy and exudes a
kind of imperious grace that hides her vulnerabilities until the
series' second half. Likewise, the cheery and gung-ho Nagisa perfectly
balances optimism and mischief, complimenting her interaction with the
mercurial Shizuma and wily Tamao. The most delightful character in the
show, Nagisa's blue-haired best friend swings wildly from supportive
companion to chillingly possessive guardian, all while maintaining the
same demeanor. Instead of hampering her believability, the moments
where she airs out her creepy obsession with the new transfer student
give Tamao an endearing emotional honesty that sets her apart from the
gaggle of self-denying ladies that comprise the rest of the cast.
Unfortunately, this more complex group sees precious little
development and the characters end--save for the two leads--in either
much the same place they entered or with their own personal issues
unresolved.
Despite their tangential relationship to the main plot lines, the cast
from St. Le Rim contains the series' dark horse, Chikaru, who acts like
a big sister to all of the younger students with whom she interacts.
Cute, insightful, and fun, Chikaru provides answers, shoulders to cry
on, and costumes (costumes!) on demand, but never upstages the
important on-screen action. The remaining girls fill their important
comic relief and plot-related roles without trying the viewers'
patience. The fact that all of these characters seem to have little
history or life outside of school actually plays to the show's benefit;
focusing on the events within the school almost exclusively heightens
the slightly fantastic air that pervades the series and goes a long way
toward casting Astrea Hill as another world. In this context, the
casual treatment of lesbian relationships starts to seem less
preposterous as the show moves forward.OverallWhile not a masterpiece, Strawberry Panic! provides a good deal
of humor, drama, and delectable girl-on-girl fan service. As a first
foray into the world of shoujo-ai, this show gives the viewer a
balanced overview of themes available in the genre and uses its fairly
breathless pacing to keep things interesting. The experienced fan will
likely find that this series feels a little shorter than other yuri
offerings because the story covers a fair amount of ground during its run instead of
lingering on each small interpersonal incident. Hikari and Amane nearly
ruin Nagisa and Shizuma's interesting little romance, the weak
animation makes it hard sometimes to appreciate all of the melodrama on
display, and the anime ends in only partial resolution, but overall it
manages to rise above its considerable shortcomings. You might want to
kill Hikari by the end, but if you enjoy watching girls break other girls' hearts,
then you will find this show a pleasant diversion.
Screenshots
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