Sakurako Kimino

Strawberry Panic: The Complete Novel Collection, written by Sakurako Kimino with illustrations by Namuchi Takumi, is one of the many incarnations of the Strawberry Panic yuri universe. Strawberry Panic began as a series of illustrated short stories before being expanded into manga, light novels, anime, visual novels, and more. My introduction to the franchise was through the manga adaptation which, even though it began serialization in Japan before the light novels, was never completed. The show more light novel omnibus released by Seven Seas in 2011 is the first time that all three Strawberry Panic novels were made available in English. Previously Seven Seas had published the first two novels as individual volumes in 2008, but until the omnibus was released the third volume hadn't been translated. Michelle Kobayashi served as the translator for the first Strawberry Panic light novel while Anastasia Moreno translated both the second and third volumes. In Japan, all three volumes of the Strawberry Panic light novel series were initially published in 2006.

Aoi Nagisa recently transferred into the fourth year class of St. Miator Girls' Academy, a prestigious all-girls school known for its high academic standards and refined students from distinguished families. Soon after Nagisa arrives at St. Miator, she is swept off her feet by the idol of the campus, Hanazono Shizuma, and into the Étoile competition, the premiere event held between the sister schools on Astraea Hill: St. Miator, St. Spica, and St. Lulim. The couple who wins the Étoile competition becomes a symbol for the three schools--the living embodiment of sisterly love and a model to be followed by the other students. But Shizuma has already competed in and won the Étoile. Competing two years in a row, especially with a different partner, is unheard of. The event is thrown into even more turmoil when St. Spica's "Prince" Otori Amane, who was expected to win, disregards the other Spica students' wishes and declares that Konohana Hikari, another transfer student, will enter the Étoile with her instead of the candidate who had already been selected for her.

Make no mistake about it, Strawberry Panic is complete and utter fantasy. In fact, a large part of the series' charm is that it is so incredibly unbelievable. If you are looking for realism, you are looking in the wrong place with Strawberry Panic. Nobody really talks the way the young women on Astraea Hill speak, expressing themselves and their feelings through overwrought dialogue and intense earnestness. Even the narrative is filled with images of bright, angelic light and showers of flower blossoms. Strawberry Panic is marvelously melodramatic and over the top. There is a huge emphasis placed on the purity of the girls in Strawberry Panic while at the same time large portions of the plot rely on them becoming intimate and falling in love with one another. Despite appearances, only one character in the entire series is ever declared to be a "genuine lesbian." (And yes, the quotation marks are also included in the novel.) There is no question at all that Strawberry Panic panders to its audience. A few of the sexualized encounters even come across as a little creepy.

Although two translators were involved with the English edition of the Strawberry Panic light novels, their styles are similar enough that the change isn't too jarring. One thing that I wish the omnibus had included but didn't is a full table of contents. Instead of listing the individual chapters, the contents page only notes the start page of each of the three books. If the prose in Strawberry Panic is stunningly absurd (and it most definitely is) the chapter titles are even more so. They may not always make a whole lot of sense, but they're fantastically ludicrous; I would have liked to have seen them all together in one place. As unrealistic as Strawberry Panic is, parts of the story are supposedly based on the author's own experiences attending an all-girls school. (Exactly which parts are never revealed, though.) Strawberry Panic is utterly ridiculous and yet highly entertaining. I'll have to admit, I enjoyed reading through the series a great deal.

Experiments in Manga show less

So it literally ends in the middle of the event. They didn't get to the 2nd round. Was the manga cancelled? Because that does not feel like an ending of a series, much rather a cliffhanger for another volume.

There still is absolutely no world-building explained and I haven't even seen a teacher. Makes me wonder if that whole event is just a student thing, and the teachers are completely unaware of that. Might also explain why there were 20+ people on a high tower, with absolutely no safety show more measures. Nagisa was about to fall to her death even, had someone not rescued her.
Seriously, what kinda school is that? No, what world is that? I'm just confused.

Maybe, if I'll ever feel like I need some answers to this, I might check out the anime, but other than that, probably not. show less

Similar to "Yuri is my job", the concept is a catholic/christian setting with only girls, who are calling each other "sisters" and that's somehow an intimate way of saying you're together, basically.
I don't really know what's up with that combination for yuri stories... I don't mind the religious part, but the incest-kinda-stuff is a bit concerning?

I'm just confused on the world setting, though. It seemed at first that they're normal teenagers, who like to experiment out together. However, show more there's a competition in July, which is really important and everyone takes it serious and it's all about giving the school a good reputation... but it's so gay. Is it in a world where everyone is gay and it's normal too for christians? Like an AU? Or are the teachers simply completely oblivious to the fact, how gay this competition is? Because they literally are called couple, have to win together, there are no boys, they will get the status of a Prince & Princess afterwards and serve as idols for everyone else.
I need a bit of more world-building.

Also, there's a lot of sexual assault going on...

It ended on a cliffhanger though, and only has 2 volumes anyway, so I might as well finish it. show less

Well, it's basically yuri fanservice? Though not particularly explicit. I just mean fanservice in the sense that its for people who like seeing cute and innocent lesbian anime girls do cute and innocent lesbian anime things. You know, lots of blushing, staring longingly at fellow attractive anime girls, maybe some comments about their ample chests or lack thereof, all those cliches.

Side note: if you've seen the anime and was rooting for Tamao, well, her character is completely different in show more this one, and not for the better...

Also, for some actually good yuri, try Aoi Hana or Maria-sama ga Miteru. show less