Strawberry Panic! is a series of Japanese illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the stories is the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters. The original artist was Chitose Maki, who was succeeded by Namuchi Takumi when production of the manga and light novels began.
Following Strawberry Panic!'''s first run in Dengeki G's Magazine it was six months before results began to indicate that the series was a success, and that its fans were growing in number; the manga and light novels which followed were a reflection of its popularity. The series became sufficiently popular for Seven Seas Entertainment to license the manga series and light novels for English language distribution. Strawberry Panic! was one of the debut titles on the company's light novel and yuri manga production lines. 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.
There is a slight difference in the title of the series between media and national affiliation. 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.
Plot
Setting The setting for Strawberry Panic! is , 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 Astraea Hill school system employs the Scottish system of grade numbering. Students are ranged from grades one through six, the equivalent of the three years of junior-high and high school in Japan, and seventh through twelfth grade in North America.
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; the church can be seen from a long distance away. There is a horse ranch at Spica. The students may go and study for their classes 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". It is well known on campus as a rendezvous for secret lovers.
Students living on campus occupy a dormitory referred to as the , although its correct name is Astraea Dormitory, named after Astraea Hill. The building is a triangular shape, allowing for the segregation of students from the three schools; each section is about the same size. It was built about 100 years before the story begins, around the same time that Miator was established, for students whose homes are far away. 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.
Story The plot of Strawberry Panic! revolves around the lives of the adolescents who attend one of three affiliated all-girl schools which share a campus and dormitories. The schools are: St. Miator's Girls' Academy, St. Spica's Girls' Institute, and St. Lulim's Girls' School. There are twelve characters the story revolves around, four at each school. 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 trying to work out where she is, Nagisa comes across an older student named Shizuma Hanazono, who happens to be Astraea Hill's Etoile, a very important person who acts as a representative between the different schools and has specific duties that she must fulfill. 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.
In the ensuing story, Nagisa is introduced to other students from each of the three schools; some she admires, some she is intimidated by, and some are merely friends encountered while attending St. Miator. The series encompasses the relationships the characters build with each other, climaxing whenever two of the characters start dating. The central focuses of Strawberry Panic! 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. The story of what happens to the other half of St. Miator's Etoile pairing is explored in the latter portion of the anime. Depending on the media type, the depiction of the relationships between the girls is variously presented, with more explicit fan service – appealing visuals of the girls in provocative situations – in the anime adaptation than in the manga or light novels. 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.
Main characters and schools
At each of the three schools, there are four main characters, who comprise the original twelve characters created for the short stories when the series began. Only those twelve appear in the subsequently adapted visual novel version. Other characters were introduced in the manga and light novel versions to create plotlines and conflict, and these additional characters are also featured in the anime adaptation.
St. Miator's Girls' Academy , the oldest of the three schools which has a history of over 100 years, is known for upholding old traditions. It was founded on a monastery and is seen as the school for "brides", reinforced by the existence of extracurricular classes including tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and Japanese dancing. It is not unusual for students to be engaged before graduation. The school uniform is a long black dress, designed in the Gothic Lolita fashion. At Miator, the class names are associated with objects from nature, such as , and . In the Strawberry Dorms, there is a concept called the room temp system for students from Miator. Every underclassman entering the dormitories, if they are chosen to serve the upperclassman as room temps, perform maid duties, which include cleaning the room of the students they are assigned to serve.
Nagisa Aoi is the main character of the story. She is a cheerful girl who finds pleasure in making new friends, which she finds easy to do because of her open personality and sociable attitude. The first person she meets at Miator is Shizuma Hanazono, a mysterious upperclassman and the Etoile as the story begins, which gives Miator significant influence. Nagisa at first finds that she is strangely affected when in the presence of Shizuma, who in turn is extremely interested in Nagisa in both the manga and the anime. The next girl she meets is Tamao Suzumi, who becomes her close friend and roommate. Tamao is well regarded among her fellow Miator students; among the first-years, she is seen as a viable Etoile candidate. She expresses some light and playful interest in Nagisa, but it is much less overt than Shizuma's interest and is very downplayed in the manga. The last main character from Miator is Chiyo Tsukidate, a timid first year student who is employed as the room temp for Nagisa and Tamao; in the anime, she deeply admires Nagisa.
St. Spica's Girls' Institute has the white colored buildings and uniforms, and was built after Miator. The school prides itself in advancing the independence of women who play a role in improving society. It is well known for its culture and the accomplishments of its sports program compared to the other two schools. Spica has what is known as the St. Spica Choir, or the "Saintly Chorus," which consists of students from Spica who perform at special events and even concerts for students at Astraea Hill. At Spica, the class names are numbers in French, such as un (one), deux (two), and trois (three). Spica and Miator compete with each other quite aggressively, which often ends in dispute when students from these two schools get together.
Hikari Konohana, a shy and quiet girl, is the main focus among the main characters who attend Spica. The next Spica character is Yaya Nanto, a rebellious girl who is Hikari's best friend and roommate in the dormitory. In the anime, she is very much enamored with Hikari, but Hikari sees her as a friend; in the manga, Yaya is not a prominent character. Both she and Hikari are members of the St. Spica Choir. Hikari meets an older girl named Amane Ohtori early on in the story who is seen much like a prince from a fairy tale by other Spica students due to often riding a white horse named Star Bright. Amane is admired by many of the students from Spica as well as students from the other two schools, although she does not enjoy the attention. In the anime, Hikari admires her deeply, and she and Amane have mutual interest in each other. The final girl from Spica is Tsubomi Okuwaka, a young first year student who acts maturely for her age and gets on Yaya's nerves. She too is in the St. Spica Choir, although Hikari was her main motivation for joining. In the anime, her interest in Hikari seems to purely be one of friendship; in the manga, she, like Yaya, is not a prominent character. Tsubomi once remarked that Yaya was more skilled than Hikari at singing in the choir.
St. Lulim's Girls' School (originally Le Lim) is the newest of the three schools, and has pink colored buildings and uniforms. Its uniform is modeled after a traditional Japanese school uniform style. At Lulim, the class names are the letters from the Latin alphabet: A, B, C, etc. Students at St. Lulim's are traditionally free and relaxed, and are rarely seen fighting. The students enjoy a lot of freedom in terms of activities, or the clubs they are allowed to form. In effect, there are a wide range of clubs at St. Lulim's ranging from dancing, to cooking, to anything else a group of at least three people can think up.