Anime Review: Strawberry Panic

Review Strawberry PanicWritten by WarpshadowRating good

There are some shows that you know not to be good but you still enjoy them anyway. Such a phenomenon is called the guilty pleasure. Strawberry is such a guilty pleasure it is almost a crime.

Nagisa Aoi is a new transfer student at Miator, which is one of the three girl's schools that comprise the Astrea hill group. It is somewhat unusual for a student to arrive at the fourth year (equivalent to the tenth grade or the first year of Japanese High school) so her arrival make as bit of a stir. Among those that notice Nagisa is Shizuma Hanazono who the Etoile of the Astrea schools. Nagisa is also quite taken with this older student much to the consternation of Tamao Suzumi who is Nagisa's new friend and roommate.

As a reviewer who has watched this show I can honestly tell you Strawberry Panic is not a quality show and there is something oddly compelling about it. Strawberry Panic is a yuri drama focusing on a pair of love triangles. Fan service is plentiful enough to tell that this is a shonen anime although it is not overwhelming or a crutch that the show leans on. It is instead the drama that makes and breaks the show. While it is unfair to say that Strawberry Panic doesn't have it's moments any given scene can be dull or hamfisted as easily as it can be good. It's heavy handed ways make for easy satire making the show either good or so bad it's good in some cases. If the viewer is familiar with yuri anime you may notice how often Strawberry Panic will borrow ideas from other shows making it something of a laundry list of yuri memes. While Strawberry Panic might not be that good of a show it doesn't stop it from being fun in it's own right.