Strawberry Panic!
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| Strawberry Panic! | |
|---|---|
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| ストロベリー・パニック! (Strawberry Panic!) |
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| Genre | Romance, Seinen[1], Yuri |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Sakurako Kimino (story) Namuchi Takumi (art) |
| Publisher |  Media Works Seven Seas Entertainment |
| Serialized in | Dengeki G's Magazine |
| Original run | November 2005 – |
| No. of volumes | 2 (currently) |
| Light novel | |
| Authored by | Sakurako Kimino |
| Artist | Namuchi Takumi |
| Publisher | Media Works Seven Seas Entertainment |
| Publish date | March 2006 |
| No. of volumes | 2 (currently) |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Masayuki Sakoi |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Network | Chiba TV, Kids Station, TV Aichi, TV Osaka |
| Original run | April 3, 2006 – September 25, 2006 |
| No. of episodes | 26[1] |
| Game: Strawberry Panic! Girls' School in Full Bloom | |
| Developer | |
| Publisher | Media Works |
| Genre | Visual novel, AVG |
| Rating | Ages 12 and up |
| Platform | PS2 |
| Released | August 24, 2006 |
Strawberry Panic! (ストロベリー・パニック! Sutoroberī Panīku!?) is the title for the set of fictional stories and related media works by Japanese author Sakurako Kimino revolving around a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools. A common theme throughout the stories are the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters.
The entire series has a wide range of media, ranging from printed prose to an anime adaptation and even a video game. Strawberry Panic! began as a collection of short stories serialized in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine[2], published by Media Works. Following the printing of the short stories, a manga adaptation was started in 2005. Similarly, a light novel series also started production with the first volume serialized in Dengeki Bunko, which is also published by Media Works, in March 2006. An anime version which is loosely based on the manga was quickly adapted and started airing on April 3, 2006 in Japan, produced by the Japanese animation studio, Madhouse. Later, a drama CD based on the anime version was first released in Japan on July 26, 2006. Finally, a Playstation 2 video game, published by the same company as the manga and novel, was released in Japan on August 24, 2006.
Both the manga and light novel are currently being released in Japan, while the short stories have subsequently been discontinued. Also, the anime series ended on September 25, 2006.
Seven Seas Entertainment announced on September 13, 2006 they have licensed the right to release the English translations of both the Strawberry Panic! light novels and the manga series. Seven Seas Entertainment will begin to release the novels sometime around April 2007 and the manga later in the year, around November 2007. [3]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Strawberry Panic! revolves around the lives of several adolescent girls all attending one of three affliliated all-girl schools which share a campus and dormitories, that include: St. Miator's Girl's Academy, St. Spica's Girl's Institute and St. Lulim's Girl's School. In addition, many of the students who reside on campus live in what is most readily referred to as the Strawberry Dorms, though the proper name is Astraea Dormitory, named after Astraea Hill where all of the institutions reside.[1]
The main heroine of the story is Nagisa Aoi, a young girl entering into her fourth year at St. Miator via a transfer from a different school. Upon first entering the campus grounds she is first overcome with joy by the overall appearance of the surrounding area, however her joy is soon turned to sorrow as she accidentally stumbles down a hill, effectively making her lost and disoriented. While walking around the grounds trying to find where she is, she comes across another student by the name of Shizuma Hanazono, who just happens to be Astraea Hill's Etoile, a very important person who acts as a representative among the different schools and has specific duties that she must fulfill.[1]
Nagisa Aoi is soon introduced to many other students from all three schools, some being students she admires, is intimidated by, or are merely friends that she meets over time while attending St. Miator. Eventually, many of the girls form intimate relationships together, ranging from simple conversations and meetings, escalating to minor make out sessions and having sexual intercourse in the most extreme cases. The entire series revolves around the relationships the characters build with each other with climaxes in the plot whenever two of the characters start dating.[1]
[edit] Major characters
At each of the three schools, there are four main characters that also appear in the video game version of the series.[4]
- Attending St. Miator's Girl's Academy
Nagisa Aoi is the main character of the story and also the main love interest for the other three main characters attending this school that all seem to have crushes on her.[5] They are: Tamao Suzumi, Nagisa's close friend at the school who she also shares a room with;[5] Shizuma Hanazono who is also the current Etoile[6]; and Chiyo Tsukidate, the girl who is employed as the room temp for Nagisa and Tamao.
- Attending St. Spica's Girl's Institute
Hikari Konohana, a rather shy and quiet girl most of the time, is the main focus among the main characters who attend this school as, much like Nagisa at Miator. She too has several girls wanting to get close with her. They are: Yaya Nanto, a rebellious girl who is Hikari's best friend and roommate; Amane Ōtori, an older girl who is seen much like a prince from a fairy tale; and Tsubomi Okuwaka, a young first year student who acts mature for her age.
- Attending St. Lulim's Girl's School
Different from the other two schools, for the main characters attending this school, there is not much romance between them, though they do hang out together constantly. The leader of their friendly group is Chikaru Minamoto, the student council president of Lulim; Kizuna Hyūga, a very outgoing and hyper girl; Remon Natsume, who is much like Kizuna in personality, although not as accident-prone as her; and lastly, Kagome Byakudan, the youngest of the group typically accompanied by her stuffed bear, Percival.
[edit] Setting
[edit] Astraea Hill
The setting of Strawberry Panic! is told upon Astraea Hill (アストラエアの丘 Asutoraea no oka?), a very large hilltop where all three of the affiliated schools are located. Also, all of the students residing on campus stay in the Strawberry Dorms. Astraea's most prominent feature is a very large Catholic church in the center of the schools that can be seen from a vast distance away.
[edit] Schools
All three schools are all-girl schools that are located nearby to each other. Within the school system, there is a difference in the numbering of the grades than is usually seen. At Astraea Hill, students are ranged from grades one through six:
| Astraea Hill | Traditional Japanese | American |
|---|---|---|
| First year | First year (Jr. High School) | Seventh grade |
| Second year | Second year (Jr. High School) | Eighth grade |
| Third year | Third year (Jr. High School) | Ninth grade |
| Fourth year | First year (High School) | Tenth grade |
| Fifth year | Second year (High School) | Eleventh grade |
| Sixth year | Third year (High School) | Twelfth grade |
- St. Miator Girl's Academy
- St. Miator Girl's Academy (聖ミアトル女学園 Sei Miatoru Jogakuen?) is the oldest of the three schools and holds the longest legacy which makes this school most often known for holing many old traditions. This school has long black dresses for their uniforms, done in the Gothic Lolita fashion. In the spring their uniforms are in a much simpler style that are mostly green and have short sleeves. They still appear to be the most traditional in nature however, continuing the theme of Miator's long standing history at Astraea Hill.
- In the Strawberry Dorms, there is something called the room temp system that only occurs for students from Miator. All the underclassman entering these dorms, if they're chosen to serve the upperclassman as room temps, will be given an important chance to show their affection to them. Room temps do many things, but mainly clean the rooms of the students they were assigned to serve. However, they have to talk it over with their upperclassmen first before making any decisions.
- When the story begins, the current Etoile, Shizuma, is attending Miator, which gives this school a lot of power within the school system.
- St. Spica's Girl's Institute
- St. Spica's Girl's Institute (聖スピカ女学院 Sei Supika Jogakuin?) is the school with the white colored buildings and uniforms, which are also the most professional looking. In the spring their uniforms carry a lot of blue trim and has shorter sleeves though otherwise it's almost the same as they're fall uniforms. They are well-known for their culture and how accomplished their sports program is compared to the other two schools. Spica also has what is known as the St. Spica Choir or the "Saintly Chorus" which consists of students from Spica that perform at special events and even concerts for all students at Astraea.
- Also, Spica and Miator both oppose each other quite strongly, which usually ends in them having disputes when students from these two schools get together.
- St. Lulim Girl's School
- St. Lulim Girl's School (聖ル・リム女学校 Sei Ru Rimu Jogakkō?) is the school that has pink colored buildings and uniforms. Their uniform is modeled after a traditional sailor fuku style which in effect makes them look the most immature compared to the other school's students. In the spring their uniforms do not change very much at all other than having shorter sleeves for the shirt and a necktie.
- They have a tradition to be free and laid back, so are almost never seen fighting. Also, the students at this school enjoy a lot of freedom in terms of activities like the clubs they are allowed to form. In effect, there are a wide range of clubs at this school ranging from dancing to cooking to anything else a group of at least three people can think up.
[edit] Etoile system
Etoile (エトワール Etowāru?) is a French word meaning star. The Etoile system of Astraea Hill is the internal politics of the schools and governs school operations. The system is designed for two Etoiles to be instated at the same time in order to work as a team, however, in the anime, Shizuma Hanazono is the sole Etoile as her partner died sometime in the last year from the time the story begins.
The two Etoiles are seen as figureheads for Astraea Hill. While Astraea has three schools, both Etoiles must come from the same school. The Etoiles have certain specific duties, such as greeting new students coming to Astraea Hill, participating in important school events, and serving as mediator between any disputes in student council meetings of the three schools, among other duties. They are also given a private greenhouse to grow flowers in for use during school events.
The Etoiles are elected after going through what is known as The Etoile Election (エトワール選 Etowāru-sen?), which consists of three specific competitions for the participants to take. The higher scoring pairs from the first two competitions go on to the third competition and the pair that wins the third competition becomes the Etoile Couple. For instince, in the manga, the first part of the election is called the "Cadette Selection" and is also referred to in French as La Brillante Ouverture meaning The Brilliant Opening. During this event, the younger of the two in each pair have to answer general questions about Astraea to make sure that they have at least a minimal level of knowledge about the schools. In the anime, the election began with the previous Etoile handing a bouquet of flowers to each of the candidates that have been there the longest at Astraea and saying "Good luck". Following this, it vaguely seemed to be an expression of their determination to become Etoile and to work as partners as well. Also, the ballroom dance is an important aspect later in the election. The dance serves as an expression of gracefulness between the candidates. This proves chemistry between the candidates while working together.
Once the winners have been named, a special ceremony marks the end of the election. During this time, the student council president from the school that won the election presents two necklaces for the winners to wear during their tenure as Etoiles. They are both identical except for colors of the pendants, one is red for one and blue for the other. The senpai receives the blue pendant while her kohai, or younger of the two, receives the red pendant.
[edit] Classes
At Astraea Hill, each school has a different way of naming a class of students. Miator has classes associated with things from nature, such as moon (月 tsuki?), flower (花 hana?) and snow (雪 yuki?). Spica uses numbers in French, such as un, deux, and trois, which corresponds to one, two, and three, respectively. Lulim has a much simpler system by using the letters from the Latin alphabet: A, B, C, etc.
[edit] Strawberry Dorms
All the students living on campus reside in a dormitory referred to as the Strawberry Dorms (いちご舎 Ichigo Sha?). The building itself is of a triangular shape for the purpose of separating students from the three schools so that each section is roughly the same size. It was built about 100 years ago, around the same time Miator was established. Upon entering housing, each student is assigned a roommate in their year to live with for the remainder of the time until graduation. This helps the students form special relationships with their roommate which can evolve into intimate relationships. However, sometimes there are not enough students entering in a given year for everyone to have a roommate in which case they must live alone until a student transfers into their respective school. Transfers must also be in the same year as their roommate.
The building name is based on the strawberry resemblance from an above cross-section.
[edit] "Seven mysteries"
The "seven mysteries" are a collection of several mysteries all having to do with something with the dormitory. Each urban legend has many discrepancies corresponding by age and with each student since most of these mysteries are relatively new to the Dorms. Graduates of ten years or more are not familiar with them, while younger students know the mysteries to the extent of rumors; most students only know any seven of the mysteries. However, the complete number of mysteries is twelve in all. Out of the twelve, only eight were mentioned, with the last four remaining mysteries never revealed. The mysteries revealed in the anime version include:
- The Girl of the Hallway -
The story goes that on one night a few years ago, a lone student from the Strawberry Dorms walked out of her room, but she never returned. This is in fact based on a true event involving Miyuki Rokujō and Shizuma Hanazono where Miyuki was scared about having to live by herself when she first came to the Dorms four years earlier so some nights she would cry in the hallway, and some students heard her which sparked the rumor. Shizuma ended up finding her and helped her feel better about living in the Dorms and in effect, Miyuki didn't cry in the halls anymore. - The Laughter of the Conference Room -
In the empty conference room, you can hear laughter from the inside. Something happens to the people who hear the laugh. - The Secret of the Basement -
Rumor says that on the walls of the forbidden basement, there are smears that look like human faces. - The Mirror at the Ballroom
- The 13th Stair at the Sunshade Room
- The Maria Sculpture that Turns Heavy
- The Piano that Plays by Itself
- The 7th Door
[edit] Summer school
Traditionally, students can take an optional three days and two nights of "summer school" in the Dorms, though it is unrelated with academics. The students take a trip to a local beach and have fun with their friends. This is also an opportunity to strengthen friendships while outside the campus. It is said that something interesting happens every year, so many of the students get excited about the prospect of going.
[edit] Astraea Library
All the students can go and study for all their classes at a library on Astraea Hill. Students in the Library Club volunteer librarian services at the library. Their tasks generally consist of lending out library items such as books, umbrellas, and other items to students and keeping the library organized. Chiyo Tsukidate and Mizuho Kanō, one of Shizuma's good friends, are two of the librarians.
The library has an additional purpose besides reading and studying. Though only implied in the anime, the manga version explains that the library building has another name - "The Secret Garden". It's the most well-known place on campus to have a secret lovers' rendezvous.
[edit] Media
Strawberry Panic! is presented in a wide range of media including the manga, light novel, anime and video game, all of which premiered within a short time span from November 2005 for the manga and following with the video game's release on August 24, 2006.
[edit] Manga
The Strawberry Panic! manga, written by Sakurako Kimino and illustrated by Namuchi Takumi, was first produced in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine in November 2005, with a new chapter released once a month. Currently, one tankōbon was released on March 27, 2006, with the second coming out on September 27, 2006, though it is uncertain at this time how many volumes there will be once completed.
Major differences between the anime and manga mostly centers around the plot and character interaction. The manga investigates the physical aspects of the lesbian themes further than the anime, which focuses mostly on their relationships together.
[edit] Light novel
The Strawberry Panic! light novel, written and illustrated by the same two people as with the manga, was first published by Dengeki Bunko in March 2006. Currently, the first two volumes have been released, though it is unknown at this time how many volumes there will be once completed.
[edit] Anime
The anime series of Strawberry Panic!, which started airing in Japan on April 3, 2006, and concluded September 25, 2006. The anime has a central yuri theme though nothing of it gets to the point to be considered hentai, or extremely lewd. The anime series contains 26 episodes, most of which are based on the short stories and manga that preceded it.
The anime has been released in Japan periodically, the first boxset, "Strawberry Panic DVD Box I" (in usual and special editions), was released on June 23, 2006. The boxset contained the first and second episodes of the series, "Cherry Blossom Hill" and "Etoile".[7] The second boxset, titled "Strawberry Panic DVD Box II" (in usual and special editions), was released on July 25, 2006, featuring the third episode "Attic", the fourth episode, "You on the White Horse", and the fifth episode, "Younger Sisters".[8]
The usual and special editions of the boxset are similar in content, but the special editions are packaged in jacket sleeve, the original booklet and there is other merchandise, including portable plates and straps, different versions of the opening and closing themes and deleted scenes.[9]
[edit] Original soundtrack
The Strawberry Panic! original soundtrack was first released on September 6, 2006 by Lantis.
[edit] Drama CD
A drama CD based on the anime version entitled Strawberry Panic Lyric 1 "Miator volume" was first released in Japan on July 26, 2006.
It featured several of the same seiyū from the anime, totaling 13 characters in all. It came with one CD with 12 tracks of small scenes involving the characters in various situations. A second drama CD, Strawberry Panic Lyric 2 "Spica volume" was later released on October 25, 2006 while a third was released on December 6, 2006 called Strawbery Panic Lyric 3 "Lulim volume".
[edit] Video game
The visual novel video game named Strawberry Panic! Girls' School in Full Bloom was released on the PS2 on August 24, 2006 in Japan. There are three playable characters - one from each of the schools, Nagisa, Hikari, and Kizuna.[10] It should be noted that they have no family names in the game[11] and it is believed that this is to allow the player to fill it in. While Ai Shimizu will be maintaining her role for Kizuna in the game, Miyuki Sawashiro will be performing the voice for Tamao Suzumi. The game features a "boy mode" and a "girl mode". Choosing the male version means that the story is told via letters from the player's younger sister, while choosing the female version means that the story is told in the player's own diary.[12]
Additionally, two versions of the game were released - a normal version and a limited edition version which also included a drama CD. There is a different cover for each of the versions.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Anime News Network; Strawberry Panic! information Animenewsnetwork.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ AnimeSuki forums
- ^ Seven Seas Entertainment website
- ^ Characters of Strawberry Panic! (2006). Retrieved on 29 June 2006.
- ^ a b Nagazi Aoi bio Animeinfo.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Shizuma Hanazono bio Animeinfo.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ (Japanese) "Strawberry Panic DVD Special Limited Box I product information" Strawberrypanic.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ (Japanese) Strawberry Panic DVD Special Limited Box II product information" Strawberrypanic.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ (Japanese) List of Strawberry Panic! products Strawberrypanic.com. URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ (Japanese) Main character in the video game
- ^ (Japanese) No family names given to main characters in the video game
- ^ (Japanese) Story mechanics synopsis URL Accessed June 30, 2006.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official site on the anime
- (Japanese) Media Works' site
- (Japanese) Media Works' site on the PS2 game
- Strawberry Panic! (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Strawberry Panic! at AnimeNfo.com
- Seven Seas Entertainment's Strawberry Panic! page
