Strawberry Panic! (short stories)

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Strawberry Panic!
ストロベリー・パニック! (Strawberry Panic!)
Genre	Drama, Romance, Seinen, Yuri
Light novel
Authored by	Sakurako Kimino
Artist	Chitose Maki
Publisher	MediaWorks
Publish date	December 30, 2003 – July 30, 2005
No. of volumes	18 (magazine issues)

Strawberry Panic! (ストロベリー・パニック!, Sutoroberī Panikku!^?) is the title of thirty Japanese fictional short stories which focus on 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 stories, while written by Japanese author Sakurako Kimino and Japanese artist Chitose Maki, were the product of a reader participation game run by MediaWorks in the bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine. The game started in the January 2004 issue of the magazine and concluded in the February 2005 issue; this resulted in twenty-five short stories which had been directly influenced by reader participation votes in ten separate rounds of voting.

The first three stories appeared in the February 2004 issue of the magazine which was released on December 30, 2003. Three more were published each month up to May 30, 2004 which at the time meant that eighteen stories had been published. This was the completion of the first story arc entitled the Etoile Chapter. The next story arc entitled the Dormitory Panic Chapter was comprised of seven stories in greater length than the earlier stories. These seven stories were published between June 30 and December 30 in 2004 which corresponds to the August 2004 through February 2005 issues of Dengeki G's Magazine. This concluded the reader participation game at twenty-five stories.

After a three month hiatus, more stories returned in the May 2005 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine on March 30, 2005. This small series of five separate stories was written as a supplementary biolography of the twelve girls in the story. The series concluded in the September 2005 issue on July 30, 2005. None of the original thirty stories were ever published again in bound volumes.

[edit] History

The first short story in the series.

Strawberry Panic!'s origin starts in the October 2003 issue of the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine where it was announced after the ending of Sakurako Kimino's previous work Sister Princess that a new reader participation project would start the following month.^[1] In the November 2003 issue, the first batch of characters from St. Miator were introduced (Nagisa, Shizuma, Tamao, and Chiyo) and it was revealed how readers could participate in the project. The initial system had the three main girls of Nagisa, Hikari, and Kizuna (given without surnames) who were sisters and at the same time younger sisters of the readers of the magazine, effectively putting the reader in the position of the elder brother. Each girl entered her respective school and became the protagonist of that school. It was explained that the coupling of the main characters could be to an upperclassman, a classmate, or an underclassman, but had to stay within the school they attended. For example, Nagisa, who attended Miator could not be coupled with another character from either Spica or Lulim at first. Playing the role of the elder brother, the reader gave advice to the younger sisters who were bewildered by their new lives at each of the schools. Thus, the readers had the ability to influence the coupling formations.

In December, the characters from Spica (Hikari, Amane, Yaya, and Tsubomi) and Lulim (Kizuna, Chikaru, Remon, and Kagome) were introduced and in January issue the first illustrations of the three schools and the Strawberry Dorms were published, drawn by Chitose Maki; the reader participation game began in this issue. Polls were posted in the January 2004 issue where the readers could vote on how the story would start and progress in the following months. Before the votes were counted, the first three short stories were written and published in the February 2004 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine.^[2]

When the results of the polls were printed in the March 2004 issue,the rules of the game had been changed from the original concept, showing that readers wanted to focus on the relationships between the girls, and in this respect, the readers could vote on who they wanted to be coupled together.^[3] The number of votes for this first round were less than 2000.^[3] Noting this, the editorial staff lifted the restriction on only coupling within the same school, along with the restriction of only allowing the three main girls of Nagisa, Hikari, and Kizuna to couple. This resulted in a total of sixty-six different possibilities between the twelve characters in the series. In this issue, it was explained that four events were planned for the stories that followed: Easter, Athletic Carnival, Cultural Festival, and Christmas Bazaar. The "Etoile" title was born in this issue, which was initially used to crown the best couple voted first by the readers in each of the four events to follow. These events were going to be carried out by the three schools in cooperation. It became such that the planning of the schools resulted in them in a triangle position, having the dormitories at the center. The reader's position as the elder brother was cancelled in this issue, and the game became a simple popularity vote for coupling. Due to this new system, Nagisa, Hikari, and Kizuna ceased to be sisters; surnames were later added to clarify this.

Cover of the first supplementary short story in the series.

The first results of the polls appeared in the form of the first three short stories which resulted from direct fan involvement in the March 2004 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine.^[3] The stories continued over the following months - the first story arc was named the Etoile Chapter (エトワール編, Etowāru Hen^?) running between March and July 2004. Once this arc concluded, it was shown that the number of votes had increased sharply due to the new voting mechanisms. Due to the concerns that there was not enough time between the Athletic Festival (an early summer event) and the Cultural Festival (an autumn event), the second, and last, story arc named the Dormitory Panic Chapter (寄宿舎パニック編, Kishukusha Panikku Hen^?) began the next month, running between August 2004 and January 2005. The second arc involved taking one of the three main characters and performing coupling for them with one of the other eleven girls and presenting them in various situations. The Etoile voting was announced in the July 2004 issue to take place every month as opposed to every two months which had been the case beforehand. The deadline for voting was shifted to become the middle of every month, and online voting was introduced. In September 2004, the voting for the next Etoile was shifted to be online-only; the voting for the Dormitory Panic section became mail voting only. None of the original stories were ever published again in bound volumes. The stories themselves were more or less vignettes where each one gave a brief glimpse into what was referred to as a "yuri coupling".^[4]

The reader participation ended after ten rounds of voting in the February 2005 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine where it was announced that the series would be continued in other forms, such as the light novels and manga that followed.^[5] The original short stories and the poll results of the reader participation game were used as a basis for subsequent releases of Strawberry Panic!. Between May and September 2005, a revision of the series was produced, publishing five more supplementary short stories once a month during this time period. While each individual story had its own title, the stories were under the collective title of "The Girls, who art in heaven"; this is most likely a mistranslation of "The girls who are in heaven". After the ending of this short complition in September 2005, it was decided that the original illustrator, Chitose Maki, would not be illustrating the series anymore and it was decided that Namuchi Takumi would continue as the main artist.

[edit] Plot

The plot of Strawberry Panic! revolves around the lives of adolescent girls who attend one of three affiliated 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. Students who reside on campus live in what is referred to as the Strawberry Dorms, though the proper name is Astrea Dormitory, named after Astrea Hill where the institutions reside.^[6]

There are three main heroines in the story; they are: Nagisa, Hikari, and Kizuna. They were not given family names until later when Strawberry Panic! was adapted into a manga. These girls receive most of the attention from the other characters and coverage in the stories; every short story featured at least one of these girls. The other characters in the story served the main purpose of falling in love with one of these three heroines, though this was not always the case in the supplementary biographies. The entire series revolves around the relationships the characters build with each other.

[edit] Characters

The girls of Strawberry Panic!: (left to right)
Top: Nagisa, Shizuma, Chiyo, Tamao
Middle: Hikari, Amane, Tsubomi, Yaya
Bottom: Kizuna, Chikaru, Kagome, Remon.

Main article: List of Strawberry Panic! characters

[edit] St. Miator's Girl's Academy

Nagisa (渚砂, )^?, (Fourth year, Moon class)

Nagisa is the main character from Miator and the main love interest for the other three main characters attending the school who each have fallen in love with her. She is a cheerful girl who finds enjoyment in making new friends which she can easily do due to her free personality and sociable attitude in life. Another aspect about her is that Nagisa is easily frightened, making her tremble at even the slightest mention of something scary.

Shizuma Hanazono (花園静馬, Hanazono Shizuma)^?, (Sixth year, Snow class)

Shizuma is a respected upperclassman by students from the three schools. She is a cultured girl who enjoys playing the piano, sometimes being able to do so with Nagisa who she adores. She has the propensity to shirk any responsibilities that may have been given to her.

Chiyo Tsukidate (月館千代, Tsukidate Chiyo)^?, (First year, Flower class)

Chiyo is a young underclassman who is usually very shy to the point of even being unable to articulate herself forcefully enough. She is an accident-prone girl who looks up to Nagisa in the form of admiration and idolism, which could otherwise be taken as a crush.

Tamao Suzumi (涼水玉青, Suzumi Tamao)^?, (Fourth year, Moon class)

Tamao is Nagisa's classmate whom has a nice, helpful personality and sometimes enjoys gossiping about other people when it comes to matters of love and attraction. Nagisa and Tamao are a lot alike in that they are both usually filled with energy and share a lot of the same interests. Highly literate, she is a member of the Literature Club and loves to write poems.

[edit] St. Spica's Girl's Institute

Hikari (光莉, )^?, (Third year, Un (1) class)

Hikari is a rather shy and quiet girl who tends to not be very outspoken as it takes a lot for her to say what is really on her mind. Much like Nagisa Aoi, Hikari is also a transfer student, ariving at Spica in the second year. She tends to be a physically weak girl who is fairly easy to be taken advantage of.

Amane Ohtori (鳳天音, Ōtori Amane)^?, (Fifth year, Trois (3) class)

Amane is an upperclassman who is a very loved and respected member of the school, much like Shizuma Hanazono, although she is more of a local celebrity of Spica. She is often seen riding a white horse named Star Bright, which makes her seem more like a prince from a fairy tale. Furthermore, she looks very much like a guy and in effect, a lot of the students at St. Spica are her fans. She tends to have a silent demeanor, which also makes her seem intimidating, making her difficult to talk with or approach.

Tsubomi Okuwaka (奥若蕾, Okuwaka Tsubomi)^?, (First year, Deux (2) class)

Tsubomi is an underclassman who tends to act mature for her age; she is often capable of cowing senior students by pure force of personality. Tsubomi sometimes gets embarrassed when around Hikari due to either what Hikari says or of what others say. She tends to get angry or flustered easily, giving her an outspoken and very expressive personality. In effect, she can be loud in her opinions of others.

Yaya Nanto (南都夜々, Nanto Yaya)^?, (Third year, Un (1) class)

Yaya is Hikari's classmate and a somewhat forceful girl who looks out for Hikari. She has a rebellious side, sometimes going against school rules or what is normally accepted. She tends to be very outspoken and enjoys criticizing other students she dislikes. When it comes to matters of love, she can be very shy about her feelings, substituing words with actions, sometimes with adverse results.

[edit] St. Lulim's Girl's School

Kizuna (絆奈, )^?, (Second year, B class)

Kizuna is very outgoing, hyper and, like Chiyo of Miator, somewhat accident-prone. She tends to be very expressive in her actions and words, not wasting any chance to introduce herself to someone new. Since she is only in her second year at Lulim, she tends to be rather immature compared to others.

Chikaru Minamoto (源千華留, Minamoto Chikaru)^?, (Fifth year, A class)

Chikaru is an upperclassman has shown herself to be a natural leader as she is the president of several functions: the student council of Lulim, the Transformation Club (where members dress up in different costumes), and the Secret Club (where members try to solve mysteries). She has a friendly personality and enjoys helping others when they need it, which makes her an excellent candidate for the student council.

Kagome Byakudan (白檀籠女, Byakudan Kagome)^?, (First year, C class)

Kagome is an underclassman whom seems very childish since she carries around a teddy bear named Percival (パーシバル, Pāshibaru^?) everywhere she goes and talks to it constantly, even referring to it as if it were a real person. She has a quiet voice and seems rather sad and lonely at times due to the fact that she doesn't seem to know a lot of people or have many friends at that.

Remon Natsume (夏目檸檬, Natsume Remon)^?, (Second year, B class)

Remon is Kizuna's classmate, and much like Kizuna in personality, though not as clumsy. She tends to be more serious than Kizuna, though she doesn't miss the chance to get excited about matters such as love and attraction. When it comes to the two of them, Kizuna usually does most of the talking while Remon often agrees with her companion, though she will offer up an opinion when need be.

[edit] Short stories list

[edit] Voting results

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MediaWorks' Strawberry Panic! website (Japanese)