(If you are looking for a review of the 2006 Strawberry Panic anime please take a look at my April 11, 2006 review!)

Not to be confused with Strawberry Shake, the amusing on-going manga running in Yuri Shimai Magazine, Strawberry Panic is a serialized set of short stories that run in Dengeki’s G’s Magazine.

The basic “plot” is that there are three all-girl schools at which “Yuri coupling” is a tradition. Each issue of Strawberry Panic, called Sto-Pani for short, includes short stories about each of the four “couplings,” all of which are detailed on the website. The short, one-page stories about each couple that manages to be sweet, without actually, say, developing them at all as a couple.

G’s Magazine is a gaming magazine that specializes in bishoujo games – so you know that there will be not great plots, no intense character development, not much more than superficial Yuri cuteness…much the sort of thing that bugs me about the stories in Yuri Shimai. The reader will get the occasional chu!-type, peck on the cheek or lips, kiss. But in general, the stories read like candy apples without the apples – all sugary and gooey and sweet, with not much of anything else to support it.

The thing I actually like *best* about Strawberry Panic (aside from the occasional good Yuri picture,) is the fan art at the bottom of every “coupling” serial. These are a little more daring, sometimes, than the actual stories. But the art in general, as with most bishoujo art, tends to make the characters looks considerably younger than I like. However, if you like your Yuri moe – then it will be well worth your time to take a look at Strawberry Panic.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 10

Overall – 7