Product Description

Nagisa Aoi has just transferred to a prestigious all-girls' school that happens to share dormitory facilities with two other academies for young ladies. The new surroundings are a lot to take in, but she quickly adapts to life in Strawberry Hall with the help of newfound friends. However, when Nagisa catches the eye of Shizuma Hanazono, the respected representative of all three schools known as the Étoile, both their lives are forever changed. Bonds beyond mere friendship develop between the two and those around them amidst a school year of heated conflicts, petty jealousies, and crossed boundaries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25911 in DVD
• Brand: Media Blasters
• Released on: 2009-07-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 650 minutes

Features

• STRAWBERRY PANIC LITEBOX (DVD MOVIE)

Customer Reviews

Almost Overwhelmingly Sweet
For all those who find the subtle hints at lesbianism in such shows as Revolutionary Girl Utena and Maria Watches Over Us annoyingly vague, look no further. Strawberry Panic pulls no punches, calling a spade a spade... without ever once using the word or being judgemental. Essentially a high school romance, or rather a set of them, SP takes place at three linked all-girl's academies that share a common dorm. With casual aplomb, the show deals with all aspects of high-school dating: jealousy, love triangles, shyness, and inevitable seperation. The characters are well designed, rich with nuance, and - if lacking in depth and background at times - engaging as all get out. While essentially character driven, this show does have more of a coherent plot and story arc than Marmite... plus each of the three schools has its own set of uniforms, all of them significantly more attractive than those found in Marmite or Utena.

An absolute essential for yuri fans
Let's face it, if you are a yuri fan in the west, pickings are slim to say the least. Even if a series happens to have yuri content, it is likely to be very subtle and merely implied, and even if so, masked by some mystical happenings or overshadowed by some other plot device. There simply isn't any straight up yuri romance anime available to those of us in the west, which is very sad. Anime can be seen as a niche market, and yuri is essentially a niche within a niche.

Strawberry Panic is a gift to those of us with a passion for yuri. It is a simple story of high school romances involving many of the common, yet complex themes explored with young relationships that one would see in just about any other drama: love/friendship, jealousy, confusion, self-doubt, longing, loneliness; only with a 100% female cast of very likable, attractive and well-designed characters. It is beautiful, touching, moving, and absolutely adorable. It's like digital candy: a bit light-weight, but very indulgent. The cuteness and sweetness is literally off the charts. Presentation in general is gorgeous, with seasons passing by in the serene wilderness surrounding the schools. There is an aura of mystery throughout the show that will keep you watching. If the yuri content in other anime is implied, then that in Strawberry Panic is executed without restraint nor apology to the maximum extent a 13 and up rating could possibly allow. A truly refreshing series, and we should all be thankful it has been re-released. It is great to see a serious drama with no slapstick, science fiction, or mysticism in yuri form, and I only hope there is more to come.

The plot moves very slowly at first. For the most part, season one relies on some mystery and the charm of it's characters to keep you watching until the much more rewarding 2nd volume. The first volume exists almost entirely to introduce characters and their elements rather than explaining the 5 W's. Your patience will pay off, though.

Unfortunately, there are those who look down upon this show critically; yuri fans and reviewers, who see only it's flaws. No, the show is not perfect. However, we should ask ourselves: if you live in a town which only has one grocery store, what is the best grocery store in town? We should be grateful and appreciate the fact that it's there whenever it may be needed, not complaining. Without it, many of us would go hungry. Could it be improved upon? Of course, but it's so much better than nothing at all.

Please buy this unique gem. Until something better comes along, this is as close to sublime as yuri gets as far as pure drama/romance is concerned, and if you are a fan of such anime, you owe it to yourself to see it. It starts off somewhat slow, getting by on sweetness alone, but picks up later and in the end does not disappoint. Even though one of the main relationships sort of loses some steam towards the end, the romantic story delivers as the very engaging final volume unfolds. As an anime, it is pretty good; as an anime for a yuri fan, it easily scores extra stars.

Stunning Story
Yuri by my definition is the relationship between females whether sexual or not. Strawberry Panic is One of the best Yuris around. An exciting story that will have you laughing and crying through the events that surround Nagisa, Shizuma, and friends as they go through high school. For ANYONE browsing for something to watch I Highly recommend this series. Don't just simply watch this series, feel it. Let your emotions follow along, I promise you, you will not regret it.