Strawberry Panic!

Strawberry Panic! written by Sakura Kimino and illustrated by Namuchi Takumi
Overall: Amazing
Smexy Times: Dry
Art: Be-a-utiful






This is a manga I got for my birthday from a friend, so I had to do some research on where you can read this. You can buy the whole thing at most places you can buy manga or online somewhere. (I saw it on Monday at Borders in fact.) Also, the link I provided you does not contain the last two chapters, so if anyone finds a link that has all 14 chapters, please tell me. 


For most people who don't know, Strawberry Panic! is one of the most famous yuri anime there is. It's rather infamous for its characters and school uniforms. Even I, as a young thing, watched the entire thing before I knew my own sexuality. This was years ago of course, so my memory of the storyline is rather limited. But it's okay, because we're talking about the manga here, not the anime! Maybe some day I'll review the anime, but that day is not today. 


This manga is about three all-girl schools, St. Miator, St. Spica, and St. Lulim. Aoi Nagisa transfers to St. Miator and gets lost trying to find her school when she runs into the beautiful Hanazono Shizuma. And, as you can guess, Shizuma takes a sudden interest in Nagisa, and things continue from there. You can imagine of course. 


But really, the main focus of this manga is the Étoile Competition. Basically, it's a competition among the three schools and the students to determine the sort of 'royalty' of the schools. They have no power really, it's just two girls showing their determination and love for each other and becoming... Queen and Queen. Basically, lesbians.
So, as I'm sure you can tell, Shizuma and Nagisa enter as a couple. The other important couple of the manga is 'the Prince', Otori Amane, and her angel, Konohana Hikari, from St. Spica. I enjoy Hikari a lot actually. She's really cute, and reminds me a little of myself. 


The thing that I enjoy most about this manga is the characters. There are literally so many girls that you could have a chance of liking that I'm sure everyone could find someone to follow the storyline of. Of course, the most focused on storylines are Shizuma's, Nagisa's, and Amane's. Hikari's is kind of just included and touched on. It's mostly the other three. But all of the other characters get something, so you'll find a character that you enjoy reading about. I personally adore all the Lulim students. (I think that's the school I'd go to too.)


Unfortunately, the manga is left unfinished. This manga literally says 'The Complete Manga Collection', and this confused me when I was left with a cliffhanger conclusion. So I did a little research. Turns out the manga really is unfinished. Which is downright sad. From what I can remember, the manga is pretty different from the anime, so the more unique take the manga uses is never concluded. 
So upon this discovery, I must now recommend you watch the anime if you enjoy what the manga sets up. The anime is more sexy than the manga (especially seeing as the manga has no sex at all). The anime is a bit more serious and angsty as well, but, as anyone who knows me knows, I adore angst. So this isn't a problem. 
But all-in-all, I think the manga stands well alone. I also recommend the light novels (which came before the manga), though I have yet to read them myself. This manga was a welcomed edition to my collection, and I hope the anime will someday join my anime collection as well.