Why Strawberry Panic fail while Maria-sama succeed?

[niwasatou]

-never mind-

[revive4563]

Actually, SP is stupid otaku Anime.it is the one for otaku guys, from otaku manga magazine.I think this is a fatal fault as yuri thing. don't you think so? and,on reconsidering MariMite, this is the one plainly for girls, from yaoi(boys love) magazine.AND, it is neatly contextual.(unlike 'go well-otaku anime)

[revive4563]

sorry for double post...
cause I'm new...

[Meliavor]

I'm rather surprised that so many people find marimite and SP to be so similar.

marimite is a dramatic series based on relations very similar to real life. Every character has their specific traits and relations with the other characters and as a viewer you get to take part of their little world. Everything about marimite is about setting up this scenario, with the way of animation, with the extremely great soundtrack.
marimite is definatly not yuri, and the shoujo ai most people talk about is mostly limited to the admiration between two girls.

Strawberry panic on the other hand is really just your average highschool anime with lesbian tendencies. It doesn't have to be classy or realistic, and it doesn't try to be. SP is more based on humour with splashes of drama, and generally just a more casual setting. I did have higher hopes for sp, but then again, I probably wouldn't have watched sp if I wasn't so fond of marimite.

[Cyz]

If you look at this way, Marimite has broader audience and the story is pretty much okay for everyone. Strawberry Panic on the otherhand, mostly focus on younger teens to adults...you know, from all those things going on there. In any case, I like them both

[Question]

The strawberry panic novels somehow managed to get picked up for translation but not maria-sama ga miteru.

I dont know how.

But well thats one oint where SP is more successful.....

[niwasatou]

It's the fanboys, the fanboys.
Besides, SP has 2 Novels out, Marimite over 20. Guess that scares people a bit.

[animefanrk2k]

I say Maria-sama's success is based on its ending theme, which is just a beautiful piece in and of itself. XD

Kidding aside, I enjoyed both, but Maria-sama's deeper intonations give it more credibility for a rewatch than SP. I enjoyed SP for what it was, but MM has class.

Then there's Chikaru, who's a phenomenon that has made it to my all-time favorite anime characters list while no one from MM made it. *shrugs*

[LionsMane]

Honestly, I don't find SP and Marimite to be so similair.

I loved both series but Marimite's tone and atmosphere was more to my liking so I obviously found it more appealing. Regardless I enjoyed SP and glad I was able to follow it.

[toxic_trance]

Marimite rules the Shoujo-ai department...no doubts about it. I have seen both, although i havent read the novels or the manga of any. Strawberry Panic is fun and pretty enjoyable, since it s a good fan service. On the other hand Marimite is not about fan-service, but the elegance and the emotions. It makes u feel what the characters feel, and u feel they are real.

How should i say??? Strawberry Panic is a Yuri, but Marimite is a Shoujo-ai. Maria-sama is a hit because of its story line, characters and the Elegance. Strawberry Panic on the other hand is pure fan service for Yuri fans. Strawberry Panic, lacks the character design and the elegance of Maria-sama.

Not that i dont like Strawberry Panic. I liked it pretty much, but Maria-Sama is just of a way higher class

[eggplant]

Since the topic starter mentioned about DVD sales between the two titles, here are the numbers as of late November (I figured the timing was good enough since the figures for the Marimite OVA came out).

Release Date Sales Title
2004/04/02 12,372 Maria-sama ga Miteru 1 (One episode only)
2004/05/13 *2,650 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 1 (One episode only)
2004/05/13 *6,861 Maria-sama ga Miteru 2 (Two episodes up to Vol. 7)
2004/06/04 *2,513 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 2
2004/06/04 *4,918 Maria-sama ga Miteru 3
2004/07/09 *2,232 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 3
2004/07/09 *3,737 Maria-sama ga Miteru 4
2004/08/06 *2,219 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 4
2004/08/06 *3,633 Maria-sama ga Miteru 5
2004/09/10 *3,073 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 5
2004/09/10 *5,348 Maria-sama ga Miteru 6
2004/10/08 *3,070 Maria-sama ga Miteru Collector's Edition 6
2004/10/08 *5,328 Maria-sama ga Miteru 7
2004/10/22 *3,803 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 1 (Two episodes up to Vol. 5)
2004/10/22 *2,836 Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 1
2004/11/25 *3,992 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 2
2004/11/25 *2,591 Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 2
2004/12/22 *3,868 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 3
2004/12/22 --------- Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 3
2005/02/09 *3,733 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 4
2005/02/09 *2,369 Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 4
2005/02/25 *3,396 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 5
2005/02/25 *2,160 Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 5
2005/03/25 --------- Maria-sama ga Miteru Recap
2005/03/25 *2,835 Maria-sama ga Miteru Recap Limited Edition
2005/04/01 *2,997 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ 6 (Three episodes)
2005/04/01 *2,210 Maria-sama ga Miteru =Haru~ Collector's Edition 6 (Three episodes)
2006/03/24 *2,020 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ Fan Disk Rosa Chinensis
2006/05/25 *1,866 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ Fan Disk Rosa Gigantea
2006/07/21 *1,587 Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ Fan Disk Rosa Foetida
2006/11/29 *1,883 Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA 1 Kohitsuji-tachi no Kyuuka
2006/11/29 *3,445 Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA Collector's Edition 1 Kohitsuji-tachi no Kyuuka

Release Date Sales Title
2006/06/23 *1,918 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box I (Two episodes)
2006/07/25 *2,814 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box II (Three episodes up to Vol. IX)
2006/08/25 *2,464 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box III
2006/09/22 *2,074 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box IV
2006/10/25 *2,595 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box V
2006/11/24 *2,146 Strawberry Panic Special Limited Box VI

Interestingly enough, until the OVA, Marimite sales concentrated on the regular edition (mostly because the limited editions for the first series were sold a month later), which I construe to be a sign the female dominated sales target don't care much for the extras, whereas the male dominated Stopani customers want the full feature (none of the Stopani standard version volumes have charted in the weekly top 100).

Actually, the 5,000+ sales for the Marimite OVA was sort of disappointing, considering Mai Otome Zwei sold 12,000 and Shakugan no Shana OVA sold 10,000 copies respectively. I suppose the long interval from the TV anime had some effect.

[guest]

Originally Posted by eggplant

Interestingly enough, until the OVA, Marimite sales concentrated on the regular edition (mostly because the limited editions for the first series were sold a month later), which I construe to be a sign the female dominated sales target don't care much for the extras, whereas the male dominated Stopani customers want the full feature (none of the Stopani standard version volumes have charted in the weekly top 100).

Actually, the 5,000+ sales for the Marimite OVA was sort of disappointing, considering Mai Otome Zwei sold 12,000 and Shakugan no Shana OVA sold 10,000 copies respectively. I suppose the long interval from the TV anime had some effect.

What is your source of these data? Do you have the numbers for Strawberry Panic standard edition DVD? Thank you very much for your data and your opinions.

[kct]

As someone who have watched both, I have to agree that Marinite > StoPani. Like, whenever I see SP it's only a yurifest, like, YURI RAPE LOLOL >.> .

[Light.]

I think both of them were worth watching but, Marimite simply rules the department. For anyone wondering how they are alike, PM me. Marimite is just flat out classy. It has an excellent plot, EXCELLENT character development, drama, humor, wonderful art, etc. SP lacks in comparison, in terms of art and character development, but it was still a pretty decent series. I probably wouldn't compare them because it seems as though Marimite would show off SP by a considerable amount.

[Js2756]

It's pretty simple as to why a lot of people like Marimite more than StoPani. The characters are simply more interesting and have significantly more depth to them. Marimite is also written with a certain level of class and dignity, which seems to be lacking in StoPani. How many times were there casual fanservice scenes in StoPani? These things just served to take away from the more serious moments in the show, or the potential drama that the writers were trying to build. Marimite incorporated its elements much more seemlessly and combined them into a more complete package than StoPani.

As for the comparisons, the two shows are somewhat similar in that there are situations that are common between them. Important meetings in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary, two main characters bonding over playing the piano, a student council member supporting another in the pursuit of a love interest despite their own personal feelings (Miyuki -> Shizuma -> Kaori vs Youko -> Sei -> Shiori). These are just some examples of common occurrences between the two, but I'm not really saying they are the same. YMMV.

Oh, and the StoPani characters at times look hella thin.

[Devious]

I've watched the both anime recently and I'll have to agree with everyone that Marimite is better than SP, but it's jsut that Marimite is more delicate and there's more attention to the characters, their past and so on... as far as for SP it's at times a bit hilarious and very unrealistic I mean the whole Lilim school is just something that can't exsist (though I like Chikaru a lot) and also those love triangles and wanting to rape Hikari? I mean it's a bit too much we one thing I liked it was the story, we way it was between Nagisa and Shizuma, it showed a lot of saddness, a need to be with eachother I mean it was kinda touching I think it would also be great series (I don't mind it being yuri as long as it's not hentai) if it was more realistic and the stories were not so short because the ending cam really too fast...

[mdauben]

Originally Posted by Meliavor

I'm rather surprised that so many people find marimite and SP to be so similar.

If you boil it down to the most basic, both series are about an innocent young girl who falls for a beautiful, popular upper classman at a Catholic girls school. Of course after that there are many differences between the two (not just the level of yuri, either) but they both develop from that same basic starting point.

Personally, I would say that SP! fails where Marimite succeeds just becuase Marimite is a better anime in almost every way. Better art, better stories, and better characters all add up to a win for Marimite.

[Skottichan]

I'll probably get much hate for resurrecting an old thread, and actually being a woman who LIKED Strawberry Panic. I was delightfully pleased by it, it's wasn't over serious like Marimite can be, granted, it was a but angsty after the summer vacation, but it's a show set in an all-girls' school.

Yes, I know there was a lot of fan-service, but that's not unrealistic for a boarding school. I was a teenager in the late 80's/early 90's (probably when most of you people were born), I went to a Catholic school (St. Mary of the Divine, in central Ohio). It was a 10 month on/ 2 month off boarding school. It wasn't uncommon for us to wander in and out of each others' rooms in next to nothing. It really irritates me how people will blow stuff off because of an almost Puritanical view of sexuality.

Honestly, I found the characters in SP! more reminiscent of girls I went to school with (granted, as far as I know, no one tried to rape anyone after a lecture on global warming) than most of the characters in Marimite. Yes, you can call them stereotypical, but you can't tell me that even in public school, there aren't people JUST LIKE the characters.

Maybe I'm taking this too personally, as I am a gay woman, who truly identified with one of the characters in the show (Shizuma). I remember how hard losing someone I loved more than life itself was. Marimite, just seems too, safe, for my taste. Even with that said, I enjoy it, and I rewatch it, just not as much as SP!.


And yes, I ugly cry a LOT watching them.


Sorry for resurrecting this thread, it won't happen again.

PS: Oh and what measures success? I don't think SP! was ever intended to be more than 26 episodes. That aside; SP! was licensed across the board. Seven Seas got the Light Novels and Manga. Animeworks is releasing the anime (I know this as I've preordered it).

[Phantasmagoria]

Strawberry Panic! didn't fail, nor MariMite "overwhelms" it in every aspects.

One is "esu," one is "yuri."

I believe the majority of people doesn't like watching "yuri," and chose MariMite instead.
Not all people are able to tolerate lesbianism, and it's a fact. MariMite has a "sisterhood" relationship, naturally more people would prefer it compared to SP!

It all comes down to your mindset and way of life.

Fortunately for me, I love both of these 2 anime.

I have the rights to call them "trash," because I followed both totally (Unlike those who dropped halfway, you people shouldn't even comment. Just skip and watch other things. Unless you stayed throughout 26 episodes of SP! and the three seasons of MariMite, be silent.). Yet, I am not going to do so. Words like "excellent" are used.

[Satomi87]

Strawberry Panic focused on fanservice but MariMite did not...