Comics / Manga

Strawberry 100%: Volume 3

By Leroy Douresseaux
December 31, 2007 - 16:29

Thanks to barnesandnoble.com for the image.

Junior high school horn dog, Junpei Manaka, spots a beautiful girl lying on the roof of his school when suddenly he also catches a glimpse of her strawberry-patterned underwear.  Just as suddenly, this apparition of a thousand wet dreams is gone in a flash.  He assumes the mystery female is Tsukasa Nishino, the most popular girl at Miyagi Municipal Junior High School, but she isn’t that dream girl.  Instead, “Miss Strawberry Panties” is actually the nerdy Aya Tojo, and thus, is born the love triangle of the shonen manga (boys’ comic), Strawberry 100%, from creator Mizuki Kawashita.

Strawberry 100%, Vol. 3 finds Junpei sweating his admission into Izumizaka High School, where he hopes to share his dream of making movies with the new love of his life, Aya, an aspiring writer.  Although he makes it in by the seat of his pants, trouble arrives in the form of a feisty girl named Satsuki Kitaoji.  Right from the start, Junpei and Satsuki find themselves always in trouble together and being punished together, and both are soon wondering if their strong feelings of dislike for one another haven’t turned into a budding love affair.  Meanwhile, Aya is smiling less, and Junpei thinks his new friendship with Satsuki is the cause.  Don’t worry just yet, Junpei; your love triangle is about to get still another angle.

THE LOWDOWN:  Strawberry 100% would read like shojo (girls’ comics) if it weren’t for the barely hidden fan service.  While high school romance is a staple of shojo drama, Strawberry 100% is high school lust with a panty fixation and generous helpings of bouncy breasts and plump backsides.  It’s a randy screwball comedy.  Picture Cary Grant as a horny teen boy and Katherine Hepburn as a chesty teen tease and you’re in the neighborhood of Strawberry 100%.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  This is a “Shonen Jump Advanced,” title that will probably put off male readers with its title and large female cast.  However, male readers who care to flip through it will discover this ode to teen male lust and the girls that fan it is manga for the fellas.

B+

 

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12