Japanese Title: Strawberry Shake Sweet
Similar: Notes from the Garden of Lilies
Genre: Yuri Comedy Romance
Length: 2 volumes
Positives:
- Quick pacing.
- Good humour especially from the manager trying to prevent the relationship scandal.
- Julia’s fawning and thinking no one notices.
Negatives:
- Could have done with more conflict, even for a comedic series.
- The art is a little poor.
In Strawberry Shake Sweet, Julia is a sixteen-year-old actress who is charged with mentoring the new girl, Ran. Julia isn’t pleased with this development, for she feels threatened by Ran, worrying she will become the new number one in the agency, especially since she is taller. Yet when Ran turns out to be cute, Julia can’t resist and falls for her.
In a comedy such as this, humour needs to be its strongest point, and thankfully, Strawberry Shake Sweet’s humour is well done. It is hilarious to watch Julia trying to seduce Ran, who is oblivious to her advances, and their manager intervening at every step, lest a scandal come to light. The comedy is snappy, on occasion using four-panel strips for a quick joke.
While the humour delivers, the conflict is lacking. Most conflict comes from Julia’s jealousy at odds with her fawning over Ran. Her overreactions are hilarious. By conflict, I don’t mean that assassins need to enter the narrative, but there could be more back and forth between the girls; Ran is too passive – her obliviousness can only extend so far.
Strawberry Shake Sweet is the ideal manga if you’re after a good laugh with a couple of silly characters and their overprotective manager.
Art – Medium
The art does a good job of conveying the humour through expressions and the like; however, the quality could certainly be higher. Looks a little rushed, though this likely won’t bother most readers with a romantic comedy.
Story – High
A hilarious romance between two idols along with the manager trying to stop them. Wish it had more conflict.
Recommendation: Read it. Strawberry Shake Sweet is a fun read with many gags that are worth reading.
(Find out more about the manga recommendation system here.)
Nefarious Reviews 