Maria-sama ga Miteru

When Yumi Fukuzawa entered the Lillian Girls' Academy, a prestigious all-girls Catholic school in Tokyo, she never imagined she would catch the eye of beautiful and demure Sachiko Ogasawara, one of the school's most popular students. Now Sachiko has offered to be Yumi's soeur, her "sister" and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered—after all, they hardly know each other!

The entire campus is abuzz with rumors about the two of them, but Yumi is conflicted over accepting Sachiko's offer. While she admires Sachiko, being her soeur would also mean constantly being at the center of the entire school's attention!

(Source: RightStuf)

Satou, Sei Main

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Ogasawara, Sachiko Main

Itou, Miki Japanese

Fukuzawa, Yumi Main

Ueda, Kana Japanese

Toudou, Shimako Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Shimazu, Yoshino Main

Ikezawa, Haruna Japanese

Mizuno, Youko Main

Shinohara, Emi Japanese

Hasekura, Rei Main

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Torii, Eriko Main

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Kanina, Shizuka Supporting

rino Japanese

Fukuzawa, Yuuki Supporting

Ichiki, Mitsuhiro Japanese

Iijima, Kouji Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Matsushita, Yukihiro Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Reviews

Dec 24, 2007

Imperturbable

Recommended

I've had a very complex history with this series. I only started watching it because people were making a fuss about how another series copied an extremely famous scene from Maria-sama ga Miteru, but I ended up watching both the first and second seasons. (The third season wasn't out at that time.)

This is now my favourite series. But it was far from being a favourite then-- I watched it all very quickly, and I don't think this is a series that was meant to be seen like that. I overlooked a lot the first time around and it ended up seeming ... the characters were making baseless observations about others. It's easy to watch those slice-of-life school comedy series quickly, for example, since you're just in for a laugh or two, but Maria-sama ga Miteru has got characterisation, believability, and complex interpersonal dynamics that should be savoured slowly.

The seiyuu are great overall and generally convey characters' thoughts and feelings very well. The animation, however, could've been better... some parts look a bit unnatural or perhaps a bit mechanical, but I don't think it detracts very much from the series overall and I enjoyed the art style.

I fell in love with the series when I rewatched it because there's so much in it. This isn't your typical, run-of-the-mill series where you can just watch for mindless enjoyment. It isn't something you just watch because you know there's f/f in it either. This is possibly the best f/f series you'll ever watch-- without your usual crazy and melodramatic minor character lesbians in it, to boot. (Note that the f/f present is largely on the subtext level, which I find makes it even more delectable. There's canon stuff though, so it's not "just wishful thinking".)

On the other hand, I am of the mind that Maria-sama ga Miteru would still be enjoyable for those who don't like f/f or aren't particularly into it. The wonderful characterisation alone should be enough of a draw, should it be the sort of thing you look for in anime. Let me put it this way: This series doesn't necessarily focus on f/f too much if you're inclined to see it that way. Such is the beauty of subtext.

Oh, and if it matters to you, the focus isn't on religion despite the series name and the setting (a private Catholic all girls' school). It's really just about a group of young women and what happens to them and between them... which I guess makes it fall pretty firmly into the shoujo genre.

Maria-sama ga Miteru, then, is not recommended for those who only enjoy panty shots or seeing two girls somehow ending up in unrealistic, compromising situations. (Please go watch seinen for that fanservice stuff because there's no fanservice in this at all.) I wouldn't recommend this to people who like a lot of action either, because, well, it doesn't have much. It's slice-of-life (probably leaning more toward drama), so if you need an overarching plot to sustain your interest, this is also not for you. This is for those who are starved for a series with, finally, good characterisation.

And lastly, there are no self-pitying and screaming adolescent boys piloting mecha, thank goodness.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 26, 2008

iamjoe

Recommended

Poor quiet anime with fabulous, fabulous storytelling and characterisation. They get no love, and this is apparent for Maria-sama ga Miteru.

It tells the story of girls in a Catholic school. That's all. It's them, their lives, and yet it sucks you in like nothing else could, wraps you up in their stories and makes you itching to learn about them more.

There's a little controversy of sorts about the lesbian content of this anime. Honestly, it seems like all the girls are in love with one another, but that isn't the case. There's only one real lesbian in the entire story. So it's interesting ... to see girls who actually care for one another and are insanely close other than spend their time plotting and hating on one another like other shoujo anime.

I love this anime. I can't think of anything unfabulous about it other than inconsistent art and a confusing first few episodes. It will take you while to get used to the names they call one another.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 1, 2009

Dorothea

Mixed Feelings

Story 6/10
This was a slice-of-life anime with very light shoujo-ai elements. It reminded me of Haibane Renmei in terms of how uneventful the plot really was. Even the climactic moments weren't especially emotional or intense. A "peak" in the storytelling might be a scene where Sachiko speaks sharply to Yumi and Yumi cries. The story therefore wasn't exactly bad, as it would have been if there had been plot holes or unresolved subplots. However, it also wasn't very engaging. Yumi and Sachiko, the main characters, more or less got along throughout, and there were no especially troublesome characters on ... the side to cause any real conflict.

Art 7/10
The art is a little old-fashioned now, but the character design was quite pretty. I wasn't especially moved by any particular image, but it's an attractive show.

Sound 6/10
The music works with the show. No tracks stood out to me though as anything I would definitely want to own and listen to. I'm really into soundtracks, so that's a bit of a rarity. I didn't HATE the music, as for instance I hate the Gilgamesh soundtracks, but it was unmemorable. It went with the plot, which kept things always on a pretty even keel.

Character 7/10
The characters were decent. Yumi was lovable and naive, Sachiko was poised but vulnerable, and the other roses and their petite soeurs were pretty individualistic. Some even had interesting back stories. However, everyone was likable, which is a bit uninteresting in a way. In addition, their personalities were a little too one-dimensional. It reminded me a bit of these other game-based harem shows, like Meine Liebe and Harukanaru, where each guy has a very shallow personality because he has to represent just a few qualities, so that the girl can pick the one she likes the best and doesn't have to wade through a multi-layered personality. So although each character had a well-defined personality, they didn't have enough depth to really stand out.

Enjoyment 5/10
It wasn't painful to watch, but it wasn't all that engaging either. Yumi, the real heroine, started out as an ordinary girl who was given an extraordinary opportunity--to be Sachiko's petite soeur. That's a nice setup, but Yumi doesn't really vindicate herself. Throughout the show, she remains the sweet, ordinary girl thrown amongst extraordinary people. In a way, that's the show's point--that she was extraordinary in her own way. However, I'm more into shows where the protagonist really grows and eventually shines. The lack of conflict and the lack of growth were tedious.

Overall 7/10
It's hard giving this a final overall mark. I don't want to be too harsh because I realize that this isn't a genre I especially enjoy. I think that the show was what it intended to be, so saying that the plot wasn't fast-paced enough for me or that Yumi didn't grow enough as a character isn't entirely fair. Still, I think that the story would have been much better with a bit more conflict and a few characters who weren't so likable. And I would have liked to know more about Yumi's own background.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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	Poll: Maria-sama ga Miteru Episode 4 Discussion Cratex - Sep 27, 2012	12 replies	by ObedPM »» Aug 12, 5:16 AM
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