Junketsu no Maria

Maria is a powerful young witch living with her two familiars in medieval France during the Hundred Years' War against England. As the war rages on and the innocent get caught in its destruction, Maria becomes fed up with the situation and begins using her magic to try and prevent further conflict in hopes of maintaining peace. However, her constant intervention soon attracts the attention of the heavens, and the archangel Michael is sent to keep her from meddling in human affairs. The divine being confronts Maria, and he forbids her from using her powers, issuing a decree that her magic will be taken if she loses her virginity. Though she is now labeled a heretic, Maria adamantly refuses to heed Michael's warning and continues to disrupt the war between the two nations. But as the Church begins plotting to take away the witch's power and put a stop to Maria's interference once and for all, her peacemaking may soon come to an end.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Maria Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Ezekiel Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Joseph Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Michael Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Viv Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Artemis Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Bernard Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Edwina Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Priapos Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Garfa Supporting

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Kisara, Youhei Producer

Shimizu, Norie Producer

Nishimura, Tomoyasu Producer

Reviews

Oct 3, 2023

DanEndra_Tensei

Recommended

"Maria the Virgin Witch" is a unique anime series set in medieval France during the Hundred Years' War against England. The story follows Maria, a powerful young witch, who becomes fed up with the ongoing conflict and decides to use her magic to prevent further bloodshed and maintain peace. However, her constant intervention attracts the attention of the heavens, and the archangel Michael is sent to stop her meddling in human affairs. Michael forbids Maria from using her powers and issues a decree that she will lose her magic if she loses her virginity. As Maria adamantly continues to disrupt the war, the Church plots ... to take away her power and end her interference.

Genres and Themes:
"Maria the Virgin Witch" is a blend of historical, fantasy, comedy, and romance genres. It addresses philosophical concepts like free will and the problem of evil while offering a critique of strict adherence to religious customs. The anime delves into the fear of witches during the dark ages and explores themes of religious conflict and pacifism in a historical context.

Plot and Characters:
The story revolves around Maria's unwavering desire for peace and her use of magic to achieve it. She interferes in battles, drawing the attention of Heaven, and forms complex relationships with characters like Joseph and Ezekiel. The anime's supporting cast includes fellow witches, familiars, townspeople, Church members, and soldiers. Each character develops their own beliefs and values, contributing to the show's complexity.

Art and Animation:
"Maria the Virgin Witch" features a visually appealing art style and historical accuracy in its setting and character designs. The animation is smooth and fluid, particularly in combat scenes, which are notable for their historical accuracy in depicting medieval combat and weaponry.

Music and Sound:
The soundtrack is serviceable, with an upbeat opening theme that sets the tone for the show. The ending theme is a mellow outro that fits the overall atmosphere. Background music complements the fantasy setting but isn't particularly standout.

Pros:

Unique historical and fantasy setting.
Complex characters with individual beliefs.
Balances philosophical and religious themes.
Visually appealing art and animation.
Engaging and accurate combat scenes.
Cons:

Repetitive and formulaic storytelling.
Clunky dialogue and translation.
Faux-intellectualism and shallow exploration of philosophical themes.
Lack of character development for some key characters.
Inconsistent use of historical and fantasy elements.

Overall Rating: 7/10
"Maria the Virgin Witch" offers a unique blend of historical accuracy, fantasy, and philosophical exploration. While it has its flaws, such as repetitive storytelling and some underdeveloped characters, its thought-provoking themes and visually appealing art make it a worthwhile watch for those interested in a different take on the medieval fantasy genre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 3, 2019

Animuse94

Mixed Feelings

Junketsu no Maria is a very confusing anime to rate. There were things that I greatly enjoyed watching and other that definitely needed improvement.
Theme is a huge issue in this particular anime as it addresses the fear of the witches in the dark ages. As most of you know, women with knowledge that exceeded those of men where named 'witches'. People that didn't agree with the church and went against it were called heretics and punished by the church.
That's a very dark part of history and I feel it's not being brought to full light. And that could be fine only the anime is not ... sure when it wants to be more light-hearted and when it wants to be darker.
The same goes for the ending. I felt it was rushed and too Disney like.

Another problem is the characters. Due to the anime being only 12 episodes you don't get a real feel of who the characters are and what their motivation is. Heck, the main heroine's ideals are barely explained. Maria hates wars.... OK...But why? It's never fully explained why or where that comes from especially since it's a huge thing in the series.

These two are my biggest problems with the series. However, I did enjoy the anime. I liked the characters and that's why I wanted to know more about them. Maria was very likeable and I loved her general attitude. She fought for what she believed in and refused to change for other people. That's very difficult to do even in our day and age.

I also loved the relationships between characters as they do have complicated relationships. Especially with Maria. By the end of the series their own will is being put to the test and they know that depending on their decision a lot will be at stake.

The art and sound are great. I loved the opening and have listened to the song in repeat many times.

It's a generally alright anime. Watch the first episode to get a feel for it and see if it's your cup of tea.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 16, 2024

SgtSalamander

Not Recommended

*No story spoilers, but opinions on the ending, which is only vaguely alluded to*

Maria the Virgin Witch is an anime which has sat in my watchlist for a period of years, and I always had high hopes for it due to the cursory glances I would take every now and then. Unfortunately, having now watched the show, I can honestly say it is a disappointment. It takes its impressive setting, art design, and historical accuracy, then squanders it with poor writing, storyboarding, and characterization. To begin with the story, it starts out simple but strong. Set in France during the ... 100 Years' War, we are met with a pacifist witch named Mary whose magical powers are tied to her virginity due to an altercation with an archangel. I'll start with the positives, which are all present in episode 1. The 100 Years' War setting is accurate and obviously well-researched, the way the world works pursuant to that point is also accurate, and the viewer is presented with a measured and balanced historical fantasy setting that just makes sense and serves as an excellent vehicle for interesting plot progression. However, past the admittedly strong first episode, the story stays simple, becoming simplistic, and is seriously lacking any real development beyond the boilerplate formula necessary to keep the show going for 12 episodes. It stumbles over itself again and again by presenting us with an abundance of redundant scenes which illustrate the same things, like several scenes which state that the church is going to take some kind of action against Maria, or that Garfa is ambitious, or that Maria is going to continue risking her life to stop wars. The arc of the story is decidedly lackluster as a result, and does the bare minimum to keep you watching, rehashing the same lesser arc cycle episode after episode until the big crisis hits and there's no sense of tension because all that the characters have been through feels underwhelming, almost like it was rushed. The show also boasts a painfully short list of jokes that it rehashes at every opportunity, which are meant to distract from its formulaic story structure, like poking fun at her virginity, or a succubus sex joke, or awkward romantic encounters, and so on. On top of all of that is the fact that the writing, or at the very least the translation, is clunky and unpleasant to experience. In both the sub and the dub, which is itself poorly voice acted, sentences are constructed in ways that make it sound like we're dealing with a host of patients from the concussion ward. It's still all understandable, but the way the dialogue is presented to the viewer leads to dry, meandering dialogue which does not flow 80% of the time. Even with all of this, my least favorite part of the story has to be its faux-intellectualism and egregious misunderstanding of the questions it's dealing with. For a show that is so accurate in so many ways, it makes its approach to philosophy and theology that much more infuriating, because it didn't have to be this way. The way the Archangel Michael talks about the will of God, and how the monks speak about God and the church, are clearly indicative of a writer who has only bothered exploring the most surface-level research on the subject, then got even that wrong anyway. During a particular character's personal religious revelation moment, he has a full-on philosophical dialectic against himself that is clearly made up of the opening paragraphs to the chapters of an entry-level religious studies textbook. From start to finish, the major problem with the story is this all-pervasive lack of effort, and it shows. Then they throw in the story-irrelevant Valkyries and Cernunnos, just to make sure the cosmology isn't even a little internally consistent.

The art meanwhile is a double-edged sword. The art direction is easily the best part of this anime, everything from the vivid backgrounds to the striking character designs which leave the viewer with the sense that they were treated with a great deal of care and attention. Maria and the other witches especially are blessed with these creative and unique designs that deserve commendation all their own. Through its aesthetic, this anime cultivates a magical atmosphere that is nonetheless believable in the context of the Medieval era. The animation, too, is smooth and fluid the vast majority of the time, which really highlights its most impressive achievement; The historical accuracy of the arms, armor, and combat. I don't think I've seen another anime absolutely nail the historical aspect of medieval combat, down to the smallest details like gambeson strings and jackchains, as well as the combat itself. The combat is engaging and action-packed while still being competent and accurate. Unfortunately, it's not all praise for the art. Certain scenes are reused entirely too often, sometimes character's faces fail to show sufficient emotion, or even any emotion at all, and in certain rare shots everything breaks down, like lips failing to move when their characters are speaking, or people dying who just fall flat as a board like some kind of looney tunes character.

There is not nearly as much to say about the sound, which is pretty average. The soundtrack is decidedly unremarkable, but not bad by any means. The sounds of life are lacking in a variety of scenes, but not enough to totally shatter immersion on their own.

However, the characters are more than capable of shattering immersion themselves. For example, Maria's desire to stop war does not go any further than 'because war bad and I am nice'. Her motivations are never explored or given deeper meaning, and nobody else in the story really grows or changes, save for perhaps Edwina, who is hardly in the show in the first place. None of them felt like real, impactful characters, and not a single one stands out from among them as a character worth thinking about after you finish the show. Maria is still obstinate, Joseph is still naive, Garfa is still an ass, and nobody has learned anything, again, save for Edwina, who isn't even a secondary character in this show. Overall, I really wanted to like this anime. The concept and art design had so much promise, and indeed when judged alone those things are quite good, but I gave it a fair chance and when judged as a whole Maria the Virgin Witch is not what it promises to be, which is a real shame.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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