Maria-sama ga Miteru: Haru

Alright, second season done. Time for a little pit-stop review, before I move onto the OVA. Generally speaking, more or less everything I said in my S1 review still stands; I still love the slightly stuff tone, although it was a little less present here. The storylines are a little bigger, pushing the stakes up a little, or at least dragging some even bigger emotions out of them, and that's generally worked very well. Like the first season, it's the character writing that makes the story really work; Reiko Yoshida continues to do a fantastic job at dragging the emotions out of these relationships, resolving ... a few in very satisfying ways and starting some new ones just as effectively. My personal highlight is the midpoint of the season, which is, in its own way, something of an ending, and it hits the notes perfectly.

The animation felt a little improved, but is still definitely the weak link here. Not surprised, but it's worth remarking on.

Anyway, time to get into the OVAs. Loving where this show's been so far, looking forward to seeing where it goes next.

The second season of MariMite might as well have been the second half of the first season. Which is not to say anything bad about this season, but story-wise, it is mostly a continuation of the main premise behind the first season; which is to say, it finishes out the story of the beginning of Yumi and Sachiko's budding relationship as "soeurs".

The cons that I listed in my review of the first season remain the same for the second season: the animation isn't amazing and sometimes uses shortcuts (though none of that detracts from the story), and the story itself is character-driven with no ... action to speak of (save for a brief glimpse of an expensive sports car being poorly mistreated by its driver).

So, on to the good stuff:

As always, the main plot of the series focuses on the relationship between Yumi and Sachiko and how they come to understand each other, appreciate their differences, and grow closer. Yumi is still terribly unsure of herself around Sachiko, who seems to come from a different planet compared to Yumi's normal, humble existence. The first episode of this season brings that message fully home when we finally get a view into Sachiko's home life, as the ladies of the Yamayuri council attend a New Year's party at Sachiko's palatial manor (it seriously looks like Bruce Wayne could live there). But while awed at how lavishly Sachiko lives, Yumi is also made aware of how fond Sachiko has become of Yumi, and her growing importance in Sachiko's life.

Still, Yumi remains unsure of herself around Sachiko, and Sachiko is, as of yet, unable to express her affection (or any positive emotions, for that matter) to Yumi. This continues to cause issues between the two through to the season's climax. Matters are not made any easier with the introduction of my third favorite character in this series, Touko, who is a distant relative of Sachiko's. Touko has entered Lilian Academy's high school as a first year and immediately latches onto Sachiko to grab as much attention away from Yumi as she can. Touko is, within seconds of her first appearance, set up to be the main antagonist for this season (and indeed, often appears to be so through to the end of the series), and an invested viewer cannot help but feel immediate animosity towards her. She is a devious little girl, often appearing too smart for her own good. Her actions are bold and calculated; she reads people like a book, and seems to easily see what is going on behind the scenes. She becomes the perfect foil to the clumsy and unsure Yumi.

I immediately liked Touko, and as the seasons progressed it became clearer that she was a complicated character, driven by motives and emotions that seem irrational or antagonistic until they are explained all the way at the end of the fourth season. Rei Kugimiya, the voice behind Touko, does an amazing job bringing this character to life, showing a broad range from willful strength to (later in the series) incredible vulnerability.

As for the climax of the season, it all comes to a head in the final three-episode arc at the end. Yumi's world seems to crash down around her, as she and Sachiko manage to miscommunicate themselves into a sudden burst of melodrama that seems to bring them to the cusp of ending their sisterhood and friendship. And look, the drama is well-played and Yumi's redemption arc through growth in her own maturity, resolve and confidence, as well as acceptance of her independence apart from Sachiko, makes for a good story. BUT. After watching it, I couldn't help but think all of that drama could have been avoided with a 15 second conversation where Sachiko gave even a brief explanation of why she was acting the way she did instead of just assuming Yumi would get it. She should have known Yumi better than that by the time it all started to happen. That tugs at my brain every time I think about it.

Still, the ending scene more than makes up for it, and there was a brief explanation as to why Sachiko didn't say anything that does make a sort of sense given Sachiko's character. Still bugs me a little, but I can live with it since the outcome was a more mature and confident Yumi and a stronger bond between the two soeurs. I don't think I'm spoiling anything there since there are two more seasons in the series.

Other notable plots in this season: The graduation of the third years means Sei, Yoko and Eriko leave the story as regular characters (though they do tend to pop up throughout the rest of the series). Besides the emotional goodbyes and flashbacks to days gone by, the pinnacle of this story arc is an incredibly sweet moment between Yumi and Sei where you can see just how much the two meant to each other (and will continue to throughout the rest of the series).

The other main subplot of note is Shimako taking over as the new White Rose and having to fulfill the responsibility of finding her own petite soeur, which she is reluctant to do. However, this introduces the second new character for the series; Noriko, who ultimately becomes Shimako's little sister. Now, in my review for the first season, I stated that Sei was the only confirmed lesbian character in the series, and that remains true. She's the only one shown openly in a relationship with another girl that involved anything physical (in this case, kissing and the ever lewd hand holding). However, while nothing is particularly shown to prove that Shimako and Noriko are "more than friends", whenever the two appear in a scene together, the show slaps the viewer in the face with imagery and implications that there is more going on behind the scenes. Even Yumi, who constantly hears the "whoosh" sound of concepts flying over her head, manages to be aware that there are times that she should maybe step out of the room when those two are together. You have to justify the yuri tag somehow.

So, do I recommend the second season? Of course. If you enjoyed the first season, the second season only builds from there and does not dip in its storytelling. Nothing really felt like filler material, as story beats from the first season echo into this one, and consequences from actions taken during this season will resound through the rest of the series. It's the same good storytelling with a satisfying ending to a story arc that began in the first episode of the first season, and it left me ready to dig into the third season. You won't be disappointed.

Another season of an older anime series! But does it hold up? I'll assume you've seen the first season for the purposes of this review.

Story: Maria Watches Over Us: Printemps takes place directly after the first season. You could just about watch this right after the first season and not really notice a difference. Where we leave off is basically right before the final few days of Yumi's first year at Lilian Girls' Academy. We know this because all of the girls in their final year, are now set to graduate. This, of course, include the existing Roses - ... Sei, Youko and Eriko. Episodes take on multiple different feels, but generally have a nice flow to them. The first episode feels like a nice intro in that many of the girls go to Sachiko's house for New Year's Day, but the following episodes take each of the graduating Roses, and their respective "little sisters", and gives us a little insight about their past.

Much of the story is shown, rather than said, which is appreciated. They all clearly try and be emotional and they have all have very different stories, which prevents the overall plot from getting too stale. The final three episodes revolve around Yumi and Sachiko, and were by far the best. There is a lot of mystery about what's going on with the latter, and that's the kind of tense feeling that was sorely missing in both the first season, and the first bunch of episodes from this one. Outside of that, much of the story never blew me away, but if you're not super invested in the other Roses, this season may bore you. These kind of design choices are put into question because audiences likely want to see our main couple, but when done well, adding a mix of relationships can be welcomed. The ending leaves us with a sense of where Yumi and Sachiko's relationship could go, but time will tell if it actually evolves into more in the sequels to come. (6/10)

Characters: Our cast, more or less, remain the same, but, as previously stated, we get more insight about the graduating Roses and their respective "little sisters". This adds more depth to their characters. Sei and Shimako both grew on me after I finished their little arc. Yoshino, likewise, also grew on me because she feels like this high-energy, best friend to Yumi now and it's a fantastic contrast to the more mellow relationship that we see between Yumi and Sachiko. Yoshino is by far the best character in this season, outside of Yumi. For Sachiko, we really don't see her much outside of the last few episodes, but it almost feels like she takes a step backwards, based on what we saw at the end of the previous season. You can tell she isn't great with interpersonal relationships, something we noticed in the first season, but seeing more progression of her character would have gone a long way. Yumi, however, feels like she is evolving to the point where she wants to spend more time with Sachiko. She's great at displaying her emotions, just not always to the person she wants to. She never crosses into being an annoying character, but you can tell she wants to be treated with a touch more respect. Touko is a new inclusion to this season, a relative of Sachiko, and she adds a nice mix because it feels like she always wants to antagonize Yumi, something we haven't seen before. I'm curious where they go with her character in later seasons, but that's something I could see being addressed, especially after the end of this season. (7/10)

Art: The art never really surprises you one way or the other. Touching scenes are well shown, and that's what tends to count. There are times where the art somewhat falters and it makes characters look a lot lankier in some scenes than others, but considering this season was aired shortly after the first, I'm not too surprised. (6/10)

Sound: The OST was basically a non-factor, mostly with soft piano or string tunes. The OP and ED now has lyrics, but neither really impresses me, as they were both the same song as the first season. Voice acting, similarly, felt roughly the same level as the previous season and didn't impress or disappoint me, either way. (7/10)

Overall Enjoyment: Like with season 1, I'm on the fence as to whether Maria Watches Over Us: Printemps deserves a 6 or 7/10. I gave it a 7 in the first season because I felt like there was more to give, but much of the other main cast's stories didn't resonate as much with me as it likely would with other audience members. The final few episodes were really solid, but I wished this season gave a touch more. I'll likely check out the sequel OVA at some point, but like I said after the first season, I likely won't be in a rush to do so. This is still a fine series for audiences looking to see our students trying to form relationship ties with their "big" and "little" sisters, but it likely won't top anyone's list nowadays. (6/10)