Anime: Maria-sama ga Miteru

Animation
I realy liked it's drawing style, it exactly looks like how I think an anime should look like in my opinion. Not too trdaitional, neighter too modern, it's not like Ghost in the shell 2 for example.
Characters
Yumi, beeing the main actress, supposed to be a normal girl, amongst the Roses, yet she is too cute.
I also felt that the Character of Sachiko is a bit screwed up is some episodes, like they couldn't decide how she should be or something. That's fine though, I don't realy like well categorizable characters, they are like, black and white. No colors.
Story
The story has no real point, I mean no enemies, nothing to really achive, but it's all about love as in sisterly love, social life, friendship. It's really a happy and fun story.
We get to know the Characters one by one, and together.
It shows wide aspects of the human relationships the Characters had/have.
Sound
The sound is just allways fitting the mood. It never screwed it up, nor raised it too much. However it sounded like a bit childish sometimes, and the quality of the rip is not the best eighter.
Enjoyment
This series were awesome. I usually felt sad when I finished any series I watched. This series is different.
It started to work on my feelings right from the begining, making it more hard for me tho watch it, but more fun. I was like OMGWTF I got PWND NEDM. I was prety sure, that I will miss these Characters, this imaginary world, these feelings the series gave me more than any virtual world, any anime characters, etc .. before. I was prooved wrong.
Actually somewere at the middle I started to feel comforted. I felt like they take care of my feelings for me, so I don't realy need to fear the usual sadnes of the end coming. I was proved wrong again, but there came the next series.
Value
This anime is about some very important factors in the society. Human feelings, and social life.
It's the most precious anime for me I ever got a copy of.
It's a gem, and I think everyone who get's captured in anything easily should watch it. It actually gave me an experience anime never gave me before.
You should deffinately, must watch it, and the next series.

How pleasant it is to see such a basic premise played out so masterfully...

Animation:

At times, it was difficult to tell the characters apart. For the first few episodes at least, it seemed problematic distinguishing which girl was which, because their faces were all so alike. To make distinctions, look at the hairstyles. Very rarely do you see the characters out of their school uniforms, so you really don't see much difference in any characters appearence, save their face, hair, and height.

The standard 'slow-motion, dramatic, hair blowing in the wind to illustrate how magnificent my natural beauty is' portions are all in full-swing here. Though the girls are attractive, it's not their artwork that is distinctive. The girls in this show actually seem to look their age. That is, there is no typical busty temptresses, and most high school programs have at least one, especially one where the show stars over 90% females.

Sound:

If you never saw a car, it would be very hard to tell what era this story took place in. Nearly all the characters are in constant observance of manners everytime they speak. There's no music to speak of outside of the piano/violin/classical ballads that play in the backgrounds.

While very few sequences feature particularly gripping music, it is all so fitting. The setting of Marimite is very peaceful, intimate, gentle, and the music reflects it.

The Seiyuu are a well known bunch. Miki Ito the actress for Sachicko Ogasawara, recently starred alongside Kana Ueda who played as Yumi Fukuzawa in Fate/Stay Night as Taiga, and Rin Tohsaka respectively. It's nice when voice actresses/actors illustrate diversity.

Story:

The story itself, is quite simplistic. It revolves around an all-girl, private catholic school, in a suburb of Tokyo. If there was a gimmick to Marimite, it would be the developing intimacies between the female 'souers' (Sisters). You follow the group of young women through their path of young adulthood, how they deal with their school hardships, and how their feelings evolve, regarding both themselves, and those around them.

Characters:

The real flavor of this program, comes out in full-force, when you really begin getting to know the characters. None of the girls really show a personality we haven't seen at some point, in some show before. In other words, all your standard clichè's are present. The good news is, that each girl, even the ones you didn't think you'd end up caring about, has a story, and even within the shows short run, they do a good job of introducing you to them, filling you in on who they are, then wishing them well on their next step in their lives.

Everyone has an agenda, a goal, or a purpose. Empathy comes in truckloads in this one, and it's always nice to care about your characters in a drama.

Yumi Fukuzawa is your typical shy, timid, nice girl, with the bright personality, and golden heart. We just can't get enough of this character (type) can we? What Yumi does that is admirable, is when things get rough, she's not afraid to show her feelings, but on the other end of the spectrum, the other characters also trust her. The story is sometimes told by other characters, through their conversations when they confide in Yumi. She conveys a strong aura of trust in the other girls, and becomes everyones friend that she can.

Sachicko Ogasawara is your typical prim-and-proper misunderstood princess. Beautiful, intelligent, and totally idolized by her peers. Her change is slow and steady, and you may not even see it by the end of the first season, but it all begins with Yumi.

The relationship between these two reminds you of a much less dramatic Himeko/Chikane (Kannazuki No Miko) friendship.

Sei Satou (Rosa Gigantea) is your not-so-typical comic relief. On top of being one of the only characters in the show with a taboo sense of humor, she is wise, and has had her share of tragedy to make her who she is.

It's hard to rate the story, or the characters individually, because the characters of Marimite, are the story. This is the shows strongest appeal.

In the End...

Maria-sama whispers elegance. Subtle, yet strong intimacy enthrall you into this blissful, character-driven tale. Short, but pleasantly addictive.

Maria-sama ga Miteru is a very unusual anime. Its best quality is one that few other anime shows have been able to match. Its animation is ok, nothing special. Character design is a little out of the ordinary, but effective or ugly largely depending on your taste. The backgrounds are also only somewhat above average--often watercolor, which is pretty, but there's little detail and the colors are bland. Music is unique, and powerful sometimes--but sometimes bland as well.

Where "marimite" really stands out is in its characterization. It has a certain "understanding" or "heart" to it very rarely found in other shows. This is not to say it is a really 'moral' story, only that it feels like an accurate representation of the ways real girls cope with the difficulties posed to them by Japanese culture.

Animation
The animation is not really great. It's about average. It's rather choppy sometimes, though towards the end of the season it does improve. However, because the series is not about intergalatic wars or slapstick comedy, but rather just regular people interacting with each other, I felt that the so-so animation quality detracts little from the show.

The backgrounds tend to be watercolors with a light palette focused around yellows and browns, as other reviewers have noted. They are pretty in their own way, but lack variety and are not as detailed as they could be. This puts them slightly above average in anime.

Character design is a mixed bag. The characters tend to have a lot of sharp angles in their faces and hair...in some cases this works well and looks beautiful or dramatic, but in others it looks really bizarre and exaggerated.
Sound
Katakura Mikiya's musical score gives the story a unique, classical feel sufficiently different from other animes. Many (though definitely not all) tracks are inspired and interesting, helping to support the emotional mood of the story. Overall Marimite's music is above average in anime.

Voice acting (Japanese) is pretty good, and there are no outstandingly bad actors.

Story
Marimite usually has very little story. When it does, it's to develop and 'flesh out' the characters. Thus, the characters and their interactions are the story. See below section 'Characters'.

Character
This is the single best part of Maria sama ga Mitery and what puts it far ahead of the vast majority of anime.

Almost every character, with the notable exception of Youko, is very well developed as a real person, with varied, but largely balanced weaknesses and strengths. Even the presentation of the characters us well done--At the beginning, when Yumi is very inconfident, the other characters seem intimidating or rude, and as they get to know each other better, the truth behind people's exteriors becomes apparent in loving detail.

All this is great in itself, but Marimite also breaks through anime stereotypes. The de-mythologizing of the uke-seme relationship is one of these breakthroughs: often in anime romances there will be one person(usually female) who is weak-spirited, and/or inconfident and/or incompetent and another who is 'right all the time,' confident, and often cold or somewhat distant. The "strong" character is always rescuing the weak one.

The romance between Yumi and Sachiko may at first glance seem a traditional uke-seme theme: Yumi feels inconfident, panics often, gets embarassed and seems unable to defend herself from abuse, while Sachiko seems cold, powerful, graceful, and correct.

But as the series progresses and the characters develop, it's revealed that, in this relationship, the truth is much more complicated, in some ways opposite to the stereotype, much more realistic, and finally much more human than in most animes. It's found to be true here as in real life that sympathy and compassion are the most powerful forces helping people to survive life and avoid depression.

Also a breakthrough is the way Marimite shows realistic and believable ways the different characters submit to or rebel against pre-packaged roles for women in Japanese society--the female stereotypes you've seen, combinations of the following six adjectives: "cold," "harsh," "altruistic/indulging," "silly," and/or "weak". The Marimite characters themselves show a great complexity that reminds one of real people, and despite their chosen behaivors never quite fit into any of the boxes.

Value
Speaking personally, I rarely watch anything twice so I probably wouldn't be a good judge of that. But, in terms of the depth of the character interactions, it's interesting to watch the whole series and then go back, knowing the characters' true motivations, and now understanding why they took the actions they did early on.

Enjoyment
I had a blast watching this anime (though it was hard sometimes), and I think most people would enjoy it because of the strong human element throughout the story. However, you might not. Speaking generally, Marimite has:

• 
  * no fighting/weapons/wars
  * only one thankfully brief instance of fanservice
  * no 'moe' or 'extreme cuteness'
  * no aliens/fantastic creatures
  * very little plot
  * no 'extreme cruelty' that is common to many anime
  * gays & lesbians
  * excellent characterization
  * heavily detailed relationships
  * characters with huge eyes and very sharp noses
  

If anything you see in that list turns you off, you might not 'enjoy' this series..but I recommend it to everyone, regardless of whether they think they would enjoy it or not from these reviews. Because it's a very unusual anime.

Maria-sama ga Miteru is a different style of anime. When I was first reccomended the title, I was a bit reluctant because of its religious implications (I thought ''Catholic school? Must be religious''), but I was far from the truth. This Catholic school seems to become more of a part of the setting than an actual defining trait. The Catholic school setting does add a pretty plausible relationship scheme in called the ''Soeur system''. At the head of the Yamiyurikai (or student council) you have three Roses. Each Rose is given a title: Rosa Chinesis, Rosa Gigantea, and Rosa Foetida. These roses are also given colors (which plays a role in one of the anecdotes and some of the episode titles). Each Rose then picks a ''Rosa en bouton'' whom they will act as friend and mentor to, while guiding them during hardships (hence the name ''soeur'' which means sister in French). These ''en bouton''s pick ''petite soeurs'' (little sisters) who act as the same way as a ''en bouton'' does to a Rose but instead to the ''en bouton''. In order to pick someone as your soeur, you must present them a Rosary. It is then up to the person to whom the Rosary is being presented to to accept or deny (but is very rarely rejected -- every girl wants to be a soeur of the three Roses). The soeur system is an odd one. It seems much stronger than a mere friendship, stronger even still than a very good friend, but not as strong as a lover. Still, this system becomes natural in time after one watches the episodes.

Another thing I was told from the start was this: Maria-sama ga Miteru has almost no actual action, there's no dying, no killing, no bloodshed, no childly-glorified little booboos nor is there any hint of action in the premise of the story. If you're looking for some kind of epic Fantasy, or in general like your anime to have an ethereal quality, Maria-sama ga Miteru is not for you. That aside, let's talk about the good and the bad.

Animation

This is, by far, the weakest part of Maria-sama ga Miteru, but I expected it to be weak. The colors, as others have said, are warm. There seems to be an emphasis on yellow on the backgrounds, and the rest of the colors are creamy. The characters are excellently drawn (especially the men, Sachiko's cousin looks incredible). One thing to note about the character design is important. The few male characters in the story look *gorgeous*, while the female students of the school don't look as overtly beautiful. Sure they all have poise and grace all of their own, and their appearance reflects their character (I still think of Rosa Gigantea as an elven princess), this emphasis can be a bit annoying. Granted it is a welcome departure from buxom women, but not all will like this departure (I liked it a lot, personally, it sort of flips the perspective around of conventional Shounen anime). Aside from the character designs, there are settings. The settings are only detailed when it becomes important to the story (the last two episodes and the scenes in the Rose Mansion, really) and the whole anime tends to take on a yellow-ish tint because of the overemphasis on yellow. While the animation is pretty average, it doesen't need to be better. Also, you almost never will look at the backgrounds anyway, because the emphasis is on the characters.

Sound

While some people say that the sound is subpar, I say it's top notch. Maria-sama ga Miteru's score is permeated with classical themes, all of which fit the setting very well. The only problem with the sound is your own preference for classical music. I love classical music and listen to it healthily as part of my music collection (which includes Black Metal, if you thought Classical meant anything) and so I love Classical music (or rather, European Classical should be more accurate). The background music all has a soft, Classical theme and greatly benefits the action in the story and builds up great atmosphere. Both the opening and the closing are elegant and classy and work out as a good start and finish to the anime. Classical music won't really make your feet tap because, truth be told, you can't really tap your feet to Classical music.

The seiyuu's of the Roses, the en boutons, and the petite soeurs are great, but the seiyuu's of the more supporting characters (such as the lesser known of the two newspaper club girls we see) are at best average. What astounds me the most about the voice acting in Maria-sama ga Miteru is the use of French and English. Characteristic of Japanese speakers, English is pronounced very blockily (and they have ever right to, English speakers botch up Japanese pronunciations into god-awful sounds) and often only sketchily imitates a word. On the other hand, the pronunciation of French in Maria-sama ga Miteru is incredible. English speakers often botch up French (soeur itself, being so common, is mispronounced pretty often by English speakers), but Maria-sama ga Miteru's seiyuu's do an astounding job at French. Most of the words sound authentically spoken, and the others have only minor changes (compare that to the way Rosa Gigantea says ''Happy Birthday''). This has led me to often heated arguments as to why Japanese seiyuu's can speak French so well compared to their English counterparts (I'm starting to think that the only thing English speakers can pronounce well is their local dialect). Hats off to fantastic French pronunciation and enunciation.

Story

Here is where Maria-sama ga Miteru differs from other anime most. Maria-sama ga Miteru has no central story. Each episode is a seperate little anecdote that either involves Yumi (the main character, who I will explain with more depth in the ''Characters'' section) directly, or involves one of the Roses and indirectly involves Yumi. These little anecdotes each build up the characters of the Roses, en boutons, and petite soeurs (henceforth referred to simply as Roses) slowly. The Roses and their actions in the Rose Mansion and their dealings in the Yamiyurikai start becoming more involved and more personal. The writers did a fantastic job of putting the story through the point-of-view of the narrator (will be talked about more in the Characters section).

Best of all, Maria-sama ga Miteru takes an approach rare to anime and worldwide movies in general. Very rarely do you see TV shows or movies that present a good story in a modest setting. It may be best to take examples from common anime. A great drama can only be told through a psychotic boy who has watched his family members leave him and his friends die and is given the fate of the world in the form of Christian symbol (think Evangelion). Good war stories can only be told either in large space scapes where humongous machines unload tons and tons of firepower with human controlled pilots (think the Mobile Suit Gundam series) or in a wartorn world where magic rules, elves and dwarves are common, and there are evil warriors abound (think Record of Lodoss War or Escaflowne). Maria-sama ga Miteru is a real drama that involves real people in a real setting (assuming a Catholic school like that still exists, and I don't doubt it doesen't). We've become so intoxicated with maddening special effects and epic battles that we've forgotten what really makes a gripping story -- the people. Everything in Maria-sama ga Miteru revolves around the Roses and their going-ons, and let me say I wouldn't have it any other way.

Still, the little anecdotes in the show aren't appealing to everyone. The anecdotes are all very well done, and oftentimes leave you wondering about what happened in between the anecdotes. Some of the anecdotes feel disjointed, especially towards the middle of the series (the beginning and end all flow very well). The worst part about Maria-sama ga Miteru would have to be the ending. The ending leaves the series totally open. The saving grace would be the continuation (Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~), but even still, the series doesen't end in any semblance of an ending. Multi-part series often end a season with a weak ending, enough to end the current series, but not enough for you to lose interest in the series. Maria-sama ga Miteru simply promises another episode, albeit with a long pause. I'm watching ~Haru~ right now and have to say, it's just as excellent as the original, and probably better, I'll post my review in the AniDB page for ~Haru~ once I finish it.

Character

Wherever Maria-sama ga Miteru lacks, it more than makes up for in character development. The whole anime is very slow, but intentionally slow because the story revolves around a central group of characters that mature and develop. This is the area in which Maria-sama ga Miteru truly shows its worth. Most of Maria-sama ga Miteru is told through the eyes of Yumi, a shy (almost stereotypical) girl who goes to school at Lillian High School. While at school, Yumi meets Sachiko Ogasawara, Rosa Chinesis en Bouton. She dreams that Sachiko holds special regard to her, due to a small meeting she had with Sachiko, but is quickly disillusioned when she learns that the Roses are idolized by many girls at the school. Later, Yumi is asked to be Sachiko's petite soeur because of a play that Sachiko is forced into performing. While Yumi doesen't take the path you think she will take, she does become Sachiko's petite soeur eventually. And thus, the interaction between Yumi and the rest of the Roses starts.

The character development of Maria-sama ga Miteru is simply spectacular. From the onset, Yumi is put in excellent perspective for the watcher, giving enough insight into her thoughts for us to feel what Yumi feels and believe what Yumi believes. In the beginning of the anime, the Yamiyurikai is portrayed as aloof and slightly hostile. As time goes on and Yumi interacts with the Roses more and more, Yumi's perspective (and yours) changes. The petite soeurs all develop a distinct character of their own as do the en Boutons (including Yumi, of course). The one point where this anime lacks is the development of the third year Roses. Other than one notable exception, the third year Roses are left unexplored, and are cast in a perching, overseeing light. The going-ons of the third year Roses seem to take little effect on Yumi, so their character stays relatively undeveloped (again with a notable exception). By the end of the anime, you will have your most and least favorite Roses, there will be very little ambiguity.

Value

Maria-sama ga Miteru is easily worth its weight in gold. With a great story and the best characters I've seen portrayed on a screen, it's a winner in every way. Plus, every episode of the anime is packed with worthwile anecdotes, you'll see no useless filler. Highly Reccomended.

Enjoyment

If you haven't been able to tell by my review thus far, I absolutely loved Maria-sama ga Miteru. Still, it isn't for everyone. Maria-sama ga Miteru lacks action of any sort, but makes up for it with excellent character development, drama, and light-hearted humor. While the anime does get very emotional near the end, this serves only to enhance the experience. Maria-sama ga Miteru is excellent in most every way, and I highly reccomend it. Also, check out the continuation -- Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~. I'm watching it currently and can assure an even better series.

Before I begin to review, I should mention that the description for this anime on anidb was a large part in getting me to get into the show. In the first episode, a large amount of confusing and unexplained French jargon is thrown at you, and only with the explanation on anidb could I actually make any sense of it.

Maria-sama ga Miteru's appeal is very difficult to pin down, as the usual things that tend to make an anime great are all but missing. The things I generally hope to see in anime - exciting action sequences, a compelling storyline, fantastical imagery - are pretty much absent in this show. While some of the slower, more down-to-earth animes out there are similar, all of them feel like they are trying to mimic real life, while Maria-sama really doesn't. Instead, the anime almost meanders its way across 13 episodes, with no apparent direction or purpose. Based on this fact alone, I can easily see why many people dislike the show.

However, while weaknesses in the story are apparent, there are also definite strengths in other areas. First and foremost are the excellent characters. Over the course of the anime, a good portion of the girls in the show are developed remarkably well. Though in the first episode the audience is bewildered with a series of girls who are difficult to differentiate from each other, as time goes on each of these girls seperates herself from the rest with her own unique and loveable personality. By the end of the show, I felt like I knew each of the characters as a close companion - an admirable trait given the large cast and the small number of episodes.

Also to consider is the wonderful music present in the show. While many people's dislike of the classical genre seems to be preventing them from enjoying the music fully, I for one absolutely love it. The soundtrack is composed almost entirely of peaceful and pure melodies, which fits remarkably well with the relaxed mood of the show. I don't think I've heard such good instrumental music since Now and Then, Here and There.

Finally, as a whole, the animation is surprisingly good. Character designs are nothing short of phenomenal; all of them (except the main character) almost perfectly reflect a kind of untouchable beauty in both their appearence and posture. Similarly, the backgrounds of the actual school have excellent detail in both the buildings and surrounding trees. Unfortunately, any quick movements tend to be choppy and poorly done (although these moments are thankfully brief), and the backgrounds outside of the school are noticably below average.

After some thought, I've decided that this show's greatest strength is the way it envelopes you in its own seperate environment. Due to the stunningly well drawn backgrounds of the all-girls Catholic school, the outstanding classical soundtrack, and the amazingly well developed characters, I became almost totally immersed in the anime's seperate world - and what a wonderful world it is. Amazingly enough, Maria-sama closely mirrors the Catholic school in which the anime takes place; they both act as a much-needed shelter from the hardships of reality. While watching the anime, I found it remarkably easy to totally forget about the troubles of my real life and focus on the problems that the girls encountered. In other words, Maria-sama is escapism at its best. Despite a relatively weak story (episodes 10, 12, and 13 are especially tedious), I'd nonetheless recommend this to anyone who enjoys slower-paced series like Haibane Renmei.

Maria-sama ga miteru is about the Girls at the Lillian all girl's school.
The Anime is shown most of the time from the perspective of Yumi, a first year, who admires Sachiko, a second year and the "Rosa chinensis en bouton".
The Lillian Academy's Student Council contends out of three girls, the so called "roses" which have a "petite soeur" (little sister) the "Rosa... en bouton", which can pick also a "petite soeur".

Animation
The Animation is very good; the character move smooth, the Picture is sharp and the colours rich.
There are no Action and less fast sequences that could show the real quality, but those wouldn't fit, so it is not necessary.

Sound
The opening sounds in the first time a bit strange, but it fits really well to the Anime, same with the Ending.
The BGM is also great, every time decent and fitting.
The Seiyuu cast is really good too, the voices are fitting and the Seiyuu have done a great job, the feelings of the characters are very good transmitted.
A special compliment for the pronouncement of the French words.

Story
The story is different to the most other Anime stories, it is an alldaylife story, similar to "Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou".
The Plot focuses most on the characters, their development and the Relationships and their development.
The story is in a way slow, most in the beginning, but that fits well. It has a dramatic aspect, so that most of the time, there is time a kind of suspense.
The story is all the Time realistic and could be from a diary or something similar.
It is a kind of story that you either love, because of its strong character development and it?s depth and its emotionality, or hate it, because it is so slow and with less development in the story itself.

Character
The characters are all very deep and most show much development.
All Important characters differ and you can identify with them, especially with Yumi.
The relationships between the characters are very good shown and show also a great amount of development.

Value
The value of this Anime is very high, because of its very unique style.
You have to watch it twice, to catch most of its meanings.
This isn't an easy Anime, but it is really a great one.
I can't recommend this Anime to everyone, but I can recommend to try it.

Enjoyment
I enjoined this show very much, because of its strong character development and the Emotions.
It have really moved me, sometimes moved to tears, what doesn?t happen often, so this Anime is something really special, so now it is one of my absolute favourites.