Opening Sequence
Yumi and Sachiko are in the center
Fansub Anime: 13 episodes + 7 Omake bonus "out-takes"
Original Air Dates: 2004-01-07 to 2004-03-31
Page at Anime News Network
Rating: Recommended
Marie-sama ga Miteru is set in a French Catholic Girls School in Japan. It is traditional for the senior students to mentor the younger. They refer to each other as sister. The story revolves around the Rosas who are the leaders of the student body (or Yamayurikai), their petite soeur's (called Rosa Boutons) and the Bouton's petite soeurs.
The initial story arc deals with Sachiko (Red Rose Bouton) and Yumi (unattached first year). Seems Sachiko, for various reasons, dislikes men (later episodes/seasons show that this is a phobia level issue). She is the lead for the school play (Cinderella) which will be borrowing the Prince from Handera's Boy School. The Roses agree to let Sachiko quit the part of Cinderella if she can get Yumi to agree to be her petite souer. The catch is that insecure first year Yumi will have to play Cinderella in her stead. You can guess most of what happens, however it is done rather well, so even though you are sure that it will all work out, you find yourself watching just to make sure.
Due to the airing schedule in Japan, the next arc is set for Valentine's day, the main conflict is in the form of a girl from Sachiko's past who cannot understand why Yumi is Sachiko's petite souer. concurrent with this is a treasure hunt where the entire school is searching for each of the bouton's cards. Finding the card will give the winner a half-day date with the bouton whose card you find. After this we skip back to Christmas where we learn about Sei's past. Sei is one of the few overtly lesbian characters. After this we skip forward again to the dates. Marie-sama ga Miteru covers Summer/Autumn through Winter.
Yumi (from the opening sequence)
The artwork took me off guard for a bit. It was far more angular than I am used to seeing, which gave an initial impression of coldness. However, some of the drawings were very endearing and as I became accustomed to the style I came to really appreciate it. Then again I tend to like pale angular women. I first heard of this anime as an example of Yuri (girl-love/lesbianism). While in other series, such as Nanahoa, their are lesbian characters, the love between the girls is the primary storyline of Maria-sama ga Miteru. Some of the characters are lesbians, some are not, however love between women is the central theme. This is not Hentai. For the most part, the relationship struggles seem identical with heterosexual relationships -- except no one seems upset when they sleep over at each others houses.
Sachiko (Opening Credits)
In addition to the 13 episodes, there are seven bonus sequences from the DVD's. They are in the Omakechibi style and are "bloopers" for the main series. Several of them had me laughing hard. Which is probably because the series had been so touching. One annoyance here is that I have only been able to get episodes 2-7.
Yumi and Sachiko
Just as a bonus image, here is the same scene from the title sequence as given above, but with some of the words to the opening monologue's translation retained.
Opening Sequence: Pure Bodies in Dark Uniforms
