Finally got around to checking out the fansubs for Maria-sama ga Miteru (nee Marimite) two seasons and I must say that I really enjoyed this series. It's not everyone's cuppa tea as there is no action and much of the drama revolves around the characters thoughts and emotions.
I'm not very surprised at the blogger's picks, however, as much as I loved the characters themselves in KnM and Marimite, the writing set my teeth on edge. The Spring half of Marimite made me want to strangle Sachiko in her bed and that damned drill cousin of hers Touro didn't help matters. There were so many wasted opportunites in Maria sama ga Miteru - Haru that the whole season irritated me despite the little pseudo-love confession at the end. That was just a lame attempt to pacify the shoujo-ai audience, IMHO.
The manga DEFINITELY weighs in better than the anime.
Kieli: The anime certainly suffers from lacking details from the novels that explain better why some of the characters act the way that they do. The manga includes more of the details from the novels. (BTW I've only seen the first 2 mangas out in scanalation any idea where there is more).
From what I've gathered online, Touko was supposed to be a really hateful character that then becomes a good character in the later novels and even possibly a petitite souer for Yumi (mind boggling). The anime apparently toned down how awful she was in the early going compared to the novels. I think we mostly see Sachiko through the prism of Yumi's thoughts and feelings which range from absolute drooling devotion to absolute exasperation. The anime prolly should have put in a bit more of the details that would make Sachiko seem less of a b*tch:
Sachiko is explained for me by imagining that she is thinking the same thing as Yumi is. They both have the same self esteem issues and possessive jealousy. While Yumi is obsessing about Sachiko and Touko, the drill head girl, I think that Sachiko is equally obsessing about Yumi and Sei and had her own meltdown at seeing the two of them hugging in the rain while Yumi ignored her. Just before that, I think that Sachiko was getting ready to tell Yumi something about here family situation when Yumi saw Touko, ran away, and then seems to choose Sei over her. I notice that Sachiko pretty much dissappears at this point and when we see her at the end she seems to be grieving over both her grandmother and the loss of Yumi hence why Youko could not help her. Yumi and Sachiko's love declaration at the end of the season worked for me as it echoed nicely what was going on between Sachiko's grandmother and her estranged souer IMHO.
Maria-sama started as a series of novels (which I would love to see translated in English and released ala the Vampire Hunter D novels but I digress). I started off looking at AMV (music videos) and reading a fan translation of the first novel, the second half of the third and the first parts of the 5th and 12th novels (basically what I found out on the web). Then went on to read the first two mangas in scanlation. Given that, I expected to be dissappointed with the anime but enjoyed it a great deal anyway. The second season was more uneven than the first IMHO as they never captured how the events of the latter episodes all happen at once.
My favorite bits of the Marimite anime are:
First season** The first 3 eps where Yumi and Sachiko become souers
** Eps 10-11 dealing with Sei's lost love and pretty much anything with Sei. I love how she continually glomps on Yumi while Sachiko fumes.
** The final two eps of the season with Yumi and Sachiko's valentine date. Sachiko's first encounter with fast food had me ROTFL
Second season** The first ep of the second season from Sei's insane driving to Yumi's stay at Sachiko's totally not humble abode.
** The episode that shows how Sei and Shimako became souers from first Shimako's POV and then Sei's. This follows nicely from eps 10-11 of the first season.
** Shimako and Noriko getting together as souers especially Noriko's throw down argument with Sachiko while Shimako in between them is following it like a ball at a tennis match.
Anime News Network says that Marimite will get a 3rd OVA series which I'm looking forward to. I would like to see them move on from the Sachiko/Yumi angst to Yumi's growth to become one of the Rosas that lead the student council. I doubt that this series will ever be licensed for the US given that it's neither action packed nor has fan service (those school uniforms could no possibly be more prim). With DVD sales flat lining, smaller less known animes like Marimite won't make the cut. A shame.
