Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru Rainy Blue

November 11th, 2009

In case you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, drop by Anime News Network’s “Chicks on Anime” for a segment with me on Yuri, and the following comments from people about how I don’t know anything about it. ^_^ Thanks to those of you who have weighed in with positive feedback! I’m kind of sad that no one thought my line describing the typical Yuri fan as being bipedal, with two front-facing eyes, was funny. ^_^

In any case, my thanks to Bamboo and Casey and ANN for hosting that chat!

Now, from fun to misery, as we turn our sights, hopefully for the very last time, to Maria-sama ga Miteru: Rainy Blue. Like the Drama CD before it, there was a little rewriting going on, but ultimately it remains the same uber-depressing story, as Yumi sees her love for Sachiko cast aside in favor of Touko’s.

This is not true, of course. Sachiko is dealing with issues of her own and is only barely aware of how badly Yumi is suffering. Not realizing just how bad Yumi is feeling, Minako and Yoshino fan the flames of her unhappiness. In the end, the only one Yumi feels she can turn to is Sei.

As with the every version of this story, for me the lowest point is when Yumi collpases in hysteria in the foyer of her house, railing at the symbolic loss of her umbrella and what feels like the loss of her beloved onee-sama. I was very careful to listen to this part of the Drama CD on the way home in the car, so I didn’t ruin my day.

Ueda Kana carries the bulk of this story, but the rest of the cast subtlely adds to the story. In fact, when the cast credits were listed, I was surprised that so many of the cast had had lines. In my mind, it had been Yumi and maybe a few others. In fact, almost everyone had a line or two.

The bonus track was a discussion about “rain.” There were a few interesting anecdotes, but nothing that withstood the test of a few really busy weeks. I remember that I wanted to remember them, but, uh, forgot. ^_^

The absolute best part of this Drama CD is, we’re done. That was it. We’ve gotten over the hump once more and can finally move into what are, IMHO, some of the best story arcs in the series.

Ratings:

Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Parasol wo Sashite is one of my favorite novels of the series. Can’t *wait* to hear it!

15 Responses

  1. Eric P. says:

    ‘I’m kind of sad that no one thought my line describing the typical Yuri fan as being bipedal, with two front-facing eyes, was funny. :-( ‘

    For what it’s worth, it sure made me laugh.

  2. BruceMcF says:

    The typical fan, sure, as long as you don’t try to pigeonhole all Yuri fans as bipedal with front facing eyes. There’s that guy George, who bears a suspicious resemblance to a crocodile.

    And another question is, how LARGE are the front facing eyes?

    I figured out why the skulls of the moe-mutant girls in, eg, 11eyes are so ginormous – like owls, their eye sockets must extend deep into their skulls, which means if they are to have any cranial capacity at all, it has to sit up above the enlarged eye sockets.

    It explains so much – f’rinstance, with the pituitary gland squeezed for space, their production of growth hormone is constrained.

    Thank goodness for anime like Maria-sama ga Miteru that are not taken over by moe-mutants. I just wish it was possible to put together slideshow art to allow the Drama CD’s to be subtitled.

  3. @Thank you Eric, you are a wonderful person. :-)

  4. Katherine says:

    Great interview! ^^ I always enjoy reading “Chicks on Anime”, but reading a column focused on Yuri this week was doubly great. I always find it interesting to see how Yuri is explained/introduced to people who aren’t terribly familiar with it, as the genre/people’s understanding of it continues to develop. (And your extremely particular description of the average Yuri fan was funny. :) )

  5. Cryssoberyl says:

    Sadly, most of the comments were back-and-forth about the “Mai” series, and had nothing whatever to do with the actual content of the article…I guess that’s typical, though.

  6. darkchibi07 says:

    @ Cryssoberyl

    Shall we divert the conversation back on track?

  7. LillianDP says:

    I thought your one-liner was funny, too. :-)

    I wish the discussion had been twice as long, though. Things were just getting interesting, and then I saw there was no page two. Woe…

  8. @LillianDP – I’m so glad you enjoyed it! (The one-liner and the interview.) Now I feel well and truly externally validated. :-)

  9. Anonymous says:

    Hi,

    Does this drama CD comes with the chibi-figurines of the Marimite characters (which were included with selected drama cds in the past)?

    Still looking to complete my collection of Chibi Marimite figures…

    Thanks!

  10. @Anonymous – Sorry, no deluxe version of this DCD and no figures or inserts of any kind, Just a Drama CD.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Aw shucks… no figurines again…. Thanks for the reply Erica!

  12. @Anonymous – Sorry the news wasn’t better. Hopefully one of the next set will be – I think Ready, Go! would make a nice choice – Sachiko in Gakuran… ;-)

  13. Onizuka says:

    Dear Okazu,

    As Admin of Baka-Tsuki Translation Community forum & Wiki I wish to thank you for providing permission to archive your scripts. On behalf of the Readers of Marimite I would like to forward to you one personal message which was personally sent to us, which we would also like to share with you as a small part of our gratitude.


    Dear ‘The Last Guardian’ [B-T Founder],

    I hope this reaches those responsible for the Maria-sama ga miteru novel translations. This seemed to be the best place to send my appriaciation. I tried the website, but I’m not forum savy, so I wasn’t able to find a clear place to send my message.
    Anyway, thank you so much. I’m a English speaker with no secondary language skills (American!?) but a real fan of the Marimite series. I’ve watched the TV/OVA series up to 4th season (Hoping for another), read what mangas and one-shots that are available (still working on the doujinshi), and read the first volume of the novel (hope your still translating). I originally was not able to find any links to a novel translation. Just recently, thanks to Lililicious, I found a link to Baka-Tsuki. I cannot convey how well your translation reads. It really has the Marimite feel to it. I glad I’m able to relive the story, with great clarity, through you translated words. Thank you… for taking care of me… sorry for the intrusion. : )-

    P.S. I have read people thoughts on where marimite should end. Everything from when Yumi graduates to certain relationship arches are resolved. My vote goes to when Sachiko-sama retires from consulting at her families business and Yumi steps down from being the principle of Lilian – even then, I’m not sure I would want it to end.
    Thank you
    YorZephyr

    Best Regards,

    Onizuka-GTO

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