Archive for the Maria-sama ga Miteru Category


New Anime Season Winter 2009: Maria-sama ga Miteru Season 4

January 4th, 2009

What a terrific way to start off a new year, with a new season of Maria-sama ga Miteru (マリア様がみてる). We pick up the story almost exactly a year after it began, as the school festival approaches.

Suffice to say that the pace of the anime is much, much quicker than the novels – which worked fine for the first two TV series seasons and works perfectly well again for the fourth season. (I was informed in the past by a Japanese friend that the hyper fast pace was chosen deliberately to avoid the slow crawl of most shoujo anime.)

So, in this single episode, we cover the choice and casting of the Yamayurikai’s play for the school festival, Touko’s difficulties with the Drama Club *and* the beginnings of Kanako’s crisis and resolution (which appear to be the bulk of the next episode.) All done with a snappy pace, cheerful tone and a few small, inconsequential changes to lighten the feel of the story. A nice start to what is going to be a very fun season, I think.

But what’s got everyone talking, of course, is the opening and ending sequences. And rightfully so! Instead of the elegant and staid “Pastel Pure,” the new opening theme is a happy pop song. The animation sequence is whimsical in the extreme, as Yumi, Yoshino and Shimako quite literally run and dance their way through Lillian using a magic portal. They appear and disappear to invite their friends to meet them at the Rose Mansion. Of course, fans being fans, many fans will HATE this. Mostly because it’s different and different things are never as good as the things I remember, even if I didn’t like them at the time. lol I liked it – it was a different kind of service – a look into the fantasy characters portrayed in so many doujinshi. Yes, I think I would have preferred Pastel Pure, but I’ll take this for what it is. My wife commented drily, as Rei watched the three second-years skip their way through the dojo, “Oh look, they found the magic items the Rosas get.” ^_^ (Wait, she’s got a couple other good lines to come.)

Now we’ll turn our lascivious eyes to the end sequence. In case you are living under a rock, let me warn you that the Yuri isn’t terribly subtle among fans of Marimite. (Massive understatement) And the end sequence of the third season wasn’t all that subtle, either. This season throws subtle into the trash compactor and pulls out a load of steamy pictures for our enjoyment. Click on the pics to get larger versions.

Did you know that, in art, when women have no clothes on, they are referred to as being “nude” and when men have no clothes on, they are “naked”? It’s just a interesting piece of art terminology, I thought I’d share. Oh, and by the way, Yumi and Sachiko appear to be “nude.”

 

 

Absolutely my favorite picture of the bunch. I’ve said it before, Rei and Yoshino are my favorite couple. I just adore sexy pics of them. And sexy stories. And funny stories. And all the Rei x Yoshino doujinshi by Bonny Bonnie. Hell, I just really like them as a couple.

 

 

 

 

 

You may have noticed the hideously unsubtle spoilers in the opening and ending. Or you weren’t paying attention (like the person I saw comment that they hoped Youko would appear in the next episode, when she appears at least two times in the next episode preview.) Touko and Yumi are also “nude.” Not naked. ;-)

 

 

 

 

This shot was my favorite, because my second favorite couple among the Yamayurikai are Shimako x Noriko, until the wife took a look at it and said, “I think I see the blue crayon!” Ruined it for me forever. LOL

So this ending kind of answered the question I’ve had forever – what does Konno Oyuki think of all that Yuri-service between her pure and innocent characters? Remembering that Konno was the supervisor for this series and actually had the right to pass or reject concepts for this season, my wife said, “I’m Konno Oyuki, and I approved this Yuri.”

And there you have it. Final words on the first episode of what should be a spectacular season. (I can say that – I know what’s coming!)





Maria Watches Over Us ~ Printemps Anime, Volume 1 (English)

December 22nd, 2008

In the first volume of Maria Watches Over Us ~ Printemps, it’s the beginning of Yumi’s second year at Lillian Jogakuen, and her first meeting with Sachiko after the winter holiday reminds her of her adventures during the New Year’s break. She flashes back to the day when Sei invites out for an overnight at a “friend’s” house and it turns out to be an evening at Sachiko’s manor. We get to grin at Sei and Kashiwagi’s natural enmity. “Nakakiyono” is probably the most re-written of all the episodes in the entire series to date, but I find myself appreciating the changes, understanding that we are being treated to a little service as we gaze upon the Yamayurikai all dressed to the nines for the holiday.

In the second episode, we find that the apparently flaky Rosa Foetida, Torii Eriko, is even flakier than we thought. But after a possible scandal about her dating multiple men rears its ugly head, it turns out that she’s actually way more sensible than we could have ever imagined…even if she’s easily swayed by unusual things. ^_^

The volume ends on one of my personal favorite episodes, in which Yumi, desperate to step up and take hold of the position Rosa Chinensis en bouton in order to help her Onee-sama, finds herself pushed to her limit. (And since I just recently read the story in which we learn *why* Yuuki learned the island dance in the first place, I have a renewed admiration for both Yuuki and Yumi performing it in front of anyone.)

I am a little perpelexed. by the choice of “Printemps” as the season’s subtitle. Was the word “Spring” no good?

The liner notes for this volume were extra excellent, so kudos to whomever wrote those. Video extras come in the form of “Maria-sama ni ha naisho” and a preordered box set come with a phone strap that is supposed to be the White Rose, but is awfully lavender. Not that I am objecting – somehow, lavender seems a perfectly good color for the White Rose family. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Marimite Fan – 100

Overall – 9

A lovely, fun bridge between last season’s trials and the rest of the second season’s tribulations, which will be full of tears…even the good stuff.





Yuri News This Week – December 13, 2008

December 13th, 2008

Strap yourselves in, we have a *lot* of news this week.

Yuri Live Action

I have been forgetting to tell you about this for *ever, so I’m putting it first so I can’t forget this time.lol Yoshida Akemi, mangaka of Lover’s Kiss and many other classic manga, also wrote a story called Sakura no Sono (The Cherry Orchard.) It was made into a movie a long while back, but earlier this year, a remake of the movie was made. There are two trailers, one from the original version and the second from the new version – you can see how the tone changed. Here is the original trailer, here is the new trailer. The basic plot is that a new girl transfers to a private girls school and runs up against the usual stereotypes (bullying ojousoama and henchicks, girl who falls for her, etc…), and then learns it used to be traditional to perform Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard every year until tragedy put an end to it. She decides to revive the tradition – melodrama happens. Aside from the fact that it once again allows me to mention Chekhov on this blog, this story is an eary Yuri classic. Keep an eye out for this movie.

While I’m on live-action, I discovered an incredibly good way to waste chunks of time with Afterellen.com’s short lesbian detective web series BJ Fletcher, Private Eye. It’s hammily written and hammily overacted and the protagonist is not the hero, but it’s a great way to blow a half hour here and there watching a couple of episodes. (Episodes are about 15 minutes long.) :-)

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Yuri Anime

It’s busty women in battle bikinis! The Queens’ Blade trailer is up for your viewing…erm, pleasure.

AND the 4th season trailer for Maria-sama ga Miteru is up on Animate TV, along with a list of the cast (which gives us on the irc channel #marimite_spoilers@rizon.com a good idea of how far this season is going to go through the novels. Join us if you want the low down.) Here are the narrowband and the broadband trailers. Extra points if you can tell what story all that comes from. :-)

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Yuri Manga

Erin wants us to not be sad, but the second volume of Strawberry Shake Sweet will be delayed until January.

In the meantime, the next Yuri Hime S is out in 5 days, so no crying. :-)

And please don’t forget that Yuri Monogatari 6 is in the December Previews and that pre-ordering really *does* make a difference!

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Yuri Light Novels

On December 26th, the next Maria-sama ga Miteru novel, Hello Goodbye hits the streets. In case the title is too subtle, this is likely to be the *last* novel in the series. Fans all over the world are smiling through their tears.

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Yuri Drama CDs

Through the kindness of Okazu superhero Ana, I just recently received a copy of the fifth Ichigo Mashimaro Drama CD. It’s crazy, and just slightly beyond my ability to follow, but as it’s the typical IM setup you have Nobue perving over Anna and Matsuri, and Miu fighting for Nobue’s attention. I’m kind of sympathetic to Chika when she says, “Are you really my sister?” lol

Katherine wants you to know about the Maria-sama ga Miteru Christmas CD, and I want you to know about the Maria-sama ga MiteruSpecial DCD, which comes out on Christmas.

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Yuricon News

Members of Facebook, you can now ‘Become a Fan’ of Yuricon & ALC Publishing! Just visit the Yuricon & ALC page on Facebook and become a fan!

Not on Facebook? You can friend Yuricon & ALC publishing on LiveJournal, MySpace or follow us on Twitter, too!

Also – Yuricon is looking for, well…a new look. The website is four years old now and it’s time for a new design. This is a paid contract job, I’m looking for someone with good design skills, excellent communication skills and a strong sense of deadline and responsibility. You will be responsible for creating the design and assisting with the migration of the site. Students of design are welcome to apply.

If you would like to apply for this position, please email me at yuricon at hotmail dotcom with an introductory email and if possible a link to your portfolio or an example of your work.

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Yuri Doujinshi

Winter Comiket is right around the corner. If you are going to be in Japan for New Year’s Eve, drop by Tokyo Big Sight on 12/30 and stock up on Yuri doujinshi! Use Small Call’s List of Yuri Circles to plan your purchases. (The List is in Japanese, but if you can’t even read the list, then there’s basically no way you’ll be able to make it around Comiket without a guide, lol.) Visit the West Hall, Row Mi (in hiragana), Table 36a for Office Mono, our own Eriko Tadeno’s newest Yuri doujinshi! (yay!!)

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Yuri 3-D Worlds

Lastly. You may remember that I mentioned a Rose Mansion event on Second Life this week. Well, due to other resposibilities I did not make it (I’m still hoping to make the event on 12/19 11PM Japan time…) but someone did! (And, after only a little verbal abuse from me, wrote up a nice little report for us) Let me turn this over to Rei:

This morning I visited the Rose Mansion open house on Second Life. I have to say I was impressed. The entire SIM is really quite amazing – it’s apparent that someone spent a lot of time painstakingly recreating the setting of Maria-sama ga Miteru. As you approach the gate you’re given a free change of clothes for your avatar into a Lillian uniform (or Hanadera uniform for the guys) and from there on it only gets cuter. If you explore far enough you’ll discover there are Photography Club and Newspaper Club branch offices in the Rose Mansion. Here you’ll find free armbands for your avatar. I chose to adorn myself with the Photography Club arm band. There’s also a church on the premises that features pictures from past MARIASAMA group events, and of course, the ever-serene Maria-sama’s garden, replete with statue.

The visitors are also very charming: chatting away in Japanese about everything under the sun, but mostly fashion. I met two locals who were very encouraging and helpful. MAO Amaterasu seems to be a Linden Millionaire who has various gorgeous avatar costumes to change into, hair that never stops flowing and walks like she’s on imported air (thank you Blondie). Her cute rosary-toting soeur, Sakurako Ceriano, gave me some toast to carry around in my avatar’s mouth and told me all about Hatsumoude at her local shrine. I think there were games and stuff but I arrived too late to for the party-favors. Anyway, it was a blast.

For anyone interested, the SIM is located in Sonima, but just so you know, you can’t fly within school grounds: walking slowly so as not to disturb the pleats in your skirts is the preferred mode of travel here. Have fun exploring and be sure to bring your parasol. ~Rei (Known on Second Life as Kohime Matsuri)

Thanks Rei, that was fabulous and now I really want to make it to the next event…!

Oh, btw, Rei also told me that when you arrive at the Rose Mansion, the light shines through the stained glass above the stairs and rains three colors of light down upon you. LF heaven.

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That’s all there is for this week, except for the stuff I forgot. Oh well, there’s always next week!





This Week in Yuri – December 6, 2008

December 6th, 2008

Yuri Live-Action

Let’s start off with something a little different today. Takarazuka has announced that they will be doing a Phoenix Wright show in February through March. The Takarazuka website has a peek at the poster for the show. This performance is Cosmos troupe, for those of you who follow TK. :-)

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Yuri Anime

Right Stuf has announced that they have updated the Maria Watches Over Us website, with new trailers and spiffy downloads for fans of the series. There’s also official character profiles now for Touko and Noriko.

Meanwhile, on the Japanese-language Marimite website, Gokigenyou.com, you can see the character design for Shouko – a character I cannot *wait* for you all to meet.

Also, because this ought to be a challenge….The Rose Mansion is coming to life again in Second Life, on 12/12 and 12/19 at 11PM Japan time. News about the events can be found here – in Japanese, of course. I’m going to try and make one of the events. I don’t know if it will work, and I’ll probably be hopelessly lost, but…

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Yuri Drama CD

I’d completely forgotten to mention that there are BLUE DROP drama CDs – Volume 1 and Volume 2 – that were put out this year. They both seem to deal with the story from the first volume of manga (not the anime) and are further delineated into “Lover’s Side” and “Traitor’s Side.” Intruiging, huh? I’ll add these to the “to-get” lists and report back when I’ve had a chance to give them a listen. :-)

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Yuri Manga

The newest 100% Yuri anthology from ALC Publishing, Yuri Monogatari 6 is up for a limited time/limited audience pre-preorder special. Members of the Yuricon Mailing List and J.D. Glass’s newsletter were treated to a special discount and extra gift order. Expect a more open pre-order period after the holidays. And I’ll do a sneek peak then, too. It’s going to be a fabulous anthology!

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No “Snatches” today. It’s been a long week. I’ll try and play catch up next week with a list of obscure stuff you don’t care about. lol





This Week in Yuri – November 29, 2008

November 29th, 2008

This week is a veritable cornucopia of Yuri news!

Yuri Live-Action

There’s little more than a promotional image and a bundle of hope, but AIC has announced that a live-action Bugglegum Crisis is not entirely fantasy. Will we finally get the totally dyke-y Priss we want and deserve? Probably not. lol But we can hope, can’t we?

Fans of Yuricest will want to keep an eye out for Brulee, a movie that stars twin sisters, playing twin sisters that are separated and, upon reunion, fall in love with one another. Expect dry, unromantic Japanese kiss scenes. :-)

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Yuri Anime

With the US release of the second season of Maria Watches Over Us just around the corner, and the fourth season of Maria-sama ga Miteru coming this January, we’re all aquiver for Marimite news around here. And boy do we have it! To celebrate the fourth season, a New Year’s Eve event has been announced in Japan. Not only will it feature sneak peeks at the fourth season – it will also feature a 3-dimensional “story so far.” LOL How’s that for an exciting use of CG, huh? Long lingering shots of the 3-D Rose Mansion, the table in the council room, Catholic schoolgirls standing around talking…. (I’m guessing that it’s based on designs created for the Bara no Yakata in Second Life and expanded from there.) I’m sure it will be cool, if a little weird.

And exciting news for the three or so of you who enjoyed it, Project ICE is being made into a movie for the theaters. Two streaming trailers are available online now.

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Snatches of Yuri

It’s almost December, and therefore the publishers of Yuri Hime, Ichijinsha, are gearing up for their winter releases. The 18th of the month will see the next Yuri Hime S magazine, and several collections from same.

Keep your eyes open for links to order the first collected volumes of Flower Flower, Honey Crush and Cassiopeia Dolce. Also Otome Kikan Gretel which will be the only one I’m planning on getting for myself.

Also coming out this month (pun intended, yes) is the second and final volume of Strawberry Shake Sweet. And a second volume of the light novel Wild Bouquet, this one subtitled “The Flower Whose Name Means Desire.” Sounds spicy, but I’m not holding my breath. (Review of the first volume of Wild Bouquet to come soon, btw.)

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Yuri Games

No specifically Yuri, but the game Fable II for the Xbox is being given same-sex options on partnering, with dialogue that is supposed to be more representative of those relationships. Since one of the creators is gay, the dialogue will at least be more representative of a gay male relationship. The only lesbian option mentioned in the article I read was a cross-dressing pregnant lesbian, which didn’t really make me sit up and go “yay” or anything. lol (The wife says “God, you’re never satisfied, are you?” lol)

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One last thing – this a personal request. If you are considering purchasing *anything* from Amazon or Amazon Japan this holiday season, please consider doing so through the Yuricon Shop. Just click through any item at all and then go ahead and shop as usual. It won’t cost you anything extra and it will give me referrer fees that are, at the moment, much needed. Many thanks in advance.

And that wraps it up for now – happy Yuri hunting until next week!