Archive for the Maria-sama ga Miteru Category


Ask Konno Oyuki Questions on Right Stuf’s Maria-sama Website

July 29th, 2008

RIGHT STUF’S NOZOMI ENTERTAINMENT Launches the MARIA WATCHES OVER US Official Site – mariasama.rightstuf.com

Asks fans to submit their questions for the series’ creator; celebrates release of Season 1 DVD Collection

GRIMES, IA, July 29, 2008 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment are pleased to celebrate the July 29 release of the MARIA WATCHES OVER US – Season 1 DVD Collection with the launch of the series’ official site, at mariasama.rightstuf.com (http://mariasama.rightstuf.com). Also, as part of the site’s grand opening, fans will have a special opportunity to submit their questions for the series’ creator, Ms. Oyuki Konno.

At mariasama.rightstuf.com, visitors can:

– Read the latest news about and reviews of the first season;

– Check out in-depth character profiles (first-season spoilers are noted);

– Watch the first-season trailer; and

– Download Maria Watches Over Us wallpapers and avatars.

** PLUS: Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment have been granted an interview with the creator of Maria-sama ga Miteru, novelist Oyuki Konno, and want to know what questions fans have for her. Please submit questions, via the form located at mariasama.rightstuf.com, by 11:59 p.m. CDT on August 15, 2008.

The Maria Watches Over Us DVD Collection – which includes the entire 13-episode first television season of Maria-sama ga Miteru, plus the Season 1 “specials” – is now available. It features Japanese audio, along with English on-screen translations, and two English-language subtitle tracks: one with regular dialogue subtitles and a second, special subtitle track that retains the Japanese honorifics.

The box set for the series’ second television season is currently scheduled for a Fall 2008 release.

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AnimeOnDVD.com Pick of the Week

“leaves you eagerly wanting more” – AnimeOnDVD.com

“a truly beautiful anime” – Future Anime (July 2008)

The Maria Watches Over Us anime is based upon an ongoing series of novels – written by Oyuki Konno and illustrated by Reine Hibiki – that began in 1998 and currently spans 32 volumes. Short stories related to the series have been published in the shoujo (girls’) magazine Cobalt, and a manga adaptation is serialized in the anthology magazine Margaret. The series’ publisher, Shueisha, also produced 14 drama CDs (with radio-style plays).

The anime adaptation of Maria-sama ga Miteru – also referred to by fans as “MariMite” – encompasses two, 13-episode TV seasons, a 5-episode OVA (original video animation) as its third season, and a fourth season, currently in production in Japan.

The first three seasons of Maria Watches Over Us feature animation by Studio DEEN (Fruits Basket, Gravitation, Rurouni Kenshin), direction by Yukihiro Matsushita (Blue Dragon, Sugar Sugar Rune), and scripting by Reiko Yoshida (Aria, Boys Over Flowers, Story of Saiunkoku).

About MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) – Season 1

When Yumi Fukuzawa entered the Lillian Girls’ Academy, a prestigious all-girls Catholic school in Tokyo, she never imagined she would catch the eye of beautiful and demure Sachiko Ogasawara, one of the school’s most popular students. Now Sachiko has offered to be Yumi’s sœur – her “sister” and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered: After all, they hardly know each other! The entire campus is abuzz with rumors about the two of them, but Yumi is conflicted over accepting Sachiko’s offer. While she admires Sachiko, being her sœur would also mean constantly being at the center of the entire school’s attention! Contains the complete 13-episode first season, plus the Season 1 “specials.”

MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) – Season 1 DVD Collection

Pre-Book: 6/24/2008

Street Date: 7/29/2008

Runtime: Approximately 325 minutes, Dolby Digital Stereo, Color

Genre: Drama

Suggested Rating: 13+

Format: DVD (2.0 Japanese, 2 English Subtitle Tracks, English On-Screen Translations)

Catalog #: RSDVD0815

ISBN: 1-57032-790-4

UPC: 7-42617-0815-2-1

SRP: $49.99

Discs/Set: 4

Item Measurements: 5 3/8” x 1 7/32” x 7 5/8” (LxWxH)

Case Qty: 9 sets / case

DVD Features:

Scene access; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo audio for Japanese dialogue; two English subtitle tracks (regular dialogue subtitles, plus a special subtitle track that includes Japanese honorifics); and English on-screen translations. PLUS: Season 1 “Specials” 1-7, character bios, liner notes and Nozomi Entertainment trailers.

* Cover Art: http://outgoing.rightstuf.com/sleeves/rsdvd0815.jpg

MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) Season 1 © OYUKI KONNO / SHUEISHA o YAMAYURIKAI Licensed by d-rights Inc.

* To view this image, cut and paste the URL into your Web browser.

** Product specifications and content may be subject to change.

ABOUT RIGHT STUF, INC.

Currently celebrating its 21st year in business, Right Stuf, Inc. was one of the first players in the U.S. Japanese Animation (“anime”) industry, as both an anime producer/distributor and a retailer. Right Stuf works to promote knowledge of its own products, as well as the anime and manga industry, in general, through its online storefront at RightStuf.com and a variety of media including podcasts and special publications.

Nozomi Entertainment, Right Stuf’s production division, is dedicated to the highest quality releases. True to the Japanese word that inspired its name, Nozomi’s focus is on “what fans want.” By focusing on a limited number of anime properties each year, the Nozomi production team ensures each release receives the care and attention to detail it deserves.

From anime classics like Astro Boy, Kimba and Gigantor to modern comedies, dramas and favorites such as The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, His and Her Circumstances, Gravitation, Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, Ninja Nonsense, To Heart, The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye, Emma: A Victorian Romance, Maria Watches Over Us and ARIA, Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment produce quality programming for fans of all ages and interests. For more information, visit www.rightstuf.com and www.nozomient.com.

Erica here: Already put my questions is. None of them were even vaguely related to Yuri or the character’s relationships. ^_^





Yuri News This Week – July 5, 2008

July 5th, 2008

This news report is 100% complete as of the time I typed it, but there are still plenty of Industry panels to come at Anime Expo, so expect more updates later on.

Yuri Anime

A second Ichigo Mashimaro OVA has been announced, so members of the “Cult of Miu” rejoice! (And look – I made us a badge. lol It’s crappy. I don’t care and I don’t see you making one, so shush, you.)

Funimation announced that they have picked up distribution rights for many Geneon and ADV anime properties including Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Murder Princess, and Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, which was licensed (and already suspended) by ADV as Shattered Angels. Kyoshiro first volume was technically released and Volume 2 suspended, but I haven’t actually seen Volume 1 anywhere, so basically, we’re waiting for it from the beginning.

Nozomi/Right Stuf announced Gakuen Alice at their Expo Panel last night.

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Yuri Manga

Big news this week is that Kodansha is launching a Kodansha US office to release manga on their own. While everyone else is musing over how this will effect their Del Rey and other licenses, I have a completely different take on it. I think that Kodansha is about to run into the the uncomfortable truth that is the reality of the manga market here in the US. From various dealings in the industry, I think that a lot of the Japanese companies are under the impression that they can *sell* a lot more manga than they actually can. Here’s why.

In Japan, manga and anime are easily accessible by a large portion of the population on a weekly/monthly basis. Along with free TV release and weekly cheap manga mags, they are bombarded by a never-ending stream of advertising for product. When the tankoubon, the collections, come out, there is little advertising in them, because the stream of distribution *ends* at the tankoubon. In America, the distribution begins and ends at the tankoubon. There are very few anime that are easily accessible on free TV. Most of them are Shounen Jump titles, and not coincidentally, SJ is one of the few magazines that comes out regularly here. So those titles do really well in sales. But most of the other titles are printed, stuck on a shelf and have exactly zero advertising, promotion (other than licensing announcements) or recognition. Without an anime to beat the title into people’s heads, the actual number of people who will ever care about a non-anime title is going to remain low. And without weekly or monthly chapter of a manga to keep interest high, all you have is tankoboun on the shelves.

Here’s what I imagine happens. J Company thinks – we sell 30K tankoubon here of x title. If we assume a 2% audience in the US, we can assume 6000 books will sell. Which seems fair. Only…the amount they will actually sell might be 1500 – 2000. Because the American audience doesn’t have the constant stream of promotion and availability, so Joe Blow finds it easier – and cheaper – to grab a scan, or read a book in the bookstore. And another 25% of the potential audience has no clue about the title’s existence or availability at all.

I think that when Kodansha realizes that without a lot more advertising and a TV anime, their books really won’t do well no matter how popular they are, they will be surprised – and sad. In the meantime, let’s bombard them with letters asking for a translated version of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. We’ll only get two volumes before they pull it for lack of sales, but hey – that’s two volumes we didn’t have, right?

Which leads me to the next thing I wanted to mention – Seven Seas has put several of their Yuri series on hold, First Love Sisters among them. The stated reason is that sales were well below expectations and they didn’t break even. I could have told them that if they had asked. The Yuri audience is small, cheap and sales of 2000 are exceptional, not average or low. Personally, I can see Hayate x Blade failing in the exact same way because the ONLY promotion that title will get is me talking about it. Neither Seven Seas nor Tor is going to spend a cent telling people it exists, and it has no anime. Which is a damn shame, because it’s an awesome series which *could* be popular. But if your marketing plan is to print too many copies, send them anonymously to chain bookstores to disappear them among crowded, unlabeled shelves of manga…expect it to fail. You want people to buy it? You have to invest in promotion. Contests, ads, bookstore displays, more ads, ads in things other than your own books, like gaming magazines, and Giant Robot (an awesome Asian pop culture mag) and on websites. Did I mention promoting the effing hell out of it? Because otherwise, it’ll sell 1000 copies and once again you’ll wonder why. Jason, Adam – I mean you.

And as for you, Yuri audience. Buy the books, buy the anime. These companies spend $$$$ on *you*. Stop being a bunch of cheap bastards – and *still* complaining that there is no Yuri out there. Buy Yuri. From Infinity, from Seven Seas, from Tokyopop, from Yen Press, from Media Blasters, from ADV, from ALC Publishing. Stop complaining that there is none. There are many series at this point and you aren’t buying them. For god’s sake – stop whining and put your money where your whinging is. Please. Thank you.

(And if you *do* buy the anime and manga – thank you. Very, very much. Not just for myself, but for the artists and writers, directors, voice actors and publishers. Thank you.)

I found this news item to be kind of interesting in a “huh?” way – Aurora, the US imprint for Oozora Publishing, will be putting out a manga version of Hitohira. Since Aurora’s stuff is usually Ladies Comics and more adult stories, Hitohira seems an odd series for them. Guess we’ll see, huh?

And DMP has announced the license for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS manga. I reviewed the first volume a while back. It was fun. Not particularly Yuri, but fun.

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Other Yuri News

I’ve been very good about not talking about this, since I was told about it. lol

Nozomi/RightStuf is going to be launching the full Maria-sama ga Miteru website soon and when they do, it will include a submission form to *ask Konno Oyuki-sensei questions*! How cool is that? You’ll have a chance to ask her good questions like “Will we see Yumi as Rosa Chinensis?” and fandumb questions like “Will Sachiko and Yumi ever kiss?” and thank her for providing us with hours of entertainment. I am so going to be putting questions up for her.

bystrouka tells us that both Blue Drop and Mnemosyne will be shown at the Paris Japan Expo this weekend. This is tantalizing, because we haven’t heard any licensing for these titles, but what is being shown is supposedly already licensed. Interesting, huh? bystrouka promises to report back!

And Polish anime/manga portal Tanuki now sports a Polish-language interview with Erica Friedman, thanks to Grisznak! Some of the questions were the usual, but some were pretty funny, so in case you are not a Polish reader, here is a link to the English-language version.

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That’s it so far for the weekend, but expect more as more industry panel feeds come in. Media Blasters has said they they are holding their big announcements for Otakon, so I’ll see if I can get a preview of those to see of there’s anything relevant to our interests. :-)





Yuri Anime: Maria Watches Over Us Preview (English)

June 19th, 2008

Yesterday, I received a preview copy of Maria Watches Over Us, the Nozomi/Right Stuf US release of Maria-sama ga Miteru. Thank you Right Stuf for the preview! I was warned ahead of time that this preview only included the non-honorific subtitles track. :-)

Before I start to pick nits, let me sum up by saying that even with “Lady Sachiko,” I’d give the translation an 8 out of 10. One of the points lost was for a genuine error that made no sense. The other was for a few translation moments that were not wrong so much as just out of step with fan convention. No points were lost for the things that weren’t wrong, but just felt weird.  After the nit-picking, I’ll touch upon some of the good things, just to balance it all out. ^_^

The Bad:

Unforgivably, Sachiko is translated as telling Yumi that her “scarf” is crooked. That doesn’t even make sense. She says “tie” using the English word, and even if one was going to mistranslate that, “collar” seems the most reasonable mistake. It’s September – no one is wearing scarves, and they call those mufflers anyway. And no one is wearing a fashionable scarf with their uniform, either. Given the many millions of “crooked tie” gags that have beeen propagated across the intertubes, this seems a particularly egregious error. ^_^

The Indifferent:

Both Japanese and American fandoms tend to use and become familiar with certain terms. In several cases, the RS translation isn’t wrong, but it just isn’t the same as the ones we’ve become comfortable with.

“Forest of thorns,” as spoken by Tsutako is rendered “forest of briars.”

“Mother Maria” seemed an odd choice in every language, since one naturally assumes that the translator would choose either English or Japanese. Mother Mary/Maria-sama/Blessed Virgin, whatever. But “Mother Maria” seems like a strange juxtaposition chosen only for its ability to be not instantly identifiable by people looking for things to get outraged about.

I’m pretty used to “Yamayurikai” but here it is translated as “Yamayuri Council.” Not hideously awful, just again, a sort of weird halfway-translated term.

And again, in the song Maria-sama no Kokoro, “Yamayuri lily” is pretty redundant. “Wild lily” or “mountain lily” is surely sufficient.

And while we’re on the topic of “Mother Maria’s Heart” – I don’t care that the correct name for the bird is the bush warbler – I find that amusing in an totally infantile giggly kind of way. lol

The Good:

All the Rosa’s retain their titles. Rosa Chinensis, Foetida and Gigantea are unmarred by attempts at translation. And so are their en bouton. “Rosa Chinensis en bouton petite soeur” graces our TV screen accurately, if unwieldily. ^_^ I absolutely appreciated that. In fact, that was kind of my biggest concern.

The Excellent:

The story itself is something I have not actually watched, or read, in a long time (although I am reading the novels voraciously these days.) So once again I felt that it was very nostalgic to see Yumi dealing with the Rosas for the first time. It’s a very, very amusing story. Sure Sachiko’s a raging bitch, but I love her for it – especially the moment when, after visibly having no recollection of ever having met Yumi previously, she blatantly lies to Youko about how close she and Yumi are…. ^_^

To sum up – there may be some issues even with the inclusion of the honorifics (and I don’t know to what extent honorifics will be included. Will “oneesama-gata” stay “dear sisters” or not? I don’t know for sure. Or will Maria-sama get her honorific back? No idea.) But I think that even with “Lady Sachiko” and “older sisters,” the translation was not *so* heinous that it couldn’t be enjoyed. It would be lovely to be able to give it a 10 out of 10, but with a little more smoothing, a 9 out of 10 ought to be easily obtainable.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2
Marimite Fan – 100

Translation – 8

Overall – 8

Aside from the usual fannish grinning like a moron, I’m very prepared to fall in love with this series all over again for the fourth time. ^_^





Yuri News This Week – June 14, 2008

June 14th, 2008

It was a long week this week and all sorts of news from all over…

Yuri Anime

Amuri in Star Ocean, which is a manga series that runs in Dengeki Daioh magazine has posted a streamed version of the anime trailer on the website Amuri.jp. Amuri consistently has some Yuri service in the manga. I don’t actually know if the anime has any or not. Interestingly though, the trailer is available in a “moe” version and a “sci-fi” version.

The Shoujo Sect anime trailer has been uploaded for you to do whatever it is you want to do while watching it. Looks like they are covering quite a few of the scenarios from the manga. All I want is the very final chapter. Probably not, because it has comparatively little sex.

And Right Stuff has said that anyone who directly preorders the first season of Maria-sama ga Miteru from them, will get a Rosa Chinesis phone strap as a free chotchke. I spoke briefly with them about gew-gaws. We agreed that this audience would be a huge consumer of “stuff” if they let us get any. :-)

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Yuri Manga

The husband and wife team that writes and draws He is My Master has split. Asu Tsubaki, the artist half, who draws for Yuri Hime S, among other things, has said she will not continue the series. I’m heartbroken, as you can imagine.

Steady Beat creator Rivkah reports that Tokyopop will be releasing the third volume of her series on the Web only. This seems to be the fate of many of their World Manga/OEL titles.

Someone asked last week what the TP contraction would mean for the Yuri titles. I think its safe to say that the one or two titles they had that were even vaguely Yuri will take a hit. The third, which had not been released yet, will also likely not see the light of day. I’m conjecturing here, but overall, compared with Yaoi/BL titles, Yuri do comparatively poorly in sales. I’ve figured out why, too. BL titles’ audience – women – *buy* more than guys. A lot more. Guys, if they like a thing want to know where to download it – for free. Women come running up to a table, buy everything and run off. lol Don’t know why, but I’ve seen it over and over at events.

Also, to continue a conversation on the Yuricon Mailing List, this contraction has already trickled to the Tokyopop UK group and is likely to hit Germany and France soon. What that means for the translated Maria-sama ga Miteru novels in Gernmany is as yet unknown. Money talks, so if the books are selling well, they may well be continued.

Friend of Yuri Steven reminds me to mention GIRL X GIRL X BOY, a manga series I keep meaning to review, but keep forgetting. It’s out in tankoubon now. As the title indicates, it’s about a love triangle. While not earthshatteringly brilliant, it does have a happy ending.

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Snatches of Yuri

From Rei, a news item that Shin Megami Tensei Kahn has utterly trash-ariffic Yuri. The Publisher’s Weekly review listed on the Amazon site sums it up nicely: “The book has a surprising amount of violence and nudity: nearly all the female leads appear nude, including Nobu’s mother. Saeko is coerced into graphic demon lesbian sex in one very long scene. At worst, this book is a poor introduction to the MegaTen franchise. At best, it is a mediocre story about demons and a fast pulp read.” Okay then.

And once again from Ana, who knows me so well!, a mention that Light Novel Vanilla – A Sweet Partner has trashy Yuri girls with guns. I am *so* there. I’ll be sure to report back – and put it on the Yuricon Shop’s Light Novels page!

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Other News

Since I mentioned Tokyopop’s collapse, I guess I ought to to give ADV the same courtesy. ANN reports that the next issue of PiQ magazine, ADV’s replacement for Newtype will be its last. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I did think it was a decent magazine. It’s just that the costs of printing and distributing magazines these days make it hard to support the business model. I hope they think about continuing it as an online or mobile magazine.

And last for today, once again my novel Shoujoai ni Bouken is the subject of discussion at Ultimo Spalpeen (In Japanese.) This time Komatsu-san informs me, he is reassuring Japanese readers that my understanding of Japanese culture is not cringe-making. lol Thank you once again, Komatsu-san! I wrote it 8 years ago now, and there are definitely things I’d do differently, but I’m very pleased to have no huge gaffes instantly apparent. Phew. :-)

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That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to join me at 12:30 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for Ghost in the Shell: Innocence!. See you there!





Light Novel: Maria-sama ga Miteru: Margaret ni Ribon

June 5th, 2008

In Maria-sama ga Miteru: Margaret ni Ribon, White Day is approaching and Yoshino, Shimako and Yumi have all gathered at the Rose Mansion to plan a way to return the chocolates that they received on Valentine’s Day. They decide to buy candies and make small bags that they will decorate. As they decide on the forms, materials and decorations of the bags, each conversation leads into a short story.

The first story picks up with the current life of former Rosa Chinensis, Mizuno Youko, first-year law student, but forever meddler and onee-sama to everyone around her. Youko’s determination to be a completely different person – say, someone like Sei – fails utterly.

Then we take a moment to look at former Rosa Foetida, Torii Eriko’s, relationship with Yamanobe. This story was the best in the book, as she meets, befriends and ultimately agrees to be rivals with, Yamanobe’s daughter. It was a short story, but very touching and beautiful. We get to see a side of Eriko we’ve never seen before. Great story.

Sean will be happy with the next story, as we follow former Rosa Gigantea, Satou Sei’s, side of the trip to Italy with Kei, her decision to not see or be seen by Shimako, and her immense satisfaction with the parakeet joke. ^_^

Then comes a very short, but absolutely excruciatingly adorable vignette as the three Rosas (and yes, although Rei and Sachiko have not yet graduated, they are acting Rosas) consider dropping the “-san” from each other’s names. While they do manage to call each other by their first names only, they mutually decided that it’s pretty much too embarrassing, so they scrap the idea. It was brutally cute. ^_^

In the course of their conversation, Shimako offhandedly refers to her personal situation that I never told you when I reviewed Kira Kira Mawaru, because it was a spoiler. I am going to continue to not tell you, because it continues to be a spoiler.

The next two stories follow Yumi after she leaves the school. In the first, she runs into Shizuka, who has returned home for a funeral, and in the second she makes her hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year) to an Inari shrine with Touko.

The last story follows the adventures of Yumi’s blue umbrella after she loses it in Rainy Blue. In ten days it is witness to several lives in transition. ^_^ We learn that the person who sewed it up was a guy – he chose pink because it was a cheerful color and he didn’t have blue. ^_^

In the Afterword, Konno Oyuki comments that she didn’t actually set out to name the book after two Shueisha comic magazines (Margaret and Ribon), really. But she realizes that no one will believe her anyway. ^_^Also, she addresses the issue of Sachiko’s graduation and whether this series will end. Do I tell you what she said or not? Do you really want to know? Let me know!

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2
Service- 6

Overall – 9

This was probably my favorite of all the short story collections. The stories were fun, touching and we got to see the former Rosas just a bit. A wonderful book to sit and read on a beautiful spring afternoon. ^_^