Archive for the Maria-sama ga Miteru Category


Summer Vacation – Time for Beautiful Memories

August 1st, 2007

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. It’s a combination of lots to do (keep your eyes peeled here for a preview of Yuri Monogatari 5!) and an unwillingness to do anything else. :-)

So pardon me while I take a few days off from Okazu and enjoy some of the anime and manga that have piled up on the living room table. And summer. I have some beautiful memories I wish to make that include things that are not anime or manga at all.

In the meantime, I have obtained permission to upload pictures of the amazing Marmite cosplayers from Otakon. They are all very sweet kids, and very cute. Thanks to Leanne and her Dad for permission to use the pictures!

This was at AnimeNEXT where I saw them for the first time. I’m not kidding when I say that my right hand is hovering over “Shimako’s” shoulder by about an inch, because I didn’t want her to think I was creepy. :-)

This is my new friend Leanne as Sei. I already told you about her great story where Noto Mamiko called her Onee-sama. Well, I learned recently that Noto-san was telling folks on the Otakon Guest staff, too. So win all around!

Could Yumi and Shimako be any *cuter*? Could they know it any more than they do? LOL (Yumi looks remarkably like my sister at that age, which strikes me as kind of funny.)

Here’s all three at the end of the Yuri Panel at Otakon.

And last, here’s all three, myself, Sean, Serge and Bruce. Sadly, Katie had to blow out of there so she missed the photo opportunity.

Anyway – thanks again to these amazing cosplayers – and very gracious young ladies. :-)





Yuri Anime: Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV 4 Ready, Go!

June 26th, 2007

How silly is this: Until I saw the French translation of the title on the anime, it never dawned on me that it could also be read, “Ladies, Go!” Missed a perfectly good pun there. Duh.

The fourth Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV, Ready, Go! was a bit of a mixed bag. Although much of the story had to be cut to fit the OAV time limit, the bits that remained are lots of fun, with moments of “waaahhh” wonderful.

Ready, Go! takes place at the Lillian Jogakuen Sports Festival. We get to see Yumi’s solution to her problem with Kanako, her handling of Touko and even better, her handling of Sachiko, so that’s all good. Other good things to enjoy are the mortification brought about by Yumi’s parents, and Shimako’s father, although we don’t get to complete the hat trick with the tales of Yoshino’s parents being appallingly parent-like.

Most importantly, we get to see Sachiko in gakuran (the boy’s uniform) and yay! They let her spin around. It was pretty much the best moment in the book, IMHO. I just loved that she spun around “like a model.” I just found it to be inexpressibly charming. And so did Yumi. ^_^

In other news, I really, really sympathized with Yoshino as Rei made her want to die with embarrassment with her “Canary Carnival” costume (which looked very Takarazuka-like, I thought.) What *was* the Yellow team thinking, I have to wonder?

I was also very pleased to note that they left the second-best moment of the book in, as well, when Yumi gets all choked up watching Rei and Yoshino run together in the hakama race. It’s a beautiful moment and another scene I think of fondly from time to time.

Unfortunately, the animation for this OAV was bad. Particularly compared with the previous OAVs. There are a few times where the animation was actively distracting it was so poorly done. As Kanako walks away from the greenhouse the first time, I was like, “Buh? She looks all distorted…”

There were also two story rewrites that weren’t very good. The first didn’t make much sense. In the book, Kanako says that Yumi must have been replaced by a twin and the real Yumi is in outer space. This is meant to indicate her level of cracked obsession and irrational thought. For Yumi to suggest this concept as an alternative to Kanako hating her really made no sense. I honestly don’t understand why they did that. The other way around made more sense to me, but I guess they didn’t want to spend the time to have Yumi explain that that wasn’t sensible.

The second rewrite at the end of the OAV was when Yumi tickles Kanako. That made me cringe. I just don’t know what they were thinking there. Again, in the book, Yumi merely asks Kanako what she wanted as a penalty game and eventually Kanako gives in and tells her. The tickling struck me as crass and unnecessary.

The third thing changed wasn’t a rewrite, but they sort of missed the point of the scene. When Itsue-san asks Yoshino to yell at her and Yoshino does, in the book Itsue was pleased about having gotten her just desserts, while in the OAV she looked like Yoshino had kicked while she was down.

The rest of the rewrites, like everything the announcers say, were fine. Nothing that tragically destroyed the story. The major cut was, of course, the crucial fact that Eriko-sama had been there and had cornered Yoshino into a strategically untenable corner with regards to her future soeur. ^_^

With those few cautions, I still think that there’s a lot of excellent in this OAV. ^_^

For those folks who might be tempted to get the Collector’s Edition (to which the picture above is linked) as opposed to the DVD only (to which the title above is linked) there are the usual bag of goodies.

The clear film picture this time is Rei and Yoshino in the hakama race, laid over a Yellow Rose, or inside the cover over a view of the Sports Festival banner. The assortment of postcards includes art by Hibiki Reine and anime screencaps, so again, you get Rei and Yoshino running and also Sachiko in gakuran, among other things. ^_^ The character file that comes with the DVD not only includes the three Roses in their respective cosplay, but also the general designs for the other three teams’ performances, Yumi’s parents and Sachiko’s father. Also, rather inexplicably, a view of the lunch Yumi’s mother made… (Onigiri, tamagoyaki and fried chicken if you care.)

Best of all, the random goody this time is, as I predicted, a green team hachimaki (headband) like the one Sachiko wore with her gakuran. (I mention this, because it is a long headband, like the one Sachiko wore, as opposed to the shorter ones that everyone wears for the events.) I’ve watched the anime twice, but haven’t yet watched it with seiyuu commentary, so maybe I’ll remember to wear the hachimaki when I watch it then. “Hoo-ray, Hoo-ray, Mi-do-ri!” LOL

I know I’m a huge fangirl, but I love getting all the junk that comes with the collector’s set. Can’t *wait* to see what comes with Ciao, Sorella. Let’s take bets. I say it’ll either be a chick-patterned washcloth or a marble-patterned writing pad. But since the last set had the panda cloth, probably the pad. So that’s my prediction. (The wife says, “Not senbei from Florence or manjyuu from Rome?” Hah!)

Ratings:
Art – 5
Characters – 9
Story – 8
Yuri – 5
Loser FanGirl – 8

Overall – 8

Squee! Sachiko-sama! ^_^





Yuri Anthology: Souer Sengen, Yellow

May 3rd, 2007

Souer Sengen is yet another collection of yuri doujinshi for Maria-sama ga Miteru. Like my earlier reviews of Gokigenyou and Maria’s Wink, this book is one of a series. In this case the stories are loosely collected around the three Rose Families: Red, Yellow and White, one volume focused on Yumi and one on the supporting characters called, “SP”.

Todays review will be on the Yellow Rose Family Volume. Why this one of all of them? Because this one is, IMHO, the best of the bunch. If you asked me why, I’m not sure I’d be able to put my finger on it, exactly. I think it’s a combination of several things – I like the focus on Rei x Yoshino, I like many of the circles that contributed and I like several of the stories already, a priori. I own some of the doujinshi from which the stories are taken and they are some of my favorites.

The back to back stories by Bonny Bonnie, one of which ends happily and one sadly, both of which deal with Yoshino’s desire to kiss Rei, are quite enjoyable. In the first, they kiss, and Rei says that it tastes warm and nice. This is followed by a second, deeper kiss, and Yoshino complains that Rei tastes like takoyaki. ^_^ The second story ends with them kissing, but Rei saying that she really doesn’t want to open that door any further…. Both are quite sweet in their own way. You’ll pardon me if I prefer the first. ^_^

There’s a cute tale as Eriko passes a book from Rei to Yoshino, and in doing so ponders how close they are. It’s nice insight from Rosa Foetida into her “little sisters.” And, among the many other stories that look at the relationship between Yoshino and Rei, this collection includes the story from my very first Maria-sama ga Miteru doujinshi purchase, from long before I had the vaguest clue about the series. The circle is Bebe, and the series is called “Creole.” The first Creole story is about the “Day it Began,” which is to say, they day Yoshino and Rei become lovers. Despite it’s intense lolification of Yoshino, I like this story a lot. In fact, I like the whole Creole series alot – even the one where Sachiko presides over a sex club. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8 variable, pretty decent, with the exception of one story, which was “shriek!” bad
Characters – 10 Yoshino…!
Story – also variable, averages to about a 6
Yuri – 9, except where it’s 10
Service – 10

Overall – 8

The entire Souer Sengen series is worth taking a look at. Some very fun and well-known Marimite parody circles contribute, like Pen-Pen Gusa Club, and the aforementioned Bebe and Bonny Bonnie. So there’s something of interest in each volume. But in my entirely personal opinion – this volume is the best one.





Yuri Anime: Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV 3, Suzukaze Satsusatsu

April 12th, 2007

This time, the picture and the title link will link to the Collector’s Edition. For those who might want, here is a link to OAV 3 without extras.

But, before I spend a review gushing about the third Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV, Suzukaze Satsusatsu, I want to finish some business from the second OAV.

My copy of the collector’s edition for the second OAV only just arrived yesterday (a delay that had to do with another item in the order, not the OAV itself.) I thought you might like to know what came with it. ^_^

The box for the second OAV has a plastic thin cover of Yumi and Sachiko superimposed on a red rose (The third, pictured above, has Shimako and Noriko over a white rose.) The film picture can be placed inside the box, which gives you a cute scene of Sachiko fixing Yumi’s collar in front of the statue of Maria-sama. Goodies include original art postcards by Hibiki Reine, and some rather amusing screenshot postcards from the anime. There’s white paper coasters, with both the Lillian crest and the series title. Last, but in no way least, Yumi’s red hair ribbons. ^_^ The last is plain silly, I think. I did not feel any desire to wear them while watching, but I fear that many fans probably did.

I have not yet ordered the third OAV set, since I’m waiting for something else to be available to place my order, but you can be sure that I will be doing so shortly – and I’ll report back, promise.

In the meantime, I’ve had the chance to watch the third OAV twice now…let the gushing begin! Is there be a single person in the world who does not love Sachiko after this? If you are one, I don’t want to know, really. Because she is just *so* wonderful. (The wife says that we should be able to say now, after watching this OAV, that saying you like Sachiko is like saying the sky is blue. lol) Itou Miki and Ueda Kana have really built their characters up from typical stereotypes to just about flesh-and-blood people. But really, eEvery character in this series passes my “would I have them over for lunch?” test with room to spare.

This OAV introduces first-year admirer of Yumi, Hosokawa Kanako, and covers the adventures of the Yamayurikai members as they attend the Hanadera school festival.

There are honestly so many things to like about this OAV, I don’t even know where to begin…the story is absolutely fantastic and the ending just about as ridiculous and romantic at the same time as it can possibly be.

I really liked the voice actress for Kanako. People who follow spoilers, fan art, etc, tend to think the worst of Kanako, so it was a real pleasure for me to see her portrayed at the beginning as a pretty normal person, so that her apparent sudden descent into madness strikes one as really extreme. I liked her voice a lot, as well. It’s very pleasant – when she’s not hysterical, that is. ^_^

The whole Hanadera festival was brilliant. From the extra board tacked onto the festival name (which was in the novel and something I thought was very funny) to the utter randomness of the goings on, I think the feeling of general wackiness was captured well. The look on the girls’ faces as the boys all rushed the scaffolding for the contest was pretty much perfect. (And I couldn’t help but notice that Noriko was the only one who wasn’t completely freaked. As we’d expect from our resident public school girl…)

The lynchpin scene where Yumi is mistaken for Yuuki is short but pretty scary, I thought. And the end of the story, as Sachiko throws off all social propriety and personal fear to run across a field crowded with men and straight into Yumi’s arms…seriously. Do I need to even *say* how wonderful it was? Okay then. It was wonderful. And it’ll be wonderful every time I watch it, I’m sure. When we show it at Yuricon’s 2007 “Yurisai” event, it’ll be just as wonderful as it was the first time. ^_^ If you’re not grinning just then, check your pulse. You’re dead.

Oh, and the moment when Yuuki kneels in front of Sachiko, and the guy who’d just got to the top of the tower does too, as Sachiko looks, speaks and seems so queenly…I thought that was a great touch.

I haven’t watched this yet with the seiyuu commentary, but I enjoyed that track on the first two OAVs, as they get distracted, talk about other stuff, then find themselves watching the anime, captivated, because it’s just so *good.* ^_^

Lastly – the new ending credits. Let’s just say that they up the Yuri rating a few points on their own….

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 9

This one is the best of the bunch so far – but wait, because Ready, Go! is *bound* to be fantastic, with more Yumi x Sachiko moments. ^_^





Maria-sama ga Miteru Manga, Volume 7

March 29th, 2007

I am usually quite happy to call Maria-sama ga Miteru a “Yuri” series, knowing full well that there is only one character who can really be called lesbian. But there’s just no way to call this particular volume “Yuri” without being an outright liar. LOL

Maria-sama ga Miteru, Volume 7 tells the incredibly straight story of Torii Eriko, Rosa Foetida’s mysterious dates with multiple men. Is it Enjou Kousaias Yoshino suggests? Or is it love, as Mizuno Youko, Rosa Chinensis insists? Yumi isn’t sure and the thought weighs heavily on her.

Despite it’s unremittingly straight plot (joke, joke) this is an absolutely hysterical volume. Eriko’s flaky personality really works to highlight the slightly off-beat, just barely off-color humor here. And the manga, which typically changes the script here and there from the novels, does a superlative job of inflating the mystery, so that it becomes much more like Eriko is doing something questionable, if not downright immoral or illegal. If you haven’t seen the anime or read my notes on the relevant bits of the seventh novel, this volume, of all of the manga so far, holds up best as a stand-alone story.

I have not really cared for the manga art very much since the beginning and this volume is not changing my opinion for the better. I prefer the character designs from the anime and novels much more than these. I swear Eriko was youthening as the volume went on…. Also absent from this volume was fun incidental art. There was one picture of Eriko with a teddy bear, I seem to recall, and the rest of the blank spaces had the title of the series. I was sort of bummed – those little incidental pieces have been one of my favorite things about the manga. But, as the story is so amusing – and I adored the manga version of Minako’s fiction “The Yellow Rose” (in which, oddly, they didn’t do the name pun thing that Minako used…) – I can overlook that.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – not much
Service – ditto

Overall – 8

Did I ever mention that the manga has been moved to The Margaret magazine? It’s back on a just about monthly schedule, so collected manga volumes *ought* to come out on a more regular basis going forward. I hope. I imagine the closer deadlines had some impact on the lack of incidental art, as well.