Review of Maria Watches Over Us

This is a review for all 4 seasons. It really feels like it’s missing a fifth season. Overall, the anime is profoundly soul-soothing. All the heroines are different, vivid, and each has her own problems, but at their core they are all very good people. Everything they do is driven by love. Yes, platonic love, but no less real because of that. On the younger sisters’ side, this love is built on admiration for their elders and a striving toward an ideal; on the older sisters’ side, it comes from having once been in the same position themselves and from a deep understanding of their younger sisters. Allof this is further shaped by Japanese politeness and restraint.

As a result, you get wonderful and very different pairs. But these relationships are not static—they are constantly developing, because each heroine strives to become better through experience, reflection, and an effort to resolve problems and contradictions. There is nothing abstract about this; that effort is always practical and motivated by love.

Overall, I highly recommend it, 10/10. The first season is the darkest, but after that everything becomes better and brighter.