Review of Maria Watches Over Us

Note: This review is for all the Mari-sama ga Miteru anime. Maria-sama ga Miteru- 8 Maria-sama ga Miteru: Haru- 9 Maria-sama ga Miteru 3rd- 8 Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th- 8 I thought the first season was good but wasn’t entirely impressed by it. Luckily, the second season (my favorite) blew me away and I can now safely say that this show is definitely worth a watch. The first series is somewhat slower and quieter than the rest, but it is a nice change of pace from “typical” anime. Don’t let the strange French titles scare you off, it is confusing at first, but it gets easier to understand witheach episode.

The characterization is excellent and each character has their own unique personality. You won’t be annoyed about any stereotypical characters in this show because there aren’t any! You will grow to like all of the characters presented because they are just so well fleshed out. Well…most of them are fleshed out. I actually don’t feel like two of the original Roses got much development, but since they weren’t the focus it didn’t bother me all that much. Also, there may be one or two character you might not like...(Kanako and Touko perhaps...)

I loved the art in the first two series, but unfortunately they change it in the third series (which is an OVA, confusingly) which I really didn’t like. I thought they looked much more elegant and unique with the original art style. The openings and closings have some weird art sometimes too, making some of the characters look rather bizarre and/or mannish. Some episodes have poorer animation than others, too.

The story is all about the characters, which is my favorite kind of story. If you enjoy character dramas, you will definitely enjoy this show. The music for the show was fitting; though I personally don’t think much of it (it’s all very classical and subdued type music). Unfortunately, because this show is shoujo it does not get the love it truly deserves, whereas tripe like Clannad is praised from on high…for some reason. I really hate the anime fandom sometimes…

Recommended for people who like…
*Character dramas
*Unique characters (no stereotypes here)
*Sorta-kinda lesbians

Not recommended for people who want…
*Explicit lesbianism
*Complex storylines
*Action