Review of Maria Watches Over Us
Not sure what's with me watching older titles lately, but hey, finding quality in old content is something every anime fan loves to do! Story & Characters: Maria Watches Over Us is based around Lillian Girls' Academy, a very catholic school. Since I have no knowledge of how these are typically run in Canada, I'm kind of going based on what the anime portrays and explains to us to be true. However, one such thing they seem to have here is having an older student proclaim a younger one to be their "soeur", which roughly translates to sister. This means that the olderone would be somewhat of a mentor to that student. This creates a bit of a forced storyline in that we need to have a certain number of students that need to interact with others and on paper, I actually like this. It creates more meaningful relationships between students and that in itself creates storylines.
Our main character is Yumi, a brand new student at this academy. By chance, she stumbled upon a student council member, Sachiko, who is being told that she needs to name a "petit soeur" (ie: little sister) based on the academy's traditions. On a bit of a whim, Sachiko picks Yumi. Unsurprisingly, Yumi isn't sure what to think by this offer and it creates some drama in the early going. The thirteen episode runtime examines not only the unexpected relationship ties that Yumi and Sachiko need to undergo, but also examines how our other students go about their day to day lives that attempts to create drama.
The story felt very up and down for me. The first two episodes were likely intended to create drama, but I found myself a bit overwhelmed by the terminology - specifically, the titles. The older students, or soeurs, are mostly given titles and keeping track of who is who can often get confusing. Then you have to weave that into the story and it can feel like a bit much. By the end of it, I was mostly okay with it, but these things can scare off new audiences, especially those who were willing to try to watch all existing seasons. However, outside of that, the short storylines that were created from episode to episode did have some winners. The three storylines that centered around Suguru, Shiori and Mifuyu were solid, though I found the in between bits felt like it was dragging a little bit. The last two episodes wrap up the show quite nicely as well, as it's the only time we get to see students outside of the academy.
Yumi reminds me a bit of Kumiko from Sound! Euphonium, in that she's very observant and not necessarily afraid to speak to mind. She's an okay protagonist, but what makes her stand out is how Sachiko lifts her, who is a much more interesting character. Sachiko comes from a bit of a higher upbringing and her life is very clearly different from Yumi's. A bit of a personality did start to bloom further as you went along in the series, and that's a good thing! I found myself liking the stories to a bunch of the side characters, but I had a hard time liking the other members of the student council. I feel like it might in part be because of the setting, but many of the other girls just kind of meshed together in my mind. This kind of links to the difficult task of remembering everyone's titles.
The story between Yumi and Sachiko was nice and some of the side characters get really moments. But the inconsistent pacing does prevent this story from really flourishing. (Story: 7/10, Characters 6/10)
Art: Considering this is almost two decades old, I didn't mind the art style at all. They didn't depend on many still shots and the animation looked pretty smooth. Many of the more peaceful moments are well shown, though the show makes a point to never get too lovey-dovey. (6/10)
Sound: The OST consists of most olden tunes with an instrumental OP and ED and matches the show decently well. It's not my preference, for sure, but it was fine, based on the setting. The VA work was solid in its own right, though I felt like Miki Itou (Sachiko) wasn't very expressive when she could have been. (7/10)
Overall Enjoyment: I was on the fence whether to give this a 6 or 7, but I felt like there were enough strengths that I think a 7 is worth it. I really enjoyed some of the story arcs, while I found myself bored with others. I haven't decided whether or not to watch the sequels, but it'll definitely stay at the back of my mind! (7/10)