Maria-sama eps 3 -5 recap

I’m really torn on the 4th season of Maria-sama ga Miteru. On one hand, I’d like to find what what happens in Yumi and Yoshino’s pivotal second year as they search for their soeurs. develop and grow. On the other, the 4th season incarnation of Maria-sama has been disappointing in some regards.

First, consistent artwork for the Maria-sama series has never been a strong point for the series. If you compare episodes from the first and subsequent seasons, the differences are remarkable. The first season definitely used more muted colors and everything had more of a pastel look - it’s the Maria-sama look that I like best. The 4th season continues from the art quality of the 3rd season OVAs. The colors are brighter and the facial expressions in particular seem more crude. It’s how the faces are drawn that’s my biggest gripe. At times, especially in the 5th episode, the faces just look distorted and you sort of wonder which monkey drew Yumi or Sachiko…it’s that bad.

Yeah, there's no implied lesbianism in that shot. Move along...

Second, Maria-sama has always been more about implied relationships. Deep affection without overt physical expression. It’s why the last episode of the second season had so much impact. You were sort of shocked when you saw Sachiko rush to embrace Yumi and admit her feelings at last. That’s just a rare event and, in my opinion, the series is better when they limit those type of moments.

Yumi is far more physical with her onesama this season

This season sees the introduction of the “touchy” Yumi. She’s so aggressive in trying to hold her onesama’s hand, stroke her hair and exclaim her feelings for her that you wonder if she’s turned the corner and become full bore lesbian.  Also, there are just some moments involving Yoshino where I wonder if the animators are either making fun of the whole yuri thing or they want to turn this into the female Junjou Romantica.

Somehow I have this strange craving for Pizza Hut.

Of course, a Pizza Hut is conveniently located in the amusement park.

Expect this shot on Pizza Hut box covers soon.

Third, the blatant pizza eating thing is well blatant. Yes, Pizza Hut has a marketing campaign based on the Marimite girls; however, the fifth episode goes a little overboard in my opinion.

Yoshino always getting right to the point

Yoshino and Yumi look at Noriko as if she's the last woman on the face of the earth.

The tea party is announced. Lilian students get excited at the prospect of possibly nabbing one of the Yamiyuri celebrities.

Touko being Touko. Hopefully, they work on her character development A LOT in the next episodes. She still comes off as spoiled rich girl.

Kanako rejects Yumi, but they're still friends. Note Yumi and the touching thing...she's so physical this season.

So to recap, in episode 3, Yoshino gets the idea for a soeur audition given the fact that both Yumi and herself are lacking one. The lack of soeurs spells trouble for the Yamiyurikai since it means that when Sachiko and Rei graduate that the council will be left short-handed, with Noriko being the sole first year. The lol moment of the episode is when Yoshino tells Yumi that the Yamiyurikai is like a village “lacking wives”. It’s a pretty funny moment, but it gets you wondering if the animators are having a bit too much fun with the yuri thing.  At the end, the soeur audition proceeds as a tea party open to anyone seeking a soeur and not just as a means for Yumi and Yoshino to select their imouto. Conspicuous with her absence from the tea party is Touko. Also, Kanako, Yumi’s other potential soeur candidate, tells Yumi that she wishes only to remain friends and not enter into a soeur relationship. Aww.

Yumi and her "harem"

Yoshino seeks to get some of the harem action for herself

Return of the three Roses. They play a game trying to pick out who among the audience would be Yoshino's soeur. Ironically, they pick Noriko (Shimako's soeur), Kanako, Touko and Nana.

Yeah, that's not foreshadowing.

Remember none of the Lilian girls are supposed to be blatant lesbians, so this sort of thing is completely innocent!

Episode 4, you see the soeur audition / tea party in full swing. You learn then that Yumi is quite popular among first year students, and she attracts according to Yoshino a “harem” of followers. The tea party doesn’t result in any soeurs chosen by either Yumi and Yoshino. This leaves Yoshino in a bind since she promised Eriko, Rei’s onesama and the former Rosa Foetida, that she would show her new soeur candidate at Rei’s next kendo tournament. At the day of the kendo tournament, Yoshino bumps into Nana Arima, who because she happened to be convenient and wearing a Lilian uniform, is introduced to Eriko as Yoshino’s soeur candidate. Eriko pretty much sees through the ruse, but promises Yoshino that she’ll stop bother her about the issue. Yoshino then discovers that Nana is actually a 3rd year student at Lilian’s middle school.

Sachiko is drawn so horribly this season.

Marimite chibis!

Uninvited guests at the amusement park

Fragile flower Sachiko can't stand crowds

Sachiko has always been physical with Yumi. This season, Yumi is just as physical back.

Episode 5 is the Pizza Hut episode. Not a lot of plot development, but lots of exposure to pizza. In sum, Yumi takes Sachiko on a date to an amusement park, meeting Suguru, Sachiko’s cousin and fiance, and Yuuki, Yumi’s younger brother. During the date, Sachiko collapses due to the fact that she’s a sheltered rich girl and not used to large crowds. Suguru takes them to Sachiko’s home. There Yumi has a terse confrontation with Suguru admitting she doesn’t like him and a tender moment with Sachiko in her bedroom (lots of hand holding, stroking, etc.)

In sum, I’m hoping that episode 6 will return back to the main plotline and resume Yumi’s search for her soeur. One thing that is evident about this season that the focus will be squarely on Yumi and Touko will play a significant role.  Hopefully, we won’t see many more episodes like episode 5.

Related posts:

1. Maria-sama: 4th Season Hi, my name is Jin Stevens and I’m a...
2. Maria sama 4th, episode 6 Episode 6 of the 4th season of Maria-sama ga...
3. Maria-sama 4 ep 11 I’ve hesitated blogging about episode 11 of Maria-sama ga...
4. Current anime season weak Over the last couple of years I watched a...
5. Girl Friends: yuri for adults? Yuri, or girl’s love manga, is generally considered a...