Maria-sama 4 ep 11
I’ve hesitated blogging about episode 11 of Maria-sama ga Miteru largely because I’ve neglected blogging about episodes 7 through 10. Of the ones I mentioned, episode 7 with the Christmas Party was particularly dramatic and worthy of a blog post all on it’s own. Episode 8 was surprisingly a bit of a let down with the current Yamiyurikai visiting Sachiko’s house for a New Year’s celebration. Episode 9 picks up again with the Yamiyurikai elections, of which Touko is a surprise candidate. Finally, episode 10 focuses on the aftermath of the election, Suguru’s visit to Sachiko concerning Touko, and the planning of a new Valentine’s event featuring the upcoming Roses.
I decided to start blogging about Maria-sama again largely because I have been following the series and because the anime is quickly coming to its dramatic conclusion. I felt that the tensions about Touko had been steadily building since episode 6, culminating with this episode. While I do feel a little bad that I didn’t give the other episodes their just do, I do feel that as a blogger, you have to focus on what interests you and not slavishly write something just because you feel obligated. The writing that comes out of such obligation tends not to be the best.
Maria sama 4th, episode 6
Episode 6 of the 4th season of Maria-sama ga Miteru was in a word, awesome. There was just so much win in this episode that I’m breaking my rule of doing one episode recaps. Generally, since I want to focus my site equally among a different topics, I avoid doing one episode recaps and just talk about trends I see in an anime series. Sometimes a lot doesn’t happen in an episode (see my thoughts on episode 5), but so much happened in episode 6 that it feels like three or four episodes crammed into one. Read more
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. Read more
Current anime season weak
Over the last couple of years I watched a lot of anime. I mean a lot. Not only was I watching some really good anime, but I was also catching up with shows that I either never watched, had previously ignored (and rediscovered) or just some that I felt I needed to watch to complete my anime education.
So what are some shows that I feel that are part of a good anime foundation?
- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - an epic anime that seemingly becomes more legendary as time passes
- Nodame Cantabile - a great anime with unforgettable characters, great musical sequences and a really sweet ending
- Ouran High Host Club - this anime made me laugh so many times I lost count
- Card Captor Sakura - along with Sailor Moon, the archetype of the magical girl animes
- Neo Evangelion - can’t have a good foundation without including at least one mecha anime
- Maria-sama ga Miteru - the archetypical shoujo anime that is technically yuri, but involves no explicit ecchi and instead focuses on the intense (and implied) relationships of girls who attend an exclusive Catholic academy
- Naruto - a “kid’s” anime that sometimes surprises you about the lessons it imparts about growing up
This isn’t an all inclusive list, and there’s probably a good debate of which 9 or 10 shows would give you a decent enough foundation into the types of Japanese anime. And possibly even more debate as to whether just 9 or 10 shows would be enough. Read more
Maria-sama: 4th Season
Hi, my name is Jin Stevens and I’m a middle aged guy who loves Maria-sama ga Miteru. Actually, I’m a huge fan and have been looking forward to this fourth season for quite some time.
Maria-sama or Marimite isn’t the type of stuff that generally attracts a male audience. It’s technically a yuri anime, which means that it’s about love between two women, but the relationships between the characters are implied rather than explicit (however, see the pictures below). This means that if you’re checking out this series for some how girl-on-girl action, you’re going to be pretty disappointment. There’s zero smut in this series unless you consider holding hands highly sexual.
