Maria-sama ga Miteru

Setting and themes The setting for Maria-sama ga Miteru is , a fictional Catholic school founded in 1901 in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan; the school is depicted as an elegant, clean, pure, and very prestigious institution. Among the facilities of Lillian, aside from the classrooms, there is a church, a greenhouse, a kendo dojo, an auditorium, a park, and the Rose Mansion, where the Yamayuri Council meet. The students are very respectable and in good standing. The uniform at the school is a long, black Japanese school uniform with a white collar. The school uses the fictional sœur system where any second- or third-year student, the grande sœur ("big sister"), might pick a younger girl who will become her "sœur" (sister in French). The grande sœur gives her the petite sœur ("little sister") a rosary and promises to look after her and guide her. The basic etiquette demands the petite sœur to call her grande sœur "onee-sama" (older sister in Japanese). Aside from being used in prayer, the rosary is the instrument that certifies the sœur union and relationship between two students. Story and characters Maria-sama ga Miteru's story revolves around the students of the Lillian Girls' Academy and is character-driven, focusing on interactions between the characters rather than any sort of ongoing plot or goal to attain. These are also referred to by their colors; the is Rosa foetida, the is Rosa gigantea, and the is Rosa chinensis. Due to the high importance the three Rose families have in the development of the student activities within school, those who become petites sœurs of any of the mentioned families receive a functional "inheritance" through the grandes sœurs teachings, to adopt a position given certain circumstances. In this way, patrons are recognized through the generations of the members of the Rose families. Still, after graduating, the grandes sœurs of the Yamayuri Council may continue with a fair participation in the events concerning their families, as shown in the novels. A , or , is one of three senior members of the Yamayuri Council. It is also possible to generally speak of all the members of the Yamayuri Council as roses. A Rose makes the critical decisions within this group since she controls the student council. Candidates for the position, which lasts through the school year, are chosen through an election. Any student can run to become a Rose, although the position is usually given to the en boutons, the Roses' petite sœurs. The petite sœur of a Rosa is called an , otherwise known as a . En bouton is French for "in bud"—as used in the example Rosa Chinensis en bouton—and is unofficially considered part of the Yamayuri Council, as is the petite sœur of the en bouton, if she has one. The en boutons must be in a lower year than their Rosa, and generally, the en boutons execute the plans discussed by the Roses like assistants. Although the Rosa positions of the Yamayuri Council are traditionally passed to the en bouton on the graduation of the current holder, they are nonetheless elected offices that anyone may run for. The petite sœur of the en bouton is called —as used in the example Rosa Chinensis en bouton petite sœur—and is otherwise known as the . She must be in a lower year than her en bouton and performs small duties, such as attending to the Roses' en boutons, cleaning the Rose Mansion, and making tea and snacks for the Yamayuri Council. This lasts a school year; the following year, when their en bouton is elected as Rosa, the petite sœurs automatically become en boutons. ==Production==

After writing her debut novel series for three years starting in March 1994, Oyuki Konno published a short story called "Maria-sama ga Miteru" in the February 1997 issue of the shōjo magazine Cobalt with illustrations by Yuma Aoi. In 1993, Konno had previously won both Cobalt's Novel Award and Readers' Award for Yume no Miya, and by February 1997, nine volumes had been released. According to Konno, the idea for the story emerged in the mid-1990s during the height of the Boys' Love (BL) boom. Konno gathered with writer friends and the group discussed how recent novels and manga intended for girls were dominated by male characters and "boring," lamenting the scarcity of works featuring large casts of female characters. While the group was tossing around ideas, Konno enlivened the conversation by jokingly acting out a scene, saying, "Sister, the Virgin Mary is watching!" ("Onee-sama, Maria-sama ga miteru kara!"). This joke established the basic concept of relationships between girls in different school grades, as well as the title. Her friends subsequently began frequently pressuring her, asking "Aren't you going to write Maria-sama ga Miteru?" Konno eventually obtained the consent of her friends to use the idea and wrote the first novella for the February 1997 issue of Cobalt. For the basis of Lillian Girls' Academy, Konno drew from her own experiences attending an all-girl high school and junior college for five years. She notes that when she took the entrance exam for the combined junior and senior high school, she was shocked to see only girls in the classroom; she projected this experience onto the character Noriko Nijo, who enters the school as a student from the outside rather than moving up from the middle school. Some of the scenery of Lillian was also taken from her school, such as a ginkgo pathway stretching from the main gate. The laid-back atmosphere of the school was also incorporated into Lillian, although Konno's school did not have a sœur system and it was not a Catholic school. However, Konno had been exposed to Christianity from a young age: she attended a strictly Christian kindergarten which had a sanctuary and cloister in the middle of the school. Konno stated that for this work, the characters existed first and the story was developed later, noting, "The characters just started moving on their own one after another." Konno has explicitly denied this influence. She had not read Hana Monogatari until she began receiving questions about it after Maria-sama ga Miteru was published. Similarly, regarding the concept of "Class S" (Sisterhood), she stated that while she was aware of the word "Yuri," she had absolutely no intention of writing a story in that genre. Instead, Konno stated that the work was created as an antithesis to the Boys' Love genre. ==Media==

Light novels After writing the Maria-sama ga Miteru short story, Konno expanded it into a series of novels. The first volume was published on April 24, 1998, with illustrations by Reine Hibiki. In terms of the storyline, this first novel marks the beginning of the series; the original 1997 short story was reworked and republished in the ninth volume Cherry Blossom in 2001. Shueisha published 37 light novels in the series, ending with Farewell Bouquet on April 28, 2012. There were also two additional volumes published, the first containing an overview of the series and interviews, and the second featuring an illustration collection. Second editions were published starting in 2018 to commemorate its 20th anniversary. In February 2003, with 12 volumes released, Konno began to publish more short stories in Cobalt, with illustrations by Hibiki. Counting the 1997 debut, 27 short stories were published, which were included in later novels. The first five volumes of the light novel series were translated into German by Tokyopop. Konno also wrote a spin-off series of light novels titled , also illustrated by Hibiki. These focus on Yumi's younger brother Yūki and his schoolmates at Hanadera. Shueisha published 10 volumes between August 1, 2008, and November 30, 2013. Manga A manga adaptation, drawn by Satoru Nagasawa, was serialized in Shueisha's shōjo manga magazine Margaret between October 2003 and October 2005. Following this, the manga was transferred to Shueisha's sister magazine The Margaret between May 2006 and December 2007. The manga was again serialized in The Margaret between May and August 2010. The individual chapters were collected and published in nine tankōbon volumes released by Shueisha between February 2004 and October 2010. The first eight volumes were republished in five omnibus volumes in Japan between April and July 2010. The story in each volume follows the corresponding volume of the novels. The first eight volumes were translated into German by Tokyopop. Six brief manga one-shots, illustrated by Reine Hibiki and based on some scenes from the novels, were published by Shueisha in Cobalt between February 2003 and December 2004. , , , , and . "Before the Festival" was later included in volume 18 of the novels, Premium Book, and the other five were later published in volume 26 of the novels, Illustration Collection. A one-shot of Oshaka-sama mo Miteru, illustrated by Sakura Kenjō, was published in Shueisha's Comic Cobalt magazine in August 2010. Anime A 13-episode anime television series adaptation of Maria-sama ga Miteru aired in Japan between January 7 and March 31, 2004, on TV Tokyo. Produced by Studio Deen and directed by Yukihiro Matsushita, the screenplay was written by Reiko Yoshida, and Akira Matsushima based the character design used in the anime on Reine Hibiki's original designs. The art director for the series is Nobuto Sakamoto. The sound director is Yoshikazu Iwanami, and the soundtrack is composed by Mikiya Katakura. The series was later released by Geneon to seven VHS and DVD compilation volumes from April to October 2004. Most of the production staff would return to produce two additional television series and an original video animation (OVA) series. The 13-episode second season, titled , aired between July 4 and September 26, 2004, on TV Tokyo. The series was later released by Geneon to six VHS and DVD compilation volumes from October 2004 to April 2005. The third season, a five-episode OVA series titled Maria-sama ga Miteru, was released on DVD from November 29, 2006, to July 25, 2007; each episode is approximately 50 minutes long. The 13-episode fourth season, again titled Maria-sama ga Miteru, aired between January 3 and March 28, 2009, on AT-X. The series was released by Geneon to six DVD compilation volumes from March to August 2009. Instead of Yukihiro Matsushita who had directed the first three seasons, the fourth season is directed by Toshiyuki Katō. In addition to the main anime series, a parody series called is included as a bonus on the DVD releases of the three televisions seasons and the OVA series. There are 29 episodes: seven from season one, six for season two, The four series were released as DVD box sets with English subtitles as follows: July 29, 2008 for season one, November 25, 2008 for season two, March 24, 2009 for season three, and July 6, 2010, for season four. Maiden Japan licensed the three television series and the OVA series after Nozomi Entertainment's license to the franchise had expired. An English dub for the series was considered in 2018. Audio CDs For the first Maria-sama ga Miteru anime series, the opening theme "Pastel Pure" and the ending theme is "Sonata Blue". Both songs are instrumental tracks composed by Mikiya Katakura of the band Ali Project and were released on a theme song album in February 2004. The original soundtrack for the first anime series was released in February 2004. For Maria-sama ga Miteru: Printemps, the opening theme is a vocal version of "Pastel Pure" by Ali Project and the ending theme is again "Sonata Blue". The single for "Pastel Pure" was released in August 2004. The original soundtrack for Printemps was released in September 2004. For the Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA series, the opening theme is again the instrumental version of "Pastel Pure", and there are two ending themes. The single for the first ending theme by Kotoko was released in October 2006, and the single for the second ending theme by Kotoko was released in March 2007. The original soundtrack for the OVA series was released in March 2007. For the Maria-sama ga Miteru fourth season, the single for the opening theme by Kukui was released in February 2009, and the single for the ending theme by Kaori Hikita was also released in February 2009. For the Maria-sama ga Miteru live-action film, the theme song "Heavenly Days" by CooRie was released on her album Heavenly Days in October 2010. Three volumes of albums titled Maria-sama ga Miteru: Haru Image Album containing image songs and background music tracks were released between April and September 2005. Each image album was assigned to one of the three families of roses; the songs were sung by the voice actors of the anime series. A vocal album titled Christmas Album was released in December 2008. Shueisha produced 12 drama CDs between January 14, 2004, and December 14, 2007, and Frontier Works produced three additional drama CDs between July 24, 2009, and July 22, 2010; the CDs use the same voice actors from the anime series. The drama CDs are based on the stories in the novels. The fifth and tenth drama CDs by Shueisha were released in limited edition versions each with a slipcase and a pair of character mini-figures. Internet radio show An Internet radio show to promote Maria-sama ga Miteru called was hosted by Kana Ueda, the voice of Yumi Fukuzawa, and featured other voice actors from the anime series as guests. The show features conversations and publicity, often commenting with news of the anime series and other funny situations from the plot of the novels. It had a pre-broadcast special for Christmas on December 22, 2005, and later broadcast 19 episodes between March 9 and November 24, 2006. The show was streamed online every other Thursday, and was produced by Animate TV. a Hinamatsuri special on March 1, 2007, and another Christmas special on December 20, 2007. The radio show returned to broadcast 13 main episodes and 3 specials between August 27, 2008, and September 30, 2009. Again hosted by Ueda, the show was streamed online every last Wednesday of the month, and was also produced by Animate TV. Live-action film A live-action film adaptation premiered in Japanese theaters on November 6, 2010. The film is directed by Kōtarō Terauchi, and Terauchi co-wrote the script with Keiji Sagami. The film's music is composed by Chika Fujino. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in Japan on July 29, 2011. To tie in with the film, a new edition of the first light novel was published in June 2010 with a cover featuring stars Honoka Miki and Haru. ==Reception==

It was reported in April 2010 that 5.4 million copies of the original light novels have been published. Reception to the Maria-sama ga Miteru anime series has been generally positive, Jason Thompson credits Maria-sama ga Miteru with starting "the modern yuri trend." Newer anime titles that Maria-sama ga Miteru is compared to include Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru, Strawberry Panic!, Best Student Council, and Aria. Carlos Ross, writing about the first novel in the series, felt the story was a "classic rags-to-riches tale," but that it was "also sweet, touching and witty when it needs to be." He criticized the lack of teachers and schoolwork in the series, which led to the plot being filled with extracurricular activities, which are common to high school series. He also criticized Yumi's low self-esteem. A characteristic element of the series is the extensive use of French titles, which Carlos Ross has criticized as "distracting". Mania.com criticized the early anime episodes as being "difficult", and saying that the first episode "throws a lot of terms and names at you". On the other hand, Ross compared the "atmosphere" presented by the series' artwork with those from other anime titles of similar setting, including the bright and vivid Revolutionary Girl Utena. Marc Hairston commented on the unusual character designs compared to other series, and said they are "ordinary students." ANN noted that the second anime season tends to overdramatize, especially in the last three episodes. ANN also describes the second season as "more embarrassing and shoujo-ai oriented" than the first season, but that the solid characterization is still a strength of the series. Holly Ellingwood of Active Anime appreciated the focus on characters other than Yumi and Sachiko for the second season, regarding Shimako's loss of Sei and befriending Noriko as being "one of the more moving" arcs of Printemps. ANN regarded the OVA season as the best of the first three seasons, citing the improved production standards and the less melodramatic storylines. ANN notes that the fourth season is "a return to dramatic form" after the relaxation of the OVA series, but it is not as melodramatic as the second season, due to the increased maturity of the cast. Chris Beveridge, writing for Mania.com, found it odd that Yumi and Sachiko did not spend so much time together in the fourth season, and felt that the series needed an epilogue, but enjoyed seeing Yumi taking on some "adult responsibilities." Andrew Shelton has suggested that Maria-sama ga Miteru's "reduced capacity for epic drama" is due to the lack of malicious characters; Japanese reviewers for their part regard the story as a revival of the Class S genre, and specifically a modern-day equivalent of Nobuko Yoshiya's Hana Monogatari. He describes the series as "one of the most interesting and touching anime series of the last two years", The Rose Mansion from the story was recreated in the Second Life virtual world and opened on February 8, 2008. ==References==