Touhou – A Summer Day’s Dream
Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets targeted by a mysterious thief.
Chance of me Blogging: 10% (Very slim)
First of all, since this is a series that’s purely created by amateurs, I must praise the creators for doing an actually pretty good job at it. The character art is a bit crude here and there, but nevertheless the music is excellent and the background look pretty nice, and there’s actual CG in here. You can really see that a lot of time was put into this to make it look good, and it definitely beats the to be honest rather half-assed Animax Grand Prix series. I’m also glad that they went for a slice-of-life setting, rather than going to try and recreate the game’s virtually non-existent plot. But yeah, the entire story is about a mysterious thief who keeps stealing stuff. It’s just one big excuse to show as many of the game’s characters as possible and giving them some reason to fight, but nevertheless it’s an interesting way to spend 20 minutes.
Shikabane Hime Kuro
Short Synopsis: Our lead character trains hard to accept his mission.
Chance of me Blogging: 90% (I blogged the first season, so why not?)
Overall a decent start to the second season, but I have my worries here and there. The episode felt a bit dry with Makina being chained up for the largest part, but let’s hope that she snaps out of angsting over what happened at the first season soon. The side-characters also were mostly in the spotlights, and they did a good job of driving the episode forward… but what was up with those boob-jokes? Seriously, this episode had more fanservice than the entire first season together, and that has me slightly worried. Especially that new character… talk about out of place-looking characters. This is a horror-series, not a magical girl show.
Maria-sama ga Miteru Fourth Season
Short Synopsis: Our lead character participates in a school play.
Chance of me Blogging: 10% (Have yet to watch the first seasons)
well, so this is the fourth season of the much-loved Maria-sama ga Miteru franchise, but I’m not yet convinced. Based on the title and promo-art, I expected this to be some sort of combination between big brother and yuri, but in the end this is just another slice of life series on an elite school. Ultimately, this episode was simply dull; there was nothing that really made me watch the rest of this series, nor the first two seasons. What it did well was the bit of development for that one classmate, but nothing else even caught my attention. The lead character is annoying, in the way that she keeps poking her nose into everything. What made the previous seasons so good anyway?
For yuri parts…….well it was one character who brought it in and she’s currently doesn’t appear often because she graduated from the school besides how much these characters care for thier soeurs (sisters) makes them kind of in love with each other
and I like Maria Sama I really find it enjoyable and I really don’t find Yumi as annoying
Also you mentioned “the first two seasons” while they’re three with the third one as an OVA
and lastly I am not trying to tell you to watch this series but give it a chance even the worst possible series still deserves a chance ^_^
To each his/her own. I thought the first episode of Marimite was wonderful. Emotional depth and outstanding voice-acting. The couple of eps of Shikabane Hime Aka I watched were well made, but shallow and pointless, for me. Marimite really has something to it. I have to laugh, since I just wrote elsewhere how great I thought Yumi was, and here you say she’s “annoying.” Opinions vary. It’s all good.
Well, you don’t watch Maria-sama for the main characters but for the side characters.
I dont’t like Yumi as well, as she is, like you said, kind of annoying. Not only because she has to stick her nose into everything, but also because of her really stupid praise for EVERYTHING her great onee-sama makes…
And this onee-sama isn’t so wonderful with her changing from arrogance to emoish attitudes and backwards.
But the series has some really nice side characters, who are nicely fleshed out and really loveable. And that’s for me thereason to watch it despite the not-so-great main characters.
Although I haven’t made it past the first season yet because of said main characters….
Why don’t you guys like Yumi, I like her a lot, she speaks her mind, is concerned about others , is funny and sensitive ( the reasons Sachico choose her for being her soeur), it’s quite a character , well in this series every single chrter stands out, actually it’s one of these series where I don’t have any hated chrter , my favorite character is Sachiko by far , second place Shimako, but I also adore Touko, she’s such an impredictable chrter.
But I was really attracted by the relationship Shachico and Yumi have, it ‘s not the standart one , their link is unbreakable. Plus the character design here is awsome, just outstanding and reflects and the emotions are well shared, the music fits the mood of the anime, it ‘s so great, like some kind of hymn , the settings are remarcable in the OAV 5 ( Italy), I’ve been there they reproduced each place exactly as it is. Anyway, it’s one of my most favorite series ever!!!!
I’ve just watched this 1st ep of Maria sama 4th season, it’s just wonderful to have the chrters back! I loved this one, but unfortunately I don’t believe that those who haven’t seen the previous seasons could enjoy this one cause if you don’t know the kind of relationships that the characters shared , it’s somehow meaningless, I’d think I’d be disconnected , the most important thing here is how their relationships evolve but if you don’t know what they were It’s useless to watch it, that’s why many haven’t liked it. For example, we know the kind of relationship Yumi used to have with Touko and the fact they weren’t close ( jealousy of Yumi when she thought she’d lost Sachico because of Touko), kinda antagonistic relationship. And so on. One thg I’m sure of is that this season will show the evolution of Yumi/Touko relationship( they already got closer in the OAV but now I truely believe they’ll be soeurs!)Even if Touko seems to be cold towards Yumi , she actually like her. And one thg I look forward is seeing Yumi and Sachico going to the amusement park, they really play with our patience, they had to go in the 2nd season and till now they still haven’t , I hope they will in this one!!!
“Shikabane Hime Kuro”,just what’s this?! I had such high expectations about it but it ruined them all , what a silly over-wrecked thing is this show !!!!Whoah, I couldn’t wait for it to end!!! It ‘s the worst series of the year, together with Linnebarrel thing!!!!How those series are supposed to attract audience, I wonder, well at least those two worsty could win the price of the most stupid and ugly shows this year, what’s this chrter-design too, it could pass with a perfect , well – build storytelling and plot but never with this one!!!
psgels, you ask what made the previous series of Marimite so good, so I’ll out in my tuppence worth:
1. I concede that the 4th series doesn’t start well; in fact I’m quite worried that they have introduced the characters (which didn’t happen at the start of series 2 and 3). The creators are wiping away all the rich plot and character development, which is an excellent reason to watch from series 1!!
2. The relationships are shoujo-ai, with intense feelings that border on romance, though you can’t always tell which side of the line these fall on. It’s a bit like Utena, a show which is in your top 10, no?
3. The characters’ history goes back a LONG way, and is fleashed out well through the first three series. The tension between Yumi and Touko comes from their vying for Sachiko’s attention during a very difficult period, complicated by Touko being Sachiko’s cousin. Touko has many more faces than people give her credit for, depite the annoying exterior.
4. The mood varies beautifully through the series. The first sets the scene (though can be a tad dull here and there), the second is quite emo, and the third is light-hearted and funny.
5. The comedy is great, and comes when you don’t expect it! This isn’t just a melodrama, you know. Much of this comes from the misunderstandings between Yumi and Sachiko, two girls who struggle to communicate for different reasons, in spite of their strong bonds.
6. As others have remarked, the side chracters really put the primary ones in prespective. To be honest, the most interesting ones graduated in the middle of series 2, though they still played a role in the summer vacation plots. The cast is really quite varied and large!
All in all, quit watching series 4 and start from the beginning, then you will really savour the show! Not every episode packs a great punch, but it will always build up to something really unexpected and fun:P
While Maria-Sama is great it’s got nothing on Big Brother, that’s classic yuri drama!
I can’t believe Maria-sama ga miteru is over, I hope there’ll be a fifth season, it really needs it. But all this 4th season was greater than great, it was unbelievably FANTASTIC!!! I can’t tell how much I love this show!!! Now, hope there’ll be a 5th season to show more of Yumi/ Touko relationships ( it was sooo lovely!!!) as soeurs and time is needed for Yoshino to choose someone as her imôto and to give her her rosary, and I hope we’ll see more of Sei, because she was totally absent in this season. And more side stories present in the books that were cut off for the anime. Anyway they have the material to make another season, let’s hope they’ll use it, I don’t want to believe it’s the end, after all there’s so much left!