DVD Review - Class tensions and gender bending drama

The third season of "Maria Watches Over Us" strengthens the girls' romantic ties with warm dialogue and imagery.

The newest release for the Maria series is set in Lillian Girls Academy during the summer break after season two. As viewers may remember from the previous seasons, the student council is organized under a nobility system, in which each grande seour (big sister) appoints a first-year student as her petite seour, or little sister. It resembles an intern system in some ways, in which the upperclassmen assign certain tasks to their apprentices.

In this year, petite seour Yumi Fukuzawa spends her summer break with her grande seour, Sachiko Ogasawara. Although the vacation starts off as a boring moment of solitude, Sachiko has her own reasons for hiding out in a summer cottage. Rival families are looking forward to laying shame on the Ogasawara family name.

There's plenty of other interesting events, including a joint festival with the all boys high school next-door to the Lillian Girls Academy. The boys high school council features a completely improbable cast of characters, including two twins, a buff guy who works out, a geek, Yumi's little brother and a guy who wanted to grow up as a girl.

Yet, as fantastic as the third season turns out, the story still retains a warm, pleasant tone. Better yet, most of the story is now centered on the two main characters, Yumi and Sachiko. This new narrative focuses our attention on the two women whom anime fans fell in love with first. The ultimate affirmation of their love for each other takes place during an entertaining school festival story, complete with cosplaying guys and panda costumes.

The new OVA format, or original video animation, makes each episode more poignant than those in the previous two seasons. The one-hour episodes also make for richer stories, strung together in a continuous narrative without interruptions. The story tends to ramble during the long sports festival and the school trip. These last two episodes feature more still images than actual animation, but the show still maintains its steady momentum of conversational comedy.

Overall, "Maria Watches Over Us" will immerse you into a warm world of girls' romance, with beautiful character designs and charming stories. The episodes shows these touching relationships without any plot holes or cheaply drawn animation. Although the story tends to drift off in the last episodes of season three, yuri fans will definitely enjoy "Maria Watches Over Us."

Extras: The OVA continues the excellent "Maria Watches Over Us" comedy segments, "Don't Tell Maria," a series of out-takes for every episode. These short blurbs include some epic parodies of the opening narrative, including an epic one involving the all boys school. However, the best jokes involve the exaggerated height of Yumi's newest friend.

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DVD Review - Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Season two of "Maria Watches Over Us" features plenty of surprises, heartbreaks and changing relationships.

The series continues Yumi's relationship with the Rosa Chinensis, Sachiko Ogasawara. "Maria" features a tear-jerking graduation ceremony for the seniors, some cool flashbacks and the induction of more little sisters in the Yamayuri Countil.

Admittedly, the season begins a little slowly, with a New Year's party at Sachiko's home. No real drama takes place in this place--this episode just introduces Yumi to Sachiko's humongous mansion home.

The spotlight of season two, however, is the farewell of the seniors at Lillian Girl's Academy. Yumi, saddened that her friend Sei Sato is leaving, gives a heartbreaking farewell kiss. Sachiko breaks down in tears before she can finish her farewell speech to the Yamayuri seniors. And the schoolgirls get together for a touching photo session with the school journalists.

With graduation finally over, however, the Yamayuri continues to find new sisters to add to their student council. An incredibly emotional flashback episode shows us how Sei Sato chose Shimako as her petite soeur, or little sister. Although Shimako is not sure who she should pick as her petite soeur, she finds a lovely girl in episode 7, named Noriko Nijo.

The Noriko Nijo episodes are especially touching. After all, it's not everyday that anime fans get to learn Shimako's dilemma with having Buddhist parents and attending Catholic school. And Shimako is pretty shy and nervous too, making for some nerve-wracking scenes when she is trying to make Noriko her petite seour.

The most touching episodes involve a mysterious story arc, in which Sachiko cancels all her dates with Yumi. Sachiko is also spending an awful lot of time with Toko Matsudaira, Sachiko's cousin and best fan. Yumi is shocked, and has no idea whether Sachiko is cheating on her. Fortunately, this is just a misunderstanding, leading to a wonderful make-up scene at the end of the season.

"Maria Watches Over Us" is one of the best anime romance series I have ever seen, with some of the most crushing emotional scenes with poignant scenery. While there isn't too much humor, there are plenty of wonderful friendships and romances with girls in this series. Indeed, this series is as romantic as "His and Her Circumstances" (Kare Kano in Japan), with girl and girl romances. Indeed, if Hideaki Anno had ever continued "His and Her Circumstances," it would look as beautiful as "Maria Watches Over Us."

As long as anime fans are willing to bear with homosexual girl relationships, "Maria Watches Over Us" is a must-see romance anime.

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DVD Review: Maria Watches Over Us Season One

"Maria Watches Over Us" is quite an impressive series. Season one is filled with plenty of juicy romance stories of girls dating girls. This review covers discs 3 and 4 of the series.

While we've all seen the "schoolgirls all caught up love triangles" story before, "Maria Watches Over Us" featured plenty of engaging surprises. Right from the get-go, a student makes one heck of a proposal at the Yamayuri council. She wants to hold a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt, in which the person who finds a card wins a date with one of the grande soeurs.

Yumi Fukuzawa has worried about what to give her "big sister," Sachiko Ogasawara, for Valentine's Day. However, Yumi hasn't talked to Sachiko for a long time now. Yumi's crossing her fingers that she can find the card and give Sachiko a great Valentine's Day present.

In the meantime, Rei Hasekura of the Foetida family has been worrying about her petite soeur, Yoshino Shimazu. After all, someone else found Yoshino's card. Hopefully Yoshino doesn't get too worried about Rei's date with someone else.

Meanwhile, Sei Sato of the Gigantea family stayed out of the spotlight until episodes 10 and 11, when a mystery person named Sei Suga wrote a romance book. There's rumors floating around that Sei Suga is just a pen name for Sei Sato. Even though the rumor is false, the story reveals Sei Sato's dark past, when she was in love with Kubo Shiori.

Overall, the last set of episodes really wrapped up "Maria Watches Over Us" nicely. Although most of the best episodes are covered at the beginning and the end of the series, the stories are fantasic. Probably the best storyline featured Sei Sato's past romance with Kuro Shiori, a girl who works at a church. Perhaps it was a romance that could never come true, but Sei Sato's voice actor goes through a complete sea change from cheerful to completely depressed. And Sei is surprisingly genuine in her emotions.

Too bad Sachiko and Yumi's romance never went through as many intense emotions as Sei Sato's romance. Then again, people would find it hard not to love Yumi, for doing everything she can for her big sister. They'll probably also love watching Sachiko wear jeans instead of fancy dresses for a change.

With such a colorful cast of female characters who love (ahem) female characters, no one can go wrong with "Maria Watches Over Us" season one. Although the price of the box rose to $44, it's still one hell of a bargain, for all the emotion conveyed in this series.

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DVD Review: The Virgin Mary's Girls

It's been awhile since I first reviewed "Maria Watches Over Us." The second DVD of the first season is a little disappointing, but the storyline on the Gigantea family is very intriguing.

As shown in the first DVD, Yumi Fukuzawa became Sachiko Ogasawara's petite seour, or little sister. The student council, also known as the Yamayuri Council, is ogling over this new induction. However, they are especially interested in Noriko Nijo and Shimako Toudo, who were declared the best seour pair by the student newspaper.

But in a little twist, Shimako and Noriko engaged in a verbal argument, in which Noriko gave Shimako back the rosary necklace. Thus, Noriko stopped living as Shimako's petite seour. But Noriko has her own reasons for leaving. Her heart surgery is coming up.

The last episode in this DVD involves the mysterious Rosa Canina, also known as Kanina Shizuka. Shizuka is a junior in high school, who is in the running to be elected as one of the Yamayuri Council officers. However, she's also interested in Sei Suto, one of the members of the Gigantea family. Why is Rosa Canina running in the election when no one in the Yamayuri council knows who she is.

Compared to the first DVD, these episodes are rather tame, in terms of romance and drama. The episodes on Shimako and Noriko are especially intriguing, because I never expected Noriko as a person who has heart problems. But Shimako and Noriko have a very moving moment together in the end. As for Rosa Canina, she shared a short romantic kiss with Sei Sato.

True, this wasn't the best set of yuri romance stories in the series, but it provides a more in-depth look at the seour system in the Yamayuri Council.

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DVD Review: Lesbian romance in the name of Saint Maria

After the slightly disappointing ending to "Simoun," I was looking for a new yuri series to catch my interest. And then along came Mary.

"Maria Watches Over Us" is a charming romance between two school girls caught in difficult circumstances.

To say the least, "Maria Watches Over Us" is gentler and far less lewd than most yuri lesbian romances. For starters, this romance story is set in the Lillian Girls Academy, a school with elegant architecture. The school has a unique petite de seours nobility system, in which the grande seours (big sisters) are the most respected, presigious students.

The story begins with Yumi Fukuzawa, a first-year student, meeting Sachiko in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary. Yumi likes Sachiko, and Sachiko surprisingly ties Yumi's scarf for her. However, photographer Tsutako Takeshita shot a picture of Sachiko tying her scarf, and wants to publish it in the yearbook. Embarassed by the photo, Yumi asks to have it back, but Tsutako agrees only if Yumi lets her display it at the school festival.

Tsutako also wants Sachiko's permission to use the photo as well, so she asks Yumi to come along. Right when they arrive, however, Sachiko bumps into Yumi again. Sachiko graciously wants Yumi to become her petite seour, or little sister.

It turns out that Sachiko is requesting this, so that she can get out of playing Cinderella in the school play. Sachiko doesn't like guys, but her grande seour friends want to force her to play Cinderella, so that she can get more comfortable with men. Shy Yumi refuses reluctantly, leading Sachiko to find ways to convince Yumi to be her little sister.

This difficult beginning almost turned me off too much, but all the schoolgirls have a certain gentleness to them. Even though there is plenty of drama and bickering, the girls are surprisingly polite throughout the first three episodes. Despite the lesbian overtones, the romance is kept low-key, making for a much stronger and more engaging relationship between the two main characters. The art is gorgeous as well, with beautiful light shades of pink and blue throughout the background of Lillian Girls Academy.

Eventually, once anime watchers reach episode three, they'll find that "Maria Watches Over Us" delves deep into difficult issues, such as arranged marriages in Japan. To say the least, the man who is playing Cinderella's bride is not only engaged to Sachiko, but he's also related to her in some way. Fortunately, Yumi gives Sachiko emotional support she needs, and becomes Sachiko’s petite seour.

It's really hard to find a better yuri series out there. "Maria Watches Over Us" is a fantastic series that puts brains over violence and romance over hatred. I liked this series--it has a very solid plot, and unlike "Simoun," it doesn't waste time with goofy science fiction gizmos. I'll definitely be looking forward to watching the rest of the season one box set.

By the way, there's an awesome bonus feature in this DVD, called "Don't Tell Maria!" In each episode of the special feature, the characters pull off cute, hilarious bloopers. This anime has probably the best special features this year for an anime series.

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DVD Review - Fighting for Freedom from Patriarchy

"Simoun" has turned out to be one of the most surprisingly thoughtful yuri series I've ever seen, involving freedom from an oppressive patriarchy.

Honestly, I never thought this series would ever show its true colors until I saw the last episodes of volume five. Keep in mind that there are a few spoilers in this review.

Dominura and Rimone disappeared after performing the Emerald Ri Majon at the end of volume three. But they're not exactly dead. The Simoun aircraft really are special machines that can travel across the dimensions of space and time. So Dominura and Rimone are in the past.

As for the rest of the syballae (Simoun pilots), they are still defending Simulacrum from Argentum. They try attacking the Argentum airbase, but their forces are too powerful. After Mamina and Neviril crash land onto the base, the pilots of the enemy Simoun move in to attack. However, the pilots are really Plumbum priests who came to help. In a shocking twist, Mamina pilots the Simoun away, but jumps from the ship to the Argentum base.

Mamina soon gets shot by the Argentum soldiers. The rest of the war doesn't go well at first, but soon Simulacrum's attacks force Argentum to manage a peace treaty. Their negotiation terms, however, lead to the breakup of the Chor Tempest. If that isn't enough, they are finding every opportunity to keep the pilots from traveling to the other world with the Simoun.

The Argentum are mostly men, leading to the most precarious conflict against patriarchal domination. Aeru and Neviril are probably the only pair who can change the past, in order to change the future. It's a fantastic plot that really takes the power of shojo characters to a completely higher level. They are two women in love, fighting for freedom from male imperialism. In a new world where homosexuality is restricted, perhaps Aeru and Neviril are the last remaining hope for a change in society. And while the ending is somewhat ambiguous, it is a hopeful message for a brighter future.

Although most conservative people might bash this series for its message, this is one of the most liberating anime series I have ever seen. It's hard to defy the sexual imperialism represented by Argentum. The creators even made Argentum people speak a completely foreign language, to exemplify their cultural differences. But "Simoun" may be one of the best anime series, asserting the great power of the shojo hero. It's undoubtably one of the best anime series of the year.

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DVD Review - More yuri action and romance!

For a while, I swore that I would never review another yuri (girls loving girls) anime. However, "Anime Insider" magazine informed me that "Simoun" has one of the best conclusions so far this year, so I couldn't resist.

In the second DVD, "Simoun" increases the tension even more, with a religious faction hell-bent on destroying Simoun aircraft and causing mayhem. While "Simoun" still has unconventional Simoun dogfights, their dialogue is better than ever.

As in the previous volume, "Simoun" continues following the adventures of the Chor Tempest, a famous all-girl air squadron. The Chor's mission is to protect Simulacrum from Argentum, who wishes to steal the circular motors of the Simoun for their imperialist ambitions.

However, episodes five and six introduced a new enemy--the Plumbum Highlands. Although they propose to negotiate peace, their peace negotiations are not exactly peaceful. In fact, some of them killed themselves after shooting numerous guards with pistols. Others suicide bombed themselves to destroy Simoun aircraft.

Romantic tensions reached a boiling point on volume three, episode 12, which covered a controversial side romance in the past between sisters Alty and Kaim. The story leaves no stone unturned--Kaim is furious at her sister, Alty. There's no doubt that this episode of "Simoun" will strike a nerve with many anime watchers, but the emotional performances given by the voice actors is incredible. "Simoun" covers the difficult subject of incest incredibly well.

And there is also tragedy. To my dismay, two of the coolest characters of the Chor Tempest disappear at the end of volume three. In some strange way, they both knew they were not coming out of this intact. I am not going to mention who disappears, but I wish that the creators of the series let those two stay for the end of the series.

The series is exciting to watch. It's definitely not as epic as "Last Exile," and the spacecraft still look a little goofy to me. However, this series is not about amazing air battles--it is a series about controversial romances that no one in America would dare to talk about. It is also a series that looks seriously at our elimination of cultural minority groups through warfare. "Simoun" is one of the most charming yuri series of the year so far.

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DVD Review - Don't panic with "Strawberry Panic"

I must have a bad habit for watching yuri series. I chose "Strawberry Panic" this weekend thinking that it was "Strawberry Marshmallow", an anime about young girls trying to survive on little cash to spare. Instead, I ended up renting a series about a girl and girl romance.

Just to let you know beforehand--I don't intentionally focus on these yuri series. I've just happened to run into them in my search for romance anime.

Still, for a yuri series, "Strawberry Panic" certainly doesn't get excessively awkward at all. This series tells a heartwarming tale of a Japanese girl who tries to fit in at a monastic high school in the woods.

Nagisa Aoi, a fourth-year transfer to Astraea Dormitory, had no idea that her school was so far away from Tokyo. And her first memories are not picture-perfect. She falls down a hillside into a meadow, where she meets the Etoile, the highest ranking student representative of the dormitory. And she is very attracted to Nagisa. In fact, when the Etoile stares at her, she can't even move. And right when the Etoile kisses Nagisa, she blacks out.

She wakes up in the school nurse's office and meets her new roommate, Tamao, who instantly takes a liking to her. In fact, Tamao even takes measurments of Nagisa for her new school uniform. Of course, Nagisa is pretty spooked by all this girl-on-girl action. Even worse, she gets locked out of the school gates on her first day, and is given a strict whipping by the headmaster.

Still, she meets plenty of friends at the dorm. However, her biggest fan right now is Shizuma, the Etoile. Shizuma has a bad habit of staring at Nagisa and trying to kiss her. Thankfully, Nagisa resists Shizuma's creepy powers and manages to convince Etoile to attend the school meetings between the three schools of the dormitory, St. Spica's academy, St. Le Rim's academy and St. Miatre Girls academy. Still, Nagisa still wonders why Shizuma has stopped attending the meetings.

This series has a lot of spunk for a yuri series. The anime has plenty of hilarious embarassing moments, where Nagisa is hit on by Shizuma and Tamao. Nagisa has been resisting these approaches pretty well so far. I guess homosexual romance tends to be a little more rampant at all-girl academies. I'm glad that the series hasn't been too seriously intimate so far. After all, I don't think too many people would want to go into a relationship too quickly. And thankfully, this isn't as dangerously pornographic as "Moonlight Mile". At least not yet...

Also, Nagisa has a way of cheering up Shizuma as well. In episode six, Nagisa warms up to Shizuma as she helps her water the plants in the greenhouse. However, Shizuma obviously has a dark past, because she keeps staring out the window with a depressing demeanor.

So far, this series is a winner. It doesn't bring anything new to the yuri genre, but it is a wonderful start to a romance anime. The pacing is steady and graceful--the homosexual romance hasn't made me too uncomfortable at all, and the setting is realistic enough for a yuri series. I'm crossing my fingers, because this could be a candidate for best yuri series of the year.

Oh yeah, this has the best opening song I've heard in awhile. And it sounds awfully similar to the Angelic Layer first ending theme, although none of the Strawberry Panic song composers or singers worked on that Angelic Layer song.

DVD Review - The best homosexual anime you've never seen

Homosexuality is still a risque topic in America as well as Japan. Thus, the anime publishing company Media Blasters took a big risk in releasing "Simoun", a anime featuring homosexual girls, in America.

However, "Simoun" may very well be the best homosexual anime that you've never seen. No doubt, this is the sleeper hit of 2008. The anime looks so incredible and the scenes are so thought-provoking that anyone in the proper mindset will want to buy the rest of the series.

"Simoun" is a yuri series, a series which focuses on female homosexual romance. Believe it or not, many gay love anime series become really popular in Japan. However, I still somewhat grimace at watching girls kiss each other, as they do in this series.

However, "Simoun" is challenging in many other ways. Its world focuses on the planet Daikuriku, inhabited by humonoids who are born only as girls. In the most powerful colony, Simulacrum, the humanoids can choose their own gender when they reach the age of 17. And even the girls who choose to change their gender still retain their feminine voice. Although this may seem like a disturbing violation of ethics involving faulty industrial genetic mutation, the process is actually connected to Simulacrom's religion. The girls can choose the gender they want, by entering a spring and praying. After a few years, their breasts flatten out, but they still retain their feminine voice. And the new guys created from the process don't seem to mind either.

"Simoun" also presents a world where the nation of women happened to discover the most advanced technology in the world, with clean burning fuel, advanced spaceships called Simouns, and, of course, genetic altering without problems. However, the other nearby country, Argentum, is fighting Simulacrum for this technology with their propeller-powered aircraft with machine guns. Argentum also suffers over extreme pollution and don't have the technology to change their own gender.

It sounds extremely far out, but "Simoun" provides a vision of what the world could be like if women ran the most powerful country in the world. I almost forgot the most risque part of the series--two female pilots of an aircraft have to kiss each other and then kiss a big jewel in-between their cockpits in order to activate the ship, known as a Simoun. This is probably as racy as the series ever gets, aside from a scene where one of the girls flirts with her senior. However, it also shows that this nation of Simulacrum permits homosexuality freely, without restrictions. The nature of the nation contrasts sharply with Argentum, which restricts people with industrial pollution and predestined gender roles.

As strange and far-out as the plot is, it leads to some excellent scenes. The first episode begins with top pilots Amuria and Neveril fighting with their fleet, the Chor Tempest, against an enormous Argentum fleet of airships. One Simulacrum ship is destroyed in the battle. Amuria and Neveril attempt to kill off all the Argentum by flying their ship through the air to create a huge Ri Majon, a laser trail shape in the sky that explodes. However, Neveril gets distracted when she sees the human eyes of an Argentum pilot. Because of the distraction, the Ri Majon explodes, killing her partner, Amuria. For much of the rest of the DVD, Neveril can't bear to pilot a Simoun ever again, because of the fatal battle.

Thus, Paraietta, the second leader-in-command, picks up three new recruits to replace the fallen fighters. Aeru, one of the newcomers, is the main heroine of the series. Young, brash and aggressive, she takes a liking to Neveril immediately, but Paraietta isn't so pleased. The other two recruits, Floe and Rimone, join the other Chor Tempest members, Alti, Floe, Kaimu, Mamiina, Morinas, Rodoreiamann and Yun.

The story centers mostly with Aeru, who constantly knocks on Neveril's door, because Neveril remains secluded in her room. Because Neveril isn't flying, the Chor Tempest hasn't been able to fly any really challenging missions. In episode 4, Aeru almost destroys her ship and gets reprimanded. In order to regain her stature in the Chor Tempest, she convinces Rimone to fly with her to find Argentum soldiers to destroy. They find one aircraft and plan on capturing the pilot after landing. Unfortunately, the pilot surprises them and they get captured. The pilot reveals that his country is heavily polluted and that his only choice is to capture a Simulacrum ship for his country to use. However, he cannot find another person to help him pilot it, his lungs were not able to handle the clean air of Simulacrum, and he turned to stone in the cockpit. In a bloody scene, Aeru shoos the young Rimone away so that she can cut his frozen hands off the joystick.

In the fifth episode, Rimone recovers from the shock of her bloody cockpit and learns to fight again with the help of Dominura, a veteran pilot transferred to the Chor Tempest. The sixth episode focuses on Paraietta and Neveril's former relationship. They were in love, until Neveril fell in love with Amuria. Paraietta sees herself as selfish for restricting Aeru from pairing with Neveril, and after a fencing match with Aeru, she lets Aeru become Neveril's new flying partner.

Although this series is a little risque, it is one of the most complex anime series featuring an all female vocal cast. As long as people are willing to accept the homosexual relationships, this series is one of the best anime series of 2008. The dogfights are stunningly amazing to watch and the plot was very well thought out. This series probably won't be the most popular series in America due to its content, but it is still a series to keep.

Images courtesy of stevegilham.blogspot.com and pinkubentobox.com