SleeplessHeart
2004-03-28, 04:08
Maria-sama ga Miteru F.A.Q.
La Vierge Marie Vous Regarde
by animesuki marimite gangs
Reading slowly is preferable here...
GENERAL FAQ
(1) What is Maria-sama ga miteru all about?
Maria-sama ga miteru is a story about students at Lillian High School, an all-girls high school. There is a unique system in Lillian School called the soeur system. In order to help new students quickly make Lillian their new 'home', senior students adopt their juniors as their petite soeurs (younger sisters). The soeur system is optional, not mandatory. The story starts when Sachiko, a 2nd year student, tries to make Yumi, a 1st year student, her petite soeur.
(2) Who writes Maria-sama ga Miteru?
Konno Oyuki (http://premium.uploadit.org/SleeplessHeart/Yuki_Konno.JPG) (She is on the right side, the person on the left is the seiyuu of Yumi)
Hibiki Reine brings Konno Oyuki's work alive with her drawings in the manga/novels.
(3) What is Marimite?
The short name of Maria-sama ga Miteru.
(4) Is there any manga/anime/novels for Marimite?
~Marimite started as a novel in 1998. Till then, there are already more than 30 Novels (http://premium.uploadit.org/SleeplessHeart/MariaNovels.JPG) have been published by Cobalt.
~There are two seasons of Marimite Anime.
The first season, "Maria-sama ga miteru" started on January 2004 and has 13 episodes.
The second season, "Maria-sama ga miteru ~Spring~" starts on July 2004 and has 13 episodes.
The third season has been released as 5 OVAs in 2006/2007 .
The fourth season has been broadcasted in Spring 2009.
~Like other popular mangas, Maria-sama ga Miteru manga is serialized in Margaret (http://margaret.shueisha.co.jp), a semi monthly magazine released on 5th and 20th every month . The novel side story (text only) is featured in Cobalt (http://cobalt.shueisha.co.jp/) magazine, a bi-monthly magazine released on 18th of the odd months. (lordwu).
~The 1st manga was published on Feb 25th 2004, basically a collection of serialized mangas from Margaret magazine and printed on better papers. After then, there have been 8 manga book releases.
(5) Is there any English version for the anime/manga/novels?
The 1st and 2nd of TV seasons and 3rd (in OVA) been licensed by RightStuf / Nozomi Entertainment on March 2008. The official english title is "Maria watches over us". Further information and pre-order pricing can be found at http://maria-sama.rightstuf.com/
The 1st season, 2nd season collection sets and the 3rd (OVA collections) have been released. 4th season has been licensed, but do not expect any early releases since the japan region DVDs have not been released completely (This is to avoid 'reversed import', where japanese fans will buy the cheaper US version).
The manga is being scanlated by Lililicious group using the margaret magazine version as their source.
As for the novel, a translation group, Saiconink, was the initiator who started translating marimite novels. Their release started from the Valentine story arc. After that, many marimite fans are contributing pieces of novel translation. Erica Friedman occasionally posts the summary of novels in her blog.
Strangely enough, Tokyopop germany (http://tokyopop.de/) has published marimite mangas and novels in german language. The First novel (http://www.amazon.de/Rosen-unter-Marias-Obhut-Light/dp/3865809111/) is already out and available in amazon.de
(6) Do manga/anime/drama CD/novels follow the same storyline?
Yes, the anime follows the story from the novels but leaving some side stories behind. The manga has more details than the anime, however the drama CDs is the closest one in details to the novels. Please also note that the chronological order of the anime episodes is a bit messed up.
(7) Do I need to watch the first season first before I watch the (OVAs/Second Season)?
Yes, in my humble opinion. Maria-sama ga miteru is a beautiful character-driven story. Skipping the story behind every character will make it harder to appreciate the situation which marimite characters experience in the later part of the storyline.
(8) What are the Marimite's CDs/DVDs that have been released?
Refer to the post below: Maria-sama ga miteru official Products (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=168533&postcount=4)
(9) What is the official website of Marimite?
www.gokigenyou.com
Other official sites:
http://cobalt.shueisha.co.jp/fair/maria/index.html, Virtual tour of Lillian girls' private high school! (Flash is required)
Hibiki Reine's homepage http://hibiki.cside3.com/
Her unofficial Marimite illustrations http://hibiki.cside3.com/marias.html (Thanks to touko_no_doriru)
Tv Tokyo (one of the TV broadcasters) has nice webpages for the series
First Season (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mariasama/)
~Spring~ (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mariasama_haru/)
(10) Are there any marimite fan-sites in English?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria-sama_ga_Miteru Wikipedia about marimite
http://www.geocities.com/marianaisho/story/index.htm One of the most comprehensive Marimite resources in English.
http://www.otyaku.com/wordpress/2006/04/18/votl000/ Another marimite novel translation site. An excellent effort to translate the vacation of the lamb.
http://www.mooncanvas.com/marimite/ a nicely organized marimite fansite
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Maria-sama_ga_Miteru Marimite novels in wikipedia style
(11) How's about marimite fan-sites in Japanese or other languages?
* Updated May 2007 *
fan-sites in japanese
http://gokigenyou.sakura.ne.jp/cgi/bookmark/tbookmarkp.cgi
Marimite fansite search engine
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/zinnno/
Marimite fanarts
fan-site in french
http://mariamite.free.fr/ Highly recommended! :) (a site belongs to a member of our marimite gang, laurore31)
(12) What is Yuri? Why do people call Maria-sama ga Miteru as a Yuri show?
Yuri is a term to describe a romantic relationship between two girls in anime/mangas. (pkgirl163)
Many people will have their own views on Marimite.
" First of all, I do not think Maria-sama ga Miteru as a Yuri show. When seeing the close relationship between two pretty girls, many guys simply come to the conclusion that it is yuri. I prefer to see it as a beautiful story of sisterhood relationships, that's my opinion on this matter." (SleeplessHeart)
There is an exception. The relationship between Sei and Shiori is different from the others.
"I guess what pulled me in was the idea of the "sœur system" and the beautiful female relationship between the sœurs was something that was pure and clear; something that male readers [stereotypically] see as real-life high-school girls to be lacking nowadays." (kj1980)
In the end, it is a matter of your opinion to judge Maria-sama ga Miteru by yourself.
(13) How's about Esu? Why is Marimite called an Esu anime?
Esu is the japanese's pronounciation of letter 'S', the first letter of the word 'Sister' . It actually represents a genre which tells stories about 'sisterhood relationships'. The genre of esu literature was started in 1910's and became popular amoung schoolgirls. So it is correct to say that Esu has a longer history than Yuri. (touko_no_doriru)
Recommended references (in Japanese):
Yuri Jiten (Yuri dictionary)
http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~maton/Terminology.htm#e
Exite books/ Secret of Marimite
http://media.excite.co.jp/book/news/topics/012/
(14) Is Maria-sama ga Miteru popular in Japan?
Very. Laurore31 has done a mini interview (http://mariamite.free.fr/maria_article_eng.htm) with a japanese girl, a marimite fan.
(15) What is Maria-sama niwa Naisho?
The fist volume of Marimite DVD comes with a bonus episode, "Maria-sama niwa Naisho" (Don't tell Virgin Mary). It is a very cute episode, but a very short one. I will not give the spoiler here. Hmmm, who is in marimite resembling Chiyo-san from Azumanga Daioh?
Update: It looks that they will include a Maria-sama niwa Naisho episode in every DVD release.
(16) Has the story ended in novels/manga?
No, the story is still going on.
The novel story is far ahead compared with manga/anime. The manga is lagging behind the anime.
(17) What is 'Onee-sama'?
The polite way you call your older sister.
(18) I have just watched Marimite. Now, I desperately need someone whom I can call 'Onee-sama'
Wrong forum. But you may be in luck. Many of our animesuki marimite gang members are females, we may adopt you as our soeur.
----=------------------=-----
This is an on-going project with gracious helps from pkgirl163 and all other members
La Vierge Marie Vous Regarde
by animesuki marimite gangs
Reading slowly is preferable here...
GENERAL FAQ
(1) What is Maria-sama ga miteru all about?
Maria-sama ga miteru is a story about students at Lillian High School, an all-girls high school. There is a unique system in Lillian School called the soeur system. In order to help new students quickly make Lillian their new 'home', senior students adopt their juniors as their petite soeurs (younger sisters). The soeur system is optional, not mandatory. The story starts when Sachiko, a 2nd year student, tries to make Yumi, a 1st year student, her petite soeur.
(2) Who writes Maria-sama ga Miteru?
Konno Oyuki (http://premium.uploadit.org/SleeplessHeart/Yuki_Konno.JPG) (She is on the right side, the person on the left is the seiyuu of Yumi)
Hibiki Reine brings Konno Oyuki's work alive with her drawings in the manga/novels.
(3) What is Marimite?
The short name of Maria-sama ga Miteru.
(4) Is there any manga/anime/novels for Marimite?
~Marimite started as a novel in 1998. Till then, there are already more than 30 Novels (http://premium.uploadit.org/SleeplessHeart/MariaNovels.JPG) have been published by Cobalt.
~There are two seasons of Marimite Anime.
The first season, "Maria-sama ga miteru" started on January 2004 and has 13 episodes.
The second season, "Maria-sama ga miteru ~Spring~" starts on July 2004 and has 13 episodes.
The third season has been released as 5 OVAs in 2006/2007 .
The fourth season has been broadcasted in Spring 2009.
~Like other popular mangas, Maria-sama ga Miteru manga is serialized in Margaret (http://margaret.shueisha.co.jp), a semi monthly magazine released on 5th and 20th every month . The novel side story (text only) is featured in Cobalt (http://cobalt.shueisha.co.jp/) magazine, a bi-monthly magazine released on 18th of the odd months. (lordwu).
~The 1st manga was published on Feb 25th 2004, basically a collection of serialized mangas from Margaret magazine and printed on better papers. After then, there have been 8 manga book releases.
(5) Is there any English version for the anime/manga/novels?
The 1st and 2nd of TV seasons and 3rd (in OVA) been licensed by RightStuf / Nozomi Entertainment on March 2008. The official english title is "Maria watches over us". Further information and pre-order pricing can be found at http://maria-sama.rightstuf.com/
The 1st season, 2nd season collection sets and the 3rd (OVA collections) have been released. 4th season has been licensed, but do not expect any early releases since the japan region DVDs have not been released completely (This is to avoid 'reversed import', where japanese fans will buy the cheaper US version).
The manga is being scanlated by Lililicious group using the margaret magazine version as their source.
As for the novel, a translation group, Saiconink, was the initiator who started translating marimite novels. Their release started from the Valentine story arc. After that, many marimite fans are contributing pieces of novel translation. Erica Friedman occasionally posts the summary of novels in her blog.
Strangely enough, Tokyopop germany (http://tokyopop.de/) has published marimite mangas and novels in german language. The First novel (http://www.amazon.de/Rosen-unter-Marias-Obhut-Light/dp/3865809111/) is already out and available in amazon.de
(6) Do manga/anime/drama CD/novels follow the same storyline?
Yes, the anime follows the story from the novels but leaving some side stories behind. The manga has more details than the anime, however the drama CDs is the closest one in details to the novels. Please also note that the chronological order of the anime episodes is a bit messed up.
(7) Do I need to watch the first season first before I watch the (OVAs/Second Season)?
Yes, in my humble opinion. Maria-sama ga miteru is a beautiful character-driven story. Skipping the story behind every character will make it harder to appreciate the situation which marimite characters experience in the later part of the storyline.
(8) What are the Marimite's CDs/DVDs that have been released?
Refer to the post below: Maria-sama ga miteru official Products (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=168533&postcount=4)
(9) What is the official website of Marimite?
www.gokigenyou.com
Other official sites:
http://cobalt.shueisha.co.jp/fair/maria/index.html, Virtual tour of Lillian girls' private high school! (Flash is required)
Hibiki Reine's homepage http://hibiki.cside3.com/
Her unofficial Marimite illustrations http://hibiki.cside3.com/marias.html (Thanks to touko_no_doriru)
Tv Tokyo (one of the TV broadcasters) has nice webpages for the series
First Season (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mariasama/)
~Spring~ (http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/mariasama_haru/)
(10) Are there any marimite fan-sites in English?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria-sama_ga_Miteru Wikipedia about marimite
http://www.geocities.com/marianaisho/story/index.htm One of the most comprehensive Marimite resources in English.
http://www.otyaku.com/wordpress/2006/04/18/votl000/ Another marimite novel translation site. An excellent effort to translate the vacation of the lamb.
http://www.mooncanvas.com/marimite/ a nicely organized marimite fansite
http://www.baka-tsuki.net/project/index.php?title=Maria-sama_ga_Miteru Marimite novels in wikipedia style
(11) How's about marimite fan-sites in Japanese or other languages?
* Updated May 2007 *
fan-sites in japanese
http://gokigenyou.sakura.ne.jp/cgi/bookmark/tbookmarkp.cgi
Marimite fansite search engine
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/zinnno/
Marimite fanarts
fan-site in french
http://mariamite.free.fr/ Highly recommended! :) (a site belongs to a member of our marimite gang, laurore31)
(12) What is Yuri? Why do people call Maria-sama ga Miteru as a Yuri show?
Yuri is a term to describe a romantic relationship between two girls in anime/mangas. (pkgirl163)
Many people will have their own views on Marimite.
" First of all, I do not think Maria-sama ga Miteru as a Yuri show. When seeing the close relationship between two pretty girls, many guys simply come to the conclusion that it is yuri. I prefer to see it as a beautiful story of sisterhood relationships, that's my opinion on this matter." (SleeplessHeart)
There is an exception. The relationship between Sei and Shiori is different from the others.
"I guess what pulled me in was the idea of the "sœur system" and the beautiful female relationship between the sœurs was something that was pure and clear; something that male readers [stereotypically] see as real-life high-school girls to be lacking nowadays." (kj1980)
In the end, it is a matter of your opinion to judge Maria-sama ga Miteru by yourself.
(13) How's about Esu? Why is Marimite called an Esu anime?
Esu is the japanese's pronounciation of letter 'S', the first letter of the word 'Sister' . It actually represents a genre which tells stories about 'sisterhood relationships'. The genre of esu literature was started in 1910's and became popular amoung schoolgirls. So it is correct to say that Esu has a longer history than Yuri. (touko_no_doriru)
Recommended references (in Japanese):
Yuri Jiten (Yuri dictionary)
http://www.lares.dti.ne.jp/~maton/Terminology.htm#e
Exite books/ Secret of Marimite
http://media.excite.co.jp/book/news/topics/012/
(14) Is Maria-sama ga Miteru popular in Japan?
Very. Laurore31 has done a mini interview (http://mariamite.free.fr/maria_article_eng.htm) with a japanese girl, a marimite fan.
(15) What is Maria-sama niwa Naisho?
The fist volume of Marimite DVD comes with a bonus episode, "Maria-sama niwa Naisho" (Don't tell Virgin Mary). It is a very cute episode, but a very short one. I will not give the spoiler here. Hmmm, who is in marimite resembling Chiyo-san from Azumanga Daioh?
Update: It looks that they will include a Maria-sama niwa Naisho episode in every DVD release.
(16) Has the story ended in novels/manga?
No, the story is still going on.
The novel story is far ahead compared with manga/anime. The manga is lagging behind the anime.
(17) What is 'Onee-sama'?
The polite way you call your older sister.
(18) I have just watched Marimite. Now, I desperately need someone whom I can call 'Onee-sama'
Wrong forum. But you may be in luck. Many of our animesuki marimite gang members are females, we may adopt you as our soeur.
----=------------------=-----
This is an on-going project with gracious helps from pkgirl163 and all other members