Marimite S2 Ep.12 (official thread)

[JokerD]

I teared up a bit during the return of the umbrella bit. And it's nice that Yumi has people in her class that tries to cheer her up. She's real lucky to be surrounded by nice people.

Touko..... She shows up at the worst times doesn't she. Both in eps 11 and 12. Thing could have been resolved so much easier if she did not how up.
..... Dare I say it? I wish she's... somewhere else...... (I trying to be nice)

[Bracken33]

Originally Posted by ProtoMan

Ok guys, its time for rejoice, and no, it's not Christmas; it's Marimite 11 and 12 coming out today. Enjoy and be thankful to Ayu while you are at it

Thanks Ayu!
After watching episode 11 I thought Ayu wanted to avoid a cliffhanger and tries to spare the emotionally weak ones among us.

Spoiler:

But after episode 12 Yumis problem is still not solved. Can´t wait for episode 13. Poor Yumi!

[JokerD]

Forgive my lack of Japan geography knowledge but where is Fukushima? (the train station the umbrella was found) Is it really far from Lillian?
Also is Aota-sensei a one off kinda character? It seems like when his giving the umbrella back to Yumi that it's her grandfather giving the umbrella to her again (does that make sense?)

[BonBon]

Oh, Yumi. Oh, Yoshino. What lovely girls...*sniffles*

Why does this series always do this to me??

[LucifersGirl]

Originally Posted by JokerD

Forgive my lack of Japan geography knowledge but where is Fukushima? (the train station the umbrella was found) Is it really far from Lillian?
Also is Aota-sensei a one off kinda character? It seems like when his giving the umbrella back to Yumi that it's her grandfather giving the umbrella to her again (does that make sense?)

Fukushima station is in Osaka, I don't really remember where exactly Lilian is, but I guess it's the whole different island.

[Lights]

Originally Posted by LucifersGirl

Fukushima station is in Osaka, I don't really remember where exactly Lilian is, but I guess it's the whole different island.

@_@.. although I'm not sure as to where Lilian is, I'm pretty sure it's on the main island of Japan, Honshuu. Osaka is in Honshuu as well.. the umbrella did travel a huge distance, but not THAT far... I don't think.

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by LucifersGirl

Fukushima station is in Osaka, I don't really remember where exactly Lilian is, but I guess it's the whole different island.

Thanks, for clearing that up

[LucifersGirl]

Originally Posted by Lights

@_@.. although I'm not sure as to where Lilian is, I'm pretty sure it's on the main island of Japan, Honshuu. Osaka is in Honshuu as well.. the umbrella did travel a huge distance, but not THAT far... I don't think.

Sorry my bad.

According to Japan train map, travelling from Musashino area of Tokyo, where Lilian suppose to local according to a reply somewhere in this board to Fukushima. It's take from 3-6 combination of JR & Shinkansen taking from a little more than 3 hrs to almost 6 hrs.

.. Yeah, I do have too much time on my hand lately.

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by LucifersGirl

Fukushima station is in Osaka, I don't really remember where exactly Lilian is, but I guess it's the whole different island.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't Fukushima station in Osaka. A more logical sense would be the Fukushima Station in the city of Fukushima in the Fukushima Prefecture, which would be about a 3 hours train ride from Musashino.

Since most members on this board can't grasp the distance of a train ride in Japanese terms, I'll give it to you in a more understandable measurement: around 290 km = 180 miles

[DaFool]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Since most members on this board can't grasp the distance of a train ride in Japanese terms, I'll give it to you in a more understandable measurement: around 290 km = 180 miles

You're assuming then that most members on this board are American. The rest of us can think in metric, thank you.

[The Yellow Dwarf]

Originally Posted by DaFool

You're assuming then that most members on this board are American. The rest of us can think in metric, thank you.

kj is just being helpful by listing three units of distance, kilometres, miles, and train hours.

I really like the last two episodes, especially the fact that the attention is again focused on Yumi.

Originally Posted by baik!

i wonder what that old lady's role is in the story? just to tell yumi-chan to have more confidence in herself? i'm sure there is more story behind that encounter. it reminded me of the ibara no mori story, another old student.

I have to say, though, I think that Kasuga Seiko, Yumiko, and the returning umbrella really seem to have something to say about life in Lillian. The one constant that I have seen is that the Lillian life and the sisterhood that the Lillian life centers around seems to be the one and only ideal that these women hold on to. Even after they have left school and gone through thirty or forty years of life, they invariably return to Lillian and their longing for sisterhood were never sated nor replaced by　(supposed) heterosexual love, marriage, etc. etc. I read the umbrella to be a symbol for this view of seeing a (perhaps sacred) sisterhood (as associated to be the gift of Virgin Mary) as the ultimate spiritual fulfillment - it is a "home" that all the souls of Lillian girls eventually return to, no matter how far they have strayed, either through a misunderstanding (Yumi & Sachiko), the oppression from a hostile society (in the case of Kasuga Seiko's double suicide), or the necessity of life or maturation (Satou Sei, Shiori, Toudou Shimako, etc.).

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by The Yellow Dwarf

kj is just being helpful by listing three units of distance, kilometres, miles, and train hours.

I really like the last two episodes, especially the fact that the attention is again focused on Yumi.


I have to say, though, I think that Kasuga Seiko, Yumiko, and the returning umbrella really seem to have something to say about life in Lillian. The one constant that I have seen is that the Lillian life and the sisterhood that the Lillian life centers around seems to be the one and only ideal that these women hold on to. Even after they have left school and gone through thirty or forty years of life, they invariably return to Lillian and their longing for sisterhood were never sated nor replaced by　(supposed) heterosexual love, marriage, etc. etc. I read the umbrella to be a symbol for this view of seeing a (perhaps sacred) sisterhood (as associated to be the gift of Virgin Mary) as the ultimate spiritual fulfillment - it is a "home" that all the souls of Lillian girls eventually return to, no matter how far they have strayed, either through a misunderstanding (Yumi & Sachiko), the oppression from a hostile society (in the case of Kasuga Seiko's double suicide), or the necessity of life or maturation (Satou Sei, Shiori, Toudou Shimako, etc.).

wow.. that's deep...
But for me the return of Seiko and Yumiko represents more of a closure of events that happened in the school. In Seiko's case the heartbreak and seperation and reunion with the headmaster while in Yumiko's case the forgiveness and reconciliation between the 2 of them.
While in the case of Yumi's umbrella the return of self-confidence and the awareness that she's too dependent on Sachiko's acceptance of her actions, that there are things in her life other than Sachiko and the umbrella. As she thought in the eps, the world opened up and she was able to see and feel Yoshino, Sei, Kei, Yumiko and her classmate's kindness towards her.

That's my take on the events at least.

[choppa]

after seeing yumiko, i somehow feel that the story between yumi & sachiko will be a sad one, like develope into what happens to yumiko and her seour(check the novel spoiler), it must be a sad one because it makes yumiko turned into an aloof person, kei did mention that yumiko doesn't like people right? think, what will happen to yumi if sachiko get married 1 day?

btw, the aota sensei looks familiar isn't he(the one giving back umbrella to yumichan), i saw him and OMG he looks like the colonel of KFC!!!

[The Yellow Dwarf]

Originally Posted by JokerD

But for me the return of Seiko and Yumiko represents more of a closure of events that happened in the school. In Seiko's case the heartbreak and seperation and reunion with the headmaster while in Yumiko's case the forgiveness and reconciliation between the 2 of them.

I agree. There is definitely that. But I think that these "old" characters don't have to be there in the story - which is really just a tale about Yumi and the people around Yumi.

There must be a reason to have the sisterhood echoed again and again through time as if it's something eternal that has existed as long as there has been the word "shoujo" and the world "Lillian." (It's kind of interesting that Kasuga-sensei is a "budding writer" IIRC and Yumiko is never mentioned having ever married - both retain some part of their "shoujo" qualities.)

I think the role of these "returning" characters is to expand the "subject" of the story from the girls in an idealized world for girls (i.e. Lillian), to (perhaps) all women in an idealized world (i.e. beyond Lillian), and thus in turn, to expand the theme of sisterhood to something universal.

(I think it's interesting that, while the story could be titled "The Girls of Lillian", instead it is called "Virgin Mary is Watching." The omniscience implied kind of enlarges the scope of the story by quite a bit.)

[Lights]

Originally Posted by choppa

btw, the aota sensei looks familiar isn't he(the one giving back umbrella to yumichan), i saw him and OMG he looks like the colonel of KFC!!!

Haha... that is so off-topic.. but it's so funny I laughed out loud... Hahaha...

[Revelater]

Originally Posted by Sweets Yumi

FubaredByAnime, I never saw Meet the Parents. *boohoo*

count yourself as lucky....

[swt_drmz]

Wow.. I'm up to the middle of ep 12, and at this point of the anime I hate Touko SO MUCH! Who does she think she is, with the whole "I misjudged you" and "You're not suitable for Sachiko" crap? As if her opinion even has any value at all. If I were Yumi I would've taken that rosary and chucked it at her head, telling her if she (Yumi) was so unsuitable for Sachiko then why don't she (Touko) take her place instead, since it seems to be what she's trying to do anyway.

Jeez that Touko.. UGH!

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by swt_drmz

Wow.. I'm up to the middle of ep 12, and at this point of the anime I hate Touko SO MUCH! Who does she think she is, with the whole "I misjudged you" and "You're not suitable for Sachiko" crap? As if her opinion even has any value at all. If I were Yumi I would've taken that rosary and chucked it at her head, telling her if she (Yumi) was so unsuitable for Sachiko then why don't she (Touko) take her place instead, since it seems to be what she's trying to do anyway.

Jeez that Touko.. UGH!

You've yet to realize the moe~ness of Touko's "tsundere" towards Yumi in later novels.

*tsundere = Japanese anime/manga/ero-game lingo about a character who talks harshly but blushes at the same time towards a certain character (notable examples: Kuga Natsuki from "Mai-HiME," Cagali from "Gundam SEED" etc...)

[swt_drmz]

Originally Posted by kj1980

You've yet to realize the moe~ness of Touko's "tsundere" towards Yumi in later novels.

*tsundere = Japanese anime/manga/ero-game lingo about a character who talks harshly but blushes at the same time towards a certain character (notable examples: Kuga Natsuki from "Mai-HiME," Cagali from "Gundam SEED" etc...)

Makes sense, since I only watch the anime & don't read the novel spoilers. Not sure which thread it was in, but someone wanted to know about anime-only fans' opinion of Touko; guess that post was my bit of input.