Anime: Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season

Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th was, frankly, a disappointment, and for one simple reason: poor pacing. The story is in many ways a replay of the divisive "blue umbrella" arc from series 2 - but where that was perhaps three episodes, here a very similar plotline has been stretched out to fill most of the season.

Scenes which should be dramatic are robbed of their impact by repitition; the series seems insistent on hammering home its emotional points rather than letting the scenes speak for themselves, and it cheapens itself thereby. One even begins to suspect the repeatitions of being a budgetary matter; cost-saving measures in the animation have become painfully obvious this time around, with any number of cheap tricks (slow pans, oblique angles on speaking characters) rising to irritate the viewer. The backgrounds seem to have been blurred to avoid the need to redraw for HD; that said, at least the character designs have been well handled, with the current iteration a good blend between the squarer, "manly" designs of the OVA and the round faces of the first two series.

Voice acting also seems to have suffered in places, particularly for background characters; while never actively bad, there are occasions of sloppy timing/diction, and some of the supporting cast are too close to each other. This is offset by a show-stealing performance for Touko, the centre of most of this season's plot and the perfect character for it. Touko reminds the viewer why we watch Marimite; initially incomprehensibly bitchy, she gradually reveals herself as the series goes on, unfolding in a dazzling finale as a beautifully realized, detailled character, with enough thought and motivation put into her alone for an entire show (which, to be fair, this almost is).

But even while singing her praises, I feel the need for some caveats. The focus on Touko leads to the neglect of much of the rest of the cast; while this is justified in the case of the older Roses and excusable for Yumi's generation, we see too little of the new character Noriko (and what we do get comes at the start, wheras it would have been better placed breaking up the long Touko-plot). One of the strengths of earlier Marimite series was the diversity of its cast, with their varied personalities allowing for an interesting spread of storylines; this seems to have sadly been abandoned, and while Touko's plot is certainly dramatic, it achieves this in a cheaper, overdone fashion compared to some of the better S1/S2 stories.

This is certainly still Marimite; the only reason to watch series 4 is for love of the characters, but it's a compelling reason. But the plot is disappointing, being overly drawn out and veering dangerously towards the melodramatic excesses that (for me at least) marred the last parts of S2, and the presentation is substandard. The downturn would have to be more severe for me to tell viewers of series 1-3 to give up here, but if the next series goes the same way, even I will likely be jumping ship.

Finally the fourth installment of the Maria-sama ga miteru-series. It is always fascinating how the story writers manage to blow some tiny problem or misunderstanding into a full fledged drama. That doesn't mean that this series isn't interesting, just that you shouldn't expect anything more than quiet and romantic scenes following one after another. This review does contain knowledge of the previous three seasons, so in order not to spoil yourself I recommend watching them first. But after all you would be very less interested in this season if you haven't watched the others already?

Animation
First the drawings. The character design is individual but not outstanding. You immediatly recognize each person but there is noone that looks like they previously worked for Tenchi Muyo or the like, they are just more real (even though they are still typically depicted for an anime).
The background images, as most of the story takes place in the Lilian Girls School, mostly feature the same locations in each episode. But it's not like there are only one or two pictures per location and they are used perpetually. There are many different angles and, depending on the current daytime, different shades. Means that the background images are very nice. Someone did a really good work here.
One of the "school rules" ("walking slowly is preferred here") comes in handy when creating the animation. Most movements are slow and if the need arises to increase speed they only need to switch to a "normal" level. Nonetheless the animations are smooth and most of the time create a calming atmosphere.
This atmosphere is supported by the bright and rich colored background images and the calm and friendly looking characters.

Sound
Of course those Ave Maria-like openings from the first three seasons fitted quite well into the series, but I was delighted when finally in the fourth season there was a song that was a bit faster and for the first time had some singing. It's not like you're gonna be bedazzled to watch the opening every time you watch an episode, but I guess I did so when watching the first three or four ones.
The ending similarly features singing and a slightly faster song than before. It is a little less so than the opening though.
The background music reuses the themes from the first seasons which are sometimes a little heavy (in sad scenes) but mostly bright and sometimes catchy.
The music too supports the overall mood of a sacred garden Eden where all that belong to it are protected from any serious harm.

Story
It's the second year for Yumi and she workes hard as bouton of here Older sister (non-related meaning) Rosa Chinensis (also known as Sachiko-sama). Sachiko pushes Yumi to finally pick a soeur (younger sister, again non-related) herself. While there are many who would willingly become her soeur there are but few that she is considering. Meanwhile her friends, who are the boutons of Rosa Gigantea and Rose Foetida, try to find soeurs for themselves. Most of the series tells about Yumis quest to make one particular girl her soeur, getting refused and carrying on with her work for the student council.
As you see there's not much of a story, but it is told quite heartwarming and so you don't care how exactly they managed to fit it all into thirteen episodes.

Character
First of all there's Yumi. A friendly girl with two pony tails and a face that betrays every emotion she feels. She has a brother (Yuuki) and her parents. Of course she is most happy when she's together with her Onee-sama Sachiko.
This Sachiko is long and dark haired girl with a warm heart hidden below a sometimes little frightening shell. She's in her third year at Lilian and must prepare for her exams. Even then she finds time to spend with her soeur Yumi and to console her when she has problems. She's also Rosa Chinensis and thus member of the student council.
Touko resembles Yumi somewhat but in character passes as a complete opposite. She's a first year and related to Sachiko.
Her friend Noriko tries to meddle in Toukos relation to Yumi but gives up when she sees that this would only alianate Touko more from Yumi. She is the bouton of Rosa Gigantea.
Shimako, Rosa Giganteas real name, is a quiet and warm girl from a Buddhist background. This has already created problems in the past, considerin that Lilian is a catholic school. She is one of Yumis friends since the first season.
The last bouton, Yoshino, is an outgoing girl with much energy. She is a classmate of Yumi and a friend from the early episodes. In her desperate need to find a soeur she encounters a girl that has yet to graduate from her school and will attend Lilian only the next year. This makes her the first to find a soeur in her race with Yumi.
Each character comes with her own pack of problems that mostly on the second look seems a bit blown out of proportion.

Value
The pictures are nice, the music fits well and the story isn't very deep. These characteristics make Maria-sama ga miteru 4th a good choice when you need a time out from some tiring work or simply as a contrast after watching too much of Shin Seiki Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain.

Enjoyment
I must confess, that even though I know that this stuff isn't very deep (and this is normally a very important topic for me) I am somewhat glued to every new season of Maria-sama that is produced. The first episode of the first season came out when all the girls in my class where hooked on Yaoi-Mangas like Kizuna or Zetsuai and I was desperatly looking for something else. Up to then I never saw any Shoujo-Ai-Animes, which created a whole new experience for me. This might be why I made such an exception for this series.