Junketsu no Maria

Maria is a powerful young witch living with her two familiars in medieval France during the Hundred Years' War against England. As the war rages on and the innocent get caught in its destruction, Maria becomes fed up with the situation and begins using her magic to try and prevent further conflict in hopes of maintaining peace. However, her constant intervention soon attracts the attention of the heavens, and the archangel Michael is sent to keep her from meddling in human affairs. The divine being confronts Maria, and he forbids her from using her powers, issuing a decree that her magic will be taken if she loses her virginity. Though she is now labeled a heretic, Maria adamantly refuses to heed Michael's warning and continues to disrupt the war between the two nations. But as the Church begins plotting to take away the witch's power and put a stop to Maria's interference once and for all, her peacemaking may soon come to an end.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Maria Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Ezekiel Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Joseph Main

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Michael Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Viv Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Artemis Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Bernard Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Edwina Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Priapos Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Garfa Supporting

Ono, Yuuki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Kisara, Youhei Producer

Nishimura, Tomoyasu Producer

Shimizu, Norie Producer

Reviews

Dec 10, 2025

Stanis150

Recommended

Probably the greatest fanservice for history lovers in the entire anime medium.

Let's start with the elephant in the room - this anime is known primarily for its extremely realistic depiction of the late European Middle Ages, and more specifically France during the Hundred Years' War. Most of the praise focuses on the realism of the weapons and tactics in battles, and that's entirely true, but all the other elements such as architecture, landscape, clothing, interiors, dialogue, the interactions of different classes of people, their way of thinking, etc. also look very authentic. If you have at least minimal knowledge of this time period and ... a love to history in general - there is a great chance to get multiple orgasms just from the level of accuracy and detalisation))

The aspect described above is done so phenomenally that it overshadows the plot of the anime itself, which is actually also very well done too. I really like how the anime shows how difficult or even impossible it is to change the course of global social processes, especially if you do not have political power. I like that the power of the witches is not unlimited but is balanced by restrictions from heaven. I also like that witches and everything else supernatural for contrast are shown as unrealistic as possible. All this is a good directorial and script decision.

In general, the anime is a mix of a dramatic plot (Maria's attempts to stop the war), a romantic line (which is a weak element of the show) and comedy (partly quite lustful). And I really like the comedy here, for example, only that one scene when Maria sees a man's "sausage" for the first time in her life - that is pure gold))

Speaking of characters - I like almost all of them, because they behave according to their age, experience and character traits. Mc, like many young people, is idealistic, naive and maximalist, and according to the plot she has no one who could teach her wisdom, so she acts accordingly. And the same can be said about everyone else: a religious fanatic acts as a religious fanatic, an ambitious unprincipled mercenary as an ambitious unprincipled mercenary, etc. The only boring character is the guy Maria loves (Joseph). He is just a typical indecisive "nice guy" without any significant personality traits.

The audiovisual part was made well for its time, but it is obvious that the budget here was far from the highest.

In summary, this is a relatively simple, fun and enjoyable, well-made, finished story. It has virtually no big flaws, but it also doesn't have anything extra to really stand out. This anime is not a masterpiece, but it doesn't try to be one. For ordinary people, I would rate it 8/10, but personally I would add another point for the unique high-quality historical authenticity.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Feb 3, 2019

Animuse94

Mixed Feelings

Junketsu no Maria is a very confusing anime to rate. There were things that I greatly enjoyed watching and other that definitely needed improvement.
Theme is a huge issue in this particular anime as it addresses the fear of the witches in the dark ages. As most of you know, women with knowledge that exceeded those of men where named 'witches'. People that didn't agree with the church and went against it were called heretics and punished by the church.
That's a very dark part of history and I feel it's not being brought to full light. And that could be fine only the anime is not ... sure when it wants to be more light-hearted and when it wants to be darker.
The same goes for the ending. I felt it was rushed and too Disney like.

Another problem is the characters. Due to the anime being only 12 episodes you don't get a real feel of who the characters are and what their motivation is. Heck, the main heroine's ideals are barely explained. Maria hates wars.... OK...But why? It's never fully explained why or where that comes from especially since it's a huge thing in the series.

These two are my biggest problems with the series. However, I did enjoy the anime. I liked the characters and that's why I wanted to know more about them. Maria was very likeable and I loved her general attitude. She fought for what she believed in and refused to change for other people. That's very difficult to do even in our day and age.

I also loved the relationships between characters as they do have complicated relationships. Especially with Maria. By the end of the series their own will is being put to the test and they know that depending on their decision a lot will be at stake.

The art and sound are great. I loved the opening and have listened to the song in repeat many times.

It's a generally alright anime. Watch the first episode to get a feel for it and see if it's your cup of tea.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 30, 2026

HighCord

Not Recommended

I initially expected Maria the Virgin Witch to be a thoughtful critique of how religion can be misused by people, how institutions sometimes exploit faith for control, self-interest, or violence. That would have been a compelling and legitimate theme. Instead, the anime touched things that it doesn't even understand. Because of that, the story comes across not as insightful, but as sloppy, morally confused, and cringe.

CONTRADICTION 1: BROKEN WORLD BUILDING and STRAWMAN ANTAGONIST

Virtues are foundational to Christianity, we see ordinary people practicing sincere prayer: expressing gratitude, asking forgiveness, and showing humility.

For example:
> a woman prays in gratitude for being saved by Maria
> an old woman ... prays for forgiveness after throwing a stone at Maria

These moments show prayer cultivating virtue. love, humility, repentance is foundational to Christianity itself. It is precisely these virtues that explain why people follow the faith.

Yet despite this foundation, the divine representatives especially Archangel Michael are portrayed as enforcing war as a “natural order,” opposing interventions that reduce suffering, and punishing compassion. This creates a contradiction. If Christianity’s core is love and mercy, then divine agents advocating violence and suppressing peace makes little theological or moral sense. Instead of critiquing institutional corruption or human misuse of religion (which would be nuanced), the show turns the divine into caricatures strawman villains designed purely to make Maria look morally correct by comparison. The conflict feels manufactured rather than earned. I'm not surprised because the author confuses Norse Myth figures and Christian figures.

CONTRADICTION 2: ARTIFICIALLY INFLATED CONFLICT and IRONY

Michael’s characterization further exposes the inconsistency. Earlier in the series, he behaves almost like a bureaucratic enforcer of violence, treating war as necessary and punishing Maria simply for preventing suffering. But in the final episode, he listens to human prayers connected to Maria and judges her based on the good she has done: the love, protection, and gratitude she inspired. Ironically, this method of judgment-evaluating someone by the fruits of their actions is actually far closer to Christian moral teaching than his earlier behavior. Christianity emphasizes mercy, intention, and the tangible good one brings to others.

Which raises obvious questions:
>If prayers and positive outcomes matter, why didn’t this apply earlier?
>Maria was helping people from the very beginning. Why was she ever treated as a threat?

As a result, the central conflict feels artificially inflated. The angels seem harsh only when the plot needs tension, and compassionate only when the story needs resolution. That inconsistency weakens the entire moral framework of the show.

MUSIC and ANIMATION: love it
CHARACTERS: They all felt bland.
WRITING: Poor

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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