Ranked #282

Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~

All in all, I think this one exceeded my expectations. I was hoping that this season would be just as good as the first one, but it ended up to be much better.

The storylines are much more interesting - for the first season I thought that the topics still had room for improvement, although I was already impressed. I liked the fact that more screen time was devoted to the third years. Back in the first season, they weren't given their share of the lime light, except maybe for Sei. Eriko even got an episode that was devoted to her life. Sadly though, we have to say goodbye to the grande soeurs. There were new characters that were added, like Noriko and Touko. I'm not so sure if I'm happy with Touko being there.

Shimako was also given a lot of chances to grace the scenes. There were many episodes about her. Thank goodness for that as well - I think she deserved a lot of screen time.I was also glad to see Sachiko in a different light. We see her family and how she is at home, we get to see her laugh for the first time (I think) and she is also able to reaffirm the relationship she has with Yumi. I was also able to get more laughs from this one compared to the first season. This was all due to Yoshino, who is both adorable and funny.

The music was better this time around too. They finally added words to the opening theme, which made it more worthwhile, but I still find myself skipping it even with the words. It was still a bit boring. Same goes for the ending theme.

I hadn't mentioned this in my review of the first season, but although the anime is considerably well drawn, the characters illustrations did have some problems sometimes. The characters, specially the really tall Rei, tend to look really long and stringy, almost like a stick drawing. There are also occassions when their faces change.

Other than those, this anime is still very good. I was almost sad that I finished it too soon. I really didn't want it to end, and I hope there will be a third season. read more

Spring has several symbolic meanings.

It can mean anything from birth to something renewed. It can even mean femininity. It also can mean emotional clarity. More importantly, spring is a season that shows the most drastic change, from ice-covered winters in the past to fresh buds in the future. Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ is the spring of life for the girls of Lillian Jogakuen.

The story picks up from where it left off in the first season. It's strongly recommended that the first season be seen before watching this, though I speculate any viewers of ~Haru~ have enjoyed the season one of Maria-sama ga Miteru. In this new year, the girls of the student council grow as leaders, as friends, and as soeurs (literal translation: sisters; meaning in context: sisterly relationship between one student and another). And of course, with every spring, that which is old leaves as the new settles in. We watch as the Rosas graduate and leave the rest of the girls who are left to find themselves as individuals and as a group.

Though the story runs in arcs, the primary focus is on a girl called Fukuzawa Yumi. Each member of the student council however is given their dues. We follow individual arcs in which secrets are revealed, the complexities of relationships are laid bare in front of us, and we watch as these girls try to come into their own. The process of becoming confident in yourself and in another person is tough, and Maria-sama ga Miteru is a series that handles its stories with tremendous amounts of skill, even if it does skirt around melodrama.

Art for this anime has not been any different from the first season. The same style is used for the most part. There is an episode in which the artists were changed, and it provides the series with its worst-looking scenes. The character design was terrible for that particular episode, and it was hard to look at. Thankfully, the poor art lasted only for that episode, and the rest of the series resumed with its regular artwork.

Sound still maintained mostly as deep piano pieces, woodwinds and violin work. However, the OP theme had been changed. Instead of the plain musical OP, the Ali Project had sung over the music, providing the OP with a song forged from the former theme. Whether it's a welcome change depends on how much the listener likes the extremely unique sound of the Ali Project.

Like fine wine, the characters of Maria-sama ga Miteru are aging with excellent taste. Especially in Haru, we see them more emotionally bare, we see them at their breaking points and at their best. Yumi probably goes through the most character development out of anyone in the series. Her support system, Sei, has graduated and she is left to carry the weight of confusion and conflicting emotions by herself. And this is something she is not ready for. Yumi struggles through most of ~Haru~ trying to adapt to things changing rapidly around her. Then her soeur, Sachiko, only seems to add to her inner conflict than aid her.

Sachiko is the type of character who is grounded in her personality from years and years of training which stop her from changing in any significant way. Her character development is defined by the little nuances, tiny, seemingly unimportant hiccups in what is the norm for her. We see that, through her interaction with Yumi, that she is slowly beginning to change. As they say, the Great Wall wasn't built in a day, and Sachiko isn't going to change completely in thirteen episodes. She is the type that needs to be weathered, and this weathering happens in a complex way.

The other members of the Yamayurikai (student council of Lillian Jogakuen) are given their dues as I mentioned earlier. The problems behind Rei and Yoshino's relationship and Shimako's deep secret that keeps her from opening up to the people who care about her are two significant events in the series. There is the introduction of new characters as well, namely Noriko, who is a bit of a spitfire, and Touko, who is easily the biggest trouble-maker ever seen in ~Haru~.

Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ has been more enjoyable than the first season, namely because of the character development and the involvement of the plot and the lives of these girls in the Yamayurikai. It manages to be witty, funny, dramatic, and deeply emotional. If you liked or loved the first season, then the second season is the next logical choice for viewing.

Like the spring, Maria-sama ga Miteru ~Haru~ gives us a fresh outlook on the girls of Lillian Jogakuen dealing with things that are new even if they aren't quite ready to let go of the old just yet. read more