Lesbian schoolgirl love story.
The story introduces everygirl, Nagisa, who gets sent to a private all girls' boarding school where she meets the mysterious, aloof (I hate that word, but it's fitting), and oft-worshipped silver-haired maiden Shizuma. Shizuma immediately wants to jump Nagisa's bones, but for no real good reason. Maybe becuse she's an Etoile, the elected focus of worship in the school.
The rest of the show focuses on Shizuma and Nagisa's budding relationship and I'm left scratching my head AS TO WHY, since the reason is delayed in presentation. Like, 14-15 episodes in.
There are other girls who do the nasty, and we're treated to their backstories and obvious denoument of their infatuation--but for some reason I don't seem to remember them all that well and they don't seem that important to the story.
So, um, back to Shizuma and Nagisa. Once Nagisa realizes that a creepy older woman wanting to sleep with her is alright, we're treated to why Shizuma is like the way she is. Guess what, there's a TRAGIC BACKSTORY TOLD IN FLASHBACKS, albeit this is when the show arguably becomes somewhat tasteful and takes itself seriously and tries to treat the characters with some actual depth, especially at the point where grief ridden Shizuma forces herself on Nagisa. This moment, shockingly, is very realistic and sad (and likely unintentionally so). That and the fact that unloading dark, unresolved emotional baggage on someone does not make them love you more, like most other anime seems to imply.
These few episodes really shone above and beyond the rest of the anime and showed an alarming insight that quickly was buried and abandoned for more filler. The problem is for every convincing chrarcter and plot development, we have a bunch of hormone-ridden fluff to distract us and kill the pacing. Add that with the inexplicable introduction of a Tamao, Nagisa's roommate, was clearly meant to create tension between Nagisa and Shizuma as she has no other role and the show falls apart again.
Watching the entire series is totally redeemed by the incredibly absurd and entertaining ending which is the most bizarre parody of the Graduate wedding scene since Grampa Simpson ran off with Marge's mother. It almost makes me think different people wrote different arcs, and they all hated each other and finally settled on the most pointless resolution to their conflict.
