Arakawa Under the Bridge: C++
I had a tough time rating Arakawa, partially because I've had a tough time describing Arakawa. Ultimately I couldn't quite give it a B, it's just too damned weird.
The basic idea is that a very by-the-book, ordinary young man who has been raised to never be in debt to anyone has his life saved by a girl who lives under a bridge over the Arakawa (a river). Naturally, as he cannot be in debt to her, he asks what he can do to repay her, and she says that she would like him to be her lover, because she's never had one before. Unfortunately, the girl also is from Venus, and will forget about him if he leaves for more than a few hours, so he has to live under the bridge as well, and get along with the impossibly strange group of people who also live along the banks of the Arakawa, under the bridge.
That's the basic description, but that doesn't tell you much about the show itself at all. Instead, imagine taking the characters from two or three especially bizarre Monty Python sketches and, instead of disposing of them at the end of the sketch, making them all live in a town together. This begins to give you an idea of what you're getting yourself into.
Arakawa is deeply absurd, but the humor has a very thorough poker face, and it may be very difficult for a Western audience to appreciate a lot of the humor. The art and sound are all delightful, and the voice cast is positively stellar, but its incomprehensibility makes it a little inaccessible, though if you can get into it, you'll have yourself some laughs.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Kuragehime
Kuragehime: C+
Jeez it really is about time I put this review up, I've been holding off for, gosh, it must be over a month now. Blame Skyrim.
The word "otaku" has a very distinct connotation in the American import word lexicon as a term of pride for we who obsess about anime to a degree that sets us apart. It has an almost positive connotation. In Japan, it's an almost universally negative term, containing equal parts 'loser,' 'freak,' and 'reject,' but with a strong meaning of 'one who is obsessed beyond all reason, restraint and outside understanding'. It also doesn't in any way apply to anime specifically.
Tsukimi, the main character of Kuragehime (which means "Jellyfish Princess"), is a jellyfish otaku. Her housemates are also otaku, and none of them the type which an American audience would begin to recognize (except the Train otaku, I suppose we have people like that here). Tsukimi is a plain girl with minimal self-esteem who, through an odd set of circumstances, winds up friends with a 'beautiful princess,' who takes an interest in her because "Polishing a diamond in the rough is way more exciting." As you might expect, Tsukimi herself takes issue with this, but then there's the 'princess'' dashing older brother...
The tone shifts between social humor and interpersonal relationships in a way that is less naive than most shojo series and more analytical than most seinen series. The characters are colorful and believable, though a bit exotic, even from a Japanese perspective most of these people are weird.
The show does go very slowly and the story meanders, then fairly spontaneously comes to a close. Knowing that it's an animated adaptation of an ongoing manga helps one forgive the fact that it ends rather abruptly without really tying up many of the loose ends, but it is not a story to match its well-designed and expressed characters. It's the kind of story where I wish I could just hang out with the characters more, see more of their lives, then maybe the relative lack of progress and plot wouldn't feel like such a let-down.
If you're looking for some thoughtful social commentary and humor that doesn't have to wow you with amazing imagery to be fun, Kuragehime is quite a show. As usual, if you're looking for something with a brilliant plot or any kind of action, skip it.
Jeez it really is about time I put this review up, I've been holding off for, gosh, it must be over a month now. Blame Skyrim.
The word "otaku" has a very distinct connotation in the American import word lexicon as a term of pride for we who obsess about anime to a degree that sets us apart. It has an almost positive connotation. In Japan, it's an almost universally negative term, containing equal parts 'loser,' 'freak,' and 'reject,' but with a strong meaning of 'one who is obsessed beyond all reason, restraint and outside understanding'. It also doesn't in any way apply to anime specifically.
Tsukimi, the main character of Kuragehime (which means "Jellyfish Princess"), is a jellyfish otaku. Her housemates are also otaku, and none of them the type which an American audience would begin to recognize (except the Train otaku, I suppose we have people like that here). Tsukimi is a plain girl with minimal self-esteem who, through an odd set of circumstances, winds up friends with a 'beautiful princess,' who takes an interest in her because "Polishing a diamond in the rough is way more exciting." As you might expect, Tsukimi herself takes issue with this, but then there's the 'princess'' dashing older brother...
The tone shifts between social humor and interpersonal relationships in a way that is less naive than most shojo series and more analytical than most seinen series. The characters are colorful and believable, though a bit exotic, even from a Japanese perspective most of these people are weird.
The show does go very slowly and the story meanders, then fairly spontaneously comes to a close. Knowing that it's an animated adaptation of an ongoing manga helps one forgive the fact that it ends rather abruptly without really tying up many of the loose ends, but it is not a story to match its well-designed and expressed characters. It's the kind of story where I wish I could just hang out with the characters more, see more of their lives, then maybe the relative lack of progress and plot wouldn't feel like such a let-down.
If you're looking for some thoughtful social commentary and humor that doesn't have to wow you with amazing imagery to be fun, Kuragehime is quite a show. As usual, if you're looking for something with a brilliant plot or any kind of action, skip it.
Durarara!!
Durarara!!: A
Very rarely does a series grab me by the nuts and make me watch it as Durarara did.
I could praise it for its excellent treatment of the supernatural elements within the story, making them outstandingly bizarre, and somehow more human for it.
I could praise it for it's honesty, how it isn't about good or evil, just about some things that happen in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, and it doesn't judge them as much as hold them up and tell you what these characters learned.
I could criticize it and say that due to the fact that it's about what goes on in this district, it tends to jump viewpoints and repeat sections from different perspectives a lot, which can be disorienting if you're not the sort of person to watch closely for things and people in the background.
Instead, I'll say you should watch it.
It is a show about love and how love makes people crazy. It is a show about change, and how some things do change and some things do not change. It's a show about choices and consequences. And it's worth your time.
(( Also, it has some voice talent from other shows I've watched, enjoyed and reviewed, which I will nerd about here because it's not relevant to the rest of the review: Hiroshi Kamiya (of Bakemonogatari and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), Kana Hanazawa (of Potemayo, Bakemonogatari, Kuragehime, Infinite Stratos and Dog Days), Mamoru Miyano (of Star Driver, Death Note and Dog Days), Miyuki Sawashiro (of Bakemonogatari, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Maria Holic, Hidamari Sketch), and Daisuke Ono (of Haruhi Suzumiya), and these are all main cast! ))
Very rarely does a series grab me by the nuts and make me watch it as Durarara did.
I could praise it for its excellent treatment of the supernatural elements within the story, making them outstandingly bizarre, and somehow more human for it.
I could praise it for it's honesty, how it isn't about good or evil, just about some things that happen in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, and it doesn't judge them as much as hold them up and tell you what these characters learned.
I could criticize it and say that due to the fact that it's about what goes on in this district, it tends to jump viewpoints and repeat sections from different perspectives a lot, which can be disorienting if you're not the sort of person to watch closely for things and people in the background.
Instead, I'll say you should watch it.
It is a show about love and how love makes people crazy. It is a show about change, and how some things do change and some things do not change. It's a show about choices and consequences. And it's worth your time.
(( Also, it has some voice talent from other shows I've watched, enjoyed and reviewed, which I will nerd about here because it's not relevant to the rest of the review: Hiroshi Kamiya (of Bakemonogatari and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei), Kana Hanazawa (of Potemayo, Bakemonogatari, Kuragehime, Infinite Stratos and Dog Days), Mamoru Miyano (of Star Driver, Death Note and Dog Days), Miyuki Sawashiro (of Bakemonogatari, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Maria Holic, Hidamari Sketch), and Daisuke Ono (of Haruhi Suzumiya), and these are all main cast! ))
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura: C
Cardcaptor Sakura holds a place in my heart as the first show I ever was aware of having a mainstream English dub that I instead saw subbed, back around 1999, when I didn't know much Japanese and had a girlfriend who was more into anime than I was. I saw around twenty episodes of it, and enjoyed it, though I was colored positively by her company.
Returning to a series after twelve years is a bit jarring, especially one as youthful as Sakura. If you don't know the premise, shame on you, but here's a short version: Middle School student and regular girl Kinomoto Sakura opens a book which causes a large number of card-objects to come spilling out, along with a plush-toy-sized winged creature named Keroberos, who explains that she'll have to become the Card Captor and recover the lost Clow Cards, each of which is a sentient magical spell. Every episode, one of the cards causes trouble around town and Sakura, "Kero-chan" and Sakura's adoring best friend Tomoyo with her camera and massive closet of costumes must seal the card, which Sakura will then gain as a spell for later use. Sakura also has a giant girl-crush on her big brother's best friend, and later a rival appears in Li Shaoran, a Chinese magician who also knows about the Clow Cards.
That's the plot up until episode 45 (of 70) at which point the plot does a little waggle and then creates a new 'every-week' format with a slightly different goal, a new group of poorly-introduced and explained antagonists and new emotional hurdles.
Really, the clunkiness of that transition is my biggest complaint, combined with an astounding lack of character development on the part of a number of characters, most outstandingly Tomoyo, whose portrayal, dedication and emotional makeup do not so much as budge an inch from the very start of the story to the very end. For me this ruined any sense of joy in watching the honestly and interestingly portrayed child's-eye-view of it. The plot, clunkiness aside, is functional, the two movies (particularly the second one, "The Sealed Card") bring the story together quite nicely and give it an adorable if innocent finish.
Cardcaptor Sakura, more than most shows I watch, is a kid's show, even compared to other shojo and shonen series. As an adult, I find its innocence adorable, but its messages are hollow and rehashed. Where it could have held deeper meaning and taught deeper lessons, instead it has the usual 'follow your heart, love your friends, be kind to your enemies, when life presents you with an unacceptable choice, seek a third option' that every shojo series does.
If you're looking for a cute, sweet, childish love story told in the context of one of magical girls with astounding art and costume design, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Cardcaptor Sakura. If you're looking for a deep and thought-provoking story that deals with love and its ramifications objectively, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Cardcaptor Sakura holds a place in my heart as the first show I ever was aware of having a mainstream English dub that I instead saw subbed, back around 1999, when I didn't know much Japanese and had a girlfriend who was more into anime than I was. I saw around twenty episodes of it, and enjoyed it, though I was colored positively by her company.
Returning to a series after twelve years is a bit jarring, especially one as youthful as Sakura. If you don't know the premise, shame on you, but here's a short version: Middle School student and regular girl Kinomoto Sakura opens a book which causes a large number of card-objects to come spilling out, along with a plush-toy-sized winged creature named Keroberos, who explains that she'll have to become the Card Captor and recover the lost Clow Cards, each of which is a sentient magical spell. Every episode, one of the cards causes trouble around town and Sakura, "Kero-chan" and Sakura's adoring best friend Tomoyo with her camera and massive closet of costumes must seal the card, which Sakura will then gain as a spell for later use. Sakura also has a giant girl-crush on her big brother's best friend, and later a rival appears in Li Shaoran, a Chinese magician who also knows about the Clow Cards.
That's the plot up until episode 45 (of 70) at which point the plot does a little waggle and then creates a new 'every-week' format with a slightly different goal, a new group of poorly-introduced and explained antagonists and new emotional hurdles.
Really, the clunkiness of that transition is my biggest complaint, combined with an astounding lack of character development on the part of a number of characters, most outstandingly Tomoyo, whose portrayal, dedication and emotional makeup do not so much as budge an inch from the very start of the story to the very end. For me this ruined any sense of joy in watching the honestly and interestingly portrayed child's-eye-view of it. The plot, clunkiness aside, is functional, the two movies (particularly the second one, "The Sealed Card") bring the story together quite nicely and give it an adorable if innocent finish.
Cardcaptor Sakura, more than most shows I watch, is a kid's show, even compared to other shojo and shonen series. As an adult, I find its innocence adorable, but its messages are hollow and rehashed. Where it could have held deeper meaning and taught deeper lessons, instead it has the usual 'follow your heart, love your friends, be kind to your enemies, when life presents you with an unacceptable choice, seek a third option' that every shojo series does.
If you're looking for a cute, sweet, childish love story told in the context of one of magical girls with astounding art and costume design, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Cardcaptor Sakura. If you're looking for a deep and thought-provoking story that deals with love and its ramifications objectively, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tidbits
I've been kind of bad about updating lately, which can be blamed partially on Skyrim and partially on my poor sleep schedule which is also mostly the fault of Skyrim. So here's some teasers for reviews I will and won't be doing in the future:
Gintama: I finished the first run (all but the last of 178 episodes) and was generally very impressed. It wasn't really amazing quality anime but I didn't feel like my 178 episodes were wasted, it stayed relatively fresh, though I often just had it running in the background. It's good for that.
Cardcaptor Sakura: I'd seen a bunch of it before, but had never finished the entire thing. I liked it, but I felt it didn't make as good use of its length as it could have, and it's 'second season' was tacked-on and a little odd, though in the end it worked out. I have to watch the second of the movies before I give a full review.
Bakemonogatari: I recently rewatched the entire first season with a friend, and realized that the more times I rewatch it the more I like it. While I still wouldn't quite rate it an S, I certainly rate it as one of my 'must see' shows.
Nisemonogatari: This one won't be for another six or seven weeks, when the entire thing has aired. So far, I'm loving it, despite it being notably slower than Bakemonogatari, it's more thoughtfully exploring relationships that we have only had inferred. Nisemonogatari is thus far making it completely clear to me that the story is about people, not about monsters.
Arakawa Under the Bridge: I watched the first episode a while back then picked it up again, it's very weird but fun, in a playful, thoughtful kind of way. Very much about questioning what really matters... and also about just being absurd.
Bakatest Season 2: I probably won't review this, since it only stood out to me as 'more of the same,' as in, 'more potential wasted on maintaining a status quo or faking progress.' It was fun but ultimately not worth an entry.
Summer Wars: I'd really like to review it, it was really quite a good movie (not quite as good as the Girl who Leapt Through Time, but still good) but ultimately I saw it at what was for me an emotionally relevant time in my life to the subject matter, and so I don't feel like I can give an honest rating. It's good though. You should watch it.
Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven is a Place On Earth: The Hayate movie, it was cute but not unique or amazing enough to be worth reviewing on its own, it's more Hayate. If you need more Hayate, watch it.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS: I'm watching this for a third or fourth time with a friend who's never seen it before. I'm not sure if I'll post a review when I'm finished, I consider it good but not amazing, fun to watch but considerably below the outstanding quality of Nanoha A's.
Fate/Zero: So, I'll say right off the bat that this'll be a difficult one to review because I cannot in good conscience tell anyone to watch it without having first played through Fate: Stay/Night (the Visual Novel, not the godawful anime), which is a testy prospect at best. The VN is wonderful and one of the most soul-crushingly depressing and horrific stories I've ever seen, qualities I adored about it even as they make me cringe at the thought of ever 'playing' through it again. Fate/Zero is a prequel, set some years previous, and spoils a couple of the biggest shocks of the Visual Novel in the first 30 minutes of it. It also looks very, very good.
Lucky Star, Infinite Stratos, Bakatest, Toradora OVAs: Some of these I've already seen, some of them I'm working on getting. None of them seem worth reviewing separately, being just individual episodes and not wildly divergent from the quality or subject matter of their originator series.
Shakugan no Shana Final: I'm really looking forward to watching the third season of Shana, since I always was very impressed with the series' construction, but I feel honor-bound to rewatch the first two seasons so that I'm in the right mindset for the third, and that's about 65 episodes worth of watching, which I'm not quite dedicated to doing yet.
Ikamusume Season 2: Pretty much exactly the same as Shana Final, though a bit less so; I saw Ikamusume more recently and the 'plot' doesn't require certain memory as strictly.
Durarara!!, Working!!: I saw a bit of the first episodes and they didn't grab me, but I'm curious about them both. More so now that I know that some of my favorite voice actors are involved. Yes, I will watch series just to hear people with lovely voices talk.
Ao no Exorcist, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Sacred Seven, RahXephon, Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Season 2, Hell Girl Season 2, Hourou Musuko, Eden of the East, Gokusen, Claymore, Starship Operators, Death Note: Downloaded. Waiting for inspiration to watch them, which may or may not come.
...now that you more or less know the contents of my "Unfinished" folder, I'm going to go back to deciding if I'm going to try to pull an all-nighter to hopefully restabilize my sleep schedule or not.
Gintama: I finished the first run (all but the last of 178 episodes) and was generally very impressed. It wasn't really amazing quality anime but I didn't feel like my 178 episodes were wasted, it stayed relatively fresh, though I often just had it running in the background. It's good for that.
Cardcaptor Sakura: I'd seen a bunch of it before, but had never finished the entire thing. I liked it, but I felt it didn't make as good use of its length as it could have, and it's 'second season' was tacked-on and a little odd, though in the end it worked out. I have to watch the second of the movies before I give a full review.
Bakemonogatari: I recently rewatched the entire first season with a friend, and realized that the more times I rewatch it the more I like it. While I still wouldn't quite rate it an S, I certainly rate it as one of my 'must see' shows.
Nisemonogatari: This one won't be for another six or seven weeks, when the entire thing has aired. So far, I'm loving it, despite it being notably slower than Bakemonogatari, it's more thoughtfully exploring relationships that we have only had inferred. Nisemonogatari is thus far making it completely clear to me that the story is about people, not about monsters.
Arakawa Under the Bridge: I watched the first episode a while back then picked it up again, it's very weird but fun, in a playful, thoughtful kind of way. Very much about questioning what really matters... and also about just being absurd.
Bakatest Season 2: I probably won't review this, since it only stood out to me as 'more of the same,' as in, 'more potential wasted on maintaining a status quo or faking progress.' It was fun but ultimately not worth an entry.
Summer Wars: I'd really like to review it, it was really quite a good movie (not quite as good as the Girl who Leapt Through Time, but still good) but ultimately I saw it at what was for me an emotionally relevant time in my life to the subject matter, and so I don't feel like I can give an honest rating. It's good though. You should watch it.
Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven is a Place On Earth: The Hayate movie, it was cute but not unique or amazing enough to be worth reviewing on its own, it's more Hayate. If you need more Hayate, watch it.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS: I'm watching this for a third or fourth time with a friend who's never seen it before. I'm not sure if I'll post a review when I'm finished, I consider it good but not amazing, fun to watch but considerably below the outstanding quality of Nanoha A's.
Fate/Zero: So, I'll say right off the bat that this'll be a difficult one to review because I cannot in good conscience tell anyone to watch it without having first played through Fate: Stay/Night (the Visual Novel, not the godawful anime), which is a testy prospect at best. The VN is wonderful and one of the most soul-crushingly depressing and horrific stories I've ever seen, qualities I adored about it even as they make me cringe at the thought of ever 'playing' through it again. Fate/Zero is a prequel, set some years previous, and spoils a couple of the biggest shocks of the Visual Novel in the first 30 minutes of it. It also looks very, very good.
Lucky Star, Infinite Stratos, Bakatest, Toradora OVAs: Some of these I've already seen, some of them I'm working on getting. None of them seem worth reviewing separately, being just individual episodes and not wildly divergent from the quality or subject matter of their originator series.
Shakugan no Shana Final: I'm really looking forward to watching the third season of Shana, since I always was very impressed with the series' construction, but I feel honor-bound to rewatch the first two seasons so that I'm in the right mindset for the third, and that's about 65 episodes worth of watching, which I'm not quite dedicated to doing yet.
Ikamusume Season 2: Pretty much exactly the same as Shana Final, though a bit less so; I saw Ikamusume more recently and the 'plot' doesn't require certain memory as strictly.
Durarara!!, Working!!: I saw a bit of the first episodes and they didn't grab me, but I'm curious about them both. More so now that I know that some of my favorite voice actors are involved. Yes, I will watch series just to hear people with lovely voices talk.
Ao no Exorcist, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Sacred Seven, RahXephon, Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Season 2, Hell Girl Season 2, Hourou Musuko, Eden of the East, Gokusen, Claymore, Starship Operators, Death Note: Downloaded. Waiting for inspiration to watch them, which may or may not come.
...now that you more or less know the contents of my "Unfinished" folder, I'm going to go back to deciding if I'm going to try to pull an all-nighter to hopefully restabilize my sleep schedule or not.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Maria-sama ga Miteru: B+
It's interesting watching a series with a strong leaning towards French (a language I'm familiar with) that's actually in Japanese (another language I'm familiar with). Maria-sama ga Miteru would be best translated as "Lady Mary is Watching," specifically referring the Virgin Mary, and further to a particular statue of the Virgin Mary on the grounds of the school at which most of the story takes place.
Marimite (as it is often abbreviated) is shojo, a series for girls, and focuses on the student council of Lillian Girls' School, in particular the High School division (there's also a lower and middle school, and a university, but the series revolves around the girls in the high school). Lillian has a tradition of girls adopting members of younger grades as 'petite soeurs' (little sisters), a bond of friendship sealed by the older sister giving a rosary to the younger one, who will, eventually, pass it on to another, meaning that most of the girls have two sisters, total.
Our main character, one Fukuzawa Yumi, is approached by a member of the Student Council ("the Yamayurikai") named Ogasawara Sachiko, to become her petite soeur. Yumi greatly admires Sachiko, but is hesitant at first, and that caution forms the basis for the first arc. The series, over thus far four seasons, covers about two years of time but isn't quite slice-of-life, there is definite progress of relationships and situations, and that progress is important to the series as a whole.
I first picked it up because my very favorite favorite voice actress, Kana Ueda, voices Yumi, in addition to the stellar support of Mamiko Noto and Rie Kugimiya, which, living up to my expectations, would be a joy to listen to even if the story weren't as well-designed and generally enjoyable as it is.
Compared to the majority of series I watch, there is no fan service in Marimite, understandably, given the target audience. More interestingly, it occurred to me that the majority of the conflict in Marimite revolves around misunderstanding and generally incorrect assumptions, which, unlike most series I see lately, are not pointed out immediately as being wrong: the tension arises not from the embarrassment of demonstrated error, but from the confusion of uncertainty. Really, a bit of insight into the teenage mind is all it takes to unravel the troubles that plague the girls, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of watching events unfold.
Marimite has no action to speak of, and if you're not interested in recalling high school in all its emotional awkwardness, you won't enjoy Maria-sama ga Miteru. But if you're looking for a series that's not trying to sell you on anything other than very romantic friendships between girls, you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
It's interesting watching a series with a strong leaning towards French (a language I'm familiar with) that's actually in Japanese (another language I'm familiar with). Maria-sama ga Miteru would be best translated as "Lady Mary is Watching," specifically referring the Virgin Mary, and further to a particular statue of the Virgin Mary on the grounds of the school at which most of the story takes place.
Marimite (as it is often abbreviated) is shojo, a series for girls, and focuses on the student council of Lillian Girls' School, in particular the High School division (there's also a lower and middle school, and a university, but the series revolves around the girls in the high school). Lillian has a tradition of girls adopting members of younger grades as 'petite soeurs' (little sisters), a bond of friendship sealed by the older sister giving a rosary to the younger one, who will, eventually, pass it on to another, meaning that most of the girls have two sisters, total.
Our main character, one Fukuzawa Yumi, is approached by a member of the Student Council ("the Yamayurikai") named Ogasawara Sachiko, to become her petite soeur. Yumi greatly admires Sachiko, but is hesitant at first, and that caution forms the basis for the first arc. The series, over thus far four seasons, covers about two years of time but isn't quite slice-of-life, there is definite progress of relationships and situations, and that progress is important to the series as a whole.
I first picked it up because my very favorite favorite voice actress, Kana Ueda, voices Yumi, in addition to the stellar support of Mamiko Noto and Rie Kugimiya, which, living up to my expectations, would be a joy to listen to even if the story weren't as well-designed and generally enjoyable as it is.
Compared to the majority of series I watch, there is no fan service in Marimite, understandably, given the target audience. More interestingly, it occurred to me that the majority of the conflict in Marimite revolves around misunderstanding and generally incorrect assumptions, which, unlike most series I see lately, are not pointed out immediately as being wrong: the tension arises not from the embarrassment of demonstrated error, but from the confusion of uncertainty. Really, a bit of insight into the teenage mind is all it takes to unravel the troubles that plague the girls, but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of watching events unfold.
Marimite has no action to speak of, and if you're not interested in recalling high school in all its emotional awkwardness, you won't enjoy Maria-sama ga Miteru. But if you're looking for a series that's not trying to sell you on anything other than very romantic friendships between girls, you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
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