 So, who's gonna get it on with who in this latest batch of yuri-filled
highschool action? No, wait, that's the doujinshi. Or the fanboy
imagination running wild. The TV show is far more restrained, but no
less enjoyable - it's the latest batch of MariMite...
6 - Rosa Canina
Time for student elections to choose next years' Yamayurikai. Seems a
2nd-year student called Rosa Canina is planning to run - but that means
that if she wins, one of the current boutons would lose their position.
Shimako, Rosa Gigantea's soeur, decides not to run - Gigantea won't try
to persuade her to change her mind, but Yumi isn't willing to let
events run their own course...
7/8 - The Suprising Chocolates, part I & II
Valentine's Day is approaching, and Yumi's looking forward to spending
it with Sachiko. She tries to get details from some of the other girls
about what the tradition at the school is - basically looking for an
excuse to make chocolates for Sachiko. Meanwhile, the school paper has
come up with an idea for a Valentine contest that would give Yumi a
chance at a date with Sachiko - but Sachiko's been in a foul mood
lately & seems to have a loathing for Valentine's Day. She also
misunderstands Yumi's desire to not get in her way, and accuses Yumi of
avoiding her. And so Yumi faces an uphill battle to mend her
relationship with Sachiko, while still having a memorable Valentines'
Day...
9 - The Red Card
Following on from the last pair of episodes, attention turns to the
missing red card. Seems the girl Yumi met in the greenhouse during the
search (Uzawa Mifuyu) may have had something to do with it - she's
mystified as to why Sachiko would choose someone as 'ordinary' as Yumi
to be their soeur. Mifuyu's admired Sachiko from a distance for quite
some time, so the episode takes a prolonged flashback to show where her
admiration came from & how it's affected Mifuyu's actions of the
day of the treasure hunt.
10 - The Forest of Thorns
Last episode is was Valentines', and suddenly it's Christmas - time
flies when you're having fun, I guess... There's a book doing the
rounds at school - The Forest of Thorns, written by Suga Sei, and most
people suspect it's really been written by Rosa Gigantea. The book is
based on the past of the author - but Rosa Gigantea has always kept her
past a well-guarded secret, to the point where it has become pretty
much taboo at the school. The contents of the book create enough of a
strip that Sei is summoned for a meeting with the school's senior
staff. Although she swears she didn't write it, the incident makes Sei
curious enough that she borrows Yumi's copy of the book to see what all
the fuss is about...
I love reading all the arguments about who's gay & who's
straight in this show. Hours of entertainment, really. :) There are
plenty of hints in these episodes, too, for those who are inclined to
pay attention to that aspect of the characters...
Anyway. For the rest of us (ahem), there's still plenty to be
getting on with, with another 5 episodes of the extremely enjoyable
character interactions that got me hooked on the show in the first
place. Time is taken the develop most of the main characters, with Yumi
& her relationship with Sachiko remaining the centre of attention.
Sei & Yoshino also take up a large chunk of screentime, which is no
bad thing either.
The stories themselves remain fairly pedestrian in pace & detail
- real day-in-the-life stuff with little in the way of surprises. It's
almost like the writers didn't want to draw too much attention away
from the characters themselves, leaving as much time as possible to
show the way the play off against each other.
Overall, then, still wonderful stuff. Yumi herself would be worth
watching the show for, but the strong supporting cast around her makes MariMite unmissable for anyone with the slightest interest in shoujo anime. |
