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Now in Japan
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 14 July 2005 12:08 |
 Yumi-chan fans can be both saddened and joyful - saddened as it's the end of Maria-sama ga Miteru,
but joyful as they at least snuck a Yumi-chan shower scene in there to
keep the fanboys happy. After complaining in my last write-up
that we needed more Yumi, the end of the series comes good with a
three-episode arc that's all Yumi and Sachiko - but their relationship
seems to be going through a rough patch...
11 - Rainy Blue
Sachiko's cancelled her theme-park date with Yumi twice in a row now,
but she's being evasive about the reasons why, despite Yumi's best
efforts to dig it out of her. The end result is one paranoid
Yumi-chan, especially now that Touko seems to be getting on with
Sachiko better than she's been. Yumi's left with a dilemma -
should she confront Touko or Sachiko about this, or is she just being
jealous over nothing? The more she hears about Sachiko and Touko,
though, the more it cuts her up inside until she finally reaches the
point where she doesn't want to see Sachiko any more...
12 - The Blue Umbrella
It seems Yumi's and Sachiko's relationship is at an end as Yumi is left
sitting in the street and crying in the rain. Sei takes her under
her wing once more and takes her to a friend's house where she can dry
out her clothes and her eyes - it's time well spent and helps her
improve her mood, and next day at school goes well too, until Touko
shows up and gives Yumi the "scum-of-the-earth" treatment. All
Yumi wants now are some answers as to what's going on, but some helpful
advice from a stranger persuades Yumi to give Sachiko one more try...
13 - Holding a Parasol
The school festival is approaching, and the Roses are overloaded with
work arranging it, especially as Sachiko hasn't been coming to school
of late. Under pressure to take a petite soeur to help out with
the workload, Yumi does something no-one expects - asks Touko to help
out. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,
perhaps? It does give Yumi the chance to quiz Touko about
Sachiko's absence, but all she'll give are vague hints. The
answers start to appear when Youko comes to the school to take Yumi to
see Sachiko...
I still say Touko will end up as Yumi's petit soeur, although sadly
they don't show it here. Perhaps something for a third season
showing Yumi taking on her duties as a Rose? We can hope.
At the moment, though, this does seem to be the end of the line for MariMite,
and sticking to the real stars of the show it's all about Yumi and
Sachiko, with the rest of the gang very much reduced to bit-part roles.
The problem with Sachiko turns out to be her grandmother, who Sachiko
held dear, being terminally ill - with Sachiko unwilling to talk to
anyone about it, and wanting to spend as much time with her as possible
before she dies, she's got a good reason for behaving the way she
has. It's just a shame her inability to share her feelings, even
with someone as close to her as Yumi, caused all the problems that it
did. It does make for a rather touching end to the show, with
their reaction to each other during the final scenes being enough to
dispel any notions of platonic friendship there. :)
Okay, so MariMite just wouldn't have been the same
without the yuri undertones, but it has turned out to be a thoroughly
entertaining series. I want more, dammit. While it's
something to watch when you're in a particular mood rather than an
anytime-will-do series, it's still one of the best recent series and
well worth watching. Now if only someone would license it for R1
release...
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