Maria Watches Over Us 3rd

The third "season" of Maria-sama ga Miteru, although it being titled an OVA, the episodes are like two ordinary 22 minute episode making the season somewhat close to 10 episodes. This creates more enjoyment out of the episodes and a better flow in the storyline. Since I came in on that track the stories told are of a various mixture, some connected to the catholic school the girls attend to and some where they aren't at school at all but enjoy other activities. This is an interesting twist because we get to see them in "casual day" appearance and what they do when they are notat school. As always the animation in my opinion is high class, although the pointy noses can get a tad annoying when they sort of "stick out" of the anime at times. The sound and music is better than it has ever been! Ranging from borrowed work to where the characters them selves sing. This is a real treat and it warms me inside. The only thing musicwise is the ending song, which in my opinion doesn't befit the anime at all, but you can always skip it, right? So overall this third season was pretty much more than enough of what I had hoped for. Be sure to watch the very end of the last episode after the credits, for a pleasant and joyful surprise!

What a season! It's only five episodes, but they are essentially double length at about 50 minutes each. With the characters firmly established after two seasons, season three veers away from high school daily life to put the girls in some exciting settings: summer vacation, a boy's school festival, sports fest and... Italy? It's an exciting season because of all of the fun settings, even if they are somewhat typical high school drama fare. All are fun and original and really represent the payoff of the ever-so-slightly slow first two seasons: now we get to see go on exciting adventures with these characters we've come tolike so much. Perhaps even more satisfyingly, the central relationship of the series finally develops quite a bit, in what I found to be a satisfying way. There is not a great deal of character development with any of the other couples, they are increasingly just becoming Yumi's sidekicks. Perhaps there was just not enough time, given the reduced length of this season. It's the only real blemish on the storytelling for me though. I enjoyed the continued slow and deliberate character development that goes hand in hand with the relentless passage of time as we're more than half way though Yumi's high school career now. There is definite foreshadowing to the inevitable departure of the older Sachiko, and the way it's being handled is quite nice. Not melodramatic, just realistically bittersweet. The art was unremarkable except for the final episode where they go to Italy. Again I found the music to be disappointing - there is a poppier but not memorable ending theme, and a chance for a character so sing a beautiful song in Italy seemed like a total dud to me. Thankfully the story is awfully strong and more than makes up for these disappointments. This may have been a bit of a bridge to the final season, but it has set the stage nicely, especially with the attention to Yumi and Sachiko's relationship.

i have watched this anime for 9 times now and still watching it : ) i liked the relationship between yumi and sachiko became deeper and deeper, at first two series they cant say what they really think with each other but with this anime, everything yumi wants to do with sachiko is taking place in reality, and she became free to express her feelings to sachiko even in letter. whats was good in this world is to express to the one you love that you love them. this is not a typical lesbian story, because there is no lesbian thing in it. the fact thatyou became close to someone and learned to love them doesnt mean that you have sexual feeling towards that person. this anime expresses deep love between friends and even experience hardships, triumph and fulfillment to get through the day being happy with the person that matches the feelings you have for them as they have for you.

It takes a bit to get used to, art-wise, because now the characters come close to how characters are drawn in the latest animes. Especially in the first episode, I thought they almost ruined Sachiko in some angles, but either I got used to how they drew her, or they actually realized that they fucked up, and fixed it eventually as the episodes went on. At first, I almost got disappointed that I only got 5 episodes, but it was more than enough, really, since they were almost an hour-long. And with how episodes were like part 1 and 2 for some events in the previousseasons, it opens and closes the "act" nicely in each episode. So, if you are the type to watch one episode per night, it will work without having to stay up a bit late. It's nice that they are now in casual clothes, and we get to see what they are actually up to during their break/vacation. In the previous seasons, we just usually skipped over their break entirely, and you are left like "Woah, that was fast."