Maria-sama ga Miteru

The Virgin Mary is Watching
マリア様がみてる
Rosen unter Marias Obhut
Maria Watches Over Us
MariMite

Manga7.6831 votes9 volumes · 48 chaptersFinished

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About this title

Synopsis

Yumi Fukuzawa, who is basically a nobody and a first year student at Lillian Academy, a Catholic exclusive school for girls with a tradition that older girls take a younger girl as their little sister or "soeur," suddenly finds herself interacting with the members of the Yamayurikai and their soeurs when an innocent encounter leads Sachiko to impulsively ask Yumi to be her soeur. (Source: ANN)

Published

Oct 2003 to Dec 2007

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MAL rank: #2453
Members (MAL): 3,039
Favorites (MAL): 55

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Main characters

Sei Satou365 fan favorites
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The exact opposite of most of the characters in the show: loud, rough-around-the-edges, she loves doing what she can to push other peoples' buttons. She enjoys mercilessly teasing or being mischievous, conducting most of her antics around Fukuzawa Yumi. Despite being a non-conformist in the ranks of the regular girls in Lillian Jogakuen, Sei is one of the wisest and caring characters on the show. Though seeming to have a playful and laid-back attitude, she has experienced many tragedies in her life, especially in her second year. Sei is known for doing things at her own pace, and dislikes being pressured into making decisions and taking action. She took Toudou Shimako as her soeur while in her third year. Her relationship with the first year is seen to one of mutual understanding and selective support. Sei however has an especially close relationship with Yumi. Sei becomes a source of comfort, and emotional outlet and close friend and mentor for Yumi. She is often noticed by others for her unconventional looks; many strangers have assumed that she is a model. Sei is not purely Japanese, and has Anglo features, as seen by her hair and eye colour as well as her Caucasian facial bone structure. After leaving Lillian, Sei studies English and American Literature. Part of this could result from her bibliophile behaviours she picked up during her second year in Lillian when she immersed herself in reading as a form of escapism and trying to understand her conflicting emotions during that time. She drives a yellow Beetle and is a terrible driver.
Sachiko Ogasawara303 fan favorites
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Prim and elegant, Sachiko has a rough side and a very sweet side. She is very protective over Yumi and cares deeply about her. However, Sachiko often has the same problem as Yumi does — she does not share most of her problems with her sœur, causing many misunderstandings. Sachiko is slated to marry her cousin and fiancé Suguru after she graduates. This has caused her some distress since, because although she initially cared deeply for him, he did not reciprocate. They now have a complicated relationship. Sometimes, Yumi must teach Sachiko how to live informally, for example, helping her select her first pair of jeans. Despite her sometimes stern appearance, Sachiko has her own share of insecurities regarding her relationship with Yumi, not to mention emotional insecurities rising from her home life; both her father and grandfather openly have mistresses, unabashedly dividing their time between home and the mistresses, which apparently led to her general disdain for men, as illustrated in the OVA series during a meeting with the student council members of Hanadera, an all-boys highschool. After Sachiko enters her third year, she is now the new Rosa Chinensis. After the arrival of Touko, Sachiko spends more time with her than with Yumi, which makes Yumi jealous. Sachiko goes absent from school which makes Yumi worried. Later, Youko is sent to "bring" Yumi to Sachiko's grandmother house. Yumi finds out that Sachiko's grandmother recently died, which causes Sachiko to go into depression. Sachiko says that she apologizes for the past few weeks, and asks for Yumi's forgiveness; Yumi says that she loves her very much. At the beginning of the summer holidays, Sachiko takes Yumi to her summer home. Whilst there, Sachiko's acquaintances make trouble for them. Yumi intends to leave, but Sachiko refuses. The acquaintances have a party, and invite them. At the party, they ask Yumi to play a musical instrument for Sachiko's great grandmother. Yumi says that she cannot play anything and prefers to sing the song "Maria-sama no Kokoro"; Sachiko accompanies her with a piano performance. The great grandmother is happy because the song brings back memories, and she asks Yumi to visit next year. In the first season, Sachiko is Rosa Chinensis en bouton, her grand soeur was Mizuno Youko, and her petite soeur is Fukuzawa Yumi. In the second season, Sachiko becomes Rosa Chinensis.
Yumi Fukuzawa153 fan favorites
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She the main character of the Japanese light novel and anime series Maria-sama ga Miteru created by Oyuki Konno. In the beginning of the series, Yumi is bashful beyond words, very timid and unsure of herself. She first met Sachiko, the star of Lillian School and had her tie fixed by Sachiko, which mortified Yumi. Yumi's friend, Tsutako Takeshima, took a cute picture of this and wanted to display it in the school festival. Tsutako got Yumi to ask permission from Sachiko. Other characters often comment on how her emotions 'show on her face'. In the second season, Yumi is Rosa Chinensis en bouton. She has no petite soeur yet, but fans think it might be either Matsudaira Touko or Hosokawa Kanako.
Shimako Toudou79 fan favorites
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Prim, proper and very beautiful, Shimako is the most admired of the first-years. She is the petite soeur of Satō Sei at the beginning of the story and later her successor. Underneath Shimako's quiet, mannerly exterior lies a surprisingly strong resolve. However, Shimako is perhaps the most gentle of the three girls of her year in the Yamayurikai. In the first season, Shimako is Rosa Gigantea en bouton, her grande soeur being Satou Sei. In the second season, Shimako becomes Rosa Gigantea, her petite soeur being Nijou Noriko. (Source: Wikipedia)
Yoshino Shimazu43 fan favorites
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In the beginning of the series, Yoshino is a girl who was very ill and cared for constantly by her grande soeur, Rei. Yoshino, however, is very independent and in some ways tomboyish, despite her sickly status and feminine appearance. In addition to being Rei's petite soeur, Yoshino is also her cousin and next-door neighbor. Theirs is a somewhat rocky relationship, since Yoshino is eager to spread her wings, whereas Rei would like to protect her from the world's hardships. In the first season, Yoshino is Rosa Foetida en bouton petite soeur, her grande soeur being Hasekura Rei. (Source: Wikipedia)
Youko Mizuno19 fan favorites
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Youko entered Lillian during her first year of middle school. Despite coming from an outside schooling system she was asked to give the welcome speech for first year students. She is characterized as being calm but sharp with a mischievous side, in the manga she is described to be "lily" like. Her greatest day was seeing the Rose Mansion filled with ordinary students during the Bouton's card hunt. During Youko's second year of high school, Rosa Gigantea and Rosa Chinensis (Sei and Youko's onee-sama's respectively) tricked Youko into taking an interest in Ogasawara Sachiko. Sachiko, Youko noted, always walked looked like she was fighting internally with something. With an endless desire to help (or meddle, as Sei put it) people Youko took Sachiko as her petite soeur. She had Sachiko quit her after school lessons (or in the novel, hinted about it) and once scolded her for not expressing her emotions and opinions. Much like Sachiko did to Yumi. Prior to graduating, Youko took Yumi aside and asked her to look after her stubborn and "uncute" little sister. Then later during Sachiko and Yumi's separation she felt slightly jealous of the close bond between them. Youko considers herself to be Sachiko's onee-sama even beyond graduating from Lillian. Aside from her petite soeur Youko is probably closest to Satou Sei. They met during middle school when Youko approached Sei about joining clubs. Sei asked if Youko too felt alienated from the class but Youko said she simply became interested in Sei. Disinterested in this, Sei called her a meddler. During Sei's relationship with Shiori it was Youko who constantly tried to reach out to Sei. It was also Youko who asked Shiori to leave Sei a letter when she left. Fans have speculated that Youko has an unrequited love for her friend and the Sei/Youko pairing is very popular within the fandom. After graduating from Lillian, Youko attends law school. She tearfully admitted that she would have liked to attend a liberal arts college but it wouldn't have enabled her to help people.
Rei Hasekura17 fan favorites
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Rei, Yoshino's grande soeur, appears very tomboyish and "bishounen" on the outside but is in fact quite gentle despite her appearances. Her favourite books are shoujo, her favourite word is "sincerity" and her hobby is sightseeing. She is involved in kendo, but obsessively cares about Yoshino and prefers the domestic arts, like cooking. In the first season, Rei is Rosa Foetida en bouton, and her grande soeur was Torii Eriko. Her petite soeur is Shimazu Yoshino. In the second season, Rei becomes Rosa Foetida. (Source: Wikipedia)
Eriko Torii6 fan favorites
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Rei's grande soeur; one of the most well-respected of the Yamayurikai. She is very gifted and good at almost everything, although she is also enigmatic and eccentric. She has a large forehead, which Sei made fun of when they were young, which began their rivalry. She said once that she chose Rei as her sœur to see if anything interesting would happen. She often has friction with Yoshino, as the younger girl is jealous of her bond with Rei. Eriko has four older brothers. After leaving Lillian, she studies Arts. She hates the dentist above all else. (Source: Wikipedia)