hontou ni sou omou?

It’s Christmas and Sei reminisces about the events of a year ago. Essentially it’s a fairly simple tragic story of forbidden love. Girl meets girl. They fall in love and become completely absorbed with each other to the detriment of everything else. However one discovers that the other is going to become a nun and that their love is, afterall, not going to last forever. After attempting to break up, their irresistable mutual attraction leads to a desperate plan to run away. In the end, one is stood up while the other goes far away - the former realizes that there are those around her who care for her as well. Back in the present, Sei and the rest of the Yamayurikai prepare to celebrate Christmas and Sei’s birthday.

This is probably the favourite episode for the legions of Sei fans (shout out to Mangaminx!) because it shows so many sides of Sei: disillusioned, madly in love, deeply passionate, contented yet yearning, annoyed, angry, heartbroken, impulsive, having an epiphany - all of which undergrid her current state of uber-coolness.

Erica’s notes (Parts 1 and 2) which compare the third MariMite novel with the novel give an indication of the richness of the novel and also shows the additional depth of the anime’s source material which was cut for various reasons e.g. Sei’s teasing of Yumi (about being called in for their "illicit homosexual relationship") in front of a sizable number of first year students before entering the Student Guidance Room; Sei’s realization that the Academy director was the only one who really understood her situation; the reason for the Suga Sei pseudonym and how Yumi managed to figure out the link to Kasuga Seiko herself; more background about Shiori’s farewell letter to Sei etc. A very enlightening read which I felt really increased my appreciation of the MariMite universe.

Being one of a Sei fan, I’ve gone a bit overboard with the screencapping. (;^_^)

Sei’s very straightforward confession, laying herself bare before Shiori, was great on so many levels. Lots of anime gets interminably stuck at the “Should I tell her or not?” stage which can get draggy and repetitive and I was glad this was a notable exception. The flip side of Sei’s courage in cutting straight to the chase was, of course, it also showed how vulnerable Sei was and that only endears her more to us.

The above left frame bugged me slightly. Firstly, I thought the gap between Sei and Shiori should have been closed. It just looks awkward the way it’s portrayed. Secondly, I’ve never liked this particular sign of coupledom as it suggests a possessiveness and attempt at dominance that just rankles with me but that’s just me.

When I first saw this, Shiori’s seemingly innocuous question to Sei: “Did someone say something you?” merely suggested that Shiori can read that Sei is slightly disturbed and/or that she’s concerned that people are talking about their relationship. However upon rewatching, this little statement was a huge foreboding of what was to come i.e. Shiori was afraid that someone had already told Sei about her decision to become a nun.

Another characteristic of MariMite is how nature seems to highlight or reflect the situation or mood - in that atmospheric sort of way, MariMite manages to build an atmosphere that is supported by its physical environment. Particularly I’m thinking of the Haru arc with Yumi, hydrageneas, her lost umbrella and the rain as well as Shimako and Noriko under the sakura tree amidst the gingko trees.

It’s impressive to see how well Sei’s oneesama handles her and also interesting see how well Sei has learnt from her. I was particularly struck by the similarities in how the former Rosa Gigantea (what’s her name?) put her arms around Youko and Sei’s shoulders which is reflected by Sei with Yumi and Yoshino in the previous episode.

Also shows how Youko is the steady one and why she’s the undisputed first among equals in the Yamayurikai.

A great scene transition which further reinforces how far Sei has come and all the history that her current character is built on.

Now that I’ve seen Mai Otome, I couldn’t help but think of Natsuki “Load Silver Catridge” Kruger everytime the word “gakuencho” is mentioned.

On a final note, the soeur system might be ostensibly framed in terms of seniors guiding the juniors. But also Sei’s case also shows how being able to form a soeur bond and guiding the juniors would enable herself to open up and grow. Which we also see in Sachiko’s case and why Youko thoroughly approves of Yumi as Sachiko’s imouto. Two more eps to go!