The Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment have announced the July release of the first season of the Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru, aka "Marimite"). The character-driven anime series, which is set in the fictional Lillian Catholic Girls' School in
The novels focus on the relationships between members of the school's student council (the Yamayurikai) and are considered examples of the yuri (lesbian-themed) shojo subgenre. The Lillian school has a tradition in which older girls (grande soeurs, "big sisters") give their rosaries to younger girls (petite soeurs, little sisters), and this tradition is at the heart of many of the relationships depicted in the novels and anime series. Though the anime series is always tasteful and far from explicit in its depiction of the schoolgirl's relationships, it is clear that the bonds between some of the girls go beyond ordinary friendship.
The Right Stuf is releasing the 13-episode first season of Maria Watches Over Us, which was produced by Studio Deen and aired in Japan in 2004, in a 325-minute, subtitled-only box set (MSRP $49.99), which is due out on July 29th. This is basically the same subtitles-only format that the Right Stuf chose for its release of Emma (see "Right Stuf Readies Emma Anime"), and it provides potential customers with a new anime series at a cost of about $3.00 per episode (even if they pay full MSRP).
A second 13-episode season of Marimite was followed by a series of five, 50-minute OVAs. The Right Stuf has acquired the rights to these subsequent series and will release them at later, as yet unannounced dates. Plans for a fourth season were announced last August, but it hasn't aired on Japanese TV yet.
Shueisha has published eight volumes of manga adaptations of the light novels with each volume of the manga (illustrated by Satoru Nagasawa) covering the same narrative territory as the corresponding volume in the light novel series. So far no American publisher has acquired the rights to the Marimite novels, manga, or the original manga "side stories" that are illustrated by Reine Hibiki and published in Shueisha's Cobalt.
