I can't believe it's been a year since the OAV was first announced. And has it really been over 2 years since Haru ended? Man, how time flies when you're being tortured.


But that gap in time is something I definitely noticed as I watched the first moments of this ep, the first in a series of 5 almost hour long OAV episodes for Maria-sama ga Miteru. And I have to tell you, when Yumi started the routine "Maria-sama no niwa ni tsudou.." speech that begins every episode of this show, I almost cried. Yeah, I know. Shut up.

In this episode, Sachiko, perhaps in return for postponing their amusement park date, invites Yumi to spend part of her summer vacation with her at her family's summer villa, which is located a short distance outside of Tokyo. Yumi's quite surprised by the offer, and is very excited about having her oneesama all to herself, but eventually ends up being a little let down as she finds out that Sachiko likes to do homework and sleep a lot. Poor Yumi. . .

After a trip to a shopping district with her brother and Suguru, Yumi returns to find Sachiko with company. That company being Touko and three other girls (that make Touko's personality seem to be as cozy a gentle rain on a spring evening): Kieko Kyougoku, Kikuyo Ayanokouji and Yukari Saionji.

The next part of the ep mostly involves these three girls making Yumi's (and to a lesser extent, Sachiko's) life a very relaxing, slow-paced hell. Most are just shallow, immature aggravations, but the shit really hits the fan when Yukari invites both Sachiko and Yumi to a party at her family's estate.

..But it was a trap! (gasp!) The party was actually for Yukari's grandmother, and the guests are to take their turns playing instruments (which Yumi can no longer do) for the crotchety old hag.
However, Yumi avoids embarassment by presenting Yukari's grandmother with nothing more than a song as a gift... which was strangely awkward at first (I do believe Kana Ueda purposely sings rather poorly for this scene) but turns into something beautiful as Sachiko joins in with piano accompaniment. At the end of the ep, Sachiko admits that she was mostly nervous that Yumi might do an encore of her Yasukibushi (see Haru, ep 3) performance. Oh Sachiko..


And so ends the first ep, and I thoroughly believe it was worth the wait. However, I've been seeing some people express disappointment in the ep seeing as it was mostly just Sachiko and Yumi for 50 mintues (I would have personally liked to see more Touko, myself..). And also because of the slight change in art direction, which I didn't mind, to be honest.

I was also very happy to see Katakura Mikiya reprise her role as composer for the show, seeing as she's already given us two great soundtracks for the show. This ep was mostly full of songs from those two aformentioned OSTs, but a few new melodies did pop up here and there. I especially liked the song that played when Yumi and Sachiko were taking that walk through that creepy wood. I'll definitely be looking forward to the release of the next OST. ...whenever that'll be.

And lastly, another notable aspect of the OAV is something that I believe comes with all OAVs: the fanservice. And sweet God almighty is it there! Knees and shoulders everywhere. It was like I'd died and gone to Girls Bravo. ...if it was made in 19th century England.

Next Episode: Ryakushite OK Daisakusen - 1/31/07!
Enjoy your Ouran parody..

Labels: Maria-sama ga Miteru

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