Maria-sama ga Miteru

Maria sama ga miteru is an anime abt the lives of the students in an all female Lillian High School. The school affairs are run by the student council headed by only 3 people (called roses) and their soeurs (french word for sisters). This school has a soeur system, in which each student is attached to a soeur(it's optional though) and they usually have a deeper relationship than most others in the school. The main character, Fukuzawa Yumi, is an ordinary young girl who, upon accident, is chosen by the school's most popular girl, Ogasawara Sachiko to be her petite soeur. And the story unfolds around her as she interacts with the members of the rose mansion..

I didn't know pure drama and a story based on solely relationships can be so entertaining. Most of the animes I watch require 2 basic elements before I consider watching - drawing/art and plot. Animes that I give high ratings for usually excel in both departments. But this is an exception. The art is wonderful, with it's elegant style and beautiful settings. There is no plot, but the explorations of the characters relationships more than make up for that. Any plot that happens to pop out serves solely for the purpose of revealing more of the characters or developing them. Some animes I watch try to balance character development with their plots and those who do them well are outstanding, but there are more tendencies to slide to one side... However, I'm usually weary of those whose stories are one sided, they tend to build a mountain out of a hole. But this, no doubt it has some parts that are ridiculously dramatic, but they steer clear of becoming a soap. The characters are so well developed, I hardly can find a favourite - I love them all!! I think the most important part is that the relationships are dealt with delicately and it helps that the whole anime is given an aura of elegance and class. Instead of thinking this anime as a shoujo-ai or yuri (I hardly think it is) genre, i prefer to see it as one that deals with friendship.