Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
trope disambiged
Deleted line(s) 79 (click to see context) :
%%* {{Keigo}}
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Changed line(s) 35 (click to see context) from:
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: In many of the {{Post Episode Trailer}}s, sometimes with Yumi using a KansaiRegionalAccent.
to:
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: In many of the {{Post Episode Trailer}}s, sometimes with Yumi using a KansaiRegionalAccent.Kansai accent.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Senpai Kohai now redirects to Japanese Honorifics, and Useful Notes pages shouldn't be listed as tropes.
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
''Maria Watches Over Us'' (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SenpaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
to:
''Maria Watches Over Us'' (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SenpaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] student by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
Deleted line(s) 70 (click to see context) :
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SenpaiKohai sempai]]''". Underclassmen are usually "-''chan''".
Deleted line(s) 103 (click to see context) :
%%* SenpaiKohai
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Senpai Kohai is the name of the trope
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
''Maria Watches Over Us'' (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SempaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
to:
''Maria Watches Over Us'' (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SempaiKohai [[SenpaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
Changed line(s) 70 (click to see context) from:
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SempaiKohai sempai]]''". Underclassmen are usually "-''chan''".
to:
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SempaiKohai "-''[[SenpaiKohai sempai]]''". Underclassmen are usually "-''chan''".
Changed line(s) 103 (click to see context) from:
%%* SempaiKohai
to:
%%* SempaiKohaiSenpaiKohai
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
"''Maria Watches Over Us''" (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SempaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mm2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:[-The original cast. Clockwise from top left: Shimako, Sei, Yoshino, Rei, Eriko, Yumi, Sachiko, and Youko.-]]]
->''"Gokigenyou, [[OneeSama Onee-sama]]!"''
"''Maria Watches Over Us''" (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SempaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
The student body is led by a [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil self-perpetuating oligarchy]] (it's supposedly democratic in theory, but due to 100% incumbency as shown by the failed Rosa Kanina candidacy...) called the ''Yamayurikai'', of three groups of ''soeurs''. The oldest students are three leaders elected in a rubber-stamp election by the student body at large. Their ''petites soeurs'', in their second year are upgraded to ''Boutons'' (rosebuds), and so on. This leads to lots of GratuitousFrench such as "''Rosa Chinensis en Bouton Petite Soeur''".
Yumi Fukuzawa is a first-year student who idolizes [[OneeSama Sachiko Ogasawara]], the ''Rosa Chinensis en Bouton''. One autumn day, Sachiko stops Yumi as the two pray to the statue of the Virgin Mary, to correct Yumi for having an improperly tied scarf. Later that day, Sachiko abruptly asks Yumi to be her ''petite soeur'', despite having only just met her. The rest of the ''Yamayurikai'' objects... and Yumi, feeling unworthy, turns Sachiko down. Sachiko vows to win Yumi as her ''[[LesYay soeur]]'' by hook or crook...
''Maria Watches Over Us'' started out as a popular series of {{light novels}} written by Oyuki Konno and illustrated by Reine Hibiki, which were published from 1998 to 2012 for a total of 37 volumes. It was adapted into a manga that was serialized in the {{shoujo|Demographic}} magazine ''Margaret'' from 2003 to 2010, and later a TwelveEpisodeAnime that first aired in 2004, with a second season (titled ''Printemps'') during the same year, a third season released as an {{OVA}} from 2006 to 2007, and a fourth and final season airing in 2009 after a prolonged wait. The show has been licensed in its entirety for North American distribution by Creator/NozomiEntertainment[=/=]Right Stuf... with subs only. There is a dub version, [[NoExportForYou but it's only available on Animax Asia]].
In 2010, the series was made into [[LiveActionAdaptation a Japanese live-action film]].
See also ''[[VideoGame/{{Maribato}} Maribato!]]'', a doujin FightingGame featuring the characters from ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' as playables.
Not to be confused with a food spread made from yeast extract that's known for its distinctive and controversial flavor.
-----
!!''Maria Watches Over Us'' provides examples of:
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: This trope is played even straighter than usual, with the Yamayurikai positions being virtually hereditary (i.e., passed down from "older sister" to "younger sister"). The possible power abuse is mitigated by the fact that the Yamayurikai seem to be both benign and possessed of an acute sense for exceptional candidates.
* AlphaBitch: Touko initially comes off as this, until she begins accumulating PetTheDog moments and [[spoiler:Yumi discovers things that made Touko build emotional walls around herself]]. Better examples would be [[spoiler:Kikuyo, Kieko, and Yukari, Sachiko's social-climbing distant cousins in episode 1 of the {{OVA}}s]]. They take an immediate dislike to Yumi -- as much out of jealousy for her closeness to Sachiko as [[HypocriticalHumor for her relative inferiority on the social ladder]] -- and spend most of episode 1 trying to humiliate her. Fortunately, Sachiko doesn't buy a word of it, and the end result is Yumi's modest "finest hour.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Yumi and Shimako seem particularly to suffer from this during one of the school festivals.
* AmbiguouslyChristian: It's stated that you aren't required to be Christian to go to the school. There's an air of ambiguity about who is actually Christian and who is not, but in general the main cast (besides the explicitly Buddhist Noriko) seems entirely Christian, with a possible exception of Yumi in the novels.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Essentially all the girls, except Sei, who is the only open lesbian in the cast.
* AnimatedActors: In the chibi "Maria-sama ni wa Naisho" omakes.
* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Sachiko and Suguru]]. Called off later in the novels. The engagement was purely based on [[spoiler:their parents' assumption that they really love each other, only to realize that as time passed Sachiko no longer loves Suguru, who never loved her in the first place]].
* ArtShift: From the third series onwards there has been a change in animation style, resulting in -- or possibly due to -- the characters' aging.
* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: Sachiko's overtly romantic courting of Yumi in the first few episodes transforms into mere [[PseudoRomanticFriendship sisterly affection]] as soon as both girls become soeurs. Many of the other relationships are subject to the same trope as well.
* BetaCouple: Two -- Rei and Yoshino, and Shimako and Noriko.
%%* BifauxnenAndLadette: Rei and Sei. Even their names fit the trope!
%%* BigFancyHouse: Sachiko and Kashiwagi.
* BlandNameProduct: Tsutako's "Ganon" camera.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: In many of the {{Post Episode Trailer}}s, sometimes with Yumi using a KansaiRegionalAccent.
* CameraFiend: Takeshima Tsutako. She's not a member of the school newspaper's staff, but she frequently takes pictures for them and is rarely seen without her camera. Sei remarks her reputation for this is well known despite being a freshman.
%%* CanNotSpitItOut
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Gokigenyou!" and "Onee-sama!" by most characters.
%%* CharacterDevelopment: One of the principal driving forces behind the series.
* CherryBlossom: Combined with MeetCute on two occasions. Must be a White Rose thing.
* CrashIntoHello: Yumi and Sachiko meet when Yumi runs into Sachiko.
* ComicBookTime: The plot in the [[LightNovels light novels]] has undergone an immense time dilation to postpone Sachiko's graduation.
* CoolOldLady: Several, all of them former students of Lillian:
** The principal -- [[spoiler:during the Forest of Thorns scandal, she supports Sei's innocence... because she knows she was part of the original story.]]
** Yumiko, Kei's landlady, [[spoiler:who is revealed to have been soeurs with Sachiko's grandmother, with whom she had a decades-long estrangement, only to resolve in in time before said grandmother passes away.]]
** [[spoiler: Yukari's great-grandmother, who is unmoved by her descendant's petty social maneuvering, but finds Yumi's simple heartfelt singing charming.]]
* DarkIsEvil: Invoked when Kanina Shizuka asks Yumi what she thinks a rosa canina flower (her nickname) looks like, and Yumi replies: "A black colored flower." Shizuka tells her she's right, but Yumi then looks it up and discovers it's actually pink. Kanina later laments: "It would have been cooler if it was black." Subverted in that Kanina's actual motivations [[DarkIsNotEvil aren't bad at all]].
* DatePeepers: A very jealous Yoshino on Rei. As well as the reporters trying to get good photographs for the newspaper.
* DiscretionShot: To avoid Sei and Shiori's kiss, and to avoid exposing [[spoiler:Yoshino]]'s chest when she shows off a scar left by her heart surgery.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Sachiko and Kanako especially. In Sachiko's case, so much so that she's ''utterly repulsed'' by the touch of a man, and [[spoiler:actually faints just by seeing an all-male student council]]. Surprisingly, Sachiko has no problem being with Yumi's younger brother Yuuki, possibly because he looks like her. Knowing this might lead people to [[CrackPairing ''certain ideas'']].
* DontYouDarePityMe
** In the fourth season, [[spoiler:Touko's reason for rejecting Yumi's rosary]].
** Yoshino also had this attitude toward Rei at some point, [[spoiler:which lead her to decide to have a heart operation so she's not so fragile anymore]].
%%* DramaticWind
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Sei could give [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Yukari]] a run for her money. Suguru's driving is crazy some of the time, and otherwise perfectly normal.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Averted, which is interesting considering that just about every parody of the show portrays it as one. Lillian only has small facilities that you'd expect in any regular high school, it has no boarding division (everyone commutes) and most auxiliary buildings are made of wood. It does, however, border an actual university (which admittedly doesn't look like more than a community college, though).
* EnjoKosai: [[spoiler:One episode revolves around rumors that Eriko engages in this. It turns out that she was just being forced to go out with her brothers and father.]]
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Happens to all of the popular girls, which makes sense [[OneGenderSchool considering the setting]]. Especially Sachiko receives a lot of admiration, but after a while gets outshined by [[spoiler:Yumi]].
%%* FalseCameraEffects
* {{Fanservice}}: Generally averted. Amusingly enough, however, one early episode has Youko insisting on Sachiko wearing a low-cut dress as service to her fans ''in-universe''.
%%* FlowerMotifs: Lots of them.
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Yoshino is particularly fond of this.
* GivingUpTheGhost: This occurs in one of the [[{{Omake}} Niwanaishos]]. Yumi and Youko are trying to get a scene right that involves drinking a nauseous mix of strawberry juice and milk. They mess the scene up two times. During the last take Yumi passes out and gives up her ghost.
* TheGlomp: Sei → Yumi. Also [[spoiler:Youko → Yumi]] on one occasion, much to the latter's surprise.
* HiddenDepths: All the girls, but the Foetida Roses especially.
%%* HiddenEyes
* HideYourLesbians: Despite a plethora of subtext, there is only one explicitly lesbian relationship in the whole series.
* HighSchoolRocks: Lillian is the platonic ideal of an all-girl high school, populated as it is by thoughtful, beautiful and fun-loving students.
%%* HilariousOuttakes
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SempaiKohai sempai]]''". Underclassmen are usually "-''chan''".
%%* HotBlooded: [[spoiler:Yoshino]]
%%* ImportantHaircut:
%%** Sei, ''twice''.
%%** Mifuyu.
%%* InstantFanClub
* InstrumentalThemeTune: The first and third seasons have Pastel Pure. The second season subverts this as it is a song set to Pastel Pure.
%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he might be a jerk [[spoiler:Suguru genuinely cares for Sachiko and her friends in his own way. He has behaved defensively on Yumi's and Touko's behalf, and has been supportive of Yumi and Sachiko's bond. In the fourth season he even warns Touko that she'll ultimately alienate even the few people who still care for her if she keeps up with her {{Jerkass}} facade.]]
%%* {{Joshikousei}}
%%* {{Keigo}}
* KissingCousins
** [[spoiler:Sachiko's arranged marriage with Suguru, which is ultimately called off after their parents (who misunderstood their situation) realized they never loved each other at all.]]
** Also, if one interprets their [[PseudoRomanticFriendship relationship]] [[HideYourLesbians in that way]], Rei and Yoshino.
* LeftHanging: The series ends before Yumi's graduation, and many things are left unresolved, most notably how the relationship between Yumi and Sachiko will progress.
* LongRunningBookSeries
* {{Melodrama}}: Yoshino ''is'' melodrama personified, although Yumi and Sachiko sometimes get in on the action.
* OfficialCouple: Yumi & Sachiko. Also Noriko & Shimako, despite having a totally different dynamic.
* {{Ojou}}: Sachiko. Most of the cast fits since they come from rich families. However, the ''Chinensis'' family seems to be a natural Ojou breeding ground. Sachiko and Youko have a regal air about them (with Youko as the undisputed "queen" of Lillian during her term as Rosa Chinensis and Sachiko as her princess). Even sweet, down-to-earth Yumi has a following among her schoolmates worthy of an Oujo; also, [[spoiler:her incoming ''petite soeur'']] Touko definitely counts as a haughtier variant.
* {{Omake}}: ''Maria-sama ni wa Naisho'' (''Keep it a Secret from Mary'')
* OneGenderSchool: The school is an all-girls Catholic school.
%%* OneeSama
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Yumi starts off as one of these, until she receives the attention of a certain {{Ojou}}.
* ParentalAbandonment: They're there, but we almost never see them. [[spoiler:This also fuels Touko's {{Jerkass}} facade: with her parents killed in a car crash, the infant Touko -- the sole survivor -- was adopted by Sachiko's distant relative, who happened to be a classmate of Touko's mother in Lillian... only to grow to resent the fact that [[DontYouDarePityMe she mostly receives help out of pity for her situation]].]]
* PhenotypeStereotype:
** Most people the girls interact with during their {{class trip}} to Italy are blond and blue-eyed.
** Sei gets her blue eyes and blonde hair from a European ancestor.
%%* PinkySwear
* RealPlaceBackground. The anime uses many locations in Musashino and Kichijoji, which are towns in the Greater Tokyo region.
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Despite the series' reputation of having a cast of nothing but lesbians, there's only one explicit case of that; many of the characters' relationships are extremely close and bordering on romantic, but they never cross that line. Lillian seems to have nearly institutionalized these kinds of relationships.
* SailorFuku: Lillian Girls' Academy's uniform is an old-fashioned, dark green sailor fuku with a long skirt.
* SchoolFestival: Two of them per year -- Lillian's and Hanadera's.
* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Minako and her soeur Mami.
%%* SempaiKohai
%%* ShaggyDogStory: Mifuyu's story in the "Valentine's Day Contest" arc.
* ShoujoDemographic
* ShoutOut: During the Foetida Roses Feud/Crisis in the first season, at one point Youko and Sei are in a pose very similar to the [[FingerTenting trademark pose]] by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Commander Gendo and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki]]
* ShrinesAndTemples: In the "Spring" season. Particularly, Shimako first met Noriko when the latter went to her family's shrine.
* SitchSexuality: The ''entire school'' turns out for a contest to win dates with some of the popular girls.
* SouvenirLand: The amusement park in the anime appears to be more or less like this. Not that Yumi or Sachiko mind.
* {{Spinoff}}: There's a series of light novels called ''Oshaka-sama mo Miteru'', or ''Buddha Watches Too'' in English, based around Yuuki and his schoolmates from Hanadera.
%%* {{Squee}}: Especially ''that'' scene between Sei and Yumi.
%%* StalkerWithACrush: Mifuyu and Kanako.
%%* StraightGay: Suguru.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: '''Sei''' (this is from when she was asking to borrow Yumi in order to have them get food for her while she read a novel) "It's not like I am going to strip her naked and play with her body."
* TeamMom: The Rosa Chinensis seat seems to be reserved for this role, though Youko and Yumi have generally comported themselves better in the role than Sachiko.
* ThemeNaming: Samurai and noble families, fitting with Lillian being an upper-class school.
* TitleDrop: The first episode, when Sachiko tells Yumi to pay closer attention to her appearance because "Maria-sama is watching." [[spoiler:Also, after Shiori pushes Sei away in the church when Sei tries to embrace her.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: {{Subverted}} by Rei and Yoshino. Rei, in spite of being tall and boyish-looking (and being [[KendoTeamCaptain captain of the school Kendo team]]) has rather girlish interests, while short, long-haired Yoshino loves thriller stories and watching sports.
* TooMuchAlike: Sei and Suguru. Their mutual dislike becomes hilarious once you realize that they're basically gender-swapped versions of each other.
* TransTribulations: Arisugawa "Alice" Kintarou. She describes herself as having received "a male body by mistake," and that she really wanted to attend Lillian. When she's not wearing her school uniform, she dresses as a girl. Her friends in both schools usually address her as Alice and behave supportively.
* TropeCodifier: Yumi and Sachiko's relationship helped codify the typical YuriGenre {{seme}} and {{uke}}: an older AloofDarkHairedGirl SchoolIdol and a shorter, younger girl (often with GirlishPigtails) who admires her.
%%* TrueCompanions: The Yamayurikai, which is also a periodically self-refreshing one.
%%* TwoTeacherSchool
* UnfortunateNames: ''Rosa Foetida'' means "fetid/stinking rose".
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Sei gets one in both the first and second seasons. [[spoiler:The first was about the backstory in the "Forest of Thorns" arc, and the second was about her meeting with Shimako.]]
* WomenAreWiser: While probably not intended, a mild case of this seems to be in effect throughout the series, as the majority of male characters are philandering assholes while the relationships between the girls are presented as pure and beautiful.
* WillTheyOrWontThey
** Yumi and Sachiko often come dangerously close to a {{relationship upgrade}}. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchLesbians It never happens]]]].
** There is the milder variety with all those girls chasing other girls to become their soeur.
* XanatosGambit: Sei's wager with Sachiko. If Sachiko wins, Sachiko gets a cute soeur and the Cinderella show will go on. If Sachiko loses, the Cinderella show will go as originally planned. Sachiko's "sore-loser" personality ensures that even if she doesn't make Yumi her soeur before the show, the two will grow very close and will eventually end up as soeurs anyway afterward. This is exactly what happens.
----
[[caption-width-right:320:[-The original cast. Clockwise from top left: Shimako, Sei, Yoshino, Rei, Eriko, Yumi, Sachiko, and Youko.-]]]
->''"Gokigenyou, [[OneeSama Onee-sama]]!"''
"''Maria Watches Over Us''" (''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' [i.e. the Virgin Mary] or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''") is set in Lillian Girls' Academy, a {{Catholic|SchoolGirlsRule}} [[OneGenderSchool all-girls']] High School. The school has a "''soeur'' system", in which an [[SempaiKohai older student adopts a younger student]] by giving the younger student her rosary, frequently having elements of a PseudoRomanticFriendship.
The student body is led by a [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil self-perpetuating oligarchy]] (it's supposedly democratic in theory, but due to 100% incumbency as shown by the failed Rosa Kanina candidacy...) called the ''Yamayurikai'', of three groups of ''soeurs''. The oldest students are three leaders elected in a rubber-stamp election by the student body at large. Their ''petites soeurs'', in their second year are upgraded to ''Boutons'' (rosebuds), and so on. This leads to lots of GratuitousFrench such as "''Rosa Chinensis en Bouton Petite Soeur''".
Yumi Fukuzawa is a first-year student who idolizes [[OneeSama Sachiko Ogasawara]], the ''Rosa Chinensis en Bouton''. One autumn day, Sachiko stops Yumi as the two pray to the statue of the Virgin Mary, to correct Yumi for having an improperly tied scarf. Later that day, Sachiko abruptly asks Yumi to be her ''petite soeur'', despite having only just met her. The rest of the ''Yamayurikai'' objects... and Yumi, feeling unworthy, turns Sachiko down. Sachiko vows to win Yumi as her ''[[LesYay soeur]]'' by hook or crook...
''Maria Watches Over Us'' started out as a popular series of {{light novels}} written by Oyuki Konno and illustrated by Reine Hibiki, which were published from 1998 to 2012 for a total of 37 volumes. It was adapted into a manga that was serialized in the {{shoujo|Demographic}} magazine ''Margaret'' from 2003 to 2010, and later a TwelveEpisodeAnime that first aired in 2004, with a second season (titled ''Printemps'') during the same year, a third season released as an {{OVA}} from 2006 to 2007, and a fourth and final season airing in 2009 after a prolonged wait. The show has been licensed in its entirety for North American distribution by Creator/NozomiEntertainment[=/=]Right Stuf... with subs only. There is a dub version, [[NoExportForYou but it's only available on Animax Asia]].
In 2010, the series was made into [[LiveActionAdaptation a Japanese live-action film]].
See also ''[[VideoGame/{{Maribato}} Maribato!]]'', a doujin FightingGame featuring the characters from ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' as playables.
Not to be confused with a food spread made from yeast extract that's known for its distinctive and controversial flavor.
-----
!!''Maria Watches Over Us'' provides examples of:
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: This trope is played even straighter than usual, with the Yamayurikai positions being virtually hereditary (i.e., passed down from "older sister" to "younger sister"). The possible power abuse is mitigated by the fact that the Yamayurikai seem to be both benign and possessed of an acute sense for exceptional candidates.
* AlphaBitch: Touko initially comes off as this, until she begins accumulating PetTheDog moments and [[spoiler:Yumi discovers things that made Touko build emotional walls around herself]]. Better examples would be [[spoiler:Kikuyo, Kieko, and Yukari, Sachiko's social-climbing distant cousins in episode 1 of the {{OVA}}s]]. They take an immediate dislike to Yumi -- as much out of jealousy for her closeness to Sachiko as [[HypocriticalHumor for her relative inferiority on the social ladder]] -- and spend most of episode 1 trying to humiliate her. Fortunately, Sachiko doesn't buy a word of it, and the end result is Yumi's modest "finest hour.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Yumi and Shimako seem particularly to suffer from this during one of the school festivals.
* AmbiguouslyChristian: It's stated that you aren't required to be Christian to go to the school. There's an air of ambiguity about who is actually Christian and who is not, but in general the main cast (besides the explicitly Buddhist Noriko) seems entirely Christian, with a possible exception of Yumi in the novels.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Essentially all the girls, except Sei, who is the only open lesbian in the cast.
* AnimatedActors: In the chibi "Maria-sama ni wa Naisho" omakes.
* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Sachiko and Suguru]]. Called off later in the novels. The engagement was purely based on [[spoiler:their parents' assumption that they really love each other, only to realize that as time passed Sachiko no longer loves Suguru, who never loved her in the first place]].
* ArtShift: From the third series onwards there has been a change in animation style, resulting in -- or possibly due to -- the characters' aging.
* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: Sachiko's overtly romantic courting of Yumi in the first few episodes transforms into mere [[PseudoRomanticFriendship sisterly affection]] as soon as both girls become soeurs. Many of the other relationships are subject to the same trope as well.
* BetaCouple: Two -- Rei and Yoshino, and Shimako and Noriko.
%%* BifauxnenAndLadette: Rei and Sei. Even their names fit the trope!
%%* BigFancyHouse: Sachiko and Kashiwagi.
* BlandNameProduct: Tsutako's "Ganon" camera.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: In many of the {{Post Episode Trailer}}s, sometimes with Yumi using a KansaiRegionalAccent.
* CameraFiend: Takeshima Tsutako. She's not a member of the school newspaper's staff, but she frequently takes pictures for them and is rarely seen without her camera. Sei remarks her reputation for this is well known despite being a freshman.
%%* CanNotSpitItOut
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Gokigenyou!" and "Onee-sama!" by most characters.
%%* CharacterDevelopment: One of the principal driving forces behind the series.
* CherryBlossom: Combined with MeetCute on two occasions. Must be a White Rose thing.
* CrashIntoHello: Yumi and Sachiko meet when Yumi runs into Sachiko.
* ComicBookTime: The plot in the [[LightNovels light novels]] has undergone an immense time dilation to postpone Sachiko's graduation.
* CoolOldLady: Several, all of them former students of Lillian:
** The principal -- [[spoiler:during the Forest of Thorns scandal, she supports Sei's innocence... because she knows she was part of the original story.]]
** Yumiko, Kei's landlady, [[spoiler:who is revealed to have been soeurs with Sachiko's grandmother, with whom she had a decades-long estrangement, only to resolve in in time before said grandmother passes away.]]
** [[spoiler: Yukari's great-grandmother, who is unmoved by her descendant's petty social maneuvering, but finds Yumi's simple heartfelt singing charming.]]
* DarkIsEvil: Invoked when Kanina Shizuka asks Yumi what she thinks a rosa canina flower (her nickname) looks like, and Yumi replies: "A black colored flower." Shizuka tells her she's right, but Yumi then looks it up and discovers it's actually pink. Kanina later laments: "It would have been cooler if it was black." Subverted in that Kanina's actual motivations [[DarkIsNotEvil aren't bad at all]].
* DatePeepers: A very jealous Yoshino on Rei. As well as the reporters trying to get good photographs for the newspaper.
* DiscretionShot: To avoid Sei and Shiori's kiss, and to avoid exposing [[spoiler:Yoshino]]'s chest when she shows off a scar left by her heart surgery.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Sachiko and Kanako especially. In Sachiko's case, so much so that she's ''utterly repulsed'' by the touch of a man, and [[spoiler:actually faints just by seeing an all-male student council]]. Surprisingly, Sachiko has no problem being with Yumi's younger brother Yuuki, possibly because he looks like her. Knowing this might lead people to [[CrackPairing ''certain ideas'']].
* DontYouDarePityMe
** In the fourth season, [[spoiler:Touko's reason for rejecting Yumi's rosary]].
** Yoshino also had this attitude toward Rei at some point, [[spoiler:which lead her to decide to have a heart operation so she's not so fragile anymore]].
%%* DramaticWind
* DrivesLikeCrazy: Sei could give [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Yukari]] a run for her money. Suguru's driving is crazy some of the time, and otherwise perfectly normal.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Averted, which is interesting considering that just about every parody of the show portrays it as one. Lillian only has small facilities that you'd expect in any regular high school, it has no boarding division (everyone commutes) and most auxiliary buildings are made of wood. It does, however, border an actual university (which admittedly doesn't look like more than a community college, though).
* EnjoKosai: [[spoiler:One episode revolves around rumors that Eriko engages in this. It turns out that she was just being forced to go out with her brothers and father.]]
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Happens to all of the popular girls, which makes sense [[OneGenderSchool considering the setting]]. Especially Sachiko receives a lot of admiration, but after a while gets outshined by [[spoiler:Yumi]].
%%* FalseCameraEffects
* {{Fanservice}}: Generally averted. Amusingly enough, however, one early episode has Youko insisting on Sachiko wearing a low-cut dress as service to her fans ''in-universe''.
%%* FlowerMotifs: Lots of them.
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Yoshino is particularly fond of this.
* GivingUpTheGhost: This occurs in one of the [[{{Omake}} Niwanaishos]]. Yumi and Youko are trying to get a scene right that involves drinking a nauseous mix of strawberry juice and milk. They mess the scene up two times. During the last take Yumi passes out and gives up her ghost.
* TheGlomp: Sei → Yumi. Also [[spoiler:Youko → Yumi]] on one occasion, much to the latter's surprise.
* HiddenDepths: All the girls, but the Foetida Roses especially.
%%* HiddenEyes
* HideYourLesbians: Despite a plethora of subtext, there is only one explicitly lesbian relationship in the whole series.
* HighSchoolRocks: Lillian is the platonic ideal of an all-girl high school, populated as it is by thoughtful, beautiful and fun-loving students.
%%* HilariousOuttakes
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SempaiKohai sempai]]''". Underclassmen are usually "-''chan''".
%%* HotBlooded: [[spoiler:Yoshino]]
%%* ImportantHaircut:
%%** Sei, ''twice''.
%%** Mifuyu.
%%* InstantFanClub
* InstrumentalThemeTune: The first and third seasons have Pastel Pure. The second season subverts this as it is a song set to Pastel Pure.
%%* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he might be a jerk [[spoiler:Suguru genuinely cares for Sachiko and her friends in his own way. He has behaved defensively on Yumi's and Touko's behalf, and has been supportive of Yumi and Sachiko's bond. In the fourth season he even warns Touko that she'll ultimately alienate even the few people who still care for her if she keeps up with her {{Jerkass}} facade.]]
%%* {{Joshikousei}}
%%* {{Keigo}}
* KissingCousins
** [[spoiler:Sachiko's arranged marriage with Suguru, which is ultimately called off after their parents (who misunderstood their situation) realized they never loved each other at all.]]
** Also, if one interprets their [[PseudoRomanticFriendship relationship]] [[HideYourLesbians in that way]], Rei and Yoshino.
* LeftHanging: The series ends before Yumi's graduation, and many things are left unresolved, most notably how the relationship between Yumi and Sachiko will progress.
* LongRunningBookSeries
* {{Melodrama}}: Yoshino ''is'' melodrama personified, although Yumi and Sachiko sometimes get in on the action.
* OfficialCouple: Yumi & Sachiko. Also Noriko & Shimako, despite having a totally different dynamic.
* {{Ojou}}: Sachiko. Most of the cast fits since they come from rich families. However, the ''Chinensis'' family seems to be a natural Ojou breeding ground. Sachiko and Youko have a regal air about them (with Youko as the undisputed "queen" of Lillian during her term as Rosa Chinensis and Sachiko as her princess). Even sweet, down-to-earth Yumi has a following among her schoolmates worthy of an Oujo; also, [[spoiler:her incoming ''petite soeur'']] Touko definitely counts as a haughtier variant.
* {{Omake}}: ''Maria-sama ni wa Naisho'' (''Keep it a Secret from Mary'')
* OneGenderSchool: The school is an all-girls Catholic school.
%%* OneeSama
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Yumi starts off as one of these, until she receives the attention of a certain {{Ojou}}.
* ParentalAbandonment: They're there, but we almost never see them. [[spoiler:This also fuels Touko's {{Jerkass}} facade: with her parents killed in a car crash, the infant Touko -- the sole survivor -- was adopted by Sachiko's distant relative, who happened to be a classmate of Touko's mother in Lillian... only to grow to resent the fact that [[DontYouDarePityMe she mostly receives help out of pity for her situation]].]]
* PhenotypeStereotype:
** Most people the girls interact with during their {{class trip}} to Italy are blond and blue-eyed.
** Sei gets her blue eyes and blonde hair from a European ancestor.
%%* PinkySwear
* RealPlaceBackground. The anime uses many locations in Musashino and Kichijoji, which are towns in the Greater Tokyo region.
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Despite the series' reputation of having a cast of nothing but lesbians, there's only one explicit case of that; many of the characters' relationships are extremely close and bordering on romantic, but they never cross that line. Lillian seems to have nearly institutionalized these kinds of relationships.
* SailorFuku: Lillian Girls' Academy's uniform is an old-fashioned, dark green sailor fuku with a long skirt.
* SchoolFestival: Two of them per year -- Lillian's and Hanadera's.
* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Minako and her soeur Mami.
%%* SempaiKohai
%%* ShaggyDogStory: Mifuyu's story in the "Valentine's Day Contest" arc.
* ShoujoDemographic
* ShoutOut: During the Foetida Roses Feud/Crisis in the first season, at one point Youko and Sei are in a pose very similar to the [[FingerTenting trademark pose]] by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Commander Gendo and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki]]
* ShrinesAndTemples: In the "Spring" season. Particularly, Shimako first met Noriko when the latter went to her family's shrine.
* SitchSexuality: The ''entire school'' turns out for a contest to win dates with some of the popular girls.
* SouvenirLand: The amusement park in the anime appears to be more or less like this. Not that Yumi or Sachiko mind.
* {{Spinoff}}: There's a series of light novels called ''Oshaka-sama mo Miteru'', or ''Buddha Watches Too'' in English, based around Yuuki and his schoolmates from Hanadera.
%%* {{Squee}}: Especially ''that'' scene between Sei and Yumi.
%%* StalkerWithACrush: Mifuyu and Kanako.
%%* StraightGay: Suguru.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: '''Sei''' (this is from when she was asking to borrow Yumi in order to have them get food for her while she read a novel) "It's not like I am going to strip her naked and play with her body."
* TeamMom: The Rosa Chinensis seat seems to be reserved for this role, though Youko and Yumi have generally comported themselves better in the role than Sachiko.
* ThemeNaming: Samurai and noble families, fitting with Lillian being an upper-class school.
* TitleDrop: The first episode, when Sachiko tells Yumi to pay closer attention to her appearance because "Maria-sama is watching." [[spoiler:Also, after Shiori pushes Sei away in the church when Sei tries to embrace her.]]
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: {{Subverted}} by Rei and Yoshino. Rei, in spite of being tall and boyish-looking (and being [[KendoTeamCaptain captain of the school Kendo team]]) has rather girlish interests, while short, long-haired Yoshino loves thriller stories and watching sports.
* TooMuchAlike: Sei and Suguru. Their mutual dislike becomes hilarious once you realize that they're basically gender-swapped versions of each other.
* TransTribulations: Arisugawa "Alice" Kintarou. She describes herself as having received "a male body by mistake," and that she really wanted to attend Lillian. When she's not wearing her school uniform, she dresses as a girl. Her friends in both schools usually address her as Alice and behave supportively.
* TropeCodifier: Yumi and Sachiko's relationship helped codify the typical YuriGenre {{seme}} and {{uke}}: an older AloofDarkHairedGirl SchoolIdol and a shorter, younger girl (often with GirlishPigtails) who admires her.
%%* TrueCompanions: The Yamayurikai, which is also a periodically self-refreshing one.
%%* TwoTeacherSchool
* UnfortunateNames: ''Rosa Foetida'' means "fetid/stinking rose".
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Sei gets one in both the first and second seasons. [[spoiler:The first was about the backstory in the "Forest of Thorns" arc, and the second was about her meeting with Shimako.]]
* WomenAreWiser: While probably not intended, a mild case of this seems to be in effect throughout the series, as the majority of male characters are philandering assholes while the relationships between the girls are presented as pure and beautiful.
* WillTheyOrWontThey
** Yumi and Sachiko often come dangerously close to a {{relationship upgrade}}. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchLesbians It never happens]]]].
** There is the milder variety with all those girls chasing other girls to become their soeur.
* XanatosGambit: Sei's wager with Sachiko. If Sachiko wins, Sachiko gets a cute soeur and the Cinderella show will go on. If Sachiko loses, the Cinderella show will go as originally planned. Sachiko's "sore-loser" personality ensures that even if she doesn't make Yumi her soeur before the show, the two will grow very close and will eventually end up as soeurs anyway afterward. This is exactly what happens.
----
