"Maria-sama ga Miteru" is a beautiful depiction of everyday life at a girls' school. The bright and energetic protagonist, Yumi, is happily united with her admired senior, Shoko, as sisters. However, there's a huge gap between the two: one is an ordinary citizen, the other is a rich young lady...! We'll explore this gap between them.
The Existence of a Fiancée
The first thing that surprises Yumi is the presence of Shoko's fiancée, Kashiwagi Yu. What's more, her partner is the handsome heir of a wealthy family, a man without any flaws. What's more, despite being a high school student, he even owns a sports car. To Yumi, he is like a rival for Shoko. However, whenever Shoko is sick or feeling down, he always gets there first, and every time this happens, Yumi is left feeling down by the difference between her world and the one she lives in.
My first date with an ordinary person!
After winning the school event, Yumi earns the right to a date alone with Shoko. On their first date, Yumi leads Shoko around her favorite restaurants. However, along the way, something happens that makes her realize the disparity between them...! During their date, she reveals that she's never been to a fast food restaurant or a clothing store that sells jeans. Even Yumi is surprised by her eccentric, ladylike behavior, which makes her wonder where in Japan she's been living.
A daring attempt at loach scooping!?
On the day the seniors graduate, Yumi and three other first-year students are carried by Hijiri and forced to perform a comedy routine. After much deliberation, Yumi chooses a comedy routine from the Yasugi folk song...loach scooping! It might be one thing if she went to a normal school... but even so, it seems like she would stand out quite a bit, so why did she choose the Yasugibushi after watching the rich girls for a year...? It was probably because Kiyoshi told her about it the day before the graduation ceremony, and because it was the only prop they had at home, but Yumi really showed off her down-to-earth nature. Perhaps it was because it was so novel, but Shoko and the others loved it, so was it a great success?!
The gift was rice!
During summer vacation, Yumi is invited by Shoko to visit the Ogasawara family's villa. While nervous about visiting the villa for the first time, Yumi hands over a gift from her mother. It contains rice, which Shoko is delighted to hear, saying she'll enjoy it tonight... However, when the daughter of a wealthy family who is on friendly terms with the Ogasawara family finds out she's brought rice, she begins to tease her. Wherever she went, people would chuckle and talk about her behind her back, saying things like, "You rice girl..." Rice might seem like a more than adequate gift, but the young ladies' sense of it was completely different. And it wasn't just about the gift, they also teased her about her inability to play an instrument. This was a miserable situation for Yumi, who had only ever interacted with kind young ladies at school until then.
Summary
Despite living in completely different worlds, Shoko and Yumi's relationship, which allows them to respect each other, is enviable. Perhaps it's precisely because they're so different that they discover new things and enjoy each other's company.
