24 August 2011: Finally watched my Maria-sama ga Miteru season two DVDs
Most of the time you can't even tell Eriko is insane.
The second season of Maria-sama ga Miteru feels like two separate seasons. Just as most of the first season of Marimite is dedicated to Sei—by far the Best Girl of the entire franchise—so too is the first half of the second season. Well, except for that one episode where you find out Eriko is actually AWESOME. And also CRAZY. And definitely not a LESBIAN.
Sei reflects on her time in high school.
Sei is especially important to Marimite because she plays the senpai role to Yumi's kouhai so well. Maria-sama ga Miteru is very much about the Lillian Academy's grande sœur and petite sœur system, but it is actually Yumi and Sei's kouhai/senpai relationship through the first two seasons that establishes the show and permits it to grow during seasons three and four, not the imouto/onee-sama relationship Yumi shares with Sachiko.
Yumi finds out Sei fucked with her again.
Anyway, the first half of season two is dedicated to Sei, but the second half (the start of Yumi's middle year in high school) is dedicated to Yumi and Sachiko. Oh, and that witch Touko. Nevertheless, Sei plays a critical role towards the end of the season when she does something for Yumi that nobody else could—something Sei can do only because she spent one-and-a-half seasons fucking with Yumi. It is, perhaps, the high point of Marimite—the zenith where its real stories about love, trust, and dedication combine to culminate in the series' finest moment. Sei earns her -sama.
