I'm really surprised there isn't a thread for this.

So. The anime is actually based off a series of light novels by Oyuki Konno. The story itself is about a Catholic school named Lillian Girls' Acadamy in Japan. There's a system there where an older girl takes a younger girl as her petite soeur, that is, "little sister" in French. The older girl will give the petite soeur her rosary and promises to guide them, look after them, kind of like an older sister. The main character is Yumi Fukuzawa, who is chosen as a petite soeur by upperclassman (upperclasswoman?) named Sachiko Ogasawara. She joins the Yamayuri Student Council, where there are three offices named after roses: Rosa Foetida, Rosa Gigantea, and Rosa Chinensis. Pretty much the whole series is about Yumi's experiences with day-to-day life as a member of the Yamayuri and her relationships with the members, especially Sachiko. Of course, despite being the protagonist, the series does not focus on her, but the other members as well, and even occasionally, other girls at the school.

There is a heavy emphasis on the bonds between girls, and while it's usually considered yuri, it's actually more of a romantic friendship kind of thing.

It's a good series, I think. What about you, Menewsha? Do you like the series too?

My friend told me that I neeeeeeded to watch this. She even sent it to me on a disc, so I tried. I just couldn't do it.

The characterization of girls in anime often bugs the heck out of me, especially in anything leaning towards yuri. There's just something so trite about it. As soon as they started going off about petite soeurs and introducing dozens of girls, I bailed ^_^;;

And you say I'm the stalker. XD

True. I haven't seen too many episodes (I just finished the eleventh one), and yeah, I see where you're coming from. Hm. Characterization. Which animes do you think have good ones?

It's a pretty good series, not one of my favorites or anything though. I really liked Shimako and Yoshino.

IMO they went overboard with making sequels. 2 seasons would've been about right, but 4 is just totally unnecessary. I never got through the 3rd one.

@Oscar - You ARE a stalker! I just posted cause I thought your topic looked lonely.

Anyway, I liked the characterization in Lovely Complex. Even if the girls get a bit weepy (it is a shoujo after all) it's often with good reason.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the characterization in Maria, given that I only watched about five minutes of it, but you can just spot the stereotypes and get an idea of how much the girls will annoy you right away. I think it's the traditional stereotypical roles that the Japanese tend to shove on female characters that makes me dislike them so much so often. I don't hate girls (I am one after all) I just hate watching them be turned into flat annoying stereotypes.

@butterscotch: Really? I've never seen the sequels. What happens?

@For-chan: True. I've always been a stalker. My topics are always lonely. D: Lovely Complex, huh? I'll have to look for that. Anime is made out of stereotypes. You always have that one girl who's quiet, rich, and kind of stoic. Then you have the cheerful girl with the pigtails who always apologizes. The flirty one who gropes other girls. The tsundere one. True about it usually being female. Imagine what would happen if it took place at an all boy's school.

...

:D