http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marimite.jpg

-->''Gokigenyou, [[OneeSama Onee-sama]]!''

''Maria-sama ga Miteru'' ("The Virgin Mary is Watching You" or "''[[PortmanteauSeriesNickname Marimite]]''"--the show's American title is ''MariaWatchesOverUs'') is set in a Catholic all-girls' ElaborateUniversityHigh. 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 RomanticTwoGirlFriendship.

The student body is led by an [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil self-perpetuating oligarchy]] 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 [[GratuitousForeignLanguage lots of gratuitous French]] such as "''Rosa Chinensis en Bouton Petite Soeur''".

Yumi Fukuzawa is a first-year student who idolizes [[OneeSama Sachiko Ogasawara]], the ''[[CampusQueen Rosa Chinensis en Bouton]]''. One fall 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 [[HoYay win Yumi as her ''soeur'']] by hook or by crook....

Originally a popular series of {{light novels}} from a romance publisher; adapted into a TwelveEpisodeAnime, with a second "Spring" season. A third season was released as an {{OVA}} and after a prolongued wait a fourth season aired in Japan. The series has been licensed in its entirety for North American distribution by Nozomi [=Entertainment/RightStuf=].

[[CompletelyMissingThePoint Critical opinion tends to be]] [[IncrediblyLamePun mixed.]]
----
!!Provides examples of:
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents (Yumi and Shimako seem particularly to suffer from this during one of the school festivals).
* {{Anvilicious}}: All the lily ("''{{yuri}}''") and sapphire ("[[SchoolgirlLesbians sapphic]]") references, including a LampshadeHanging on them in the first episode.
* AnimatedActors: In the chibi "Maria-sama ni wa Naisho" omakes.
* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler:Sachiko and Suguru]] although [[spoiler:an episode preview indicates this may have been called off.]]
** It was called off as mentioned later in the novels. The only reason why it was happening in the first place was [[spoiler:because their respective parents thought they did really love each other. Once they found out that, in Sachiko's case, she no longer does love him and, in Suguru's case, he never did, they call off the marriage]].
* ArtShift: From the third series onwards there has been a change in animation style, resulting in--or possibly due to--the characters looking older.
* BaitAndSwitchLesbians: Sachiko's overtly romantic courting of Yumi in the first few episodes transforms into mere [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship sisterly affection]] as [[RelationshipCeiling soon as both girls become soeurs]]. Many of the other relationships are subject to the same trope as well.
** The romantic side of their relationship seems to make a comeback in the third season.
* BeyondTheImpossible: The plot in the [[LightNovels light novels]] has undergone an immense time dilation to postpone Sachiko's graduation.
* {{Bifauxnen}}
* BigFancyHouse: Sachiko
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine: In many of the {{Post Episode Trailer}}s.
* CanNotSpitItOut
* CherryBlossom: Combined with [[MeetCute Meet Cute]] on two occasions. Must be a White Rose thing.
* CrashIntoHello: Yumi and Sachiko
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: [[spoiler:the finale of season two, sparkly-background-roses and all.]]
* CloudCuckooLander: Rosa Foetida
* DatePeepers: A very jealous Yoshino on Rei.
* DiscretionShot: To avoid Sei and Shiori's kiss, and to avoid exposing a girl's chest when she shows off a scar inflicted by 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 the all-male student council]].
* 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 and, to an extent, Suguru.
* EarWorm: The rather lighthearted OP of the 4th season.
** This troper would argue that the original instrumental opening for the first season would be more apt.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sei, the original Rosa Gigantea, struck as one of the most popular characters at first for being the most notable lesbian of the show. In latest sesions, Noriko seems to have gained plenty of popularity.
* ElaborateUniversityHigh
* EnjoKosai
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Subverted in that Yumi is extremely popular with all the girls at her school as well as the majority of the boys at the nearby all male school.
* FalseCameraEffects
* FanService: Generally averted. However, one episode has Youko insisting on Sachiko wearing a low-cut dress as service to her ''in-show'' fans.
* {{Gayngst}}: Sei was not allowed to [[spoiler:find her happiness with Shiori]], with the underlying message that romantic affection between girls is okay, as long as it doesn't go too far.
* GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger: Particularly Yoshino
* TheGlomp: Sei -> Yumi. Also [[spoiler:Youko -> Yumi]] on one occasion, much to the latter's surprise.
* [[HeroicSelfDeprecation Heroic Self-Deprecation]]: Yumi
* 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.
* {{Honorifics}}: Punched up a notch -- upperclassmen are "-''sama''", rather than "-''[[SempaiKohai sempai]]''"
* HugeSchoolgirl: Kanako
* ImportantHaircut: Sei, ''twice'', and Mifuyu.
* InstantFanClub
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy
* JerkassFacade: [[spoiler:Touko, to stop Yumi getting too close.]]
* {{Joshikousei}}
* {{Keigo}}
* KendoTeamCaptain: Rei
* KissingCousins: Causing some viewers to be slightly squicked by [[spoiler: Sachiko's arranged marriage to hers.]]
** Also, if one interprets their [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship relationship]] [[HideYourLesbians in that way]], Rei and Yoshino.
* LesYay: Practically the entire female cast.
* LovableSexManiac: Sei has some of this. You can't really blame her, since she is likely the only all-out lesbian at a school filled with pretty girls.
* OfficialCouple: Yumi & Sachiko. Also Noriko & Shimako, despite having a totally different dynamic.
* TheOjou
* {{Omake}}: ''Maria-sama ni wa Naisho''.
* OneGenderSchool
* 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
* PeripheryDemographic: Making up a large enough portion that the first season was test run at OtakuOClock.
* PhenotypeStereotype: During the ClassTrip to Italy, they fly with Alitalia. During this bit we see the first foreigner depicted in the series - a stewardess with ''blue eyes'' and ''dark blonde'' hair. A till woman seen at the airport has a similar appearance, and blue eyes are found on a woman attending a trinket shop in the Vatican. At the same time, background characters have more realistic Mediterranean features. Why they gave stereotypically Gaijin features unlikely to be found in Italians to a couple of foreground characters ''only'' is anyone's guess.
* PinkySwear
* PortmanteauSeriesNickname
* RelationshipCeiling: The relationships between the girls never quite seem to make the [[RelationshipTextUpgrade jump from subtext to text]], no matter [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship how much they feel for each other]]--which is especially egregious in the case of Yumi and Sachiko.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Nearly everyone.
* SchoolFestival: More than one.
* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Minako and Tsutako.
* SchoolgirlLesbians: Just one explicit case, even though [[MemeticMutation references to the show in other media]] ''always'' invoke this across the board.
** At the same time, it is noteworthy that few of the girls are ever shown to be interested in romance, ''period''. Romantic relationships would likely only distract from the premise of "maidens" with strong emotional bonds. [[WordOfGod Even the author admits]] that the series [[http://okazu.blogspot.com/2008/01/light-novel-maria-sama-ga-miterukira.html should best be seen as a fantasy story]]. None of the girls even use a mobile phone, even though it's obviously set in the present.
* SempaiKohai
* ShaggyDogStory: Mifuyu's story in the "Valentine's Day Contest" arc.
* {{Shojo}}
* ShrinesAndTemples: In the "Spring" season.
* ShrinkingViolet: Yumi being the most prominent.
* SitchSexuality: The ''entire school'' turns out for a contest to win dates with some of the popular girls.
* {{Squee}}: Especially ''that'' scene between Sei and Yumi.
* StalkerWithACrush: Mifuyu and Kanako.
* StraightGay: Suguru.
* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Sachiko
* TheQuietOne: Shimako, lampshaded in one episode by Yoshino.
* TheScrappy: Touko seems to attract a lot of hate from the fandom, although whether this is deserved or not may [[YourMilageMayVary depend on your viewpoint]].
* TheTease: Sei. Just... Sei.
* ThemeNaming: Samurai and noble families, fitting with Lillian being an upper-class school.
* 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.
* TroubledButCute: Sachiko is a rare female example.
* {{Tsundere}}: Touko and Yoshino.
* TwoTeacherSchool
* UnfortunateImplications: See {{Gayngst}} above.
* {{Wangst}}: Largely averted, although Touko's self-torture about [[spoiler:being adopted]] comes dangerously close at times
* WarpedAesop: The message of Mifuyu's story appears to be: "Accept that other people are more special than you."
* 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.]]
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Alice
* [=~Will They Or Won't They~=]: Yumi and Sachiko often seem to come dangerously close to a {{relationship upgrade}}. [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchLesbians It never happens, though]]]].
** And then of course there is the milder variety with all those girls chasing other girls to become their soeur.
* TheWoobie: Oh, Sei.
** Also Touko, whose {{Wangst}} about [[spoiler:being adopted]] turns her into either TheScrappy or Yumi's new OfficialCouple, [[YourMileageMayVary depending on who you ask.]]
* YamatoNadeshiko: Shimako.
* YaoiGuys: Suguru.
* ZettaiRyouiki: Yumi's is very conspicuous in the 4th season of the anime.
----
<<|NoteworthyAnime|>>[[anime]]
<<|LightNovels|>>
<<|{{Manga}}|>>