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Right Stuf Adds Maria Watches over Us Anime Series (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
Nozomi Entertainment, the anime production division of Right Stuf, Inc., has announced on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CST that it has licensed the Maria Watches Over Us (Maria-sama ga Miteru) school slice-of-life anime series for North America. The licensed seasons of "MariMite" — the first two 13-episode television series and the 5-episode video follow-up series — center on the subtle interplay within the student body of the Lillian Girls' Academy. The anime is based on a series of light novels written by Oyuki Konno, illustrated by Reine Hibiki, and serialized in Shueisha's Cobalt magazine. Shueisha's Margaret magazine published a manga version by Satoru Nagasawa that was later compiled into eight volumes, and Cobalt published manga side stories by Hibiki.
The first season will ship in a US$49.99 DVD box with Japanese dialogue and English subtitles on July 29 (with pre-order discounts available), and the other two seasons will follow in DVD boxes at unspecified dates. Right Stuf says it will include the "specials" — comedic shorts that depict the series' characters in "chibi" form — for their respective season. An upcoming fourth season has been confirmed for Japanese television. The stories have attracted a strong following in Japan, and the producers have fueled that interest with everything from a Second Life virtual recreation of the fictional academy's Rose Mansion to official MariMite Pizza Hut delivery boxes.
Update: Background information added.
Image © Oyuki Konno/Shueisha, Yamayūrikai
