Maria Watches Over Us (2004)
When Yumi Fukuzawa entered the Lillian Girls' Academy, a prestigious all-girls Catholic school in Tokyo, she never imagined she would catch the eye of beautiful and demure Sachiko Ogasawara, one of the school's most popular students. Now Sachiko has offered to be Yumi's soeur, her "sister" and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered—after all, they hardly know each other! The entire campus is abuzz with rumors about the two of them, but Yumi is conflicted over accepting Sachiko's offer. While she admires Sachiko, being her soeur would also mean constantly being at the center of the entire school's attention!
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Episode 1 - The Troubling Soeur Declaration
Release Date: 2004-01-07Fukazawa Yumi's tie is fixed by Ogasawara Sachiko, her idol and the school's star, setting off a chain of events which would throw the shy and ordinary girl into the world of the prestigious student council. After Yumi walks in on Sachiko arguing with the Yamayuri Council over the school play they will be performing, Sachiko suddenly asks Yumi to be her petite soeur in an attempt to force her way out of the lead role.
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Episode 2 - The Awkward Piano Duet
Release Date: 2004-01-14Yumi is hounded by the school newspaper for a report on why she turned down Sachiko and endures dance lessons with the Yamayuri Council and a piano duet with Sachiko. Through various people, Yumi learns more about Sachiko and Suguru Kashiwagi, the one who will be playing the Prince in the Cinderella play.
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Episode 3 - The Moon and the Rosary
Release Date: 2004-01-21Yumi finally meets Kashiwagi when he comes to Lillian for the dress rehearsal, and learns a shocking secret about his relationship with Sachiko. Sachiko's true reason for her refusal to play the lead role is understood, making the bond between her and Yumi truly genuine.
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Episode 4 - Yellow Rose Revolution
Release Date: 2004-01-28The rest of the Yamayuri Council find out that Yumi finally accepted Sachiko's rosary. Meanwhile, Shimazu Yoshino and Hasekura Rei are voted the school's best sœurs due to their respective girly and bishonen appearances, but Yumi talks to Yoshino and finds out that there's more to the pair than meets the eye and that the relationship between the two is far from perfect.
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Episode 5 - The Battling Maidens
Release Date: 2004-02-04While Rei is reeling over Yoshino's shocking announcement, the bulk of the school copies them by breaking their soeur relationships too. Tori Eriko, Rei's soeur, isn't even aware of the problem due to her odd behavior and suspiscious absence from school. Yumi goes to the hospital to talk with Yoshino, and learns the true nature of the Yellow Rose soeurs. Yoshino tells her all about her plan to make Rei a stronger person.
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Episode 6 - Rosa Canina
Release Date: 2004-02-11A second-year student calling herself Rosa Canina runs against the en boutons in the Yamayuri Council elections with murky intentions. Todo Shimako hesistates to run at all due to her first-year staus and her reluctance over taking a leading council position until a talk with Rosa Canina forces her to make a decision. Yumi confronts Sato Sei, Shimako's soeur, over her refusal to encourage Shimako to run, and learns more about the relationships between older and younger soeurs and how to best support Sachiko.
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Episode 7 - The Surprising Chocolates - Part I
Release Date: 2004-02-18For Valentine's Day, the Lillian Newspaper Club organizes a treasure hunt in which the winners would get half-day dates with the en boutons. Yumi agonizes over what to get Sachiko for Valentine's Day, resulting in a spectacular misunderstanding between the two of them.
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Episode 8 - The Surprising Chocolates - Part II
Release Date: 2004-02-25After a crying Yumi runs away from Sachiko's confrontation, Sei reveals the secret reason behind Sachiko's distress. The treasure hunt takes place with surprising results. and Yumi makes up with Sachiko in her own unique way.
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Episode 9 - The Red Card
Release Date: 2004-03-03Uzawa Mifuyu narrates her past as Sachiko's desperate admirer and her reasoning behind her decision to not claim the treasure hunt's prize. She finally acknowledges that Yumi is a better match for Sachiko than her, and quietly slips out of their lives and the series.
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Episode 10 - The Forest of Thorns
Release Date: 2004-03-10A tragic lesbian romance novel causes a scandal at Lillian because the author is rumored to be none other than Sei. This prompts Sei to tell Yumi and Yoshino about her past with a girl named Kubo Shiori.
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Episode 11 - White Petals
Release Date: 2004-03-17A flashback from a year ago tells the story of an angry, silently-suffering Sei, who is saved from her alienation by a girl called Kubo Shiori. The two of them begin a passionate, all-consuming romance, but Shiori's secret plans for the future shatter Sei's heart.
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Episode 12 - First Date Triangle
Release Date: 2004-03-24The day of the Boutons' dates arrive, and each pair has their problems. Yumi worries over where to take someone of Sachiko's stature, Yoshino follows Rei's date around in her possessive jealousy, and Shimako braces herself for spending a day with her rival, Rosa Canina. Meanwhile, Tsukiyama Minako, the head of the Newspaper Club, and Takeshima Tsutako, the school's ace photographer, try their best to get the scoop on the dates, but they comically fail to track any of them.
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Episode 13 - Good Day, Elder Sister
Release Date: 2004-03-31Tsutako and Minako's papparazzi-like plans wear them out while Shimako comes to an understanding with both Sei and Rosa Canina. The dates ultimately strengthen Yumi and Yoshino's relationship with their soeurs and reaffirm the place they stand in their older sister's lives.