Junketsu no Maria

part ecchi, part romance, part existential drama, this show seems enigmatic...but while this may sound appealing to some, overall, it was only OK at best.

Maria is a virgin witch (compared to the other witches, who take human lovers all the time) who despises war and conflict. Living in France during the time of the 100 years war, she sees a lot of war, and every day goes out of her way to break up the battles using her magic. In her spare time, she concocts potions and herbal remedies for the ailing villagers who live nearby. She is a benign witch, but eventually the church has enough of her meddling in war, since they either instigate the war or profit by it, so they plan to deal with her the way humans usually deal with benign creatures, that is to say, harshly.

The characters are all likable enough and the story is interesting, but there just wasn't enough of anything for me. There was action, but not much, same for romance and philosophising about human nature and the nature of war and conflict. There was also plenty of sexual innuendos, yet no overt sexuality or nudity. It all seemed a bit vanilla to me. Having said that, the show wasn't bad, and is worth a watch...if you have the time and nothing better to watch.

Here is another instant anime favorite. As I said, I am always on the lookout for new anime to watch and manga to read. So I came across this "violent and ecchi" manga (which I had no idea had that kind of content) and thought it was fantastic. I had read all three translated volumes, and now it's one of my favourite manga series. I'm really into witches. I watched the anime adaptation of the manga online and loved it, which really surprised me.

During the Hundred Years' War, a young French witch named Maria despises the fighting and intervenes during battles using her illusions and familiars. But, as a powerful witch, word of her sorcery spread across heaven, and the Archangel Michael approached Maria. He warns her not to publicly use magic and tells her that if she loses her virginity, she will lose her powers. Michael assigned Ezekiel, a young female angel, to carry out the orders without interference from Maria. I didn't know why she was named "Ezekiel." Isn't it a male name?

So anyway, that is all I have to say about this anime series, folks. I love it for its story and stunning animation.

The best thing with this series is its stupendous attention to detail and historiocity. I have never seen anything that is as authentic when it comes to gear and weapons.

The show is also lewd, constantly showing near nudity and alluring to sex. Not my cup of tea but others might like it.

The story is philosophical. Is there any point to stop violence, strife and bloodshed? If Hollywood made this it would have been simplistic good vs evil. But the Japanese are more sophisticated philosophically than the Americans. So even thought the show is a bit silly as a whole, it does not shy from the truth.

My main gripe with the show is how medieval French nobility and class structure is portrayed, especially considering the hundred years war. It is unfair to the French nobility. The typical course of the war was that the Normans that ruled England created expensive and competent professional army. Went over to press their claims in France. And to force the French to do battle they looted, raped, murdered, burned the french countryside until the king and the nobles were shamed into offer battle. In practice, they nobles were much appreciated by local peasents when they came to combat the english. The main complaint of the peasants were if the king did not come and protect them. This is turned on its head in this show in some simplistic class struggle theme.

Anyway, I watch it for the authenticity of houses, arms and armor. It is truly created by some mighty Japanese autist, most gratifying. Its also why I give it a high mark. There simply is nothing like it out there.