マリア様がみてる 1

Amazing series, very rough 1st impression

Language: There's tons of extremely formal 尊敬語 (honorific language) and 謙譲語(humble language), along with all the French titles. If you haven't run into other stories with very formal, posh, aristocratic, etc, settings, this article has some great tables and examples. Additionally, the author's writing style is both beautiful and unnecessarily verbose. There's so many times over the volumes that I've thought to myself that she could have expressed things much more simply - but it's part of the charm, and (at least to me) doesn't feel cumbersome. The author is also very fond of double negatives.

If you want to check translation while you read, there's a free one available here

Story: As I wrote in my review for the anime S1, the story makes a pretty terrible first impression. You get introduced to way too many characters (most of whom are initially rather unpleasant) using French titles, in very quick succession. The story gets better as it goes on, and having Yumi's inner monologue is a really nice improvement from the anime. Personally this first volume is my least favorite of the 6 volumes I've read so far (and of the 4 seasons of the anime). If you're coming from (or interested in) the anime, S1 corresponds to volumes 1-6.

What I especially love about the series overall is the variety of relationships and intimacy it portrays, the way it develops the characters, its use of recontextualization that can redefine how you see the characters, setting, or situation (sometimes in very major ways). Some events and relationships develop very positively, others have a tragic side, or a "what could have been" to them. All of the ensemble cast gets explored, with different aspects, flaws, and challenges in their relationships (to themselves and others). The (sometimes distant) past often weaves in with the present, and in many of the volumes there is some ongoing mystery or controversy being solved.

It's been credited with reviving Class S genre, and it sits right in the intersection of Class-S, yuri, and 少女小説 , having been described as a modern 花物語 | L39. It was originally written as an antithesis to BL (boys love) stories of the time, but readers were quick to associate it with both Class-S and yuri (which the author acknowledges as a compliment in the afterward of volume 2).

Language: There's tons of extremely formal 尊敬語 (honorific language) and 謙譲語(humble language), along with all the French titles. If you haven't run into other stories with very formal, posh, aristocratic, etc, settings, this article has some great tables and examples. Additionally, the author's writing style is both beautiful and unnecessarily verbose. There's so many times over the volumes that I've thought to myself that she could have expressed things much more simply - but it's part of the charm, and (at least to me) doesn't feel cumbersome. The author is also very fond of double negatives.

If you want to check translation while you read, there's a free one available here

話: アニメのレビューで書いた通り、第１印象は良くなかった。キャラたちが多すぎる上（ほとんどのキャラは最初の印象が悪い）、フランス語のタイトルや著しく変わっていく様子が多い。話は徐々に良くなっていく。祐巳の心の声のやり取りがアニメと比べて向上していた。個人的にこの巻は他の6巻とアニメの4期に比べると最下位に位置する。もしアニメから移行する場合（興味を持った場合）１期は第1～６巻にあたる。

個人的にアニメの好きな所は色々な関係性や親密な部分を描いているのとキャラが良くなっていく様子や文脈がキャラをどう写すかが面白く設定や場面（時折度肝を抜く描き方）。様々な出来事やキャラの関係性がポジティブに進んでいく。ある者は悲劇を背負っており、もしくは「こうなっていたならば」という部分があった。全てのアンサンブルキャストは説明されており違う見解や失敗やキャラの関係性において様々な挑戦が起こっている。過去（時折古い過去）が現在に織り混ざっており不可解な出来事や納得できない出来事が解決されていく。

マリみてはエスというジャンルを復活させて、エスや百合や少女小説に上手く溶け込んでおり現代の花物語として描かれている。最初からボーイズラブに対するアンチテーゼの意図で書かれているが、当時の読者はよく百合とエスに写し合わせて読んでいた（作家さんは２巻のあとがきで嬉しいと言った）。

言語： 尊敬語と謙譲語やフランス語のタイトルがよく使われている。もし他のストーリーでお嬢様や貴族みたいな設定に行き当たってなければこの記事はいい用途の例えがある。この本を読んでる時によく「もっと簡単な書き方がある」と思ったが、その一定の書き方も魅力があった、個人的にはあんまり厄介な感じがしなかった。作家さんは二重の否定文が好きみたいだ。

もし読んでる時に翻訳版をチェックしたいならここのリンク無料の翻訳版)