I ignored Maria Sama ga Miteiru for years, in an apparently mistaken belief that it was a dykefest. But about a year ago, truth began to emerge, and just in time for the R1 release by TRSI (praise the Dark Lord). You can even get it on Netflix now, which is good, because the first volume contains shameful 3 episodes (Gurren-Lagann, also a sub-only release, offers 5).

Marimite is one of those series which seem created to underscore the importance of the correct frame of mind (see also, Jason Miao Teaches the World to enjoy Muteki Kanban Musume). For three quarters of the first episode, I kept thinking: "Why am I watching this shit?". The art and animation being unusually bad for J.C.Staff did not help any.

Only during the meeting scene I cracked the code: it's the lulz. "So, as you can see, me and -- Yumi-chan, was it? -- are quite well acquainted!". The comedy often comes through to save anime, like the way it recovered the floundering and mediocore Kamichu circa ep.13 (by DVD count). Once I focused on the comedy of the petty intrigue, things started looking up in Marimite.

Another personal thing is that I am familiar with mentorship, and it is often comic too: my last two mentees quit the company while under advisement. I suppose others can relate to something else, like ginko nuts.

From an apersonal standpoint, the show is mostly unremarkable. For example, Yumi's eyes look like a rejected prototype for Chiyo-chan's eyes. Suguru being a dickhead is a cringe-inducing, flat and moldy plot move. On the other hand, most of the characters are believable and acceptable. So, it's not as bad as I expected, good enough to watch more.

UPDATE: TheBigN and DiGiKerot are picking my bones on IRC for reflexive panning the 3-per-disc layout. The show was never sold as singles, only as a set. Therefore, only the price of the whole box matters (minus the small effort required to reload more discs).

UPDATE A 30s LATER: Now Omo too?! I don't know if this is a case of great minds thinking alike or what.