Kitajima Maya is a
determined and strong-hearted girl who wants to become an actress.
She leaves home to study under mysterious Tsukikage-sensei, who
runs a theatre company. Tsukikage has never gotten over the time
when, in her youth, she played the lead in her own play and a
stage light fell on her - causing her to lose one eye and leaving
an ugly scar on her face. She has never allowed anyone to buy the
rights to her play, because there is noone who can play the
part.... until she meets Maya. She knows that Maya has amazing
talent, but needs skill and teaching.
Meanwhile, a young man
named Masami, who is working for a company trying to destroy
Tsukikage's (and despised by Maya for this), is her secret fan
that she has named the Person of the Purple Rose. She performs her
best for her devoted unknown fan, cherishing his letters and the
purple roses he leaves for her. Masami is not kind to her in
person, nor shows his feelings at all - rather, he is the opposite
whenever they meet. A reason for this is that he cannot let anyone
know how he feels: Maya is 14 and he is an adult.
The additional characters
provide an enjoyable element to the series. Talented and
sophisticated Ayumi is the primary rival actress, but she is
genuinely skilled and wants to excel, so it's too difficult to
dislike her. Boyish and cool Rei, a fellow student and good friend
to Maya, reminds me of Takarazuka actresses. Friendly
Sakurakouji-kun is a young man who likes Maya, but Maya doesn't
know in what way she likes him back. He's so nice, but she feels
something special for her Person of the Purple Rose!
The story is a romance
and coming-of-age story at heart, as well as Maya and co.'s life
experiences in performing on stage and screen. The show is
realistic in portraying the troubles, obstacles, work, devotion,
and everything that goes on behind the curtains.
What really gets to me
about the show is the acting. Maya's solo performance in a
competition is so good that it really seems like an invisible
someone is in the room with her.
I was really amazed at
that scene because it felt as if she was acting very well, even
though she's in actuality drawings combined with a seiyuu. I
haven't seen anything else like it before. I've seen very
life-like anime characters (of course many who can move more
realistically than Maya because of the time GnK was animated), but
somehow this seemed different because she was acting in a
life-like way. Making a character seem like a real person is
amazing in itself, but making them seem like a real person
who is acting as
someone else
strikes me as more difficult.
Originally I liked the TV
series much better than the OAVs, because Maya has a different
voice actress in each. The voice in the OAVs is more childish, not
the same pretty feminine speech as in the TV series. In the TV
anime she sounds more mature and classy. However, on rewatching
the OAVs I do really love them too! The character design is
modernized, making it ideal for introducing the series as well as
being fun for long-time fans.
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This page was updated
on March 2, 2001 by Stephanie
This page was created on
April 8, 2000 by Stephanie
