TV-Series
Description
Maria Graceburt, often addressed as Miss Maria, serves as a teacher at Garderobe Academy. She originates from the kingdom of Old Lutecia and is an inactive Meister Otome. Her Meister GEM is known as the Jasper of Eternity, sometimes referred to as the Eternal Recurrence Jasper. As a member of Garderobe’s upper administration, she reports directly to Headmistress Natsuki Kruger.
Maria’s background is rooted in tragedy. She experienced the Dragon King War fifty years prior, having served as the attendant to the then Pearl Number One. The loss of her former schoolmates, who were sent as Meisters into that conflict, left her deeply disillusioned about the true purpose of the Otome system. This personal history shaped her strict and often unsmiling demeanor. She is feared by the students, including the usually unshakable Nao, and even Natsuki treats her with marked respect. Maria holds that any student unable to accept the possibility of fighting former friends must leave Garderobe immediately.
Her personality is defined by a rigid adherence to tradition and custom. She is noticeably annoyed whenever Natsuki disregards these traditions in favor of political maneuvering. During the Artai invasion of Windbloom and Garderobe, Maria retains her teaching post but feels nothing but contempt for the new administration led by Nagi Dài Artai and his contracted Otome, Nina Wáng. She considers Nina unworthy of being a Meister, believing she still has far too much to learn.
Maria’s role in the story is primarily as an authority figure and a living link to Garderobe’s painful past. She reveals in Episode 8 that she was once a Coral student and the little sister to Monica, the Flowing Diopside of Water, one of the old order’s Otomes. She demonstrates her powers only a handful of times. In the final episode of the TV series, she materializes her Robe for the first time, startling other Otome by appearing much younger than her usual aged form. She comments on Natsuki’s lack of grace in combat and then demonstrates extraordinary speed and agility while fighting a Slave. Her Element is a rapier. As a member of Garderobe staff, she does not require a formal certification to unlock her Otome abilities, though their activation depends on the status of the Fumi System.
In the sequel OVA My-Otome Zwei, Maria is petrified by the entity Yuna after entering the Fumi System chamber, becoming the third character to be turned to stone. She is later revived alongside the other victims. The prequel My-Otome 0~S.ifr~ shows a younger Maria, physically similar to her Robe-wearing form, serving as an aide to Headmistress Una Shamrock. In that era, she serves as the homeroom teacher for the Pearl class. After the defeat of the Five Columns, she announces that she will take Una’s place as headmistress of Garderobe, revoking the licenses of the other Columns for a month.
Throughout her appearances, Maria’s notable abilities include her superhuman speed and the unique trait of biological rejuvenation while wearing her Robe. She is the only on-screen Otome of advanced age to demonstrate this effect, leaving it uncertain whether the ability is unique to her or common among elderly Otome. Her deep respect for the traditions and ideals of the Otome, combined with her personal experience of the system’s darkest consequences, makes her a formidable and somber presence in the series.
Maria’s background is rooted in tragedy. She experienced the Dragon King War fifty years prior, having served as the attendant to the then Pearl Number One. The loss of her former schoolmates, who were sent as Meisters into that conflict, left her deeply disillusioned about the true purpose of the Otome system. This personal history shaped her strict and often unsmiling demeanor. She is feared by the students, including the usually unshakable Nao, and even Natsuki treats her with marked respect. Maria holds that any student unable to accept the possibility of fighting former friends must leave Garderobe immediately.
Her personality is defined by a rigid adherence to tradition and custom. She is noticeably annoyed whenever Natsuki disregards these traditions in favor of political maneuvering. During the Artai invasion of Windbloom and Garderobe, Maria retains her teaching post but feels nothing but contempt for the new administration led by Nagi Dài Artai and his contracted Otome, Nina Wáng. She considers Nina unworthy of being a Meister, believing she still has far too much to learn.
Maria’s role in the story is primarily as an authority figure and a living link to Garderobe’s painful past. She reveals in Episode 8 that she was once a Coral student and the little sister to Monica, the Flowing Diopside of Water, one of the old order’s Otomes. She demonstrates her powers only a handful of times. In the final episode of the TV series, she materializes her Robe for the first time, startling other Otome by appearing much younger than her usual aged form. She comments on Natsuki’s lack of grace in combat and then demonstrates extraordinary speed and agility while fighting a Slave. Her Element is a rapier. As a member of Garderobe staff, she does not require a formal certification to unlock her Otome abilities, though their activation depends on the status of the Fumi System.
In the sequel OVA My-Otome Zwei, Maria is petrified by the entity Yuna after entering the Fumi System chamber, becoming the third character to be turned to stone. She is later revived alongside the other victims. The prequel My-Otome 0~S.ifr~ shows a younger Maria, physically similar to her Robe-wearing form, serving as an aide to Headmistress Una Shamrock. In that era, she serves as the homeroom teacher for the Pearl class. After the defeat of the Five Columns, she announces that she will take Una’s place as headmistress of Garderobe, revoking the licenses of the other Columns for a month.
Throughout her appearances, Maria’s notable abilities include her superhuman speed and the unique trait of biological rejuvenation while wearing her Robe. She is the only on-screen Otome of advanced age to demonstrate this effect, leaving it uncertain whether the ability is unique to her or common among elderly Otome. Her deep respect for the traditions and ideals of the Otome, combined with her personal experience of the system’s darkest consequences, makes her a formidable and somber presence in the series.