In a medium filled with protagonists defined by their impulsiveness and ganbatte attitude, it’s hard to pin down what makes Maria such a memorable character. You could argue it’s because her ganbatte-ness wavers. She actually has doubts about what she’s doing and lashes out at people when things are going poorly for her. Yet even before such scenes occurred, she was still an entertaining character.
I suppose it’s because she actually stands for something, which is ultimately a result of the villains she opposes. Most protagonists are trying to stop some evil force from destroying the world or sacrificing 10,000 people in a blood ritual. As a result, the good guy’s convictions amount to little more than “mass murder is bad, k?” Maria, on the other hand, is opposing Christians with a purity complex who think that war makes the economy go round. In one fell stroke, Maria becomes a sex positive, anti-mainstream religion, anti-utilitarian hero.
The beauty of this is that it turns Maria’s otherwise commonplace personality traits into bold statements. Her impulsiveness, for instance, is contrasted with Bernard’s rationality. The message isn’t that listening to your heart is good, because we’ve been told that a million times already by a million other stories. Instead, it’s pointing out specific ways in which societies stops us from doing so, and explaining how a focus on intellectualism could be harmful. Protagonists who are all good are usually boring, but Maria’s controversial definition of good makes her far more interesting to watch.
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