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ファイト／ステイナイト 
January 14, 2005 | 
26 Comments
Sometimes business trips are unavoidable, but this time I felt doubly punished. Not only did I have to go, but it also caused me to see Episode 15 one day late - exactly the one episode which I was certain would be exciting. Boy, was I right.
StaticSubs is starting to lag with Mai HiME a bit (they've certainly been busy with the first episodes of the new season, which are always extra time-intensive), but this means that more and more people will probably have to start watching Mai HiME raw, and they will need some explanations. Therefore I have decided to extend the number of screenshots a bit, to make the episode a bit easier to follow.
However: MAJOR SPOILER WARNING! Do _not_ read the extended entry unless you've watched the raw before. I repeat, do _not_ spoil this episode for yourself. You would utterly regret it. And you can understand it pretty well just by watching, even if you don't understand a single word of japanese.
The episode begins with a flashback shot: The SEARRS chairman is eyeing Alyssa at baby age, with a tasteful foot tagring declaring her "Valkyrie No. 143". So this little girl is Alyssa? Yes, the scientist confirms, the one with materialization powers. That's making an ugly chairman very happy, who expresses his anticipation of Alyssa bringing forth "The Golden Millenium" for SEARRS.
In subsequent flashback shots we see Miyu befriending the shy Alyssa with a mini snowman. Once again, Miyu is shown from her most friendly and gentle side, obviously caring for Alyssa very much. Abrupt jump forward to the current timeline. An exhausted Alyssa is napping in Miyu's lap and regaining consciousness. Miyu wants Alyssa to rest a bit longer, since her life sign readings are far from optimal, but she declines. After all, she was made for this purpose. Miyu is far from convinced, but...
At this moment Nagi interrupts, appearing out of nowhere and chiding the two of them for their savage attack. The background of the frames has shifted to a strange gray and the other human soldiers present seem to be frozen, so it's obvious that Nagi possesses some sort of power which almost seems like a selective "time stop". Alyssa recognizes him and greets him with a "You must be Nagi, aren't you", proving that he is a known player to the SEARRS faction. Their dialogue is intriguing. Nagi is wearing an evil condescending smirk and is taunting Alyssa that no matter how hard they tried, they would never "get the star". Alyssa replies that Nagi should do whatever he pleases, but she will do her own thing. And eventually she's making a peculiar statement:
"Sometimes I wonder who is more cruel... SEARRS or your group"
I have never seen Nagi more... well yeah, more _evil_. Alyssa's comments also make clear that she knows what Nagi is really after, and that it's cruel. More and more I get the impression that Nagi is going to be the final opponent, and that it's gonna be his personal plans which will have to be stopped. Nagi makes a last smart aleck comment and teleports out.
Meanwhile, the HiMEs talk to Mashiro in their underground hideout. Mai wants to know why they've been brought there and what was going on, and Mashiro proceeds to fill them in on the current situation. Alyssa and Miyu have been taking over the school, and our little brighthead possesses a child she's quite possibly going to use against every student once it's recharged and ready to fire again - unless her conditions are met, which are to surrender the HiMEs to her. Natsuki interjects a question about Akane, demanding to know whether or not she was a HiME too. Mashiro dejectedly confirms this and adds that she was identified, attacked and defeated by Miyu. However, at least to my knowledge neither Natsuki nor Mashiro mention Kazu-kun - therefore I think that the HiMEs are still clueless about the huge burden they are carrying for their loved ones.
Natsuki takes the initiative first. She makes it clear that even though she hates the First District, she is willing to cooperate in the face of danger. Mikoto readily agrees and Midori as HiME of Justice chimes in, trying to cheer up Mai who is wearing a troubled look. Nao is much less enthusiastic about this idea and leaves little doubt about that. However, Natsuki manages to zing her with the casual remark that it will be interesting to see how Nao is going to survive his mess all on her own. Mai faces Mashiro and agrees to participate on one condition: The safety of everyone in the school must be the top priority. Mashiro promises to do so and the mission is a go.
Meanwhile, Akira is watching the scene from a distance. Takumi's onee-san is a HiME?? Nagi appears behind her and encourages Akira to come forward and help the others. After all, she already came this far. And besides, she wouldn't want that her "precious Takumi" would come to harm, would she? Akira's reaction is priceless and she continues this anime's tradition to fiercely deny what's plain to see for everyone else.
Outside, an exhausted Shiho is sleeping on Tate's shoulder. He has a very troubled look and watches the searchlights on the school ground. In the school, Reito is looking out of a school council room window and catches a paper note fluttering in. It's been stealthily delivered by Akira and instructs them to go and free the imprisoned students once the attack begins.
To prepare for it, Yukino invokes Diana and deploys her eyes to survey the schoolgrounds. After a little final pep talk from Mashiro, and to the sweet music of Megumi Kuribayashi's Chiisana Hoshi ga Oriru Toki, our heroines set off to battle. Even Nao, after catching a meaningful look from Yukino.
At the break of dawn, Mai, Natsuki, Mikoto, Midori and Nao summon their children and attack. The primarily ground-bound HiMEs Natsuki, Mikoto and Nao are are heading towards the school, taking the soldiers head-on. Natsuki delights her fans with some impressive acrobatic melee moves. Mikoto isn't feeling too hesitant today and just plows through the tanks, scattering them left and right. Our favorite redhead minx works through the buildings and clears them Nao-style.
Mai and Midori are headed to face the Golden Fleet. Riding Kagutsuchi, she is passing Tate overhead, who is surprised to see Mai displaying her powers for the very first time. After dedicated some worried thoughts towards Takumi and the others, Mai heads seawards. We see a panicked Father Glear rushing down to Alyssa and Miyu to warn them about the onslaught, but he is met with a cool "Get a grip on yourself". Meanwhile, Midori and Mai make short work out of SEARRS' naval forces, with a cute shot of Mai complaining "Hey, that was dangerous!" when a cruiser launched a missile at her.
Tate has made up his mind. He wants to go back to help retake the school. Shiho is shocked and desperately clings to Onii-chan, inquiring if he really loved Mai that much. Tate is taken aback and... fumbles the ball once again, choosing the cheap cop-out to answer Shiho "It's not like that". Instead, he promotes the "A man gotta do what a man gotta do" style and sets off to the schoolgrounds, abandoning Shiho.
The schoolground battlefield is littered with debris and webbed in or unconscious soldiers. Mikoto demonstrates her sober priorities by asking Natsuki if it's really okay to let all of them live. Natsuki calls over a Yukino eye for a status report and is informed that Tate is inbound.
Once Tate passes some kind of camouflage shield, he is able to see the carnage around him, and he is thoroughly rattled. Standing in the clear and oblivious to the danger, he's drawing the attention of a wounded soldier who is leveling his pistol at him. Just as he's about to shoot, Natsuki and Duran arrive and disarm the soldier. Natsuki isn't amused in the least that Tate is roaming around and she gives him a harsh piece of mind, reminding him that he is practically worthless and more a liability than a help. His manly pride deeply hurt, he can only watch Natsuki, Mikoto and Duran rush off back towards the school.
Meanwhile, the deserted and dejected Shiho is walking through the woods alone, quietly despairing over Onii-chan. A loud crash lets her turn around and cringe in terror - a huge Orphan has appeared and is towering above her...
Reito and Shizuru release the boys and girls from their confinement. Natsuki is asking Yukino to locate Alyssa, since the entire plan is moot if they're unable to stop her. Yukino manages to locate her on a cliff, watching over the smoldering remains of her Golden Fleet and singing "It's only the fairy tale..." once again. In no time our two villains are surrounded by all HiMEs. Mai wants Alyssa to give up, but she won't have any of this. She is perfectly willing to die for her goal, and she accuses Mai of lacking the spirit, the true sight of her dream. Therefore she reiterates her ultimatum: Either you are going to cooperate with SEARRS, or everyone in the school will meet a grisly end, incinerated by Alyssa's child.
Baaaaad surprise for the HiME faction: Contrary to Mashiro's calculations, Artemis is already charged and preparing to fire. The HiMEs are hesitating, which Alyssa treats as a refusal. Therefore, she orders Artemis to fire...
Everybody else is shellshocked, but Mai rushes off with Kagutsuchi to meet and intercept Artemis' death ray. Ascending rapidly, she muses about her current life. She can't understand all this talk about death, life and fighting, but she knows one thing: There are people she has to protect. Flashbacks of Takumi, Chie, Aoi, Reito, Shiho and Tate cross her mind... and Artemis' beam hits them head-on. The shot is soundly deflected to all sides, but Kagutsuchi and Mai are engulfed in flames while they are falling down to earth.
The HiMEs watch in despair as the giant fireball tumbles down, but a strange miracle happens: The fireball first starts to pulsate and morphs into a spiral of fire out of which a scorched blackened form of a bird emerges. And like a phoenix, Kagutsuchi reemerges out of the ashes. Likewise, Mai reappears out of a ray of flames, materializing on Kagutsuchi's head. And boy, is he pissed. Before Mai can even begin to grasp he situation, Kagutsuchi sets off to the stratosphere to attack Artemis. It's plainly obvious that Mai is scared out of her wits and Kagutsuchi is acting entirely on his own will. He doesn't relent and fights his way through to Artemis, and another giant explosion follows.
Artemis' destruction immediately triggers severe repercussions. Alyssa may have been artificial, but she still fully qualifies as a HiME: Upon the death of her child, her hair immediately loses its glow, and she collapses in a scream. We find out that her father, SEARRS' chairman, was her most important person. Too bad for him, really. The other SEARRS' board members order missiles to be launched at the HiME cliff, which our HiMEs narrowly escape by jumping into the sea. Miyu's speed allows her and Alyssa to get away.
Suddenly, snow begins to fall. A frustrated Tate is mulling over his insignificance when he hears someone calling out to Shiho, who has been brought in on a stretcher and seems to be severely injured. Elsewhere, Miyu is carrying the almost-lifeless Alyssa through a winter scenery, putting her down to get some water Alyssa requested. While Miyu is complying and turning her back on Alyssa, Father Glear appears and injects something deadly into Alyssa, calling her a man-made HiME he had received authority from SEARRS to kill. This is earning him a Miyu-style impalement retirement, this time for real.
Alyssa's strength is quickly running out. We're seeing another flashback of chibi-Alyssa in happier times, playing in the snow with Miyu. She is reaching out to caress Miyu's cheek, seeking warmth. Back in the current time, Miyu is pleading desperately for Alyssa to stay with her, but she will only hear that they are going to stay together all the time before Alyssa draws her terminal breath.
I should mention that Miyu's character impressed me throughout the anime. Both voice acting and animation definitely left a mark, and so did her end. "The light has faded away, the warm gentle golden light. Even though I met her... even though she was so lonely... why did it happen like this?" Miyu's despair made me feel really sympathetic towards her, even though she's been a cold-blooded killer. In the end, we see Miyu carrying the dead Alyssa into the icy water, most likely never to return again...
Back in SEARRS HQ, things aren't seen so horribly bad. "So it's 300 years until the next chance, isn't it?" "Don't worry... that's not too long for us SEARRS".
For the HiMEs, things aren't quite as cheery. A panicked Mikoto is asking everyone about Mai... but the only answer she's getting is a sad headshake from Midori. And the final shot is one of Mai's shoes rotating in the stratosphere...
Review
Yet again, a great episode. In many aspects, this was the best Mai HiME we had so far. Some awesome action, drama, surprises - almost shocks, delivered in a very high quality with a very fast pace. On the other hand, some parts irked me quite a bit, which should be mentioned aswell.
Let's get the gripes out of the system first. I'm irritated that we still got no explanation what SEARSS' plan for the golden age might have been. MAYBE we will find out about that later when the backgrounds of the HiMEs and orphans are explained more indepth, but maybe not. I really wanted some closure here.
Also, there were a few too many "Oh puhleeeez" moments for my tastes. The many separate elevators for the HiMEs. Mikoto beginning her attack out of starting blocks. Nobody even _trying_ to kill Alyssa before she causes Artemis to fire. Let's not talk about the stratosphere battle. And nobody mention the preview, I BEG you. In the past, this kind of count has always been low throughout Mai HiME, unless the episode was clearly pure comedy. This episode was too serious for it, it didn't quite match IMHO.
That aside, the episode kept me spellbound and with a gaping mouth. The HiME dynamics are very impressive, and the story tilted and twisted several times, with lots of intruiging ideas. Intercepting the ray, being reborn out of the fire, Kagutsuchi going berserk against Mai's wishes, killing the SEARRS chairman via HiME contract... this was hi-speed goodness. Time flew so fast!
Now that the SEARRS arc suddenly looks like so unexpectedly completely solved, what's gonna happen next? Another new faction surfacing? Let's hope that in the end, the number of questions raised by the anime will be answered aswell. If they are, Mai HiME has a good potential to end up very high on my personal eternal anime list. Good stuff!
Wow, great review and summary! I do agree that there could have been some more explanation about the Searrs organization and Alyssa in general though.
The next episode is certainly a complete mood changer... I like the happy episodes too, but the change seems so sudden. That's why events like Akane's defeat came as a complete shock. But I'm glad there's more to come.
as you have mentioned Mentar, I'm starting to think Nagi might be one of the HiMEs "final" bosses considering how SEARRS is out of the picture. There really leaves little choices left on the next enemy....
On another completely different though it'll be interesting, and I know this ripped from the manga, if there was a type of anti-HiME group behind the scenes. LIke some of them either get converted to a different cause, mind-controlled, threatened, etc that would pit HiME against HiME. While it wouldn't get anywhere plot wise, I think that would be an awesome filler episode if anything else!
But getting back to the episode at hand, I have to say I disagree with your point of no one killing Alyssa. It just seems that the 'good' HiMEs never really intented to kill Alyssa per say, somehow stop her yes but outright kill, no. I just can't see anyone in the group being mentally willed to do so (*maybe* Natsuki or Nao.. but that's pushing it).
btw, the stratosphere battle, how could you NOT LOVE IT?!?! *evil grin*
well, great summary Mentar. cleared up some of the parts that my limited japanese didn't understand ^^.
as for the "Oh puhleeeez" moments, they aren't really that bad.
I'll have to agree with moy about them not killing Alyssa. in essence, all the HIME'S are just regular teens. they can't really go off killing ppl, they're not psychologically ready to do that.even in the big battle, they just disabled the soldiers instead of killing them, evidenced by the fact of Tate's little accident.
Hmm I'm not happy with this episode. Yes, the action is cool but some parts of the storyline seem so rushed, under-developed, and anti-climatic. The writers never bother to explain why Miyu and Alyssa are with SEARRS to begin with. Yes, it's to usher in the Golden Millenium. But what is the Golden Millenium? And why using a HiME?
I'm starting to come up with silly ideas now because there's no explanation. Hey, maybe Golden Millenium is a system upgrade that is designed to replace the old OS with a new OS. And the HiMEs being the old system, refuses upgrade. Don't mind me on this part, I was just being silly with the idea considering the world of Mai Hime seems to operate like an OS (ie. person disappearing like a computer program, etc).
Joking aside, there's no excuse for the non-explanation and I am afraid that the new chairman statement about how the next chance they have is in 300 years is a sign that the writers never intend to explain this. I'm also keen to know how SEARRS created Alyssa or obtained her. But I doubt the writers considered that part important or necessary to explain either.
But on to the positive, I like the scene where the first chairman of SEARRS disappears into nothingness when Alyssa's child is destroyed. What this scene says to me is that a HiME's most important thing is not always the most obvious thing to the viewers.
Clearly Alyssa and Miyu are very close to each other. In fact, the two can't seem to live without each other. Having said that, Miyu is not Alyssa's most important thing. It's the chairman (who probably is her father). This makes me wonder who is Mai's important person? Takumi? Tate? Mikoto? Natsuki? Reito?
It seems to me that the concept is similar to the one that appeared in X where the most important person for the character in that series is sometimes the one who seems to be an unlikely candidate at first. The candidate sometimes exist within the subconscious mind of the character as opposed to what may appear on the surface, or what the character would like to believe. For example, Kamui in X claims that his most important person is Kotori. But later chapters suggest that this is not the case. There is a strong possibility that Fuuma is actually the one that fills that position despite the twisted irony of it all.
Anyway, that is a very extreme comparison and I am not about to suggest that Mai's important person is Nagi (ho ho ho, imagine the horror). But it does make me unsure a bit more now. I still think that both Takumi and Tate are strong candidate but I'm not sure which one to choose. I also wonder if I should include Reito, and maybe Mikoto in the running. And is it always a living human being? Can it be a thing? Her life? Her memory of her deceased mother? I also want to know who/what is the other HiMEs' most important thing.
Anyway, it looks like Nagi really does have some kind of power apart from floating into the air. Assuming that it was also him who created the doppleganger Mai back in episode 2, then he seems to be far more resourceful that I originally thought. Nagi is a doppleganger-creating, time-freezing, orphan-summoning brat. Is he even a kid to begin with?
Excellent post Mentar! ^_~
Like I said over at AnimeSuki, I thought this episode was climatic and at the same time anti-climatic. The rush - the action, the little surprises given here and there provided a good beat. But at the same time, it still leaves the watchers lost and confused. It actually surprised me that the Searrs arc ended so early, especially when - to me - its at its initial stage where bit by bit, everything is revealed until the final battle (aka Mai vs Alyssa in ep. 26). It definitely is rush.
It seems that Kagutsuchi is a tad overprotective of Mai. Heh. She died and it seems Kagutsuchi got pissed. I definitely like this version of Kagutsuchi in compare to the manga. Although I'm actually laughing my ass off, keep killing Mai/Kagutsuchi; Kagutsuchi will get bigger and bigger. Jet thrusters and added speed, wonder what sort of powers Kagutsuchi will show us next if it does have another transformation to undergo.
Mashiro vehemently denying Akane being a HiME? There's definitely something wrong there plus that conversation between Alyssa and Nagi adds to that as well.
It sounded like Akira referred to Mai as Takumi's Aneki or something rather than Onee-san.
The "camouflage shield" was put up by Diana.
Garten, I like your take on the "most important thing" aspect of being an HiME. Truly, I never thought of it that way as it seem implied it was always their most loved living person. It'll be very interesting if you're right, and that it's not necessarily someone living but an important memory or object too.
BTW, your reasoning about the "Golden Millenium" sounds like an idea from another anime/manga. I just can't place which, though it's something to think about. You think it's something as simple as an OS upgrade though? I mean, couldn't SEARRS have used their vast connections to propaganda the new age and get civlization to go against the HiMEs? That would be a lot easier than them simply wiping the HiMEs out, plus would put them in better standings with society in general.
Random other thoughts on your comments (sorry, can't think of how to put this all nice and orderly):
- Well, I think we do know why Miyu is with SEARRS. We can't forgot that she IS a robot that was created by them, thus she would be somewhat obedient to SEARRS.
- True on the whole SEARRS suddenly giving up, it does seem pretty random. In fact, as you mentioned, odd they went about it that way to usher in the "Golden Millenium." Couldn't they have just do it in a forceful and easier matter w/o all the HiME business? Hmmm...
- I seriously doubt both Nagi and Mashiro are they're physical ages. I have a feeling they're definitely hiding a lot more than we think, how much will be revealed is anyone's guess though. Nagi's powers and Mashiro's underground base are two good examples of some of their truths.
Well, my main point is that in the past, the storywriting has paid some excellent attention to details. This time, I found myself thinking "huh?" a bit too often.It was clear that Alyssa was blackmailing them with the annihilation of the school, so a resolution could only be to do something lifting this sword of damocles. This however could realistically only be achieved by the destruction of Artemis or the death of Alyssa (unless something new idea came up). However, the plan seemed to culminate in surrounding Alyssa and begging her to stop - NOT very convincing in my opinion.
Mai has outed herself as the ultimate pacifist again. I didn't really mind that though, just the opposite :) ... it's giving her such a unique air under all action anime protagonists. And the "reborn from flames and ashes like a phoneix" touch was utterly brilliant. Very creative and convincing. Also, it was great to give Kagutsuchi his own will - Mai did NOT intend to attack Artemis. It would be great if other children also started to develop personalities.
After the last episode, I think it was obvious that SEARRS wasn't going to be the final battle. No, the final conflict will be between Nagi and the HiMEs, I'm more convinced about that now than ever. Alyssa was a "mid boss" as Takemi Ikazuchi put it (props to him for his TL help once more). And in fact, on hindsight, it was a good idea to finish it once and for all, because otherwise, it would have been impossible to "deescalate" down to school level again. With the additional help of Yukino's camouflage, the students and the rest of the world are still clueless about the HiMEs and what really happened. So a return back to school life narration is possible. I like that, because I liked the way they handled themes there.
On the other hand, it WAS annoying to not even get a shaky explanation what SEARRS was after. I slept a night over this, and MAYBE there's still hope. Why? Because it's obvious that taking over the school in itself served no strategic purpose - it was only done to gain leverage over the HiMEs, in order to coerce their cooperation. Now the way I see it: The HiMEs are able and going to do something very important, and SEARRS wanted to control this something, and the Golden Millenium resembled SEARRS wielding this something's power. If this is so, we're still going to find out.
So what remains is the episode with the most highly condensed action and drama in the series. My slight irritation after watching it for the first time has considerably lessened on the second (and yeah, I admit it - third) round, while the appreciation for the rest has grown. All things considered, I do think that this was the best single episode of Mai HiME ever. Not quite perfect, but certainly the most consistently powerful one.
Random thoughts: Shiho is sooooooo HiME now. Mai should better watch out. I think it's perfectly possible that Shiho will be going after her.
Shiroi Hane: Yup, it was "aneki", which has the same meaning as onee-san though. I only remembered the "sister" part and chose the wrong term :)
Wonderful, wonderful summary as usual, Mentar! :) Just one point, I'm under the impression that Midori knows about the 'most precious person' clause since she mentioned something about realising the person you love most in ep 7 to Nao... (assuming the translation is accurate).
I think Garten's point on the same said clause to be very insightful too. At this point, I'm almost certain it's going to be Tate for Mai since Takumi is slowly disengaging from his onee-san (into the arms of of Akira?)
Also while Nagi is the most likely next villian, I suspect it might not be as a simple as a final big bad boss at closure. I suspect the real 'enemy' here is the cursed fate the HiMEs carry. It could well be a Highlander setting making the other HiME themselves the enemies (wild wild shot here). In addition, if Shiho is HiME (98%++ according to Mentar) then the story has set up enough motivations for her to want to take out Mai. (Of course in this case, Tate loses either way).
I'm also hoping this doesn't become Himetrix with Mai being THE ONE.
Moyism, so far the series seems to suggest that a HiME's most important thing = a person. So at the moment, I'm probably way off base in regards to non-human becoming a HiME's most important thing. But the subconscious selection of the person seems to follow similar idea to the one featured in X.
'Golden Millenium'/other major takeover attempt = OMG! OS upgrade! theme has been featured in many anime/films. Most notably Serial Experiments: Lain and The Matrix. I was joking around when I said OS upgrade though. Although I'd be surprised if it's true.
I was toying around with the idea because in the case of system upgrade, a program normally chucks out old data and replaces them with a new one or integrate that data with a the new ones. There's no negotiation, no choice. That's just what the program has to do. It's similar to the concept of evolution really. In order for a new species to emerge, the old species have to evolve or be destroyed. Again though, it's just a joke and probably won't ever happen in the series. To be honest, just like Stripey, I'm dreading the idea of Himetrix.
Maybe "Golden MIllenium" is like Golden Week? Woo no more school!!!
it is soo sad to see miyu and alysaa at the end..it make me wanna cry
I agree that Nagi's looking to be the final villian, although there's one other possibility and that's Mashiro. We have no idea yet if she's the good one or bad one, it could go either way. It would be an ironic twist if Nagi turned out to be a good guy after seeming so evil. :) Remember in episode 14 that there was an Orphan in Mashiro's chair when Miyu and Alyssa burst into her mansion? I think the implication there is Mashiro summoned one to impersonate her. I've been wondering if Mashiro is actually a HiME too or not.
Mai and Kagutsuchi being reborn from the ashes was totally brilliant, although Kagutsuchi suddenly acquiring space flight ability felt a tad contrived. ^_^ I don't think his going wild and acting on his own is a good thing, it seems to portend another problem for HiMEs. Losing control of their child could result in bad things (tm) happening, after all it looks like Kagutsuchi might have killed Mai at the end of the episode. (Although the preview spoiled that, I think the hint that it could happen was intentional.)
One other interesting thought, what if Mai's most important person was indeed one of her parents and that their being dead is what allowed her and Kagutsuchi to be reborn? If that's the case, Mai and Kagutsuchi would be effectively immortal and insanely powerful. Is there anyone else this could apply to? Have Shiho's parents been mentioned as currently living or not? If this is even possible, perhaps Mashiro's actually a HiME from a previous generation, still around because she's immortal. It would explain her being in control of Gakuen Fuka.
ahh... Himetrix. enough said. LOL
I guess I will be the one to go against the grain and say that I was glad there was no explanation for who and what SEARRS is and their plans...in this episode that is. While I'm as interested as you all, this episode moved at such a breakneck pace and had so many emotional ups and downs that I think a longwinded explanation would've bogged things down unnecessarily. With so many episodes to go, there's plenty of time to offer up an explanation. My guess is it will crop up around the same time Nagi and First District's actions/plans are explained because I think their goals are probably similar.
My personal gripe was with seeing Mai in the preview for Ep. 16. While you know Mai lived and would return, I wouldn't have minded an episode or three of mystery regarding what happened to her and seeing the others' reactions to her aparent death. Although I'm guessing the party shown will come at the end of the episode presumably after Mai's return.
Anyway, thanks to you Mentar for helping those of us who speak little to no Japanese but went to the raws anyway. :D
"episode or three"...?!?!? Dang man, considering they only have about 11 left that's a lot. Though you do bring up a good point hephador, it would have been nice to see "how their lives are without Mai anymore."
well, hopefully 16 will do part of that before the total fanservice karaoke party. It would have been better if they didn't show her in the previews too ;)
I KNEW IT!!! IT WAS A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MAI'S CHILD GETS AN UPGRADE...cliche...but works...and just the way ending scene with Miyu and Alyssa was just insane (-ly good). I assumed that Miyu and Alyssa would last longer than that, I guess I was wrong. One more thing, I wonder how Mai would react when she finds out that Akira is a girl...I see comedy episode in the future. Yeesh.
@____________@
*looks an aspirin*
I knew I had forgotten something.
Bronwen, Mashiro did NOT vehemently deny that Akane was a HiME, she actually confirmed it and added that she was attacked and defeated my Miyu.
And while I agree that it might be problematic for the HiMEs if their children developed a free will, it would make for wonderful storytelling possibilities on OUR end. ^_^
I get the very sneaky feeling that that clock thing on the floor where Nagi hangs out (which seems like it keeps tracks of HiMEs, judging what it did when Akane's child went boom) is the "Gate to Valhalla" that Alyssa and Miyu were looking for...
As for the Golden Millenium thing, while I have no proof, I get the feeling that it's got a lot to do with control over the red star more than anything else.
One has to wonder what Searrs means by 300 years. Do they mean waiting for something to happen? Do they mean how long it will take them to do something? Either way it does not matter to me if Searrs is out of the picture. I'm more concerned with other plot elements. Such as who the last three HiME are and of course what Nagi is really up to.. So unless Searrs attacking again relates to bringing such plot points as that to life, it really makes no difference to me.
As for Shiho being so HiME now. As much as I'm hoping for that. I'm probably going to just accept being saved by luck or say the Secret Ninja again. Heck it could be honest, Shiho could end up just being the damsel in distress. Ie gets attacked and save by either someone else, luck, or the Orphan just happens to decide "violence is wrong" and stops. Okay I'm kidding on the last part. Still hopefully if she is a HiME, they'll reveal it as soon as possible. Because I'd like the last three HiME to get decent screen time regardless of who they are. On a final note, I kind of wish Yukariko had done a bit more in this episode. Ah well maybe they consider her too new to the idea of being a HiME to be that helpful. So hopefully later she will do something.
> Losing control of their child could result in bad things (tm) happening
(still not seen the end) but I'm reminded of when Takumi lost control of Thunder in Gad Guard
> One has to wonder what Searrs means by 300 years.
Presumable 300 years till the red star appears again.
[btw, I have wierd problems highlighting text on this page and have no idea why]
>>[btw, I have wierd problems highlighting text on this page and have no idea why]
The problem seems to appear if I use IE. I'll see if I can find a way to fix it but in the meantime, if you want to cut and paste, try using Firefox or non-IE browsers. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Oh yes I loved this episode!
One more thing:
Just before Alyssa passes away in the arms of Miyu, she says "Let's once more... a snowman...", and yes, they do indeed make, not really a snowman, but an incredible ice sculpture.
You rule mentar, and you are our otaku jesus =). How long did it take for you to write that. Can I get the mai hime cliff notes =). Anyways great job.. I'll be lurking on this blog for a while.
Ciao,
Kiba
Haha...the starting blocks were definitely totally kooky. The "jet" upgrade of Mai's Hime was also kinda cheesy too. ...
In my analysis,Shino' s evil half born when she being dump by Tate
Kagutsuchi is too powerful,even flying to outerspace
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