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ファイト／ステイナイト 
February 18, 2005 | 
42 Comments
There's one problem with entries beginning with "Spoiler warning!" - usually it's well-intended, but at the very least it already indicates that surprising things are going to happen, and this in itself might sometimes be a bigger spoiler than whatever you're trying to preserve for the viewer's enjoyment. This time however, I feel confident that everybody watching this outstanding piece of anime art will be as flabbergasted as I was and not expect what's going to happen. Therefore:
"Spoiler warning!"
What we have here is simply the best Mai HiME episode so far, and one of the best anime episodes I've seen in a long long time. Anything less than (++) wouldn't do it justice. If you have been following the story, watch it RAW. Almost all contents are very easy to follow this time.
Mai HiME Rating: ++
Absolute Rating: ++
RAW complexity: Easy
Takumi is sleeping in the hospital when Nao's shadow appears against the curtain. Akira is still around and hears Nao breaking through the window, causing him to rush to the source of the sound. There he finds Nao towering over Takumi, reaching out to him with a clawed hand.
Nao is slightly perplexed to see the intruder and even more so when Akira summons her element, revealing herself as a HiME. Nevertheless, she immediately starts to ridicule Akira, if she isn't ashamed to hide as a boy. Akira isn't fazed by that and demands to know why Nao is after Takumi. Nao points at what's left of her eye which is now covered by an eyepatch and replies that it's been his sister and her friends who caused this - and that it's really hurting like hell. That's why. You get the picture, don't you?
Akira has heard enough and attacks Nao, who evades back through the window. Then Akira grabs Takumi and jumps through the window, landing on Gennai waiting on the ground below, getting away. Nao however managed to secretly tag them with a silvery web line which she is going to use on her pursuit of them.
Nagi is doing his usual nightly tour over the building rooftops and wondering with his usual vile smirk what kind of dance performance Mai is going to give tonight...
Natsuki is meeting with the capped man in their usual Rohrschach bar spot. He informs her that he transferred Akane to a regular hospital, receiving an almost gentle reaction from Natsuki which visibly surprises him. Catching himself, he remarks that a person from SEARRS wishes to talk to Natsuki...
Mai is still lying on her bed and jumping at the sound of her mobile phone. Hoping to hear Mikoto's voice on the other end, she is dejected when it turns out to be Nao. Her mood doesn't improve when Nao tells her that she is after Takumi, and that he was forcefully taken from the hospital. Mai is begging her to stop, but Nao proceeds to taunt her. Wouldn't it be better anyway if he simply disappeared? After all she knows that he's just a burden to Mai. Yeah yeah, she heard all about the uber-caring onee-chan from Mikoto, but Mai is just lying to herself, isn't she? *click*
In the meantime, Midori has been informed that Takumi was kidnapped from the hospital. Cursing that something bad is set in motion, she's trying to call Yukino (not there), Mai (already left) and Natsuki, who she successfully reaches and fills in to the latest news. In a hurry, Natsuki tells the capped man that she needs to go and rushes off. Pan to a man in a grey suit to which Natsuki's capped contact apologizes and who is obviously the SEARRS guy wishing to talk to Natsuki. Well, next episode then.
There's quite a commotion at the hospital when the police arrives at the scene to investigate the abduction. Tate is with Shiho and tells her what happened. He is visibly concerned about Takumi and Mai, prompting one more of Shiho's patented _evil_ glares. Little immature kid? Heck, more of a hellspawn if you see her like that. But she quickly turns back into the innocent sweet girl when Tate gives her another closer look.
Akira and Takumi are still trying to get away on Gennai, but Takumi's bad shape is bogging them down. Following on her thread, Nao leaps at them out of the blue. "Found you!" she hisses and sneers at Takumi that if he wanted to blame someone, he should blame his sister. Just in time, Midori riding Gakutenou arrives and interferes, jumping between them. Nao curses and tries to web her in with Julia's help, but Midori can hold her own and effectively keeps Nao busy, telling Akira and Takumi to run to safety.
Mai is running too, worried out of her wits about Takumi. But shen she remembers Takumi's "It's oppressive" remark from last episode, which together with Nao's psychological warfare on the phone sends Mai into another depression very successfully. "It's not like this", Mai tells herself, "but I promised to mother... mother... it was all my fault."
Flashback time.
Mai as a kid is running off with a friend of hers, leaving Takumi behind, who was obviously given in her care. This led to a desperate rescue attempt of Mai's mother who jumped into a river to save Takumi, and which consequently led to her death. Obviously Mai had promised to look after Takumi, but failed to do it.
*SLAP*
Rudely pulled back into reality, Mai sees Natsuki who tells her to get her act together. Takumi is in danger, what the hell are you doing? Get a grip on yourself! Mai weakly replies that she's not needed anymore, Takumi had told her not to be so bossy. Natsuki won't have any of that and continues to set Mai's head straight. "I have noone I want to protect, but YOU, what have you fought for until now?!"
At this moment, the White Bridal Gown HiME and her crow monster named Yatagarasu appear again. "Inakunare" she hisses, which is a much more mature and serious threat than the more childish "Inakunache" of old. And Yatagarasu opens fire, barely missing Mai and Natsuki diving to cover, but incinerating part of the students dorm instead. Natsuki tells Mai to go look for Takumi, she will take care of the White Bridal Gown HiME threat. With a grateful "arigato" Mai hurries off.
Akira and Takumi are still on the run, but they can't seem to find the way back. Takumi stops Akira and asks him what this is all about - and after some hesistation Akira gives in and spills it all about the HiME business and what really happened lately - and especially the danger the MVPs of the HiMEs are in. She also confesses to have feelings for him, meaning that he has a damocles sword above himself, too. Takumi smiles at this and tells Akira that it's alright, accepting and returning her feelings.
On a cliff towering over the park where the fighting rages on, Ishigami-sensei is gloating about his master plan. Yukariko is having doubts about what they are doing, but Ishigami orders her to continue using St.Vrus' powers to trap Akira and Takumi in an endless maze of illusions - which explains why they can't seem to find their way home.
We also learn that Nao is collaborating with the two, and that it was Ishigami's plan to send Nao after Takumi to take him hostage - because with her MVP captive, Mai would be pretty much at Nao's mercy and easily defeated since she could be blackmailed not to summon her child. And thus, Mai as the main obstacle to his ambitions would be removed from the equation. Yukariko can continue and end up as the last HiME, ensuring the powers of the HiME star to HIM instead of the Obsidian lord. Yukariko weakly objects, but without any effect.
Natsuki faces off with the White HiME and demands to know why she is after Mai. She gets "You are not the one" and a volley of feathers like throwing knives as answer. Diving-rolling to the side Natsuki is getting back on her feet and leveling her pistol at where the HiME was - but she is gone already.
At the burning dorm, Shizuru in her night gown is trying to get some order into the chaos. Natsuki appears, and with screeching wheels, a car carrying both Haruka and Yukino arrives aswell. Haruka is telling Yukino to get out, but she is even more timid than usual and wants to stay in the car. Haruka tells her to get her act together, because if they aren't the ones to protect the students as the executives, who will? Encouraged by these words, Yukino gets out - just to be grabbed and pulled away by Natsuki, because "she is needed".
Haruka continues to score brownie points with me. In the beginning I only saw her as an annoying comedic relief, but she is definitely showing her better sides lately. It's hard not to respect her positive determination and enthusiasm, and she does treat Yukino with a touching kindness. I'm with TI here: She's invincible, so Yukino will survive till the end aswell. Ah, who am I kidding here? This is Mai HiME! Unpredictable.
In the park, a forlorn Mitoko is dragging Miroku along when she sees Yatagarasu passing her overhead. Recognizing it as the monster who hurt Mai, Mikoto's charm starts glowing again, propelling her into another battle rage. Charging Miroku, she commences a hot pursuit.
Akira still can't find his way around, ensnared by St.Vrus' illusions. Takumi's shape is rapidly worsening when the crap hits the fan: Both Yatagarasu and the battle-frenzied Mikoto arrive.
Yukino is using Diana's power to locate Takumi, and she tells Mai where to find them. Mai turns, then hesitates and adds "Arigato, Yukino-chan", indicating that while she is still affected by what happened before, she's considering her worthy of the -chan honorific and therefore not her enemy. The one addressed tears up and apologizes once more for her almost-backstab. Mai summons her elements and sets off to reach Takumi to protect him.
Meanwhile, Akira is losing badly against Mikoto, who is attacking everyone and everything blindly in her battle rage. Also, Gennai is in big trouble since both Yatagarasu and Mikoto are fighting against him. Mai, arriving through the air, sees the carnage below and wonders what the hell Mikoto is doing down there. She's swooping down to look after the collapsed Akira when disaster strikes: Pursued by Mikoto, Gennai tries to leap to safety while Yatagarasu passes by and hits Gennai midair, causing him to break apart and fall to the ground in green flames - and then dissolve in the dreaded green sparks.
A horrified Akira whispers "Takumi" and collapses. Takumi jumps up to rush to her side, but a spasm shakes him and he collapses himself, causing Mai to hurry over. It's too late, Takumi meets the MVP fate of defeated HiMEs and disappears in green sparks aswell, whispering a final "I'm sorry... and thank you" to Mai before he dies. And Mai sends a chilling cry of desperation to the heavens.
I so totally did not expect this to happen now. More correctly, I didn't expect Takumi to die at all, but most definitely not now. Is this really the same anime series which had the HiME rangers joyfully celebrate together in the karaoke bar only 4 episodes and 2 days ago? How did it get so dark and cold in here?
Now the tremendous effort in building up so many characters is paying off. The personal tragedies happening to our heroines don't feel overblown or leave me cold, I'm suffering with them. And now that the screenwriter proved that he is pulling no punches, I'm getting even more apprehensive. How much worse can it get? Just read on, we aren't done yet.
Mai is past her limit. She's babbling incoherently and noticing Mikoto, whose battle rage has worn off and who is looking around once again trying to understand what's happening.
Mai: "Mikoto... why did you... Takumi..."
Mikoto: "What about Takumi?"
*Mai's face distorts in rage and hate*
Mai: "YOU KILLED TAKUMI!!! Takumi... you..."
*Mai is biting into her lip so hard that it starts bleeding strongly*
Mai: "KAGUTSUCHI!!!"
The world flares up around her and Kagutsuchi rises out of the flames. Mikoto's brain is still working on energy savings mode, and she's trying to make heads and tails out of it. She sees Kagutsuchi, but doesn't understand why he's there. She slowly realizes that she fought against Akira, but can't understand why. But it dawns to her that this is why Mai is so mad... and crying. Well, it can't be helped. And Kagutsuchi is unleashing a fireball at her, missing Mikoto, but exploding the main academy building instead.
Natsuki and Shizuru watch the flames rise to the skies incredulously and Natsuki sets off to look what the hell Mai is doing. Shizuru is calling out for her, and for the first time in the entire series she is looking seriously _concerned_. Midori and Nao are both still fighting, but pause to watch the catastrophe. Nao curses and breaks off the fight to retreat. From her office, Mashiro is also observing the burning building. "She didn't make it in time"... this is exactly what she wanted not to happen. Yukariko is looking at the scene in plain horror while a shocked Ishigami can't understand why this is happening, so completely against his plan. Only Nagi is showing true exultation and celebrates the carnage.
Mikoto is under pressure from Kagutsuchi. Strangely, his attacks show more resemblance of laser beams than his usual fireballs. A possible explanation could be that he took out Alyssa's child and gained some new tricks because of it. Time will tell.
In this situation, Mikoto's charm is beginning to glow again. She hears her ani-ue's voice telling her that anyone attacking her is an enemy and needs to be defeated. Slowly falling back into her battle trance again, she concludes that therefore Mai is the enemy. Her bloodlust reasserts itself and the battle is on.
Kagutsuchi continues to fire and misses Mikoto - but hits Diana's spores Yukino is using to camouflage the combat site. It's putting alot of strain on her and the shield almost crumbles, causing students to look up - but Yukino is able to mend the illusion in time.
Back at the battlegrounds, Mikoto is lunging at Mai again, but Natsuki has arrived and sends Duran to repel her. "Both of you, are you aware what you are doing?" Natuki yells at them. "You bet I do! SHE KILLED TAKUMI!" Mai seethes. She's in her own form of battlerage and not to be deterred anymore.
Mikoto doesn't feel too peaceful either. Once more, she uses Miroku for her tombstone-style attack at Mai, Natsuki and Duran. Just before the sharpened pillars reach and impale them, a gigantic child appears which looks like an octopus with snake heads as tentacles - and it's smashing the tombstones apart, protecting Mai and Natsuki. In the middle of flames, the last HiME has her flashy entrance, brandishing a naginata. While it's not explicitly shown, the HiME is Shizuru with her child Kiyohime. Kiyohime engages Kagutsuchi in a nonlethal grappling match - it's obvious that they're both at around the same size - so Kagutsuchi is out of the picture for some time.
Full of hatred, Mai is screaming at Mikoto who is charging and jumping at her, slamming Mai back badly and causing her to collapse on the ground. Mikoto is leaping at her for the kill when Natsuki yells at her: "Stop it, Mikoto! This is Mai! Didn't you say that you love her?"
These words rip Mikoto out of her trance. "Love?" At the last moment, she reroutes the deadly swing and hesitates, giving Natsuki the opportunity to remove Miroku from her hands with a well-placed shot. Miroku ends up sticking in the ground and Mikoto has one more of her "waking up" moments when her blood lust recedes. She remembers how she devoted herself to the protection of Mai before - the person she loves. And in a flashback revelation, she remembers how she killed her own grandfather in a trial in the past. He commends her for defeating him and ominously remarks that she and her brother, the obsidian lord, will be invincible. She remembers that she loved him aswell, yet killed him with her own hands.
Back in the present she remembers Mai's words from the last episode: "Do you know how it feels to love someone... to hold someone in your heart? The burden of it all?" She finally realizes again that she truly does love Mai after all, and she helplessly starts crying, looking at her.
Seeing this, Mai awakens from her own hate-filled trance aswell. Kagutsuchi however doesn't really care about semantics and charges to strike the prone Mikoto with a terminal fireblast. Mai notices Kagutsuchi's intent and tries to stop him, but too late: Without reacting, Mikoto sees the incoming flames, yet does not move... and Mai sees the second most important person to her disappear before her eyes in one day.
Looking at the charred remains and Miroku still sticking in the ground, Mai assesses the shambles of her life. Rain starts pouring down and Mai tortures herself remembering that nothing of this would have happened if she hadn't left him behind in the past. She realizes that now she has really nothing left at all anymore - before a brief vision of Tate causes her to chuckle at herself. No, that can't be right, because she doesn't have him either.
At the schoolgate, Reito is waiting for her. "The truth is... shouldn't you realize by now that you're in love with someone?" "NO WAY... THERE'S NO WAY!!!" Mai screams... and Reito steps in to hug and hold her, before Mai breaks down, returns his embrace and finds relief in bitter tears.
Conclusion
What a powerful episode. This is action drama at its very best. And now, all the meticulous character development from the earlier episodes pays off. This episode was about as action-laden, shocking and both shouty and teary as it gets, but unlike episode 15, it didn't feel corny at all to me. The tragedy from last episode, which almost looked like the worst-case-scenario, was totally topped once more. Right now, it's hard to imagine how things could possibly get even worse for Mai.
Of course, Mikoto isn't dead - I'm pretty certain of that - though right now, Mai must be convinced that she is. I'm not basing this on Miroku, because I think that the theories that this isn't her own weapon, but rather the Obsidian Lord's one, are looking better and better all the time. No, I'm pointing at the missing stone pillar action in the HiME shrine. And as usual - as long as you don't see the corpse of a major character, don't take anything for granted ;)
Boy, I was so off in my predictions. I _never_ expected this to happen, and most definitely not now. I salute the ballsy way the screenwriter is willing to rip apart his own work of art like this - so utterly unpredictable. So GOOD. All bets are off now. I still expect a more-happy-than-bitter ending, but things can go in ANY direction now. After being duped for a second time by this show, I'll be even more careful with predictions from now on. Nostradamus mode off ^_^
Natsuki being the calm voice of reason and restraint - how times change. I'm SO much looking forward to seeing more Shizuru in the future. Nagi was magnificently evil again. The way how he celebrated the carnage was pretty much obsidian-lord-of-old-ish. Apropos evil - whoever drew Shiho in the last 2 eps deserves a raise. As do all seiyuus in this episode, we got some magnificent work.
What a total and utter beauty this series has become. I'm hooked. And I'll be fevering for the RAW the next thursday aswell. Until then!
There are several signs that Mikoto's not dead. As you pointed out, there was no third stone pillar - which is especially telling since we'd just been shown the second one in the same episode. Also, there are too many unresolved plot points and unanswered questions that would be lost if Mikoto was dead. But perhaps the most telling sign is that Mai herself didn't disappear. She's obviously Mikoto's MVP. If Mikoto valued her brother more, she would have tried to get out of the way of the fireball. Instead, she chose to stand there and take it, because she realized that she loved Mai and that she had hurt Mai.
On the other hand, after the UPN seasons of Buffy, I've learned never to underestimate a TV show's capacity for stupid character deaths, so I'm not going to be 100% certain that Mikoto's alive until I see her on the screen again.
Don't forget, if a hime dies their MVP goes with them and since neither Mai nor Reito has dissappeared into green sparks, we must conclude that mikoto is still alive
Hehe...events like this are why I decided to stop trying to predict anything a few eps ago. This was about as perfect an episode as you could hope for. Like I said on Moyism's blog, I was amazed to see that when Takumi died there was still half the ep to go and wondered what else they could do. And for a sec Mentar I was thinking that if you think Haruka is bulletproof after this, you're nuts haha.
My favorite moments: Akira's confession, Mai's flashback and her reaction to Takumi vanishing, Super Pissed Mai summoning Kagutsuchi (her animation was excellent..I so hope we get to see her anger again), Mai's fight with Mikoto
I don't know about you guys, but I am totally waiting for when Mai finds out Ghost in the Hime is Shiho and a (hopefully) explosive confrontation. Also very curious to see what (if anything) they do with Akira from here. So many unanswered questions. So many Himes left. I can only hope the show goes the full 26 episodes for maximum enjoyment. Also like I said at Moyism's, I don't know if they can top this episode before the end but if they can just strive to match it, this could end up one of my all time favorite titles.
Aw crap, sorry for the extra post. I forgot to say the SEARRS guy who wants to talk to Natsuki will prolly give the much desired explanations folks wanted after Ep. 15.
Indeed, what a powerful episode.
So unpredictable, so great.
But that was already too much for my taste - after ep19 I thought that Mai was already suffering more than enough, now Takumi even died - driving her right into Reito's arms. Since I dislike this bishounen with a passion this scene didn't add to my viewing pleasure, neither does the premonition that Tate will most likely be dead very soon: when Shiho gets defeated.
I'm really looking forward to the next ep, hoping things don't get much worse for Mai than they already are. After all she has to recover and end this whole Hime business in the next 4 eps
I swear, the whole time I was watching this I was going "HOLY CRAP!" or "WHAT THE...." I just couldn't believe what happened this episode.
The fun of the previews has me throwing around a few ideas of what *might* happen but as we have all learned, we can never know what Sunrise will do next. I'll keep them to myself until 21 and see if I was right on anythiing....
BTW, Mai Evil = HOT... but Mai ONLY in T-Shirt = HOTTER :D
Thanks for adding more explanation to the episode. I didn't realize Yukariko was working with Nao in the episode. Which is kind of funny since Yukariko was the one who set up Nao. Well one of the people involved in setting up Nao anyway. I wonder if Nao even realizes she was set up. Heh she probably does, but figures she may as well go along with the plan.
Still it was nice to see Shizuru finally make her move as a HiME. Plus her Child looks to be extremely powerful. Hopefully Shizuru will be allowed to fight with her weapon. Maybe have her fight Mikoto, Midori, or Fumi in a one on one fight perhaps.
Well for certain now that Yatagrasu has killed offf Gennai and thus caused Takumi to die, Mai has good reason to hate the Bridal Gown HiME if she ever finds out the truth. Still this has definitely been a terrible turn of events for Mai. She really has lost everything or well almost everything.
I guess I'm a bit lost concerning Mikoto is not dead because neither Mai nor Reito disappeared.
Has Mikoto truely summoned her child yet?
Is the MIP to child bound established before the child is first called?
I'm *SO* glad this is such an awesome show! We got six more episodes to see this drama unfold. :D
I wonder if MAI loves Tate enough to hesitate taking out Shiho. I wonder how Tate will react when he finds out what Shiho's been up to. Anyone think he'll recover his manhood enough to die well?
Just when I thought She-Ho couldn't go any lower, she proved me wrong. As far as villain goes, she's the lowest of the low - the scum type who's not even worth to be respected nor pitied. Going this far just because someone does not respond to her twisted idea of 'love' is completely sick and unwarranted. I feel sorry for Mai, Akira, and Mikoto whose life have now been turned upside down because of her action.
As much as I like the idea of Tate ending up with Mai just to hurt Shiho's pride, I think I'll enjoy it more if I see Shiho suffers/turns insane/falls into definitive coma as she watches Tate perish in front of her eyes. After that, maybe Kagutsuchi can roast the living hell out of her. But judging from her selfishness, I'm starting to doubt if Tate really is her most important person. Maybe it'll turn out that she is her own most important person.
interesting point you brought up Garten. Can an HiME being her own most precious person?
hmm... it'll be interesting to see.
Unfortunately as much as I want a Tate-Mai ending (I'm a sucker for that kind of thing) it most likely won't happen. Unless Shiho has been hiding someone else she loves more than anything else, Tate is an dead man once Mai gets her hands on Shiho. I can see this happening while Mai is "under the control" of Reito and in her blinding rage over Takumi, doesn't realize she's killing off Tate in the process.
Man, that would make Mai sink even deeper into hell. :O
Man, I cheated last night and read about this episode on a Japanese anime blog and my reaction was: "...!?!?!?! ZOMG, they pulled a..a...HUGHES on us!!!" Granted, Takumi isn't as great of a character as Hughes, but both of their deaths were totally unexpected.
@Garten: Rofl at the She-Ho...totally agree with you on that one. :)
One thing that bugs me is that, if Mai's true MVP is Tate, doesn't Shiho realize that when she kills off Mai's Child (as she's been trying to do), it would mean killing Tate as well? Maybe she's too blinded by jealousy to see that far ahead...
Unless ONE of these things happened:
1. The entire series ends up being a highly advanced school play (in the end everyone goes out of their 'roles' and congratulates each other on creating a successful school play).
2. The entire series ends up being a simulation, or a world within a computer system, or something to that effect, thus explaining the dissappearance of those MIP characters.
3. A reset/Deus ex Machina ending is provided at the end of the series where Mai gets to decide what she wants to happen.
I think the series will end up going the dark route. I don't see how Mai can ever be happy after Takumi's death. There's a possibility that she'll continue the never-ending cycle of HiME festival by anchoring the next tournament along with Reito.
Oops, sorry for the double post, I realized something while waiting for the above comment to go through. Does the whole "kill the Child, kill the MVP" rule still apply when two HiMEs have the same MVP (as in the while Mai/Shiho situation)?
...I really have nothing to add that hasn't been stated by Mentar or one of the other posters here. But as someone who went into the episode with essentially no spoilers (damn was that a tough day...) I was litterally shocked at what happened.
Especially after the first few minutes seemed to follow the plan I layed out in my episode 19 entry. Well, I got the first 3 minutes right, thats something...right?
Anyway, no more long and involved predictions from me. This episode showed me the futility of that.
Tate will vanish in front of Mai and Shiho OOOH DRAMA
Mai's MVP will ironically switch to Mikoto OOOH DRAMA
and as the final Hime battle, Mai will fight Natsuki out of conflict of interests OOOH DRAMA
...then they pull a world reset ending.... XD
Indeed...I agree with you, fencedude...can't predict anything any more.
I suppose this show has always been slightly off kilter, in that it keeps changing moods on us so fast that it becomes hard to see what's coming. Never did I expect to see Akira and Takumi end up like this... it's really upsetting! (well, as upset as one can be over an anime, I guess...lol)
As for Tate, I can't imagine him getting together with Mai anymore...and I definitely DON'T want to see that at all. Anyone who read my blog entry on him last week would know my sentiments on that loser. ^_^;;
And how can you guys want MORE enraged Mai? I found this episode extremely difficult to watch, and it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. I love drama, but this was just too much for one episode...
Something I thought was interesting...
Did anyone notice that there are only TEN holes for the pillars in that HiME shrine? I thought there would be twelve, but looking at the scene in Episode 8 where Mai and Reito fall in there, it looks more like there's only ten. I wonder if that means there will be a Mai vs. Shiho ending.
Another thought I had--it really sounds like the MVP position isn't just a high risk, but a high reward position. Ishigami-sensei's rantings and the fact that people wanting power seem to be MVPs or think they are(Alyssa's "dad", Akira's dad and Ishigami-sensei) seem to be hinting in that direction, doesn't it?
I have to say I am both surprised and angry. Surprised because Mai Hime continues to amaze me with its plot twists and unpredictability, something I never expected. It's definitely one of the best current shows along with Samurai Champloo, Air and Samurai 7. I am also very angry because Takumi was one of the characters I absolutely didn't want to see die. Akira is my favorite Hime, and I also really liked the relationship between her and Takumi. It is very sad to see her and Mai suffer this much and now she is probably going to be thrown away, just like Akane before her.
I really hope there is a reset, because like Garten said otherwise there can't be a happy ending, Mai won't recover from THAT. If there is a Tomino-style ending I want at least Mai and Reito (who is also one of my favorites) to survive as the next Queen of Hell / Obsidian Lord. Tate doesn't deserve Mai and I also don't think Reito is evil. The real Reito at least. If there is a bittersweet ending Shizuru, Natsuki, Mikoto and Haruka should survive, too. I however definitely want to see Shiho, Tate, Nao, Ishigami and Yukariko suffer horribly and vanish.
I saw this early this morning and I was left in shock! I LOVED it to pieces!!!
Tatsuki = I love how much Tatsuki's character's developed.
Mikoto = She's the only one that has to carry her weapon while the other HiMEs materialize it, I'm not sure if it's been said, but the sword has to belong to her brother. In addition, she cannot be dead because we have yet to see her child and weapon. Seeing how she is an important character, I don't think the animators will let her die before having us see her glorious powers. Plus, Reito could have saved her again.
Yukariko = She is the most likely to loose it in the battles. Maybe she will get a sign from God to help her, and maybe in the end she turns against Ishigami to help the HiMEs?
Ishigami = I don't really pay attention to him, but I am now wondering how he learned about the HiMEs, and in particular, how he knew Yukariko was one.
I know that you guys have been saying that Shizuru is the last HiME, but I just can't accept it. >__<
Why I think the new HiME is Haruka and not Shizuru:
In the screen capture, the silhouette is of a girl with shoulder length hair (Haruka or Shizuru) wearing the high school uniform!
The only other semi-important female character was that is seen wearing the school uniform was Haruka because she was not living in the dorm that is burning, she arrived with Yukino. The only others seen wearing the high school uniform are Mai & Yukino. Everyone else was from the dormitory and so they were in sleeping clothes. We know where and what Mai and Yukino were doing so it couldn't have been them.
The scene right after you see Yukino in pain from her child being damaged, is of Haruka. Mai HiME has a history of having scenes piece together (foreshadow) the ones right before/after it. Shizuru would not have been able to run inside the burning dormitory to retrieve her uniform before rushing off to help Tatsuki. In addition, while Yukino was in the car, Haruka said "Let's go together..." or something like that (my Japanese is poor T_T), but Tatsuki comes and takes Yukino away. That along with seeing Kagutsuchi because of the shield failing, could have forced Haruka to unleash her HiME powers. She could have been hiding it from Yukino. Why? I do not know yet.
{Sorry for double posting but my first post was cut off.)
I still think it's Shizuru who's the HiME, because of the biggest hint that the new Child (who seems to be astral!) came JUST before *NATSUKI* was going to be killed. And which character cares a lot about Natsuki?
There's nothing to say Shizuru can't change into her school clothes (and it seems to me that these people's first choice of anything to change into is always their school clothes - heck, look at Mai, she just doesn't want to go out wearing shirt and pants, HAS to change into uniform). BAH! I insist it has to be Shizuru :p
If I did this I might have added one more thing the next ep: because of Kagutsuchi's violence and the dorm exploding and all, Aoi dies. Now that would be awful eh.
Also, it seems in this serie sthere is this rule: Unless you SEE that person die in front of your face they are not dead. Like Kazu, Takumi, the Searrs chairman, etc. Or if they outright say they're dead.
Sigh... I don't want Tate to die in the end, I want him to redeem himself and go back to the way he was in ep 5. He really is a nice guy inside, I think. Reito is really really nice but somehow I'd rather see him go with someone like Shizuru or Natsuki...
I can see that nobody loves Shiho as much as Garten does ^_^
If you watch very carefully, you can see how the lives of the main HiMEs are systematically torn apart. Mikoto was first - her life was simple: Eat what Mai cooks, protect Mai, protect Yukino. All that was destroyed in Ep19. Mai's life was more complex, but she had everything ripped apart in Eps 19 and 20. Seems that the next episode is reserved for Natsuki...
OMG! I can't believe it happened! Poor Mai! ;_; The writers really got guts! Now I don't know to expect! However, I'm happy that the writers didn't ditch SEARRS completely from the series. Maybe we'll finally get some background info on the organization. With all the crazy plot twists, I'm not suprised if they make SEARRS turn out to be the good guys. I know it's dumb, but you never know with this series. :P
Wow, what an episode. This drastic turn of events has effectively won me over, and I will be waiting in anticipation for every one of the last 6.
I think somebody that Mai should be angry at is Nao. Sure, Mikoto and Yatagarasu actually destroyed Gennai, causing Takumi's death. But Nao was the one after Takumi in the first place, plus she called Mai to tell her about her plan to get him. The situation may not have happened in the first place if Nao hadn't tried to take Takumi. Therefore, she should also shoulder some of the blame, as well as her co-conspirators Ishigami-sensei and Yukariko. It will be interesting to see what Mai does if she finds out about their plot. I hope that Nao and Yukariko get roasted :)
I believe that it is Shizuru who is the last HiME, because she always seemed to know something. Whenever a HiME-related event occured, while Haruka rants about it, Shizuru stays relatively calm. I also think that scene in ep. 14 (I think?) where Yukino touches her arm where her HiME mark is, only Shizuru notices this.
Ergh.
I'm sorry. All the important things have been said, so- the only thing left to say.
Ergh.
I'm not sure i can stomache the rest of the series anymore. Aw, hell, i know i'll watch it, but i'm not sure i'll like it. This is the first series which has disguised it's dark origins so well, it prompted me to watch it. It's like expecting something to be pokemon-ish and having it do a death note on you.
I feel like I missed something.
Can one HiME be the MVP of another HiME? Because if that's the case, wouldn't the death of that HiME cause this bizarre chain reaction? You know, one person's Child dies... so her MVP dies... and then that MVP is a HiME, so with her death, *her* Child would die, and then her MVP would be dead... it just seems littered with a lot of dead bodies. Not that the show currently isn't..
Also, since Akira's MVP was Takumi... who is Mai's MVP now? ^_____^; (Can that type of thing be transferred?)
Oh, and like everyone else.. I think it would be nice if Shiho was blasted into many small pieces.
^
not sure about that.. but Shizuru's MVP is most likely Natsuki. If it were someone else we wouldn't give a damn.
Likewise, we wouldn't give a damn if say... Kendo Guy vanishes if Natsuki were ever to be defeated.
So.. from a potential drama point of view, it's a LOT more melodramatic to make them their respective MVPs of each other.
That way, It's a lose-lose situation for both of them.
OOOOH ANGST!!
Suppose Shizuru is Natsuki's MIP and vice versa. Now say Mai, Shizuru and Natsuki are the least three HiME left. If Shizuru is defeated or Natsuki is defeated then both vanish. However we'd still have Mai as our winner. So it would not really matter in the grand scheme of battling the "star"
Now if some how Mai is defeated instead. With Shizuru and Natsuki both remaining only of two things could happen. Either the star can never be defeated because neither one can win to be the uber HiME. Or there is a loophole where one of the two HiME can instead surrender her power to the other HiME without the need for a battle. Thus allowing there to be a winner without a final child death. There are of course multiple loopholes possible. Including one where there could be a rule that a HiME can never be an MIP. Still until the show ends we can't be certain. Even then the situation that would answer the question may never come up. So it may require a reference book for the answer.
As for Shiho she better survive. Because the problem is just dying is too middle ground a fate for her. She needs a fate that will either redeem her. Ie she learns from her mistakes. Or a fate where she suffers heavily because of her actions. Just having her die won't allow her to suffer or be redeemed. Which doesn't work too well for either side. Of course I'm one of her fans. I admit she has become evil, but then I like characters to have flaws. Plus the development makes sense for her, but ah well.
One of the things I think I like most about this show is that, with the exception of Tate, I don't really dislike any of the characters. They all have something interesting about them or entertain...even the evil characters.
Despite wanting to see Mai go to town on her, I like Shiho for her selfishness and the evil she brings to the table. I like that she doesn't care about the bigger picture (even though she's probably unaware of it) and that all she cares about is getting her man.
I like and feel sorry for Nao. Despite her own selfish attitude displayed through most of the show, she had aparently decided to let everyone be and not accede to the rules of the battle royale. Until she and the others were tricked by Yukariko and Ishigami of course. Now feeling betrayed, she's back to fending for herself which will almost surely end her.
The only reason I don't like Tate is that for all of his screen time, he's done very little and his character hasn't really developed any. I can only assume that he will become very important before the end but I fear that whatever changes he undergoes will seem rushed and unbelievable. But I hope I'm wrong. I hope he's able to redeem himself for twenty episodes of spinelessness and after episode twenty, I have hope the writers can pull it off. Would like to know for certain though if it's going to be twenty-four or twenty-six episodes.
One last thing...I kind of like not knowing all the rules about who can or can't be an MVP, how those individuals are tied to the hime's powers, etc. I think it allows for more empathy with the characters and the uncertainty they face.
I think the ending might be with Mai becoming the new queen of the underworld.
Thats because of the site in my url *click on my name* But just to warn you it could be spoilers for the ending.
@rava
If there really are only 10 pillars.. It makes sense that there would only be 11 since of the 12, one will be left standing. So either there's another one there somewhere or it maybe has something to do with Mikoto not having a child (that we've seen thus far).
To be honest I looked at the image several times and it's hard to tell for certain how many pillars there are. It seems to be ten at first. Yet when I look at it again there seems to be 12 pillars depending on how I view it. Now for the problem.
In the bottom row you can clearly see three holes. In the middle row you can clearly see four holes. However to the left is a faint discolored spot which may in fact be a hole that's just hard to notice. In the top row you can make out two holes. Now then to the left it looks like there is one single hole that looks really strange or the said hole is actually two holes.
So depending on how you view the image there may be 12 holes or 10 holes. Still the question remains what determines which pillar goes up. If each HiME is connected to a specific hole then there has to be eventually 12 holes no matter what. If not then there only needs to be 10 holes in the end.
If there does need to be 12 holes in the end, but only 10 holes are present that may mean one thing. That a hole will not truly appear until after a HiME has awakened. It's blatant by now that most of the HiME have been awakened since episode 1 or even before episode 1. The two most likely candidates for HiME who were not awakened around episode 08 are of course Yukariko and Shiho. Which would explain there being only 10 holes if 12 are needed.
To be honest we've never gotten a completely clearly view of the place. Hence it's hard to tell about the exact number. Plus when they show the thing again in episode 14, it's hard to tell exactly where the pillar for Akane's defeat is.
Still looking at the scene from episode 20 makes it a bit easier. You can still make out the large image on the wall to the left. The pillar is slightly to the left of it. Conclusion it is in the middle row. And going from right to left it is the second hole in the middle row. Now then the pillar for Akira's defeat is coming up behind Akane's but slightly to the right. at angle. In others words Akira's pillar is in the top row and it is the first one on the right.
So if anyone has any experience Zodiac Constellations, charts and whatever this could be a good clue as to where each pillar would appear if a HiME is defeated. Plus if all 12 holes have been shown and it is not 10. It would indicate as to where Mai's pillar would apppear if she were to actually lose. I know she'll win, but the info would be nice.
I guess I was wrong about Shiho. That mysterious Hime with Yatagarasu must be Shiho. I was hoping that her evilness stopped at her being jealous of Mai, but it can't be coincidence that Mai is attacked right after Tate falters. I had guessed that the writers would eventually axe Takumi and have Mai go berserk, but I never thought they would do this so soon. I guess all bets are off now. Mai's MVP has died before she or her Child could be defeated. Kagutsuchi seems unstable at times, but with unstable Mai behind the helm... watch out!!! All that's left for Mai is Reito's betrayal. She kinda sorta has feelings for him (not as strong as those for Tate), but eventually he'll surface as her enemy. Also, Mai and Mikoto's friendship will later break the hold Reito has over Mikoto. I just wish that Akira won't be comatose like Akane was. I think Akane was more heartbroken than physicall hurt. Despite her CHILD destroyed, Akira is still a powerful ninja. So there's revenge for her to be had...
DEAD BROTHER + PISSED OFF HIME = ALL HELL BREAKING LOOSE...
No HiME is safe...from Mai's Wrath...next victims are Yukariko, Nao, and Ishigami...you just know it. Perhaps, Kagutsuchi will nuke the academy also. ROTFLMAO
MH is one of the animes that love playing with your head.
I really think that Ishigami sensei can be the obsidian prince also and Mikoto's brother. If you notice his eyes the few times they are open he has yellow eyes. His eyes are usually kept closed by the animators..maybe to shadow the fact that he is mikoto's bro? WHo knows.
To be honest, since episode one, I've been saying Takumi was a deadman walking. He practically screamed that he was going to die. So I'm not shocked that he died, but I didn't expect him to die midway through an episode.
About Shiho, she is one of the best types of villains in my opinion. She's the traitor that does it out of her own insecurity/greed/desires- any misfortune that falls on the protagonists and herself are brought upon her by her own actions, not by some evil twist of fate. She deserves no sympathy when her death or final suffering befalls her. Very much like Frey, any sudden change of heart before her end doesn't make up for all the backstabbing she's previously done.
Yukariko on the otherhand is leaning toward the obvious, but more traditional, traitor route. These are ones like Race (ToE) or Leon (ToD/2) or Izumi (Full Moon wo Sagashite). They betray the heroes for either duty, like in Race's case, or because of being stuck in a situation beyond their control, like Leon. Leon betrays Stahn and his comrades because Hugo would have killed Marian if he didn't, even though Leon would never aid Hugo's schemes normally. Yukariko clearly has no control of herself in her situation, despite how much she doesn't like helping Ishigami, but can't bring herself to do anything. These characters always pull some sort of redeeming act that makes them tragic and the audience sympathizes for them. She's probably going to pull something that allows Ishigami to be defeated. I'm betting he'll use her to attack Mai and the others, but never realized that he put himself as Yukariko's mvp. So her inevitable defeat will kill him or she will kill herself, taking him with her.
Nao could go anywhere, but what happened to her before was her own doing. She threatens Mai by saying Mai could kill anyone if she felt like it and that they have no reason to really feel safe under Mai's no internal fighting plan. She clearly places herself outside the group, implying to them that she will kill any of them the second a good chance opens- tack this onto her previous reputation....Natsuki had no reason to believe Nao when Yukariko claimed she was attacked by her.
However, I don't understand why Akane keeps being mentioned, since she's out of the race now. It leads me to believe that this is going to end with some sappy happy ending. I have a feeling that they aren't really dead (Takumi and the other and future casualties) and will be brought back somehow, probably due to Midori's meddling and attempts to change fate. For an ending, I'm betting on a reset ending- everything goes back before it all happened.
When Mai finds out that Shiho's behind this than Shiho's gonna get VAPORIZED.
Not that i mind anyway, the bitch deserves it.
At this point though, it's time to wait impatiently for #21! ^_^
For Shiho,All I can say is...She has become an evil HiME.
Anger will turn to tears and suffer,Mai!
I like this episode
Um I really sad when watched this scene (when Akira said "Takumi...."
I like the couple like Takumi-Akira.
They are really make me want to smile.
omg!! this was a shocking episode but it was a gd one ....mostly i got nothing to say
I didn't notice anyone else bring this up, but someone must have realized that Takumi had died, but Mai could still summon Kagutsuchi? It was said earlier (by Nagi I think) that if the loved one dies, then a HiME couldn't summon their element or child ever again.
Hmmmm...
By now, I've seen the entire series, but at this point this was pretty much a clincher for me that Takumi was NOT Mai's most beloved, at least at this point in the game.
I think THAT was why Nagi was laughing so hard. All of his enemies had banked on the fact that by defeating Akira and killing Takumi, that Mai would be left powerless, and then she pulls out Kagutsuchi and goes into berserk-mode. That's when they showed Nagi laughing like "BWAHAHAHA!! You guys guessed WRONG!" I think he loved the carnage too, but he strikes me as a character that really doesn't care about destruction as much as he likes to see his pawns succeed and move him closer to his victory.
Ciao!
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