Garten will scold me for that, but Mai picked up alot of brownie points with me when she mourned Shiho and addressed her with -chan

Uhm, Mentar, I don't think she was mourning for Shiho. I think that was Mai thinking about Shiho's MIP, which is Tate.

I disagree with the yesy way to translate Natsuki's "suki" as "like" here. In context, this "suki" meant so much more than the "like" of a mere friend.

Once again I have to disagree. :) Here's what Natsuki said in that scene:

"Demo, yappari watashi wa, omae no nozomi youna kimochi wa motenai"

Roughly translated to "But as I thought, I can't give you the kind of feeling that you wish for"

To me that makes the 'Suki' that comes afterwards as a simple assurance to Shizuru that while she can't return her feeling, she likes her anyway as a sister/close friend.

It also appears that the feelings of a HiME is enough to set someone as their MIP. Mai manages to summon Kagutsuchi using the memory of Tate.

I'd like to believe that one of the pillar belongs to Mikoto. But if that's the case then where did that Searrs guy went after he turned into green sparks?

I don't think Reito is actually in the pillar itself. He's probably imprisoned inside that pendant that OL wears. Which is why OL feels some kind of a pain when the pendant lights up. It looks like the real Reito tries to get out.

As for traces of Alyssa, I suspect Mashiro plants some parts her DNA/body one way or the other.

I liked how Mikoto's CHILD has those ropes, even though it doesn't have sleeves =D.

I wonder if they will really delve into the Kagutsuchi mythology the way they did with Kiyohime, although I thought it was a bit heavy handed. I had suspected that the Shizuru-Natsuki connection existed, although the Duran-growth made it make a lot more sense. I KNEW it couldn't be Afro-san!

*throws out his theories of Afro-san being related to Natsuki and somehow being her MVP*

joking joking... ;)

Just re-watched MH25 again after reading Mentar's godly review. Helped a lot with stuff I just didn't catch in the first watching (and once again making me realize how bad my japanese is, lol).

I don't have any thoughts or remarks about the show since I've given up trying to think of anything that doesn't remotely get tossed out after watching but... I did have two random thoughts on it:
1) thanks to Momotato's caption of Mikoto's child, I cannot but help laugh everytime I see it!
2) now knowing that previous HiMEs have had CHILDs similar, if not exactlly the same, as the ones we know... it'll make for a great spin-off or fanfiction. Wouldn't mind seeing the previous "generation" (add 300 yrs) and how the beginnings of the series we currently know got started. Who here wouldn't want to see more shrine miko Mashiro right?!?! :)

I think Mentar meant to imply that Natsuki loved Shizuru platonically

In that case, I don't see the problem with the word 'suki' translated into 'liking'. Both 'like' and 'love' are always difficult to use because there is always a possibility that someone will misinterpret the sort of 'like' and 'love' implied in the scene. If they had put 'love' instead of 'like', there will be some people who think that the 'love' in question is a romantic kind. I guess the best way to translate it would be 'I love you as a friend'. But the dialogue in question is not like that. So I think it's not that big of a deal to translate the 'suki' in this case into 'like' to prevent confusion.

Concerning the like/love debate, I'm with Mentar on this one. From Natsuki's point of view, Shizuru is the one person who changed her life for the better. A friendship 'like' doesn't seem strong enough to express that kind of feeling. Additionally, look at the size of Dhuran (that is, if we accept that size does matter, in this case :) ), after Natsuki acknowledged who her MIP is. Compare it to Nao's child (love for her mother) or Yukariko's child (romantic love for sleazy scumbags). But I guess either way it's up to personal opinions, since the japanese script can conveniently sidestep a definite answer, due to the ambiguity of 'suki' and I don't see the director stepping up and giving us his opinion on the intended message.

BTW now that we know that feeling alone are enough to make a child appear, what are the opinions on Natsuki's MIP when Chibi-Dhuran was still around? Was it already Shizuru back then, or her (deceased?) mother? The fact that she couldn't summon Dhuran for some time would indicate the mother, since it's her that Natsuki lost faith in for a while. OTOH that leaves the question, what the pillar is supposed to suck up, if the MIP is already dead to begin with?

...and that would make them what? close friends,"sisters" (like Garten said), more than friends but less than lovers...I also noticed that people have different opinions on the "way Natsuki returned Shizuru feelings", some say she did (not romantic/sexually), others that she didn't (romantic/sexualy cause she's straight, asexual, doesn't to be in any kind of relationship, or she's not ready (mentally) to have those kind of feelings for anyone) and others that maybe she will in the future. Uh, so what do u guys think?

I think Natsuki's 1st MIP was her mother. Which explains why she couldn't summon Duran when she felt that she was betrayed by her.

The pillars, as I mentioned last week, seem to absorb the green sparks/the life force of the MIP. See how the pillars now have those green shimmers all around it. Which explains why Mai looks as if she's about to hug Shiho's pillar.

As for relationship, I think Natsuki is simply not willing to be in any kind of relationship. She sees how relationship destroys and twists those around her so I supposed she does not want to get involved in that kind of love. I guess she simply enjoy singlehood and not attached romantically to anyone.

I say I love you to my parents a lot of times. Love isn't that limited of a word.

In this context, though, I agree that love works a lot better than like.

The StaticSubs version will definitely use love has they have been doing all along.

What Nagi didn't tell you

-MIPs can change. Ex: Mai, Akira, Natsuki
-You can hold a memory of a person as your ichinban taisetsu mono. Ex: Mai, Natsuki

I wonder what else he isn't telling.

I say I love you to my parents a lot of times. Love isn't that limited of a word.

It is not a limited word by any stretch of imagination. However, when most people hear the word, especially between two people who are unrelated to each other, it's normally associated with the romantic kind. Let's put it this way: if you're a guy, do you say "I love you" to your male friend (or any friend for that matter) unless you're joking around or really in love with him/her? I personally think it's a misleading word to use unless you add "as a friend" into the word. That's why I think it'll be confusing to use especially since before this Natsuki said that she can't return Shizuru's feeling. Having said that, it's good to know that Static-subs will provide an alternative to people who prefers this translation instead.

I thought Natsuki's reaction in the bath wasn't a matter of her being unnaturally prudish (for Japan, at least, where same-sex communal bathing still isn't all that uncommon), but her being unusually sensitive about that whole nudity thing *because* of Shizuru.

I've got to say, every word in this review delt with Natsuki/Shizuru made me laugh so hard. I've never been this exiting until now and TOTALLY agree with almost everything in this summery, swear to god. (and yes, Sunrise, Miyu part really made me hit my head against the wall. What is with the thigh-missiles anyway....) Well, after the double KO of Natsuki and Shizuru, I can't wait for the next episode, my guts forshadowed an RESET of the world for Natsu- oops, my fault.- I mean Mai HiME's ending. Something fishy will happen and make me lower my eyebrows but smile at the same time.
Ok, back to relationship, I agree with Garten on this one. Yes, our dear Kuga-san enjoys singlehood very very much, ok?? OK??? (aww... But I also desire Natsuki/Shizuru hood...) After replayed the kissing scene for several times, my eyes discovered that Natsuki set a light smile before the attachment. So I say that their relationship will definitly last forever. But to what extend? Judging from ep 22, wait Shizuru actually rape her, probably. (sorry, just kidding, if you dont like my comment.) .................. but somehow I can imaging that Natsuki will take on Shizuru's desire.(:)) Hahaha, good to hear that, TY3.
And with all the love/suki thing... There is just so many explainations for it. I read a thread somewhere where they compared the Occidental love and the Oriental love. Western believe love indicate only one thing- either family or sexually. On the eastern side, friends can say to eachother "I love you" but still means "friendship".

>> It is not a limited word by any stretch of imagination. However, when most people hear the word, especially between two people who are unrelated to each other, it's normally associated with the romantic kind. Let's put it this way: if you're a guy, do you say "I love you" to your male friend

If you're a guy, It's quite common in sport teams

If you're a girl, this happens more often than you imagine.

If you're a guy, It's quite common in sport teams

If you're a girl, this happens more often than you imagine.

Yes, in a throwaway kind of manner. As in "OMG, we win!! I love you" or "You know, I love you, don't you?". But never in a serious situation like the one that Natsuki and Shizuru found themselves in. A situation where Natsuki clearly wants to ensure that her words are not misinterpreted but is still comforting.

Well, Yesy did a literal translation. Natsuki DID literally say "suki". She didn't choose to say aishiteru...although that would definitely carry a romantic meaning with it. What I found confusing wasn't Natsuki saying "like", but rather...her saying she's happy that Shizuru "liked" her. Shizuru doesn't just like her...she LOVES(with every letter of the word capitalized)her. What was even more comical was that she just finished saying she can't return the feelings Shizuru wishes for. But that she is happy Shizuru likes her. THEN she goes on saying, "I like you Shizuru". Uhm...that didn't make sense. Okok, I know her "like" was meant differently than the one she used to describe how Shizuru feels about her. But THAT'S the part where "love" would've been more appropriate. Maybe Natsuki was a bit dazed from her recent battle;p.

And yes, Natsuki doesn't want to get involved romantically/sexually in any way. Shizuru does have the best chance to become the first candidate when she's ready though. Unless, of course, she's straight. Than nothing really could be done about that.

Natsuki already made herself clear what kind of love she has previously whens he told Shizuru that she can't return the kind of feelings Shizuru has for her.

Think of it this way... look at the size of Duran. I'd say, considering this intensity, love would have a more fitting connotation.

You've probably heard countless "I'm doing this because I love you" lines in parent / child soap operas haven't you? Natsuki and Shizuru's relationship is similar to that. They're not strangers. They're not lovers, but they're closer than friends.

great site,love your blog

question though, what is the original kiyohime legend?

I still think using the word 'love' will confuse Shizuru (and the viewers) due to what Natsuki said beforehand. But we have to agree to disagree here.

Smithy, Kiyohime legend can be read here:
http://www.sinister-designs.com/graphicarts/ghosts.html

Quoth Ben Stein...

"...wow..."

*speechless*

Loved your summary. Brilliant stuff.

I agree entirely about the shocking amount of discussion regarding the ending when there's only 1 episode left.

Keep up the good work!

the kiyohime legend has lots of different versions by the way. but they all end in a similar manner, i.e. bell + serpent+unrequitted love, just like shizuru's weapon around the bell with natsuki inside.

Quote Garten:
>>I think Natsuki's 1st MIP was her mother. Which explains why she couldn't summon Duran when she felt that she was betrayed by her.

Unless of course, the gathered life energy is more than enough, even if one or two pillars don't actually get charged with life energy or the life energy isn't needed for anything specific in the first place (which would make the MIP poofing rather pointless).

I though Miyu was awesome before, but this episode puts her close to demi-goddess. I think a reset isn't going to happen, but seeing Miyu's "Anti-Materialization"/"Secret" mode makes me think that perhaps the MIPs could be restored.

About Alyssa's voice, my suspicion is that when a Hime is defeated, not only does she lose her MIP, she also loses part of herself. Even strong characters like Midori become near comatose after defeat, and so something must be happening to the Himes too other than just depression and sadness. Alyssa's voice may be the part of Alyssa that was lost when she got defeated. If Miyu is releasing the energy in the pillars, then I hope that all the defeated Himes (like sleeping Midori, and crazy Akane) will return to normal.

Natsuki and Shizuru developments also made me happy. Natsuki's love for Shiruzu is actually even purer than what Shizuru feels because there is no lust involved at all. The size of super Duran alone says it all :) .

The Dark Prince said some things about how this time everything was different, and also made a remark about how the old rules had been changed. At this point, I'm starting to think that maybe, ... just maybe, the Prince isn't really evil at all but is just a temptation or reaper.His job is to periodically conduct a test to see whether humans are fit to continue their current path. If a Hime has enough love for something (i.e. the world is worth saving), she would have enough love (i.e. strength) to win a battle against the Prince. If a final Hime ever believed the world wasn't worth it, then the current civilization will be erased.

What I'll need to make this series great, is to have some more Miyu, and some more action for the Crystal Princess (I'd like to actually see her in action this time). I hope the MIPs can also be restored so that Natsuki and Shizuru can be together. However, seeing as how Mai has stopped wanting things for Takumi and wanting things for herself now, I wonder if it's a hint to the viewers that there'll be no "Undo". Or maybe, they want to surprise us again :D

Good read on the whole Natsuki-Shizuru bit:
http://www.nomakegirl.com/tabibito/index.php?p=65

There may be some clues we're overlooking, at least in regards to Miyu. We again see her internal routines and her full name: Multiple Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit, and she asks Mai about the "Gates of Valhalla", both coming from Nordic mythology. Yggdrasil is the world tree, the gate between heaven and hell. Valhalla was Odin's great hall of slain warriors. So Miyu was most definitely seeking the pillars out explicitely, not the Obsidian Lord. Way back when Miyu knocked out Natsuki under the church she refused to do anything further, saying it was useless to attack a Valkrie unless the child was out. There's the clue, at least what I think is a clue.

According to Nordic mythology, "The Valkyries, a band of warrior-maidens that included Svava and Brunhild, served Odin as choosers of slain warriors, who were taken to reside in Valhalla." That implies that not only are the MVPs of each HiME in the cave with the pillars, but that the souls of the dead HiMES are there as well. Miyu's systems detect Alyssa twice, once at the "Gates to Valhalla" when she encounters Mikoto, and a second time inside the cavern, where we get to hear Alyssa's voice as well. Given the series huge ties into various mythologies, even going so far as to drop the bell on Natsuki (from Kiyohime's myths), this makes a lot of sense. Alyssa IS really there.

An interesting question then, if Alyssa's there, could the souls of all the past HiMEs, or Valkyries, also be there? And what's up with Miyu's locked attack? Platinum, Vortex, Anti-Matierializer. It's interesting that HiME means Highly advanced Matierializing Equipment. It seems unlikely this is a weapon to destroy HiMEs though, as Miyu appears to be using this in some way to help Alyssa, who's already dead.

Nagi told Mai that the sealing pillars sucked up the life force of the HiME's MVPs when their childs were defeated. Those pillars don't stay up after everything's said and done, so apparently there is a purpose for the life force, it's not just meant to cause the HiMEs grief. The whole thing we see with the Crystal Princess appears to be, well, some kind of equipment, with the Crystal Princess as its core. Reito seems to confirm this, telling Mai that the winning HiME is sealed away, becoming the Crystal Princess, and the core of the shrine of Fuuka which controls the HiME star. Onc thing that really strikes me as intersting is the entire rock formation the shrine is on appears to have the same green sparkles throughout it that the sealing pillars do. I'm betting that's the life force from the MVPs _AND_ HiMEs of the last HiME Festival 300 years ago. The winning HiME becomes the controller of this vast device, and the power is used to keep the HiME star at bay. That only causes the cycle to continue however.

Given everything Reito stated that's the normal course of events, but this time he wants Mai to marry him and they will repopulate the world. That assumes something will destroy everyone, sounds like a good job for the HiME star. The SEARRS foundation talked of bringing about a Golden Age, this was apparently why they created Alyssa (the fake HiME) and Miyu. Scarily enough here it sounds like the Obsidian Lord and the SEARRS foundations' motives were partially the same -- to stop the normal progression of events in the HIME festival. Both seem to revolve around the HiME star.

Other interesting things to note: the star that the Crystal Princess (aka Mashiro) is sealed in appears to be filled with the same liquid that Miyu was stored in and of course Mashiro also had Kagatsuchi as her child. That didn't surprise me, I think I predicted that at one point, although I have no clue why. And finally, it appears to me that the Obsidian Lord's "soul" is in the necklace that Reito wears, perhaps half in it and half in Mikoto's. I think Reito is stlll alive and well, but has lost control to the OL completely. He may be saveable. (Assuming he's not a rat bastard himself as well.)

I think in the end either Mai defeates Mikoto or Mikoto refuses to kill Mai and the OL kills Mikoto. Mai will refuse to join him and she, with or without Mashiro's help, will kill the OL, but possibly not Reito. Mai will end up destroying the HiME star with Kagatsuchi, we already know he can go into outer space. Whether Mai will live or not is up in the air I think, perhaps Mashiro will be able to save her. Reito may end up key to the ending somehow, not the OL, but Reito. I also will not be surprised if Miyu's actions restore all the dead MVPs and HiMEs so far. (Of course that wouldn't affect anyone who dies afterward, the Vortex thing looks to be destroying Miyu.)

Your analysis of Shizuru driven to extremes due to rejection is off-base. Many fans or of the theory that she "snapped" or became driven to extermity by a certain event. But this is false:

1. Before the "rejection" scene in 23, we recall that she moved in to save Natsuki from Nao in 21. After having completely beaten Nao, with her Child thrown into the sea and its master on the ground struggling weakly, Shizuru is shown with glowing demon eyes right before cutting the cliff face out from under Nao, also symbiolically slicing her cell phone in two. No matter how you look at it, Shizuru must have meant to kill her. There's no way you would expect someone to survive that.

2. After defeating Yukino, she smiles at Haruka as she disapears. Why would she take joy in essentially killing a long-tiem classmate and comrade if she was just desperate for Natsuki's feelings?

3. She is shown personally stalking and supposedly murdering several old people while smiling. Why would she take joy in murdering complete strangers that haven't done a thing to her? If she was just doing it on a misguided attempt to get rid of things natsuki doesn't like, does that mean she must also like commiting mass-murder? Sorry, but it doesn't.

The best theory is that Shizuru was never all there in that she had become warped after a long period of time. In other words, the dependable, easy-going, insightful Shizuru is the same Shizuru who molests friends in their sleep and comitts mass-murder. She was just hidden before, and aftwards simply did what she wanted. The show should have played that up for maximum effect and had a real resolution. There should have been a scene in which the striken Natsuki demands what happened to the "real" Shizuru, who replies that everything -- consoling her, taking care of her, counseling her, being a dependable friend, etc, was all just an act in order to get into her defenses and to fullfil her desires.

We gotta agree to disagree, Garten, on both counts ;)

About the Shizuru/Natsuki bit: It's very much a discussion if a glass is half full or half empty. That Natsuki isn't loving Shizuru "that" way is uncontested, but what about the rest?

All pieces of evidence I can see are pointing towards something which simple "friendship" is totally insufficient and actually misleading to describe.

Think back to episode 21. There, Natsuki used "suki" aswell, but Shizuru got sad because she realized the huge gap between them. In episode 25, Shizuru flushed with emotion.

Then, the kiss. That wasn't just a battle tactic to throw her off - it was obvious that Shizuru didn't intend to harm her when she looked at Natsuki with concern. The first kiss led to Natsuki recoiling back in horror and disgust. This time, she _returned_ the kiss, and not on the cheek or forehead, but on the lips, after a slight smile and a very conscious decision. You don't do that to a person you _reject_. She qualified the kiss by the caveat of not requiting THESE kind of feelings - but what remains in love (and this is alot) WAS included.

It seems that many people seem to have difficulties imagining "love" without the sexual/romantic aspect without degrading it back to "friendship" level. What Natsuki and Shizuru had before was friendship. What they had in the end was MUCH more than that. Close your eyes and Mega Duran will eat ya ;)

Finally: The best person to "judge" Natsuki's confession is Shizuru. She didn't feel rejected or relegated to "friends" like before. She was "ureshii".

I also disagree on Shiho. You don't lean your forehead against the pillar and call your mortal enemy Shiho-CHAN while thinking about someone else. I see no indication that Mai ever directed personal hostility towards Shiho. Even in the fight, she never became offensive towards her and instantly stopped Kagutsuchi when he started firing. I think that she still regards Shiho with kindness.

I don't think Natsuki rejects Shizuru per say. But she definitely does not love her in a romantic sense of the word. I, however, do not contest that Shizuru is more than 'just friend'. It's just that it's hard to describe a position that is neither friend nor lover.

And 'Chan' is not always a term of endearment. Parents normally add this suffix to the name of their young children. In this case, Mai simply considers Shiho as a little kid and that's why she added that suffix to her name. There's nothing more to it. Besides, I doubt Shiho will appreciate it since throughout the series, she has always wanted to be seen as an adult.

On top of this, Mai clearly mentions the name of every other defeated HiMEs before saying 'Shiho-chan'. So why does she look as if she's about to hug/sob on the pillar. Why the special treatment for this pillar? Because it's Shiho? I highly doubt it. There are other girls that Mai had a closer relationship with (ie.Midori) so it doesn't make sense that she gave special treatment to the pillar because of Shiho - even if she has no animosity towards the kid.

the extra pillar was alyssa-chan. so i guess the victor has already been decided? mai and mikoto?

questions
1. why did natsuki have to kill kiyohime? wouldnt it be easier to help mai win the battle?
3 vs 2; mai, shizuru, natsuki - vs - mikoto, reito

2. why is mai(according to nagi) the "best hime"?

3. so, i guess kagutsuchi is the most powerful child..? >_>

4. umm, child's power is based on one's feelings, so does that mean the other himes didnt have "enough" feelings for their MVP?

5. am i the only one who hates miyu? she killed akane's mvp ^^ and i hate her for that

I think the Kokuyougo is actually a derelict Alien space ship

garten, your question regarding why Mai gave special treatment to Shiho's pillar...

It's probably because that pillar represents Tate's soul. And all the memories just came back to Mai the moment she sees it. How messed up things have become.

This doesn't appear especially hard to follow -- Mai is remembering Tate. Moreover, she's shown herself to be fundimentally incapable of holding a grudge or really hating anyone.

Who thinks this show deserves a sequel series???

*raises hand*

Mai-HiME-The Another (yes...that friggin game)

Mai-HiME 2XXX (...too explicit...)

...I've haven't had this much fun watching an anime in quite a while. MH is one of those shows that can really pull you in and I hope Sunrise does make a sequel series or do more animes with excellent storywriting in it.

Here's my take on Byakuyan's Questions:
questions
QUESTION 1. Why did natsuki have to kill kiyohime? wouldnt it be easier to help mai win the battle?

Fact: If Natsuki and Shizuru fight, then both will disappear.
Fact: Natsuki knows this, but Shizuru didn't know what Natsuki's feelings were.
Fact: Shizuru would never hurt Natsuki (the worst would be to hug her too tightly ;) ).
Fact: Mai at the start of the episode didn't have an MVP (since Tate disappeared).

We know there are 9 pillars. 11 pillars are needed to open the gate. Our goal is to open the gate so that someone can go in and challenge the dark prince.

Case 1: Suppose Natsuki and Mai go after Mikoto. That would only give 10 pillars. So They'd have to go after Shizuru anyway. Which will give 12 pillars. One more defeat than is necessary.

Case 2: Natsuki goes after Shizuru, knowing that whichever one wins, there will just 2 people lost.

Case 3: Defeat Mai. But that is pointless because like Miyu pointed out, defeating a Hime without her child doesn't do anything. Which will lead us to have to consider case 1 or case 2.

Natsuki may not have intended from the beginning to cause a double K.O. But I think that at some point during the fight, Natsuki learned something about both herself and Shizuru, and decided to contribute the two pillars and place her trust in Mai. This situation is actually best since there is one less defeat (case 2) than others (case 1).

QUESTION 2. why is mai(according to nagi) the "best hime"?

That's just Nagi's preference.

Reito even liked Mai before he got possessed by the Prince. From the perspective of the sadistic Prince, Mai has suffered a lot, and if you're into suffering, then Mai is awesome (to provide you enjoyment).

Personally, I think Mai is one of the best Hime in this group because she honestly cared about everyone and tried to do avoid fighting. But I wouldn't think she is the best one.

QUESTION 3. so, i guess kagutsuchi is the most powerful child..? >_>

Not necessarily. From Natsuki's comments about a Hime's feelings (actually Alyssa also said something similar to the Himes about the will to fight), the strength of a Hime is proportional to how true their feelings to the MVP are as well as their determination.

Personality also plays a role because even if you have a strong child, how you use it determines whether or not you'd lose. Mai would have lost a long time ago, because she had been unwilling to fight (and kill). Luckily, Mai has always had friends to help her when she's in such positions.

QUESTION 4. umm, child's power is based on one's feelings, so does that mean the other himes didnt have "enough" feelings for their MVP?

Not necessarily. Sometimes people don't even know what they feel. I think that for a the power to be realized, you must be aware of your feelings also. When Natsuki realized her love (not sexual I think) for Shizuru, she got a Super Duran. Mai also just discovered that she could use the memories of Tate to call her child (very very impressive). But it's all in the same ballpark. A hime must know her feelings, not just feel them :).

QUESTION 5. am i the only one who hates miyu? she killed akane's mvp ^^ and i hate her for that

In Miyu's defence she was just following SHEARS (sp?) orders. A person's true character is revealed when there are no rules. Since Shears lost control of her, she has only killed the priest who killed Alyssa. She even managed to get around Mikoto without killing. Even when she knocked Natsuki out cold, she didn't try to kill her. All these leads me to believe that Miyu is one of the most trusting, loyal and true people in all of Hime-land :) . Even though she has nothing to gain in this matter, she is still fighting for Alyssa (and indirectly may be a huge factor in the defeat of the festival).

Further, Miyu might have actually helped the Himes. Nagi was never going to come straight about what was really at stake during a fight. Miyu doing Akane in helped point out to everyone that MIP were at stake.

Obviously, I am totally biased for Miyu. IMO, she's an interesting character such that a whole show can be done for her. I could go on and on about Miyu for hours, so I'll stop here :p .

ps: I apologize for such a long post. ^_^;;

Actually, Akane was head-over-heals in love with Kaze. She was so deeply involved with him that she went into a psychological collpase when he greensparked. Is this love any less than Natsuki's friendship towards Shizuru? Is it any less than Shizuru's lust-based love, is it less than Nao's feelings for her mother, or Midori's feelings for the absent sensei? No it isn't. But yet her child was fairly small and defeated effortlessly.

The REAL answer is that the anime producers simply made it up when they needed it for the final arc.

Well, there could be many reasons for Akane's psychological collapse. Akane wasn't as well prepared as the others concerning the loss of her MIP. She hasn't been brooding and pondering about this particular info for half of the series like the other Himes have because she didn't know. Shock can be a big factor to her emotional damage. She may also be, simply, weaker emotionally than the other Himes. Maybe she's just not the kind of person able to handle heavy emotional burden and guilt. I think Mai probably wins as the person most able to carry such burdens and still remain some sanity.

Still, the main reason Akane became somewhat insane is, I think, because everything came at her too fast. Confusion, followed by realization, then guilt and loss.

I think that while GUTB's "they needed it so they did it" comment is a little bit cynical, but he has a point ^_^

Nevertheless, let's keep in mind that so far we've seen NO single HiME in a normal state after losing their child/MVP. All had a certain brief grace period and then collapsed completely. Therefore I'm not sure that we can reliably use Akane's collapse as an indicator that it was her extreme infatuation with Kazu-kun leading to her condition.

ok, thank you guys for answering.

i wish the title wasn't mai hime, then it could be this way:
mai = KO; natsuki & shizuru - vs - mikoto & OL
*lol* ^^ sorry guys, i'm a natsuki-shizuru fan; i like shizuru mainly because the voice actress did a very good job ^^

if there would be a season 2, i'm thinking either
a. continuation of tv series or mashiro's time
b. storyline from the manga!! ^^, i havent actually read the entire thing but i think tate has a bigger role in the manga.. dunno what he does though >_<

There's something different about Natsuki.

She went into battle knowing that she was sacrificing herself and Shizuru.

That omoi is far more intense than whatever Akane has.

as for Shizuru, her omoi is a powerful scar.

Repressed forbidden love does that to you. It's like Yukino's but she decided not to put herself in a comfort zone.

I'm so last, and have so many questions.
Was Aylssa really a "fake hime"?
Because the trailer says "13 maidens".
If Aylssa is a Hime why did Miyu kill
herself in the river instead of dying as Aylssa's MIP? Is it because Miyu is a robot so the Hime rule don't work on her? or because Aylssa really was a "fake Hime"? Was Shizuru really Natsuki's MIP? We know that Tate hasn't Mai MIP, but Shiho's, so who is Mai's MIP? (maybe MIkoto?)

Tate is both Mai's and Shiho's MIP. It doesn't matter if more than one HiME shares one MIP. The important thing is that the HiME feels something for the MIP. This is why Mai managed to summon Kagutsuchi out of her memories of Tate despite the lack of his physical presence. Similarly, this is why Natsuki was capable of summoning Duran using the memory of her mother prior to the realisation that Shizuru is also her MIP.

Mashiro's refusal to become the OL's wife and her defeat at the hands of Mikoto placed her at his mercy. Her punishment was to remain on earth in the form of a soul only. Her body was sealed in the crystal that we see and Kagatsuchi was sealed in cave. This kept her from reuniting with her body and from ever using Kagatsuchi again.

I used Mikoto's name because I have no idea what she was called 300 yr's ago. The OL has always been the OL, just that he uses different containers for each festival. Mikoto is his insurance that he uses like a tool to make sure that the end results of each festival turn out with the HiME of his choice being the winner. Mikoto's container most likely changes with each festival as well.

This time it's different! Mai is probably the first HiME that has ever had the ability to forgive and not seek revenge. Her friendship with Mikoto and Mikoto's love for Mai will be the OL's undoing. Mai want's to know the meaning of Mikoto's tears and I believe that she will realize what they mean and forgive Mikoto. Mikoto will then realize what Mai means to her and turn on the OL. The power that the OL gives to Mikoto will be taken away and Mai, knowing that if the OL dies so does Mikoto, will hesitate and the OL will go in for the kill. Kagatsichi will return the sword that he caries to Mikoto (which was hers to begin with) and Mikoto will protect Mai with her life. The OL cannot withstand Mikoto's true abilities and is defeated. With the OL gone Mikoto's life is also forfeit and she green sparkles away as Mai watches helplessly.

This is just the way I see things happening and should not be taken as what actually will happen.

...why do I see "Gundam" Battle...sheesh

*scratches head*

...and then ending with the Sailor Moon bit..."The HiMEs powers transfer to Mai and she blasts the OL straight to hell"

...though cliche, I just see that happening. Yeah, it's strange...

o______________________________O'

hi! u said u didn't like Miyu's change of clothes. well, i loved it plus her weapons array system, GAT-03, etc. if you watch gundam seed destiny (also by sunrise), you'll get the joke like i did.

btw, i really enjoy reading your reviews and analyses all this time. thanks for doing them and keep up the gd work! :)

Ronbo: Earlier on I would have agreed with you, but now we know that this festival's totally different. It takes 11 pillars to open the door and this is the first time there were 13 HIMEs thanks to the SEARRS Foundation. We also know Mashiro was the last HIME last time (she's the Crystal Princess now and we see the flashback of her from the OL) so by that point there was no other HiMEs left, not even a sister of the OL. The fact that Mikoto has finally summoned a child shows she is most definitely a full HiME, and Nagi even acknowledged her as one, thinking the extra column was Mikoto's, not realizing it was Alyssa's instead.

Right now it looks like the "normal" cycle has been for all the HiMEs to fight it out and the last one to refuse to become the OL's wife. Then they get sealed into the crystal and become the Crystal Princess, somehow warding off the HIME Star for another 300 years when the whole cycle repeats.

To those talking about another series, I'd love to see one too, especially one about Mashiro, I always liked her for some reason. (Probably because she's cute. ^_^)

Love this site, been reading it since ep01.

I do have some few comments to state though:

1) I'm sure you all noticed but when Mai calls Kagutsuchi (or Natsuki calls Duran), you can see their "soul/spirit" pop out prior to the summoning of their child. Is there any revelance to this or it's just for show?

My guess is since they are the only 2 that have multiple MVP/MIP, it would be revelant somehow or so.

2) And speaking of Mai, would you consider that her unique ability to summon Kagutsuchi regardless of the loss of her MVPs (Tate, Takumi) is what maybe the reason why Nagi consider her as the best HiME?

I would assume, with Natsuki's quote above "love = Child's strength", that when Kagutsuchi transformed in the SEARRS Arc (into that robot-spaceship thing) would have to be due to Mai's feeling for everyone (as it shown while she's flying towards the sky prior to the transformation).

Either that, or it's a fluke.

I apologize if this was mentioned before but I felt this episode really put some pointer(s) on those 2 "small details", somewhat.

Can't wait for Thursday for the final episode! I hope they also make more omakes too!

In order to understand what I'm trying to convey we need to go back to the very first festival. At that time there would have been only 12 HiME's and their MIP's. There would have been no OL or CP at that time. Nagi (the devil's advocate) would have most likely been the one to set this festival in motion. The winning pair would then become the OL and the CP. 300 yr's later a challenger would appear and try to take over their position. The winning HiME at that time would then become the OL's new partner and the old one would be discarded. If all of the previous winning HiME's refused the OL's offer then he would have to fall back on the previous festivals winner. He would also have to defeat this winner in order to remain the OL. The winning HiME of that festival would then have to accept whatever her fate was as decided by the OL. Since Mikoto is by his side now I have to assume that she has always been by his side and has never been replaced. This is why I believe that she has participated in all of the previous festivals.
The OL remains the OL regardless of which container he uses. I only use Reito's name because Reito is the current container.
Mai's fate was to become the OL's wife, Tate was just there to get her emotions flowing and produce a strong HiME. The stronger the emotions the more power the OL receives once the festival is over. But since Mai refused him he now has to defeat her and fall back on his alternate plan. This is where Mikoto comes into play. But unfortunatly this time Mikoto likes Mai and has sworn to protect her.

Ronbo: The main problem I see with this approach is the pillar count - because by now, there wouldn't have been a "plan b" in the past. It's only in this festival due to Alyssa that even though 11 pillars are up, 2 HiMEs are left standing. And the "Mikoto-pillar-even-though-she's-obviously-an-active-HiME" theories somehow don't strike me as too convincing...

Assuming SS translations were accurate. Nagi and OL both comment on how the fake hime caused all sorts of problems for the current festival.

btw, did anyone else notice that Nagi seemed to have a tone of respect/admiration for Mai as she was entering the area where Mashiro is imprisoned? I certainly didn't expect that. ^^

eagerly awaiting the finale, I think Sunrise should finish it off pretty good.. if not I'll be one annoyed fan :/

I wonder what was the meaning of scene, where Mikoto was standing and crying over old man who she defeated. She said she had to kill him, although he was her loved one, isn't his soul in Mikoto's pillar (I don't believe in Nagi's mistake, he is the one who has always the best information after all)? I may be wrong, but Mikoto's inability to summon hers own child and her words "it is a gift from my brother (child)" may have some special meaning here. Well, maybe necklace she has contains also some life energy of OL, I mean she acts sometimes like possessed one (she has red eyes then, doesn't she?).
About Shizuru I have my own view on her personality, but it looks like hers character is "a bit" screwed (in terms of development), they made her looks like she was some crazy lesbo, who has complete fixation over Natsuki and because she was thrown away she destroys everything she doesn't like, I mean there is way too huge gap between hers earlier behaviour and recent one (before "incident" with Haruka she behaved quite well, I don't remember her being sadistic even once - she didn't even kill Nao, when she knew Natsuki won't see it)or did I miss something?

i just wanna point out a small thing about nagi.

the part where he said (when mai was going into the 'shrine' area) he said that Mai's his favourite HiMe ever. But when he said "Mai Hime" in the very end, I don't think it should be translated as "Mai HiMe" or "My Hime". I think Nagi meant "my princess" (sound: mai hime) instead. Just a pun.

Has anyone else noticed this?

MarmoO: Keep in mind that pillars only rise when the HiME's _child_ is killed and the MVP is greensparked. If the MVP is killed the "normal" way, nothing happens.

And there is no such thing as a "Mikoto pillar", there's only one extra. Nagi never said anything about Mikoto, that was only Mai's assumption.

If you disregard Alyssa as counting my theory works just fine. My theory is based on the idea that one of the pillars belongs to Mikoto and has always belonged to her. Tho OL uses this ploy to put a ringer into the festival that works just for him.

I''ve noticed one factor people are ignoring when analyzing Shizuru's mental instability, Nagi and Reito. Considering they happily use her as a proxy to take out a couple HiME and the First District, I just wonder what role they played in making her snap.

On the subject of the pillars, I think the extra one Nagi points out does in fact belong to Mikoto. If one buys into the assertion that Alyssa was a fake HiME, then the argument could be made that a pillar would not rise with her defeat, being that she was not part of the designated twelve. Considering that a HiME loses part of herself and MIP to a pillar when defeated, Alyssa's forfeited soul/energy/karma/feelings/whatever from her defeat would have to take on a disembodied state. This disembodied state was represented by the energy swirls Miyu.

Back to Mikoto, she was defeated when BBQed by Kagutsuchi back when Akira was defeated and Mai went postal. So a pillar rose, but since her MIP was the Prince of Darkness, he was able to cheat green sparkly-fu. Couple points to support this. One of these is that Mikoto is a whole less outgoing in the current arc when compared to the rest of the series, kinda like she's missing a good part of her soul. The other is when Reito hunches over in pain during the latest ep. This could very well be whatever power he's using to prevent going green sparkly is starting to diminish.

A few things on Miyu. She was not Alyssa's MIP because Alyssa thought of the SEARRS chairman as a father figure and valued him more. Plus while I think she appreciated Miyu's help and company, I think that she veiwed Miyu as more of a tool for her goals than anything else. IMO Miyu's appeal among fans is that as much as being a badass as well as being one of more caring characters. So in other words, she's just a cool character. While it may have been a bit cheesy, I kinda liked her multiple weapons and outfit color changes.

There are always 12 HiME that fight in the festival until only 1 is left. This makes the pillar count and the number of HiME's match. Eleven of each. After the first festival we now have an OL and one HiME left. With his new found power he gives this HiME eternal life and a role to play in the next festival. (there was nothing in the rule book that says he can't do this) The next festival comes along and now only 11 HiME's are needed instead of 12. 11 new ones and his ringer make 12. 11 pillars need to go up but with his ringer included only 10 actually need to rise. The OL raises the 11th pillar once the festival has gotten underway so that no one really notices an extra pillar has risen. I'm sure he could spare enough energy to do this.

When Mashiro said "you did it again" after seeing Mikoto come to his defense, she could just as easily have said "you cheating S.O.B" in reference to his use of Mikoto to survive. Something that she is most familiar with since he used the same tactics on her.

If Mikoto's role in all of this is not as I have described then why was the OL not surprised to see that she was still around after the gate was opened? I think it's because Mikoto has always been part of his plan to remain the OL.

This time we have Alyssa to consider. Did she or didn't she count as a HiME and one of the pillars? It doesn't really matter in my theory. If she did count then the OL was able to get his pillar up without using any of his power. If she didn't count then nothing changes. The end results still remain the same.

Wow. Time to inject some sense into these opinions.

For obvious reasons, Alyssa doesn't and shouldn't count. Because if you can make one, why not two, three or five-hundred fake HiMEs and have them all generate pillars? The whole Festival, the destiny of the HiME and the fate of the red star becomes a joke. Duh.

Assuming Mikoto is a real HiME and not some sort of wierd proxy operator for the OL, her element would have disapeared when she was hit by Kagustuchi, but we clearly see it embedded in the ground following the blast. Of course by this point, I have lost all faith in the anime producers at writing something in internally consistent and logical manner, so anything is possible I guess.

And Akane was so deeply in with Kazu that she immediately had a psychological collpase following his demise. Saying that this is due to suprise, etc, is just being silly and making excuses for the writers who decided to pull one out of the backsides for the final arc. The scene should be taken at face value -- the loss of her beloved made her go crazy. The love that was so strong it was all they ever did or talked about between those two. Are we to believe this is so much weaker than Shizuru's unrequited lust, etc? We can't, and no one would think it.

And so we head to the grand finale...

I would imagine the actions of Miyu are going to dematerialize the pillars, thus freeing the life-energy trapped within them. There is of course no guarantee that the freed life-energy will re-materialize into people again, but perhaps some transitive rule applies..who knows? My offhand guess is they need to be guided back into what they were, and Mai as the Crystal Princess could probably do that given her compassion for everyone.

By now I think the spare pillar is in fact Alyssa's. Mikoto still stands while all other Hime save Mai have fallen. That Miyu detected some trace of Alyssa's life-energy seems to support this. The pillar, while not Alyssa herself, could contain the essence of the man who remembers her most fondly, and the memories one holds for another are at the core of the story. Alyssa is dead, but the memory of her is not, thus a trace of her remains.

I can only speculate that Mikoto perishes on Reito's blade when she defies her brother and steps in front of Mai during his attack. Likewise, I think the OL gets his goose cooked when the thing that binds him to Reito--probably the emotional link between he and Mikoto (as evidenced by the winking pendants) is broken. The OL visibly suffered a weakening of strength at the same moment Mikoto was crying in her ramen over some fond remembrance of Mai. When he is permanently replaced in Mikoto's heart by Mai, he loses his hold on his 'container'. With him gone or otherwise incapacitated, it then falls to Mai to set what she can of the world to rights.

I don't see a giddy-happy ending happening; it would short-sell the writer's efforts up to this point. If anything, I think some or all of the lost Himes and lost MIPs will remain lost, and that Mikoto, Mai and Reito will not survive. The world will survive, however, and be free from the cycle of the festival. It all depends on what it means to "manipulate the power of the Hime star."

As always, taken with a grain of salt...

yeah, i think the cycle of the festival will be broken, but i'm not too optimistic about Mai. although all the MIP may return (or may be not ).. it would be a more dramatic ending with everyone forgetting about Mai and all the memories. although it would be a shame considering natsuki's new found friendship with mai.. i really don't know anymore. but i'd like to see shizuru and natsuki revived.

Shizuru fully realized her what her feelings are and was willing to be an extremist demon.

Akane's love was the pure romantic INNOCENT love

So, no, unfortunately not much EXTREMITY in that.

Hmm, while the love that Akane and Shizuru displayed are completely different, the intensity of both love are quite equal. Pure/innocent love can be as intense as extreme/obsessive love. The only thing that is different is the way in which each love is expressed.

hi, i've been reading this site, and i think its great. this is the first time i'm posting a comment, tho! cos i want to say a few things, and i have no idea where mai hime forums are.

i havent seen that many speculations on what the *basis* for this entire festival is about, but to me that is the key to understanding the whole anime. the reason, why there are so many speculations just one episode before the conclusion, is that the underlying *reason* for all this madness is still very very unclear. The writers have refused to give anything concrete away until now.

what *is* the hime star? who or *what* are the hime's, the OL, nagi, the crystal princess? what are orphans and childs? why is the first district called the first district? what is this ancient contract that has led to cycle after cycle of ikusahime?

i don't know japanese, so all my opinions will be based on the SS translations and this sounds more ridiculous now that i am going to type it out, but i think that the original OL and Nagi and Himes (and their childs and orphans) were aliens come to earth somehow by the power of the Hime Star. I base this on the fact that 'normal' humans in the anime have no powers at all; that the himes and the OL co. are indeed a breed apart.

i'm guessing that the 'materialising' bit of the HiME acronym comes from the aliens' ability, technological or magical or both, to manifest physical objects from their emotions. i'm guessing that the Star has this same ability, only on a massive scale, and it leads to disasters on earth. and with this ability, comes the power to shift souls into vessels, hence the OLs, Nagis, and childs/orphans immortality.

i'm thinking that, from the way the Star gets larger in the anime, that for some reason, the HiME star will actually *crash* into the earth every 300 years if not for the ikusahime festival.

i'm speculating that a long time ago, a multiple of 300 years ago, the HiME Star, an alien vessel or entity of some sort, was going to crash into the earth and destroy it. because the kagutsuchi, OL etc names are apparently retained every festival, i think that these entities were also present at the first meeting between the HiME star and humans.

some ancient contract was then made, between humans and aliens. for the humans, apocalypse would be averted if they kept their end of the bargain. not only that, but the 'materialising' power of the himes would be available to them once every 300 years, and make their nation strong.

from what the old women the first district said, i'm guessing that the aliens first met some ancient japanese ladies, and they formed the very first district.

and again I guess, that the first crystal princess was either a First District lady, and that she was endowed with HiME powers; or an alien herself. the very first himes were then endowed in the same way to act as bodyguards, or they might be children of the first OL and CP.

i think there must be a genetic link of some sorts through the ages for himes, seeing as well, they are all japanese, save for the fake hime alyssa. why has it only been now that a fake could be created? because perhaps, it is only now that the SEARSS foundation has been able to successfully mimic the genetic imprint of a hime.

hence i agree with others who say that the biggest anomaly of this festival is alyssa, rather than mai. the latter , a kagutsuchi user, is after all remembered by reito OL as an image of mashiro, indicating they are not that different.

what i really am uncertain about is what the advantage is for the aliens (ie the OL, and Nagi and orphans etc. ) so the OL gets a 'bride' every 300 years. but this wouldn't be much good to the OL, cos the winner of the festival gets locked in a bubble of water.

its also established that the OL and Nagi are two sadistic creatures. i assume that it was not these two who want to save the world. rather, it has to be the crystal princess.

if the crystal princess was a human at first, this would make more sense. a scenario would be as such.

long ago, the hime star came close to earth, bringing with it disaster. along with it came the obsidian lord, nagi, and Kagutsuchi et. al., all in Orphan-like form. however, the OL then possessed a human vessel, and came to know the very first, human Crystal Princess. Perhaps then either one or both betrayed the other's feelings.

Either that, or the hime star is a galatic phenomenon that *has* to come around every 300 years. either way, an ancient (and sadistic) contract is formed in which the hime's powers are realised through their suffering, and then used to control the hime star. to prevent it from destroying the earth, to use it to empower japan, and send it off on the next 300 year cycle.

kagutsuchi et. al. then attain their current forms through their materialisation via the human/alien himes.

as a side point, there was a little debate over kagutsuchi's, duran's, etc power compared to the size of the hime's emotions. i think that not all orphans are created equal, and that kagutsuchi *is* one of the most powerful among them, even originally. the power of the hime emotion is then the *next* determining factor in the child's size and strength.

if anyone suffered through my long-winded post, please comment. thanks!

I'd say Shizuru's intensity of love is much higher, purely on the basis of Kiyohime's size *ducks*

Diana is very big in size but very useless in fight. Does that mean Yukino's love for Haruka is any less? I highly doubt it. Yukino has loved Haruka for as long as, if not longer than Shizuru's love for Natsuki. Nao loves her mother such much to the point that she lashes out on every single guy that she encounters to exact her revenge. That doesn't make Julia any bigger.

And do you really see the plausibility of Kiyohime being any smaller than its current size? Ditto with Kagutsuchi? I highly doubt that. Some of the children are already large to begin with. Imagining Kiyohime the size of the original Duran makes the presence of the creature less powerful and ridiculous. I have to agree with those who says that the writers only use size when it's purely convenient for them to do so such as in the case of Mai and Natsuki. There has been no consistency in the correlation between the size and the emotion of the HiMEs because how do you measure the strength of one's love?

Let me put it in a real life context: does your love for your precious person, be it your parents/significant other is any less than the love of a crazy stalker who's been following you? Is an act of insanity a proof of a more intense love? Not necessarily. The only thing that insanity proves is that the person has lost handle on reality.

To say there has been no correlation isn't true, the case with Duran is one example. Perhaps it is only for the writer's convenience, but i would like to believe that the original dinkiness and subsequent hugeness of Duran was planned.

However, I think that without knowing the *original* size and strength of the childs, it is difficult to judge exactly how the correlation goes. i would say that kagutsuchi was one of the largest and most powerful no matter what.

There hasnt been as much of a change in the strength emotions of the other himes for their MVPs... for akira and mai, even though there was a switch of MVP, the strength of the emotion was perhaps not so different.

the case with mikoto, however, is different... i don't know why her child appeared only after she met ani-ue.

Perhaps the size thing has more to do with the hime's ability to recognize and accept their feelings; after all, most of the himes have some form of difficulty in admitting their feelings about their MVP, or in accepting their Child, or etc.

how about ...

Child growth depends on "omoi" of HiME, but that doesn't mean "omoi" alone.
Child have theirs own power factor, Dhuran grow as "omoi" of Natsuki grow.
Of course, Harrry (or Hurry ??) has chance to grow too if it not die in the first episode it make apperance. Just that it already weak from the begining

make more sense ?

(bah! my grammar suck!! sorry)

Well, I'll say that each child definitely has their own specific strength. Some are definitely equipped with ginarmous size and strength right from the start. Examples of these are Kagutsuchi and Kiyohime. Others, on the other hand, are equipped with strategic/tactical advantage (ie. St.Brass, Diana). This is why I say the size has nothing to do with the intensity of the HiME's love.

However, I think that the feelings of the HiMEs get to influence the ability of each child to evolve. That means Duran's physical upgrade is actually an evolution and not a size change. Other children don't necessarily get to become bigger as well when the feeling of their HiME change. For example, Kagutsuchi turned into a propeller jet in episode 15 because of Mai's desire to protect everyone. Note that Kagutsuchi didn't become any bigger there. He simply evolved.

Meanwhile, I haven't seen Kiyohime evolved into anything at all, so I disagree with the argument that the creature's size is an indication that Shizuru's love is more intense that other HiMEs' love.

We know where the name Kiyohime came from, but what about the other children? Do their name have any other meanings? (ie. Dhuran was Natsuki's pet)

I'd try to stick with the few precious facts we have.

Fact 1: When Artemis was destroyed, Alyssa's father greensparked. All the talk about fake HiME notwithstanding, she was obviously "real" enough to have the child-death-penalty rule kicking in.

Fact 2: In the last episode Nagi explained that the pillars rise when the life force of the defeated HiMEs' MVPs are sucked away.

When you combine these two simple facts, I find it only logical that the extra pillar represents Alyssa, more exactly the SEARRS chairman.

But let's wait and see ^_^

Kagutsuchi = Japanese God of Fire.

I haven't bothered looking at any of the other children but for the most part think that is probably the only other significant one.

I think the size of a person's child has to do with the "owner's" zeal, confidence, and self-esteem, and the animal that the child is maches the owner's personality. For example, Natsuki was always a loner, so her child is the wolf. Sister was strong yet gentle, so she gets the horse. Yukino (Haruka's assistant) was the shy introverted thinker, so she has a creature that lives underground and only is able to observe the surroundings. Nao was deceptive and rebellious, so she had the spider.

I think the childs learned from each other. Kat. picked up the laser kind of fire after he defeated Artemis, and Kiyohime had a spitting goo attack after defeating Julia. We had not seen those creatures perform such attacks until they defeated other children.

Anyway, the extra pillar may be the SEARRS chairman, but we never saw it rise after he greensparked. So it's either that or a fake.

I think Mashiro planted the secret program in Miyu. Alyssa's calls were also made by Mashiro, to lure Miyu into the cave. Miyu would unleash that tremendous power source to kill Nagi. The edges of the explosion had the same rainbow bands as when Mashiro took on Reito/KNK and we saw the power emanations from a distance.

I still believe that Mikoto has always been by the OL's side and used as a tool to insure that he always remained in power. That the extra pillar belongs to her and the OL, not Alyssa. Nagi himself called Alyssa a fake HiME and if anyone would know he would.

Right after the OL suffers a chest pain he seeks out Mikoto to find out what's wrong. He finds her crying and then reassures her.
Later he asks Mikoto if she knows her role and Mikoto replies that she does. He then instructs Nagi to annul the contract from the ancient times. In itself this may not mean much until you put it all into perspective.
There cannot be a contract between him and Mashiro since she refused to become his wife, so that only leaves one other person it could apply to. That person is Mikoto! If the OL realized that Mikoto could be a liability this time then cutting any ties he has with her is just another way for him to protect himself.
He asked Mikoto if she knew her role instead of telling her what her part in his play was. This to me indicates that this is a role she has played previously at least once, maybe even several times. Once he was assured that she would play the part as she always had, he then cut all ties that bound them together.

I don't know if this has been suggested previously, but could it be possible that when they said the size of the Child depends on their master's feelings for their MVP, it means the size relative to their original size. So for example, Dhuran's size increase was obvious as it used to be quite small. But say if Kiyohime was to 'evolve' it'd go even bigger. But the fact that Kiyohime is still the same size, I tend to lean towards the theory that size is also largely dependent on the master's recognition of those feelings. And yet I could argue with myself on that point with the fact that Gennai didn't gain any pounds even after Akira admitted her feelings to both herself and Takumi. (On that note, why are there no Akira/Takumi shrines, why are there no Akira/Takumi mentions here, could it be that no-one cares about this beloved coupling).

Call me dumb, but I'm still not really understanding that part about Natsuki having a dead person as her MVP. It makes sense that the Child draws upon the master's feelings/memories rather than the physical presence of the MVP. But I still don't understand what would happen if that person's Child is defeated. Where would the life force be sucked from?

While we all agree that Miyu will undoubtedly play a vital role in the finale, it is also my guess that SEARRS itself will play a part. I may be wrong, but my theory comes from the mentality that the SEARRS arc (one out of two arcs) was written more than for just dramtic purposes and character development. It seems logical that it should contribute something plotwise in such a short series. But then one may argue that it's fulfilled that responsibility by providng Miyu.

Can anyone tell that I just keep argueing with myself?

I'm actually thinking that Miyu's role in this series is over. The destruction of the pillars and the energy released may have been her only task to fulfill. With the contract between the OL and Mikoto annulled Mikoto's original emotions (her true conscious) may return to her now that they have been released.

Lol. As you can tell, I'm not very good at piecing things together. The reason why I thought Miyu will have a vital role is that there seems to be such a build up of her character. If, as you say, that was her only role, then it seems kinda pathetic to go through all that trouble to reactivate her.

I've scrutinized the preview over and over again but all I got out of it was that there'll be a major showdown. And even that's a fact we all knew before seeing that preview. So basically I got zilch out of it. Plz, someone give some insight if you managed to make more out of it than me.

wow. there sure are alot of comments here! guess one more won't hurt!

well, i'd like to talk bout Reito's charm, which seemed to cause him hurt in the previous episodes. i was wondering what would cause the charm to light up.

mikoto's charm lights up when she remembers what her anuie taught her, that is to defeat ur enemies.

however, for reito, i'm hoping its somethign different. say, like his real Reito personality is struggling with the Lord personality. (i really liked the old reito ^^)

well, according to what u said that Reito is totally off the rocker. i guess he won't be back to his old personality anytime soon.

The charm that you are refering to is the link between the OL and Mikoto. This is what in my opinion contracturaly binds the two of them together with a single life force. Now that the contract has been annuled we might actually get to see Mikoto's true powers and not just those that the OL has been providing to her.

Knowledge is power. Akane lacked the knowledge. She had no idea what she was putting on risk, and thus it wasn't a real gamble for her.

Yukino as you might noticed is always hesitant. Like I said, she's timid and likes to put herself in a safe zone.

Diana is a medium sized Child, btw. On par with Julia, Gakutenou, Vrus, ect.

Knowledge is only a power when you know a lot more than what others know or a least the entire story. Where's the advantage of knowing what all of the other HiMEs already know? None whatsoever. Add to this, Shizuru was on the brink of insanity and can only focus on a single thing and never stop to consider the consequences of her action (ie.Natsuki can disappear if she lost). She's actually worse than Akane. She's on Shiho's level. Both girls know the consequences and yet can't be bothered to think things through. That's not bravery. That's plain stupidity. They're lucky they got stronger and more powerful children instead of one of those useless types. But as proven, sooner or later they run out of luck.

I don't why, but I always seem to have a communication problem with people.

The advantage of the knowledge is you're risking everything knowingly.

Should a Hime choose go down a dark path even with it's incredibly unfair setup, that marks the amount of her resolve.

Shiho's problem is, and as Nagi said, she chose to forget things she didn't want. It was more a child -like impulse.

Shizuru is closer to an extremist. Her mindset is closer to that of a terrorist, and yes, despite the negativity it does make your child stronger.

The difference between Shizuru and Yukino / Shiho / Yukariko is... Shizuru has no regret and will do the same thing twice, while smiling and in elegant Kyoto-ben.

I have to agree with Garten about how stupid the Himes were sometimes. Especially the ones who should have known better.

From the very beginning they made many bad choices. Natsuki goes to teach Nao a lesson and ends up hurting Nao. Was she thinking that she could beat Nao without somebody getting hurt or at worse an MIP dying? Given what is at stake during any fight, you'd think people would fight only as a last resort --- not because of some self righteous crusade. Why didn't she wait for backup?

Mikoto has always been a child, but Mai was even more immature by directing her frustraction at Mikoto all the time. Instead of keeping Mikoto closer, she chases her off by ripping her each and everytime Mikoto does anything. At that time, I actually felt more sorry for Mikoto than Mai. And even when Takumi died, Mai's behavior had erased any sympathy I might have had for her.

Shizuru though is understandable in her madness. She didn't think she had anything to lose. Natsuki was recoiling and screamed the when she tried to touch her face at the hide-away. Obvously, Nagi must have told her something to manipulate her into her predicament.

The only characters who seemed to be thinking were Midori, Reito, Nagi, Miyu and the Crystal Princess IMO.

But the stupidity wasn't limited to the Himes. Tate is one of the most annoying characters. I was especially pissed when he called to Mai when Mai was fighting Shiho's child on the bridge --- really smart. If you care about someone, I guess the smartest thing to do is to distract them during a life and death situation.

Well, well. They're all supposed to be just school kids so maybe this is how some people might actually act.

Of course Alyssa's voice was there. After all, the remains of her important person are in that extra pillar, and we KNOW it wasn't Mikoto after all because she showed up later, riding in on what is most likely her child.

Also, about Mikoto's child...I do believe it's her actual child, and I think she couldn't summon it until she met her brother because it wasn't until just before then when she fought with Mai that she realized how much she loved Mai. Therefore, with that realization came the ability to summon her child.

There has been nothing in the show that suggests Kiyohime feeds on the negativity that Shizuru emits. I remember Nagi said something like that about Yatagarasu. But that doesn't mean Kiyohime is capable of doing the same.

If being aggressive/having negative emotions makes your children stronger, then one would think that Nao's children will become stronger because she continually attacks other HiMEs from time to time. But No, she's continually owned by various HiMEs.

Similarly, with that kind of logic, one would think that Kagutsuchi will become weaker because Mai has been on the fence most of the time. But again, so far Kagutsuchi remains the strongest children in the story. The fact is, you can't just conclude that Shizuru's negativity makes her child stronger when there are proof that contradicts that theory.

I really have to question whether or not the HiME were really that "stupid" as couple people here contend.

What was the tipping point that pushed Shizuru over the edge? For most of the series her emotions were kept in check because she was a very calm and collected person. Not to mention she also exercised tight restraint on when she used her powers up until around ep. 21. I would contend that she was manipulated by someone.

Shiho's Child was one that fed off of negativity. Again another case of manipulation and not really a case of personal judgement .

Wasn't it established that Natsuki never took a shot at Nao and that the entire incident was setup by the art teacher?

Mikoto did attach herself to Mai and cosequently Mai had to look after her like a mother would do with a child. It really wasn't until after the SEARRS reenactment of the Bay of Pigs invasion that Mai was abrasive with Mikoto. At that time the stress was starting to building up on Mai...

I wouldn't categorize Midori in the "thinking" category because she had her share of mistakes. She provoked Nao to destroy a building that nearly killed a few HiME in an early episode. The cooking competition wasn't the best of ideas either...

Come to think about it, do any of you guys and gals lead a life where eveything is done in an absolute perfect manner? Why would we expect anime characters to be perfect?

I don't see what Shizuru is doing as "stupid". If you define Natsuki as her very first priority come hell or high water, her actions are perfectly logical. She's just extreme and totally without restraint in what she is doing - and this also gives a logical explanation for the size of her child. Her obsessive love for Natsuki is so extreme that it overrules her usually controlled and smart behaviour in other things, which we have witnessed from all episodes prior to 21.

Likewise, Kiyohime doesn't feast on negativity. Shizuru isn't driven by hate. The excessive infatuation with Natsuki (omoi) is what is making Kiyohime powerful and lets Shizuru act without moral checks. That's nothing really new by the way. This is what she herself explained early on, and it's making perfect sense.

I think... Miyu's destroying of the pillars might revive the fallen MVPs. That's just thinking though. Since the pillars were erected by drawing the life force of the MVPs, destroying them might return the lives of those... perhaps that was Mashiro's plan?

Also, I was surprised to learn that the Children were passed on from generation of HiMEs to the next. I'm not even sure now if Natsuki's naming her real dog Dhuran is a coincidence or something... puzzling, puzzling.

And I agree with you that the Natsuki-Shizuru ending was great... The disappearing with the wind was just a fantastic effect. I was ecstatic when Mega-Dhuran was summoned, but then... Natsuki HAD to die. (sob)

And, oh yeah, I think it's my first time commenting here, so great job with your reviews, it really helps me understand the episodes more. Nice site, keep up the good work!

I would say not only the MVPs, but in some way the himes as well. After all, judging by the fact that every defeated HiME so far had a permanent breakdown/collapse after the death of their child and MVP, along with Miyu seeing Alyssa's soul at the HiME shrine, it looks like those pillars also probably contain at least part of the souls of each of the corresponding HiMEs.

Actually, I think only the winning Child passes on to the next festival. Hence why Kagatsuchi was the only Child that was sealed.

Besides, can you really see a Revolver Wolf running around in Mideival Japan?

That'd be just odd.

Think about oddness.
300 years ago, Japan.
I wonder if "HiME" is just "Hime" which mean princess.

If Mikoto was part of the festival why does the OL call Mai the winner when Mikoto is there with him in the cavern? Seems to me like he would have to wait until after Mai and Mikoto battle to make that statement.

I think the OL is keeping Mikoto alive because if he did not , he would not exist. Mikoto was raised to serve her brother/OL and consequently her MIP is the OL. There have been two instances where Mikoto could have been written off, eps 20 (iirc) and 25. Unless Nagi or the OL was able to freeze time or teleported her, she was flame broiled by Kagutsuchi. Then with the most recent ep Nagi hinted to Mai that Mikoto and Miyu finished their duel. Seeing that Miyu was still around to attack Nagi later in the ep, the duel either ended in a draw or with Mikoto losing.

As posted earlier I believe that the OL can ressurect fallen HiME. Plus someone also mentioned that the ancient contract mentioned in this ep could very well be between Mikoto and the OL

out of my love for Mai-HiME,I boycotted all the blogs that did MH so i didn't spoil myself which explains on my blog entry being my whole personal opinion.

anyways,I'm ignoring the 95 comments before me for now, it's hard to read :p.

on your entry, I agree on a lot of points esp. Mai-Natsuki bonding, Aoi-Chie-Mai farewell and your point of MH being all about feelings.

As for the fights, they're OK to me, but I'm biased now so maybe it'll change.perhaps when i watch more anime :p.

Anyways, on to the finale.I'll have to wait for a few days after it comes out though. Dial-up is bad for downloading anime :p.

I have a question from like episode 20 which has been bugging me. When they carried off Akira at the beginning of the ep, were those people actually her ninja clan accomplices or were they the same first-district-people-faking-to-be-police who delivered Akane to an insane asylum?

If you watch the scene very closely, you'll see that Akira is carried off by ninjas ;) ... so it's her clanmates.

(QUOTE) As posted earlier I believe that the OL can ressurect fallen HiME. Plus someone also mentioned that the ancient contract mentioned in this ep could very well be between Mikoto and the OL (QUOTE)

That's part of my theory that everyone is having a hard time understanding.

>> If being aggressive/having negative emotions makes your children stronger,

No, not really. It's not the aggresiveness it's the intensity. Drawing power from omoi isn't exactly new, Goku has been doing that since Dragon Ball. The difference is, Shizuru feeds off the dark side of the force. Love has many faces.

To quote the recent show Kannaduki no Miko,
"Love is a different form of ego. It's the desire to possess another masked in a beautiful flowery word"

>> then one would think that Nao's children will become stronger because she continually attacks other HiMEs from time to time. But No, she's continually owned by various HiMEs.

She didn't do it for her mother. She mostly did it as a statement to the world. Now, if she was in Evangelion she would be freakishly strong. XD

>>Similarly, with that kind of logic, one would think that Kagutsuchi will become weaker because Mai has been on the fence most of the time. But again, so far Kagutsuchi remains the strongest children in the story. The fact is, you can't just conclude that Shizuru's negativity makes her child stronger when there are proof that contradicts that theory.

No no no, it's the intensity. Mai has an intense love.. for everyone. She is overconsiderate, often at the cost of her own. In fact that's how she defines herself throughout most of the series. However, I'll agree with you in the case of Kagutsuchi as a law breaker from the start. After all, it's the only Child that was sealed.

Not going to get into any predictions or thoughts of how the series is going to end (we should all know soon enough with the RAW due out either later tonight or sometime tomorrow, hopefully), but I just wanted to express something that nobody has really touched on about this episode.

Beyond all of the Natsuki/Shizuru, Mikoto/Miyu, Mai/OL coupling in this episode, the most poignant part of what happened here was the sheer amount of loneliness and ominous inevitiability displayed by both the artwork and the story. When Mai says good-bye to Aoi and Chie, the color tone of the scene just screams desolation and loneliness. After all, Fuuka Gakuen was once a place so green and bright, so full of students; even when early things were happening, there was a bright and cheery atmosphere to things. True, this made the series a bit typical compared to other series at the time, but those episodes were needed to set up the emotional punch we've witnessed in the second half of the series.

Funny how a series can go from something I was just watching for the humor to something I'm seriously interested and invested in as things come to the end.

After intensive scrutinizing of all the posts , mai-hime has given me a never-experienced complexity of all the anime I have ever encounter. I hate Sunrise for making such an awsome debatable series!
Anyway, get to the point. I will start with Alyssa.
Alyssa is a fake hime, sure you all aware of this ideal. I personally agree with the idea that Alyssa was made as a genetic copy of one of the Himes (From skyz69, I think). Why would Searrs only made one copy of Hime? One, it could be money problem (altough no evidence). Two, it could be a experiment. Three, there was another plan. The third reason seems to fit logically. Ever since the appearance of John Smith, he revealed that Searrs foundation's original plan was to chase after OP(Reito). Alyssa was used as a bait, wether their plan was sucsessful or not will not do a harm. After Searrs made an annoucement that Miyu was gone, it might caught OP and Nagi off guard. Searrs probably planned on a sudden-suprise attack after resue Miyu, that's why they were desperately searching for her. But it was all ruined since Mashiro took a step ahead.

About the extra pillar, it was not Alyssa-chan's. Someone mentioned that Alyssa's MIP (who she considered a "father".) went green sparkles after her child was demolished by Kagutsuchi, I've also award of that. However, Alyssa's pillar never rised. There was no evidence to prove why, but my theory was that it might due to the genetic error while creating Alyssa. Hime's child will always link to her MIP, but Searr's scientific technology was not perfect enough to rise the pillar. Anyway, the first pillar that Mai (and her crew) saw was Akane's. After Alyssa was defeated by Mai, if Alyssa did have a pillar-chance, Alyssa's pillar would raise. Chronologially, Akira's pillar would be the "third" one that arised, however it was not if you recall that episode. Follow my logic, thus explains why when Mai saw the extra pillar, she called out "Miko...to".

As for Mikoto, I keep on getting a sense that Miroku is not Mikoto's Child, previous threads discussed it before. Intresting thing about Miroku is that it is THERE ALL THE TIME. She has to CARRY IT AROUND. I don't want to use the term "disappear" because it may bring confusion as to "sparkles". In other words, they way Mikoto summons Miroku is different from all other Himes. To summon a child requires "feeling". When Mikoto was young, she was taught to suki("love, like, ") her brother only and never experienced the true meaning of it. When Yukino taught her the basic meaning of "suki", Mikoto realized only the basic feeling but was not strong enough to supress the "taught" feeling of her brother. My guess was that Mikoto indeed "died" when blasted by Kagutsuchi and her pillar rised. But somehow OP brought her back, and reborned. When she reborned, she began to concern more about the lost of Mai and the meaning to "suki" someone. Thus, her child was summonned subconsiously, even though she thought the child was also granted by OP but it was not. Mikoto, who also has a Hime-tatoo, is a REAL hime that can RAISE the pillar. I see no reason why the pillar wasn't hers. In the case of Alyssa, when Miyu heard Alyssa's voice, she destoryed not THE PILLAR but THE PLATFORM of the pillars. I've got a feeling that it was also part of Mashiro's plan, probably hid Alyssa somewhere in there. If Miyu visited the lake and found Alyssa missing, Miyu will definitly trace Alyssa down until the end of the world. Thus, as Mashiro planned, Miyu with her power exploded the underground cave and end the festival. Mwahahaha.

Moving on the size of the child. I agree that each child has it own size and power, thus explains the unique characteristic every single one of them holds. Size and power of a child can increase or decrease due to the heart of its owner, like the mega-Dhuran. Shizuru's Kiyohime didn't decrease because she still loves Natsuki at that point. Also, hime's feeling can disturb the obediance of the child. Take Kagutsuchi for example, it blasted Mikoto right after Mai's woke up from her insanity, caused Kagutsuchi to disobey. Natsuki couldn't call out Dhuran because she lost her faith in her mother. Again, feeling makes the world go round~.

As for all the Natsuki and Shizuru deal. Sign, what can I say. At least Shizuru was happy what Natsuki did not hate her and died happily. They are eachother's MIP after all. I am very satified, at least I want to see them back in the final episode. Anyway, when Natsuki said "But, I can't return the same feeling to you...", she could be 1) Afraid to understand love, 2) Not ready to have any relationship with Shizuru just yet, 3) Did not notice her true feeling (frienddship or beyoung close friend....). What really annoys me was after that, Natsuki then said: "I also like/love you, Shizuru." What did she meant anyway?! Natsuki also likes Shizuru the way Shizuru likes her? Shizuru LOVES, LOVES, LOVES you, Kuga-san!!! Do you mean that you confess yourself??:D Is that why Shizuru blushed when she heard that?? I guess I will have to blackmail Mai to bring you two back to the show, huh?

However, Alyssa's pillar never rised.

You can't make that assumption.

All evidence points towards the extra pillar being from Alyssa's father. If it IS from Mikoto, who exactly died to have it raise?

We don't have any unaccounted for deaths between episodes 15 and 20.

Wasn't the first time the extra pillar was shown was around ep 22 or 23? Alyssa was defeated, iirc, in ep 16. None of the scenes in the pillar room between those eps ever showed that extra pillar.

The biggest unknown between eps 15 and 20 is what happened to Mikoto at the end of ep 20. This has to be accounted for plus why the extra pillar was after this incident before assigning it Alyssa.

OJ: No. Let me quote my comment about it from episode 23:

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Look at these two pictures, and you'll hopefully see what I'm basing my Alyssa theory on. This is the shot when Gennai died in ep20 (by then, Akane and Alyssa had lost)

http://www.earth-alliance.org/Memento/Mai_HiME/23/Gennai-pillars.png

There's a second pillar raised behind the middle one, and we can barely see the round top. Now look at the same picture once more when Midori lost in ep23:

http://www.earth-alliance.org/Memento/Mai_HiME/23/Midori-pillars.png

We can see that the pillars were near-perfect cylinders (check the 6-pillar frame I used in this description), but the middle one are actually two - or a very strangely deformed one.

Otherwise, there would have been new 2 pillars in the few minutes between Midori's and Yukino's defeat, and I really can't think of any reason for that.

I'm quite certain that the pillar is for Alyssa. In order for the extra pillar to be for Mikoto, the anime would have to give her a pillar under a completely different set of rules. Ie in all other cases it was HiME died or Child died.

The proof is in the images. In order for the Yukino pillar scene to be six then the previous pillar scene with Midori needs to be five. The very spot where a fifth pillar can be in the Midori pillar scene is the exact same spot as the Akira pillar scene. So since the Midori scene has to have five pillars then the Akira scene has to have three pillars by that logic. It's highly unlikely someone got defeated between the time of Midori's defeat and Yukino's defeat. Even in the case of Fumi's defeat, they gave us a hint of Mashiro about to be impaled and then in 23 showed us Mikoto's Child which probably defeated Mashiro. So I doubt they would have it so a defeat was never at least implied to the same level as Fumi's defeat was.

Storyline wise it makes sense that Alyssa could/would get one. It's a classic cliche. The robot becomes a real human. Well instead the artificial HiME manages to be treated like a real HiME. So if we go by cliches then Alyssa can work.

Perhaps Reito wants to use both Mikoto and Mai. Maybe let the world be destroyed. Let Mikoto take on the role of the Crystal Princess and then let Mai be his wife. Of course obviously while Mikoto is a willing puppet. Mai is stead fast ready to refuse again and again.

My ending expectations are realistic. I just want to see Mashiro's plans to end the festival succeed and of course if Mai has to be the one to defeat OL then burn him alive. Of course the only question is this. Would Mai be willing to do so? I mean she can easily hesitate even in the last episode. Mai is going to have to make a choice this time. She can't just spare him and hope for the best.

Frankly between the lighting and shadows, ornate random designs on the pillars, and pixelation resulting from the source material being compressed, it's very hard to tell if there is a pillar hiding behind another. We could easily spend hours analyzing the screencaps and arguing for either side.

By Saturday yesy will probably have 26 out, so we'll probably find out which person got a pillar then.

I'm beginning to think that the OL doesn't really want a new wife!
All he wants is someone to stick in that crystal for 300 years.
The winning HiME accepts him and he sticks her in a crystal for 300 years.
The winning HiME refuses him and he sticks her in a crystal for 300 years.
Either way they get stuck in that blasted crystal!

So who does he actually rule with?
Ruling monarchs always wear something to identify them as the King and the Queen.
From there it should be easy to figure out.

I can hardly say that Shizuru's action is logical, as in:

1. based on facts, clear rational thought, and sensible reasoning

2. able to think sensibly and come to a rational conclusion based on facts rather than emotion

Does Shizuru comes across as this kind of person during episode 23-25? Hardly. She lets her emotion run wild just like the rest of the HiMEs.

Let's see, there is this tournament where if you can kill other HiME's child, the MIP will disappear and vice versa. Do you as a rational person:

A. Try to avoid as much conflict as possible and only use your power when you are being attacked

OR

B. Attack as many HiME as possible and hope that you're not the one who's lost whilst in the battle.

Anyone with rational thoughts will know that as much as they'll have the chance to win, they will also have the chance to lose if you fight head on. Shizuru's action is understandable given the context of her situation (insanity) but it has never been logical. To gamble the life of the person that your claim to love is no longer a logical move in any sane person's mind.

To quote the recent show Kannaduki no Miko,"Love is a different form of ego. It's the desire to possess another masked in a beautiful flowery word"

0_0 Love is not an ego no matter how you look at it. It sounds like the writers on that show tried to pass off selfishness as love. If they think that love is about posession/forcing someone to be with them, then these people are seriously messed up and do not deserve the person they claim they love. No matter how you look at it, rape or even forcing someone to be with you is not love anymore.

As for whether or not the pillar belongs to Mikoto or Alyssa, I'll say that both are possibilities to me at the moment. Everyone already presented their argument for Alyssa's case, so I'll point out the possibility for Mikoto's. Bear in mind that all of these are just assumptions:

By the time Takumi died, there are indeed 3 pillars. Of course, the most natural assumption is that the pillar belongs to Alyssa since her MIP perished in episode 15. However, let's not forget that Reito's body got taken over by the OL around episode 19. My question is, where did the real Reito went? Where's his life force at the moment? If it's inside the pendant that the OL uses then once again the pillar still belongs to Alyssa.

However, there is also a possibility that when the OL took Reito's body, it automatically raised Mikoto's pillar since technically, her MIP, which I assume is Reito, is no longer exists inside his body. The only reason the shell can still walk around is because the OL is in command of it. Similarly, Mikoto can still function as a HiME under borrowed power from the OL. Please note that Mikoto starts to wear the same pendant that the OL used not long after Reito's body got taken over by OL. My guess is that the pendant gives her temporary power to perform her usual HiME abilities + now comes with the ability to summon a child.

Why does the OL want to do this? Well, judging from OL and Nagi's conversation from episode 24 to 25, it's obvious that this particular festival has been 'rigged' by the two to ensure that Mai comes out as the last HiME to survive the festival. At the same time, they also want to ensure that Mai does not have a lot of chance to refuse OL's offer to become his wife. This is why they eliminated her MIPs one by one. However, they did not expect that Mai will be able to summon Kagutsuchi just by using her memories of Tate.

Now, having said that, I think OL also has prepared a backup plan and that is Mikoto. In case that Mai refuses to rule the new world with him, he needs someone as powerful as Mai. This is where Mikoto comes in. She's simply being used as a pawn to defeat Mai. If this is the case, then next episode's battle between Mai and Mikoto is not a battle to determine the last HiME standing. Instead, this will simply be a battle to determine the world's fate. Mai wants to ensure that the OL doesn't get what he wants while Mikoto wants to protect the OL and consequently his interest.

Garten,

Looks like someone finally understood my theory. The only difference is that I think all of the festivals have been rigged up to and including the current one.

I don't see Shizuru's crusade as illogical. It's making perfect sense under those two assumptions:

1) The HiMElander _will_ end with only one HiME standing (so this one needs to be you)
2) The HiMEs can't form a non-aggression pact, because otherwise the HiME star kills them all.

Mix those two together and going on a killing spree is perfectly fine, as long as your "moral constraints" are off. That's what Shizuru confirmed herself when she said "If it's for the sake of your MVP, anything goes".

From her point of view, Natsuki is pretty much defenseless without her powers, so Shizuru is off to take out whoever opposes her. THAT in itself may be called insanity - fine - but it's not illogical.

1) The HiMElander _will_ end with only one HiME standing (so this one needs to be you)

Says the lying little boy called Nagi. One would think that someone who's supposed to be as intelligent as Shizuru would be less likely to believe this kid who's been lying from time to time. That's what I called using logic and intelligence.

And considering the fact that Shizuru already know about her HiME powers back from episode 13 or even longer (to the point that she can calm Sister), one would thought that she has more time to gather some data about the festival like Midori. That's not to mention that she had the time to get to know some people from Iwasaki Pharmaceutical.

2) The HiMEs can't form a non-aggression pact, because otherwise the HiME star kills them all.

The truth is, they don't even know the full detail as to how they can stop the HiME star. They don't even know that they must marry OL even after getting rid of all of the children. They just trust Nagi on face value. How many people do things because of the words of a stranger? I'd say no one. Because their logic prevent them from doing so.

Again, I must emphasise the part that this is the same little boy who can't be trusted right from the start. How is it logical to trust him after every single lies and non-truth that have came out of his mouth? Remember the Orphans? Whatever happened to them? How come no one bother to investigate their appearance and convenient disappearance? The only thing that they know is that according to Nagi, 'the orphans have disappeared' and in its place they know have big honking red star to fight.

Do you normally trust a person who has lied to you multiple times? Or will your logic prevail and say "Enough is enough, I can't trust that person?"

Garten,

I think you're onto something when it comes to the pillars, but I disagree on parts of your analysis on Shizuru.

Both options A and B are rational decisions in a situation where something is on the line. Being a casual student of military history and someone who plays paintball every so often, both approaches could be argued for rationally. The question is do you want take a direct or indirect route to the end?

In terms of the show, If you are one of the HiME with one of the powerhouse Children (i.e. Kagutsuchi or Kiyohime) option B could easily be implemented because you could easily outpower most opponents. Option A is a little bit more viable in a number of ways. If you have one of the more specialized Children (i.e. Diana or Julia) you have to be more discriminate on what you can do. No matter what Child one has, one could hope that by keeping a low profile that the rest of the HiME will ignore you while they battle each other. This would be utilized with the possibility of a win through attrition.

The most important thing to remember is that the Festival is something were a HiME either loses or wins. There is no middle ground or ways out of it.

OJ, I never claimed that what Shizuru has done is not understandable given the stress that the HiMEs underwent. However, it certainly is not what I classify as 'logical'. Especially not when there are other options available. There is certainly a middle ground with this case and that's why Miyu is now running around the school. It's because one of those HiMEs actually used a logic and refused to give in to hysteria.

And I don't actually single-out Shizuru in this particular issue. Most of the HiMEs who got embroiled in the battle don't use much of their logic. Which is understandable because as a human, your first instict will be that of self-preservation. What I'm arguing here is not what is understandable but rather whether or not the action was logical or not after considering all of the circumstances, especially Nagi's lies.

Garten: I don't think that this is the issue here - I've just been pointing out under which axioms Shizuru is currently operating IMHO, and under these circumstances her killing spree _is_ logical. Maybe "insane" by common sense standards, but consistent. Logic is about consistency, not common sense.

And even the common sense part is IMHO less clear than you make it. The crazy thing is that Nagi has _not_ been lying to the HiMEs in the past as far as I can remember. He has been manipulating them by commanding the orphans which coerced the HiMEs into their awakening and child pact - but no HiME knows that yet. But he hasn't been caught in a lie yet. And just the opposite, so far all of his predictions have been on the mark. Yes, he is a shady guy, but why would you have to assume that he is lying in THIS matter? From the perspective of the HiMEs?

Mentar, I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there. I'm just going by the normal definition of 'logic' here, which no matter what dictionary I use, is still all about using clear rational thoughts instead of one's emotion. If you say that Shizuru is insane, then that means she no longer used her rational thoughts, thus no logic. I'm not sure what consistency has anything to do with here.

As for Nagi, he has lied to them and got caught for not telling them that they risk losing their precious person if they fight each other. He started out by saying "Go HiMEs, go fight each other and killed each other's children". Then Natsuki get a phone call from Akane that tells the HiMEs that what they're risking is not their life but the life of their MIP. At which point he said "Did you learn that from Akane-chan?". Of course he then cleverly said that he did say that the HiMEs will risk something important to them. And yet he didn't bother to explain this before telling them to fight each other.

From the HiME's POV, this is the person who has caused them to gamble their MIP life without warning them. How can they trust his word after that kind of lies/non-truth/whatever you want to call it? In fact, didn't you at one point doubt that the HiMEs will go into battle because they don't have that much reason to buy into Nagi's HiME-lander propaganda? You even thought that there will only be 1-2 HiMElander but there won't be any final round, especially not one involving Mai and Mikoto. ;) So in a way, you did expect the HiMEs to not trust Nagi's lies.

Of course, _I_ did. But I have knowledge which the HiMEs do not possess. You need to judge the HiME's reactions based on THEIR knowledge, not your own one.

So you implicitly concede that Nagi did not lie to them after all in the past, but instead that he concealed certain truths from them. THAT is certainly true, but Nagi can correctly point out that he told them when he made them contract their children that they would have to put their most precious thing on the line (see Mai).

No HiME _likes_ Nagi. But they respect/fear this goblin because he has insights they are lacking - and fact is that his predictions have always been correct. I'm not saying that if I was in their shoes I would trust him outright - but I'd definitely not be certain that he was lying either. And as we know, it takes only one to start a war.

I'll go with the _correct_ definition of logic instead. You have a core set of beliefs you consider correct (axioms) and correctly make deductions out of them. Shizuru in the later eps isn't acting out of emotion. She has concluded out of the axioms I stated above that she has to eliminate all opposition to Natsuki and herself in order to reach her goal (keeping Natsuki alive and "making her her own"). And face it, this _is_ the logical conclusion out of the axioms, whether you like it or not. Under these circumstances, this is what she HAS to do. She isn't resembling lovesickness, she is resembling someone who has totally lost all restraints or inhibitions to reach her goal.

THAT is certainly true, but Nagi can correctly point out that he told them when he made them contract their children that they would have to put their most precious thing on the line (see Mai).

And he did. But he did not tell them the whole truth. So why did he withheld the information? Surely the HiMEs at least think about this and start to doubt what he said.

You have a core set of beliefs you consider correct (axioms) and correctly make deductions out of them

Uhm, Mentar, that's conviction, not logic. Check your dictionary again.

Here's conviction:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=16904&dict=CALD

and here's logic:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=46969&dict=CALD

If you're trying to say that Shizuru is acting out of her conviction, then yeah, I'd agree with you. But it's definitely not logic. Someone who's insane is incapable of making reasonable judgment.

Don't lecture a mathematician about logic, Garten ;) ... you know the background? What axioms are? Logic in the mathematical sense?

Just because you claim that Shizuru is "insane" doesn't mean that she is. Prove it.

And if you have the objectivity, try to imagine what you would do if you accept axioms 1) and 2) as I listed them above. What would be the right way to do then?

Mikoto's pendant:

Mikoto has worn the pendant constantly since episode 1. She is never shown with it definitely off of her neck unless it's to bathe. This is VERY easy to verify when you skim through the episodes because they make the necklace's string pretty visible in the beginning when all she's wearing is panties and a big t-shirt.

Mentar, I'm not trying to lecture you. I'm just pointing out what's the definition of logic according to the english word, not according to you or a mathematician. And instead of saying that you're mathematician and therefore you know more about logic than I do, you could have pointed out the definition of the word that you believe to be correct either by scanning your dictionary or pointing out at an online resource. We're not first-graders here. Arguments that begin with "I'm ...... and therefore I know better than you do" has no place here. If you want to argue otherwise then please give me a definition that is accepted by by the norm, thus the reason why I used the dictionary.

As for Shizuru being insane, you didn't seem to mind calling her one yourself:

Maybe "insane" by common sense standards

To me that looks like you have the inclination to agree that she's indeed 'insane' by common sense standards. As for proof, you only need to watch the shift in her personality from kind and patient to cruel and homicidal in ep.23-25. Unless you want to say that Shizuru has been schizoid the whole time and she's just hiding it well, the only explanation I can think of for her change in personality is that she's gone temporarily insane.

Sheesh, Garten and Mentar, it's just a TV show...

This series does that to people, and besides most of their arguments are obsolete anyway with the airing of ep. 26.

Hai haaaaiii...

Folks, Garten and me get along pretty well ;) ... otherwise he wouldn't have invited me to guest here. We're both a bit on the stubborn side, so things like this happen. No harm done.

To wrap it up: I guess the main reason why I objected to the "insanity" part was that there's method to her madness. IMHO it's not just emotion-driven wanton killing, but a conscious drive of someone with a goal and no restraints whatsoever, and figured that this is the right way to deal with things.

I should add however that Garten is certainly right that Shizuru is not in full possession of her faculties. She's in a strange dazed state which clearly differs from her usual behaviour. And what she's doing is definitely sick from a common-sense perspective, so I guess he's right with "insanity" after all.

Anyway, as it was correctly pointed out, it's a moot point after ep26. I guess I should start working on this ep's entry :)

ep26 is out? I can't see it on AnimeSuki... do you mean the RAW? :O

would just like know...

has anyone attempted to read this? i can read a little bit due to my knowledge of chinese, but i can't read very much.

if no-one has and anyone could, i'm pretty sure it has a lot of information about my-hime. i mean the whole page is about my hime

Anyways, love your reviews, keeps me coming back to this site since i can't get these episodes for another week - due to internet "shelling" or something

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%88%9E-HiME

thanks

Hi, I was just wondering why is it that there are 13 Himes? Or is possible that Alyssa is not a Hime?

WoW!
I saw ep. 26 raw.
It's nothing like I thought it was going to be like.

All I can say is that I had never even HEARD about this anime, until I started looking at it every time I came to read the GakuAri episode recaps. Now I'm glad I have as this will be an anime I will be buying in the future! Just hoping that the last episode will be a bit more of a play-by-play, as I can't see it yet... - -;

Tsukinoko ^.~*

... one hundred and thirty entries ...

O_O

Tsukinoko @_@||||

Well, Ep. 26 has aired and the RAW can be gotten from l33t-raws.

*spoiler starts*
It's a happy ending.
*spoiler ends*

dotzeno, thats japanese..

OMG just watched the fansub release by Yesy. The end is just soooooooooo mad. Anyone who hasn't seen it plz go do it now. I'm so glad that sunrise didn't completely butcher it. I don't think it could have ended in a more satisfying manner.

Now eagerly awaiting Mentar's detailed analysis of the episode.

the ending is badd!! IM VERY DISSAPOINTED
do u think theres gonna be a sequel?

it was a perfect happy ending. if you wanted bloodshed and tears then i pity you and question your deductive reasoning ability.

shizuru is so cute. i wish she was a real person ;)

I like the way it ended.
It would've been bad if it ended
any other way.

i was hoping for more shizuru X natsuki though.

what do you guys think about the whole sXn thing?

*SPOILER*

i agree with kardon and random walker, shizuru is so cute and yeah i was hoping to see more shizuru X natsuki too. shizuru is my favourite anime character. But they aren't a couple in the end are they? although shizuru did get to put her arms around natsuki during Mai's karaoke...

omg my post was a spoiler wasn't it. i'm so sorry!!!!!!! i forgot to put spoiler warning....x_X

byakugan: Yes it is in japanese, however, you should know that the japanese kanji (kanji = hanzi (chn.) = lit. chinese words) originated from chinese characters, and hence you can roughly make out what is meant in those characters if you know some chinese. However, not all the kanji have the same meaning as its chinese roots and thus should be interpreted in this way with caution.

Whoa, now this is what I call a big posting. I guess folks really REALLY liked My-HiME. Hahahaha!!

This is my first time here. I just finished the show, but I'm only going to make my comment toward episode 25.

I have to admit that Shizuru was a very interesting character. So interesting in fact that she scared me! When you watch enough anime you learn that the calm ones are the ones you "watch" out for. Because they always have something up their sleeve when you least expect it. And again her demeanor was so calm it's interesting that she managed to find something deeply enticing about Natsuki. They were such an unlikely pair. But I guess that's what made them both stand out. Even though Shizuru spent a lot of time on the side lines due to her role until later. Not to mention 'Shizuru's attraction to Natsuki was right out of the blue. Then again no one expected her to be a HiME. Or Shiho or Fumi or Akira for that matter.

The odd thing that always stuck me about Shizuru was that she and Natsuki were the same age. I always had the impression that Shizuru was older. It was just the way she carried herself. Until last part with them someone pointed out on a posting from another board like this one, "they never expected to see Shizuru actually cry". Me either. Natsuki because of her seriousness, always seemed the mature one in this situation. It was interesting seeing their personalities play off one another.

I was already familiar with the 'Kagutschi' mythos. It's funny that there are no pictures to illustrate what this "deity" looked like. But then again if you were responsible for your mother's death while she gave birth to you and then end up being hacked to pieces by your father then I guess you wouldn't get much of a chance to become a "visual interpretation" now would you?

I was very curious to get a good look at the 'CHILD', for each HiME. After seeing 'Kiyohime' I was curious, why the hell is her 'CHILD' so DAMN huge??? Then I was tried to figure out what the hell it was. The only thing I could make out was the snakes heads. Then I noticed that the rest of it was a large "squid" or "octopoid-like creature". Most likely a giant "squid". Since squids are larger than 'octopi'. I was still stumped by the image. Even breaking down the name didn't help. The word "kiyo" in "Kiyohime" means "cleanse" or "purity". Then I saw the info about the 'Kiyohime' legend. So I looked it up and found a small site posting that listed 3 versions.

http://www.theserenedragon.net/Tales/japan-anchin.html.

I took the first story listed, because it was the closest version in connection to the scene involving Natsuki and Shizuru. I don't think I would have ever got the reference to this scene until someone on this board pointed it out. Everything about the 'CHILD's design began to make sense. The serpent in the story and the serpent heads on 'Kiyohime'. But what about the "squid" half? It took some time for me think it over and then it came to me based on some info. I dug up a year ago.

The "serpent" and the "squid" are 2 creatures who's symbolism throughout history are often connected with "sexuality". We know that about the snake, but not many know that about the "squid", "octopus" or as it's known in other mythos as the "kraken". It's also a cultural reference too, dating back some centuries ago around famous erotic Japanese paintings. One that comes to mind was called "Dream of the Fisherman's wife' by 'Hokusai'.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=1twakx9h5ed2k?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=The+Dream+of+the+Fisherman%27s+Wife&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc04b

Slithering, tempting and seductive. Grasping objects tightly in it's grip, never letting go until it gains everying out of it. This also explains a lot regarding stuff in anime of the adult genre, but that's another topic to study oneself.

*This made the perfect sense regarding Shizuru's personality. Her 'CHILD' was probably designed with that idea in mind. The creators knew what they were doing when they designed it. It fits her to "T".

I wanted to share this thought with you all.

I really enjoyed the series regardless of whatever flaws it had. And it's funny, the creators said it was a show about schoolgirls, and it was! But hell, that's wasn't the main theme. It was about 'LOVE', of all sorts if I'm not mistaken. I think this show provided enough 'doujin' material of all sorts for a GOOD LOOOOOnng while. ( ^ _ ^ )

"Those who have doubts should try to measure the new Duran. "

The new Duran can't be measured because the 'HiME's emotion makes the Child stronger' clause completely contradicts Akane's level when defeated, Akira's level when defeated, and Yukino's level when defeated. Had it actually been applied fairly, the second arc would have taken a radically different direction.

lol it was freaking awesome!!! mai hime is awesome and there like new more coming i think for mai otome..but not sure what it is..

Reading all the comments on Shizuru's sudden change of character... I guess its understandable. Because, I have been through it in real life, from such similar incidents causing me, a nice, friendly and kind person to actually change into a full of anger and hatred person that I actually beat up a guy who is one and a half head taller than me due to this sudden change of emotions in my character... Its actually something that me or normal people won't do, I mean beating up people... Yes, its a total break-down of one's thinking and emotions. Anyway, I happy for Shizuru and Natsuki that they are together finally... Glad for them... Hope my loved one will realised my love for her one day and will come back to me... I'll be waiting......