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ローゼンメイデン 
February 12, 2006 | 
98 Comments
After pushing out 6 encodes in the last week (sorry once more for the delay, Garten, and thanks for your review!) it's time to finally get the job done.
With the last two eps, Mai Otome kick in full gear, in a very dramatic manner. In episode 17, Otome reaps what it had sown before - pretty much all fault lines break open at the same time in a wonderfully orchestrated train wreck. And in 18, Mashiro is taught a brutal but well-deserved and necessary lesson about life, with a highly emotional finish. If Otome can capture and keep this momentum till the end, it can definitely eclipse Mai HiME overall.
Episode 17 rating: (+++)
Episode 18 rating: ++
Instead of going play-by-play, I'll rather try to give summaries and comments to the main players seperately. Here goes.
Arika
Bad times for Arinko. One of her three closest friends turned out to be a traitor, and is now dead. Killed by the second closest friend who is out to kill her too. Even ojii-san turns out to be her former crush who rejected her with amazing brutality. And she might actually be the real queen, displacing her third friend. Erstin's death lends credibility to Arika's violent reaction, which would otherwise be very much against her character. It's a bit confusing to see her carry water buckets in the end - amnesia? Or is she rather dreaming and captured by Nina (who is obviously doing fine)?
Nina
As predicted, she couldn't deal with the shocking revelation. Sergey's shifty-guilty way of dealing with the accusation had one more nasty sideeffect: Just briefly before, Sergey had assigned her to Nagi, against her obvious wishes. From Nina's slightly paranoid point of view, it looks like Sergey wants to get rid of her, to replace her with Arika - which is Nina's blackest fear of all. The "playing normal" scene was very disturbing. The trust between them is broken badly, and simply pretending won't fix it. In this aspect, Sergey's visible desperation doesn't help in the least, just the opposite. For now, the only thing left for Nina is her new duty as Nagi's otome, which will put her on the antagonist side for the time to be.
Mashiro
Absolute worst case scenario for her. She has lost literally EVERYTHING in the most painful way possible. Her country, her title as queen, her friends, even Mikoto. Seperated from everyone, she gets a very hands-on lesson what it means to have a hard life, she constantly hears what her refugee subjects think of her, and what's even worse: Via Mimi she learns that you don't have to be a bad person to end up in a situation like this, so she can't even put the blame on them. To top it off, she witnesses the suicide of the person who was more a mother than a maid, for her sake. This is traumatic stuff. I'm certain that Mashiro will come around stronger and matured, but for now, she's in a world of hurt.
Erstin
I admit it, I was shocked. In hindsight, I wonder why, because the clues were plain to see. I guess I was attributing her visible problems too much to her soft-weak nature and didn't think that something more vicious could be behind it. Her demise was telegraphed for a looong time, so while it was touching, it didn't get me to tear up. So, instead of dying to bring Arika and Nina back together, it rather cuts them apart. Bitter for the sweetest girl in town.
Aoi
Ouch. I didn't see this one coming at all, until I saw the look in her face before she told the mob off. Her sacrifice DID cause me to waste two hankys, and it was delivered in a brilliant way. I don't think that she has a hidden ace in the hole to save her - she saw that the girl she loved was about to compromise herself and be in mortal danger, so she protected her for the last time. This is Sunrise, so I guess you should never give up hope, but if she IS alive in episode 26, I hope that the screenwriter has a damn good explanation for it.
Sergey
The guy has his heart at the right spot, let's say that first. All single things he has done seen seperately, I can't really blame him. On the other hand, all things put together he has royally messed things up, and I wonder what he will be able to do to patch things up again. For starters, get a grip and become more decisive again. Oh, and one more thing: I believe that the probability of Sergey seeing the end of the show alive has lessened.
Natsuki and Shizuru
Well, what can I say - except that the bragging and posing match with Aswad was hilarious, Natuki looks hot in her robe and Shizuru's head is still cool in a crisis. I'm not quite sure what Natsuki can do on her own, but it seems that it was important that SHE, as Headmaster and pillar number 2 was not captured. I wonder who is pillar number 1? Amusing to see that Shizuru in her normal wear seems to have been too much to handle for a smaller army of Schwarz goons. I hear all shoujo-ai fans go all kyaaaaa for this shot alone ;)
Tomoe
I'm very curious how the story will progress for her. I'm sure that she will play a major role in the end run. In a way I even felt a bit sorry for her when she was humiliated in front of her beloved onee-sama, forcing her to surrender for Tomoe's own sake. The Tomoe-Shizuru link will probably deliver some more delicious drama.
Aswad and Midori
So our earlier predictions were right after all, Aswad isn't the enemy. They will definitely end up on the same side as the rest of our heroines, and we'll get to learn more about their background. Ruthless terrorists they're not, I still have an inkling feeling that they were wronged by Garderobe in the past - and now, they have a common enemy. Interesting sidebit: Youko's explanation of what happened to the robe seemed to imply that Aswad could follow the intrinsics, which means that they probably know how the Garderobe technology works. Interesting! I'm curious what will come out of the Midori-Youko link... and Youko's calling Rad "Reito".
Nao
I admit it, Nao is the most pleasant surprise of Otome for me, I love the girl. Like her former incarnation, Nao is very independent and smart, but unlike before she's much more of a social person. Bluntly put, she's ALWAYS been supportive of everyone around (even though much of that was against her explicit will), and her support has been effective. It's hilarious that Natsuki seemed to naturally expect that Nao knew whatever happened, like everyone else in the past. And noone can deliver the "Wakanai!" line as hilarious as Nao. Little sidenote: I found it admirable that even unarmed and without Robe, Nao was preparing to help Natsuki and attack an obviously superior enemy. Whatever she may say about planning to be selfish - she is not.
Miyu
Multiple Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit, hm? Mai HiME hellooo, even though it won't be the same person after all. It's still very difficult to tag her, but I'm inclined to still believe that her devotion for Arika is genuine. And I still suspect that she was part of a secret plan in which Arika as a baby was somehow involved back in the past. The attack from Schwarz wasn't unprovoked, SOMETHING fishy must have gone on back there. I hope we'll find out.
Nagi
Schemer galore. His plan worked like a charm, but the question is, what next? He obviously wants to use the harmonium, so it's likely that he knows what it does... but what is it? Still taking bets. My crude theory is that by using the harmonium, the technology ban which stopped the war but at the same time caused the degeneration will somehow be lifted. And that Schwarz and Nagi want to use that to their own ends.
Schwarz
Hmm hmm... tools or players? I'm still not certain, but I doubt that John Smith is really the mastermind behind them. Who is? Last time I had suspected Argoss, but his comments about the Artai/Schwarz invasion didn't point in this direction. We'll have to wait and see.
Haruka and Yukino
*plonk* ^_^
So, to sum things up, this was excellent work, and I'm looking forward to the next episodes with newfound enthusiasm. Let's see if Sunrise is able to come up with more shocks and surprises. The last two eps were simply brilliant entertainment. More of that, please!
Episode 17 begins from where the previous episode left off with Windbloom under attack from a bunch of flying slaves. Meanwhile, Erstin looks shifty as if she's about to have a heart attack. Natsuki immediately asks Mashiro's permission to fight within their area and to activate the emergency weapon that allows all Otome to use their power. Before the Otome can follow Natsuki's order to help the visitors, however, another beam strikes the main arena, obliterating everything in its path. When the debris clear up, Arika, Mashiro, Aoi, and FatCat are seen inside a forest. When Mashiro wakes up, Arika tells her that she has no idea what happened in the city since she barely able to escape alive with Mashiro. Before the two can talk further, however, there is a noise from behind the bush. Much to Arika's surprise, it's Erstin who tries her best to give one of those "I've been looking all over you" smiles. No, really.
Meanwhile, Midori walks around in the city with her the rest of Aswald members claiming that Garderobe's technology is now theirs. At the same time, Sergei asks Nina to check one of the ports in the desert because he suspects the slaves come from that area. When he says that he has other things to take care of, however, Nina becomes cloying and wants to come with Daddy. Unfortunately Sergei tells Nina that she is his daughter and as such he wants her to serve Artai aka Nagi. I have to say that I find this dialogue to be rather forced and out of character. I suspect it was written just to create conflict between Nina and Sergei or Nina and Arika. At the same time, Natsuki is not happy that Schwarz managed to invade the castle but is a bit relieved when she hears that Arika and Mashiro are nowhere to be found. Before she can execute some kind of a plan, however, Miss Maria appears with bad news: Aswald has come and beat up their juniors.
On top of tower of destruction, Smith is happy to see the plan goes as plan. He claims that his ancestors created the technology used by Garderobe so they want it back now. Elsewhere in the city, Mashiro is ratted out by a spiteful wench. Off with her head!! At the same time, Midori tells Natsuki that they're not the one who attacks the city but want to use the opportunity to attack Garderobe. Natsuki answers the challange by materialising into her robe along with Shizuru. Not wanting to be outdone, Midori summons Gakutenou. Off the two group in a fight. Meanwhile Mashiro and her group has no choice but to run into the sewer before saved by Sergei the brave. And yes, Erstin still looks shifty. Back in the city, Smith's henchman fire a newly completed machine and out of it comes the image of a woman who looks like Rena. The weapon immediately destroys the Otome system, causing the robes to disappear.
This causes Midori to be pissed off because she thinks Natsuki undermines her. But Yohko quickly comes out to explain the situation and not making things any better. Midori and her group decides to flee for now. Yohko calls after Reito but he tells her that he is now Rad, a cyborg. This leaves Natsuki and Shizuru in the hands of Schwarz. Meanwhile, Arika and the others are confronted by Smith so Sergei asks Arika to use her Blue Sapphire gem. Before Arika can beat Smith to a pulp, however, he calls after his secret weapon: Erstin. Erstin shows Poor Erstin looks reluctant but she has no choice since her family has long served Schwarz. She produced one of those crystals and uses it to summon a slave. At the same time, Shizuru orders Natsuki to flee because Garderobe will still have a chance as long as its headmaster is alive. So Natsuki run away and ends up bumping into Nao. Back to Arika, she now has no choice but to fight a reluctant Erstin.
To make things more lively, Nagi arrives with Nina and she is in time to watch her dearest Daddy protecting Arika from Erstin's slave. Sergei is fine because he's the pimp but he ends up dropping the handkerchief that Arika gave to his Oji-sama. Oops. Nina sees red and all of a sudden, the black stone gems that Nagi owns reacted to her jealousy. Nagi asks Nina if she'd like to be his loyal Otome. Nina, who wants nothing but dead Arika, nods right away. She then transform to her fugly Meister robe before starting to attack Arika with her sword. Erstin reflexively tries to get in between the two. But instead it's her slave that gets sliced by Nina. Since the slave is related to its master, Erstin disappears into green sparks after telling her friends that she's happy being their friends and wishes there is no war. Arika and Nina are now equally pissed off at each other. They start to summon their biggest weapon and attack each other.
Episode 18 begins with Artai's soldiers looking all over for Mashiro. They end up looking at the area where the poor street urchin and other poor people lives. Thankfully for Mashiro, the urchin and the rest of the people don't like Artai soldiers either so she's safe for the time being. Nevertheless, Mashiro wonders why no one is trying to save her. Meanwhile in another desert, Natsuki wakes up and finds Nao and Yamada looking after her. Natsuki immediately demands Nao to tell her what happened to Windbloom, Garderobe, and Arika et all. Nao, unfortunately doesn't know. Natsuki becomes annoyed about this before freaks out when Yamada offers her a roasted snake on stick. Hmm, yummy. Anyway, Yamada tells Natsuki that Nagi basically takes control of the city after 'deliberating' it from slaves. On top of this, Nagi destroyed the poor people areas and places guards on Garderobe. Meanwhile in Airies Republic, Haruka is hellbent on confronting Nagi so Yukino has no choice but to drop a heavy rock on top of her head.
Back to Natsuki and the others, they are surprised when Miyu suddenly makes an appearance out of nowhere. Before Natsuki can do anything, Miyu already overpowers her and keeps Nao away using some nifty coins. Miyu tells Natsuki that she's not looking for trouble but just want to know about Arika's whereabouts. Natsuki doesn't seem to know where Arika's location right now. Having said that, Nina is still alive right now and is back in Windbloom. Sergei is still alive and is being treated by Nina but Nina seems to behave rather strangely towards him. She's unusually happy and offers to make some food for him. However, when Sergei apologises to her, she starts to freak out again. Meanwhile, underneath the Windbloom castle, John Smith is seen conducting research to use the Harmonium. However, it seems he hasn't been able to do so. They seem to have found the second part of the elements from Erstin but it seems they need the third one from Mashiro. And if Sergei is right, then the first one is from Arika.
Meanwhile, Natsuki wants to know why Miyu is interested in Arika but she tells Natsuki that this is none of her business. She, however, lets Natsuki know that her name is Merciful Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit - MIYU. Back to Mashiro, the street urchin jokes around that judging from Mashiro's appearance, she could be a queen, scaring Mashiro a bit. Mashiro asks the street urchin, whose name is Mimi, if she hates the Queen. Mimi tells her that her father was a baker whose store was taken by the government. This is why she believes that the Queen doesn't care for them. For the first time ever, Mashiro realises her ignorance and actually able to eat the soup provided by Mimi. Unfortunately, the refugees have captured Aoi and threaten to kill her unless she reveals Mashiro's whereabouts. However, Aoi is loyal to the end and chooses to jump off a cliff instead of revealing that Mashiro is among the refugees herself. Mashiro decides to flee and ends up in the desert calling out for Arika, who is seen somewhere with Mikoto, looking happy as usual.
Garten's impression
Episode 17 turns out to be the turnaround where all hell breaks loose. First of all, however, I think the writers were trying too hard to create that wedge between Nina and Sergei. I thought the conversation about Nina being adopted for the sake of Artai was rather hard to believe. No father would say something like that to their daughter unless he hates her daughter. And from what has been shown so far, Sergei has been nothing but a kind father to Nina. Another interesting point in this episode is the presence of the female figure that emerges from the weapon that Smith used to neutralise the Otome's robe. She looks a lot like Rena and if this the case, then it's likely that she's still alive albeit in a suspended animation condition. Erstin's betrayal is another interesting part about this episode. It's unfortunate that the writers go out of their way to put a 'guilty' sign on top of her head way before the revelation.
In general, however, I sympathise with Erstin a lot. All she wants is to be happy with her friends and yet she can't do that due to her family situation. It's not really clear how her family got involved with Schwarz but it seems the main reason she agrees to get involved is because she hopes to end the war. I suspect her family is a victim of the war and Schwarz used the opportunity to hire them as willing slave summoner. This underlines the main story of Mai Otome in that war simply causes pain for people and leave these people open as tools for those who wish to use them. This point is emphasised even further in episode 18, which shows that poverty mixed with anger often creates a mob mentality within otherwise decent people. Anyway, back to Erstin, despite feeling sorry for her dead, I have to admit that this is the pitch that Arika needs to feel antagonistic towards Nina. I think Arika would have gone towards a reconciliation way with Nina instead of fighting her if Erstin wasn't killed by Nina.
Episode 18 seems to be a character development story for Mashiro. For the first time in her life, Mashiro gets to feel what it's like to suffer like the refugees/commoners. I hope that this will make her a stronger, kinder Queen in the future so that Aoi's sacrifice in this episode is not for naught. Elsewhere, it was amusing to see Natsuki freaking out upon seeing a charcoal-grilled snake. I also want to know why Miyu is hellbent on finding Arika. Is it because she's been ordered to protect her or does she have other motive for doing this? Last but not least, there is Aoi and her death. It is so easy to blame the refugees for her death and in a way, they are responsible for it. Despite their situation, there is no excuse for a mob mentality. Having said that, it's always easier to say that when you are not in their shoes. I have to keep reminding myself that if I were in their shoes, I'd probably feel the same kind of anger towards the very people who have ignored my plight all of these years.
You know, with what we'd seen of Mashiro's life growing up in the castle, and of her relationship with Aoi, I couldn't help thinking that Aoi was probably the closest thing Mashiro had to a mother. Ep 18 certainly proved that right, I think.
Ep 18 sounds awesome. I can't wait to watch it. I wonder why arika and nina are unharmed.
They were both fully powered-up and likely protected by their robes from any serious injury.
Despite how flashy it was, it couldn't have been too hideously ugly an explosion, as Mashiro and Aoi, who should have been in the middle of it, emerged unhurt, and Sergei was only somewhat hurt.
I must say 17 was quite the ep. First the sad yet oh so predictable death of our favourite shy one, Erstin...then the long awaited '"you stole my dad B*tch!" fight between arika and nina. *sigh* well im still a arikaXnina fan...cause they're funny...and amusing together. Damz...Shizuru gets captured due to useless juniours...and Natsuki runs off to keep her head intact...well the "schools" head intact(and seemingly in ep.18 runs off to play desert tag with mashiro and co.)I hope Shizuru is alright. Otherwise Natsuki better bust some caps.
By the way is ep.18(raw of course)out? cause with the preview of it bein included, i guess i should assume it is...weird i cant seem to find it... ah well I'll keep lookin.
"Episode 17 turns out to be the turnaround where all hell breaks loose. First of all, however, I think the writers were trying to hard to create that wedge between Nina and Sergei. I thought the conversation about Nina being adopted for the sake of Artai was rather hard to believe. "
Actually, Sergei said a similar thing to Nina in Ep 16, and even said it was her destiny.
Soukyuu, I actually used Winny to get episode 18. But it's highly unusual that a torrent hasn't appeared at this point in time at Tokyo Tosho. Usually Mai Otome is among some of the faster series that are released online.
Anyway, episode 18 seems a bit more mellow in comparison to 17 but that's because there are so many shocking scenes included in episode 17. But I think in the end, 18 ends up being as powerful as 17 and actually includes some of the messages that the series have been trying to convey right from the first couple of episodes.
IronMaw, that's exactly why I'm annoyed about it. A few episodes ago (13 to be exact), Sergei asked what Nina wants to do: follow her heart or become an Otome. Back then he was portrayed as the kind of father who doesn't force his will on his daughter. All of a sudden, they do a reverse on him in the last few episodes just to create conflict. If they want to play up the strict father angle, they should have done it right from the beginning.
Well, since Sergey knew all about Nagi's plan, maybe he thought that Nina would be safest with Nagi.
Plus Sergey was going to help Arika escape. Having Nina go with him might not be the best idea.
Of course, things got even worse because of his decision, but he probably didn't know that Smith (and Erstin) would screw up his plans.
'IronMaw, that's exactly why I'm annoyed about it. A few episodes ago (13 to be exact), Sergei asked what Nina wants to do: follow her heart or become an Otome. Back then he was portrayed as the kind of father who doesn't force his will on his daughter."
Maybe his change had something to do what happened with Arika and him in Ep 15.
Arika really took what he said about choosing Dreams or Love to heart and that might have bothered him since he was still trying to sort out his feelings toward Arika after she tried to kissing him during his reflections. After all he kept comparing Nina and Arika to make sense of those "feelings".
Then he might have decided to push both Arika and Nina towards dreams of becoming Otome out of fear of what they might do if chose love based on what Arika tired to do.
But I guess that's too much of a strech, huh?
Oh well anyway, I agree with you that 17 and 18 were both great episodes. Nice review too.
What?! You finally beat me from watching an episode for the first time! I didn't watch episode18 yet, and it looks interesting!
You're 17+18 is a good idea since Sunrise reached the death.
It's REALLY interesting to see how Mashiro's gone around - if you recall how she had a 'let them eat cake' moment back around Ep 13 or so, and compare it to now when she's also a refugee and talking with her subjects (for the first time)... and then seeing what people do in bad situations, losing friends in the process.
I still can't help but feel like I'm watching a Gundam series at times, though, especially when it feels like they're killing off a character per episode. At least the character development and the way everyone's coping with the sudden change in the politcal landscape is good. And the music... that's worth the whole Aoi-off-a-cliff scene by itself, not counting Mashiro's reaction.
Garten, about Miyu.
Not only did she tell Natsuki and Nao that her name was Miyu, she actually called herself...
"Multiple Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit. MIYU"
Sound familiar?
Ah, that's what I get for fast forwarding scenes without paying close attention. But I've added it to the preview now so thank you for the correction, Fencedude. I guess the writers are trying to tease that there might be a connection between this series and Mai Hime. But I'll leave the speculation part to Mentar when he finally has the time to review this.
"A few episodes ago (13 to be exact), Sergei asked what Nina wants to do: follow her heart or become an Otome. Back then he was portrayed as the kind of father who doesn't force his will on his daughter."
I think Sergey knew that Nina liked him. He also knew that if he asked Nina that question, she would say that she'd become an otome.
So he was not letting Nina choose. He was making Nina promise him that she'd become an otome, instead of going after him.
I am hoping that the next death toll will be either Irina or Yoko. I think Irina will die due to Tomoe's betrayal while Yoko will die trying to stop the fight between Aswad and Garderobe.
>>I think Sergey knew that Nina liked him.
I hope that's not the case. It's bad enough that Nina actually has the hots for her dad. It's quite another to find out that Sergay is aware about it all of these times. Just my two cents though.
Well Akane is kinda out of the picture already (she runs off with kazu, has s** with him and loses all her nanomachines due to kazu's MALE PROTEIN XD ), and Aoi didnt die in HiME, did she?
I'm guessing that they'll be a reverse on HiME also, but in terms of characters. Those who die in HiME won't die in Otome.... So we've got Aoi, Erstin so far, and Chie, Yohko, Irina, Tomoe etc haven't kicked the bucket yet, but I'm guessing they will.
Miyu introducing her as Multiple Intelligence Yggdrasil Unit seems pretty weird, maybe symbolizing a connection between the HiMe and Otome series. There's also the Blue Star which I think will play a part, just like the HiME Star.
Sergey once said that their ancestors came from Earth or something in the Immigration Period... Does that mean that the series' are connected? Gakutenou seems to backup this theory....
Finally, the ONLY character whose name wasn't changed throughout the entire series was Takumi's. He remained Tokiha Takumi, unlike the rest of them who had different names. So I wonder if Mai will remain as Tokiha Mai also..... (We're only 8 episodes left and she still has yet to appear!! Where is my Mai-chan?!?! XD )
I hope that's not the case. It's bad enough that Nina actually has the hots for her dad. It's quite another to find out that Sergay is aware about it all of these times. Just my two cents though.
Thats just stupid. How is it "bad" if he knows about it? If he'd ACTED on it, then yeah, you'd have a point. But he'd have to be an idiot not to know
Finally, the ONLY character whose name wasn't changed throughout the entire series was Takumi's. He remained Tokiha Takumi, unlike the rest of them who had different names. So I wonder if Mai will remain as Tokiha Mai also....(We're only 8 episodes left and she still has yet to appear!! Where is my Mai-chan?!?! XD )
Eh? Were you not paying attention?
Mai is Takumi's sister, thus by DEFINITION her name is Tokiha Mai. Why would you need to speculate about that?
Heh, Natsuki is darned cute here... I agree, where's Mai, how does she tie in to anything... How did Arika and Nina's fight turn out... we just see them both acting kinda normal now... what happened? Poor Mashiro... She always get the short end of the stick...er whatever that means..heh
I think Aoi's name didnt change either. Wasn't her name always Aoi Senou? also, John Smith is John Smith. Miyu is Miyu. I think they didnt change Takumi's name because they are supposed to be from an asian type country and should have asian names.
I still remain the only person who likes Nina's Robe.
Sniff.
LOVED 17. I was so upset when Erstin died. Color me stupid, but I so did not see her betrayal coming until she started acting guilty and shifty (and was un-Materalised). I was so positive that Tomoe was the one who received the Black Letter!
Rena's definitely in stasis. But what about Fumi? Her sillouette flickered when the OTOME system crashed, but they say she's dead. So is she in stasis, too? Which just brings up the question of Mikoto's presense in Harmonium and the sort of technology Garderobe really has.
I loved 18, too; it had great development for Mashiro, who is absolutely my favorite character in Otome. Aoi's death was so sad, but really touching: She really did love Mashiro, and was more than just her maid.
Also, the debris area from the Arika-Nina fight was pretty gosh darn cool. =D
And who the heck was Arika WITH?
Ep. 18...Aoi...daaaaaaaaaaaaaaang...
Episode 17 was where I officially gave up on this show. Maybe I would have stuck around longer had I seen the Erst dies thing. But I stopped watching the show when it appeared that not a single one of the otomes seem at all interested in stopping Smith on top of the tower - they were more interested in running around and fighting with one another apparently.
So you just quit in the middle of the episode?
It's really curious to watch a series without having any expectations at all and still be somewhat dissapointed. Neither of the two "dramatic" deaths in these episodes moved me at all (I actually laughed out loud because of the absurd notion that someone might be willing to die for Mashiro). My only interest in this series is to see whether it can get even worse than that. It won't be easy but after GSD I trust Sunrise, they can pull this off. :) At least we saw very little of Arika in the last episode which just showed how much better this show could have been if it actually had interesting main characters instead of stereotypical annoying girls like Mashiro and Arika. And if they portray Haruka as a disguided moron one more time I might even stop watching this series, it's getting extremely irritating.
Two possible endings...
1. The Twilight Zone Ending...it was all a dream and never happened...and we're back in the MH Universe.
2. The Scryed Ending...Arika and Nina beat each other's brains out like Kazuma and Ryuho resulting in a stalemate...the end.
That's almost a reason to really hope for one more silly Haruka scene :) ... come on, Haruka! Save us from this troll invasion!
Uta: If you had watched the episode carefully, you would have noticed that no fights between Otomes happened after Smith was shown up there. Instead, they were all ordered back to Garderobe by Natsuki.
FreedomR8G6B1: I think it's neither of the two. Especially the Scryed option is next to impossible IMHO. Nope, I think there's actually a chance for a decent non-full-reset resolution. Keeping my fingers crossed ;)
I think it's going to be a really happy ending. I mean, they're still using "Otome wa Do My Best Deshou!!" Aoi's death made me feel so depressed for the rest of the day.
IMO, Otome's Mashiro is a billion times more interesting than HiME's Mashiro ever was. She is a flawed, complex individual. Mashiro is one of the most intriguing and deeply-layered characters I've ever witnessed in an anime. And, Yukana does a fabulous job voicing her.
I really missed Arika in this episode. The poor girl deserves so much more than what she has. And, she brings out the best in all her friends. I HATE Nina, but when she hangs out with Arika, I think Nina is adorable. Erstin is shy and sort of spineless, but around Arika, she felt like she could do her best also. And, Mashiro and Arika just compliment each other's personalities really well.
On the other hand, I think Nina is a pretty wretched friend and an extremely insecure individual. And, her insecurity will be and is the plight of all her relationships. I hope she feels some remorse over what she did, because Arika may be smiles and rainbows as a facacde, but she's just as bat-shit crazy violent as the rest of the Mai-Franchise girls.
Well...they an pull another MH ending and resurrect everyone...then again...it could end up be another Gundam SEED ending...LMAO
PS: I'm still hopeful for the "Sword Wielding Maniac" we know and love...
...Arika may be smiles and rainbows as a facacde, but she's just as bat-shit crazy violent as the rest of the Mai-Franchise girls.
LAWL.
@floatingbrain
Erm, based on ANN, Aoi's name changed from Aoi Senou to Aoi Senoh.... lol
Miyu's name would have been weird if they changed it to something else.... They need it for Multiple Inteligential Yggdrasil Unit anyways.....
And John Smith.... Blah completely forgotten about him. He was just so annoying in HiME going "black prince" "black prince" over and over again, and now in otome we have him going "Erstin!!" "ERSTIN!!" over and over. Bleh. Hate him XD
I haven't really been following this series but seeing the pictures for episode 17, I must ask, how did Natsuki materielise? I thought an otome needed some sort of either permanent or temporary master to be able to materielise. If that's the case, how does Shizuru and Natsuki materielise?
Thanks to anyone who can help answer me!
Mianah.... you really have to watch the show. It is heaps better that Mai-HiME.
As for Shizuru materialising, if you watched ep 3, you would have noticed she materialised without a physical master but the GEM showed 'connected to F.H.'
At the beginning of ep 17 you will see the 'master' that the 5 columns/pillars are contracted to.
While Otome are usually contracted to a Master, the Five PIllars as well as the students are different. They're all contracted to "Shinso-sama," Fumi, who seems to be the central system of Garderobe.
Natsuki is the Second Pillar, Shizuru is the Third, Nao was chosen to succeed one of the others (the First?), and there are two others we glimpse in the OP to whom we have not yet been introduced.
"Mashiro is one of the most intriguing and deeply-layered characters I've ever witnessed in an anime."
Good joke.
Let me present you my interpretation of the Mashiro character. It's very deeply layered - first layer - spoiled brat. Second layer - annoying spoiled brat. Third layer - very annoying spoiled brat. I hope you get the idea. :)
Seriously, I don't see any positive qualities in Mashiro and that's why I am having such a hard time accepting the idea that someone might be foolish enough to sacrifice himself or herself to save her. She seems to like getting away from the palace and has done so a few times already in this series but at the same time had no idea that her subjects didn't have the best of times under her rule. How come? You can say that she is just a kid but that's hardly a good enough excuse.
"That's almost a reason to really hope for one more silly Haruka scene :) ... come on, Haruka! Save us from this troll invasion!"
You can hope but I was joking, I am just having too much fun critisizing this series. And I am not an invasion, you are giving me way too much credit. :)
BTW, is it only me who wonders how the hell Sergey, Nina, Mashiro, Smith and the others survived the blast in the end of episode 17? And how Arika ended up in some desert in the middle of nowhere? And why this blast and the consequences were so Gundam Seed-like?
Well... I loved 17 as I've said before and I found it deeply moving. A few things I noticed, the large system thing that John Smith brought down that cancelled all connections with Fumi had the words "Highly Advanced Materialising Equipment" on, which we all know is what HiME stands for. That confused me because I know they've been throwing MH hints in the whole way... but it was just a little weird.
As for Rena, I believe that John Smith has her in that big gun thing. Why? Because she was a Pillar and through her, they can use her to backfire the system, as they did. Encasing her in something is also similar to what happened to Mashiro in MH. I do believe there is going to be a MH syndrome here with the extra HiME/Pillar. I can see there being 6 Pillars, the last one being Rena. If she IS to come back and to battle, she will need to be a Pillar to Materialize as she won't have a Master. Also, bringing her back will NEED to be pretty good because there isn't that long left for us to get attached to her as we have the others. Nonetheless, in BSSM Stars that brought back Princess Kakyuu and she lasted around 3 episodes before she was killed off and it was really emotional. Good story telling allows for anything.
On the subject of Mashiro, she is actually one of my favorite characters. Her comedy moments are just priceless. Sure she can be a spoilt brat, but being brough up like "the new princess of the Windbloom" is going to do that. And having people undermine her actual identidy all the time would be difficult for anyone. Being told your one thing your entire life and then hearing people claiming your entire existence is just a lie would be hurtful for anyone. I, personally, want Mashiro to be the true Queen more than anything.
Matrim: =) It's GS like because it's Sunrise and they're dumb like that.
Ruu: The "HiME" thing is nothing big--the way they write Otome in the Otome-verse is the character for "stylish" (which looks like a Z) and "HiME." That's where the whole ZHiME thing came from.
Er, what makes you think Rena's a Pillar? Because it was specifically stated that she was contracted to the king of Windbloom.
Er, what makes you think Rena's a Pillar? Because it was specifically stated that she was contracted to the king of Windbloom.
I've discovered many people have the amazing ability to watch a series and yet totally fail to comprehend anything about it.
"On the subject of Mashiro, she is actually one of my favorite characters. Her comedy moments are just priceless. Sure she can be a spoilt brat, but being brough up like "the new princess of the Windbloom" is going to do that. And having people undermine her actual identidy all the time would be difficult for anyone. Being told your one thing your entire life and then hearing people claiming your entire existence is just a lie would be hurtful for anyone."
I completely agree. Where other characters in Mai-Otome have rather two-dimensional personalities (which is fine, since the large cast of characters make up for any lacking depth), Mashiro's the only one who has remained consistently complex. She first appears to be a comical character who merely exists to add stress in Arika's life, but then we realize she has a fragile side, as a result of not have genuine support from anyone. When someone she thinks genuinely likes her then tells her indirectly that she's doing a crappy job as a queen, her worst fears are confirmed. She doesn't deserve to be queen, because she most likely isn't blood-related nor is she doing a good enough job. After she feels better about this little incident, she makes the effort to do her best, but then she gets kicked down by a boy she may or may have secretely liked. I think Mashiro is very distrustful of people, but unlike Natsuki or Nao (in Mai-HiME), it's presented in a different way. She acts like a snotty little brat to other people, so she can hurt them before they can hurt her. I think stating that all her actions stem from being only ungrateful and unappreciative is failing to comprehend her character. She's the only character in Mai-Otome, so far to express a wide range of emotions, besides maybe Arika (who is complex in kind of a Aino Minako way).
arika...thanks for the explanation =D
Well, I did watched up to episode 4-5 and have up to 12, but so far, I'm not impressed with this series. For me it falls far behind Mai HiMe, which I thought was really good except for those plot holes. Mai HiMe grabbed my attention from the first episode while Mai Otome seems kind of ordinary, slow and a bit bumpy in the storyline. Mai Otome is not as appealing to me as was Mai Hime, so I guess this is where our opinions differ. Nevertheless, thanks for the answer =D
Is Matrim just annoyed by the fact that he hasn't gotten any?? ^_-
Showing your sexual frustration is not very becoming. *giggles*
Rena cannot be a pillar or an otome as she has cancelled the contract with the king and had a child.
Another thing, I don't see how Rena body or any other otome's can disrupt FH's system. If it was true, any otome alive or dead can cause problems to garderobe's main system.
What I'd like to know now is how Nao is going to get herself out of a situation she never exected: deserting Artai. She just went and run just like that when situations no longer look good for her. I'd really like to see how she and others related going to deal with this fact. Go Nao! :)
Haven't watched 18 yet but 17 was... okay so I saw through Ers-chan's guilt when she appeared in front of Arika and the others with her robe activated and knew what was coming and I kepy curing to myself and at poor Ers-chan, disbeliefing that this is happening. ARGH!!!
Not that 'm complaining anymore anyway, as I'm sure we'll be treated to some 'ARIKA!! NINA!!' screaming while the two tear each other apart ala Kira and Athrun did back in SEED. It was just the same then as well as now since their bloody fight was triggered by Nicol's death, someone who somewhat sahres a character with Ers-chan, if not mostly.
As to what could possibly have happened to Garderobe's HiME system, I could only summarise in this way:
The HiME system keeps track of ranks, numbers and changes of the Otomes of this world. That said, whoever it was that Smith had projected through that machine he has, it was certainly someone who the system has accepted as no longer an Otome or something. So I can understand how the entire system crashes just like that because of one person it thought was no longer alive or and Otome to be still around when whatever rank that otome has previosly has already been occupied. It's a kind of frail the Garderobe's HiME system.
Oh, BTW, does anyone think that Mimi, the poor orphan girl, might be featured as a prominent character in the next Mai series? I don't know why, but I get the feeling that Sunrise will up her age, give her a better design, and a different seiyuu, and present her as a "new" character. Maybe not.
deadpill -
You wrote: Does anyone think that Mimi, the poor orphan girl, might be featured as a prominent character in the next Mai series? The next Mai series!? Do you know something we don't?
(If there were to be such a series, what might it be called? "Mai Ojousama"? "Mai Meganeko"? "Mai Sequel"?)
Of course, there's going to be another series! This has to be Sunrise's biggest franchise after their Gundam series. They would be stupid not to...I mean, I would respect them more if they ended the series with a bang, but I'm sure money will motivate them to run this series to the ground. However, they're doing a superb job with Mai-Otome, so I should give them the benefit of the doubt that future seasons will be just a strong.
As for names, I'm a fan of Mai-GiRL, and then they could do an altnerative sequel called Mai-GiRLFRiEND. I also think Mai-STaR is clever, though they used that as part of the lyrics in "Dream Wing." Mai-WiFE? Could be amusing. And then an alternative sequel with Mai-HOUSeWiFE. Who knows? Sorry if I caused anyone pain with my stupid, insane ideas.
Remember...MH and MO parodied many Bishoujo themes...(hell...there were many tokusatsu references in the shows also...yeesh) and masked it with slapstick and fan service...which ended up baiting fans and "sucker punching" them with a dark, grim tone...
PS: I smell Harem Theme...with either Yuuchi or Reito being the intended victim.
After watching ep 18, I wasn't surprised that Aoi jumped (why is she wearing her maid uniform?). You can't bargain with a mob, they'd kill you regardless of whether you give them the queen. Might as well die with a clear conscience.
Miyu is definately linked to mai hime. she even says that she loved someone centuries ago.
Is it me or is arika in aswald? It looks like cliff houses in the background.
Now that I think about it, Natuski's reaction to the weapon in ep 17 was ridiculous. She should have immediately ordered an assualt against a weapon that would have wiped out Garderobe in one hit. They were right under it too.
Miyu said that someone whom she loved called her Miyu. While she said this, she was looking at Alyssa on her shoulder. Anyone else smelling a link to Mai HiME here?!
But how could they work that? Didn't they explicitly say it was an AU, or did the rest of us just jump the gun a little?
"Now that I think about it, Natuski's reaction to the weapon in ep 17 was ridiculous. She should have immediately ordered an assualt against a weapon that would have wiped out Garderobe in one hit. They were right under it too."
I love Natsuki. I love her hilarious facial expressions. And, I love her sweet relationship with Shizuru. However, I'm just going to state it honestly right now: she is freaking useless. And, it shouldn't be a surprise. She was pretty undependable back in her Mai-HiME days.
Man, why’d they have to kill off the nice characters first? I suppose it’s to be expected, since they went after Akane first in HiME, but still. I really felt bad for Aoi (and Chie by extension), but it was nice to see her stick to her principles to the very end. Who’s next – Sakomizu? Irina?
Leaving aside the sadness, what the hell is going on with Arika at the end of Ep 18? Where is she (Aswald village, perhaps), but more importantly, why is she so freaking happy? A few days ago she saw her best friend die in a shower of green sparkles at the hands of her other best friend, who had also just tried to kill her – and yet she’s all “Come on, Mikoto!” like nothing happened. What the hell?! Even Nina, the Ice Queen, was acting weird following the fight. Either Arika’s in total denial (which doesn’t seem likely since she’s pretty bad at hiding stuff) or she somehow has amnesia (and I pray that Sunrise doesn’t pull that cliché out this late in the game). Anyone else have an explanation?
Haruka’s head vs. rock, and both lose – priceless. Same with Nao pulling the Pillar Power Trip on Natsuki.
Alright, prediction time (in rough order of likelihood) – some of these I think are likely and some are major streches, but whatever:
Mashiro ends up as Queen: There’s no way Sunrise would be rubbing Mashiro’s nose in what a crappy queen she was and having Aoi sacrifice herself to protect her if she wasn’t going to have the chance to make amends later. They’ve given too much character development to Mashiro for her to end up out of power when everything’s settled.
Sergay dies: I really think that Sergay’s not gonna make to the end – probably dieing while trying to stop a fight between Arika and Nina – which could either be the cause for them to make up, or to fight to the death, in which case Nina’s gonna bite the dust, too. I just think that Sergay’s got too much guilt over Nina/Rena/Arika for him to work it off any other way. Plus, as long as he’s alive, Arika and Nina are going to be at odds.
No reset: This could wishful thinking, but everything so far points to a non-reset ending, especially now that someone important (Aoi) has died a non-greenspark death. In HiME, everytime someone died, something was created (the pillars). And while Nagi’s still being a manipulative bastard, most of the conflicts he’s playing off of are real, not manufactured.
Miyu is the same Miyu from HiME: She refers to having loved someone and giving everything to her while looking at Alyssa-bird, and it’s blatantly obvious that she’s not human. This one’s more of a hunch, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Miyu’s the link between HiME and Otome.
Arika is a descendent of Alyssa: Yeah, this is way out there, but think about it. Miyu’s fanatically loyal to her, just as she was to Alyssa. This makes sense if Miyu’s been watching over Alyssa’s descendents since the HiME days. Arika’s also got the glowing hair (at least, to Miyu’s eyes). Plus, if Arika’s the descendant of a true HiME, that could explain why she was able to partially materialize her robe way back in Ep 1 without having nanomachines.
One last thought – where the bleeping bleepity bleep bleep HELL is Mai?! The series is called MAI Otome, she’s in both of the ops, so WHERE IS SHE?! She deserves better than being turned into a stupid object lesson for young otomes about not falling in love. Unless they stretch Otome into a second season, there’s so little time left that Mai’s almost certainly gonna get shafted (unless they devote an entire episode to her), which is disappointing.
Yaknow, part of me feels like really chewing people out here. I'm fed up of people jumping down each others throats because they have different opinions. What I speculate is down to me and I really couldn't careless if you agree or not.
Furthermore, I made a mistake with Rena being a Pillar and I don't actually recall where I remember hearing/seeing it. Possible just confusion, although it annoys me the fact that I feel the need to explain myself to you people.
Seriously, it's an anime. Get a life, get a grip, get a therapist.
"what the hell is going on with Arika at the end of Ep 18?.......Anyone else have an explanation?"
I think Arika is a rather sad character. She wants to be that special, genki, cheerful, optimistic girl who brightens up a room, but unfortunately she needs to deal with many of her inner demons before she can authentically act that way. Arika represses her emotions of loneliness, sadness, and anxiety by smiling and acting happy. She uses this happy-go-lucky demeanor as a defense mechanism so she can prevent herself from falling apart. When in reality, she perhaps shares the same insecurities as Nina, Mashiro, and Erstin does. The reason why I think Arika is a great friend towards these girls is that she can relate to their fears. She might not express it so blatently, but her gestures of understanding naturally puts them to ease.
And, the really depressing irony is that Arika is actually the root of all her friends' fears. I think she knows this on some level, (since Nina bitchily reminds her that she wishes Arika never existed) and forces herself to act more controlled than ever. She is an awkward and uncomfortable character to watch, because her emotions are ridiculously forced. However, I find her rather fascinating, and I pity her many dismal situations.
Wheelock: Interesting. Very interesting. I've been operating under the same expectations as your first few predictions, but the later ones are... surprisingly resonant, for lack of a better term. They may have thrown away that scene of Arika's hairglow, but I rather doubt it.
They've invested a lot of time on Arika being the "real heiress," but they've ALSO invested considerable effort toward rehabilitating Mashiro. The only other option there would be if Mashiro hooks up with Takumi while Arika sits on Windbloom's throne. Hmm.
Sergei must die, partly to atone for his sins and partly to prevent ANY chance at a pairing with EITHER of the girls. *shudder*
Anyway... now that we're in the final one-third of the series, let the chips fall where they may.
Major Plothole: Am I the only one who is surprised that the other Nations are not doing anything? Seizing the city of Windbloom might not be against international law. Even if everyone wonders why the Artai Liberation Forces were so coincidentally in the area. But Nagi has shut down Otome School and arrested the Instructors and possibly the students. Students which are, mind you, REPRESENTATIVE of ALL the important kingdoms.
Thats a bit like seizing the worlds ONLY nuke factory, and then putting nukes which were preordered into cold storage and refusing delivery. One can only surmise that it should lead to demands to reopen the nuke factory to public, or to face the threat that preexisting nukes will be used (i.e. existing Otome).
And even if Nagi returned the students to their homelands, the Otome school is ultimately international property. Natsuki has the authority to approach the other Nations for help to retake Otome school. And while that may not solve all the issues, it at least forces Schwartz to a halt in trying to access the Library, and gains the *Good Guys* a foothold in Windbloom.
"Either Arika’s in total denial (which doesn’t seem likely since she’s pretty bad at hiding stuff) or she somehow has amnesia (and I pray that Sunrise doesn’t pull that cliché out this late in the game). Anyone else have an explanation?"
I have - Arika is retarded. :)
No seriously, the amnesia version sounds about right since Sunrise seem to have decided to use every cliche in the book.
As for the other nations doing something, I still expect this to happen. Maybe when the Garderobe students return in their homeland and tell what really happened? If still no one reacts then what's going to happen? Arika and Aswald against Nagi and Smith? No, all the politics setup we have seen so far has to be used for something, right?
And yes, Mashiro is so obviously going to end up as a Queen. I bet the writers are even proud of the way they have developed her...
Aw, they should be! I think they've developed her excellently and will continue to do so. However, I can definately understand why some people may think that Mashiro deserves everything that's happened to her so far.
Currently deeming the Arika being Alyssa's decendant as highly probable.
For the why no country is trying to help Windbloom question, as Yukino pointed out, as of yet there is no direct availability to go into Windbloom - Nagi is "helping" the country and the people are not protesting, so if they tried anything it could be deemed as an invasion attempt. Then that means war on a more global scale. (We only have 26 episodes to get this all cleared up! You don't want even MORE complications do you?!)
Missing - someone's mother. The shell-game about who's the real princess (Arika, Mashiro, or Nina) is distracting everyone from the parallel question: who's the 3rd mother? It seems there are 3 parts to the Harmonium's song. Erstine learned two of them, from Arika and from Nina, and reported them back to Schwartz. Mashiro knows the third. We heard her singing it back in the episode where Nagi 'proposed' to her. So all three of the girls learned a part of the lullaby, presumably from their respective mothers. [OK, hypothetically Nina could have learned her part from Sergei, but that's just too weird]. One mother was the Queen of Windbloom; one was Rena; who on earth was the 3rd? It has to be someone high up in whatever group originally controlled the harmonium.
Heres the thing, Otome school is international property. Which means that EVERY nation has a right to intervene. If Yukino alone intervenes, it will be an invasion, But if each nation sends a small task force, it is united nations peace keeping, at least until the pillars can reorganize and regroup the place.
As long as the task force is strictly kept to Otome school property, and placed under Natsukis command, the local citizens will have no cause for complaint. And every nation has a vested interest, as it is the worlds only nuke factory, and their best and brightest are in there. At the end of the day, it is still Natsukis right (and best interest) to demand the school back.
The 3rd mother is an interesting problem, but the 1st 2 are also missing. Since Mashiro and Arika never had a chance to properly learn the song from their mothers in the first place. (They were too young to talk, let alone master a song)
Mashiro might have gotten it off someone else in the palace: Aoi perhaps. Arika should have learnt it from Grandma, which raises the question: Who or what exactly is the Arika faction, to know this song. Nina most probably got it off Sergey, since Artai was probably also actively looking for the song, and might have found that chunk somewhere else.
N.B. Yohko and Fumi are apparently nowhere near Ritsuko and MAGI.
The discussion about Garderobe as international property is interesting. Disregarding the legal aspects of the issue, I don't think any other king (or leader) is unaware that schwarz and nagi are working together. Sure they could send an army, but fighting so many slaves is not promising, especially when Garderobe didn't win.
Someone mentioned that Garderobe was shut down and the teachers arrested, but that was NEVER stated.
We know Shizuru and Tomoe are locked up, but in the preview for 19 we can see that Miss Maria, Chie and Shiho AREN"T.
I don't think Garderobe has been shut down, and besides, the other countries only know what Nagi lets get out.
And Garderobe is not "international property" or whatever, it belongs to the Otome.
Well there's a chance that Nina could have learned it from her mother, considering what age she was when she met Sergey. (RE: the scene where she's holding the gun to him) She looks about, what, five or six? Or at least, old enough to have learned part of the song from her mother. Which kinda makes you wonder, what was she doing before she met Sergey.
I've wondered from the start what Nina was doing before Sergei "found" her. (Is finding specific girls his job in life?) Not only that, but Nina was holding a gun on Sergei at one point, back then. Backstory, stat!
Okay, this is going to sound a bit out-there but I have this theory that Rena sent all three of them down the river at different times (must be some kind of hobby). Or, at least Nina and Arika.
And I don't know if this has been said before.
I think Nina was because of her flashback in that 'pool' episode, that must be tied in with her background somehow and I believe that it was Rena above her.
Also, Mashiro was found....but I can't remember if it was at a river or not. And obviously, Arika having the souten no seigyoku implies that she is the baby who was sent down by Rena.....and since they said that whoever has the that is the princess.....well.....
I ended up right back where I started.
Anyway, I felt deep-sympathy for Mashiro during the soup-scene. It reminded me of Mikoto in MH with the 'umai......', crying, and all.
Even with my theorizing, I also feel that Mashiro should be the Queen in the end. I feel as though she would be far more capable now than the other two much-rumored candidates.
I saw a trailer for Mai-HiME movie!!!! omg, does anyone know when it comes out? xD
looks so cool =]
Can't wait to watch more Mai-Otome ^^
Hi, this is the first time I post anything here! Your blog is really great and I really enjoy reading it !!
I wonder if anyone noticed the fact that Arika (or girl who looks exactly the same) showed up in the last 10 seconds or so before Mai Hime's last episode ends, she was a student running around in the school!!
@Furuba:Theres no MAI-HiME movie.The trailer was a one-off thing
@naoko:Yes,many people do realise that Arika was the girl.Its been speculated to death after MH ep26.
Great summary work again.Thanks for the usual caps :)
This is what I suppose happened to Arika in ep 18
Like someone said amnesia
or
since she is in a community, she is trying to live the best she can. They are already having a hard time, so a sad face and not being able to help out is not really appreciated here.
Could be wrong on both counts.
Survival is what she knows best i guess (except food and cooking). She's already done that in episode 1, traveling from Galleria (country out of nowhere) to Windbloom. :)
I very much wish I am as genki as Arika and being able to not dwell on all the negative thoughts.
Being in a bad situation still requires you to continue living your life the best you can. Just because you are depressed does not automatically give you the right to affect others negatively. Society expects you to work out your problems but in the meantime to still contribute positively to society.
as far as the song learning goes, according to fansub, nagi says mashiro was raised by the queen... but he also believes her to be the false princess. This makes very little sense to me. I can't reconcile either (a) queen survives and raises a princess she knows not to be her own under disguise in the castle or (b) queen teaches mashiro song as fake visible princess in castle from birth. not that anime is always plausable... but this just doesn't work out in my mind.
I was figuring out something,rena who left the baby down the river might be her child (becoz the baby hair is the same as rena child but not the same as mashiro hair). Then during the fight between the aswald,rena manage to out run them and fell unconscious near nina house,which her parent took her in and nurse her back to health. During that time rena teach nina her song ^^.But then john smith found rena hiding there and killed nina parents during the fight (thats y nina hate rena).Nina who is homeless and shock from the incident was found by sergey ^^.Well thats what i think it is,hope what i say may be true,hehhe
I felt sory for Aoi, the song made me almost cry. I felt sorry for Mashiro, she might be poor and find her way back for the rest of the series, looking for Arika to help. At the end, probably Mashiro meets Arika and they work together to beat Swarchz. And Aswad joins Guarderobe.
Mashiro probably handles that the fact of not being the real princess is not all bad, she would probably remember the time in episode 18 and make Arika the princess instead! She will go"They're gonna get mad at me... Oh well, Aoi! Make Arika the princess now!"
Also I forgot, I think Aoi is like a mother to Mashiro also, because she risked her life instead of telling where Mashiro is when she saw her. Her face was scared, and sad. 2 people gone so far.
Aoi was scared but after seeing Mashiro in the crowd, it changed to the look of someone relieved and happy seeing Mashiro safe and well. To protect someone she practically 'raised'..... at the end you can see her resolve to 'protect at all cost' before she fell off the cliff.
Neon, you sure it's a fake thing? O_o; the movie trailer looked so real T_T
Yes its fake.
Didn't you see when it was coming out?
20006
awwww that blows T_T
it would've been cool if there was a movie
oh well x3
Finally that pretender has gotten a heavy dose of reality, though those bloody refugees decided to use scapegoats just like Nagi...poor Aoi. So what is Nagi and Smith up to any way? If it was simply power then why not execute all threats to it? Still what is this harmonium any way? Is it a weapon of mass desttuction, a beacon, or just a really horrible instrument?
Well at least Shizuru and Natsuki aren't dead yet, though it will we interesting to see what role MIYU will play. I doubt that she is going to to against Arika since she's had plenty of oppurtunities to kill the lot of them already.
Still it looks like the war is going to be a while, though I'd pay to see Nagi get pushed in front of a convoy.
Though Artai be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,
We go, we go, we go to war, to hew the stone and break the door!
Ah, THAT'S what this discussion was missing - a good LOTR reference!
Nagi needs a serious butt-kicking. He's even more infuriating this time around - in HiME at least some things happened that he wasn't counting on. This time everything's gone according to his plans. Well, except for Arika interrupting his seduction of Mashiro, but that was pretty minor. So he's human, but less fallible? That's no fun.
Well, lets be fair, in HiME Nagi was SURPRISED exactly twice. Both times directly involved MIYU.
Miyu has yet to involve herself directly in his plans, once she does I fully expect her to totally throw things out of whack.
Good point, Fencedude, though I was also thinking of the time Natuski blew off a chunk of Nagi's hair as a "surprise". Either way, here's to throwing things out of whack by any means necessary.
I think Nina's robe isn't that bad looking. So Hikari, there's someone else who doesn't think it's ugly. ^_^
At the very least, I think it looks better than Arika's robe. Now THAT robe is fugly, with the puffed-up shoulders, weird belt, wrist bracelets, and... BLOOMERS with STOCKINGS?!
It looks like she's wearing the top part of some medieval style clothing, and completely missing the bottom part of it (i.e. the skirt). It just looks incredibly unbalanced to me. Big and thick up top, absolutely nothing down below.
Incidently, does it annoy anyone else that everyone ended up in ideal locations after that explosion? It should of sent everyone flying! Instead, Nina and Sergey remain in the capital; Mashiro and Aoi both end up in the refuge camp; and Akira is somewhere out in the desert.
The impression I got was that everyone was seperated by the events that would have occurred after the explosion (ie soldiers and slaves running to the scene). Mashiro, Arkia and Aoi all ran in different directions. Mashiro then slipped in with the refugees to flee the dangers in the city, and Aoi did the same with another group.
I'm guessing Arika would have done something similar. I guess we find out her situation properly next episode :-)
Dont forget that the refugees and the desert scenes including Natsuki and Co. took place 3 days after the explosion. Gives time for them to re-organised themselves.
Wow! Both are great episodes.
Poor Ers-chan and Aoi... that´s not fair.
And Mashiro if she become a Queen again... probably will be a more wiser Queen now...
.... or will be a rutheless evil Queen, after learning the lesson a)"Kill the peasant before they kill you" :P
I am fairly convinced that Sergei is just a selfish moron (sorry to those who like him).
Why does Sergei feel that HE must be the one to sponsor Arika? We know that at least Nagi was willing (but Sergei wasn't having none of that!), and it is likely that some solution could have been found. Sergei's decision cannot be simply ultruistic, the jewel reminded him of Rena, or something - the point is, for whatever reason, Sergei choose t