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ローゼンメイデン 
December 8, 2005 | 
45 Comments
I know, I know, it's late. Thankfully, this episode will allow me to breeze through most of the parts, simply because most of the content is fairly straightforward and doesn't need to be put into perspective. I'll try to compensate for the lack of text with some more screenshots than usual ;)
What we get is primarily a character development episode, with especially Arika, Erstin and Tomoe getting priority treatment. Relatively light on action, we get a setup for what I expect to be an explosive episode 10.
Episode Rating: (+)
Lookie there, our old favorite Natsuki informer from MH is back, Yamada! Neither he nor Sergey (to whose faction we can obviously assign him) look very happy to learn that Nagi has shady dealings with the official Schwarz representative. Especially Sergey looks very upset, and it will only reaffirm his decision to meddle in the affairs on his own, without following his highness.
Okay, so we learn what we knew before. Studying and any kind of artistic activities like ballroom dancing or piano are obviously lost on Arika, that's not her forte. On the other hand, when it comes to athletic stuff, she's shining. So when "THE HIKE" is announced as part of the Otome exams, many of the more delicate classmates get all teary, but Arika won't even bother to flinch ;)
Instead, we see Arika in her best "uwaaaaaaah!" pose when she visits the ocean for the first time. So Otomes can materialize their own swimming suits just like their robes? Nifty! Too bad for her though that Arika gets literally nailed by Yukariko again.
There's not too much to be said about the Mashiro-Nagi antics. The funny thing is that - and I'm really going out on a limb here - I would not be surprised if Mashiro would REALLY pair up with Nagi at the very end. Why? I don't know, but I can't picture him as an all-around badguy, and Mashiro _does_ get all blushy at his advances. Call it a silly hunch, and I'll probably feel very stupid in 3-4 months.
So Erstin isn't too thrilled about the survival trip either, and we get to see much of her weaker side, apologizing for her perceived shortcomings. Getting Arika as trusted partner is making her pretty happy, on the other hand. It seems that the two of them have formed quite a solid bond in a very short time.
The Nina-Tomoe pairing was just perfect. Watch the difference between them and the Arika-Erstin pair, who cheer in a "gimme 5" pose - while Nina and Tomoe are back to back, and while they STAY like this. So typical. Nevertheless, linking up the top girls from the class will yield the top results, as we will see...
Nagi continues to play the role he suits best: He watches, supervises and only acts indirectly, if at all. John Smith enters the premises, and unless I'm very wrong, I believe HIM to be the one who tampers with Arika's and Erstin's equipment. Many people have fingered Tomoe again, but I don't think so - this is the hand of a man, not the slim fingers of a girl. And in episode 4 we can see Tomoe's hand as very graceful with long nails.
But what did John Smith do? We'll learn later that he obviously sabotaged Nina's and Erstin's equipment - but for which purpose? My theory is that he's gonna try something against Arika's life. If he has found out somehow that Mashiro and Arika have formed a contract, killing Arika would also kill Mashiro, which seems to have been Schwarz's goal all along. We'll have to wait and see I guess.
It's almost certain that Nagi knows by now that Sergey is following his own agenda, but he doesn't confront him or fence him in. Instead he's just watching...
The Shizuru-Natsuki pool scene was both hilarious and also probably the most aggressive and juiciest piece of meat Sunrise has ever thrown to the ShizNat wolfpack. Youko starts the Natsuki razzing, but Shizuru's mischievous nature just follows up in a very funny and slightly sexy way ;)
We learn a couple of interesting details here. First, that Shizuru is obviously Natsuki's senpai - it seems that she was a Trias pearl when Natsuki (and most likely Mai) failed on their hike. Nevertheless, Natsuki ended up as school headmaster. I really start to wonder what kind of fireworks must have happened between Natsuki and "her" in the past, and where "she" is now.
Finally, it's obvious that unlike MH, Natsuki tolerates Shizuru's caress. In MH, she would most certainly jumped out of her chair. Over here, she didn't. I wonder how far this really goes...
Playtime on the beach, not much to see here. We learn that Nagi is no lolipedofin and appreciates a proper stack in front of the hut. However, can someone tell me what kind of stuff was on his back??
Aaaah, Akane and Kazu-kun. Our poster lovelove couple has another screentime. All of this is giving me a very distinct "Romeo and Juliet" feeling. I wonder if he will last, he looks SO MUCH like a sacrifical lamb to me.
We learn that he's a son of a royal family from Carlteya, the same country Argoss (the designated badguy) is coming from. This can be used in two ways: First, to have his death trigger a war, probably as a pretext for Argoss to let loose. I'd say major ouch to that, because I'd like Akane to have a better fate this time. But also, it might be an option for a happy ending, with Kazu-kun eventually succeeding the badguy, and living happily with Akane. We'll have to see.
So the nanomachines also protect the Otomes from poisoning? Dang, that's some nifty tech they got. For Arika, the hike is a breeze - she managed to cross the desert all on her own. But Erstin is suffering. Here, we get to see first glimpses of both Arika's caring side and the fact that her enthusiasm often goes too far, with too little head involved. As long as it doesn't really count...
Now that's some meal! It's hard to take Shiho serious in any way (she looks rather ridiculous in her robe), but I almost felt pity for her when she was suckered into swallowing one of these eyeballs in booger gravy. Somehow these things look suspiciously like the Koolaks from the first episode ;)
Now Tomoe on the other hand does it right. For her beloved adored Shizuru onee-sama she's prepping a full multi-course gourmet meal, complete with tablecloth, candelaber and a full couvert. Mini deductions for misplacing the utensils ;) ... but what a feast. Since I happen to know a bit or two about hi-level food preparation, I can only say that to come up with anything close to this, you need a very well-equipped kitchen (especially the dessert decoration was amazing), but Tomoe could pull it off! Yay! Cook for me too one day, please!
Arika continues to pick up brownie points for her caring way to comfort the weakening Erstin. Especially her readiness to give up on the hike to get help for our little blondie scored big with me. So Erstin isn't all that thrilled about the prospect of becoming an Otome, and rather along for the ride without personal ambition. If this is the case, I can very well imagine how tough it can be in such an extremely competitive environment without genuine friends (and Nina, the one she obviously likes alot, is not the kind to be friendly).
Soon thereafter, Arika's compass begins to fail, and Erstin collapses from fever. In this scene, I was reminded that the OST was written by Yuki Kajiura. Within a few seconds, all the happy-go-lucky sweetness and warmth dissipates, replaced by a feeling of foreboding and dread. And this time, I'd attribute it to the music.
It's very atypical for Kajiura to stay so subdued. Normally, her pieces tend to dominate the action and set the pace and drama all by themselves. In Otome however, her compositions are very complementary. They don't reach your consciousness, you barely notice them, but they are very effective. The triggering of the crisis was delivered in a very very convincing way.
Once again, Arika shines. Whenever danger is looming, the girl has a very quick mind and (unlike she is in normal times) with the ability of very sound judgement. Immediately signaling for help was exactly the right thing to do, and she did so without any hesitation. Then, she first brought Erstin to some kind of shelter and then rushed off to find help. Perfect. She's not gonna end up as a polished and sophisticated consort ot nanny, but rather as a reliable and capable protector.
The dead goard in his own puddle of blood shocked me. Some friends asked me why, since a raid is a serious business, and I can only answer "Because it's giving Aswald a much more severe image than I had before". Keep in mind, during the infiltration of Windbloom Castle, we also saw some collapsed guards, but they didn't seem to be dead. And since Midori was heading these guys, I rather expected some vigilantes. However, THIS is no joke, but deadly business. Badguy rating plus 10, pending revision, for the crossing of the Rubikon.
I won't say much about the preview, because I hope to be able to watch it in 30 minutes. Regardless of the caption, there's no way that some dirty business could happen between Arika and Sergey - he's like a daughter to him, obviously.
I'd expect Nina to freak out on Shizuru because she wants to rush off looking for her dad. It seems that the jealousy theme towards Rena and now Arika will continue to spin out of hand. Just imagine if Nina would be the one finding Arika and Sergey locked in a warming embrace ;)
Midori and Haruka fighting action? Sign me up, me wanna see!
*pokes winny to hurry up*
To me it looked like natsuki has a clear gem... perhaps she is the diamond pillar, and as the diamond pillar inherits the position as headmaster of the school.
I wouldn't expect it be of any real significance, but curiously the Asward Arika confronts at the end (something like Lumin according to the credits) has the same VA as John Smith.
What I want to know is what's in a cave in the middle of the Airies wilderness. I mean, it has a guard, so it's obviously of some importance, but the Otome are allowed to pass through the area. And Aswald wants it badly.
One would think that Yukino would notify Shizuru and Natsuki about this. In which case, Shizuru would probably slyly find out what's being kept there, and she might deduce that the Aswald are after it.
Natsuki is apparenlty the "Quartz of Ice and Snow"
Cool, a guard is even in the middle of the forest just to gaurd. I can't wait to see the next episode after I saw the preview.
Allow me to play devil's advocate here and say that for whatever reason Arika shows any competence, is because she is a Mary Sue, episodes 6 and 8 confirmed this. Heck, the whole friggen series shows she's a Mary Sue. And since her character archetype's been recycled so many times throughout anime, it makes it hard liking her and so easy to hate. It goes double for Mashiro.
People are going to hate me for saying this, but the way I see it, that whole pool-side scene was just something for the fanboys to fap at. Just make sure to have your tissues ready, boys. :)
If I hate the show so much, then why watch it? I dunno... but I feel like I have to mock it! After the solid goodness that was Mai-HiME, I'm finding this to be a disappointment because of the unlikable characters and overbearing fanservice.
Signed; The disenchanted.
I agree :)
Mai Hime was a bit silly in places, but it tided up nicely, ep14 and 15 were awesome !!!
I can't believe what drivel otome is turning out to be...
/me runs
Allow me to play devil's advocate here and say that for whatever reason Arika shows any competence, is because she is a Mary Sue, episodes 6 and 8 confirmed this. Heck, the whole friggen series shows she's a Mary Sue. And since her character archetype's been recycled so many times throughout anime, it makes it hard liking her and so easy to hate. It goes double for Mashiro.
How exactly is she a Mary Sue? I've never particularly liked the application of that term to non-fanfic works, since this IS the original creators, they can do whatever they want.
That being said, most accusations of "Mary Sue" come from people who just seem to need a reason to bash a show, instead of just acknowledgeing that they don't like it and moving onwards.
I was wondering about Nagi's back, too. Just looks strange . . .
I've got another theory about Kazuya - maybe he's actually working with his father and is just getting close to Akane to use her. I'm probably just being paranoid, but something didn't feel right about him from the start, and when it was revealed that he's the son of a likely Major Bad Guy, well . . . I smell a rat. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I don't trust him just yet. Either way, I'd bet he ends up costing Akane her powers before the series is over one way or another.
I do wish that there was a little more drama/foreboding and a little less fluff thus far. I know it'll kick up soon, but I liked how HiME mixed them up throughout.
Reminds me of the quote currently at the top of Errant Story's website: "You know, when you stop and think about it, Cthulhu is a bit a Mary Sue isn't he?"
If Arika was a Mary Sue, she'd be good at effing everything. She's not good at the academic and intellectual stuff, but is quite good at the athletic/physical/combat stuff and seems to have good survival instincts. That's been rather consistent throughout the show. Now, if she varied wildly on her skillsets from episode to episode that'd be something else entirely (namely, "skills based solely on what's convenient to the plot").
The series is guilty of a lot of highly convenient character placement, but generally the characters themselves are internally consistent.
Fence:
Yes. Mary Sues have been initially used for fanfiction, but lately, there's been a larger number appearing in popular media.
I know that she's not a complete Mary Sue (she hasn't boinked the male or female lead... yet), however the other factors are not that encouraging to convince me otherwise. It's already obvious, she's the real princess. Episode 6 shows that she'll be overpowered. Seems to be quite the same with most other Mary Sues... eventually, everyone will LOVE her and she'll save the world like the cliche dictates.
Getting off track for a moment: Looks like Nagi's quite the smoker if he has that many nicotine patches on his back. :p
The things on Nagi's back are what old people wear.
He's supposedly young, but decrepid. Some weird kind of foreshadowing?
I know that she's not a complete Mary Sue (she hasn't boinked the male or female lead... yet), however the other factors are not that encouraging to convince me otherwise. It's already obvious, she's the real princess. Episode 6 shows that she'll be overpowered. Seems to be quite the same with most other Mary Sues... eventually, everyone will LOVE her and she'll save the world like the cliche dictates.
You are making a number of highly unwaranted assumptions.
A) She may or may not be the princess. Sure, thats what they seem to be hinting at, but they are being TOO obvious about it.
B) She didn't seem any more powerful than any of the other Meister level Otome we have seen
C) SHE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER of course she's going to be one of the best in the series. By your logic ALL lead characters are "mary sues".
the thing on Nagi's back is some kind of magnet use to cure backache.
Old Japanese use it but Nagi......... ^^"
Arika is too flawed to be a Mary Sue.
She's inept at too many things aside from stamina. And she acquired that due to her strict upbringing by an exotic grandma.
Not everyone likes her personality. In fact, I'd say quite a few people want her dead
She's far from smart. She is incapable of emo goth cryptic / wisecracking statements. A 5 year old would kick her ass in a debate.
She isn't rich. She's just barely above a street rat.
The show doesn't spend 50% of the time describing how pretty her physical attributes are. And trust me, this happens wa~~~~~~~~~~~y often in a Mary Sue character.
She's not a boy magnet, or in this case, girl magnet. I have not yet seen a legion of girls lining to get into her panties.
I have beared several mary sues and I can say that Nina is not a Mary Sue. Now, if the main character was Shizuru, however...
If you really want to pidgeon hole her, she's more of a Son Goku archetype.
Willuknight: Could you please take twh and return to your own site instead of trolling this place? There are quite a bit who prefer to enjoy and discuss this anime undisturbed by petty juveniles who try their hardest to prove their coolness to each other by making funny noises. If you plan on remaining here, please alter your tone. Otherwise, you will be removed. Thank you :)
Fencedude: They're the kids from "Unknighted Anime" who have weekly "Synchros" of animes, especially Mai Otome. Basically, it seems to be an IRC log while people are watching, and three guys please themselves while cussing how horrible it all is. Nobody seems to bother with it anymore, so I guess they come out now to places where activity is.
Mentar, it's not John Smith. -_-
Not unless he started wearing red sleeved clothing on us.
A dark-red shirt can look blackish in the evening and reddish when directly lighted, or he could have changed - I don't know. As always in this friggen show, we don't know for sure ;) ... the form of the head looked very much like Smith.
I doubt that it's Tomoe or another Otome though simply because it's a man's hand, and it doesn't have the white stripe of the otome jersey. Hm.
Actually, the head looks more like Tomoe or Miya. John Smith has pretty large tufts of hair sticking and the person fiddling had no such tufts at all. The hair was more solidly rounded, so to speak, like Miya and Tomoe's hair.
It's hard to tell what Tomoe's motive with Arika is. Does she want to befriend and manipulate her, or just eliminate her? Anyway, it's difficult to imagine that Tomoe would have the foresight or planning to have something happen so drastically that Arika and Erstin would be forced to use their bracelets, only to not have them work at that crucial moment.
Another problem with the "it's a man, baby" theory of tampering: It seems unlikely that anybody but one of the girls/women present at the staging campsite would know that Arika and Erstin have been partnered up. I could be wrong, but I'm betting against it.
(An observation I note as I go through the ep again to swipe screenies for my recap...)
I just figured. At the end before Arika met the dead guard, she was climbing up and straight forward her is the guard. But when she fall at the very ending, she ends up at the water. The guard was facing straight at her too right? Or was the guard guarding the cave to the side of the cliff? I don't know, I just don't know how she can climb the cliff through water.
It has to be tomoe. I dont think its Smith at all because they dont go after her directly.
In fact, shes the one that stumbles onto the dead soldier. The armored suit guy didnt even realize she was an otome. He acts as if she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didnt act as if she was his target. If she was a target, the armored suit guy would know his target. It was more like he was eliminating a hapless witness so they didnt ruin whatever plan theyre conjuring up.
Furthermore, the hand has a name tag. So whoever did it was intentionally pairing Arika with Ersti (sp?). Whats would Smith & Co have to gain by that? Shes ranked #17. Not to shabby. Wouldnt you want to pair her with a weaker classmate if shes your target. Unless they knew of Ersti's weaknesses.
Tomoe has the most to gain. She puts Arika in danger. Maybe shes aware of Ersti's weaknesses. Considering how badly Arika is doing in her other classes, a failure here might get her booted from school. Of course, it wont because Natsuki needs her there, but Tomoe is unaware of the 'big picture' and as such, doesnt realize this is too big for her.
At the same time she gets paired with Nina and has a chance of eliminating another of her rivals. Surely her lackey (i forget the girls name) has already told her that Nina is on to her about the "uniform incident." If Tomoe feels Nina is close to finding out she was the one pulling the strings, she may feel threatened. Thus causing her to speed up her time table and get rid of Nina sooner than originally planned.
Let me add something about Akira being a Mary Sue and being overpowered.
I dont know think shes a Mary Sue.
Is she overpowered? Yes and No.
Judging by everyones reaction, the Azure Sapphire Gem is the most powerful of the 5 gems. So much more powerful, that it makes the user the strongest of the 5 Pillar Otomes. However, Arika's lack of skill evens her out with the other 4 Pillar Otomes. She's so unskilled that she couldnt even fly right in ep 7 when she used the Gem.
So while the gem is overpowered, Arika's lack of skill evens out the playing field. If Natsuki or Shizuru would be using it, there'd be hell to pay.
Anyway, thats what I think.
We have no evidence at all that the Blue Sky Sapphire is a "Pillar" Gem.
In fact, we KNOW that Rena was NOT a Pillar.
All we ACTUALLY know about the Pillars is that Natsuki and Shizuru are two of them, thats IT.
I just HAVE to say those because it's so so true. Chie look VERY HOT in a swimsuit!!!
Alright that's about it :)
Fencedude,
I strongly suspect that Yukariko is a Pillar. It has been shown repeatedly that she can transform at will into her battle suit, whereas a "normal" Meister Otome needs permission (the earring kiss) from her Master before transforming. For ep. 10, very minor spoilers, so I'll leave some space...
*spoiler starts*
In ep 10 it is conclusively shown that a Meister Otome cannot transform without permission.
*spoiler ends*
In fact I'd venture to guess that Pillars are by definition bound to Guarderobe rather than to some head of state.
Pillars are contracted to the Shinso.
I think it's not crazy to assume that yukariko is also a pillar.
It would appear so, since (as mentioned) She does not need permission from another source to do so.
I'm under the impression pillars intrinisically have that right.
dbm, I agree that Yukariko is almost definitely a Pillar, which means Maria probably is as well.
Which still leaves us one unaccounted for. Mai? Someone else entirely?
I was under the assumption that Yukariko transformed without permission for comedic purposes.
And I want Haruka to be a piller. They can't shaft her in HiME and Otome. :-(
How does not being a pillar equate to "shafting" her?
Because I'm a stupid, obsessive Haruka fan, and I want her to be excessively powerful.
Yes, that is a lame reason, and I am fully aware of that.
(replying to a troll: skip this post if you are not interested)
I read Willuknight's comment and was puzzled for a minute. Then I headed over to his site, and saw that he hated MO episode 6. Suddenly, I knew: this man's perception of reality is twisted at a fundamental level.
Of all people, I should understand where he's coming from: I don't watch tentacle hentai (or any other sort of hentai), I don't like yuri, I'm not a fan of fanservice for its own sake... and yet they did it so well, the pacing was so right, the makimaki microphone was so over-the-top :D, that I was laughing through the entire episode. Even though it was not supposed to be my cup of tea, they executed it so masterfully that I loved. It was a great episode!
And yet WK didn't like it. Now, WK, I respect your right to be wrong, but there's no point in trolling on site: anybody who could share your point of view has already left by now, and those who remain have a way to appreciate this anime which is so different from yours that it is as if you were speaking an alien tongue. Yes, you got me to visit your site, but that will be the first and the last time: our disagreement is so complete that I simply have no use for knowing what you like and dislike.
Bakajin, Haruka cannot be a pillar, because as we already know she is contracted to Yukino. But she still seems very powerful, so there's no need to feel sorry for her. :)
Actually, was it ever stated that pillar otome are inherently more powerful than meister otome, or is it just speculation? Sure, they can summon their robe at will, but once that is done I don't see why they have to be intrinsically more powerful. So far I have seen no clue that the nature of the master affects the power of the otome.
Its never been stated that the pillars are inherently more powerful, but I'm assuming you don't get the position by being weak.
I would not be surprised if Natsuki turns out to be one of the most powerful Otome around, since she seems to be the person "in charge" of the entire system.
"I doubt that it's Tomoe or another Otome though simply because it's a man's hand, and it doesn't have the white stripe of the otome jersey. Hm."
I can't comment on the drawing style of the hand (the earlier switch in ep 5 was very clearly a girl, though), but we only saw the cuff of the shirt (checked using virtualdub). Check back in ep 5 where Nina wears the jersey, and you'll see that the stripe doesn't continue through the cuff.
Of course, it would be a bit disturbing if it was a guy wearing an Otome jersey, but I wouldn't put it past Sunrise or the same heads that brought us Mai-HiME...
*spoiler starts*
In ep 10 it is conclusively shown that a Meister Otome cannot transform without permission.
*spoiler ends*
yea it is obvious but something is bugging me ..Shizuru IS a meister otome...and she transforms without permission...
*sigh*
Pay attention. Shizuru is a Pillar, one of the five Meister Otome who are contracted to Fumi, and serve as the "supports" of the Otome system.
The only other confirmed Pillar is Natsuki.
About the saboteur:
Based on episode 10, it doesn't look like it was John Smith after all, hmm... still, the hand was animated very carefully, and it wasn't the hand of a normal girl. Especially since we got a closeup of Tomoe's hands when she tried to clean Arika's outfit in episode 4, and she had graceful fingers with long nails. Also, Tomoe's jersey had a white stripe on the back, we can see it at the beach scene in episode 9.
(Makes it sound as if I'm trying to defend Tomoe at all costs, which isn't my intention ;) ... I wonder if I'm just overanalyzing an art error and hope we'll conclusively find out)
About the pillar issue: Now that episode 10 clearly indicated that normal Meisters need to be "activated" by their masters first, I think we can already call the third pillar: Yukariko. The fourth one, I bet, is gonna be Miss Maria. But who is the fifth? (Mai? Gawd)
Looking forward to finding out ;)
I'd say it was Miya forced by Tomoe to do the dirty work for her again (maybe she has ugly hands :P)
*
Mhmm I have to ask this. I take it being able to summon your robe at will is synonymous with having Fumi Himeno as master which could be something reserved for meister otomes working for Garderobe. How certain is it that this also means the otome is a pillar? Is it official or is it an assumption?
Mhmm I have to ask this. I take it being able to summon your robe at will is synonymous with having Fumi Himeno as master which could be something reserved for meister otomes working for Garderobe. How certain is it that this also means the otome is a pillar? Is it official or is it an assumption?
A pillar is by definition a Meister Otome contracted to Fumi.
We know that Natsuki and Shizuru are two of them, we know Shizuru can summon her robe at will.
We also know Yukariko can do this, what we DON'T know is if Yukariko is cotnracted to Fumi.
"Also, Tomoe's jersey had a white stripe on the back, we can see it at the beach scene in episode 9."
Hmm, looks like there are 2 different designs (not by intention) for the sleeve; in some shots of the ep 9 beach scene Arika's cuff is solid red, while in others it's half red, half white. Looks like an animator or two wasn't paying attention...
hmm i've watch into this episode so far and it was going great to me arika is a cool character and nina,erstin, shizuru or even the principal or so well theres lots of them i like...anywayz the "QUEEN" or so is funny for the parts she's been when i was watching mai otome...this anime is freaking great but the situation that happened on this episode was an expected at least but on episode 7 it was awesome cuz arika looked great but then she made a contract with Mashiro..lol..anywayz love this anime much and The principal and Shizuru looks cute together like them both!! ^-^
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