Season #1:

"Highly Advanced Materializing Sentai HiMERanger"

Season #2:

"New Mobile Fighter Otome Gundam"

Season #3:

...if there is one...*bursts out laughing*...if a season 3 is possible, we'll might as well as call this the "MAI" series.

It never fails to amaze me how Sunrise manages to have some of the most awe-inspiring as well as some of the most downright ugly character designs on the same cast. On one hand you have the likes of Shizuru and Midori, on the other you have Akira and Nina in her Meister robe. *shudder*

Well, judging from the latter shots in the OP and the preview for Ep.18, it looks like there's going to be a lot of action out in the desert in the next few episodes. I'm looking forward to it.

(P.S. 1 W4N+ TEH MAI!!!!!!!)

Indeed evil Nina's greatest crime yet are those atrocious looking rags, since when has evil looked more ridiculous than good. Many a stormtrooper is shaking his head in disgust...

The alliance between Gaderobe and Aswald is now almost as indisputable as sunrise...Still the Five Pillars still strike me as Spiderman (Nao-san) and His Amazing Friends. Speaking of spidersense I sense that Nina will be laid low a tickle.

*Spoiler Starts*
Arika has every right to beat up Nina, she killed Ers-chan!
*Spoiler Ends*

-Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

The voice actress for Tomoe is Rie Tanaka. If I'm right, I think she is voicing for Suigintou of Rozen Maiden too. She has been doing a pretty good job in either role. From a just pure curiosity I'd like to know what you think. When she talks, not as a voice actress but as a young woman, do you think her voice still has that soft, convincing but at the same time very mysterious evil sound? Or she is just such a good voice actress that she can yeild that voice since the voice happens to be necessary for the roles?

I'd say the latter. Rie Tanaka has voiced characters that are just about nothing alike, from Azumanga Daioh's Yomi to Lacus Clyne from the CE Gundams or Chii from Chobits. She even sings well.

I don't know why but I think that Gal (Ball-head cyborg) might have some important part of his own. Because he's in the scene that include Rad, Mikoto and Mashiro while the other cyborgs didn't., that must mean something. To confirm that, he seems to be the only one in the Aswald that have the knowledge about the lost technology that far superb others. (He can open the door that lead to the computer chip in episode 10 while nobody ever could.

Seeing as this series rather unpleasantly reminds me of the case with Gundam SEED and its successor Destiny (OK, minus the stock footage) and is even refered to as New Mobile Fighter Otome Gundam, I fear that the writers might do the unthinkable and have Mai to be the leader of a Mai faction. I mean we have the ZAFT Garderobe and EAF Aswald so the one spot left would be the Mai faction, I wonder if they might even have a Three Otome alliance. *Shudders*

Sunrise are trying to be even more lacking in originality than in Gundam Seed Destiny (I don't mean only the opening but the plot developments it seems to suggest). It's difficult but they are doing great so far. The Gundam Seed openings at least had good music.

P.S. @Alexis - EAF is Schwarz, not Aswald. :)

Again, I have to re-emphasize the fact that, with a little work, Gundam SEED OP songs fit VERY well with the action onscreen. I've yet to see a perfectly edited one, though with a few seconds trimmed or extended here and there, you could put one in and not be able to tell that it wasn't an OP for the series in the first place. ;)

Still, the costumes this time for the main characters (Arika and Nina)... well.. the Meister robes REALLY look awful. I wonder if they could replace the character designer at this stage?

What's the point? The damage is done. I am probably not the only one who has major problems taking these characters seriously because of their ridiculous outfits (and other reasons too but that's another matter). Not only the Meister Robes but every Robe and most of the the other clothes seem to indicate that the character designer smokes some good stuff. :)

@ Matrim: I stand corrected. Thanks

I also find the Otome outfits most ridiculous. I'd say that the stuff the designer smokes (I'd dare guess on regular basis) would probably be long since expired and grown some civilization that has probably already discovered the wheel.
I fear the moment when we the viewers will be presented with all the Spiderwoman, Batgirl and so on pathetic outfits that the Op 'promises' to bestow upon us. I suppose that with this warning we are at least prepared to some extent for the shock to come.

hey i really like the episode of mai otome it is really tight and cute i am impressive how you guys made it i love it so much that i want to see the next episode

I guess i am the only one who likes these outfits, heh.

It's only been Akira's costume that made me go WTF?!

I've seen worse as far the other ones are corncerned.

Meister Robes = Horrifying...
More horrifying though, is the other 2 pillars...
*Pinches face*

Yup, i'm not seeing things.
introducing new characters now is already a bit late and lacking development.

The first time i saw those 2...
-> Jasmine from Aladdin with blonde short hair
-> Batgirl...
Please tell me the character designer is different from Hime...
Design of Child vs Design of Robes...
SIGH TO SUNRISE

The only ones that look good in the opening are the cyborgs, Tomoe (awesome), and Rena.

On the plus side, the show's serious side is no longer dragged down by the ridiculously cheerful opening. Now they just need to replace the ending.

Nina's robe is just god-awful. She sorta looks like a Christmas tree...just give her some lights and a candy cane and she's set lol.

I like Nina's Robe! ;_;

Mmmh... the only fault of Nina´s robe is the "longness"... Nina fits more in a miniskirt!!

And... by the way, Rena looks great in battle outfit...

So much hate for the robes.

;_;

Amen to replacing the ED. It's not bad by itself (it worked fine for the first half of the show), but it needs to go - NOW. You just can't go from death and friends trying to kill each other to overly cheery techno. Of course, HiME kept the same peppy OP for the entire series even after the Carnival started, so I'm not holding my breath for a new ED . . .

On the robes - I don't mind most of them (aside from the sheer idiocy of wearing high heels into battle, but whatever - that's a whole 'nother rant). Arika's meister robe, though . . . why pink? I mean, come on - it's the Sky Blue Sapphire. How the heck did pink get anywhere near that robe? Everyone else's robes match up with the color of their GEM's (well, maybe not Nina's), so why the eye-searing design on this one?

Personally, like some people before, I think all the robes looks nice to me, not just the basic design looks, (Okay not really all, *cougharikascough*) but also in their practicality because these are battle robes they're using, to be effective in combat.

Yes... the pink colour is a bit annoying too. Though Christmas Nina is by far the worst.
Actually, since its pitch black diamond, i think
Nina should've tried the robe that the pillar beside Shizuru is wearing.
Well... maybe drop that mask, but at least its Black -.-

The only robe I think looks slightly better than the rest is Mai's.... It sorta fits her hair and the scarf is awesome.... (Reminds me of the kagatsuchi scene in the joke trailer)

Honestly Arika and Nina's robes could have at least have better COLOURS.... I mean, whats the point of calling a robe the Blue Sky Sapphire or Ultimate Black Diamond if they're pink/black?

Thank goodness I'm not the only one to find the color of Arika's robe to be a bit odd. "Sky Blue Saphire" doesn't exactly bring "Flamingo Pink" to mind... How come her robe isn't the same as Rena's? Why would the GEM change the design for the robe for each user? Why not keep the same one and scale it to the appropriate size instead? Seems like a complete waste of time to me.

As for Nina's robe, I think the overall design is kind of cool. The colors need a bit of tweaking, though (maybe make it purple on black rather than green on dark purple)...

Nao's on the otherhand is a fashion holocaust. I guess the character designer is a big fan of the friendly neighborhood webhead.

"Nao-chan, Nao-chan, doing everything a Nao can..."

Yeesh.

Well... the reason *I* think Arika's rove is pink is because I believe Rena is still alive. If Rena wasn't coming back, why put her battling in the OP? It's of no relevance whatsoever.

I also like Arika's robe, Nina's is just bleugh. I really like the BatGirl robe, minus the mask and actually... I think Natsuki's robe isn't nice at all. I guess maybe they're so flamboyant so we can tell who's who when they kick each others asses.

*shrugs*

Drama > Robes. That's all I care about.

@ Ruu: Now I can't see Rena fighting in a robe even if for some weird reason she turns up alive. Wouldn't the whole love vs. duty issue be completely blasted away if they make the obviously non-virginal Rena able to materialize a robe and fight. That would be far beyond lame in my book. Keep her dead and buried, we've had our more than fair share of revivals in Mai-HiME, don't take it any further.

But I do agree that as long as the plot and character development (both, mind you) are good, then I am willing to bypass the offending robe design.

Technically, they *could* clone Rena, and she would come back a virgin and all, but possibly with no memory, or with a grudge against Arika for holding her Gem. But that sounds too much like a bad plot involving Mwu Flaaga and Rey Za Barrel. Onto the fashion commentary:

And Tomoe isn't even in a robe, she is just wearing the Otome standard maid dress, so her robe may still possibly be a(nother) fashion disaster.

Spider Nao's main problem is the colouring scheme me thinks. Yellow and green do NOT go with red hair. Actually, yellow and green do not go with each other in general. At least not in equal amounts.

And christmas Nina... Maybe its the robe length, or the bad colouring scheme, or the fact the robe does not emphasize any body platform (like Arika's puff shoulders). Most probably its all 3.

[Quote by Drunk Miroku]

>Please tell me the character designer is different from Hime...
>Design of Child vs Design of Robes...
>SIGH TO SUNRISE

Hmmm...

I smell "Biomerge" next season (if there is one)...LMAO

PS: *Pictures Arika and Nina copying the S-Cry-Ed Ending*

I *like* Nina's robe. She is less of a power fighter and more of a "finesse type," and I think with the two small blades they're intending to give her a sort of constant spinning motion in her fighting--unless it all just boils down to giant attacks like Bolt from the Blue, of course. When she spins, her longer robe looks nice.

I think most of the Robes are quite ok, thou Nao's is a little too much. True, pink makes Arika look a bit like some princess from Disney movies, but still, most Robe colors reflect personalities of people wearing them quite well. And the new OP is awesome! :D

Is it just me who thinks that the masked Otome could be Eris?

I love the robes, especialy ninas. I think it makes her look refined. The robes just bring something new to arena, and it would be great if each otome that uses a particular gem has different robes, like Rena and Arika.

And maybe i'm just seeing things, but does the orange-faced otome of the five pillars look alot like the president of Ealis, the one with the glasses.

i think that arika's robe isn't too bad... just the colour is a tad too bright.. the one that i dislike most is shizuru's robe.. i think its horrible.. it makes her look so .. bulky,nao's robe too, my god. ..scary.but rena's ,mai's and tomoe's look mighty fine to me.

We haven't seen Tomoe in her robes yet kirsten, though i expect them to have a dark Colour scheme, probably black or dark blu or green. Just to emphasis her "evil-ness", lol.

But i also expect her robes to look "hot" on Tomoe. lol.

Personally i like shizuru's robes, Natuski's one is good as well. But gOD Nao get rid of the spidergirl web design at the front, its horrid.

I've just seen the new op (yeah, late, but I wanted MO to end first before I started watching it, God knows I couldn't stand waiting week after week -.-u)

in any case, as hideous as they may be, i found some robes quite interesting, especially the ones of the old HiMEs...whose robes somewhat resemble their Childs (colorwise at least, although for some reason Yukariko's seems to be an exception.....also the ones who aren't Otomes :P)

on a side note, the "shadow" otome dosen't appear anymore...odd
and I'm starting to believe this is in the same universe as MH (not that it couldn't happen, it's Sunrise after all.......)