Mai-Otome Episode 1

Japanese Title: ユメノ☆アリカ (Yumeno☆Arika)
English Translation: Dreaming☆Arika

Review
Su- SU–GOOOI!!!! O.O

*Takes a deeeeeep breath* Okay, before I go overboard proclaiming just how damn AWESOME Shizuru is (Like her other countless number of fans are doing much to the chagrin of some), let me just give my review of the overall episode itself. Note, I’m not gonna post any summaries or plot screenshots here coz the other more experienced bloggers have those covered already so it’s trivial for me to do something repetitive (Check out Matthew-san’s blog over at the “Elsewhere...” Links section to read other blogs’ entries). Well, I won’t be blogging every episode though coz I’m busy with ‘Takoyaki & Ocha’, and there are much better reviews out there. I’ll only be blogging episodes which are of keen interest to me. To begin with, I’m gonna divide this review according to different aspects. Before you read on, do remember that all the following are my personal opinions so only proceed if you won’t mind biased views. And also if you’re okay with being spoiled by the character screencaps (Especially those depicting fiery sword-brandishing finesse personified as Shizuru =p)

Right, here we go.


~Story~
First of all, the meat of the episode. I’m not sure what majority of Mai-HiME fans think but to me, the series started off great. Even though it wasn’t as grand as Mai-HiME’s first, it still contained enough elements that got me hooked and rooting for more. A right balance of common situations and fighting action to be exact. This trait is one of the many characteristics I look out for in any Anime series. Too dull, I doze. Too much action, I’d be trying to remember the point of the story (And to breathe). Even though Mai-Otome is the sequel to Mai-HiME, it was announced very early on that the adventures in the Otome world will be set in a parallel universe. Being so attached to Mai-HiME, I found it odd at first seeing almost all of the same characters in Otome with totally different roles, but I quickly learnt to accept what the writers are trying to convey in this entirely different series. Ahaha... Bet you all have noticed that they did slot in some Mai-HiME characters who don’t have a solid active role (Saw an inconspicuous Tate and Fumi?).

Ah, as usual... There will be many mysteries and secrets to be revealed, namely – the hidden power of the Souten no Seigyoku, Arika’s true abilities, the Slave summoners’ (Who are now the HiMEs of this series) motives, the unexplained incident involving the Schwarz that happened 14 years ago, and what Shizuru really does most of the time while hanging out with Natsuki in the latter’s office. *EHEM!!* Anyway... I certainly have high hopes for the whole story of the series. Mai-HiME’s plot was very well written and I guess die-hard fans are praying that the writers would bring out the same excellence in Mai-Otome as they did in its predecessor. Dialogue-wise, even though this episode was watched raw, the conversations were surprisingly quite easy to understand (Well, I take on raws most of the time unless I feel lazy and decide to wait for subs). Looks like the complicated stuffs come later. All in all, I’m already attracted to the storyline coz this first episode just blew me away. Since Mai-HiME is one of my top favorite Animes, I am DEFINITELY gonna continue watching this, even if it wilts halfway (Low possibility of that happening based on the way things are progressing).


~Art~
Sunrise never lets us down when it comes to delivering high quality fast-paced action animation. Bet they had all the practice when they did series like Gundam. When talking about art, I refer to all that are relevant like the animation and direction. Animation is superb. The characters’ motions during the battle scenes are really fast and fluid. Unquestionably the correct pace if one is to animate a mainly action genre. The colors are very rich as well as vivid and I noticed they’re trying hard to make them as diversed as possible. This is one of the more vibrant series where the colors stand out a lot and are rather distinct from each other (Unlike Bee Train’s. Their colors are a bit dark and have nearly the same tone most of the time, even in daylight scenes). Special effects are AMAZING, especially Nina’s henshin (Was Nina summoning Kagutsuchi? =p). Camera angles are one of the best I’ve seen so far. They have a really deep impact on me. I mean... Just look at Shizuru’s scenes! They totally sunk me in and got me repeating it for at least 7 times before I wrote this review ^O^.


~Opening and Ending~
Well, I kinda like the opening (Yes, I’m weird). Both the song (“Dream☆Wing” performed by Kuribayashi Minami) and animation sequence strongly reminded me of Mai-HiME’s opening. Hopefully, there would be an equally cool insert song like “Chiisana Hoshi ga Oriru Toki” later on. Hmm... Many old faces and mysterious figures to be introduced later on in the series. Haha... Guess they included Haruka to provide comedy. Will there still be rivalry between her and Shizuru? Lets hope so... Haruka’s too funny to pass up. Miyu’s in it as well even though she hasn’t been listed in the cast yet. For those who miss Reito. Maybe he’ll be back..... Notice the villain knight named “Rado” (Or “Rad”) at the beginning of the episode? His seiyuu is Seki Toshihiko, the same person who voiced Kanzaki Reito. His face hasn’t been revealed yet but there is such thing as wishful thinking. Ah yes.... Something does intrigue me -> the flame Otome. There’s a high possibility that it’s Mai. I’ve seen scans in magazines which have Mai’s character designs for the Mai-Otome series (Apparently, her proposed name in Otome is “Mai Foieru” as read in katakana). But... Those are only scans. It could be one of Hisayuki Hirokazu’s teaser illustrations. I guess I won’t believe it until it’s actually confirmed on the official website.

Ending. Geh... Okay, this is about the one thing from the whole series which disappointed me. The song is very genki and J-POP like, not my cup of green tea. Also the animation sequence just looks plain lazy. Where is Arika running off to? Infinity and beyond? It’s like they looped the entire thing and provided a separate video for the astral background (The astral background’s nice though)! “Kimi ga Sora Datta” was so so so much better! Even if there wasn’t animation in Mai-HiME’s ending, at least they changed the still images. Plus, “Kimi ga Sora Datta” has far more emotional impact than “Otome wa DO MY BEST deshou?”. Sigh..... I guess the main characters being younger (Only a year) than their predecessor’s may be one of the reasons for using that song. Oh why did they dump Misato Aki? Why?! T_________T


~Music~
Oh YES YES YES!! BRILLIANT!!!! >O<

Yet again, Kajiura Yuki delivered a few of her marvelously composed trademark techno background music. I’m already addicted to some of her tracks included in this episode, particularly the ones played during the desert ship at the beginning, Nina’s henshin scene, and of course Shizuru and Akane’s deployment (Chorals up one level -> Opera! This track accompanied the scene perfectly). What I noticed about her music is that numerous of her OSTs are evidently different from the others and they can be grouped together in terms of style. Kajiura Yuki’s music tracks for the Mai series (HiME and Otome) are more cheery, mild and light-hearted than her other serious compositions like those from Noir, .hack//SIGN and MADLAX. I would say that her pieces for Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome resembled those from Erementar Gerad and also Tsubasa Chronicle (A few though). I sooooooo can’t wait for her to release her OSTs for Mai-Otome. MUST get my hands on ‘em!


~Voice Acting~
Yep, all the old seiyuus did a superbly wonderful job in portraying their characters well. The new ones sounded great too (But I still wish Arika isn’t so noisy ><). Kikuchi Mika’s right for hyper Arika’s role, although her pitch and volume seem um.... Unvaried ^^;;;. Koshimizu Ami did big to bring out the coolness in Nina. Kudos to her for her effort in making Nina the reserved person that she is. It’s not easy for one who has voiced mainly genki characters in past roles. Apart from that, Konishi Katsuyuki made Sergay sound like a more mature version of Tate, even if they’re not the same person (Sergay is NOT Tate after all). Surely, a great cast list before and a great cast list now. But... I still miss Tamura Yukari, Noto Mamiko and Kobayashi Sanae.....


~Characters~
Aha! Perhaps the most important aspect of any series. Characters is what the story is all about! Comments on individual main characters. Beware... Biased!

Yumemiya Arika

Weh hey! Here we have a human version of Mokona! Still a genki lead, although a little too genki. At least Mai’s angsty sometimes =p. To tell you the truth, I’m not really fond of Arika. She comes off as a bit annoying (Especially her voice. It’s too loud most of the time) but I guess her personality is just right if one were to lead an energetic series like Mai-Otome. Aside from that, I do find her quite amusing mainly coz of her country bumpkin-ness. Maybe my opinion of her will change as the series progresses... Maybe.

Nina Wáng

Mini Natsuki? That’s what I first typically thought when I saw the scans but after observing her more, she does have a rather different personality from the latter. She is calm and cool most of the time, and also not as short fused as the other =p. She doesn’t appear as strong-willed and assertive as Natsuki though, since she has all those heavy responsibilities dumped on her as the No. 1 Coral Otome. Apart from that, she looks as though she’s always trying her very best to please her “father”, Sergay most of the time even if she seems slightly tense around him. Complex, isn’t it? No people, not that kind of “complex”. And why did they make that ice-cream scene so suggestive? ^^;;;

Mashiro Blan de Windbloom

Probably the most dynamically changed character since her transition from Mai-HiME. It’s like her personality turned 180 degrees. Kazahana Mashiro was a soft-spoken and courteous Fuuka Gakuen director whereas Mashiro Blan de Windbloom is a rebellious and snotty brat who thinks she can get away with anything as long as she succeeds in mind boggling those whom she wants to do her bidding. Not bad... I really like to see this completely different side of her. Her character clearly reminds me of Li Meilin from Card Captor Sakura (Same seiyuu anyway) who is just as arrogant as she is when she first appeared. But of course, there is always a good side to anyone like that. Hope to see more of this different Mashiro.

Sergay Wáng

A fatherly version of Tate Yuuichi perhaps? If his design is based off Tate, then I positively like the Otome version of Tate more. To think that Nina is his “daughter”.... Good that he’s kind to her or does he have an ulterior motive just like any other potential villains of a series? And once again, Sergay is NOT Tate. Oh, and if they did use “i” in his first name instead of “e”, I swear there’s gonna be a huge commotion.

Natsuki Kruger

Kuga, I mean, Kruger-san here probably has the most ironic role out of all the other characters. Wasn’t Natsuki the Ditching Queen of Fuuka Gakuen? And now she’s the highly revered headmistress of Garderobe Gakuen, not to mention one of the 5 pillars’ Meister Otome =p. Hmm.... Maybe Shizuru made her work extra hard. Natsuki is still as cool as ever, if not cooler coz she has that mature air about her (And she’s showing more skin too. Inviting her personal supporter to whip her good, ei?). I realize she’s more polite now too, since she has yet to use rough words like “aitsu” when referring to her acquaintances (She uses “kanojo” now. Too bad she wasn’t referring to Shizuru). Ah..... It’s SO great to see her again. I was really happy to hear the news that they’re bringing her back to the sequel since she’s one of my favorite characters. Notice how she classically flicks her hair *Squeal* ^^. I wanna see her Meister Otome costume soon! If she ever comes around to using it...

Shizuru Viola

OH... MY... GOSH!!!! KAKKOIIII ~^O^~!!!! Shizuru is damn SIZZLIN’ HAWT!! She practically stole the entire show (Her fans think so anyway)! She has all the best scenes in this episode, especially the Slave slaying one (Even if it was only a few seconds). Just look at the way she flails her swords! She could tame anything!

I thought her naginata in HiME was cool but her new twin swords in Otome are MUCH cooler (Hey, there are 2 blades now =D)! I’m very glad Sunrise has decided to give her some decent action screen time and hopefully more in the future. She had too little in the first series considering the skills she showed (Who would’ve thought an “I’m-too-delicate-for-physical-labor” seito kaichou packed this much formidable prowess. And not just in fighting, by the way ~_____^)! Looks like she has a natural flair for wielding extensible bladed weapons. If only Kiyohime was here too.... Personality-wise, Shizuru hasn’t changed much from her Mai-HiME counterpart. She’s still the gracious and playful ojousama whom we all came to adore (And fear) in the first series. Speaking of which, I find her Kyoto-ben as sexy as ever but still rather incomprehensible sometimes ><. And too bad she doesn’t drink her trademark green tea anymore. But on the plus (plus plus plus) side, she does get to spend time (And lots of it) with her dear Natsuki ^^. Must be a dream come true for her since she now has to support the stoic headmistress *almost* 24/7 with all those baddies running around. Ufufufu..... Guess this is what most fans out there are hoping for. Words couldn’t describe how happy I was when I first heard that the Sunrise crew were bringing kaichou-sama back (Of course together with her *ehem* close friend) to star in Mai-Otome. She being in the sequel is enough reason for me to continue watching no matter how bad the plot develops later on if it ever comes to it (But should the writers decide to sour “あの 二人 の ラブラブ”, I may just dump the series... Kiddin’ =p). When it comes to chicks mercilessly annihilating opponents, no one is as bad@$$ as Shizuru is! HECK, YEAH BABY!! BRING IT ON!!!! Yes... I’m a hopelessly obsessed fan. Pray that she won’t go psycho like before....
Best line
Shizuru: Odeko ni nanka tsuiteharu e.
(Slave’s head falls off split seconds later. As well as the rest of it)
{Basically translates to “There seems to be something on your forehead”}

Others

Mikoto. LOL!!! This is what happens when she fails to control her appetite in Mai-HiME. This cat is ridiculously obese o.O!! We have yet to hear her speak though. If she would ever speak. I have a feeling she’s gonna play an important role later on in the series (Besides being a pet, that is). Akane is the same as always. Still a wavering girl but she’s more confident than before. Also, she’s got some great rescuing scenes (Wonder if Arika sprained her back that time ^^;;;). After all... She is the the Pearl Otomes’ No. 1. Aoi (Would Chie Hallard drop by Mashiro-hime’s castle?) hasn’t changed much either, and the same goes for Youko and Sakomizu, but they didn’t have much screen time in this episode.


~Conclusion~
So... Natsuki’s cooler, Shizuru’s hotter and Mikoto’s fatter. What else can I say? After weighing the ups and downs, I would, without a doubt, HIGHLY recommend all to pick up this series. However, I suggest watching Mai-HiME first before dabbling with Mai-Otome coz you get to see as well as experience for yourself what the characters in Mai-Otome were like in the previous series and why a lot of us have come to love these 2 projects from Sunrise so much. Well yeah, I guess you could say that my review of Mai-Otome is very overrated, even for the first episode but I just can’t help it. I have a weird tendency to get excited over little things ^^;. Really looking forward to what the rest of the series has to offer! More “moe” perhaps. Dammit, Sunrise! You sure know how to get people hooked to your shows! A great round of praise for them *Applauds*! Until next time... Ja!

次回はもーっと萌え萌えって!!


~Entry by Dav~