English Translation: A Hurricane Blowing Through the Garden of Maidens!?
Review
LOL!!!!
Now you know why the title is so. This has been one HECK of a wild and hilarious episode!! XD
The comedic effect was pure madness! Poor Arika having nearly the whole school chasing after her ^^;;;. Well, it was Shiho’s fault who deceived everyone into thinking that she was some suspicious person (不審者). Geez... All that just for voodoo doll testing =p. Nevertheless, running around naked and covered in only a sheet would have attracted A LOT of unwanted attention in the first place anyway. Every little bit of the chase from start to finish was definitely enjoyable
I honestly haven’t seen something like this anywhere else ^____^! I like Arika better here. She didn’t sound as annoying as in Episode 1, mainly coz she hadn’t been going “Aaah...” and “Uwaaa...” at every little thing around her except for Shizuru (But she isn’t just any ordinary “thing” ~____^). And now I get the idea why Sergay calls Arika an ant. Her hair moves like the insect’s antennae. ^^
Nina on the other hand, had some pretty angsty moments, the obvious one being ignored by her “father” just because he was more concerned about the Souten no Seigyoku at the beginning of the episode. I kinda sympathize with her. She’s already the No. 1 Otome among her peers and yet she’s still pushing herself so hard just to gain love as well as acknowledgment from Sergay. Well yes, Sergay does seem kind to Nina and he worries about her, but the lack of attention and praise he gives her can be a real discouragement (To the point of making her think that her “father” might hate her for what she has done). To add salt to injury, it seems most of the Otomes in Garderobe dislike Nina in some way. They’re always gossiping about her and hoping that she’ll drop in position due to her actions. The discussions during the deliberation with some high profile council members dejected her even more, so much so that she’s willing to accept the challenge posed by Nagi to fight Arika (How conniving can that boy get?). Sigh..... All I’m hoping for in the next episode is that the battle wouldn’t end up compelling Nina to shun Arika severely should one of them lose and had to adhere to the conditions of the duel, even if Arika is the kind of person who could easily mend any friendship. But of course there’s always a happy ending, albeit a cheesy one if you get what I mean. Everyone knows they’re gonna end up being friends anyway, no matter what the circumstances. Unless somebody wants to do those HiME scenarios all over again.....
Mashiro, heh... That girl is brattier than usual. She screamed so much in this episode. But it was rather intriguing if you compare her heated outbursts with Kazahana Mashiro’s calm demeanor. It would be interesting to see how the writers are going to turn Arika, Nina and Mashiro into good buddies at the state they’re in now, although I imagined it wouldn’t happen any time soon. Hmm... Maybe they need one of those close-to-death kinda experience to get things kickin’.
Natsuki hasn’t lost a single touch of coolness. I love the way she shuts Sergay up with her authority. Even though they’re at loggerheads, she still managed to get things going her way. Also, despite the odds against her during the deliberation, she didn’t lose her stance against the council members even for a moment. If she was Kuga Natsuki, she would have whipped out her guns and summoned Duran to sick ’em. =p
Shizuru is as bold as ever XD. She may have a loli complex as cited on her character interview posted on the official Mai-HiME website, but we never really see any actual evidence of that in the series except for some official artwork and the Drama CDs. And now, the Sunrise crew has decided to make use of that fact in full. While there wasn’t any hot Shizuru fighting action, there was hot Shizuru shoujo-ai action. Ha. Almost... GOSH!! Shizuru just killed two birds with one stone. She sure knows how to shamelessly tease her girl. Saw the look on Natsuki’s face =p? You could tell she wasn’t expecting that based on her reaction afterwards. Or she just knew that Shizuru was hinting to let Arika stay over at Garderobe. But Natsuki couldn’t have guessed it before Shizuru made the vague suggestion, could she? Anyhow, we S&N fans like to think otherwise. Mwehehe.... Oh by the way, notice how proud Natsuki was of Shizuru when she was watching the latter descending from the sky. Her face looked so smug. ^^
As for Akane, I’m glad the writers made her a respected figure. She was unfairly X-ed from the HiME team very early on in the last series, but now she’s getting the attention and admiration she deserves. It’s so nice to see all the girls looking up to her when she’s usually quite unconfident (But not anymore!). More screen time for Youko and she’s still the same person playing the role of a professor and nurse (It seemed that way with Arika in her custody). Might’ve been amusing if Midori was around to bug her. Aoi, well... Yes. After seeing more of her, I would say she really hasn’t changed. She just likes to bully animals now. Hehe, kidding. But she did kick Mikoto for yawning, a scene which I find very adorable ^___^. It’s funny to see how Aoi had switched places with Fumi to care for Mashiro. Speaking of Fumi, I wonder what her real role in the series is apart from being some country icon.
Story-wise, nothing really important happened in this episode apart from the deliberation and of course, that crazy Arika chase. To end, although it lacked action, the comedy strongly compensated for the plot. Mai-HiME wasn’t dull at all, not even for a single episode and we can see that Mai-Otome is taking after its predecessor very well. Plus, we were introduced to many more characters. Some old, some new. Yes, do watch it. The comedy is enough to keep you going.
And now on to the....
~Characters~
Yukariko Steinberg
The same motherly woman as before, except now she’s a teacher instead of a nun. Not to mention a Meister Otome to boot. She seems to be sharper and more adept in Otome. At least in chalk-throwing. But her actions still bring about unlucky consequences, as experienced by Arika herself ^^;;;. Anyone else thinks she may be one of the 5 pillars? The hint is quite subtle... And mental note: Never ever sleep in Yukariko-sensei’s class otherwise you might find white sticks embedded into your head or painfully inserted into your nostrils.....
Shiho Huit
LOL!!!! Shiho has got to be the most entertaining character in this episode so far! She’s an INSANE lunatic XD!!!! She was crazy (As in the comedic and serious sense) in Mai-HiME but not to the frightening extent shown in Mai-Otome. Heck, even Shiho going berserk in HiME’s Episode 24 wasn’t as scary as this ^^;;;. I used to dislike her a lot mainly coz of her fanatical over-possessiveness of Tate and her bitter hatred towards Mai for “stealing” her Oniichan but after watching this episode, my opinion of her has completely changed! Now, I’ve grown to really like her coz she’s one damn amusing girl! Hmm... I find it kinda weird to see her as an “Oneesama” figure to the other girls of the school though, coz she used to be one of the youngest main characters in the preceding series together with Mikoto, Akira and Nao. Speaking of which, I would loooove to see more of her antagonism with Nao! The idea of making them rivals is absolutely brilliant! In Mai-HiME, both Shiho and Nao are in middle school together but there was hardly any interaction between them at all. I imagined the both of them would’ve had potentially the same kind of relationship in Mai-HiME like they do in Mai-Otome should the writers had included some scenarios for them. Besides that, I like Shiho’s Mai-Otome design better. Her previous hair looked as though four sausages had been stuck to her head. Now, it’s four prawns instead! Hence her new nickname bestowed by Nao – “Uzumaki” (She probably could have meant “spiral-head”. Or better yet, “the drill”. LOL!! Lets get Satou Sei over here and she can vie with Shizuru for a lil’ shoujo flirting competition!). ^^
Juliet Nao Zhang
Lets stick with “Nao”, shall we (For some reason, she hates being called “Juliet”) ^^;;;? This young lady hasn’t changed one single bit. Nao is still a naughty slacker who probably skipped classes a lot (She was dozing off under a tree after reading a rather “interesting” book), but I assume she’s incredibly smart like her Mai-HiME counterpart to be able to achieve the rank she is in now. Ever since Sunrise’s crew had confiscated her mobile, she’s no longer making phone calls to swindle horny men. But at least she has a new simple hobby -> Annoy Shiho. To be honest, Nao has intrigued me for a very long time. She was such a multifaceted character in Mai-HiME. We all knew she was a bad girl, yet she still had many plausible reasons why she behaved the way she did. And I’m grateful she played a rather important role in the previous series. Nao was the one responsible for indirectly helping Natsuki realize that Shizuru’s love for her had saved her from inflicting further emotional pain unto herself. I’m hoping to see more of the comedy which Nao lends to the show. She and Shiho, that is. Oh, and I still love her voice too. Nanri Yuuka did an outstanding job as usual. She sounds so sexy, and it’s even sexier when she sings (Try listening to “Hitomi no Kakera”, the opening song for Bee Train’s MADLAX). ^^
Chie Hallard
Ooh..... Looks like Chie caught Shizuru’s womanizing bug =p. Notice the way she swept Arika off her feet. Such a debonair ^^. Her personality seems slightly different here, coz she wasn’t as suave in Mai-HiME. In the preceding series, she was more of an easy-going and perky snooper who practically knew the latest news and gossips (She was frequently snapping photos with her mobile’s camera too). Well, in “Ato no Matsuri” from Mai-HiME’s Drama CD 1 (Track 6), Mai stated that Chie actually looks “handsome” without her glasses. I guess this is what the glasses-less Chie turns out to be like when the Sunrise crew takes that statement into consideration. In Mai-Otome, she appears to be a fine-looking and charming lady who freely flirts with those around her if she chooses to do so. And she’s doing one heck of a good job at that. I feel so sorry for Aoi though... ^^;;;
Nagi Dài Artai
This cheeky little fox is just as manipulative as his old counterpart. Scary to note that he’s now the king of the Altair kingdom, which means... Sergay is his lackey =p. He’s still an ambitious schemer who loves to muddle things up as long as they are amusing to him in the end. Whoa... Nina’s master? O_O||
Others
Two new major Otomes are introduced and they are Erstin Ho and Irina Woods. Both of them haven’t gotten any decent screen time yet, so there’s little to comment at the moment. Well from the very short scenes, I guess Irina may be the kind of person Chie used to be, and I’m glad Erstin is one of the very few who actually cares about Nina. She and Tomoe Marguerite. Another important supporting character is Maria Graceburt, the naggy old lady which is a must-have in any shoujo gakuen series. Looks like her personality here doesn’t differ much from her Manga version and I think she’s gonna be bossing Natsuki around a lot (Gee... And I thought Shizuru was the only one who’s allowed to do that). Other minor ones are old faces like Yayoi Alter and Miya Clochette from Mai-HiME and new, Lilie Adean, but I doubt they would be lending any crucial role to the overall story.
~Entry by Dav~
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