Mai-Otome Episode 6

Japanese Title: ニナ、まかれる...orz (Nina, Makareru...orz)
English Translation: Nina Gets Entangled...orz

FANTASTIC episode!!!! Finally, things have started becoming far more exciting! Well... Still not from the plot’s point of view, but rather in the form of... Fanservice. Like the other bloggers have described this episode, this week’s adventure with the girls at Gaulderobe is chock full of hilarity and yuri insinuations (Which included a lot of groping and molesting XP), further complemented by h-a-w-t fighting action in the form of Nao and pure insanity personified as Shiho. I was becoming fairly worried that the story may be slowly dripping down the drain since the main plot hasn’t been highlighted at all in the past two episodes except for say, a few scenes, but the comedic effect this one had on me ditched my anxiety pronto. I honestly forgot the number of times I had to suppress myself from laughing out too loudly. Anyway, scene comments and character focus coming up, plus LOADS of screencaps (BIG TIME SPOILERS!!). In other words, stop reading now if you don’t want to be spoiled!



~Highlights of The Episode~

To feel Nina means to feel her WRATH, and much more...

LOL!! Never expected Nina to have such a glaring weakness like this XD! It’s too entertaining to watch her squeal in embarrassment whenever she gets mercilessly “attacked”, especially by Arika at the beginning. Gee, Erstin looked as though blood is threatening to spurt out of her nose during that time =p. As Mentar had said, the changeover scene from where Nina kicks Arika off the bed to when the latter was falling from the sky was EXCELLENT! Perfect sequence tweening, in my opinion.


Anyway, as Irina puts it, Nina’s weakness sounds oh sooooo SEXY ^^. Yes, when I say “sounds”, I meant her kawaii moans that’s bound to excite any lolicons within the vicinity (Can you just hear the echoes of every cry she made? =p). Props to Koshimizu Ami for her brilliant acting! The way she voiced Nina made her seem as though she was having an excruciating time bearing with her flaw not only in front of Arika, but the entire Coral group as well. That whole side of her produced absolutely hilarious consequences, the main one being Arika having to deal with the receiving end of Nina’s anger. You could tell that Newton’s Third Law doesn’t apply here at all coz a little tickle always results in a thorough thrashing of massive proportions. Poor Arinko... I bet her body is in a “boro boro” state by now based on the number of times Nina brutally bashed her up after every mistake she made ^^;;;. This episode is very light-hearted in the sense that we get to see Nina’s seemingly unknown crazy and relaxed side. We knew she’s very capable of having chibi expressions, but the ones she displayed here were just plain surprising but nevertheless cute.


It’s fun watching the interactions between her and Arika. Like I’ve said before, I’m grateful how Arika is slowly weaving into Nina’s life and is gradually peeling her cold shell as the series progresses. It’s almost exactly the same case as Mai’s role in obliquely bringing Natsuki’s loony nature to the surface in Mai-HiME. Hopefully, the writers will continue to expand these two Otome’s friendship, albeit it doesn’t look like one at the moment.
PS. Looks like Yukariko’s bow is so much more useful now compared to when it was in HiME. ^^


It sucks to be a slave petite soeur

WHAT THE?! How fertile can Yayoi’s imaginations get =p? LOL!! I wouldn’t be surprised though if Nao does use her two assistants for that kind of entertainment XD. It wasn’t unexpected of them to bring up something like that but I never imagined they would put it into such um... Creative pictures ^^. I find it even funnier when they blurred her thoughts. Same case as the fantasized Akira and Takumi “yaoi” scene in Mai-HiME’s Episode 5, but they have an excuse to avoid pixelating that one coz well... Akira isn’t a guy ^^;. So what’s it like to be an imouto to your sempai in Gaulderobe? Basically, it’s to tend to your Oneesama’s needs like how a maid would care for her master in every respect possible (AND that may include providing insatiable yuri pleasure whenever deemed necessary). Now, if only the girls from Marimite could witness the things that Otomes go through....


Shiho’s voodoo diary

LOL!! Check out Nao’s page on the left. That whole thing’s full of ‘maki maki’, which I guess signifies the level of Shiho’s bitter rivalry with Nao. I wonder if any of her revenge schemes had succeeded in getting back at Nao. Or maybe not... Note that Japanese does exist in the Mai-Otome universe. Kinda weird that only Nao’s name is written in Katakana. ^^;


Best way to familiarize yourself with water

That whole escapade of Arika forcing herself to dip her face into the pot of water was pure amusement. She was simply trying too hard. And trying too hard means getting your face until the bottom of the pot while shattering it in the process. To make matters worse, Mashiro was right there to gloat in all her royal glory. I do like Mashiro’s new attitude but sometimes, I feel as though her gakiness is getting out of hand. Oh well, no complaints as long as the comedy’s right.
PS. Yes, the Queen’s swimsuit is definitely made of cliché material.


More mystery

The person almost every fan is speculating about... WHO is this woman? She looks like Rena based on her hairstyle but her hair color suggests otherwise. Argh... Damn night filter. The nagging thought is so annoying! Yes yes, we’ll have to wait until Sunrise reveals more secrets later on.


The MUST-HAVE Screenshot in every Mai-Otome Blog Entry

OMG O.O!! KORA!! Erstin, that is NOT the proper way to perform CPR!! The positions are wrong! Unless Erstin is trying something else ;p. Ah well, if the students in Gaulderobe are taught to do it that way, then so be it. Damn, I’m sure as heck Sunrise is screwing our minds by deliberately creating a scene like this. Pfft... They certainly know how to deliver when it comes to yuri fanservice. I mean WTH?! This is different from Mai and Mikoto’s one! ZENZEN CHIGAU!!!! I swear these types of scenarios are the writers’ clever ploy of showing obvious mouth-to-mouth between girls without any hint of indecency. Remember Natsuki and Shizuru’s kiss in Episode 25? It wasn’t exposed clearly (Okay, I’m a sick person XD) coz it was apparent that they were doing it but here they have an excuse to display it outright coz Erstin is “performing” CPR on Nina. Dammit, it’s always the CPR excuse. And the way Erstin held Nina evidently tells all that resuscitation isn’t the only thing she’s trying to achieve. =p


And yet MORE mystery

Who switched the labels? I’m willing to go with the majority who says it’s Tomoe. Miya could be a possibility too seeing how she spinelessly promised Tomoe that she wouldn’t mess up again. However, the fact that she seemed afraid of Nina’s warning as indicated at the beginning of the episode kinda slightly waned the likelihood of her being the culprit. Whoever it is, she’s undeniably a Coral.


The stress of being Gakuenchou

LOL!! This scene is sooooo adorable. That’s definitely Natsuki for you. She hates everything troublesome that gives her a bad migraine. It’d be well entertaining to see Shizuru lovingly feeding her aspirin pills every day. ^___________^


Who wouldn’t leave out... The Tentacle Monster

In a series heavily laced with hints of yuri goodness, it is MANDATORY to have the tentacle monster lurking about and molesting young maidens. This time, the girls are getting a taste of the hell Natsuki went through in HiME’s Episode 4. Ah... The infamous bondage scenes. Sure brings back old memories.... Oh ya, did I mention that the action scenes here were amazing?


All Hail The Other Goddess of HOTNESS!!

Here, we have the best few scenes of the entire episode. Not only are Nao’s words poisonous. Her skills are equally bad@$$ as well. A clear-cut treat for fans to witness her incredible finesse at making sushi out of the tentacle monster. It seems Sunrise has retained her whip-like strings Element from HiME apart from her “claws”. She looks so cool when she’s using them. That’s the great thing about string weapon wielders. Their attack poses are damn sexy. The most hilarious bit has got to be where Shiho makes a futile attempt to free herself using her hair as drills, only later to be smugly forced by Nao to beg for her life.


Shiho: Just save me already, Juliet!!
Nao: When asking for something from others, I wonder what you’re supposed to say....
Shiho: $&%*#@....
Nao: Haaaaa~?
Shiho: PLEEEEASE!!


A great round of applause for Nanri Yuuka and Nogawa Sakura for their outstanding performance! Nao sure has a hot way of saying "Haaaaa~?". That whole scene was exceptionally priceless! To top it off, I can see no reason why Nao shouldn’t be one of the top three Pearl Otomes from the way she fought. Being Pearl No. 4 doesn’t do her justice at all. The only reasons that are probably denying this fact are – 1) Nao couldn’t be bothered about the theory part of the Otome exam seeing how she always skipped classes, therefore ended up performing badly overall; 2) She doesn’t have the appropriate behaviour for a Trias member (Something very likely); or 3) She just couldn’t care less to become one (Something very likely as well). Whatever the reason is, Shiho better demonstrate some Otome flair that’s worthy of her being No. 3 coz Nao absolutely pwned her in this episode. And I just loooove the way Nao blatantly phrases her most memorable line – “Ba~ka ja nai no?” (You stupid or what?). She is AWESOME. Period.


~Characters~

Nina and Erstin
Hmm.... From the way I see it, they are probably suggesting something between Nina and Erstin. Cue comes from this scene

Erstin: Nina... –chan?
Nina: Nn?
Erstin: Y-you shouldn’t do that, Nina-chan... We’re both girls. *Blushes*
Nina: Huh?
Erstin: But, if it’s you, Nina-chan... Then I-
Nina: (Checks Erstin’s temperature)
Isn’t Erstin cute ^^? She reminds me of Hinata (Naruto) from the way she shyly pokes her fingers together like that when she’s trying to convey/conceal (Choose whichever best describes the situation =p) her feelings.


Come to think of it, Erstin does seem to admire Nina a LOT based on past situations. I can see a replica of a ‘Shizuru and Natsuki’ type relationship stemming from this. Erstin is always giving out little hints now and then that she respects and adores Nina like trying to talk to her and insisting to others that Nina is a kind person despite the latter’s visibly cold attitude. Unfortunately for her, she’s too bashful to say anything direct (Exact opposite of the ever-so-shameless Shizuru-sama ;p) and Nina is completely oblivious to the whole thing. At the moment, I guess it’s like an unrequited love case. Erstin looked really hurt when Nina didn’t seem to appreciate her help due to the latter’s pride being shattered. I feel so sorry for poor Ers-chan ^^;;;. Interesting to note, Nina looked embarrassed that time. Heck, it’s all about having your first kiss, baby =p. On the positive side, Erstin is very supportive of Nina, something which I’m relieved about coz she’s the only person in the school who sincerely cares for Nina (Besides Arika and probably Irina) when the other girls are out there to shoot her down. Is it really love or just pure idolization of the best student? Anyway, what I’m seriously hoping for is that this doesn’t take a tragic turn like Shiz&Nat’s relationship. From the way things look, I simply cannot imagine Erstin becoming like Shizuru when it comes to being rejected but who knows? Everything is unpredictable at the hands of the writers. In the meanwhile, I guess fans can enjoy all the suggested yuriness of the series. Nao couldn’t have said it any better... Welcome to Gaulderobe’s *cough*Pure*cough* Lily Garden of Virgins where new flowers are being planted everyday. And Sunrise is over-feeding them with fertilizers. XD


On the whole, yes, this is indeed the best episode since the first one. If you haven’t watched it, then we all seriously recommend that you do. It’s not enough just to read blog entries. It’s the same with Nina, you’ve gotta feel it ;p. To put it simply, watch it. NOW.


~Entry by Dav~