Mai-Otome Episode 11

Episode Title: HAPPY☆BIRTHDAY


Gomen for the late entry, minna! Been caught up with revision (Geez, can’t believe I still have time to write up even when I’m having exams ^^;;;). Anyway... As expected, this week’s episode has been pretty much low key, with its main aim on fleshing out the personalities of several characters. To make the story short, the plot centers on the celebration of the 3 protagonists’ “extraordinarily” coincidental birthdays, primarily focusing on the importance of the date to Nina. While this episode wasn’t as pulsating as the previous ones, it seems necessary for the heroines to take a temporary break seeing how they’ve been pelted with various dilemmas, a few very serious ones, posed by the current antagonists of the series. Even though the level of action was almost nil, it still presented itself strongly in terms of drama and blithe humor. In addition, fans were treated with the return of a few old faces as well. A light episode with a light review this week.
PS. I seriously wished Nina should have beaten the daylights out of that kid who stole her pocket watch.



~Highlights of The Episode~

And who said working for the monarchs is a glamorous job?

LOL!! Let us all give a big round of applause to Aoi and Sakomizu, as well as Mashiro for providing most of the comedy in this generally drama-filled ep! Major props go to the former two, who were given a hell’uva frustrating time and clearly demonstrated that even tending to a queen can be a serious royal pain in the butt. With Mashiro now missing somewhere in the city (Never mind the alley =p), it’d be interesting to see how they would work around the predicament they’re in. Cue for the preview. ^^


UWA~ Nipponjin da!!

YAY!! More familiar faces from HiME ^^! Definitely a joy to see Takumi and Akira again. Take note that their names did not undergo any changes like the rest of the ex-HiME cast i.e. Their names are in kanji and even their family names are preserved. I agree with a few that there’s a nagging feeling telling me Takumi is actually the real prince while Akira is just a stand-in for him, either as a mean of protection or because the Zipang gang are facing a similar problem as Aoi and Sakomizu -> rebellious royal kid running around in the city =p. I’m starting to wonder whether Akira is Takumi’s Otome too... Anyway, one thing intrigues me. Since Takumi has appeared, we may assume that Mai is bound to pop up soon, ne? I’m just curious whether she’s related to him as a sibling because her family name seems to be different (Her family name is “Foieru” while Takumi’s is “Tokiha”). Of course this is a baseless hunch coz I got Mai’s rumored name from an official art. Like I’ve said before, it could be one of Hisayuki Hirokazu’s teasers. At the moment, the only hint of a connection I see between the two is the emblem they have on their clothes. Well, if Mai is from a different family, can we safely say that she may be one of the Pillars?



~Characters~

Arika and Nina

The highlight of the entire episode, no doubt. Their interaction is something worth commenting on. First up, we have the spotlight on Nina whom we were treated to some major character development. This is another incident where we see her lose control of her calm composure to the brink of desperation and irrationality. It’s obvious she cherishes Sergay very deeply, and the plot this week confirmed that she is unsurprisingly in love with her “father” (Poor Erstin is gonna be so heart-broken ^^;). I’m still debating whether the love she harbors for him is really the romantic type or the adoration kind in which one typically over-idolizes the person concerned, sort of like the Tomoe and Shizuru one, minus the psychotic evil part. We can’t deny that Nina is extremely possessive of Sergay, something which is quite understandable if you look at it from her point of view. The problem with it at the moment is that she just couldn’t bear the thought of him loving someone else as evident when he talks about Rena and when he seemed to display subtle fondness towards Arika. Speaking of which, what I’m rather astonished about is the way Arika handled all of this. She’s honestly very innocent when it comes to mingling with those around her, and I find it amusing when she’s completely oblivious to what others think of her. Take for example in this episode, she wasn’t aware of the real reason Nina was shunning her, and she still blatantly demanded to know why the latter was behaving the way she did =p. I agree with washi that Sunrise has an unerring knack for making you love characters whom you formerly despise. First Shiho, and now Arika. I used to dislike Arika mainly coz of her excessive cliché genki attitude, but now I’ve grown to really like her. I even find her loud whining voice cute now, dang it! As the series progressed, I began to admire her personality little by little, and now my opinion of her has turned almost 180 degrees from what I used to think. The way she took care of Nina in this episode was very very very praiseworthy. One of the scenes which captivated me was when she screamed at the idiots who were encouraging the already depressed Nina to strip further. I know anyone would have normally scolded them but the level at which Arika was defending Nina was just incredible. And of course the most touching scene was where Arika willingly allowed Nina to vent her anger and frustration directly at her. Instead of standing her ground, she just let the other throw accusations at her, and proceeded to tell Nina not to give up in their search for the latter’s missing pocket watch. I guess I’m forced to say, out of my own will, that Arika is probably one of the most likable protagonists that any series could ever have, at least to me anyway. I find her to have a stronger role even than Mai. Ah Sunrise... You folks are indeed geniuses.



~Speculations Corner~

Artai? Schwarz?

Yes, this had indeed become even more confuddled than ever. We finally get an idea of what Nagi’s scheme involves – dominating the world, sort of. A very common theme in almost any series out there ^^;. Anyway, the king of Artai has revealed that he wants the real princess found ASAP so that he may be able to take control of Earl. Whether he wants the princess found dead or alive is still unclear, but what we do know is that his role is probably connected to Schwarz, whose current objective does include the obliteration of the Windbloom royalty line. Or does it really? So far, we’ve seen them send Slaves after Mashiro, but are they actually out to kill the queen? Or do they just want to capture her? It seems very like the former at the moment from the way the Slaves attacked her, but the latter could be a possibility as well if Nagi plays a part in all of this. As usual, it’s difficult to interpret his schemes, but we could at least bring forward some questions which may help us comprehend his outwardly twisted mind. Does Nagi notice the Schwarz peeps are “trying” to kill Mashiro? Does he even care since he knew it’s highly likely she isn’t the real princess anyway? Why is he bent on finding (Or marrying) the princess specifically from Windbloom? Why not the princesses from other countries if it’s all about obtaining and expanding power (Assuming princesses do exist elsewhere in the first place =p)? What’s so special about the Windbloom one? Does he already have an idea of the real princess’ identity, and is sending Sergay on a wild goose chase as a distraction to steer him away from the obvious? Well... Only time can unfold the events to come.


It’s all about birthdays

Sergay sure has a unique way of representing Arika XD. Right, on to the topic. Several questions can be raised about the validity of the three protagonists’ birthdates. First we begin with the star of this ep, Nina. Sergay fixed it for her coz that’s the date of their first meeting. Hmm... Supposedly. I guess it would make sense if he found her as a random lost child on the streets with an unknown background. What I’m pondering on is whether he knows who Nina really is before using that excuse as a reason for setting her birth date. Next is Mashiro. She has the same birth date as well but how this came to be, we’re still not sure... It’s either she was in fact born on that particular date and the royal attendants by some means knew it from those who were connected to her when she was a baby. However, I’m not very certain on that. She was found by the monarch’s home secretary after the invasion and was proclaimed as the princess; the only proof allegedly claimed by a criminal captured by the secretary. I’m assuming at this point, he knew the birth date of the princess is on 7th September, and just set it for Mashiro since it was stated that she’s the princess.

And now the most interesting character out of the trio – Arika. She actually knows her own birth date? Who told her this? Her baa-chan? If her grandmother knew her birth date, does that mean she (Grandma) is related to Rena after all? So far, this episode contained the strongest evidences which direct speculations towards Arika being Rena’s daughter. First, there’s the fact that Sergay knew her birth date by “coincidence”, and theoretically, he discovered this from Rena. Second, Nina seems to know it as well; she possibly heard it from Sergay. Her behavior is rather hard to read in this episode but from the way she reacted upon hearing that Arika’s birthday falls on the same date, I’m beginning to wonder whether she succeeded in piecing certain information fragments together. During the scene where she was running out of her dorm, several of her flashbacks look to be connected – Sergay suggesting 7th September to be her birth date -> Sergay reminiscing about Rena -> Sergay finding the Souten no Seigyoku in Arika’s possession -> And finally, Nina breaking down then questioning her otousama. Why did she immediately think of the jewel when she heard Arika saying the ojisama who was funding her education knew her birth date without her telling him, subsequently prompting her to think of Sergay straightaway and question him (Does this mean she found out the identity of Arika’s secret benefactor? Maybe not... Yet =p)? Did she think the reason Sergay set that particular birth date for her was because it was the same birth date as the daughter of the woman he adored, or was it something else? And then later, an extremely depressed Nina blurted to Arika that her birth date was only a coincidence with that woman’s daughter’s. Furthermore, in a very hurt tone, she asked Arika why the latter showed up with the Souten no Seigyoku now. Although all of the details are still vague, Nina seemed to have deduced Arika being Rena’s daughter, based on her birth date alone. Nonetheless, I kinda find this a rather weak indication unless Sergay did tell her before that Rena really has a daughter to begin with.

At the moment, all three of them do not have valid proof on whose birth date is actually real. In the meanwhile, the only one I see having the most solid evidence is Arika since hers seems to be confirmed by more than one person. Guess we’ll have to continue waiting...


Mwehehe... Next week’s episode looks entertaining. Aoi and Sakomizu probably forced Arika to play princess for the day while Mashiro and Takumi enjoys a tour of the city. Lets see how this one turns out.


~Entry by Dav~