Mai-Otome Episode 23

Japanese Title: 不思議の谷のアリカ (Fushigi no Tani no Arika)
English Translation: Arika of the Mysterious Valley


Not really an exciting episode but important regardless of how the overall episode fared in terms of rating. Ep 23 served the very crucial purpose of clarifying almost all of the speculations which surrounded various events of the series, especially the ones regarding the true identities of Arika and Nina. It has been a rather confusing expedition with Sunrise mostly leading us down detours and then finally grounding the truth towards the end. Imho, they did a great job in successfully keeping us in the dark until the time is right for them to take the veil off. Although certain obvious hints were given, several others were thought-provoking enough to shoot down even the most solid theory, for instance the ones concerning Arika’s parentage. Apart from that, numerous new revelations were brought up as well, and whether or not they serve any significant purpose for future occasions remains to be seen. Well, at least they’re trying to make it as HiME as possible. This episode is heavily laced with nostalgia, from Mai and Mikoto’s interaction to the inclusion of various re-arranged versions of Mai-HiME’s BGMs for instance, “Gakuten-Ou Kenzan!” and “Ensei~Mashiro~”. Those aspects scored with me and made the episode rather enjoyable overall. Besides that, there isn’t much to remark on I guess... Apart from what I’ve posted below.


~Highlights of the Episode~

Sizzling

Gotta love Nao’s onsen hair. She looks so cute. And hawt. Time and time again, Nao has easily (or rather ironically) proven herself to be the most helpful character in the entire series. I know this has always been a commonly repeated comment but you just can’t help admiring her. She’s one of the extremely few who ever gets anything positively done. How many times has she helped her kouhai out of pinches? How many times has she laid waste to loli predators? And how many times has she saved the @$$es of a few supposedly revered individuals? Yes, I am honestly frustrated with how the writers are handling people who are expected to be resourceful individuals like say... I dunno. Natsuki and Shizuru? As much as I love these two, the writers are killing their image by portraying them as helpless folks who couldn’t seem to accomplish tasks even for themselves. I’ll lay off Shizuru in the meantime coz it looks like she has something in mind and being an intelligent as well as dangerous woman she is, she will break someone (or a few people) badly later, although it has been a rather loooong while since we last saw her. As for Natsuki... Puh-lease, for goodness sake! Give her a break and stop making her look so useless :p! The only glorious moment she ever had was when she last displayed her Otome prowess against Midori and Gakuten-Ou, but even that was only a few seconds. I believe Natsuki is and always has been someone who is capable of flooring all of her opponents (and fans) with ease if given the chance. It’s just that the writers aren’t portraying her character right. The only side heroine who deserves recognition for actually doing something constructive is Nao. Sure she complains a lot and doesn’t give a damn to her responsibilities but she’s mostly the one who always ends up doing her job properly anyway. Far better than some people at least... Definitely looking forward to more antics and of course action from her now that the Gakuenchou has given her the passport to become a full-fledged Pillar. ^^


HiME’s Legendary Two. In Otome, sort of...

It’s certainly great to see Mai and Mikoto in person again, although I do agree with many others that it’s unfortunate their comeback didn’t have much of a great impact as initially anticipated, particularly in Mai’s case. Ever since they mentioned her being a legendary Otome, I had imagined her playing the usual role of a deus ex machina making a dramatic entrance into a hopeless situation, kicking the baddies’ @$$es and saving everybody else’s. So, what did we get? Ramen ^^. And Mai’s mommy instincts... Kind of wasted the first impression, don’tcha think? And I’ll say that I placed my expectations too high again on the first meeting between Mai and Natsuki after a good many years. I was hoping for an emotional shock reunion (probably along the lines of “Why the H3LL did you not friggin’ tell us where you went?!” from a typical Kruger) but that climatic moment was immediately switched to and dampened by a calm onsen scene instead. The conversation between Mai and Natsuki at the spring just didn’t seem right. At least the timing wasn’t... As for Mikoto... I’m confused with who’s who among her um... “Siblings”. She called the cat which stayed with Mashiro “Jubei” ^^;. As for her role, more on that later...


The Rightful Heir

Now this sounds perfectly right. Arika being Rena’s daughter and eligible successor to the Souten no Seigyoku is as correct as speculations may get, and I’m glad they confirmed that at the end. Interesting to note – Miyu stated she has lived for hundreds of years, and told Arika that the latter possesses the blood of that person, who is most likely Alissa seeing how she has the same shiny golden hair. A “descendent” (through experimental methods) perhaps? Direct relation to HiME here, although of course it’s left to the imagination of fans of what Miyu really meant. Speaking of which...


The HiME Connection

Natsuki: That totally goes against common sense!
I couldn’t agree more with Natsuki but not in a negative way though. It’s really interesting on how the writers tried to establish as many links between HiME and Otome as possible. Mikoto the Suishou no Hime? It probably has nothing to do with Mashiro in her HiME life but it’s amusing nonetheless in the way they used very familiar terms and switched the roles. They even included the all-too-familiar HiME tattoo, and Mikoto’s (unseen) ability of being able to wield the higher order of power is reminiscent of what the HiMEs were capable of. It’s still uncertain as to whether this new revelation will be expanded on or left alone but I’m hoping Sunrise would clarify what they were trying to convey through Miyu’s claims. Mikoto’s insane amount of strength and skills is probably a taste of that but a clear demo of her true powers would unquestionably be a treat to watch. Furthermore, I’m hoping she and Mai would be joining the Calvary gang later to wipe the villains dry.


Okay, time to move on for the remaining trilogy of the series. Ep 24 wasn’t too bad but I’m not gonna comment on the events now. Until the next post then.....


~Entry by Dav~