Wow…Mai-HiME. No, I’m not behind the times at all, right? Just now starting on this series when its quasi-sequel remake thingy premieres later this week? Wait, of course I am. Seriously though, this was one of those dozen or so series I got maybe one or two episodes into before reluctantly having to drop them because BitTrickle went too damned slow to keep up (credit to Negs for the “BitTrickle” thing). The farthest I got into Mai-HiME was some drowning girl with a sword cutting up a boat fighting some hot chick with a robo-dog who later appeared in a metric shit-ton of lesbian hentai with a rather domineering blond woman, all the while this big-breasted redhead watched from the side-lines like, trying not to die & all. Seemed rather interesting, but like I said, I had to drop it because other series had my attention and I lacked the download speed to keep up with everything. Gundam SEED Destiny of all things, too; sucked royal to watch that show plummet week by week while this one just garnered more and more praise from everyone. Luckily though, my internet got faster and I discovered that wonderful invention known as XDCC, so now I’m able to go back and pick up those last-year series that wound up being the subject of everyone’s coversations. Like Mai-HiME. Yay.
So, I’m sure most of our regular readers are at least reasonably familiar with Mai-HiME, right? Of course you are, but humor me. Basically, it’s all about these special girls called HiME, who seem to be capable of summoning these creature familiars called Children, or at least making use of powers that somehow relate to their Children. Like freaky mitama hover bracelets and dual-wielding sphere guns. So, our HiME (specifically the three main characters) are all being called to this Fuuka Academy joint on some special scholarship with the true aim of their being there actually being to fight these bizarre monsters called Orphans, which seem to range from giant bugs of the Inu-Yasha monster-of-the-week variety to Aztec deity-looking things to panty stealing gremlins. That’s right. Panty. Stealing. Gremlins.
I loved that episode.
Anyway, that’s really all that can be said for the plot thus far, as the show seems to have more the “introduce massive cast by way of plot-lite fluff” agenda on its mind at the moment. Give the audience the basic gist of what’s going to go down later (such as Mai’s giant ass-fuck whale-dragon Child), while keeping the focus on general school life with decidedly more mundane things like Mikoto learning what a bento box is, Mai getting a part-time job, and Natsuki displaying her expansive lingerie collection (and something else somewhat related) for all the world to see.
I loved that episode.
Having the bulk of the show thus far being about introducing what promises to be a far-reaching cast of characters obviously means these characters need to be as entertaining as possible for these early episodes to deliver. And fortunately, they’ve accomplished just that. The three central characters—Mai, Mikoto, & Natsuki—have all been given ample screentime and enough focus for us to get a good, firm grasp of their personalites. Mai actually seems to be the fairly typical moe-type heroine thus far, albeit with bigger boobs. Not a bad thing, but it has led to her getting upstaged by the much more colourful personalities of Mikoto & Natsuki. Mikoto for one gives me vibes of Tarzan’s bastard Japanese daughter being brought into civilisation for the first time. She’s practically feral, though in a cute way. It was nice of the producers to actually try making her into a catgirl through more natural feline mannerisms & animalistic behaviour as opposed to slapping ears on her and giving her a weird suffix-nyo. Though I would like to hear more as to just why she’s like that. And Natsuki is easily my favourite of the three, which really isn’t a surprise given how I always tend to have a thing for the “tall, dark bishoujo” types (Rider, Kanu Unchou, Chikane, Hazuki, I suppose Reki might fit the bill, as well). And c’mon, what’s not to like about a rogueish, pistol-wielding biker chick that commands a robo gun-dog and keeps an extensive personal collection of sexy lingerie? But what also makes Natsuki interesting is that she’s not stuck up or utterly unflappable. She isn’t in “cool bishoujo mode” all the time, which I suppose makes her more natural and likable in that respect. She has a cute, expressive side, and it does come out on occasion. Like episode four.
I loved that episode.
The supporting cast also seems to be rather well-rounded, even if I am having trouble remembering half their names at the moment. Mai’s friends from class seem to have more individual personality to them than simply being stock-standard “background friends” as seen in other series, and the student council appears to be an interesting combination of the ultra-mellow Shizuru & that bishounen guy, juxtaposed with that violently temperamental blonde girl & the mousy assistant she’s always dragging around. Is it just me, or could that difference in leadership lead to potential conflict between the two later on? And on a higher “political” level, the school administrator’s been giving me “dark Lacus” vibes thus far for some reason (or “dark Tessa” if you prefer, the both of them being voiced by Yukana & all). Nagi intrigues me, though. Seems he might have some connection to the Orphans, or maybe he is one in human form? Given that he and Evangelion’s Kaworu Nagisa are both voiced by Akira Ishida, that’d be one helluva coincidence. Mai’s brother, Takumi, hasn’t really done much, though I suspect his role might be more as a plot point than a developing character. And Mai’s apparent dopey-guy reluctant love interest hasn’t really caught my attention much at all (hell, he hasn’t done anything since the first episode), though I must say Shiho’s weird dreadlock ponytail tentacles are quite terrifying. Maybe she should’ve been the tentacle monster in episode four as opposed to the gremlins.
I loved that–okay, okay, moving on.
As for the rest of the cast, they seem to just be making cameos for now until their time to be properly introduced. The kendo club and the nun & priest from the church appear to be setting up for some future significance. And there’s also the girl in the art class that got pissed over Mai’s Child ruining her landscape, as well as that saucy-looking redhead that Mikoto bowled over after eating the spicy curry bread in episode two. And then Mai’s co-workers at the restaurant make some cameo in the show’s intro, so I’m guessing they’ll have a future part to play, as well.
As for the plot, though the episodes have been fairly light on actual story, there’s still been plenty of teased plot points to stir up interest. Most importantly, just what are the Children & Orphans exactly? And why does Fuuka Academy want the HiME so bad, and what perchance might their issue with the Orphans be? And just why is Natsuki so adamantly opposed to the school? For whatever reason, she seems to want to keep the HiME away from Fuuka Academy at all costs, so I can’t help but suspect that the school’s actually a rather dodgy place underneath the surface. And on that note, just who is Natsuki working for? She’s clearly got help and contacts leading back to somewhere. And are they actually on the level if Fuuka Academy isn’t? And who is this brother of Mikoto’s that she’s searching for, and what’s the full story behind this apparent family flashback Mai keeps having? I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that it has to do with her powers as a HiME, which might suggest that the other HiME are also victims of past tragedies, as well. It’s all really intriguing stuff.
As for shortcomings of the series, really the only thing I can think of is the animation. It reminds me a lot of Gundam SEED actually, in that the transformation sequences and certain fight moves (basically, the stuff that’ll be stock footage later) are really well done, while most of the downtime sports some pretty bad smudginess and choppiness. There also seems to be some off-model character animation at times, albeit nothing nearly as frequent as what was seen in Gundam SEED, and especially in Destiny (Athrun’s mouth is not on the side of his head, Mwu’s eyes are not three feet apart, and Lunamaria…should probably have a chin, mm’kay Sunrise?). The music and voice acting make up for it, though. The score isn’t Kajiura’s best work, but it’s still worthwhile, especially in scenes of high tension where all hell’s about to break loose. Minami Kuribayashi’s opening theme is pretty good, if not a bit generic, while Aki Misato’s ending theme is much more attention-grabbing. And the voice cast is practically an all-star lineup of mostof the must-know talents of the past four or five years, so that aspect is expectedly strong.
I’m liking this series thus far. Quite a bit, at that. These early episodes are mostly fluff, but it’s entertaining fluff. And there’s enough hinting at future plot developments to keep me thoroughly intrigued. The cast is also showing a lot of promise, even if it seems learning all their names will take about 20 episodes to accomplish. Short of iffy animation, it’s all fairly solidly built so far. And if what others have said is any indication, things are only going to get better, so I can’t wait.
And to leave on a high note, one last screenshot of my early favourite character for the series (complete with Child). Enjoy!
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