PinkuBentoBox

Having finished blogging ep 3, I’m moving straight on to 4, as I want to catch up to roughly where everyone else is. Since it’s pertinent here, I thought I’d share my usual approach with these episodes. I get and watch the raws when they release - my command of spoken Japanese is good enough to follow it, assuming there’s no complicated dialogue. I then watch the subs (Static-Subs is my subber of choice for this) once, then watch again as I blog. I think this three-pass approach gives me a chance to notice a lot of things that I wouldn’t normally pick up in a single run. Anyway, Otome episode 4. Once again, no pictures unless needed - you can find those on just about any anime blogger’s site at the moment. I’m far more interested in content.

EDIT: Added Nagi’s impressions.

The little cliffhanger from episode 3 is quite neatly tied up in the space of about a minute, which was a little disappointing but not unexpected. I think it’s the wrong time for them to have pulled the drama card. That said, some of Sunrise’s other productions (looking at you, Gundam Seed Destiny) have had cliffhangers that are resolved far too smoothly and quickly. I don’t think there’s much in it though. Incidentally, Natsuki’s ‘Mashiro-sama’ line was absolutely wooden.

There is actually a continuity error here, or what may be construed as one. When Shizuru materialised Arika’s nanomachines in episode 3, Arika was wearing her clothes. Apparently the nanites eat clothing or something, because when Arika’s robe begins to disintegrate you can clearly see that her clothes are completely gone. I’d also like an explanation as to why Arika’s robe started to fall apart. We don’t see her having to stock up on nanites again, so perhaps they can’t replicate fast enough to keep up with the power she’s using? Her necklace is glowing at this point too, so I’m wondering if maybe there’s some kind of interference going on. Then again, it would be in keeping with the general otaku-pandering feel of the show if defeated Otome ended up naked or something.

The fact that Arika had enough power to stop the thing from falling seems to have impressed several people, not the least of which is Tomoe. If she’s an evil scheming bitch like I’m reasonably sure she is, then that’s going to instantly mark Arika as a major rival and threat to her, one she’ll need to deal with promptly. Nina doesn’t seem to be opposing Arika for this reason, but she’s already marked Arika as a rival anyway. I’m reasonably certain that Arika has managed to make herself the rival of the two strongest girls in her class.

In my entry on episode two, I mentioned my suspicion that the five Pillars were being set up to each be associated with an element, and theorised Haruka being Earth based off her colour and weapon from the OP. Her incredible physical strength displayed in this episode would back this up. When you’re talking elements in a fantasy setting like this, the Earth element character is almost always extremely strong. Continuing on this thread for a bit, I tried following up the possibility that the gems that the girls use may have some connection to traditional birthstones. Interestingly, the Hindu birthstones fit quite interestingly - they are, in order: Ruby, Topaz, Opal, Diamond, Emerald, Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby, Zircon, Coral, Chrysoberyl, Topaz. The Hindu birthstones are the only birthstones which include both Pearl and Coral, as well as all the other gems we’ve seen in the series so far except for Shizuru’s Amethyst. Note also that Ruby and Topaz are repeated. My suspicion is that Sunrise have somehow merged this Hindu set with our more traditional set of Birthstones. In all other birthstone sets, the first two (January and February) correspond to Garnet and Amethyst respectively, and I suspect that they’ve just swapped the two repeats out for these more traditional stones. This is pure speculation of course.

What is the actual status of this ‘Miss Maria’ character that we keep seeing? She looks like a nasty old trout and has evil eyes, and she seems to be bossing everyone around. She’s not the headmaster though, so what is her rank? Is she just one of the teachers who happens to be in dire need of a personality transplant or is she something more important?

It’s interesting that this world’s Yukino apparently has no Otome powers, and has donated them to Haruka. This could mean that there’s a chance that some of the other Hime characters might be around in a similar capacity, in other words we can’t assume they’ll be Otome this time just because they were Hime last time. It also indicates we should be expecting any of them that aren’t currently in the school to be paired up somewhere. I have a strong suspicion that down the track we’ll find that Takumi is a noble of some description and Akira has attached herself to him. Also, the fact that Yukino isn’t an Otome is to my mind a good thing, since she was an extremely bland character for the most part who almost felt as if she was only there to make up the numbers, like Yukariko.

In predictable fashion, plot devices fate intervenes on Arika’s behalf, allowing both Nina to stay a student, and Arika to join. If you didn’t see this event coming a mile away, you’re probably blind. Personally I don’t think it has anything to do with Arika’s actual performance that she’s been allowed to stay - that was Natsuki’s intention from the very beginning. Really, the only person that was opposing the decision was Mashiro, just for the sake of it. She obviously doesn’t realise that if Arika is an Otome she probably can’t also become the princess, even if she really was the legitimate one (of course, this is an assumption on my part).

Clearly Shizuru and Haruka have some kind of battle going on. I’m willing to bet that Shizuru is ahead on points at the moment too. They indicate that all of the best of them have had some kind of rival connection to constantly push them towards their best, and that Shizuru and Haruka had that kind of relationship. The implication later on is that Natsuki also had a rival, and I’d assume that would be Mai.

Nagi seems to be up to something at the moment, and it seems to be related to the ‘Messengers from the Black Valley’. It’s not clear whether he might be supporting them or opposing them, though. Personally I’m inclined to suspect he’s doing neither, but simply noticing an opportunity to play both sides for his own personal goals, not unlike last time. He also shows just how shrewd he is - he knows that Sergay know something about Arika, though he doesn’t say it. I wonder if he knows about her necklace? He’s certainly had a few opportunities to glance it, and he’s not the kind that would miss something like that.

Speaking of the Messengers, we see a shot of that masked character again, and to be honest I’m now not quite as confident with my assertion that it must be Midori. I still think it’s more likely, but this time her hair looked a lot more like Mai’s. Still, it has enough distinguishing features that it could be either of them. I just don’t think it’s late enough in the series for them to introduce Mai, and we’ll see a poster of Mai in the preview at the end of the episode, wearing Otome clothing. It seems very odd to me to think that, if she’s an Otome, she would be wandering in a mask and cloak with a guy who at present time appears to be a villain. That said, it’s also hard to see Midori allying with someone who’s evil either, what with her constant talk about JUSTICE and so forth.

The hand-wavy ’science’ in this episode is even more amusing than the nanomachines in the previous one. Basically, a scientific explanation to make yuri pairings in this series legitimate and expected. Essentially what Youko implies with her ’scientific explanation’ is that the nanites are vulnerable to semen (PSA is Prostate-Specific Antigen, a type of protease which is produced by the Prostate). It actually makes very little sense, because if they’re broken down by Y Chromosomes then something as simple as a touch would be enough to destroy them. That would make them pretty much useless. If Arika’s mother was an Otome, then either they used some kind of miracle IVF-style procedure or she lost her powers in the process. They also don’t beat around the bush and reveal right out that if the Master dies, so does the Otome. This is important in the case of Rena. We saw that the King and Queen were killed during that opening sequence in the first episode, however if they were dead then she should also have been killed. She was definitely wounded, but far from dead, which would indicate that she wasn’t bound to either of them. That removes what I thought was the simplest theory as to why she had no powers, making it pretty much implicit that she lost them because she had children, i.e. Arika. Since it’s clearly not something that an Otome would normally do, they probably don’t have a good idea of how those nanites affect their children.

The whole ‘no sex’ deal is going to turn into something nasty later, I suspect. It’s a pretty traditional thing really, the idea of magical powers given to girls, but only while they maintain their purity (ie are virgins). I hope they don’t go too heavy-handed with it later on though, because if you follow it through to its inevitable conclusion then someone’s going to get raped, and that’s not a nice thing.

Incidentally, if the Otome need to have a Master to use their powers, who is Natsuki’s? And what about Shizuru? I speculated in my ep 3 entry that Natsuki might not be an Otome and instead Shizuru’s master, however that doesn’t really work since they quite strongly imply that Natsuki was an Otome student at one stage. That said, I’m not sure she wears a GEM (she definitely has an earring on the ear that her hairstyle exposes, but is it a GEM?)

The Corals seem to have some kind of ranking implicit in their uniform. There is a coloured ribbon framing the white part of the dress. On most of the girls, it’s a greenish-blue. On Nina, it’s bright green. Tomoe’s is purple, and Arika’s is pink. This seems to indicate to me that the top three students (or maybe the top two, we don’t know who #3 is yet) have a special colour so that their rank is shown straight away. Arika being new to the class starts at the lowest rank, which is marked by a pink trim. This means some poor girl must be breathing a sigh of relief since Arika’s arrival has bumped her up a rank and probably into another colour. The Pearls also have a similar system. Akane’s sleeves are cream where Shiho and Chie’s are grey. Also, Akane’s uniform has red trim where Shiho and Chie have gold, as does Nao (who is not one of the top three). I assume from that that only the top Pearl has a special colour associated with her uniform, which sort of makes sense. Chances are if they make it to Pearl then the bulk of them will go on to make Meister.

Erstin once again appears to be the token nice girl in this series. I think she must wrap her boobs or something though, since later on in the bath scene they seem to have grown several sizes. Unlike Tomoe, Erstin appears to actually be genuinely nice. I wonder if she’ll move beyond being a background character at any point. Nina meanwhile makes it very clear that she has no intention of being Arika’s friend. I still can’t bring myself to like Nina at all. Her attitude towards Arika really stinks. For all of Erstin’s assertions that Nina is normally a really nice person, she certainly hasn’t shown it so far. I think Natsuki has deliberately put Arika and Nina in the same room in the hopes that Arika can crack some of that ice-queen bitch façade that Nina has been throwing up.

Based off of Natsuki’s expression when she and Maria are talking about Arika’s pendant, I’d theorise that she knew Rena and was possibly Rena’s friend. She mentions an old rival, and I theorised earlier that it was probably Mai. There is however the distinct possibility that Natsuki’s rival was Rena instead, which would actually probably have more opportunity for future drama as well as establish a more direct and intimate connection between her and Arika.

Natsuki refers to, I assume, the guy who summoned the Slave from episode 1 as ‘Schwarz’s Slave Lord’. She then mentions Rado as a cyborg from the ‘Black Valley’. In the prologue in episode 1, Rado seemed to be working with the Slaves, indicating he’s associated with this mysterious Schwarz. However, in episode 3 he made it clear that he wasn’t working for Schwarz. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with this, but it’s most likely going to have to come out in the next few episodes, though it probably won’t become a major plot point until later in the series.

Shizuru then mentions a ‘Martial Arts Union’ that had existed since the ‘War of the Twelve Kingdoms’. Static-subs have transliterated their name as ‘Aswardo’ but I suspect this isn’t correct. Given the predominance of German terms in the series it’s probably going to turn out to be something else. It’ll be incredibly hard to figure out what the actual word is until they show it on screen or in a magazine article or the like, though. I wonder about this 12 Kingdoms as well. Is it a reference to the famous Fantasy novels? Chinese folklore? There were 12 HiME in the original series (not counting Alyssa) so I wonder if this is a reference to them. Natsuki makes it quite obvious that the purpose of the Otome is not just to serve a bunch of royals. Implicit in her statement of course is that they’re supposed to fight these Aswardo people.

It seems that most (if not all) of the Otome students are being paid for by either rich parents (I would assume minor nobility in this case) or their country of origin, and have no idea how expensive it is. Seems they’ve got quite a lucrative business going on. Not unlike most universities or upper-class private schools, I guess.

I really don’t like that trio of Corals. They seem very like a bunch of two-bit bullies who pick on people and spread nasty gossip and rumours. Especially the annoying little one, Yayoi, who seems incapable of keeping her mouth shut. Lilie says that they’ve never had exchange students before, but two sentences previously Irina said she was an exchange student from Airies. I’m not sure if this is a continuity error or a translation error (or both?). Yayoi’s comment that they thought Arika was a princess seems like it could be deliciously ironic, but it also serves to show that it’s possible that someone from a royal family could still become an Otome. I can’t imagine why they would though, no normal royal would want to bow and scrape for someone. Interestingly, Arika seems to believe that her mother is still alive. I wonder if this is true, or if her ‘mother’ and ‘granny’ were one and the same (as I’ve speculated before). If she really is alive, how come Sergay seems to act like she isn’t?

Tomoe is evil. Every time I see her, that’s the conclusion I come to. She smiles and looks nice and everything, but she clearly overheard the girl’s conversations and has seen a good chance for herself to get rid of what is clearly going to be major competition for her down the road. She’s probably plotting something already, but I have no idea what it is.

This whole ‘attendant for the pearl onee-samas’ thing practically reeks of yuri. Yuri in the bathtubs, with all the girls sitting around soaping each other up… I wonder what the true reason for Erstin’s blushing is, but maybe it’s related to the fact that her boobs seem to double in size when she’s in the bath. This would be a good moment to insert an Evangelion ‘Thermal Expansion’ joke. The horrible horrible pervert in me wants to think it might be related to the fact her ‘onee-sama’ in this case is Akane. I’d blush too <3. Shiho seems like she’s still childishly vindictive, which I hope is just used for light-hearted humour moments rather than dramabombs like it was in the previous series.

Arika was absolutely stunned by the technology in Windbloom when she got there in episode 1. It was pretty mundane stuff too, like TV. However, she doesn’t bat an eye at washing machines. If she’s really supposed to be a hick from some tiny flyspeck in the middle of nowhere, it seems odd that she’d be so comfortable with something like a washing machine. I’d have expected her to be more familiar with the old fashioned way of doing it with a tub of soapy water and a wash board. Then again, that wouldn’t have allowed her to leave her dirty dress in a basket.

Nina’s song seems to either be different to the one that Arika sang in episode 3, or a different part of the same song. Certainly, she remembers Sergay’s photo of Rena and what he told Nina about her. Unfortunately they decided to cut just before he actually told us, the bastards. At least we know that he’d known Rena for a really long time - I wonder if she was his guardian or something.

Nao somehow seems a lot more likeable this time around. Not that I didn’t like her last time (the opposite, in fact) it’s just that she seems a lot less like a borderline villain this time. Certainly still a bit on the rough side, since she still retains that smoky tone in her voice and sneaks out at night. Given the whole ‘no sex’ deal though I doubt she beats up middle-aged pedophiles and steals their lunch money any more - too risky - but I’m sure whatever it is she’s going out to do, she’s probably up to something that her teachers wouldn’t approve of. Nao seems to have a very good idea of how the underbelly of the campus works. Someone is definitely going to try and get rid of Arika, and she seems to already have a suspicion at the very least. I actually think that Nao is probably one of the best of the Pearl class - possibly the best, but her attitude is such that she would be unlikely to actually get the accolade.

I’ve heard a number of complaints about Arika’s hair style, and this is where you find out why it’s tradition for heroines in moe magical girl anime to have elaborate hair - it’s so they look twice as cute in the rare occasions when they let their hair down.

I’m pretty confident that the girl who we see stealing Arika’s dirty uniform is going to turn out to be either Tomoe or possibly someone she’s coerced into helping her. Though there is the possibility that they might do something stupid like implying this episode that something nasty is about to happen then having someone hand Arika the cleaned uniform the next day. Given the way they handled the previous cliffhanger that’s quite possible.

Overall, this episode wasn’t that good. The series is still in setup mode though, I expect things will start happening in earnest around 6/7.

Nagi’s Impressions

Hum…not a whole lot in this episode I really found worth commenting on that Negs hasn’t already covered, though there were a few points I still would like to touch upon. Firstly, I suppose, would be Haruka’s entry into the series. It seems we have another character on our hands who was touched with a case of personality shift, as we no longer have the old pitch-a-fit-every-ten-seconds Haruka we all grew to love (well, maybe) in HiME. Rather, she seems to have filled Midori’s niche, in regards to being boastfully proud of having the power to serve and protect. Oh, she still has at least something of her old temper to be sure, as evidenced by her brief cameo in episode three, as well as her reaction to Shizuru here. But for the most part, we’re shown a somewhat different sort of Haruka that wouldn’t at all seem out of place ranting on about “JUSTICE!”

She still has that eye shadow, too. Is it strange that I’ve always found that kinda hot?

And speaking of Midori, I’m now convinced more than ever that she’s our mysterious “redhead under the coat.” I guess that makes it…what, 110% positive? Is that even allowed? Anyway, the hair was definitely too red to be either Mai or Takumi in my opinion, and those side portions do look an awful lot like Midori’s…what the fuck do you call those things? The not-quite sideburns that come down on the sides of the head? Whatever they are, I’m sure those were Midori’s. Though as Negs said, this does raise the interesting question of why Midori would be working for the apparent enemy. Of course, there are two possibilities here coming off of that question. Either Midori’s “JUSTICE!” personality really was transferred over to Haruka for this series (or just inverted within her character in general, i.e. Mashiro), or these Black Valley folks might really be some shadow element of the true good guys. At the moment, it could really go either way, though I’m still absolutely convinced it’s Midori on both accounts.

Keeping on our Black Valley folks for a second, I want to comment on something Negs brought up in his entry. As he pointed out, in the opening of the first episode, we were shown this Rado-robo guy being backed by a bunch of Slaves. I actually have a couple of theories I want to throw out here regarding that. Firstly, a speculation on those Slaves. Now, you’ll remember in HiME, the Orphans were not solely controlled by one entity alone. Nagi and Kokuyou were able to utilize them, but at the same time so were the members of the Searrs Foundation. If the Slaves are anything like the Orphans, perhaps they too can be wielded by separate entities with separate agendas, and whoever this Rado guy is working for is using them along with Schwarz. But then, this would kinda be derivative of HiME, and the circumstances in the first episode certainly didn’t seem like the Slaves aligned with Rado were being used at all differently from what we’ve seen of this Schwarz group. Which brings me to my second, and simpler theory. Supposing Rado and more-than-likely Midori are turncoats against Schwarz? Traitors to the group who now work towards a more self-serving agenda that’s really neither here nor there between Garderobe’s and this Schwarz’s own separate goals. To have them in this kind of vigilante role that exploits either side as they see fit would make for an interesting scenario.

I really had to laugh at this episode in a couple places. Not so much because of anything that was actually intentionally comical, but more for the almost pathetically obvious lengths it went to in order to basically say “O HAY LESBIANS!” C’mon, no male relations or else your nanomachines die? Underclassmen bathing their sempai? Chie being a sempai? Actually, that does remind me; there really are not any viable male love interests for Arika at all. I mean, in HiME, Mai had Tate and Reito, but here their character equivalents are both way too old and in no real position to fill that role (one being a scheming bastard and the other playing Medieval Robocop). Nagi I can’t see as anyone’s love interest aside from maybe Mashiro, and Takumi as a principle character of any sort and not merely a plot device just strikes me as laughable for some reason. So really, the odds of a straight romance for Arika are extremely slim as I see it. Same with Nina (barring a pedo streak in Sergay) and the others. Still, doesn’t mean we have to get beat over the head with it at every turn.

Waitaminute. Why the hell do I sound like I disapprove of the high chance for yuri? I must be sick or something

Regarding the implied Otome rivalry Natsuki was involved in, I personally can’t bring myself to back one theory or another enough to comment properly. I mean, the two scenarios Negs presented both seem about equally valid and equally capable of being really nicely handled. Assuming it’s Mai she’s referring to, it would make for a really fascinating scenario if Mai were to turn out to be one of the enemy. Natsuki having to face a former “friendly” rivalry under more dire circumstances. At the same time, having her rivalry be with Rena would explain her rather steadfast attachment to Arika.

And about Rena, I find it interesting how Arika mentioned she might still be alive. This could make for one helluva twist later on, especially taking into account just how that scene in the first episode’s opening was shot. We see both Rena and Rado draw their weapons, and Rado strike, but we don’t exactly see him strike Rena, simply an unseen, off-screen opponent. What if they were in cahoots all along and he was helping her out against another enemy? And Rena is actually supporting this Black Valley. Probably a bit too out there, but it’d make for a nicely shocking turn of events.

As for the identity of the person that grabbed the uniform at the end of the episode, I don’t really think it’ll be much of a benign copout. The title for the next episode goes “The Academy, the Uniform, and Me,” so I imagine something about Arika’s uniform will play an important role. Getting it defiled, for example, or having it misplaced. So personally, I’m suspecting Tomoe. I would say either Mashiro or Tomoe, but then Mashiro’s way too short, and I don’t think she’d be caught dead in a tracksuit. However, I also don’t think Tomoe will explicitly be revealed, but rather hinted at as the culprit. Somehow methinks they don’t want to reveal her openly as a conniving bitch too early.