PinkuBentoBox

I’m still kind of behind with this series, but with this entry I’ll be pretty much caught up. While I do have the ep 6 raw, I decided not to watch it just yet and wait until I’d gone over episode 5 thoroughly. Basically, I’ve been trying to catch up on a few other things (Eureka 7, Nanoha A’s) which is why I haven’t done this ep yet. I’m still really enjoying Mai-Otome, but I’m really starting to hope that they kick the plot into motion soon. Episode 6, based off the quick glance that I had, looks to be a silly filler episode, where 5 is basically a character introduction & setup episode. Really, it’s almost a simple continuation of the plot of episode 4.

It seems that in order to become an Otome you have to be very handy with that broom. It seems kind of pointless to me, since there’s pretty much an army of Corals who all seem to work in the one courtyard. Sweeping for an hour is all very well, but what the heck are they sweeping up? With all of them around doing this every morning the place must be absolutely spotless. It also seems that their training doesn’t extend to proper table manners. I guess as long as Arika uses her knife and fork and whoever becomes her Master makes sure never to let her eat with them during important functions, it’ll turn out okay.

It seems odd to me that it is Tomoe, rather than Nina, who appears to be the class representative. I’d have thought that that task would have gone to the best student, given how focused the girls seem to be on being the top and so on, not to mention the fact that only half of them get through to the next year. This would mean that Tomoe probably has some level of ‘political’ power within the class and the school which Nina (and far more importantly, Arika) lacks. Given that she’s a scheming, plotting evil bitch (confirmed at the end of this episode as I’d been predicting all along) this could potentially turn out nasty for our heroines.

I’m really interested as to what exactly Nagi is up to. Something’s grabbed his interest (Arika, I assume) and he’d already announced he was staying in Windbloom for a bit, but the fact that he’s decided to show up and bug Natsuki about something unexpectedly would indicate that there’s something at the academy that he wants to get hold of. I’m pretty sure Arika isn’t his goal, either, though she is likely a means to whatever end it is he’s working towards. The way he talks about technology ‘remaining’ implies that the rest of this world had once had technology too, but that it has been lost. I’m sure we’re going to get some interesting details about the setting very soon. Natsuki suddenly deciding to leave Sergay and Nagi alone is a questionable decision. We’ve seen nothing to indicate that Sergay is a bad guy or anything, but I wouldn’t trust Nagi as far as I could throw the little bastard.

Shiho really seems to have it in for Arika, and I’m not sure why. Because she saw Shiho with the spiral voodoo doll thingie? Or that she knows that Shiho’s usual demeanour is a complete sham? Hell, it’s not as if Shiho keeps it secret very well, I’m pretty sure everyone knows already. Incidentally, this ‘Backstage’ place is where we saw a hologram of Fumi (Mashiro’s maid from Mai-Hime) on the roof. I don’t see what’s so indecent about it either. It sounds no different from a sports memorabilia shop to me. Unless of course they have some kind of back area (back stage at Backstage :P) that sells Otome-themed porn or something. Oh, note the poster with Mai in a Pearl uniform on the wall.

Nagi is clearly interested in Arika, but I think he’s more interested in Sergay’s relationship with her. When he proposes sponsoring Arika, Sergay goes into damage control mode for a second, since (as we’ll find out in a bit) Sergay just happened to have a stack of cash set aside for her from Rena. Or at least, that’s what he says - it’s entirely possible that he made that up, though I don’t think that’s the case.

The idea that the top students, rather than the teachers, are in charge of disciplining the other students seems kind of odd to me. Maybe for smaller affairs it would work, but Arika’s little uniform problem is really not appropriate for them to be getting involved in. At least the three aren’t all on a witch-hunt like Shiho seems to be. This is the bit where I mention hoping Akane doesn’t get shafted again. I seem to do that every episode.

It seems that that annoying trio have started spreading rumours about Arika. I can’t see any other way for it to have been leaked out so quickly except for one of them knowing about it (which is the case) and spreading the news around. My dislike for the three intensifies. Tomoe sticking her nose into their discussion in such a holier-than-thou way almost seems like she’d scripted the whole dialogue, which is actually quite possible.

Really, this episode is all about setting up the supporting cast, specifically Erstin and Irina. Meanwhile, Nina finally gets a bit of development and we begin to see that she is frustrated at her ‘rival’ and her sulkiness, not realising at this point that she’s already pretty much woken Arika back up again and she’s stopped moping. It’s also good to see that Kazuya is actually possibly going to play some part in the plot as things unfold, hopefully in more ways than just a vehicle to screw Akane up. He’s certainly a noble of some description - not many second year university students anywhere in our world could afford to own the ‘latest model’ car, and I’m certain that it’s even rarer in this world. It raises an interesting question though - if Arika and the other Corals are 14, then the Pearls must be 15 (they’re supposed to be second year students). How old are the other characters supposed to be in relation to this?

The continuity in this episode is kind of odd. The way that the conversation with Kazuya is blended into Nao’s little stint would indicate that he is mentioning that Nao had already gone and asked about things, however we saw just before the break Nina asking Nao for a favour. Additionally, Nina is in the bar with Nao. That indicates that Nao was there just before Kazuya asked his questions, which I assume was also just before he came and talked to the girls. The way this is all put together though… took me until my third watch of the episode to realise how it all came together. Incidentally, Nao still has her claws and is still pure awesome. I wonder if she’ll start doing the sexy claw-licking thing again later in the show.

Sergay shows that he’s no stranger to a bit of intrigue too. He quite cleverly manages to get Arika to confirm she’s accepted his offer of support without revealing that he’s the one who sent it. I’m a bit worried about that letter though. Nina is obsessed enough to recognise his handwriting, I’m sure, and if she was to see the letter and realise that her ‘father’ is supporting Arika (where his country supports Nina) then it’ll drive a huge wedge between the two girls.

Pinning the whole mess on the cat is kind of stupid, but in keeping with the general feel of the series at the moment. Of course, there’s no way that Irina is correct and we’ll see who the real culprit is later. The ‘Tokiha Mushroom Soup’… are they Tokiha Mushrooms or does the recipe belong to Tokiha? I’m going to assume that Mai’s last name isn’t Tokiha in this setting so Mikoto being addicted to Tokiha Mushrooms is evidently just a wink and a nod for fans of the original series.

Meanwhile, Nina has found out the truth behind this event via Nao. Of course, she doesn’t know the whole of what’s been going on, just that Miya was the one who gave the uniform to the guy that she and Nao caught. She thinks that Miya is afraid because she nearly got caught out, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all - Miya is afraid because she didn’t do what Tomoe told her to. Tomoe has clearly got some kind of hold over the girl, and for her to be that scared it must go beyond simple intimidation. Makes me wonder what it is that Tomoe has done or threatened to do to her in order to force her cooperation. Then again, it may be that Miya is just a total coward, since she reacted badly to Nina threatening her too.

Interestingly, it seems that even Natsuki doesn’t know that Sergay is Arika’s mysterious benefactor, or if she does she doesn’t let it on to anyone. It also seems that she’s desperate to figure out who Arika really is. I’m starting to think they’re being too heavy-handed with the ‘Arika is the princess’ stuff, and that it’s not going to turn out that way at all. Maybe the whole thing is a ruse, and they’re after Rena’s child because she was some kind of Super-Otome or something. Time will tell.

Overall this was an enjoyable enough episode once you figured out what was going on with that Nao scene, but there really wasn’t as much meat to talk about as there was in the first four. Next episode appears to be a fanservice-laden swimsuit episode. If I recall correctly, episode 6 of Hime was a beach episode, so it fits in quite nicely. We should get some plot pretty soon too, I expect something important is coming up fast.