mai otome 25-26 (last episode)
Categories: anime, episodic review, mai hime/otome
Tagged: mai hime/otome
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Arika did her best deshou.
(Over 100 screenshots… may take a while to load.)
Last we left off, Mr Wong beds his fifteen year old daughter, gets shot afterwards pointblank in the head by Nagi, survives, and now clings to life dependant on Nina and her Harmonium. What a week! Haruka leads the resistance against the forces of Nagi. Haruka… leading… wow. I’m dizzy already, and it hasn’t even been ten seconds.
Not only does Nagi have Destroy Nina, Tomoe’s Masamune squadron, nakkid woman laser, and Harmonium, he has some hawt otomes too. See, more of Rosary and Laura and earlier would have been nice.
“Heh, bring it bitches.”
Up against all of Nagi’s considerable firepower? Haruka and two random otome-fodder. It’s just like in Gundam Seed Destiny 50 where it’s Eternal and Archangel against Neo Genesis, twisty laser thingie, and the entire Zaft fleet… Mai Otome 25-26 is starting to feel even more lopsided than that, even though I know Strike Freedom Mai and Destiny Arika have yet to show up. They better because I’d be pissed if the ending was, “Haruka pwns all. Ball and chain 4tw.” (But we agree there’s just no way Nagi can win… it’s Nagi!)
The “battle” begins, and I’m using “battle” loosely. It’s just the various otomes colliding against one another… what happened to the Sunrise that brought us Keroro 102? If Powered Natsumi’s dancing in the sky were Mozart, the Chie/Haruka collision would be John Tesh.
Meanwhile, as Haruka and the otomes fight, Natsuki, Nao, and the French Mime Special Forces try to take back Gaulderobe and reactive the pillars. French Mime Special Forces 4tw. If only they showed as much vigor in defending against the Germans in 1940.
Natsuki on a bike just feels right, like seeing Shinn with a contorted face, Mai with ramen, Keroro with a Gundam model, Keitaro pulling down Naru’s panties, Chidori slapping Sagara, Kenshin and his reverse blade, Hazuki wearing nekomimi, Nanoha frenching Fate, or Shana with melonpan. I’m just dying for a, “Duran, load silver cartridge!” about now. BTW, I never understood what’s so special about a silver cartridge vs a normal one. I don’t think Duran ever fired a normal cartidge.
Natsuki with a tiny gun! Though she should have two. If there is a God of Otomes, Natsuki would be saying, “Load silver cartidge” before the episode is over.
Everyone… I mean, everyone starts raging against Nagi. Though I’m sad that Yukariko doesn’t pull out a bow and go, “Boku no melos!” Maria, on the other hand, was really Lei Fang in a previous life. Off-topic, but Itagaki’s latest interview about DOAX2 for the 360 talks about “cloth simulation techniques.”
Natsuki and Shizuru have their reunion. Shizuru reveals that she used Tomoe for “entertainment” and for the key. I’m glad to see that she didn’t undergo Kage Kara Mamoru‘s Yuna’s lobotomy procedure after all.
How much would you bid on eBay to see limited-edition, a not-for-kids Mai Otome DVD special, “My special time with Shizuru-onee-sama by Tomoe”? $100? $500? I’m very curious what exactly they were doing… were spanking, diapers, and/or breast feeding involved? Hell with it, I’m bidding $1k.
(Notice how I’m not writing much about plot. It’s just characters showing off atm. In other words, GSD 50. All we’re missing is facial contortions.)
Nagi decides to end it and attack Haruka’s weakest link: Yukino. Just when she’s about to be vaporized, the Black Valley appears and saves them. Is Black Valley like the seiren den from Shakugan no Shana?
Count on the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter: 1.
Arika and her Otome Taxi service is back! It only took one episode’s worth of time for Mai and Mikoto to teach her how to be an otome… wait… wasn’t that the entire purpose of her going to Gaulderobe in the first place? Mai could impart as much knowledge as the academy in a compact amount of time?
Wait, I thought Mikoto was one of the original otomes… yet she can’t fly?
Now availabe on my online store: “I waited 25 episodes for Mai to fight, and all I got was her running through a ring of fire like a trained seal” T-shirts. $9.99 each.
“Lock s-foils in attack position.”
Instead of joining the fight, Miyu goes underwater for some strange reason. She fished something out of the lava last episode, and it wasn’t revealed what it was, and now she’s going underwater and fighting various sinister creatures down there. Did I miss an episode or something?
Of course, considering that Miyu can square off against Destroy Nina, it makes sense to have her do something else instead of helping take back Gaulderobe. If somehow all the otome robes were deactivated, Miyu can still work her magic, so of course you logically don’t want her help. She’s logically more important doing underwater exploration. Wait, it doesn’t make sense.
“Starlight breaker!”
Natsuki, Shizuru, Nao, and the French Mime Special Forces managed to patch up the pillar system such that Natsuki could call out her robe. She summons her weapon– artillery! “Load silver cartridge!” I’m giddy.
Garuru would have made that shot.
Natsuki and the nakkid woman laser deflects each other’s initial beam, but the deflection damages the pillar once again. The nakkid woman laser fires again, and Shizuru wants to protect her precious. Only she doesn’t have to because the count on the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter just hit 2.
Arika and Mashiro show up just in time to save them. Anyone else develop an eye tick watching Mashiro bounce up and down on Arika like an overcaffinated lima bean?
Arika manages to destroy the nakkid woman laser, and Tomoe is now after her. Yep, yet another collision… I’m not a pro at this or anything, but wouldn’t their swords and axes be more effective if they swung at each other with them?
While Arika is busy with Tomoe, slaves come and attack Shizuru and Natsuki, but they are saved by Haruka as the count on the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter just hit 2.5. I’m counting 0.5 since Haruka technically has joined the battle already.
Mashiro implores the otome to stop fighting, and she switches from whiny, spoiler, pampered queen voice to Lacus voice instantly. I wonder if they swapped in Rie Tanaka for a few of Mashiro’s lines there. Mashiro… voice of reason… whoa. Talk about plot twist.
The greatest collection of crazy lesbians with superpowers ever seen in anime.
Nagi moves onto the next phase of his plan where he uses the new slave’s ability to channel the nakkid woman laser and disable all the otome robes except for the Valkurie… errr… Masamunes. His master plan? Create a world without otome by killing them all. Why would he do such a thing? Never explained. He needs to accidentially drop a cellphone previously owned by his little sister who was killed by an otome at this point.
Things look grim for the now-robeless otomes. The count on the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter is itching to go to 3.5.
Without her robe, Arika plummets from the sky since she was fighting Tomoe up there. Chie betrays Tomoe by running to save Arika from dying by falling (I don’t see why this is a worry… I’ll explain later), and she provides a Shinn-class facial distorition. That’s a 10 out of 10 folks.
Whoa. Someone doesn’t get impaled on a Sunrise show. I bet that writer got fired very quickly for this screwup.
But wait, wasn’t Chie under control of the suit? How can she go against this? Shiho returns and turns the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter to 3.5. Maki maki maki.
This is hopeless, right? All of the otome are about to get pwned since none can use their robes. And their last savior was Shiho… I mean if Shiho had to save them, that’s how bad the situation has gotten. In other words, if I could bet on, “Nagi will screw up, and Arika will save the day,” I would go all-in for Arika. There’s no way that’s not happening now. My old English teacher is probably recoiling in horror over my grammar and/or how I’m using my grammar to write about an anime that featured a father shagging his daughter as the plot’s climax. “If only you’d put such effort into your Old Man and the Sea book report.”
Better enjoy it will you can, Chairman Gilbert Dullindal.
The “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter doesn’t get any rest! It’s up to 4.5 thanks to…
… jyuu-nana-sai desu! I can only imagine the Inoue Kikuko, “Um, we want you to do the voice work for a series that features a character with your catchphrase, only you don’t get to play her” face. BTW, would have the return of Childs made Mai Otome better? Yes. Yes. Yes. I still get chills watching Midori summon Gakutenou, and Shizuru running around on top of Kiyohime is just priceless. I can’t believe they traded in the Childs in favor of these oversized novelty swords on loan from Bleach.
Luckily, Yohko has an idea, and if an otome and her master hold hands, she can still use her robe. If Natsuki and Shizuru in Mai Hime had a lesbian sexual tension of 10, Arika and Mashiro’s current lesbian sexual tension would be a -1. Saber and Rin are currently holding steady at 0.
Wow. 25 out of 10 on the facial contortion scale… FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC! I’m even giddier now than when Natsuki loaded silver cartidges! Boo-yah!
Even though Midori pwned Tomoe, Tomoe still wants to stop Arika. Arika pwns her (even though the two fought to a stalemate earlier) and sees Tomoe crash down into the earth. (Don’t worry about falls… I’ll explain later, eventually… )
Arika and Mashiro makes it into the core of Mashiro’s castle turned nakkid woman laser (I mean, no one noticed that they were building a nakkid woman laser instead of a castle? Nowadays, Apple can’t even make an iPod without having pictures of it leaked early, yet no one knew about this laser.)
Anyway, Arika finds her mother and has a touching scene where she tries to have a normal mother-daughter moment. Nevermind that her mother has a tube sticking out of her butt.
Mashiro knows that they only way to save her country is for Arika to kill her mother, yet she doesn’t want Arika to have that burden. Instead, she orders her using one of the command insignia on her arms, but Arika doesn’t accept… she was going to do it anyway. Gold star moment for Mai Otome…
… until the obligatory nakkid hugging scene.
Welcome, Gundam Wing Zero Arika.
With her past confronted, her jewel displays it real power. Arika gets an upgrade.
Welcome, Mai. Glad you showed up… now please do something. Anything. I may have to downgrade you to Strike Rouge Mai.
End 25. Symmetrical docking intermission 4tw.
26 kicks off with a breast check between the pillars. Mmm… closer inspection needed.
Materialize! Wait… isn’t there supposed to be a fifth? Did they forget about Dororo again?
Lookin’ good ladies. It only took 26 episodes, but at least 80% of the five pillars finally show up. Glad you could make it.
Meanwhile, Nagi unleashes his last ultimate weapon, Destroy Nina. Destroy Nina apparently doesn’t have any weapons… it kinda just runs through town like a tornado going through a trailer park in Nebraska.
They only way to stop Destroy Nina? Instead of shooting at her or hittin her with silver cartridges, they form neat little energy circles.
On sale now at AoMM’s online store, “I waited 26 episodes for Mai to do something, and here she is making circles” T-shirt. $7.99. Everything must go!
Remember Miyu going underwater for no rhyme or reason earlier? She’s actually there to access some computers stashed under water. Uh-hun. Using these computers, she can access the Otome-Star, which is really the same as the Hime-star and turns the moon into the Death Star. Lock s-foils in attack position, indeed.
Actually, it’s not a Death Star, instead it frees the Otomes from their masters. Why is this necessary? You got me, but Miyu, Lei Fang III, and other assorted minor characters think it’s legendary.
They’re no longer OTOME. They’re HIME. They couldn’t find some abbreviation for OTOME like “Optically TOlerate Mechanical Embrace”? Anyway, the otome symbols all switch over to the hime symbols, and I’m totally confused. I give up. Trying to follow the workings of otome has become my quixotic quest.
Since they’re all himes now, they all get new robes. Of course, still not a giant fiery dragon to be seen. Nevertheless, all otome-himes are now rebooted and all are equal…
… except some are less equal than others in respect to costumes. I just died laughing seeing Shiho in this setup… and she has the, “WTF have I become” face going here. Awesome. Glowing crotch skull 4tw. Can we somehow work a glowing crotch skull into the next Gundam series?
Keep Yukariko’s reaction in memory somewhere. Will be useful later.
As Destroy Nina continues rampaging Windbloom’s trailer parks, all the fodder-otome make their appearance helping toss up circular shields. I was hoping for a Nanoha-style beatdown on the Book of Darkness… deeply, deeply, deeply disappointed. Circles? WTF.
All the otome students join the fun. Just making sure every cast member gets some screentime in the last episode.
Even though his Masamune squadron is defeated, his nakkid woman laser smashed, and his hawt otome defected to the other side, Nagi remains calm. Either he’s too overconfident and overdependant on a girl who sleeps with her father, or he’s got some even more sinister weapon up his sleeve. Or maybe he’s in a food coma. Anyway, he’s a picture of serenity compared to…
… poor Kazu, who has a, “I hope I can get a refund for all those sex toys” face going.
Yep, Ayane is still an otome, and Mika Kikuchi is still very cute and hawt.
Meyrin gives Kaolla Su the go signal. “Ikimasu!”
Nagi’s ace trump card? More of those creepy guys who summon fake slaves, like Ers-chan. The otome go through all this emo when fighting each other, but when it comes to massacuring old men, YAAAAAHOOOOOO! Actually, this reminds me of the finale to the original Nanoha where Fate, Nanoha, and Chrono fight through all these random monsters instead of fighting each other. Not exactly what you want as a final epic battle.
The plan is for Arika to breakthrough and confront Nina. I mean, after all, why would you want Natsuki, Shizuru, Strike Rouge Mai, Infinite Justice Mikoto to fight? They’re much better suited as fodder.
Ah… familiar scene. The student body president and the secretary. All that’s missing is Haruka going nuts when she sees Shizuru doing things to poor Natsuki. With Tomoe vanquished, the crazy lesbian coefficient has dropped significantly.
Shizuru and Haruka decide to re-enact Helm’s Deep.
With Shizuru as Legolas…
… to poor Haruka’s Gimli. That would make Arika Frodo, Nina Gollum, Mr Wong as “My Precious,” Mashiro Samwise, Natsuki Aragorn, Miyu Gandalf, Mai Faramir, and Nagi as Sauron. Okay, maybe that last one doesn’t seem to work as well, but it might be better than the Gundam comparison that I’ve been using. I’m also thinking waaaaaaaay too much about this show. Sunrise ripping off Tolkien… he must be rolling in his grave.
Just like Yukino here at Haruka.
The otome whoring (that sounds more h than I intended) continues with Nao showing off against a slave. Yippie, she gets her claws back, but I still want to see her tie up people and/or seduce Man-Mashiro/Samwise.
I’m glad this is the last episode because I’m tapped out of Shiho jokes. I can’t take her seriously anymore… she’s the Shinji Ikari of Otome.
The two take time out from fighting to discuss who has the worse costume only to be interrupted by…
… the still maiden Ayane, who has the best otome costume to date. NEKOMIMI 4TW!
(You can probably tell I’m getting writer’s fatigue at this point form all the “4tw” and “WTF” I’m tossing out. Not exactly language you want to see on a book report for Old Man and the Sea.)
Ayane and Mayo/Kaolla Su increment the “character introduction that saves another character’s ass just in time” meter to 5.5.
Which leads to the “don’t fuck with me, I’m still in heat” face from Ayane after Nao asks her, “Mada mada otome na no” (you’re still an otome?!?).
Apparently, she and Kazu had been on the run for the past few months and had not had time to consummate their relationship. Kazu eventually gets his ass dragged back by the KKK to become the next king while Ayane becomes an otome yet again. At least she’s Kazu’s otome… bittersweet for both, I bet.
You can also bet that they’re desperately trying to get laid only with the Skuld/Maika combo known as Mayo blocking them. I now demand a new harem spin-off series concerning Kazuya and Ayane where Kazuya ends up scoring with every other girl except for Ayane.
Oh! There’s a plot-like substance still going on! Natsuki, Arika, and the gang are still trying to get at Nina. Natsuki is looking pretty sweet here, only she’s trumped a few seconds later by…
… Maria. Yep, remember that face on Yukariko that I asked you remember like twenty screenshots ago? I had that face going now too.
She pwns, and instantly is granted the nickname Turn a Maria. (I don’t know how to type that symbol out…)
Meanwhile, Chie confirms what everyone else already knows: it’s Sunrise! No one really dies, except Flay. I have no clue why Chie seems to have a bigger reaction to Aoi than Mashiro. Remember Mashiro balling over Aoi’s death, and how that Aoi is now okay, doesn’t even acknowledge it? As I typed out before, “Yes, someone died… but does it have any real emotional impact?” Apparently, not even for Mashiro. Zing!
Ahh… good to see the gang back and fighting together. After 26 episodes, we get four seconds of Mai, Natsuki, and Mikoto pwning some random slaves. It was all worth it… okay, maybe not.
Yet another homage to the original series. When is Mai summoning her damn dragon already?
However, the three do serve a purpose as they act like fodder such that Frodo and Samwise makes it to Mt Doom, aka Harmonium where they meet up with Gollum. Nina and Arika have a difficult conversion about Mr Wong, and I’m ready to stab myself with a fork after seeing Arika and Nina gush over their love for Mr Wong.
With Tomoe gone, it’s Nina’s turn to go emo.
She challenges Arika to an otome battle…
… though it’s just more collisions. Disappointed. Where’s Powered Natsumi? She’d show ’em how it’s done.
In a series that had a lot of hilarious moments, I didn’t think things could be even more hilarious until Mashiro whips out a tiny dagger at Nagi. Nagi’s laughing, I’m laughing, and I hope you’re laughing. Mashiro doesn’t approve of Nagi’s plan to use violence to obsolete the otome, yet Mahiro fully approves of her plan to obsolete Nagi with her mini-dagger.
Arika and Nina eventually make it into space… they’re not fighting/colliding anymore, instead they are fighting. Very painful dialogue as Anty begs Nina to stop by reminding her how much she means to her as a friend.
Nina actually listens, and after seeing Arika doing her best deshou, she relents. Has she forgotten about Harmonium and Mr Wong at this point? Wasn’t that why she needs to kill Arika?
But they make up. The Arika/Nina lesbian sexual tension meter starts at a 1.
But Harmonium is like Hayate’s Book of Darkness… it has consumed too much and turns Nina into a being that can destroy the world. Like the Book of Darkness imporing Hayate to finish it off, Nina implores Arika to finish her off before she’s completely taken over by Harmonium.
Yorokonde!
At this point, you know what’s coming next right?
Impalement! Friends running oversized novelty swords through friends never happens in a Sunrise series! Never!
With Destroy Nina defeated, she reverts back to normal, if pining for one’s father equals normal. Her Black Pearl regains its original luster and becomes white again. There’s nothing a little sword impalement can’t fix… I’m surprised that my doctor didn’t offer to ram a sword through me when I had the flu this winter.
Back on earth, the forces of Haruka are mopping up. Basically, Nagi’s arrested.. and… that’s it.
Back in space, a freshly impaled Nina is re-entering the atmosphere. Never mind that they were out in space without oxygen, but they’re returning to the planet… I mean… this is stretching my “it’s anime, I’ll let it slide” tolerance.
Even though the atmospheric heat burns up their robes, it doesn’t effect their smooth, silky skin. Am I the only one who thought of Utena‘s movie when seeing this scene?
Hawt.
Hawter. Out-of-context screenshot 4tw. The Arika/Nina lesbian sexual tension meter is at a full six now. Too bad I know that they’ll backstab each other at first chance to secure Mr Wong for herself.
Oh, I didn’t forget… remember when I said earlier that falling is no big deal? Not only does Tomoe survive her plummet without her robe, Arika and Nina here survive planetary re-entry. Wile E. Coyote eat your heart out.
Flawless victory. No one dies in the last two episodes as the curtain goes down for Otome. In the end, Erstin becomes the new Flay and is quickly forgotten.
A familiar scene with Mashiro being wheeled around by Aoi. A not-so-familiar scene with her greeting and welcoming Midori… looks like Aswald and Windbloom finally can patch things up.
For poor Nagi, it’s showertime at the penitentary.
And I just love that dude looking at Kazu. Is he Ayane’s father or something?
Meanwhile, Akira and Takumi show up… remember those boxes from Zipang in episode 24? Um, what was in them? Never explained or used.
And even though everything changes, everything stays the same. Arika looks like she has her old Destiny robe back and is Arika as usual when she tries to help Mashiro complete her sunflower fortress.
The end.
Bonus scene of Mr Wong with Nina… he survived, after all a hospital can treat wounds better than Harmonium. With his memory loss, I bet that the OVA will feature Mashiro, Arika, and Natsuki getting in trouble again, only they are bailed out by a mysterious l33t sniper wearing a mask and a mysterious pregnant otome. Either that or Arika has to stop Pokopen from being invaded.
While no one will mistake Mai Otome for being one of the great anime series ever, it has its charms. Going into the series, I expected more Mai Hime overpowered crazy lesbian wackiness and became severely disillusioned when it shifted to an angsty emo-fest centering around Mr Wong. The last few episodes managed to mask a lot of issues by distracting the viewers with homages to the original, but I just felt it was too little too late. I mean, don’t tease everyone but putting Mai into the OP when all she did was run through a ring of fire and step on a slave.
The most memorable aspect of Otome, and why I continued watching it, is that there is just no train wreck show like it in recent memory. While some series have been horrible and unwatchable, Otome was horrible but highly watchable. It’s like watching someone do something stupid on the Apprentice or Survivor… they do it, even though you’re screaming at the TV, “NO! BAKA! NO!” That was Mai Otome, and it had it’s share of “OMFG where is this series going moments.” (I’d list them out, but this post is already omega long, and my endurance for writing anymore is at its limit… this coming from someone who wrote 2,000 words comparing Mai to Belldandy.) For me, it wasn’t just the train wreck factor… it just had so much unintential humor, it became the funniest show on. It’s like one of George H. Bush’s speechless… just funny for all the wrong reasons.
Most of the problems with the series resulted from this unclear direction. At no one in the show did I feel, “the writers know what they’re doing; they’re not just pulling shit from their asses.” Even with that handicap, the characters saved the series. All of them are memorable in one fashion or another, and a few gained legendary status (Nina/Mr Wong coupling and Tomoe to name a few), and the show, at the end, was driven by them. It didn’t matter what the plot was anymore… all that mattered was that the last hour of Mai Otome was one long, glorified send-off of our beloved otomes. (And, yes, I’m going to miss one of my favorite sources for comedic material.)
Arika, Nina, and Mashiro… you did your best deshou.
38 Responses to “mai otome 25-26 (last episode)”
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an awesome post!! It’s hilarious and I like your portrayal of the ending of Mai Otome. But I do have to remind you that there are a few spelling errors and word usage issues (sorry for being picky – just wanted to make your post even better).
Note the conversion should be Nina and Arika conversed or use conversation instead. Intential should be spelt intentional. There are a few other minor stuff, but overall, I had a great laugh.
Should be worth noting that when Miyu went underwater, the underwater building looked like the school from Mai-Hime and the monsters coming out looked like those whajamacallit, Childs without a hime.
You’re a hilarious man.
I always thought the ‘Glowing Crotch Skull’ was to represent the ‘get near THIS and die!!!!’ thing that Otome are supposed to have. :D STill, I think these episodes were worth seeing just for the Arika-in-Rena’s-Robe upgrade, along with “Miss Maria Turns Into a French Runway Model” Otome mode.
Excellent review jason! LMAO as is the norm when reading your post ;)
BTW, Natsuki did use “normal” chrome cartidges in MH ever once in awhile. The silver cartidges are for Ice3 while chrome for good old holes in human flesh.
Also two other random stuff that you were vaguely asking about: Dude looking at Kazu is the King of the nation Akane was originally going to be an Otome to. Instead he got shafted with Shiho after their getaway (I think). And Takumi provided hash brownies, p0rn, and strippers for Airies. Nah, I wish. ‘Tis raw material they needed to complete their supplying before battle.
Oh yea, when Black Valley appeared I was honestly waiting for it to transform ala Macross. It would be able to combine with Garderobe and become the ultimate in mecha offense/defense!
And incidentally… wasn’t the guy glaring at Kazu the original person who Akane was supposed to become an Otome for? If someone had gone and jacked his Otome, I’d probably say he’s got reason to glare… :D
You could take the LOTR thing even further. Like how uh, Arika’s gramma is uh, Tom Bombadil!
Seeing as you weren’t paying attention the guy leering at Emperor Kazu was supposed to be Akane’s master. Being the neko-mimi lover that you are surely you would do the same if you lost Akane and got Shiho for an Otome… ;)
Those boxes were the final pieces for Haruka’s Super Star Destroyer.
Indeed I should punish you on Tolkein’s behalf as Nagi is no Sauron, but comes close to Gothmog, the lieutenant of Minas Morgul not the Lord of Balrogs and High Captain of Angband. That sunflower comment perfect place to insert a comment about Baradur or Isengard or evet the Tower of Ecthelion. For shame… ;)
I am insulted and angered by you calling that loser Sergei a I33t sniper. One the bastard doesn’t go prone, two his prefered weapon was not bolt action, three no spotter, and four took consecutive shots from the same postion. Calling that broken basket case I33t is unsat. Sergei wouldn’t last one day at sniper school, or even boot camp (yes even the Army’s lite version). Sergei would be DHE within 10s of trying to make a run to the nursery. Shinji had no balls, Shiho at least has an artifical one.
I agree not he best stuff around but I still watched, beats hearing the word evil over and over again from my commander-in-chief. As for the OVAs I would be really interested in seeing what Nao’s formal meister dress looks like. As you said before if the OVAs serve as a vehicle for Kazu scoring with all the otomes, some of us less faithful otakus would take it as proof that there is a God or God loves anime. You also for got to mention how projectile based MIYU weaponary can work underwater.
I would have prefered Nagi being sent to a Kolyma gulag, but being Mikoto’s err…female dog will have to do.
I will over the whole Nagi obsolete, comment. I remind you that such spin is disdainful and FOX whoring. For shame! ;)
>2
Orphans
Mwahaha funny post.
Shockiest moment = Miss Maria version 2
Greatest moment = Ayane Returns
NEKOMIMI FOREVER!!
You know, I have never seen Gundam Seed or Destiny, and I never plan to.
Yet I think that through blog entries like this I will soon be able to summarize the entire series anyway.
Your work on this Mai-Otome Ep (and the previous) is absolutely monumental, I love it.
Even more intresting – for SURE more funny – than the anime itself ^_^.
As I already said: this anime is so screwed up it’s funny, this last ep shows clearly what Mai-Otome was all about: pretty nothing, but with (questionable) style. If there was a different cast, would you have watched this?
9>
Thanks, yeah, those were Orphan look a likes. Tho I’m sure that and the numerous other Hime connections are just thrown in for the fanboys, unless they plan to somehow explain it.
11>
No you wouldn’t. You defiantely wouldn’t. Especially GS.
Awesome post, Jason…I was rolling on the floor laughing nonstop while I was reading this XD
>13
And Miroku? ^_^
Oh, I should also say that the general attitude of Otome, as finalized by the ending of the series, has helped me like Mai HiME a whole lot more. I doubt I’d have enjoyed all the homages as much if Otome had had them from the start and throughout and hadn’t been such a train wreck.
>> Haesslich
Maria’s not close to being a French runway model… not skinny enough.
>> moy
After thinking about it a bit more, it doesn’t seem like Natsuki fires cartidges at all. It’s a beam weapon. Maybe she’s really saying, “Lord Sir Carthridge” in broken English.
>> Crusader
No self-respecting real sniper would call themselves l33t. Only 15 year olds running around on CS would.
As for Miyu’s projectiles, I’ll let that slide because it looked like she wised up and eventually went to sword.
>> Wyk72
If they used like the Da Capo cast, I probably would have given up around episode 7 or so. We could drop in Nemu for Arika, Kotori for Nina, and things wouldn’t miss a beat. Yoriko, of course, would be episode 26 Ayane.
One thing that I didn’t write about initially is that Nina is still able to use her robe, and no one questions this. While they explain why Ayane is still an otome, they never walk us through the Mr Wong/Nina explaination… Sunrise just blatantly disregarded it. While forgetting about boxes from Zipang or Miyu’s monolith are small details, not explaining why Nina is still robe-worthy isn’t.
Jason, you’re right. I guess the fanboys in us didn’t realize it initially. Well it still beats the sudden power ups Natsuki had in the MH manga. Dhuran Max Heart my arse ^^;;
On Nina and Sergei doing the horizontal limbo, I thought it was implied Sergei couldn’t do “it” at the last moment? Thus why Nina still had her Otome powers left. am I wrong in this assumption?
Wait… Da Capo cast as Mai-Otome. Awesome. And hey, if Kotori was Nina she would have *finally* gotten a chance at “Mr Wong”/Jun’ichi!
@ Jason
The way he shoots Sergei makes CS players look like Spec Ops. They at least try to work as a team. Most people I know have made the move to Battlefield 2.
I agree with Lord Moyism Sergei didn’t follow through he just got a free show and left without tipping. I guess there really is no intercousre in the champagne room.
On the subject of your Legolas and Gimili comparison you should have inserted a “that only counts as one” comment.
I guess so long as sunrise can keep Keroro Gunso going they won’t suffer as much from otaku-dom.
@ Moyism
Kotori as Nina, what heresey! Choosing Nemu over Kotori what farcial idiotry was that anyway? Two wrongs, Sergei + Jun’ichi, don’t make a right. It’s almost as bad as making Nacy Pelosi as Darth Vader, those republican fools failed to realize Darth Vader is inifintely cooler than the mere mortals of congress.
>One thing that I didn’t write about initially is that Nina is still able to use her robe, and no one questions this. While they explain why Ayane is still an otome, they never walk us through the Mr Wong/Nina explaination… Sunrise just blatantly disregarded it. While forgetting about boxes from Zipang or Miyu’s monolith are small details, not explaining why Nina is still robe-worthy isn’t.
Well, never mind that, they haven’t explained nothing at all, it was just a string of fights with people getting introduced in by saving someone. But it was kind of implied or assumed in that shot with Nina covering herself in bed with Sergay sitting at the side with his head done and eyes shadowed (nice Sunrise!), that he never actually do the dew. She probably fell asleep or cried or whatever and than Sergay dressed himself up to go kill Rena.
Just for the record…its AKANE.
Not Ayane.
I dunno, Nina looked pretty satisfied… o_o;; It doesn’t help that she’s wearing E7’s Talho’s dress at the end.
Yet another plot hole.
Jason: I’d consider her one of the old breed, before they required their runway models to be sticks. Still.. she’s dead-sexy. :D
For sekkushi, I’m in total adoration of Akane’s nekomimi. The last ep was worth watching for her 10 secs appearance. I always thought Akane was kinda lousy, but this costume raised 10.000 pts for her in my diary. Oh, I’m so superficial >.
I’m wondering why it took 21 comments for someone to point out the “not Ayane, AKANE” thing, but I’ll just second it, because it was distracting enough in the read.
On Nina and her otome powers – she said he was “too gentle to take away her powers” – so I assume they didn’t sleep together because he didn’t want to leave her defenseless – well, that’s what Nina thinks. Not sure what was going through Sergey’s head except wtf you’re half my age girl.
Loved this entry, it`s seriously funny and you exposed most of the loopholes.
Maybe Sergey still thinks of Arika?
He did said he wa attracted to her smile and spirit of cheerfullness.
Ok, did anyone notice Arika’s robe while holding the sunflower was half pink and half blue? Explain that fans.
Pregnant otome… anybody noticed that Nina looked different when introducing herself to Sergey(particularly her “mune”?(japanese))? Maybe they did did it… just takes time for the y chromosome to kill the nanomachines. She even changed the pic in her amulet.
Wow, you’re comaparing a lot to Nanoha, but you missed comparing one of your screenshots to a similar fight in Nanoha A’s Episode 2. Now I wonder, what could you have missed?
WOW! Your comments are way too awesome! It’s made my week so far. I’ve had a pretty rough week. HAHA!! Anyways.. it’s too funny reading your comments!! HAHA!! And the part where you mentioned…
And I just love that dude looking at Kazu. Is he Ayane’s father or something?
Actually, wasn’t that the guy that was suppose to become Ayane’s Master. But then Kazu came and ruined the cememony. I think that’s the guy. HAHA
Did you notice that Mashrio can walk again in the end!?!?! O__O Isn’t that a bit too fast for a broken leg to heal. ?__? But then again, it’s anime! HAHA
You mentioned about the greatness of Akane’s robe, but you forgot to mention one very important thing about it: The robe reveals the true size of Akane’s boobs. It almost rivals Mai’s.
Uh, that was shown on episode 1. AND that Akane has perkier nipples even when not aroused.
Brilliant analysis.
Gosh many ppl hv said this alredy- but u r reaalii funny man… thanks for the laughs.. and i Just wanna say – Nao’s Pearl robe looks allot nicer than this green spidey inspired get up…
okay, i have to wonder if it was because i read this first, or something, but when i saw shizuru fight side-by-side with haruka for the second time (watching the final episode again) i was thinking…gimli? legalos? i didn’t take the tokkien reference as far though.
you say that the most references to mai-hime came at the end, but actually, i think it got references throughout the series. if i ever get the energy to bother i might go through the whole series just to point them all out.
another comment: the arika/mashiro lesbian tension. i noticed that they had a “lesbian moment” smiling at each other a bit too affectionately before youhko notices them which PROMPTED her to get an idea. and the suggestion of them holding hands prompted a response out of them both that suggested that it was lesbianic. either way, i swear that was a LAME way to make arika/mashiro indeed the main characters they are supposed to be and having everything up to them.
why tatte not meet mai again
man i think this is the biggest thing i have read , now i am tired wanna go smoke a bowl and eat some dinner
i wish there was more of Mai XXXX series to come out , i just love the anime in its self i think i am gonna go watch the hime again
I hope that when the OVA comes out we’ll get to see more of Mai and Mikoto.Especially Mai.From what I read when Miyu went into the control room and did some hallabaloo the Otome became Hime,they can operate without their master’s help.But does that also mean that Mai’s contract with Mikoto has been broken,aww man,that is so lame if their contract got broken.But all-and-all I hope that Mai and Mikoto will be Main characters in the OVA.
Mai was a lot more likeable in Otome than HiME that’s for sure. I think by teasing us with short Mai moments it actually made us like Mai a lot more. I mean, the shorter the moments, the harder it is to screw up her character right? Just like how the entire series kind of messed things up. Great analysis, however!