I'm quite a fan of Mai-Otome. Or at least, of some parts of it. Pretty much the last 8 episodes of the TV series, and all of the OVA. But there's another series with many of the same characters, which came first: Mai-HiME. I've long wondered about it, and so today I decided to try watching it.

Loads of spoilers about both series below the fold.

The most eerie thing about it is how many characters were in both. They're the same character art, but the situation is drastically different, so they aren't identical.

In Otome, the main characters are Nina, Arika, and Mashiro. Nina and Arika don't appear in HiME, and Mashiro seems to be a bit part. But from the OP, and the first episode, here are some of the parallels:

In HiME, Mashiro is confined to a wheelchair. In Otome, she's queen of Windbloom.

In HiME, Fumi is Mashiro's nurse. In Otome, she's the Predecessor. (And she died a long time ago.)

Natsuki is in both. The magic powers in HiME are different, and Natsuki has the ability to summon what looks like a mechanical dog, which carries two cannons. In Otome, her robe gives her the ability to materialize a really huge cannon. And so I've now heard both versions say "Load Silver Cartridge". Presumably eventually I'll also hear Chrome Cartridge in HiME.

In Otome, Mikoto is the Nekogami-sama, with powers that even the Otome don't have. In HiME Mikoto has a magic sword, which manifests the same glowing eyes as the Black Mountain in Otome.

In HiME's OP, Mai is shown standing on top of the dragon which she fought in the Otome OVA. Apparently it's her equivalent of Natsuki's mechanical dog. (Canon is that the big-bad in the Otome OVA summoned that dragon from the other universe.)

In Otome, Mai is mature and understanding. She's in a strange situation, but she's worked through all her issues, and has come to terms with her situation. She is a source of strength to both Arika and Mashiro, being something of a big-sister figure to them. They never say so explicitly but implicitly she's probably in her mid to late 20's. She's part of the same class as Natsuki and Haruka, both of whom have been Meisters for quite a long time. In HiME she's first year of high school. Her power is flame in both, though.

She does look younger in HiME, but she's still got an amazing figure. However, in HiME it's a plot point, at least in the first episode. In Otome they never really concentrated on it.

In Otome, Shiho is completely nuts. Juliette teases her mercilessly. But she's a full Meister, and in the final crisis of the TV series she was part of the team that fought their way into the heart of the Windbloom castle. She fought just as hard as anyone else did, and all honor to her even if she is crazy about spirals. In HiME she's middle school and at least based on the first episode she looks to be comic relief. (Well, in Otome she mostly was, too.)

Nagi was the big-bad in Otome. Based on the first episode of HiME, looks like he's a bad guy this time, too. Akira Ishida makes a really good villain, you know that? He comes across as being sooooo slimy. And it's evident that this Nagi is going to be just as much of a son-of-a-bitch as the other.

About the only thing I don't like so far is that Mai comes across as a tsundere.

The girls with the power of HiME all have a very specific red birthmark. Or so I assume. Mikoto has it, and it's on her arm, I think it was. Mai's got it, too, and it's on her right breast, in her cleavage. In fact, it's in the same location as the star-shaped birthmark that Mikuru's got. Remember that? (Did the Haruhi series borrow the idea? HiME came out in 2004.)

In Otome, Mai had a contract with Mikoto, albeit entered into in a very unusual manner. And in HiME? Well, nearly the last image in the ED is the two of them in bed together.

HiME would be a total loss without the extraordinary powers, but they aren't skimping on them. There was a wonderful three way fight between Natsuki, Mikoto, and eventually Mai in the first episode, and I have every reason to believe that it's going to happen again.

So I'll give it a few more episodes. But if the angst gets too deep, I may do what I did with Otome and skip to the last part of the show and just watch that.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 08:56 AM | Comments (29) | Add Comment
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