My-Hime Vol. #5 Review Discussion

[Chris Beveridge]

http://www.animeondvd.com/images/boxart/myhime5.jpg

Review (http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/5757.php)

Released By: Bandai Entertainment
MSRP: $24.95
Running time: 100 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Resolution: 480i/p (mixed/unknown)
Encoded With: MPEG-2
Release Date: 11/14/2006
Review Date: 12/04/2006
Date Announced: 08/10/2006
Region: 1 - North America
Reviewed By: Chris Beveridge

In Summary:
Sometimes My-Hime feels like a guilty pleasure. There isn't much between volumes that keeps me thinking about the show, but as soon as its in the player it's just completely absorbing and entertaining. The character growth is solid here while the action is just wonderfully done. And while I fully expect there to be some sort of out regarding the loss of loved ones when a Child dies, this having something to truly protect aspect of the Hime's is an area that's perfect. So many shows have characters who seem to be able to lose and not have anything happen, but in this one there is a real cost. Costs that really work the emotional gamut depending on how it plays out. My-Hime has been something of a slow builder but it has been carefully laying out an intriguing story on top of a standard plot.

[Ty]

I was hoping to see this volume get an A rating on content, but oh well. The improved authoring is a welcome addition and the show is just engrossing now that the story has switched gears.

[Mateo_home]

Excellent review. I don't notice time codes but I take it there more noticable on the next-gen players. And I dunno if Bandai would re-authorize the previous discs, unless they want to spend the money to do so. ;)

I think this volume really pulled a 180 on the series and has me looking forward for more. Too bad I didn't care too much for the manga. :P

[Vicserr]

Well, as Sunrise is doing this, this series is basically running on a Gundam type of story structure, We introduce the characters, do some kickass introductory eps, after that we add ingridients slowly and let them simmer for a while, building up for a rollercoaster final strech with lots excitement and action, ep 20 is the starting gate of the rollercoaster and the final 2 discs will be (hopefully) massive amounts of payoff as the Hime War rages on.

And Bandai getting the series off the authoring hands of Ocean is a plus

[Njr Scrawl]

This show is a lot more fun than GSeed was.

M-H is like, I dunno, a new sub-sub-genre of magical schoolgirl mecha.

What I found most startling & maybe shocking was Nao's eye & how readily she went evil. But worse was the treatment of the nun.

Who does Mai really love? Is Mikoto really dead?

[Mitsuki]

Wow, this is the best volume yet. I really wanted to space this out to make the wait for Voume 6 go faster, but I just couldn't control myself...

[vtr9kvictor]

I confes to being behind on this one - what changes did they make?

[ADC]

I confes to being behind on this one - what changes did they make?
Prior discs were mastered by Ocean; v5 was mastered by speeDVD. I've only watched episode 17 so far, but the improvement in video quality is pretty impressive. (Can't comment on the tinny English 5.1 because I don't listen to the English and have, therefore, no data from which to make an analysis.)

[Nakuru Akizuki]

I confes to being behind on this one - what changes did they make?

Changes described here (http://www.animeondvd.com/forum/showpost.php?post/317592/). :)

[Shsway]

The series has been pretty enjoyable thus far, but this volume actually made my stomach feel like cold steel. I really didn't expect Takumi to die the way he did, or even for the connection between him and Akira to become that strong, to get that point. Up until the second he faded away, I was intrigued by whether or not Takumi's chances has been improved in being favored by more than one HiME; whether the two connections would cancel each other out. Also, there was no cheesy, expected third party pay-off to the joke set up in an earlier episode by the academy girls about what could happen between those two pretty "boys" left to their own devices. Good.

And then there's the Mai/Mikoto fight...

As usual, the animation was surprisingly good in spots. And I thought that addressing Mai's feelings about her brother, her situation and her place in life by way of Nao was well done. Casting Shiho as the "White HiME" and Mikoto's brother as the "Obsidian Prince" was inspired too. Most interesting is the fact that it got very hard for me to say which member of the cast was the actual trigger to the mess, as the situation escalated subtly enough and the resulting explosion of action felt thoroughly confusing (in a good way). All of the character relationships are working better than I expected, though now I feel that the series could have been twice the length that it is, to have seen these fleshed out more (not to mention character and world backgrounds).

I'm very, very curious now about how things will get tied up, and I'm allowing the anticipation to climb a little. Still not sure what to think of the show's approach as a whole (still not into the more fanservicey stuff, and the start-stop feel to plot advancement has been a bit frustrating).

And, God, am I sick of Tate now. I was less than impressed with his angsty past and outlook. I still don't get why Mai would feel so strongly about him.

Quibbles: It's not very clear to me, visually-speaking, how Nao loses that eye, or even who inflicted the injury. Also, Kajiura Yuki's music wasn't lending very much ambience to a lot of scenes. It 's all a little weak, but thankfully the storyline has been distracting enough from the fact. The ED sequence, however, has benefited from the recent events - the images are a lot more poignant and interesting to me now.

I think I'll give this one an A-.

[Fencedude]

Quibbles: It's not very clear to me, visually-speaking, how Nao loses that eye, or even who inflicted the injury.

Natsuki shot at Julia's spear-tail-thing and blasted the tip of it off, it flew through the air and got Nao in the eye.

[Njr Scrawl]

That was all a bit too contrived IMO, even for M-H. And why do these one-eyed bad girls (also the Ikkitousen girl) have a band aid plaster over their eye when a black patch would be so more dramatic & appropriate

I agree with Shsway about Akira. Also too quickly brought in. In fact ep.20 was too rushed. Its events needed to be spread over another episode.

I think Mai would be better with the cool dark-haired guy, but he's not the type M-H's audience demographic will identify with, probably.

[Fencedude]

That was all a bit too contrived IMO, even for M-H. And why do these one-eyed bad girls (also the Ikkitousen girl) have a band aid plaster over their eye when a black patch would be so more dramatic & appropriate



Standard issue medical Eyepatch.

I actually think they look nifty. Black eyepatches are too piraty for me to take seriously.

[something]

That was all a bit too contrived IMO, even for M-H. And why do these one-eyed bad girls (also the Ikkitousen girl) have a band aid plaster over their eye when a black patch would be so more dramatic & appropriate
I'm with Fence on the eyepatch -- she's a not a pirate, damnit =P And I don't think it was terribly contrived. With shit flying around and blowing up, it's not terribly surprising that, hey, someone's eye could get put out.

I agree with Shsway about Akira. Also too quickly brought in. In fact ep.20 was too rushed. Its events needed to be spread over another episode.
It could have been longer, yes, but it's hard to find a break-off between 26 and 52, and I really don't think HiME could have gone for 52. As a whole, the pacing from when the shit hits the fan onwards was, in my eyes, more or less impeccable. That goes whether you count it from Miyu and KAZU-KUN KYAAAH, or SSJ Alisa, or eyepatch Nao, all the peaks came at very good times, in my mind.

I think Mai would be better with the cool dark-haired guy, but he's not the type M-H's audience demographic will identify with, probably.
If you're even indirectly saying we might identify with Tate, I take great offense and hereby challenge you to a duel TO THE DEATH.

[something]

I really didn't expect Takumi to die the way he did, or even for the connection between him and Akira to become that strong, to get that point.
Me neither, except a day or two before I saw that episode back when it aired, a friend who wasn't watching it send me an image from 2ch that showed the green sparklies -_- I was pissed, and forbid him to ever send me screencaps from an ongoing show ever again. Bastard.

Up until the second he faded away, I was intrigued by whether or not Takumi's chances has been improved in being favored by more than one HiME; whether the two connections would cancel each other out.
The one thing I learned from HiME during the Festival (or Carnival or whatever the hell the translation was) is that nobody gets a pass :sd: If something crappy can happen it will.

As usual, the animation was surprisingly good in spots. And I thought that addressing Mai's feelings about her brother, her situation and her place in life by way of Nao was well done. Casting Shiho as the "White HiME" and Mikoto's brother as the "Obsidian Prince" was inspired too.
Agreed. I had missed/forgotten the wedding outfit hint earlier in the show by the time the White HiME appeared, so while she was obviously one of the few remaining characters who could have been a HiME, it was still a really nice twist for me.

Most interesting is the fact that it got very hard for me to say which member of the cast was the actual trigger to the mess, as the situation escalated subtly enough and the resulting explosion of action felt thoroughly confusing (in a good way).
And I must say once again that the best thing about HiME was that the whole HiME fight arc plays out as beautifully orchestrated anarchy and chaos. I loved every minute of it.

All of the character relationships are working better than I expected, though now I feel that the series could have been twice the length that it is, to have seen these fleshed out more (not to mention character and world backgrounds).
I think it would have been a very different show if slated for a 52 episode run. The final stretch towards the ending would not have been so intense, probably, and more people might have been lost earlier on and more easily written it off as "fanservice comedy", when in fact I found the show remarkably restrained in terms of fanservice.

and the start-stop feel to plot advancement has been a bit frustrating)
Well, as I'm sure is obvious now, there will be no more start/stopping, the roller coaster will not end until it ends (opinions about the conclusion aside, anyway). I actually felt like at least since the Artemis attack on the bridge, there was little downtime at all. Yes, we had the last ditch karaoke episode before all hell broke loose (and it was necessary, I say), but other than that, the second half of the show is almost constant action.

And, God, am I sick of Tate now. I was less than impressed with his angsty past and outlook. I still don't get why Mai would feel so strongly about him.
THANK YOU. God I loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe loathe him so very much. He's irritating as hell, and a horrible, horrible character. Probably one of my most disliked characters in all of anime. He just drives me insane >_<

Also, Kajiura Yuki's music wasn't lending very much ambience to a lot of scenes. It 's all a little weak, but thankfully the storyline has been distracting enough from the fact. The ED sequence, however, has benefited from the recent events - the images are a lot more poignant and interesting to me now.
Hmm, I love the HiME soundtrack. I think the only problem (same in Otome, but a lot of other shows besides) is the fact that with so many action scenes, the same BMG crops up a number of times, and it sort of becomes "expected" rather than exciting.

[Lego]

The one thing I learned from HiME during the Festival (or Carnival or whatever the hell the translation was) is that nobody gets a pass :sd: If something crappy can happen it will.

Yeah, thats what really made Hime a "wow" series for me. I knew that we would see someone go down, but they took out Tak, and I knew that they were really trying to do something interesting with the story. Hopefully the Hime DVD release had made some new Haruka fans :bignosebleed:. In my opinion, she has the best(FUTURE SPOILER ACCORDING TO FENCE, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED "death scene" by headbutting Shizuru and flinging her arm band to Yukino. But maybe it's just another sign of my Haruka fandom.

[Razb]

I'm with Fence on the eyepatch -- she's a not a pirate, damnit =P


Pirate Nao sounds hot. Wouldn't be too far of a stretch from one of her Otome outfits.

[Njr Scrawl]

Being favoured by 2 is double jeopardy! Safest is not to be favoured by any, unless Nao takes an active dislike to you of course ;)

Uh no...I was thinking of the Japanese more than US demographic. :nervous:

Mai has confused me about whether I like her or not now. Is she good, bad, cow, what?

[something]

Mai has confused me about whether I like her or not now. Is she good, bad, cow, what?
I had wavered on Mai by this point as well. She started out as my favorite, then Natsuki was neck and neck with her, but when all the craziness started I began to like Mai less, and Natsuki all the more. Natsuki really holds everything and everyone together as best she can amid all the chaos, which is an undeniable sign of some major character development on her part throughout the series.

[Suwako Moriya]

Being favoured by 2 is double jeopardy!

Let's just say if My-HiME was a harem anime the person in question would be so doomed to suffer. Sorry that was too easy. In any case part of the fun was debating how the HiME system worked. As certain scenes in the episode did lead to debate on how the system worked with multiple theories.

Some would turn out to be wrong and some would turn out to be correct. However the sad part was that in some cases certain people would deny the truth until the very end. Even worse was denying the truth even long after the show makes it blatant. Err yeah go figure on that one.

[Suwako Moriya]

Natsuki really holds everything and everyone together as best she can amid all the chaos, which is an undeniable sign of some major character development on her part throughout the series.

Natsuki has to be the best developed over all of the three leads and may be the best developed character in show. Granted she may not be my favorite, but I do have to pay her proper respect. I think episode 4 was when I started to like her. Simply because she became something more than a generic bad-ass.

I remember how over time my favorite character had changed. At first it was Mikoto herself. Later on it became Shiho. Then eventually after completing the series my favorite became Alyssa with Mashiro as a close second. So yeah it definitely changed over time.

[Fencedude]

Err...Lego, you probably shouldn't have included that second spoiler, since it kinda doesn't happen on this disc and you didn't provide a clue that it was a spoiler for future events.

[Lego]

Err...Lego, you probably shouldn't have included that second spoiler, since it kinda doesn't happen on this disc and you didn't provide a clue that it was a spoiler for future events.


Bah, sorry Fence. Bah, now I feel like crap because I probably spoiled that for someone. Thanks for the heads up Fence.

[Shsway]

It's not very clear to me, visually-speaking, how Nao loses that eye, or even who inflicted the injury.

Natsuki shot at Julia's spear-tail-thing and blasted the tip of it off, it flew through the air and got Nao in the eye.

Thanks - I'll have to rewatch that bit later so I can fully appreciate it. Also, I already knew what Nao was like, but I was as shocked as Njr was when the character readily cast herself to the deep end. It's not like she didn't have a reason, but...

[Shsway]

Being favoured by 2 is double jeopardy! Safest is not to be favoured by any, unless Nao takes an active dislike to you of course ;)

Heh. Well, what if Nao took a twisted liking to you? :D For a little while there, I thought the writers would try something to that effect, creating a somewhat more obsessive/antagonistic relationship between her and Natsuki.

Mai has confused me about whether I like her or not now. Is she good, bad, cow, what?

I think I find her much easier to relate to now. Of course whe would have such a conflict within herself about her wants. Of COURSE she would feel as though she has little to live and fight for. She has been noble in at least trying to make up for that one big error, but she also chose consciously to use Takumi as a crutch. If one were to try to examine the character further, deeper, you could say that Taku was always Mai's excuse to be antisocial, not to take chances with love or friendships, etc.

And yeah, I like Reito more now, though I'm worried that his part in all of this end up being sinister and distasteful.

Natsuki was pretty much my favorite since that first shot of her in the body suit, on that little boat. Whoo. But then, she's a bit more "larger than life" to me than the others. She isn't shown to have many flaws, though her moments of frustration are cute. And I sense a certain amount of self-control in her, when it comes to a certain other member of the supporting cast, which is a noble try in of itself (I think I already know how that will end up, sadly.

By all rights, the series rides the fence when it comes to being either creative or paint-by-the-numbers. I can't deny that it has been engaging though.

[something]

Bah, sorry Fence. Bah, now I feel like crap because I probably spoiled that for someone. Thanks for the heads up Fence.
You know, I had a feeling that wasn't actually this disc, but wasn't sure. I almost PMd you about it yesterday -- guess I should have :sd:
But wait, how can you not have been sure if it was this disc or not? I thought you haven't seen the full show yet? o_O Or was it just that you read about it on blogs? Either way, yeah, that's why I don't bring events up unless 1) someone else who hasn't seen the show did or 2) I verify first :sd:

[Ty]

It's not very clear to me, visually-speaking, how Nao loses that eye, or even who inflicted the injury.

Natsuki shot at Julia's spear-tail-thing and blasted the tip of it off, it flew through the air and got Nao in the eye.

Thanks - I'll have to rewatch that bit later so I can fully appreciate it. Also, I already knew what Nao was like, but I was as shocked as Njr was when the character readily cast herself to the deep end. It's not like she didn't have a reason, but...
Yes, she does really do a 180 just as you think she might be willing to go along with everybody, doesn't she? I kind of took me by surprise too, but I love how raw and visceral the emotions are portrayed during these scenes. I have been guarding myself from future spoilers so I'm looking forward to see how things play out.

[Fencedude]

In all fairness to Nao, she WAS set up by Ishigami. And what happened was also at least as much Natsuki's fault as Nao's.

[Suwako Moriya]

In all fairness to Nao, she WAS set up by Ishigami. And what happened was also at least as much Natsuki's fault as Nao's.

The biggest mistake Natsuki made was taking the easy route in terms of deciding who to believe. After all it's far easier to believe the "good" girl than the "bad" girl. Thus it allowed Natsuki to feel right about rushing to judgment which contributed to the problems in episode 18 and later in a sense.

[Lego]

You know, I had a feeling that wasn't actually this disc, but wasn't sure. I almost PMd you about it yesterday -- guess I should have :sd:
But wait, how can you not have been sure if it was this disc or not? I thought you haven't seen the full show yet? o_O Or was it just that you read about it on blogs? Either way, yeah, that's why I don't bring events up unless 1) someone else who hasn't seen the show did or 2) I verify first :sd:

Disarm, you do realize that Hime originally aired a little while back, and we were all in this one big discussion thread talking about it, right? My whole way of thinking now is that there is so much stuff out their that I key in on one or two shows, and just check out summaries and blogs for everything else. I still get passionately into shows like I did with Hime, and like I will when the second season of Emma comes back in 07.

As a friend told me when I talked to him about checking out blogs for certain series.. "If you want to look at pictures, read manga". I find it more fufilling to square in on one or two series rather then trying to put equal time into twenty. But yes, I did watch Hime episode by episode, I posted on it, checked 2chan, and so on. We had some good discussions and rolled with the punches.

As for the spoiler, I should of just left it out as mentioned(now with a bold red warning). But it seems like most people ignored it anyway, so I dunno. Maybe it's me looking more into something then I should, but each Hime's child seems to correspond to their personality. It's almost ironic that Nao's child is a spider.

[something]

Disarm, you do realize that Hime originally aired a little while back, and we were all in this one big discussion thread talking about it, right?
I know, but I can't remember which shows you actually watch and which you just read summaries/blogs/spoilers for (a practice I'll never understand the appeal of, but you know how much I hate spoilers :sd:).

[Lego]

I've heard that from a lot of people, I'm in one of those "lets take some time off" type of moods, so thats it. I'm sure with the new season I'll be back to watching episodes normally.

To push the thread back on topic..

Obviously Bandai can't really go back and put out 1-4 again reauthored and make people who already bought 1-4 buy them. Of course some people will, but buying the same volumes of the same show seems a little pointless. I know we'll probably see a box set or a "Anime Legends" box set after it ends, so I wonder what Bandai will do. I'm leaning towards 1-4 staying the same with volume 5 and up being authored a little bit better. I'm glad that Bandai is putting out a better box then the crappy paper on that came with volume 1.

But then it kind of puts me off as a fan when I had to dish out more money for something like R.O.D TV for two boxes because the first one didn't work or didn't look right.

[something]

To push the thread back on topic..
Obviously Bandai can't really go back and put out 1-4 again reauthored and make people who already bought 1-4 buy them. Of course some people will, but buying the same volumes of the same show seems a little pointless.
Well, that was more on topic for the other thread (this is one getting some, SHOCK, good content discussion, wow :sd:), but yeah, there's little in it for Bandai (or the majority of consumers) for the first four to be rereleased. Very few people, even at AOD, would rebuy and I can't imagine getting four discs redone would be cheap enough to be worth it. I'm not saying I'd object if they did (it doesn't affect me, so why should I block it?), but it seems very unlikely. It's rare to begin with that anything was done about it in the first place for any of the discs.

[Njr Scrawl]

I'm not sure that Mai (or anyone else) thinking that she was using Takumi as a crutch is quite fair on her.

When you're a carer & protector for a disabled/dependent person, your own life is on hold, depending on the degree of that person's needs.

Mai had made a promise, but she realised how delicate Takumi's health was. She was probably terrified of a situation where she would not be able to protect or save him from his condition.

Of course she is young still & although maturing, gets mixed feelings of frustration, exasperation & the conflict of big personal responsibility while suppressing her own personal desires.

Natsuki & the others with unhappy personal histories being affected by their pasts, is partly also what makes M-H so compelling. I didn't realise Natsuki was a year older than the others in her class, that was a surprise!

[Lego]

Interesting take. I always got the feeling that Mai assumed the role of her mother due to a feeling guilty more than anything. Of course one could say that a big sister, without a mother would turn into a mother. Especially when you have a younger brother like Tak, who is sick and needs a operation. To me the whole issue I had with Mai is that she seems to be living Tak's life, rather then her life. I guess you can say it's kind of a fail safe for her when she can point to her brother and go "oh, I can't go out tonight, Tak" and so on.


When you're a carer & protector for a disabled/dependent person, your own life is on hold, depending on the degree of that person's needs.

I do agree with this though. Maybe that is why some people see her that way. You get the impression through the early part of the series that her sole job is to look after Tak, leaving no real time for herself. As Chris stated in his review, you really do get the feeling that Tak sees Mai more as a mother now, instead of his older sister.

[something]

As Chris stated in his review, you really do get the feeling that Tak sees Mai more as a mother now, instead of his older sister.
In a way, although when I think of parent-child I think of indignant rebellion on the latter's part. Takumi's struggle to distance himself from his Mai never felt indignant, or even particularly rebellious. Rather, he wanted to do it for her sake, to become stronger so he wasn't a burden on her. I see that as the way you react to someone more your equal (like a sibling), than would be the case with the dominant-subordinate relationship inherent in parenting. I guess this sounds really cynical to say, but their relationship as a whole was far too loving to seem parent-child instead of brother-sister, to me.

But I realize I'm getting into ridiculous territory with psychoanalysis of anime characters and all, so I'll leave it at that, it's not all that important to their relationship in the end :sd:

[Lego]

True. What I was getting at was that Mai seems to surround herself with guilt. Guilty about her mother, her brother, friends and whatever. You mentioned that Tak feels guilty that Mai is spending so much time with him. I know she is giving up a lot to be with Tak, but it just seems like she is a guilty magnet hehe. As for analyzing anime characters..

It isn't that bad(well your smilies never work) :P

I'm more of a fan of characters like Aoi and Chie than Natsuki and Mai, so I'm probably biased.

[Shsway]

True. What I was getting at was that
I'm more of a fan of characters like Aoi and Chie...

Those two really did need more screen time. But maybe it's best to left wanting than to be annoyed with their constant meddling?

As for Takumi's feelings towards Mai: I did feel like they were beginning to cross that "special" line. :P

The ending of the series will decide whether MY-HiME is a show that I would repurchase in some sort of remastered form. At the moment, I would say that it isn't likely to get more dollars from me beyond this release.

[Lego]

That is why I think I liked Hime so much. You have a large cast of characters, but they each feel fleshed out. From Chie and Aoi to man of their classmates, you get the feeling that they're real people or characters rather then the usual cardboard cutouts.

As for Takumi's feelings towards Mai: I did feel like they were beginning to cross that "special" line.


Heh, was pretty funny when Tate teases Takumi about his alleged "sister complex" earlier in the series.