My-ZHiME S.ifr

[DiGiKerot]

Stealing a picture from elsewhere (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=otome2iw1.jpg)...

The promotional poster for the fourth ZHiME Zwei OAV looks to be advertising the next HiME series as being ZHiME 0, presumably a prequel.

Well, there's more expenditure for me at least. Probably bad news for those hoping for HiME Destiny, though.

[something]

The promotional poster for the fourth ZHiME Zwei OAV looks to be advertising the next HiME series as being ZHiME 0, presumably a prequel.
Is there more info than that anywhere? Either way, I'll take more My~*, no matter what it is. If they do some sort of prequel that more explicitly links HiME and Otome, it could be downright epic. No matter what it is though, it'll be awesome, that much is guaranteed.

[Suwako Moriya]

Since I liked My-HiME and My-Otome enough to officially collect both of them, I definitely have some interest in this. Hopefully it will be another good one. Either way this this means catching up with HiME and Otome will be important for me.

[DiGiKerot]

The promotional poster for the fourth ZHiME Zwei OAV looks to be advertising the next HiME series as being ZHiME 0, presumably a prequel.
Is there more info than that anywhere? Either way, I'll take more My~*, no matter what it is. If they do some sort of prequel that more explicitly links HiME and Otome, it could be downright epic. No matter what it is though, it'll be awesome, that much is guaranteed.

That's it at the moment, unfortunately, just figured it'd be worth mentioning anyway. It's a bit of a surprise, really - I mean, what kind of way to announce a new production is that? I'm waiting to find out what format its going to be before I get too excited, though - it could turn out to be a one-off OAV or something equally as disappointing (not that I'd complain about getting more ZHiME, but a TV series would be nice).

As for what it'll actually cover, that's anyones guess. There's already quite a few points in history we know about that they could cover. It could be the War of the Twelve Dragon Kings or whatever it was called. It could be about Rena back in her Otome days. It could be Natsuki et al back when they were are school. Any one of them would be worth watching, though it could, of course, be something completely different altogether.

[stfram]

Probably bad news for those hoping for HiME Destiny, though.


I want handcuff girl, dammit! :virgin:

[Ty]

Next series as in TV series? As long as they continue to rock Sunrise can keep 'em coming until the end of time.

[DiGiKerot]

Probably bad news for those hoping for HiME Destiny, though.


I want handcuff girl, dammit! :virgin:

With the anime being the series primary canon, I suppose a reset series like Destiny being anmiated was always a long-shot - it was probably the high quality of the artwork what got peoples hopes up.

Not that I'd complain if they were to animate Destiny, and it's not something to completely rule out, but it would seem to go against how they are handling the franchise.

[DiGiKerot]

Next series as in TV series? As long as they continue to rock Sunrise can keep 'em coming until the end of time.

Pass. As I say, it's literally just that one line on the poster announcing that it's in planning. That's enough for me to get excited :sd:

[something]

I'm waiting to find out what format its going to be before I get too excited, though - it could turn out to be a one-off OAV or something equally as disappointing
Yeah, very true. I'll hold out hope for a full TV series. I'm sure Zwei is great and all (shouldn't take too terribly long after the last ep comes out for me to find out, with Otome already begin in R1), but OVAs are just little omake for me, I need something meatier from the next My~* incarnation.

As for what it'll actually cover, that's anyones guess. There's already quite a few points in history we know about that they could cover. It could be the War of the Twelve Dragon Kings or whatever it was called. It could be about Rena back in her Otome days. It could be Natsuki et al back when they were are school. Any one of them would be worth watching, though it could, of course, be something completely different altogether.
Indeed. They've pretty much developed a win-win-win-win-... situation for themselves with this franchise, in my eyes. No matter what they do, the strength of the characters they've developed will carry it.

[Shibi]

as long as they keep ShizNat I'll be watching. Maybe they'll be a canon yuri couple this time?

[Fencedude]

as long as they keep ShizNat I'll be watching. Maybe they'll be a canon yuri couple this time?

They already are in Otome.

At any rate, the fact that its being called "Zero" basically confirms that its a prequel.

[Shibi]

as long as they keep ShizNat I'll be watching. Maybe they'll be a canon yuri couple this time?

They already are in Otome.

At any rate, the fact that its being called "Zero" basically confirms that its a prequel.

True, I am curious if they will come up with an entirely new cast though or have a similar situation as Otome. While its likely a new cast (except maybe Mashiro and Nagi), I wouldn't be shocked if there were characters very similar to the Hime cast.

[something]

I am curious if they will come up with an entirely new cast though
I doubt we'll ever see a totally new cast for anything My~*. They've pretty much set themselves up with this cast. They can certainly add to it (as they did with Otome) and tweak it, but to totally revamp it? I'd be shocked. It wouldn't be My~* is they did.

[Shiroi Hane]

I'd love some Otome pre-story, especially if the two series really are in continuity.

*the two series being Otome and HiME

[Lego]

As long as it has an older Haruka, I'm all for it.

[Conri]

A prequel, huh? I'd like to find out more about Miyu. :D

[Suwako Moriya]

As long as it has an older Haruka, I'm all for it.

Well if the speculation of this being a prequel for Otome is true then the chances of any of the cast appearing "older" is lessened. In fact depending on how far in the past it takes none of them may appear at all.

Okay granted there is always the idea of an aged character telling the story of the past. Or if the HiME cast was really reincarnated into the Otome cast then maybe this wasn't the first time. Heck the HiME girls themselves could be reincarnations.

[Lego]

I'm going by the scans that were posted some time ago in the old Hime thread where everyone was older. For example Shizuru looked like an office lady and so on.

[masterpez]

I'm going by the scans that were posted some time ago in the old Hime thread where everyone was older. For example Shizuru looked like an office lady and so on.

Those were for the My-HiME Destiny novel, which people say is a sequel to HiME, but isn't.

[Lego]

Hmm, that straighten things up. A prequel would be kind of interesting as I'm sure a lot of people would want to see Mashiro and a younger Haruka. Actually just give me more Haruka :virgin: :virgin:

[Fencedude]

Hmm, that straighten things up. A prequel would be kind of interesting as I'm sure a lot of people would want to see Mashiro and a younger Haruka. Actually just give me more Haruka :virgin: :virgin:

To be honest, the prequel I want to see would probably NOT be including any of the current cast.

[Lego]

Well it depends how far back they go Fence. You have to remember that characters like Reito, Haruka, Shizuru and Midori have been there a while and are almost in their 20's. I can see what your saying in maybe going back to Mashiro's time where she evidently one the first Hime festival.

[Fencedude]

Well it depends how far back they go Fence. You have to remember that characters like Reito, Haruka, Shizuru and Midori have been there a while and are almost in their 20's. I can see what your saying in maybe going back to Mashiro's time where she evidently one the first Hime festival.

Lets put it this way, to be truly informative they need to go back AT LEAST 300 years.

(and you like Haruka, we get it, you don't have to mention her 5 times in every post)

[something]

Lets put it this way, to be truly informative they need to go back AT LEAST 300 years.
I'm sure they can manage to pull out a third edition of the cast for the interim =P Don't have to use everyone heavily, and can add a bunch of new ones of course. I think it'd work nicely, but we'll see.

[pianocello]

I wonder if they're going to put any yuri and detailed nudity?

[Fencedude]

I wonder if they're going to put any yuri and detailed nudity?

Don't hold your breath.

[something]

I wonder if they're going to put any yuri and detailed nudity?Don't hold your breath.
Yeaaaaah... I think that's asking a bit much if it's a TV series. :sd: If you want nipples, Zwei is what you're looking for, if screencaps I've seen are any indication, though I imagine it's concentrated in one or two scenes.

[Lego]

Thank god the OVA's are being brought over :virgin: :virgin:

[ayareiko]

If true, in all likelihood it will be about the previous Festival. Only Mashiro and Nagi would be the returning characters.

[Suwako Moriya]

If true, in all likelihood it will be about the previous Festival. Only Mashiro and Nagi would be the returning characters.

If that were the case wouldn't it make more sense to call this "My-HiME 0" rather than "My-ZHiME 0"? Because regardless of whether or not one feels the two are connected. "My-ZHiME 0" gives me an impression of a prequel of "My-ZHiME" rather than "My-HiME". Then again they could be trying to throw people off with the title.

[DiGiKerot]

Well it depends how far back they go Fence. You have to remember that characters like Reito, Haruka, Shizuru and Midori have been there a while and are almost in their 20's. I can see what your saying in maybe going back to Mashiro's time where she evidently one the first Hime festival.

Lets put it this way, to be truly informative they need to go back AT LEAST 300 years.


That's the show I'd like to see, and am at least half expecting, but the fact that it basically only puts Miyu and Fumi in the frame as "returning" characters (and lets face it, Fumi is hardly an A, B or even C-cast member) makes me wonder if they'll actually do it.

[HitokiriShadow]

I'd love to see a HiME prequel covering the events from when Mashiro was a HiME even if we would already know the outcome. I don't expect that it will ever actually happen though.

Well, I'm intrigued at what this could be, assuming it is actually true and is animated, but its hard to think much about it when we only know (maybe) the title.

[Suwako Moriya]

I'd love to see a HiME prequel covering the events from when Mashiro was a HiME even if we would already know the outcome. I don't expect that it will ever actually happen though.

I wish it would happen myself. Especially since while as you stated the outcome is known the key interest will come from the actual details. Plus it may directly or indirectly give some answers to questions. Some that I may not have even thought to ask.

[Shiroi Hane]

I wish it would happen myself. Especially since while as you stated the outcome is known the key interest will come from the actual details.
Look how many people watched Titanic. it sinks

[HitokiriShadow]

While the outcome is already known, I think there are two big draws and reasons to do it. First, to maybe explain how this all started and the whats and whys of the HiME star and the Obsidian Prince. And second, to see what Mashiro used to be like before she won the previous festival. Hopefully nowhere nearly as bratty as she is in Otome. And, of course, the character interactions.

I think the biggest problem is the necessity of an almost entirely new cast, which kind of goes against the nature of the franchise.

[Lego]

Mashiro acts in Hime like she comes from a reserved background most of the time. That or she is covering up her real form as the headmaster of the school.

[DiGiKerot]

It looks like Zero has been renamed S.ifl. There's a preview on the last Zwei DVD. I've not got my copy yet (only shipped yesterday :sd: ), but from the screens I've seen it appears to be set back in Renas' Meister days, with young Maria and a younger Smith being visible.

No news on the format yet.

Kind of disappointed they aren't going way back to the war, but I guess removing the Zero from the name gives them room to move further backwards in the future.

[HitokiriShadow]

"S.ifl"? That's... interesting, I guess. Does that have any relation to any real words or are they just making stuff up now?

[Rhodes]

Cool then I can look forward to some Rena figures :)

[Fencedude]

*finishes Zwei 4*

Well, that was...interesting.

[DiGiKerot]

Well, that was...interesting.


Good interesting, bad interesting or retarded interesting?

[masterpez]

I think it was good interesting. Awesome action scenes and all the HiME homages ...err, actual things from HiME. Also, in the "S.ifl" preview, it seems Mayo and the Chie lookalike from HiME-Destiny character designs are used.

[something]

It looks like Zero has been renamed S.ifl. There's a preview on the last Zwei DVD. I've not got my copy yet (only shipped yesterday :sd: ), but from the screens I've seen it appears to be set back in Renas' Meister days, with young Maria and a younger Smith being visible.
Hmm, younger Rena? That could definitely be interesting.

No news on the format yet.
A shame, since this is the most important part. More important than what part of the story they're going to cover, if you ask me. Because they could set it ANYWHERE they want, and it'd be amazing, but even the best setting won't interest me if it's only a few episodes. So, good god, TV SERIES PLEASE.

[Fencedude]

Well, that was...interesting.


Good interesting, bad interesting or retarded interesting?

You know how the end of ZHiME was simultaneously awesome, crazy, stupid and retarded all at the same time?

It was kinda like that. Though maybe it makes more sense when I can understand the dialog.

Lots of fighting though.

[Suwako Moriya]

At least we'll get to learn more about Rena herself. As for the idea of them going backwards once more. While it's nice to have Zwei and now S.ifl. in terms of more Otome. I'm still hoping for more HiME itself as well. Either way for now I should concern myself mainly with the Otome R1 collecting and eventual re-watching.

[Westlo]

Even though I didn't think much of Otome I'm pretty interested in watching a prequel based on Rena.

Now to wait for a format announcement.... wish they went back to HiME though :(

[DiGiKerot]

Meh. It's been pointed out on another forums that the URL of the S.ifl promo image on the ZHIME site is http://www.my-zhime.net/ova/sifr/index.html.

Note the OAV part :(

It'd be nice to think this is just temporary (the currently-active from of the ZHiME site is the Zwei section, which lives in that directory), but apparently Hisayuki has previously mentioned on his website that his next work was going to be a 3 episode OAV series. Given he's both doing the character design as well as the actual direction this time around (Hmmm, I wonder what Obara is up to at the moment, then) I guess this is it.

[Fencedude]

Its worth noting that they've changed the title to "S.ifr", for whatever that is worth.

[DiGiKerot]

Its worth noting that they've changed the title to "S.ifr", for whatever that is worth.


With Sifr being Arabic for Zero, I'm guessing its more a case of them having spelled it incorrectly for the trailer than any kind of actual change.

Still, I'll update the thread title to reflect.

[Suwako Moriya]

Note the OAV part :(

Ah well I guess people will just have to hope the next project is for TV. Assuming there will be another one.

[something]

Note the OAV part :(
Aaaaaaaaaaand interest utterly plummets to near zero.

Oh well.

[Lego]

I wouldn't be surprised to see the franchise continue in OVA installments from now on. Unless they want go for another full length series ala Hime and Otome, I think they'll stick with the OVA format since they can control the quality and story.

[DiGiKerot]

I think they'll stick with the OVA format since they can control the quality and story.

The problem is that there really isn't any story to the OAVs, at least if Zwei is representative - it was four episodes of HiME fanservice, fun but with no actual substance.

I'd like to think that S.ifr might have a bit most substance to it, but I'm not all that confident. I'm sure it'll be fun and all, but it'd be nice to have some actual meat to it.

[something]

I'd like to think that S.ifr might have a bit most substance to it, but I'm not all that confident. I'm sure it'll be fun and all, but it'd be nice to have some actual meat to it.
Right, if we want a well developed, deep story, it ain't gonna happen in a 3 ep OVA.
I hold out hope they'll do a TV series again some day, but this unfortunate news pushes that back a ways.

[Suwako Moriya]

Right, if we want a well developed, deep story, it ain't gonna happen in a 3 ep OVA.

True and besides that if the gap between episodes for this is the same as Zwei was.... Then it will be another case where one is better off waiting for all the episodes to be subbed or for the possible R1 DVD release.

[something]

True and besides that if the gap between episodes for this is the same as Zwei was.... Then it will be another case where one is better off waiting for all the episodes to be subbed or for the possible R1 DVD release.
Basically. I didn't think too much about Zwei because the wait between would have killed any momentum. So, might as well just wait until Bandai releases it. Same for this.

Though for some reason I was under the impression Zwei was 6 eps, not 4. Dunno why.

[DiGiKerot]

Basically. I didn't think too much about Zwei because the wait between would have killed any momentum. So, might as well just wait until Bandai releases it. Same for this.


That's very wise of you. Of course, I wanted the DVDs (I've got every other HiME/ZHiME R2 FP release), and since I had them it was hard to resist actually watching them, but the wait was utterly murderous.

I'd love to know why, precisely, it took so long to release each episode of the show - it's not like there was any new music outside of the EDs, and the animation was only marginally more flashy than the TV show for the most part. Three months seems insane when Sunrise seems to be able to churn out slicker looking stuff on a weekly basis.

[something]

I'd love to know why, precisely, it took so long to release each episode of the show - it's not like there was any new music outside of the EDs, and the animation was only marginally more flashy than the TV show for the most part. Three months seems insane when Sunrise seems to be able to churn out slicker looking stuff on a weekly basis.
I wonder that about most OVAs. Is 3 months rare though? I know some can be monthly and such, but is there an average?

[DiGiKerot]

I'd love to know why, precisely, it took so long to release each episode of the show - it's not like there was any new music outside of the EDs, and the animation was only marginally more flashy than the TV show for the most part. Three months seems insane when Sunrise seems to be able to churn out slicker looking stuff on a weekly basis.
I wonder that about most OVAs. Is 3 months rare though? I know some can be monthly and such, but is there an average?

I can't really think of many other OAV releases these days which aren't one-offs. Hellsing Ultimate has a fairly odd release pattern, but those episodes are longer than a TV show and, unlike Zwei, you can actually see the difference in the animation quality. Gunbuster 2 was 4-5 months between episodes, but again the animation was way better than you'd expect from TV anime. The most recent Sakura Taisen OAV series had a volume released every two months, and there were two episodes a volume on that (not watched it yet, though, so no idea of the actual quality).

Zwei just strikes me as weird because it really isn't three months of production better than an episode of the TV show in any regard.

[something]

Zwei just strikes me as weird because it really isn't three months of production better than an episode of the TV show in any regard.
Hmm, I just looked at MariMite 3rd, and those were "only" 2 months between, and almost twice as long per episode. (And yay for that being done, I can finally watch, maybe that'll be my viewing tonight)

But yeah, it sounds like Zwei was... well, not something I'd have wanted to follow ep by ep after all. I did see ep 1 but that's about it I think.

[DiGiKerot]

Zwei just strikes me as weird because it really isn't three months of production better than an episode of the TV show in any regard.
Hmm, I just looked at MariMite 3rd, and those were "only" 2 months between, and almost twice as long per episode. (And yay for that being done, I can finally watch, maybe that'll be my viewing tonight)

Oh, man, those MariMite OAVs were so good. You should watch them ASAP. Most of them made me laugh so much it hurt.


But yeah, it sounds like Zwei was... well, not something I'd have wanted to follow ep by ep after all. I did see ep 1 but that's about it I think.

On the plus side, at least there wasn't much of a plot to get annoyed about not moving forward. :sd:

(Okay, I'm sounding very harsh towards Zwei hear - I really did actually enjoy it, though, it's just not as good as it could have been).

[Fencedude]

I think they'll stick with the OVA format since they can control the quality and story.

The problem is that there really isn't any story to the OAVs, at least if Zwei is representative - it was four episodes of HiME fanservice, fun but with no actual substance.

I'd like to think that S.ifr might have a bit most substance to it, but I'm not all that confident. I'm sure it'll be fun and all, but it'd be nice to have some actual meat to it.

To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed the four episodes of Zwei WAAAAAAAY more than most of Otome TV.

Otome is at its best when its being awesome for the sake of being awesome. Episode 4 makes very little sense, but is filled to the brim with awesome.

[HitokiriShadow]

I haven't seen Zwei 4 yet, but since I stopped caring about Otome's plot along time ago, how much sense it makes shouldn't matter to me much.

As for Silf being an OVA. Meh. I was going to watch it (with little care for the plot) regardless. I'd rather have a new Mai-* series or a HiME prequel, anyway. The sooner we get one of those, the better.

[DiGiKerot]

A few interesting entries have popped up on Bandai Visuals online catalogue today.

Firstly, the first episode of My-ZHiME S.ifr is being released on 22nd February 2008, and runs for 30 minutes. There's some blurb about the content (http://product.bandaivisual.co.jp/web_service/shop_product_info.asp?item_no=BCBA-3226) on the entry if anyone cares to try reading it, though it just seems to iterate much of what you can probably guess from the promo aside from it mentioning that the girl I'm assuming to be Ninas mother is called Shifur/Sifr (or some other romanisation) and it implying that Garderobe are doing something a little iffy here.

Prior to the release of S.ifr, on 25th January 2008, they are also releasing compilation movies of ZHiME and ZHiME Zwei. These are listed as being 100 minutes long, which seems kind of odd - I mean, that's basically all of Zwei sans the EDs, but cramming the TV show into 100 minutes seems pretty crazy.

They are also releasing a double-pack of the two movie versions, along with an additional My-ZHiME Fandisk.

Oh well, there's another pile of my money heading to R2 land...

[Lego]

Hmm, sounds interesting. As a bigger fan of Hime compares to ZHime, I wish we could of had these neat little extras with Hime instead. Still we had the omakes and the character song CD's, but ZHime seems to still be pretty popular.

[DiGiKerot]

Hmm, sounds interesting. As a bigger fan of Hime compares to ZHime, I wish we could of had these neat little extras with Hime instead. Still we had the omakes and the character song CD's, but ZHime seems to still be pretty popular.

*shrug* There's simply more room for expansion in ZHiME then there was in HiME, nothing more than that. A HiME compilation movie would probably be even crazier than a ZHiME TV one in terms of fitting all the important stuff in, and they did actually get a HiME fandisk released separately in Japan between the final volume of HiME hitting DVD and ZHiME airing.

[something]

One episode? 30 minutes? Oh, and compilation movies? Well, that's mind numbingly boring :sd:

I probably shouldn't even bother to watch this at all until they announce a more significant continuation (in whatever form and whatever story universe) down the line. I'm sure we'll get more My~* eventually (a real continuation, I mean). They could have done so much with this premise, but 30 minutes is as bad as useless. ::shrugs::

Edit: Missed the "first episode" part... still not very exciting news anyway though.

[Fencedude]

One episode? 30 minutes? Oh, and compilation movies? Well, that's mind numbingly boring :sd:

I probably shouldn't even bother to watch this at all until they announce a more significant continuation (in whatever form and whatever story universe) down the line. I'm sure we'll get more My~* eventually (a real continuation, I mean). They could have done so much with this premise, but 30 minutes is as bad as useless. ::shrugs::

Err...its just the first episode. Nothing was said about S.ifr being only 1 episode.

[something]

Err...its just the first episode. Nothing was said about S.ifr being only 1 episode.
Ah, I missed the "first episode" part of the sentence. Still probably going to pass for awhile anyway, even when they add a few more eps I still won't expect much at all. Maybe I'll just wait until it gets licensed like Zwei.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Prior to the release of S.ifr, on 25th January 2008, they are also releasing compilation movies of ZHiME and ZHiME Zwei. These are listed as being 100 minutes long, which seems kind of odd - I mean, that's basically all of Zwei sans the EDs, but cramming the TV show into 100 minutes seems pretty crazy.

Now that just makes me think, "hey, they could also do a My-HiME compilation movie with a NEW AND BETTER ENDING and that would be really cool."

[Suwako Moriya]

Now that just makes me think, "hey, they could also do a My-HiME compilation movie with a NEW AND BETTER ENDING and that would be really cool."

I think the more realistic thing to expect would be a more rushed version of the ending depending on what they decide to cut out to make the compilation movie. Although who knows maybe the Obsidian Lord fanclub will finally get their desires. Still I'm content with being part of the Mashiro Kazahanafanclub. :P

[Hayate Kurogane]

Now that just makes me think, "hey, they could also do a My-HiME compilation movie with a NEW AND BETTER ENDING and that would be really cool."

I think the more realistic thing to expect would be a more rushed version of the ending depending on what they decide to cut out to make the compilation movie. Although who knows maybe the Obsidian Lord fanclub will finally get their desires. Still I'm content with being part of the Mashiro Kazahanafanclub. :P

Any more rushed than it already seemed? :P

But really, I can't speak for My-Otome since I'm only watching it as Bandai Ent. releases the R1 discs, but there's an awful lot of stuff that could easily be cut out of My-HiME one way or another, depending on which direction they wanted to take with it, in order to begin the process of paring it down for a compilation movie. Not to mention that if they wanted to really get creative with it, rather than having it simply be a straightforward cut-down version of My-HiME, there would be plenty of room to add quite a bit of new material in.

It'll be interesting to see just how the My-Otome movie turns out, whether someone's taking the time and opportunity to try and be creative (see also: RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio, Blue Gender: The Movie) or if it's purely a quick and dirty way to make some cash with as little thought as possible (see also: a lot of other compilation movies out there).

[Suwako Moriya]

Any more rushed than it already seemed? :P

Granted even I have to admit the final episode of My-HiME was kind of rushed, but that doesn't mean they can't rush it even more.

Not to mention that if they wanted to really get creative with it, rather than having it simply be a straightforward cut-down version of My-HiME, there would be plenty of room to add quite a bit of new material in.

Well if the movie manages to be more than just a butchered re-hash of the TV series it may be worth considering as it would be an alternate telling. However darn it they need to make those "Mashiro Kazahana" focused OVAs, but apparently they don't want to listen to my demands err I mean requests.

[Sly05]

Due to how awful Zwei was I went into this with very low expectations. I ended up being very surprised how good this episode was. I really liked the characters, especially Rena who is completely bad ass. Sifr reminds me a lot of Arika. I even found Bruce to be a lot of fun. He's certainly an interesting king. I also liked the few other otome. In case anyone is wondering, it's still true that otome are into the yuri. Nina also makes an appearance, but as a cat (which was rather weird, even if it was done with Motoko in Otome).

The action scenes were great. I loved how Rena is so powerful that slaves run away from her in terror and that her gem can't even contain her power.

I really hope future episodes are able to maintain this quality.

[William K]

The Meisters in this series are far more interesting than those in My Otome. I already like Elliot more than her successor Sara Gallagher. And they go straight into yuri mode in Episode 1! :P

Maybe Bruce will finally give the franchise a strong male hero...

The character designs do look familiar though (maybe not that much of a surprise with Sunrise)...with Raquel looking like Shiho, Shion like Chie and Sifr like a young Juliet.

Very strong start to the series with a great battle scene with the early Miyu prototype. Hope they can keep it up

PS. I also like the nods they give to the other series. With Yukana narrating the opening in her non-Mashiro voice and a young Miss Maria teaching students in Garderobe.

PPS. Aya Endo (Rena's seiyuu) seems to be on the rise with this role as well as that of Sheryl in Macross Frontier

[DiGiKerot]

Fantastic episode and all - quite possibly the best of the whole franchise - but isn't that music when they all Materialise kind of exactly like The Eagles Journey of the Sorcerer (better known as the theme from Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy)?

[Lego]

I'm hoping for young Haruka but I haven't seen her yet :cry:

[ndm]

I'm hoping for young Haruka but I haven't seen her yet :cry:

Well, given this is set, what, 20 years before the start of Mai-Otome, I doubt you'll see her except maybe as a baby.

I thought the episode was a lot of fun. I particularly liked Raquel (especially her yuri jokes - if a figure of her comes out I'm so buying it). Sifr was a pretty good lead. Rena was awesome in action but I'm not really fond of her glasses.

[Lego]

20 years? I just glanced over the pictures over at Random so that makes sense.

[William K]

Yeah, Rena is supposed to be 16 in the show. Add another 1-2 years for Arika to be born and you have at least 16 years between this and the start of My-Otome

[HitokiriShadow]

The episode suffers from pacing issues and the plot is still on the silly side and begs you not to think too much, but I already like Sifr 50x more than the TV series (let's not speak of Zwei) simply because I actually like the main characters rather than wanting stab them. I like Sifr and Rena, and Raquel and Elliot are awesome.

[kimmiepooh]

Just went back to the Hime/Otome/Otome Zwei/S.ifl website yesterday, and noticed that over in R2 land, there's going to be an Otome and Otome Zwei Box Set released - it's going to be called a "Dream Box". That's all I know so far. I think it's going to house the whole Otome TV series and the Otome Zwei series in one box. :D Just thought you guys might like to know. :)

[DiGiKerot]

Just went back to the Hime/Otome/Otome Zwei/S.ifl website yesterday, and noticed that over in R2 land, there's going to be an Otome and Otome Zwei Box Set released - it's going to be called a "Dream Box". That's all I know so far. I think it's going to house the whole Otome TV series and the Otome Zwei series in one box. :D Just thought you guys might like to know. :)

It's been out for about a month now - it actually contains movie re-edits (http://www.beta-waffle.com/blog/?p=637) of ZHiME and Zwei. The ZHiME movie is every bit as awful as you'd expect from something so heavily compressed, but the Zwei movie arguably holds up slightly better than the OAVs in some regards (not to mention it actually having a couple of minutes of new footage).

[Panon]

It's been out for about a month now - it actually contains movie re-edits (http://www.beta-waffle.com/blog/?p=637) of ZHiME and Zwei. The ZHiME movie is every bit as awful as you'd expect from something so heavily compressed, but the Zwei movie arguably holds up slightly better than the OAVs in some regards (not to mention it actually having a couple of minutes of new footage).

The 'movie' doesn't hold up better in any way since the two are practically identical except for the fact movie is just the OVA with OP/ED sequences removed, and about six minutes of footage from the episodes removed and replaced with five minutes of characters standing around talking after the end credits (along with reedited and noticeably inferior musical score)

Rather strange editing decision to take an OVA that had little going for it other than fanservice, then have the majority of the removed footage be the entire onsen fanservice sequence.

[DiGiKerot]

It's been out for about a month now - it actually contains movie re-edits (http://www.beta-waffle.com/blog/?p=637) of ZHiME and Zwei. The ZHiME movie is every bit as awful as you'd expect from something so heavily compressed, but the Zwei movie arguably holds up slightly better than the OAVs in some regards (not to mention it actually having a couple of minutes of new footage).

The 'movie' doesn't hold up better in any way since the two are practically identical except for the fact movie is just the OVA with OP/ED sequences removed, and about six minutes of footage from the episodes removed and replaced with five minutes of characters standing around talking after the end credits (along with reedited and noticeably inferior musical score)


I did say arguably, and quite a few people would seem to argue that having less of it to sit through could be nothing but an improvement. :sd:

Is it really only six minutes of footage removed? There's an awful lot been trimmed out of both the second and third OAVs.

[Rhodes]

so with her old gem destroyed... Lena will need to form a new contract with the blue sapphire... will it still be with Bruce or Shiro?

Was nice to see a young Reito... too bad no young midori.

Can a Meister have 2 Masters from 2 different gems?

Mashiro has 2 Otomes... which begs the question... since the life of the Otome and Master are linked... if Nina dies... then Mashiro will die... so will that then kill Arika?

3rd and final ep should be very interesting. Was surprised at how strong M9 is in the 2nd ep.

[something]

I'm going to be on topic shortly and post about S.ifr, which I'm about to watch, but I wanted to talk about Otome and Zwei first, as I just finished my first rewatch of Otome and my first viewing of Zwei past ep 1.

My-Otome was, thankfully, just as awesome as I remember, or even more so. All the things that bothered me to an extent the first time didn't really bother me this time. I remember getting a bit fed up with Nina. I also remember souring on Sergay near the end. I remember thinking the show was a bit halting in its attempts to kick into high gear. Despite all that HiME/Otome have been in my top 10 since I saw them, and Otome was always my preferred of the two by some margin.

Mostly because:
1) No Tate! This is huge. And his alternate reality counterpart isn't all that bad, all things considered.
2) Ending! The ending is just a million billion trillion zillion infinities plus one times better than HiME's.
3) The vast majority of the characters stay a lot more likable throughout. In HiME, I found most of them interesting, but it was hard to like any of the main HiME except Natsuki and a few others. In Otome, I adore almost all of them and they stay true to their original personalities, yet manage to grow at the same time. Arika is basically my favorite character in the My-verse.
4) The spinoff/pseudo-sequel effect. The fun of seeing everyone come back in new (or not so new) roles was a huge part of the charm. Miyu especially made for some extremely interesting links back to HiME, all of which I just totally ate up on both viewings. That kind of stuff makes me smile so damn much.

All of these things were still there in full force on this rewatch, and really validated my decision to keep this franchise in my top 10. I really liked that the little extra shorts were pretty much canon and meant to have taken place during the show. I still don't get what possessed Bandai to put the heavily spoilery Akane extra (showing the death of Fia and Argos) on a disc before that happens, but whatever, I'd seen the show already. :sd:

Speaking of Akane, I love how things went so much better for her this time around. Well, alright, I still wish the poor girl could get laid but when Kazu-kun interrupts her Meister ceremony and she run away with him it made me so happy. HiME was too cruel to her, and she deserved this so much. Nao also got a much better life this time around too, and I like her a lot more in Otome than in HiME. And Shizuru really did a lot to pay down her HiME debts. She's just awesome, and I love how she handled Tomoe. :sd:

I enjoyed this second viewing immensely, and it left me wanting more and more and more of the Otome-verse. Thankfully there is more, which is why I next watched...

My-Otome Zwei, which I just finished a few minutes ago. Ah... where do I start? It's completely obvious that Zwei = "Making more Otome for the sake of making more Otome" and for no other reason whatsoever. Well... except to be awesome. If I were being "objective", I would have to admit that it's fairly terrible and absolutely nonsensical. I kept waiting for some interesting revelation about the enemy that never really came. In the end, I'm still not sure what the point was.

But, honestly, who cares? Mai vs Kagutsuchi! Arika riding a dolphin! Awesome bath scene! Tomoe running for president! Chie the Magician-Otome! Neko-chibi-Kagutsu-chan! Arika's incredible hotness (oh my god that year was so, so kind to her)! Giantess Fumi with motherfrickin eye lasers!!

None of it makes one god damn bit of sense in any way shape or form but man, it didn't need to. It was just... fun! Action-packed, stupid, fun.

Now for S.ifr.

[something]

Episode 1:

- And we meet Sifr bound and gagged on a train! Good start for the girl! <3 Lenaaaaa! And yay, Koshimizu Ami.
- Lena Yumemiya! Also two meisters, Shion and Raquel.
- Elliot too. "...Anything is fine? ::blushes:: " I LIKE HER!
- GAY GAY GAY THEY'RE ALL GAY! XD
- Oh my god that is one hideous ...cat?
- Sifr and Lena are already completely awesome together. I just know three episodes with them isn't even going to begin to be enough.
- Huh, I wonder when this takes place. Lena did become a Meister Otome, but here she's talking as if she's never done so. I guess this is a good ways before she died.
- Miss Maria!
- Given Bruce's clothing and what I guess is the Blue Sky Sapphire around his neck, good odds are he's the king.

...Wellllllll then! So Lena most certainly already is a Meister Otome for Bruce, the King of Windbloom. The question now is why she lied to Sifr. But more importantly, holy shit awesome fight. Lena vs an evil Hikaru from Angelic Layer! Or rather, another Searrs MIYU-type. We also get yet another John Smith, and Sifr captured... again. So with him calling her the "conductor" it's more Harmonium stuff.

That was a great episode, but as with any OVA trying to tell a self contained story in so few episodes, it's a real shame knowing we're already a third of the way done. Damn.

[something]

Episode 2:

- Got distracted by some needed software upgrades, but back to S.ifr! Oh Lena, highly conveniently placed clothing destruction seems to run in the family, doesn't it?
- Haha poor Elliot. I love her.
- Lena! Naked! MIYU!!
- Man there's a crapload of not-returning characters in this. Either there's going to be a loooooot of death soon, or the amount of time that passed between this and Otome is more than I thought. I guess it has to be 14 minimum plus however long this is before Arika, Nina and Mashiro's births. Could be upwards of like 10 years, so over 20 years total.
- Bwhaha, they're trying to have a serious conversation while Miyu is having Alyssa peck the kid to death.
- Reito? Hah. He never made any real mention of knowing Lena all that intimately in Otome (beyond killing her), so it's interesting if he's met her here.
- Oh, so that wasn't the blue sky sapphire the king had at all. This Shiro guy has it, via Miyu.

And then some action and rushed plot via dialog and yeeeep, this is definitely an OVA. I didn't like this as much as episode one. Too much happening in too short a time. It wasn't bad, but I really need more time than S.ifr really has to offer. The characters are fun, but the plot is just kinda... eh. I get the basics, it's clear enough from watching Otome, but the execution is hurting because of the time constraints. The biggest problem is Sifr. I mean, who the fuck is she and why should I care? I like her, but story-wise she means absolutely nothing to me. Lena, at least, we're familiar with from Otome. But the titular character? She's just there because the plot demands it, and nothing more.

[Suwako Moriya]

Lena, at least, we're familiar with from Otome.

I keep reading Lena, but I've actually grown used to Rena. Although I'm not really sure I can say which is more accurate. In either case, I found that when watching this OVA, it was easier to just focus on her and pretend the rest was there to give her people to interact with.

[something]

Episode 3:

- Okay, we got spaceships, we got death beams, we got the blue sky sapphire and Lena being able to do something again.
- And lol, his name is Bruce Burning. That amuses me for reasons I can't really explain.
- Super Meister Gem! Yeah, the blue looks better on her. Maybe I'm just more used to it, but it just fits better.
- Ahahahaha, Lena completely ignores Schwarz cyborg guy.
- Oh god, she just chopped a meteoroid in half.
- ...She just got grabbed by the boob and slammed into... the moon? ::facepalm::
- A piledriver from orbit XD
- Yeah, Rena is ridiculously overpowered but it's awesome to watch. Down go the pillars.

Alright, well, it was pretty decent overall. I'm not really sure what to say beyond that. It was certainly much too rushed and much too short. The second episode didn't really work for me, but 1 and 3 were better, as they were more focused on action. There's a lot in here that S.ifr doesn't really touch on though... I mean, honestly, watching this you'd be forgiven for never realizing that Sifr is supposed to be Nina's mother. Besides one scene in ep 1 where Bruce makes her blush, there's really no indication of anything going on between them. It's a bit weird to think about the chronology. For some reason, S.ifr felt (to me) like it was happening so far in the past, but it
really wasn't that long ago.

Well, it was good enough for a single viewing, just to get more of the Otome backstory. And Elliot = <3

[something]

I keep reading Lena, but I've actually grown used to Rena. Although I'm not really sure I can say which is more accurate.
Depends when and what you watched, but they're the same. The fansubs used Rena, and so did everyone else before the official romanization used an 'L'. I've just used Lena because I just spent the last few days marathoning Bandai's release, which uses it.

In either case, I found that when watching this OVA, it was easier to just focus on her and pretend the rest was there to give her people to interact with.
Pretty much. The whole purpose of S.ifr, from what I can tell, is to showcase how badass Lena is. It doesn't really add much to Otome lore that we didn't already know from Otome. The vast majority of the characters aren't around in Otome. Heck, just Miyu and Miss Maria, and maybe that Reito, though they leave that last quite ambiguous. I suppose one thing is introducing Shiro, who is the most obvious candidate for being Arika's father, but event that's not really "important" per se. It's just fun trivia.

[Suwako Moriya]

I've just used Lena because I just spent the last few days marathoning Bandai's release, which uses it.

Ah, I see then. Truth be told, I have yet to seriously get around to re-watching My-Otome. Which might explain why I didn't really pick up on the Lena thing. Still since the official release uses Lena, it would be best for me to start using that as well.

The whole purpose of S.ifr, from what I can tell, is to showcase how badass Lena is.

A purpose that it succeeds at very well. Especially given how awesome Lena herself is.

[Suwako Moriya]

Yeah, Rena is ridiculously overpowered but it's awesome to watch. Down go the pillars.

Those pillars deserved the punishment they got from her. That scene was one of the best moments of the episode by far. I believe I re-watched it a few times after finishing the OVA.

It was certainly much too rushed and much too short.

The classic annoyance that befalls many an OVA series sadly. In the end it seems the best way to minimize the damage is for the OVA to be a story focused on a single event rather than a series of events.

[William K]

It's a bit weird to think about the chronology. For some reason, S.ifr felt (to me) like it was happening so far in the past, but it
really wasn't that long ago.

Personally I hate prequels, especially ones where you know the main characters are gonna die young (yes I'm talking to you, George Lucas :P ), so I wasn't bothered with how this doesn't seem to fit closely with Otome other than a couple of hints here and there. When I watched it, I was even thinking it was another alternate timeline/world thingy although I did assume it was set something like 20 years before the start of Otome.

[something]

Personally I hate prequels, especially ones where you know the main characters are gonna die young, so I wasn't bothered with how this doesn't seem to fit closely with Otome other than a couple of hints here and there.
That's what's weird, there's this huge number of characters who don't return in Otome even though not that much time passed and a lot of the characters are young. But then being an Otome doesn't seem to be a long term career. Unless you're Miss Maria.

When I watched it, I was even thinking it was another alternate timeline/world thingy although I did assume it was set something like 20 years before the start of Otome.
Yeah, 20 or so was my guess. Figure Lena has been Bruce's Otome for a couple years when this starts. Though perhaps not too long, since she's still breaking gems. Then I think Otome mentioned that she served as Windbloom Otome for 10 years before having a child (and dying very soon after), so 14 + 10 - time already served = ~20? Also kinda implies Lena died in her mid-late 20's, assuming she became a Meister soon after graduation, which I'd guess is around 16 or so. They don't really tell us the age difference between Corals and Pearls. They certainly animate it to look like a few years, but anime age is deceiving. I mean look what happened to Arika in only one year. =P

As above, 20 years wouldn't seem enough time for everyone to disappear, but figure there was probably some massive turnover in the kingdom in general when Bruce and Sifr are killed. Actually, yeah, that sucks. Sifr is murdered less than 10 years after Otome S.ifr. ;_; Well honestly I can't say I'm all that invested in her. She's cute and Koshimizu Ami, but we don't really get to know her or anything. Still sort of a shame though.

[Draneor]

But then being an Otome doesn't seem to be a long term career. Unless you're Miss Maria.

Or Akane. But one would hope not.

As above, 20 years wouldn't seem enough time for everyone to disappear, but figure there was probably some massive turnover in the kingdom in general when Bruce and Sifr are killed.

So Sifr Fran was the mother of Nina Wáng and Lena Sayers was the mother of Arika. Did Bruce father anyone?

[Edit] Wait? So Sifr Fran and Bruce got together? That seems kind of wrong...

[William K]

The official site gives the ages
Lena - 16
Sifr - 14
Bruce - a very old looking 21 :P
Raquel, Shion - 17
Eliot - 16
Una - 21
Pillars - 18 to 20
Miss Maria - 39

[Suwako Moriya]

Lena - 16
Sifr - 14

This right here is the most important thing to learn. Also Lena is a fine looking 16 year old.

Bruce - a very old looking 21 :P

Ah, so one of those characters that looks old for his age. An interesting contrast to those who look quite young for their age.

[Draneor]

Also Lena is a fine looking 16 year old.

She looks in her 20s.

Bruce - a very old looking 21 :P

And he looks in his 30s. ^^U I give up trying to make sense of this universe.

[Suwako Moriya]

I give up trying to make sense of this universe.

It's best to give up making sense of age when it comes to anime in general. Five girls could look like they're completely different ages and yet all be 17...:sweat:

[Draneor]

It's best to give up making sense of age when it comes to anime in general. Five girls could look like they're completely different ages and yet all be 17...:sweat:

They're generally not this off though. ^^U

[Suwako Moriya]

They're generally not this off though. ^^U

Perhaps, but I'm just going to assume that Bruce doesn't age very well. Or maybe they just wanted to make him look "mature", but overdid it.

[Draneor]

Perhaps, but I'm just going to assume that Bruce doesn't age very well. Or maybe they just wanted to make him look "mature", but overdid it.

Actually, I think I figured it out. Clearly, they must not be Earth years. They are on a different planet, right? It must have a longer orbital period than Earth. But then Sifr looks too young.

And she and Bruce--related by blood--gave birth to Nina Wang, which does explain a lot, but...

I think I'll just go back to "oh, cute girls who battle each other."

[Suwako Moriya]

I think I'll just go back to "oh, cute girls who battle each other."

That may be perhaps the wisest decision of them all.

[Ty]

As much as I liked Otome Zwei, it punched so many holes in the rules of the Otome world that it ended up bothering me. I don't think every little thing needs to be explained, but there are some things that ought to be.

My biggest beef had to be the fight with the terrorists on the bus. The entire time all I kept wondering about was Chie and her squad and where their powers come from. It is never explained and makes no sense. An Otome gets their power from either a certification between a Meister gem and master, or a certification from the central system at Garderobe. Chie and her team do neither. Does each nation have it's own private little Otome delta forces? My understanding was that Otomes were not widespread like that and went against the concept of keeping power in check.

It just bothered me for some reason. They introduced this whole new concept out of the blue, that of a 3rd source of otome power, and never gave the slightest explanation about it.

[Suwako Moriya]

2) Ending! The ending is just a million billion trillion zillion infinities plus one times better than HiME's.

Even though I liked the ending of My-HiME, I have to agree the My-Otome Ending was better. Mainly because the My-Otome ending ultimately flowed better and didn't have that rushed feeling to it that plagued the final episode of My-HiME.

Actually the irony here is that My-Otome actually helped me sort of appreciate the way My-HiME ended. It mainly has to do with my belief that the two series are directly connected. You can probably guess where I'm going with this.

Arika is basically my favorite character in the My-verse.

I'm not sure I'd go for that far. I'm definitely fond of her. However the same can also be said for Shiho , Mashiro, Alyssa, and a few others. The reasons why varying between them of course. Actually the truth is once the show start implying that Arika might be related to Alyssa Searrs I grew more fond of her. I'm not sure if I needed to mark that or not, but....

[DiGiKerot]

The entire time all I kept wondering about was Chie and her squad and where their powers come from. It is never explained and makes no sense. An Otome gets their power from either a certification between a Meister gem and master, or a certification from the central system at Garderobe. Chie and her team do neither. Does each nation have it's own private little Otome delta forces? My understanding was that Otomes were not widespread like that and went against the concept of keeping power in check.


I do agree with the latter point making things here a bit odd, but I could swear at one point it shows an official from Aries wearing a three-GEM'd ring - the implication being that he's technically Master for Chie and her entire team.

I could be wrong, though - it's been a good while since I last watched Zwei.

[Suwako Moriya]

I do agree with the latter point making things here a bit odd, but I could swear at one point it shows an official from Aries wearing a three-GEM'd ring - the implication being that he's technically Master for Chie and her entire team.

I'd have to take the time to double check to make sure, but I vaguely remember it being that way as well. In either case, I figure it's a case of wanting to make Chie special. And the way they do that is making her part of a trio.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Somehow, I thought you'd watched this already. Hmm.

Episode 1:

*snip stuff*

Possibly of value: a write-up I did on the R2J volume 1 release (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=80001) back whenever. Includes packaging scans.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Episode 2:

*snip stuff*

Also possibly of value: a write-up I did on the second R2J volume release (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=84352) back whenever. Includes a bunch of screencaps since I was bored and had way too much time on my hands.

[DiGiKerot]

They don't really tell us the age difference between Corals and Pearls. They certainly animate it to look like a few years, but anime age is deceiving. I mean look what happened to Arika in only one year. =P

The whole course at Garderobe apparently only takes two years - you spend a year as a Coral, a year as a Perl, and then you're done. Assuming that Corals all start the year as 14 year-olds, Lena has presumably been Bruces Otome for a year at most.

[DiGiKerot]

I do agree with the latter point making things here a bit odd, but I could swear at one point it shows an official from Aries wearing a three-GEM'd ring - the implication being that he's technically Master for Chie and her entire team.

I'd have to take the time to double check to make sure, but I vaguely remember it being that way as well. In either case, I figure it's a case of wanting to make Chie special. And the way they do that is making her part of a trio.

The booklet which came with the R2 disks calls him Bosman, so I guess this is right.

[Suwako Moriya]

The booklet which came with the R2 disks calls him Bosman, so I guess this is right.

With just one more "s" that name would have been completely silly. Regardless, I guess this means I don't need to pull out the Zwei disc to double check. Got other things to watch anyway. On a side note, I just finished volume 2 of My-Otome today. Meaning I'm actually making progress in the re-watch of it finally.

[something]

Does each nation have it's own private little Otome delta forces? My understanding was that Otomes were not widespread like that and went against the concept of keeping power in check.
Meisters are not particularly widespread, however we've see nations fielding decent numbers of Otome during various battles. It doesn't seem strange that Yukino's nation would have something like an Otome Delta Force. And as Digi mentioned, there would naturally be team leaders and such who were masters for multiple Otome at once (we see Mashiro simultaneously contract with Arika and Nina for example).

So, big bad Meisters, rare. Regular military Otome, probably not something you'd swarm at an enemy like shock troops, but not particularly rare either. All those Otome who graduate (at least from Pearls) have to go somewhere. In Otome, Mai talks about becoming the Otome of just some wealthy family (her patrons), who are not necessarily anyone deeply related to royalty or the military, for example.

[something]

The whole course at Garderobe apparently only takes two years - you spend a year as a Coral, a year as a Perl, and then you're done. Assuming that Corals all start the year as 14 year-olds, Lena has presumably been Bruces Otome for a year at most.
Yeah, not surprising. That's anime for ya. The physical difference between 14-15 and 15-16 is pretty huge at Garderobe apparently. Everyone drinks magic water when they become a Pearl, I think. =P

If I'm correct in remembering that Lena was an Otome for ten years before having a child and losing her powers, that means we're looking at approximately 23 years between S.ifr and Otome.

[HitokiriShadow]

Personally I hate prequels, especially ones where you know the main characters are gonna die young, so I wasn't bothered with how this doesn't seem to fit closely with Otome other than a couple of hints here and there.
That's what's weird, there's this huge number of characters who don't return in Otome even though not that much time passed and a lot of the characters are young. But then being an Otome doesn't seem to be a long term career. Unless you're Miss Maria.


A lot of them probably die in the events S.ifr teases at near the end. Which I really want to see just because I want to see more of these (mostly) awesome characters. S.ifr's plot was unremarkable and rushed to hell, but I liked the S.ifr cast tons more than I liked Otome proper's cast.

[something]

Also possibly of value: a write-up I did on the second R2J volume release (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=84352) back whenever. Includes a bunch of screencaps since I was bored and had way too much time on my hands.
Nice writeups. I agree entirely about how everything involving Sifr in this OVA was just not done very well. Her name is in the title but it's just so very not about her, and her relationship with Bruce hardly exists at all.

The OVA did take an interesting approach by choosing not to make much of anything terribly obvious, assuming that anyone watching it knew exactly who everyone of importance was, what they would do, and where they would go with their lives after episode three ended. But it's an approach that makes an isolated and far too short three episode OVA feel even more isolated and shorter than it would have otherwise.

I don't know, I enjoyed it, but it just really seems like much more could have been done. In some ways, I'd actually say I prefer Zwei, only because the characters were characters I knew and loved. Even if the "plot" was godawful retarded.

S.ifr was a bit like reading a history book (not to knock history, mind you) instead, only with more tits and explosions.

[DiGiKerot]

If I'm correct in remembering that Lena was an Otome for ten years before having a child and losing her powers, that means we're looking at approximately 23 years between S.ifr and Otome.

I hadn't noticed it when I had a flick through earlier, as it doesn't give ages for most of the characters, but the descriptive text for Maria in the My-ZHiME Anime Perfect Guide says she's 64 during the TV show. Given that she's 39 in Sifr, I guess that makes it 25 years, give or take a few months.

[Suwako Moriya]

If I'm correct in remembering that Lena was an Otome for ten years before having a child and losing her powers, that means we're looking at approximately 23 years between S.ifr and Otome.

Ten years? In that case, if Shiro is actually the father of Arika then that means the poor guy had to wait a long time after meeting Lena before being able to get laid or whatever term you prefer to use.

Actually that's one thing to think about. On one hand having sex means they lose their powers. On the other hand if their mothers didn't have sex, they wouldn't exist to become Otome in the first place. It's almost as if they're to send the message of "Having children is good. Just don't have them before you're truly ready" or something like that.

[HitokiriShadow]

2) Ending! The ending is just a million billion trillion zillion infinities plus one times better than HiME's.

Even though I liked the ending of My-HiME, I have to agree the My-Otome Ending was better. Mainly because the My-Otome ending ultimately flowed better and didn't have that rushed feeling to it that plagued the final episode of My-HiME.


Even H20 had a better ending than HiME. Damn near everything has a better ending than HiME. But as much as I abhor HiME's ending, I still liked the characters and preceding 23 episodes far, far more than I ever liked Otomes.

I never liked Arika much; I'm not fond of her character type and she tended to annoy me. Mashiro Mk.II was only slightly better; she at least had some character development but they never took it far enough for me to actually like her. I mostly liked Nina up until she randomly decided to blame Arika for Erstin's death. The plot never really grabbed me. There were some decent secondary characters and some good scenes, but not enough to save the show for me.

[Suwako Moriya]

In some ways, I'd actually say I prefer Zwei, only because the characters were characters I knew and loved. Even if the "plot" was godawful retarded.

Zwei definitely had the advantage of using a cast one was already familiar with. The sad truth is in the case of S.ifr, the only character I really paid much attention to was Lena. Then again that's the problem with the format. Most of the time, you're really only seeing the outer shell of a character.

S.ifr was a bit like reading a history book (not to knock history, mind you) instead, only with more tits and explosions.

Personally, I'd change that to select pages out of a history book. Still tits and explosions can make history a bit more interesting.

[Draneor]

Damn near everything has a better ending than HiME. But as much as I abhor HiME's ending, I still liked the characters and preceding 23 episodes far, far more than I ever liked Otomes.

The only reason I like HiME is because of the ending. Each to their own, I guess.

[Ty]

[
I do agree with the latter point making things here a bit odd, but I could swear at one point it shows an official from Aries wearing a three-GEM'd ring - the implication being that he's technically Master for Chie and her entire team.

I could be wrong, though - it's been a good while since I last watched Zwei.

I don't remember that, it does help it make sense. My bigger question though is where does that guy get his power from and on whose authority does he have that ring? I suppose just because the TV series doesn't establish the fact that Garderobe hands out Otome powers to nations other than for their kings or leaders alone doesn't make it odd. It just seemed like an important element to the show's universe and workings that should have been touched on at some point and wasn't.

Also, did Chie and her team lose their powers when the "system" at Garderobe went down, or did they retain them? I really need to just rewatch the OVA again.

[Ty]

Even H20 had a better ending than HiME.

I wasn't impressed at all with the ending to Hime either, but that seems a little harsh. :sd: H20 could have tossed up a black screen with text saying "make up whatever shit you want in your head about how you want it to end" in place of what they showed and it would've fared about as well as what we got.

[Fencedude]

Also, did Chie and her team lose their powers when the "system" at Garderobe went down, or did they retain them? I really need to just rewatch the OVA again.

The system at Garderobe only controls the robes of students and pillars (and presumably the teachers, I guess).

Edit: Oh yeah, the Aries military Otome shouldn't be a surprise, remember that Kardair had at least three other otome killed by Midori's crew in addition to Fia Gross.

[Suwako Moriya]

Even H20 had a better ending than HiME. Damn near everything has a better ending than HiME.

All right, now that's just harsh on multiple levels. Still perhaps the main problem might have been the way HiME trapped itself. You were either going to get the ending they showed or you were going to get an ending that boiled down to Obsidian Lord wins and nothing else. In other words, the all or nothing scenario....

I will admit my bias towards the ending has to do with the following. If you're only paying attention to 26 by itself then yeah the ending is one of the worst ever. However if you take into account the various factors that ultimately lead up to the ending then it becomes more interesting. I can give an example right now.

Perhaps one of the biggest factors being Alyssa Searrs herself. Seriously. the second she was defeated and a pillar rose for her, that's when the Obsidian Lord lost because the whole system got screwed up. Ie the room opened up before there was a final HiME.. In other words, if you want you can blame her partially for the ending. Along with a few other characters.

But as much as I abhor HiME's ending, I still liked the characters and preceding 23 episodes far, far more than I ever liked Otomes.

I never really thought that much about my feelings on the HiME cast vs the Otome cast. I tended to focus on the fun of seeing what changed and what remained the same.

[Suwako Moriya]

H20 could have tossed up a black screen with text saying "make up whatever shit you want in your head about how you want it to end" in place of what they showed and it would've fared about as well as what we got.

To be honest my memories in regards to the H20 ending are kind of vague. The main thing I remember is the ending leaving me with a "Huh?" feeling, but then again so did several episodes of the series. So in that context the ending could be considered fitting.

[DiGiKerot]

I don't remember that, it does help it make sense. My bigger question though is where does that guy get his power from and on whose authority does he have that ring? I suppose just because the TV series doesn't establish the fact that Garderobe hands out Otome powers to nations other than for their kings or leaders alone doesn't make it odd. It just seemed like an important element to the show's universe and workings that should have been touched on at some point and wasn't.


Does Garderobe actually have that much control over where Otome end up? I mean, both Nao and Nina are at Garderobe funded by Artai, presumably under the assumption that both will go back there in the end (though Nao obviously manages to get out of that).

But from what I gather, Garderobe accepts fifty students a year, of which twenty-five are accepted in the Pearl year. I've not seen anything which gives any kind of suggestion that there's a limit to how many of those twenty-five can actually graduate to Meister rank. Whilst there's clearly going to be some natural wastage among existing Otome (like when Akane finally gets laid), I can't imagine there being enough need amongst purely the royalty for that number of otome, so presumably the rest either end up in the military (as is the case with Chie - Bosman appears to be a military commander), in special services (like Mayol from Sifr) or serving the wealthy. I guess if you can pay the fees, Garderobe aren't actually all that discerning about these things :sd:

[something]

I don't remember that, it does help it make sense. My bigger question though is where does that guy get his power from and on whose authority does he have that ring?
Do you mean some kind of magical power or just legal power? If the latter, I don't think they ever said or implied that there were terribly strict limits on who could be a master. I would expect that not just anyone could be a master, but

I suppose just because the TV series doesn't establish the fact that Garderobe hands out Otome powers to nations other than for their kings or leaders alone doesn't make it odd. It just seemed like an important element to the show's universe and workings that should have been touched on at some point and wasn't.
Garderobe doesn't really make those decisions, far as I could tell. I mean, they'll choose the Pillars and who advances past Coral. But with most Otome being backed by political, military or noble patrons, it's more that Garderobe cultivates the Otome who will then go off to serve whoever their backers decide they should serve. Or if they're lucky, the Otome themselves will have some say. We do see the Fumi system making certain decisions (like promoting Nao to pillar) but I imagine they're very limited, and not necessarily binding.

Garderobe itself does not control the Otome or their uses once they graduate. It has influence and respect in matters concerning Otome, but is not necessarily the final say.

Also, did Chie and her team lose their powers when the "system" at Garderobe went down, or did they retain them? I really need to just rewatch the OVA again.
I don't know that we saw her during that time.

[something]

I guess if you can pay the fees, Garderobe aren't actually all that discerning about these things :sd:
Mai is a good example again. She was chosen to be a pillar, but she also received a sweet offer to become the Otome to some rich family (also Nao's repeatedly stated dream, before Pillardom intervened). If I remember right, I think she might have actually had the chance to make the decision herself. If she hadn't gotten lost in thought and wound up Mikoto's Otome/chef, that is. :sd:

[stfram]

The only reason I like HiME is because of the ending. Each to their own, I guess.

As did I. :)

Although I completely get why others didn't like it.

[Sly05]

A lot of them probably die in the events S.ifr teases at near the end. Which I really want to see just because I want to see more of these (mostly) awesome characters. S.ifr's plot was unremarkable and rushed to hell, but I liked the S.ifr cast tons more than I liked Otome proper's cast.

Of course, the down side to that is that we'd see all these awesome characters die. I agree that S.fr felt rushed and the second episode was entirely forgettable, but I did end up enjoying it for the action. Despite how over powered she is, seeing Rena split into multiples and completely overwhelm the pillars was pretty amazing. The weak story and lack of action was why I found Otome to be disappointing (especially with the bar set high in Hime). S.ifr at least delivered on the later.

[Ty]

If I didn't fail at posing my question so badly, I guess the biggest thought in my mind was whether small nation groups like Chie's are supported by their own certification system or not, since nothing is ever shown or implied. It's not critical to the story, but I've always been curious.

[Fencedude]

If I didn't fail at posing my question so badly, I guess the biggest thought in my mind was whether small nation groups like Chie's are supported by their own certification system or not, since nothing is ever shown or implied. It's not critical to the story, but I've always been curious.

No, its all standard Master/Otome certifications.

The only exception is the Shinso System Garderobe has, and that Scwartz later duplicated using Rena's body.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Also possibly of value: a write-up I did on the second R2J volume release (http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=84352) back whenever. Includes a bunch of screencaps since I was bored and had way too much time on my hands.
Nice writeups. I agree entirely about how everything involving Sifr in this OVA was just not done very well. Her name is in the title but it's just so very not about her, and her relationship with Bruce hardly exists at all.

Well, there's the use of "Sifr" also in that it's the word for the number zero in Arabic, hence the numeric 0 in the OVA title proper, and a designation that this is a prequel (versus "Zwei," the German word for the number 2). That being said, it's not as if it were exactly required that there be a character so named in the OVA itself, but I guess it was easier to create poor Sifr herself as a MacGuffin in order to bring about situations in which Lena could kick ass.

I'd also screencapped and scanned some stuff in preparation for an episode 3 write-up, but just kind of let it get away from me. I suppose I should just post it all so people can grab it if they want; the screencaps may not be useful, but I do have scans of the booklet (and the booklet from volume 2 as well) which would be useful in terms of nailing down Sunrise's official name spellings for other characters (still a little weird remembering to use "Reyte" for Otome's Reito counterpart, among other things).

The OVA did take an interesting approach by choosing not to make much of anything terribly obvious, assuming that anyone watching it knew exactly who everyone of importance was, what they would do, and where they would go with their lives after episode three ended. But it's an approach that makes an isolated and far too short three episode OVA feel even more isolated and shorter than it would have otherwise.

I would argue that most of the OVA's incompleteness was due mainly to it being Hirokazu Hisayuki's first time out as a series director. He's obviously a great character designer and great animation director, but seems to have fallen into the same trap that a number of animation-directors-turned-series-directors do, in that his first offering is super weak on story but big on chances to introduce new characters to play with and lots of action sequences (see also: Keiji Gotoh and Kiddy Grade).

It's still really fun to watch, and I'm very glad they made it (much like Stargazer for the Gundam Seed universe), but now I'd like to see more, plzkthx. :catgirl:

[something]

Well, there's the use of "Sifr" also in that it's the word for the number zero in Arabic, hence the numeric 0 in the OVA title proper, and a designation that this is a prequel (versus "Zwei," the German word for the number 2).
Of course, it just wouldn't be worthy of the OtoHiMEverse if the name didn't have a few puns in it. But as you note, they did name a character that, and not by accident, so it'd be nice if we learned more about her. Less because her name is in the title and more because, jeeze, she's the Queen of Windbloom and Nina's mother.

It's still really fun to watch, and I'm very glad they made it (much like Stargazer for the Gundam Seed universe), but now I'd like to see more, plzkthx. :catgirl:
Yeah, while Zwei and S.ifr don't hold a candle to the main series for me, it's still nice seeing the world developed - because it's a very rich world. I imagine anything else in the My-* franchise will be a bit more independent of the HiME timeline and lore than Otome was. Even if people insist that the connections between HiME and Otome aren't completely solid or official, there's mountains of stuff to connect the two, and it's just damn fun to try and do so anyway.

I mean, I know Miyu is a total deus ex machina, but I didn't care. Every time she came on screen and cryptically (or blatantly) alluded to past events, and especially when she saw golden Searrs hair on Arika, I would just smile my face right off. Same too with the buried Fuuka and HiME marks and blue/red "star" and all that.

Speaking of more My-*, what ever happened with that next installment with the girl named... Mao, I think it was? I haven't heard anything about it since the first scans. Is it/was it not going to be an anime?

[HitokiriShadow]

Speaking of more My-*, what ever happened with that next installment with the girl named... Mao, I think it was? I haven't heard anything about it since the first scans. Is it/was it not going to be an anime?

I don't think any more information has come out, but it I'm pretty sure it was supposedly going to be an anime. For the moment, I'm figuring its still coming since it hasn't been that long since that first bit of info came out. I'll switch to assuming its not happening if we still haven't heard a thing when the Fall season starts.

[Suwako Moriya]

I mean, I know Miyu is a total deus ex machina, but I didn't care. Every time she came on screen and cryptically (or blatantly) alluded to past events, and especially when she saw golden Searrs hair on Arika, I would just smile my face right off.

In some ways, I'm fine with Miyu being a deus ex machina. In part because she made a pretty awesome one. In part because of her relation to Alyssa Sears. That and I sometimes feel that deus ex machina is the only way to counter what I refer to as diablos ex machina.

The moment where we got to see Golden Searrs Hair on Arika is a definite highlight. On a side note, I'm almost tempted to jump forward in the Otome re-watch just to see a certain scene again as soon as possible.

Speaking of more My-*, what ever happened with that next installment with the girl named... Mao, I think it was?

I wish I knew, I haven't heard anything in awhile. Actually I kind of forgot about it until you brought it up.

[Fencedude]

Speaking of more My-*, what ever happened with that next installment with the girl named... Mao, I think it was? I haven't heard anything about it since the first scans. Is it/was it not going to be an anime?

I wouldn't expect it until after Sorakake ends at the very earliest

[Hayate Kurogane]

Even if people insist that the connections between HiME and Otome aren't completely solid or official, there's mountains of stuff to connect the two, and it's just damn fun to try and do so anyway.

I mean, I know Miyu is a total deus ex machina, but I didn't care. Every time she came on screen and cryptically (or blatantly) alluded to past events, and especially when she saw golden Searrs hair on Arika, I would just smile my face right off. Same too with the buried Fuuka and HiME marks and blue/red "star" and all that.

I'm all for assuming the two do take place inline with one another, since it's more fun. True, it's not official, but there's nothing to directly or specifically contradict it either. Much like, once upon a time, there were suggestions that Argentosoma and Infinite Ryvius might have been meant to take place inline with one another. Meh, Sunrise, what can we do about you?

Speaking of more My-*, what ever happened with that next installment with the girl named... Mao, I think it was? I haven't heard anything about it since the first scans. Is it/was it not going to be an anime?

Oh, you mean this (http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m330/saragallagher/Sifr2094.jpg)? Mmm...I think there was a new follow-up mention in the ad promos on the third S.ifr disc, which I'll have to check later. Might be vaporware at this point, though the date in the screencap suggests materialization (hah!) of some sort a few months ago.

[Suwako Moriya]

I'm all for assuming the two do take place inline with one another, since it's more fun..

I have to admit that's part of the reason I like the idea of believing they are related. That and it makes both Miyu and Alyssa Searrs extra important. Which makes me extra happy.

[pianocello]

I just finished this. The animation for the action scenes was amazing. Character development is meh though but considering that this is only 3 episodes, that is to be expected.
Rena is nice but S.fr as the main character is meh...a little too whiny for my taste. And the other characters are too forgettable. Elliot is a por Erstin clone but at least she's there for the yuri factor. And it is confirmed that most Otome are lesbians or at least curious about it. :devil:

Since Zwei , the Mai Hime franchise seems to be going for nipple exposure and I was a little surprised to see a nipple closeup in this. I approve. :catgirl: