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Episode 6:

--In which Midori is a waitress, a history teacher, a construction worker, and a Sailor Senshi. Keep your ears open for the love and justice speech. Also, please note that she took the time to change back into her waitress uniform before attacking the Orphan.

--I feel bad for Mai in the scene with Shiho. It's clear at this point that she and Tate are interested in each other, but they're still in that stage where they're too uncertain to take steps to do anything about it. Thus, when Shiho, who knows that she wants Tate, begs her to leave Tate alone, Mai's stuck with two bad choices: refusing to honor Shiho's wishes, which means alienating a friend over a guy she's not actually involved with, or swearing off pursuit of Tate, even though she's attracted to him.

She takes the easy way out. Naturally, that's going to bite her in the ass, but it's not clear that honesty would have served her any better in the long run; Shiho is very stubborn.


Episode 7:

--HiMEs gone wild! Now, guys falling for Nao's act, I can vaguely understand, but how much of a pedophile do you have to be to take Mikoto up on that pick-up line?

--Midori makes everything better. Then she pukes all over Nao. The only way that could have been funnier is if it'd been Natsuki.

--Note that Mai is already feeling the strain of being Mikoto's self-appointed babysitter, and Mikoto feels babied. Although in Mai's defense, Mikoto's inability to take care of herself does sort of invite the kind of parental treatment Mai gives her.

--OMFG. They really do foreshadow everything. Nagi, you utter fucking bastard.

on 2005-07-17 07:03 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chibipoe.livejournal.com
Yes, Nagi is a bastard, but he's a bastard with STYLE.

on 2005-07-18 01:49 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cerusee.livejournal.com
Voiced by Ishida Akira!

on 2005-07-18 02:28 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chibipoe.livejournal.com
Gotta say, I do love in 16's end, and 17's opening, when he pulls the rug out from under them. And then, with 17, as they(Nao, in particular) try to argue that they'll do what they want and he just calmly shoots them down, certain that they'll dance to his whims.

on 2005-08-02 09:42 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akai-laputa.livejournal.com
Midori = Misato + Washuu's haircut. On first meeting, I wondered what on earth you saw in her - she seemed more Mihoshi than Misato, and the cute-yet clumsy act was about as endearing as that little puffed-sleeve number they have to wear at work. By the time she had changed back into that outfit and was preaching at Mai, Natsuki and Mikoto, I got it, and by the throwing up I was a full convert. Midori = <3

Natsuki has also grown on me, as has Mikoto, to an extent. Shiho's still a tad too generic brat-with-a-crush for my tastes, but I felt bad both for her and Mai throughout that whole sequence of getting to know one another. Their relationship seems so mixed up right now, with Shiho viewing Mai as sister-figure, friend and rival all at once, as painfully aware of her youth as she is of Mai's maturity (especially in the bath, where Mai's teasing was probably more upsetting than anything else) but displaying her childishness loud and clear as she begs Mai to back off because "Oniichan" likes big breasts, and eliciting a promise of support that's one step away from a pinky swear. Brat-with-a-crush she may be, but she's also a pretty decent image of pre-adolescent confusion, in all its messed up hurt. That she continues to wear bows and frills just adds to that, as she maintains the equilibrium that allows her to cling to and control Tate more than is really acceptable, longing for him to notice her in a different light but reluctant to take even basic steps towards making it happen. Poor kid.

Takumi and Tate's interaction just made me laugh. Kind of an awkward situation for them too, though; what it looks like to me is that Takumi doesn't want to hold his sister back more than he already is, but he wants to try and make sure she won't get hurt too, while Tate doesn't want to give the kid a false impression on any level but isn't sure enough of his footing to know what exactly which answer would constitute a false impression, meaning he teases Takumi and leaves it at that. It's a bit of a cheap shot (frankly, the level of affection he affords his sister should have earned Takumi way more teasing than it has) but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Takumi's treated with kid gloves by almost everyone, something that hasn't lessened since being considered a "rising star" of the student body in his new school and rooming with the current idol (whom I love for the sheer snark factor. XD Note to Akira: weight-lifting and ribbons do not go together, especially when trying to be all aggressive. It's like a Kadzuki backlash or something, and I love it). Tate's verbal equivalent of a playful punch on the arm is more refreshing than anything else, even if Takumi is temporarily embarrassed by it, and such treatment would probably do more to help Takumi gain an identity confidence than all the adoration in the world, another reason I love his room-share situation.

That guy in the alley was a blatant paedophile. "Aren't you only in middle school? Heh, sweet." =__= Nao so far irritates me. Less of her, please.

Off to watch episodes eight through ten...

on 2005-08-03 05:19 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akai-laputa.livejournal.com
"Eight through ten..." Ha. Ahahaha. Just finished episode twenty-six. Taking a little time out to try and process everything rushing around my head right now, but I have a bunch of thoughts on the whole thing, and looking forward to future commentary - it should tie in pretty well with my rewatching, which will begin as soon as my brain recovers if it doesn't implode first.

Finally reading your past posts on Mai-HiME, I have a horrible, horrible feeling I fit the fan stereotype - Natsuki and Akira are pretty much stand-out favourites for me, and I'm going to try to figure out why through my rewatches. They've caught my interest the most all the way along, but there has to be a reason for that.

on 2005-08-04 04:32 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cerusee.livejournal.com
>_> Dude, I was sitting around going "Gee, I really need to answer Akai's last comments properly, and start up Mai-HiME again, so I can keep pace with her." You're quick.

Addictive, isn't it? You're lucky you got to watch it all at once. Imagine a 3 week gap between each episode after about 16, and then imagine how much the people watching Mai-HiME wanted to kill something during that period.

I wouldn't say it's a stereotype, really (the English fanbase isn't that big anyway), just that Natsuki is very popular, and I don't quite get it. There's nothing wrong with her as a character. I'm just...not into her.

But Akira? Akira is love. Akira and Takumi both really crept up on me, and I ended up caring so much more about them than I expected to.

I owe you comments. I have not forgotten about them; I just keep putting off answering them because they deserve proper replies, and I'm lazy and have been busy the past few days.

on 2005-08-04 04:34 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cerusee.livejournal.com
And, aha, now I can do spoilerly commentary on future developments. Which is good; when I bite back things because of spoilers, I tend to forget about insights I have when I'm writing.

on 2005-08-07 04:37 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cerusee.livejournal.com
Midori wears many hats. If she was just a spaz, or if she kept up the 17-year-old act, she'd be annoying. Instead, she's so over-the-top, she's cool. And like Mai and Natsuki, she's a fundamentally decent, well-meaning person, which helps a lot.

(Yes. Like Misato, but not an emotional clusterfuck in tragedy waiting to end.)

I ended up liking Mikoto quite a lot. She's the most innocent character in the show. She's not even a child, she's like a companion animal. She's the ultimate catgirl, without the ears, and as loyal as a dog. Whether or not you like her depends on whether or not you can accept an animal personality in a human character (or whether or not you can accept it in a non-sexualized female character. Mikoto was not popular with the guys who watched Mai-HiME the same time as me, but I suspect they'd have liked her better with cat ears and big boobs).

Your comments on Shiho, Tate and Takumi are spot-on, and I haven't really got anything to add. I liked Shiho a little bit more in the beginning--she's not really my thing, but she does bring zest to a scene--and then less and less as the show went on. The nastier things got, the less patience I had for Shiho's obsessions. That being said, she's a well-drawn character.

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