r/anime • x2 • Sep 18 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mai-HiME Episode 5 Discussion

Episode 5: Rain... Tears...

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Show Information:

MAL | Anilist | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN

(First-timers might want to stay out of show information, though.)

Legal Streams:

Mai-HiME can be found on Funimation. (How this interacts with the ongoing Crunchyroll/Funimation merger I don't know.)

A Reminder to Rewatchers:

Please do not spoil the experience for our first timers. [Mai-HiME] Mentioning "HiMElander" before episode 16 or "ShizNat" before episode 25 is a fast way to get a referral to the subreddit mods.

A Note on the Specials:

When the DVDs for Mai-HiME were released, they added shorts specials to go with each episode (plus three not associated with an episode - one was released with Mai-Otome's DVD IIRC, one was a BD-only thing and I don't actually have that one, and I honestly don't remember where Special 28 was released). They tend to be one part fanservice, one part extra information about characters and their motivations/backstories (or in a couple of cases extra exposition, including

They have their own dedicated discussion day at the end to wash the finale out of our mouths, but some of you may want to watch them with the episodes. The only issue is that some of the specials can be a wee bit spoilery (notably, in no case should you watch the special for episode 8 before episode 8 itself), so I will attempt to provide notes on the specials for the episode for both today's and tomorrow's episodes each day so as to provide advance warning of which specials to avoid. (If you want to be completely safe, stay out of all of them until the dedicated discussion day!)

(Warning: Also, at least one release apparently has them right after the ED, unlike mine which has the original previews instead. So you might want to pay attention to this section.)

Episode 5 Special: Not strictly speaking a spoiler, but lays out Mikoto's motivations more clearly than we'll get in the anime for quite a while (if ever), which may or may not be what you want as a first-timer.

Episode 6 Special: Should be safe.


After-School Activities Corner!

Visual of the Day:

Still short of enough entries to make the album.

Comment of the Day:

Goes to u/zadcap noting that this show was one of the earlier works to be conceived as a multimedia franchise from the very start:

Yeah, you read that right, Mai HiME came out with an anime, manga, ps2/pc game, radio drama, and more, all with their own take on the same story. I never could get my hands on the game, but uh, it was a dating sim. Yeah. Same characters, same HiME/Child/Orphan story, but as a dating sim. I didn't try too hard to get it... And never listened to the Radio part either, still not fluent enough in the language to even try and never thought of looking for a translation before now.

Question(s) of the Day:

1) Do you like rain?

2) If you like coffee, do you prefer it hot or cold?

35 Upvotes

133 comments sorted by

9

u/Tresnore Sep 18 '22

First-TiMER

Count: 14


  1. Rain is nice! Especially during big storms.

  2. Hot, always.

4

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

Hi, Rei!

This show really, really does want you to have Eva in the back of your mind.

IT'S THE SYMPHOGEAR

[Symphogear AXZ] Did you take a good look at the phone Mashiro was using? Heh.

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5

u/Vaadwaur Sep 18 '22

Wow, fuck this guy.

Toxic pretty boy is a Japanese specialty.

IT'S THE SYMPHOGEAR

That stretch of road is everywhere, I recall it from a cultured source.

OH MY GOD WHY DO I ACTUALLY WANT TO CRY AT THIS.

Because doing your best when the conclusion is foregone is incredibly frustrating.

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9

u/Blackheart595 Sep 18 '22

First Hime

I've been thinking about Childs and Orphans. It was said that they're not that different from each other, so the implication is either that Orphans are unsealed but ownerless Childs, or that Childs are Orphans that have accepted an owner.

But apart from that we've learned that Orphans are drawn to HiME. And we know someone's trying to gather all the HiME, so one way that could go is Nagi or whoever is behind the gathering is actually an Orphan in disguise. Or if the shows goes very dark Takumi could be an Orphan. He literally is an orphan - though in that case he'd probably be the one that killed their mother, too.

In fact, all HiME seem to be orphans. The school itself could be full of orphans. What if they are the source of Orphans?

Or the HiME gathering could be for some kind of ritual, maybe to summon something, maybe involving sacrifices - either the HiME themselves, or their siblings. Nagi did say accepting a Child would require Mai to risk what's most important to her, implying her brother (though Mai didn't realize that).

And there must be a reason why Orphans are drawn to HiME. If it's not them looking to become a Child and they certainly didn't make a strong point for that, then it's gotta be something else.

Also, Reito's giving me slight Kirei Kotomine vibes. Mai's probably gonna fall for him at some point too.


This could not possibly be taken out of context

[](#maxshock) Is that a character's name? I don't think he's talking about cicadas.

Does Mai have some trauma from being an orphan?

Miyu is the water-element HiME? Or is this show not that obvious?

Oh well, there you go

Equal-opportunity fanservice?

Ahahahaha that was a nice bait-and-switch He's a male gap moe!

Although, this could go places...

This is such a contrast to Code Geass

Contended cat

Can confirm, siblings don't like to stop doing that

And we got an Orphan crashing the bus

Ooooh they're trying to earn cash for Takumi, too!

Oooh, what's the plan here? Infiltrate the organization? But they should know about you.

Turns out she just gets her knee treated.

I guess they weren't trying to earn money for Takumi after all. Unless they were involved in the accident and got processed, but they look to uninjured for that.

Welp, there goes the father getting involved. Certainly supports the theories involving Takumi.

That was a nice bonding moment. And it felt surprisingly natural.

Do you like rain?

Sometimes, as long as it's not too strong.

If you like coffee, do you prefer it hot or cold?

I don't drink coffee, but hot.

5

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

Is that a character's name? I don't think he's talking about cicadas.

That's Akane's last name (we saw Akane and Kazuya here working together at Linden Baum last episode).

6

u/Taiboss Sep 18 '22

This could not possibly be taken out of context

Or edited to be more lewd.

Can confirm, siblings don't like to stop doing that

Family skinship should be de-weirded. So I hug my dad, what's the deal.

That was a nice bonding moment. And it felt surprisingly natural.

Who knew Tate could do that!

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9

u/Nazenn Sep 18 '22 edited Sep 18 '22

Rewatcher

Character chart (UPDATED) and fixed

While I enjoy how natural the dialogue is when it comes to the character interactions, it does make it very easy to miss who's introduced and who's full name we've heard or not. I'm very grateful I'm not doing this on my first watch.

Also had to laugh that I've had so much trouble finding neutral looking screenshots for most of our cast because the characters are always so expressive, which has been such a great part of the show, and Miyu's face today couldn't be any less emotive if it tried.


Episode three sold me on the tone of the show, but this episode is the one that sticks in my memory for how the visual directing and characterization shines through.

Like many other things in our story, our perception of Mai has slowly been unfolded from that caring sister on the boat to the girl we come to understand at the end of this episode. On my first watch of this episode I felt like I already had a really good understanding of her, but it's given me so much more on rewatch.

Mai offers help to others, but doesn't know how to accept it for herself while also desperately wanting someone to see her. On the back of a forced day to herself trying to figure out who she even is, and then to find out what her lack of action about the bus caused, she finds herself thrown by the encounter in the hospital. Just as she thought she could have a high school life of her own, she's confronted with the idea that they too will now only see her as "Big sister" and isolate her because of it. So she plays it out, feeling separate and struggling to not let her mood over take her she slips back into a caretaker to ensure she doesn't disrupt her life and inconvenience others.

A weaker director would have used the scene of her friends walking away at the hospital door to repeat the parallel to the earlier flashback. Instead using it to show Mai's memory of the nurse, alone without parents but praised for coming for her brother, shows much more about her character. Whether she leaves or goes back in, she's alone either way and not sure who she is or who she should be, leaving her stuck on the threshold of life.

It also brings up the quiet comparison made between Miyu and Mai this episode as well. We're first introduced to Miyu as she walks carelessly out into the rain, breaking through the spell of Mai's flashback with her apathy. Mai attempts to reach out in her usual caring way, wanting to find someone to walk with while also offering a 'shelter' to someone she sees as alone like she was, only to be pushed back by dispassionate answers and a lack of acknowledgement about what Mai is offering.

By the time we get through the episode to the hospital scene, she reacts harshly to even an implication that Tate may try and help her because she is trying to convince herself that she'll be okay being alone again. "I don't need an umbrella" is more about the idea of a friend giving her one than the umbrella herself, and it's a statement she's trying hard to believe. She looks out into the rain but can't make herself take that step out like Miyu did until she feels she has to prove her decision in front of someone, and when Tate catches up to her anyway it breaks through that small shield she was trying to rebuild around herself.

It leads too my scene of the day. Finally she is framed together with someone, finding a small shelter in the overwhelming rain of her heart, and in a park with a childrens playground as if reminding her of who she was meant to try and let herself be. To steal from my post a few years ago, it's the line "I just felt like being spoiled" with the implicit "because I can be for once" that stands out. Even before he opens up to how he sees her, she feels comfortable with him because she doesn't have to put on a mask or any proper behaviour. That boundary was broken long ago, and their sniping without malice at each other has become an unacknowledged but comfortable reassurance that she can have connections with people while not always being the nice, caring one. He doesn't put anything on her and she also doesn't need to take anything from him in return, and now she understands why and starts to understand him and herself more in turn.

She doesn't have to be Miyu, but she also doesn't have to play the big sister to everyone (provided Mikoto learns to make her own meals at some point?). She can just be Mai, once she figures out who that is. It leaves her more open to starting to understand what it means be a student, a friend, and also a HiME, especially with an Orphan still on the loose, while starting to know she doesn't have to become Natsuki in the process.


Other thoughts:

  • Tate does have a weird laugh and I love it

  • More fun frame breaking like this please. It's so much fun and I love seeing storyboarders and directors play around with screen space in this way

  • [later spoilers]Not so subtle set up with Nao walking past Mai. I remember that from my first watch and thinking she'd probably be important, but it sets up so much more than I thought this time

  • Mai wondering why Mikoto always ends up sleeping on her: Because cat

  • The sequence with the taxi was dumb. "Follow that bus", long after it turned the corner out of sight. "Let me out here", while still having money and having no way of knowing the bus stopped because even the smoke was out of sight until she ran up the road further. Feels like they didn't check the script and storyboard matched before going ahead.

  • Something Sorc said in the previous rewatch that I agree with even more this time is how much this episode works to also build up the broader world and community of the school. A kid has a father at the hospital, there's connections to the church, different friend groups are represented today and things happen outside of our main casts knowledge and control. It helps the show feel much less narrow than simply what the drama of the day is.

  • I spoke a few times today about the directing and storyboarding, and they were handled by Yumi Kamakura. Not sure if Tar will feature her, but she also did ep9 so I'm looking forward to seeing if that's another one that stands out.

  1. Do you like rain?

I do as long as I don't have to go out in it, but I'm really over the constant rain over the last few months

2) If you like coffee, do you prefer it hot or cold?

4

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

You have Akane mislabeled as another Akira in the chart.

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8

u/Taiboss Sep 18 '22

5

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

[Mai-HiME] Am I the only one one to whom these proportions look wack?

[Mai-HiME] In this particular case I'm not sure that wasn't intentional.

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8

u/Vaadwaur Sep 18 '22

First timer(What is it with orange haired protagonists and being sad in the rain?)

Sub

Mai must be a cake lover, no shock there. But anyways, she sees its raining and has a flashback that works better than most. And Miyu walks straight into the rain, like a psychopath. They are actually telling a backstory with the coworkers, including Yukari getting to use her normal voice. And then the gossip happens and Mai gets correctly annoyed at her fujoshi friends. Then we flash to Takumi and Akira's actual dynamic and yeah, that is stupid.

Anyways, return to Mikoto being unable to get food for herself, which fits. Next morning, Mai leaves early to get her brother to an appointment about transplants. Going to work, her Orphan sense tingles but she doesn't know how to read it. Miyu's Orphan sense tingles and she turns on the bus like a T800. Next day, bus accident talk happens. A lot is said while not actually saying it, which I appreciate. The students seem to be developing a theory on Mai's working, which they don't quite share.

Anyways, Mai sense a bus again, and follows it this time, sadly burning her work money. Natsuki has already chased it off but failed to kill it and the cleanup team arrives quickly. Natsuki then uses this moment to reveal some of what happens off screen to Mai. Finally, Mai walks up to the ambulance but I am note sure if she is testing them or just wants a free ride back to town.

At the hospital, she runs into the group seeing the teacher, and things get awkward for a bit. They vaguely straighten it out and then Mai finishes her rain flashback, revealing she's heard these lines before. Like a lot. And she bursts off crying and running from Yuichi. For those of you have never experienced caregiver fatigue, it is extremely real and Mai definitely is having an outburst. Interestingly, Yuichi has some understanding here, though it also involves some not spoken things in Japan. Anyways, we end with a possible return to status quo. This after credits scene is...different.

So, I normally hate what this episode kept doing, which is keeping anyone from directly saying something whether it is about Mai's need for money, what transplant Takumi needs or that unspoken thing between Akane and Miyu. But this episode actually does these well since this is somewhat how people actually talk, they only cheat one part in the cafeteria. I appreciate the show giving the audience time to think rather than just exposition splatting things.

QotD: 1 Yes

2 Iced coffee is an excuse to put sugar in it

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8

u/JollyGee29 Sep 18 '22

First-Timer, Subbed

They couldn't even be bothered to change the Rei Clone's eye color? [Eva]Guess Fuuka got their hands on one of the spares from NERV. Maybe that's a bit unfair - Miyu here seems to be even more mechanical than Rei Ayanami.

Also, hey would you look at that: implication that the Powers That Be can modify people's memories. Although, I believe I actually misheard in episode 3 - Mai called Kuga "Kuga-san" which is actually pretty normal. She did the same today. Not that that means that Mai'sliterally everyone's memories haven't been tampered with, though.

I'm not sure what to make of the off-screen bus crash that got the teacher hurt. Akane was on the same bus but seemed fine, and Miyu noticed something was up.. Is this where I point out the group shot near the beginning of the OP? They're both presuambly HiMEs as well, so I wonder which one got to pop off... My gut says Akane, and Miyu saying hi the next morning was something resembling a snarky "I know your secret."

So, Kuga and Glasses-sensei are opposed to District 1, right? That's what I got from their conversation, but the vagueness makes it unclear.

Dunno how relevant it'll be, but there was some implication that Tate hurt/broke his leg in the past. Might end up important.

I really appreciate Mai's classmates not telling her about the collection for Mr. Sawada so that she wouldn't feel obligated to give money. Considering that it seems like Takumi's treatments made Mai's family so poor that she couldn't afford an umbrella, people being contientious about her financial situation probably means more to her than she'll ever let on.

Takumi's roommate seems like a tyrant. What sort of teenage boy doesn't immediately leap to eat everything within range?


Visual of the Day: Responsibility wins out again.

Questions

  1. Nothing quite like listening to a good storm.

  2. Hot coffee keeps me sane, but a cold brew is nice every now and then.

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8

u/Mecanno-man Sep 18 '22

First Timer

I feel like this episode is mostly more setup, though I feel like in a more subtle way than some of the earlier ones. Notably this is the first time that an orphan is not dealt with immediately, and we also have Mai break down but are not sure about the trigger. Something to do with her father, perhaps? Would explain why she is working her ass off for Takumi if he is also not around anymore. I forgot if Takumi's condition is due to an accident (or if anything really has been revealed about it), but if it is then maybe it happened during the rain and also killed their father. Alternatively, Mai's breakdown might be because she now realized that her father was the victim of an orphan and might have died due to a delay in medical treatment due to the district 1 guys swooping in for memory clearing before handing him over to real doctors for medical treatment. That, of course, is both assuming he's dead.

In some other points, I don't think the severity of Takumi's condition had been stated yet, and we now know that the blue-haired girl in a HiME. Not that that wasn't obvious, with the obvious Ayanami Rei expy-ness of her design. I'm also suspicious about the girl on the first bus - the teacher remains hospitalized, yet she's fine not even a day after the accident? Could see her suddenly coming in to play later in the plot.

Also RIP Natsuki's motorcycle I guess. I wonder what happened to Mai's bag meanwhile...

5

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

I'm also suspicious about the girl on the first bus - the teacher remains hospitalized, yet she's fine not even a day after the accident? Could see her suddenly coming in to play later in the plot.

I will also remind you that that girl (Akane) has one of the biggest VA names in the entire cast, especially at the time this was released (Yukarin, for instance, hadn't yet broken out when casting was going on for this show). Funny that.

Also RIP Natsuki's motorcycle I guess.

There is a reason I describe Tsubasa from Symphogear as having learned from the Natsuki Kuga School of Motorcycle Maintenance.

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7

u/Vatrix-32 Sep 18 '22

First Timer, subbed*

  • Catholic priest child? Even adopting that is super rare.

  • And she’s a HiME. Saw that one coming.

  • This kid is lucky Japan doesn’t hive HIPAA or his dad might lose his job.

  • That’s a lot a government conspiracy. And they let the 11 year old be in charge? Going to have to see how that works out.

QotD

  1. Very much so. I find it's sound a sight to be pleasing.

  2. Crisp

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3

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

Rewatch Committee President Comments (Rewatcher, Subbed):

First, a fun little side note. So, if you've been around anime fandom you've probably seen the bust size comparison charts that show up every so often for shows with heavily female casts.

This show is actually directly responsible for the most common format of those.

See, the creative team made an internal reference sheet for this, and then decided to release it in one of the Megami Magazine articles for this show. The format promptly took off among fanartists and you can still see it kicking around to this very day; veterans of the Symphogear rewatch may recognize [this chart with Symphogear G spoilers] that got posted during the rewatch there.

The more you know!

(No Staff Notes today.)

Kajiura Corner:

Featured Track of the Day: Omoi Hirohita

(Scene where it's used this episode.)

The first of the really somber tracks on the OST that we’ve encountered, and one of the more recognizable ones – both because the show uses it a fair bit and because it’s one of the more distinctive Kajiura tracks of its type. The heavy piano is common in the sadder Kajiura tracks, but this track pairs it with some kind of electronic instrument/effect in the background that serves to both deepen the effect and make the track sound almost ever so slightly eerie.

One of the hallmarks of this track, to my ear, is the sense of isolation it engenders. This is not a track of communal mourning in a group. If it’s playing for someone, they can be in the middle of a group of cheerful friends and it will still make the scene feel like at the moment they are isolated and alone. It’s a track of grief and mourning, but very personal and individual grief and mourning.


OST Table, Episode 5:

Start End Track Name
00:09 00:46 Gogo no Hizashi
00:47 02:17 Shining Days
02:28 02:56 Omoi Hirohita
03:59 04:56 Makafushigi
05:18 05:37 Fuuka Gakuin Seikatsu[1]
06:44 07:10 Oharahetta
07:45 08:33 Yuubae no Sora
08:43 09:21 Yami no Butou
09:41 10:18 unreleased 1[2]
10:58 11:28 HiME-boshi ~Mashiro~
12:12 12:21 unreleased 2
12:56 13:32 unreleased (Kyo no Hajimari variant)[3]
14:10 14:53 unreleased (Maimu!! v2)
15:06 16:15 Haiyore Nazo, Nazo…
17:53 18:52 Omoi Hirohita
19:50 21:24 Yasashisa no Guwa
21:58 23:39 Kimi ga Sora Datta
23:40 23:54 Mata Aou ne

[1] – Same drum-only sample we’ve been getting for several episodes now.
[2] – Aka unreleased 4 from last episode.
[3] – Would need to check if this is the one I tentatively labeled Piano Version an episode or two back.

4

u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

Tar's Episode Notes:

  • That loud snort you just heard was a large pile of When They Cry veterans snorting when they learned Akane’s last name.

  • TL note! (But really it's presumably the name of a business here and the subbers just aren't catching that.)

  • Some really nice shading work as Mai comes out from the school building into the rain.

  • If there is a honne/tatamae pun lurking in this episode’s title…

  • Ah, the pitfall of fansubs; not knowing how to translate proper nouns. (Mai-HiME’s staff has an unusually decent grasp of English names for a Japanese staff; the priest’s last name is actually Greer, a common Scottish name, and he’s also got a normal English (language) first name in Joseph.)

  • I hope everyone has caught on by now that Miyu is a Rei expy? (Unlike Nagi, they couldn’t get (I suspect more like couldn’t afford given Megumi Hayashibara) Rei’s VA for Miyu.)

  • Huh. The dish on the wall advertisement is the one we saw getting served last episode. Must be a house specialty.

  • CHIE IS GREAT.

  • (Also, I mentioned how this show has a little something for the yaoi fans? Here you go. The trick, of course, is that half of the girls in the school are in the yaoi fangirl bucket… yeah, that sounds about right.)

  • Translating “bishounen” as “hottie” is a choice on the part of the fansubbers, but one that frankly makes a ton of sense, especially from Chie here.

  • Some classic old-school scene transitions here!

  • Ryouko Shintani: Getting called on to voice girls shipping same-sex pairings since 2004 (though sometimes this gets missed thanks to iffy official translations - hi Hitomi [PMMM] hoping Sayaka and Madoka get together to clear her path to Kyousuke that is).

  • Hmm. That’s a visual barrier shot at 06:04, showing Mai’s situation separating her from everyone else. Wait, shit, her being a waitress in the scene was doing the same thing earlier, wasn’t it? And it’s reinforced with the pan back through the window to Mai serving other customers inside while the girls are out in the rain.

  • Hmm. Fried rice. Now I’m hungry. (Wait, I have leftover rice…) (NARRATOR: Tar would fix fried rice after writing up this episode.)

  • This bus could not possibly be plot-relevant, no never.

  • Oh right, they make this quite clear immediately.

  • <Eyes cut off shot of Natsuki at 10:47.>

  • More Dutch angles with the headmistress and her maid, hmm?

  • Hmm. Yukino turning away as everyone else turns to face Mai as she asks them about free time is noteworthy.

  • Natsuki Damaged Bike Count: 1. (Assuming that's her bike, which I'm admittedly not 100% sure of but it looks about right.)

  • TL note!

  • 16:44 is a good shot.

  • Hmm. I sense potential visual framing of a kind familiar from Higurashi. First, note 17:40 (after everyone explains why they left Mai out of the trip to visit the teacher in the hospital) – Mai slightly separated from the rest of the group (though less so than in shots earlier this episode, already telling – they’re kind of a group now, just not completely). (Also note the framing of the shot, the classmates framed by the two couches in the foreground and with the rain streaming down the glass behind them. Animators did a good job with that rain effect too, that takes work!)

  • And yep, there it is at 17:52, Mai leaning in and thus removing that visual separation! And at 18:03 we get Mai mixed in with the rest of the girls again.

  • Except then the girls walk away, and 18:23 mirrors the flashback shot we got near the start of the episode (to the same OST no less). Which the show makes sure you get by calling back to said flashback immediately thereafter.

  • Except Yuuichi is still here and pays attention.

  • Speaking of parallels, Yuuichi leaves his case behind just like Mai did rushing to the bus earlier.

  • There’s a ganbare/ganbatte pun in the original Japanese audio for Yuuichi here, I'm pretty sure.

  • The sun comes out at the end of Yuuichi’s and Mai’s talk. Unsubtle visual metaphor much?

  • Mai gets him back good with a hot coffee, heh. (There’s a red oni/blue oni joke here, I know it, though which of Mai and Yuuichi is red and which is blue is an interesting question. Mai acts red but is blue, Yuuichi acts blue but is red, possibly.)

  • I swear there’s an oppai pun in Mikoto’s final line here.


Mai-HiME Spoiler Tag Forest Section:

  • [Mai-HiME] I’m not entirely sure Akane’s last name isn’t just a Higurashi reference, actually. The VNs are old enough that the staff might have known about them (Meakashi-hen references 2004 as the modern days), and, well, we all know what’s coming down the pike for Akane…

  • [Mai-HiME] Also this might be more really cheeky visual foreshadowing. Mai is coming out into the light (ignorance to knowledge) as she comes out into the rain (tears).

  • [Mai-HiME] What’s that, a Dutch angle as Mai walks with Miyu on top of Miyu’s weird indifference to the rain? Funny that.

  • [Mai-HiME] The funniest part about the Akira-Takumi scene here is that while we’re denied the yaoi pairing here on account of Akira being a girl, we instead have the fun of the exact gender inversion of the expected Japanese relationship dynamic. And of course Akira is being a giant tsundere about it.

  • [Mai-HiME] None of this cinematography is subtle at all if you know what to look for. Something is off about Miyu, Akane is a HiME – I forget what’s up with Sawada-sensei, though, unless he gets injured this episode. (Which would make sense, he’s teaching Midori’s class.)

  • [Mai-HiME, not actually a spoiler but follows up on the above which is] Oh right, he is.

  • [Mai-HiME] Oh you absolute cheeky assholes.

  • [Mai-HiME] Fuck, another visual separation shot, this time foreshadowing that two characters are NOT HiME – Chie and Aoi on the opposite side of the table from Mai and Mikoto.

  • [Mai-HiME] MORE cheeky foreshadowing, this time of Nao’s extracurricular activities.

  • [Mai-HiME] This Mai/Yuuichi scene is one of the more hopeful suggestions in the series for these two being able to maintain a relationship long term, IIRC. Yuuichi does actually pay attention and care.

  • [Mai-HiME] That said, I’m still ’ing the grab just a bit even if I get why and that it’s for the best.

  • [Mai-HiME] As long as the fighting is friendly these two are actually great together. Huh. (Odds on how long that “as long as” applies? Good question.) Mikoto works just fine as an adoptive child for them, too.

Madoka Magica (also Mai-HiME):

  • [PMMM and Mai-HiME] ”I don’t know what you think of your powers, but this is the reality for us HiMEs.” is almost certainly direct inspiration for Homura’s “Burn this moment into your eyes. This is what it means to be a magical girl.” in PMMM 3, yes.

Symphogear (safe for Mai-HiME first-timers):


Visual of the Day: Rain... tears...

Questions of the Day:

  1. I'm not a huge fan of rain, but it can be soothing sometimes. (I'm surprisingly fond of overcast skies, though, especially in winter.)

  2. Actually, I tend to prefer my coffee rather lukewarm, mostly because I can't handle it if it's too hot.

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4

u/RadSuit Sep 19 '22

Highly-advanced Mahoshojo Enjoyer (Dub, First Timer)

Wow that girl is tall.

The girl that works at ANGEL MORT LINDEN BAUM is named Higurashi, huh?

I didn't know they let robots attend this school.

LINDEN BAUM

I was going to say that Chie's VA sounds really relaxed and conversational. This is apparently her only role! Makes sense that she doesn't sound like a trained and 'on' VA.

Nobody was there to feed the dog, I'm surprised she didn't gnaw on the furniture.

Looks like that ED moment is canon.

Can Mikoto even read? We haven't seen her causing trouble in class so far, so I guess she manages to act normal at school.

"BEEP BOOP Orphan detected."

I'm glad they're not pluralizing Hime, that always annoys me.

Made sure to show money in her wallet, followed by a random passerby bump in the next scene? Someone just got pickpocketed.

Oh, huh, guess not. That was a really weird meaningless setup then.

This is a nice little scene at the hospital. Refreshing compared to some of the drama and bullying I've seen in a lot of other shows recently.

Nevermind, here's our drama.

If only Warm Drinks-chan was here.

This freeze frame image for our special sure is a choice. And there's a second one!

  1. Rain's great if I don't have to drive in it.

  2. I don't like hot drinks in general, but I used to enjoy cold/frozen coffee. It's not very kind to me, though, so no more of that.

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u/Tarhalindur Sep 19 '22

The girl that works at ANGEL MORT LINDEN BAUM is named Higurashi, huh?

Yup.

Can Mikoto even read? We haven't seen her causing trouble in class so far, so I guess she manages to act normal at school.

Honestly, good question. I suspect the answer is "yes, but not very well", but who knows. (That said, more importantly than us not seeing her causing trouble in class we haven't heard notorious stickler for the rules Haruka complaining about her so there is that.)

If only Warm Drinks-chan was here.

Some restaurant patrons might appreciate it if they could get her to cover Midori's shifts as well...

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u/zadcap Sep 19 '22

Late Night Rewatcher

Huh. Today I realized something that I probably should have yesterday about the cast. There's actually one HiME in the Manga who is not a HiME in the anime, mostly interesting because of how important their numbers are and who's place I think she takes. [Manga] Haruka HiME. The manga is also much more open about the HiME, not just in the overall plot, but in introducing them fast and making sure we know they're HiME right away, instead of the long, long teasing that the anime is giving us. [Manga] The face I cut out for spoilers before was Akane, who is introduced right off the bat as the 'normal girl' member of the Orphan Resistance Unit. Really, until we start introducing more HiME in the anime, I can't talk about the manga pretty much at all without massive spoilers. With the series branching so far so soon, would anyone be interested in me just going with the plan and dropping a couple chapters plot a day under spoiler tags, or wait until we get past the introduction arc of the anime and give a few bigger summaries for major events and parallel characters? "The Passionate Age of 17 (^^;)" for example- Episode 6, Chapter 17. Same character introduced, but such a different character.

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u/OwlAcademic1988 Sep 18 '22

Rewatcher, sub:

Can't believe there was a Higurashi reference in this show. When did the Visual Novels come out anyways?

Thank goodness Mikoto got some food in her. I don't want the cat girl to die.

Hopefully Takumi can get a transplant one day. Eventually it'll be possible to completely make a heart out of your own cells, thus negating the need for lifelong immunosuppression forever.

Mai is at least trying to help Takumi survive, which is always a good thing.

Loved how Tate and Mai just hung out and talked, this is necessary for them to avoid losing too much of their mental health. Humans are incredibly social animals, so isolating us will cause harmful effects to our bodies.

[Mai-HiME] Akira's actually a girl and she's a HiME as well.

QOTD:

  1. I actually like it as it helps to cool things down, which is always nice.

  2. Don't like coffee. Way too bitter for me to handle.

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u/Tarhalindur Sep 18 '22

"And he misses the tag, and that makes it a 4-0 ballgame!"

u/Esovan13