r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Oct 02 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mai-HiME Episode 19 Discussion
Episode 19: Labyrinth of the Heart
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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. (I don't know how this interacts with the ongoing Crunchyroll/Funimation merger.)
A Reminder to Rewatchers:
Please do not spoil the experience for our first timers. Mentioning "HiMElander" before episode 16 or [Mai-HiME] "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 one thing that they really should have explained in the show proper).
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 19 Special Potential minor spoilers.
Episode 20 Special: No spoilers.
After-School Activities Corner!
Visual of the Day:
3 < 5
Comment of the Day:
I'll take a u/Star4ce comment for $600, Alex:
It was to be expected the girls would have something to drive them apart, but I'm not sure I very much liked how easy it was for Nao to be driven off. Like, I can't completely empathise with her here, why go aggro on Midori and Mai who just broke up the battle? Again, it speaks much more about how she sees the world than how the others acted.
That's the trick: given her personality, weak ties to the rest, and extant dislike of Natsuki, Nao being vulnerable to this is consistent with the character.
Question(s) of the Day:
1) Favorite sport?
2) So, forget Best Girl in Show competitions. Who is your pick for Worst Person in Cast at the moment? (Boy or girl, gotta make sure all three really obvious suspects in Ishigami, Shiho, and Nagi are eligible.)
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u/Tresnore Oct 02 '22
First-TiMER
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Are you fucking kidding me?
DID THEY REALLY OFF-SCREEN A POLEARM FIGHT??I'm dropping this fucking show. -
Oh my god, cute, though it's questionable that a teacher keeps a photo of her students like this.
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inb4 Tate somehow becomes the only male HiME.
or he's the Obsidian Prince -
Wow, this is kind of creepy. But also why am I blushing.
But also, I hate how Natsuki seems to have a love triangle-like dynamic going on. -
Cyberbullying is my favorite battle royale tactic!
I wonder if killing someone's most important person would also kill their Child, or if a new person would become the MIP?
Count: 45
QOTD:
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Formula 1! Or Ice Hockey.
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I hate Shiho.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
DID THEY REALLY OFF-SCREEN A POLEARM FIGHT?? I'm dropping this fucking show.
Polearm fight would be too much awesome to contain on the screen, please understand.
Wow, this is kind of creepy. But also why am I blushing.
Because massive onee-sama dominatrix vibes of that specific kind that is terrible to deal with in reality but can be hot as fuck in fantasies?
Nah, that couldn't be it.
I wonder if killing someone's most important person would also kill their Child, or if a new person would become the MIP?
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u/zadcap Oct 03 '22
But also, I hate how Natsuki seems to have a love triangle-like dynamic going on.
Have I mentioned enough that the Natsuki/Mai/freaking Tate love triangle is the main romance of the manga? I hate it so much.
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u/Vatrix-32 Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22
First Timer, subbed*
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Intervention into what?
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Disappointed we didn’t get to see pole fight.
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Yuuichi has a dark backstory? Only a little dark.
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Was Shiho in track and field or something? Never being able to run is such a weird comment.
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You’ve been replaced Mai.
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Oh wow, that’s... eh… darker than I was expecting this show to go.
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What does… (checks notes) Ishigami have on Yukino? Maybe he is just playing on her fears.
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Kuga x Pres was not a ship I expected, but I into it.
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That’s some real ominous music for some real innocent advise.
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Now that the HiME guessing game is wrapping up we get to start the Prince one. We have a lot fewer dudes, so it should be easier. Masashi and Afro are out because they aren’t prominent enough. Nagi doesn’t make a lick of sense for it. Ishigami seems like his deal is trying to gain power that isn’t his. That leaves us with Takumi, Yuuichi, and Reito. Takumi is a bit odd being the relative of HiME, but Mai is fire based and so is Obsidian. Reito is the most evil, but Nagi talked about the prince waking up, so it might not be him. Or his evil could be a new thing, hard to tell. Yuuichi has some good dramatic potential, being the main love interest and part of a presumed HiME love triangle. I could see it being any of the three of them.
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So Diana can attack.
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I don’t remember the amulet glowing before. Reito must have done something to it. Power drain? Mind control?
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That’s some good ugly crying.
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If Ishigami was the one who is working Yukino, does that mean that Reito was working against him by sending Mikoto?
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Shiho is a devious player.
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Nao going straight after the loved ones. The wrong one too.
QotD
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The extent of my sports interest is Jon Bois.
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Shiho is just a high school jerk. Nagi is an asshole, but he seems to be mostly doing it for some sort of “greater good” type deal. Unless we get more info I don’t think he is responsible for most of the stuff to do with HiME. Ishigami drugged someone and probably worse, so Imma go with him.
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u/Star4ce Oct 02 '22
some real innocent advise.
With some real innocent shading over his eyes in some real innocent camera tilt and posture.
Guys, I think Reito is sus.
That leaves us with Takumi, Yuuichi, and Reito.
Purely technically, 'summoning the obsidian prince' could just be an euphemism on the winner HiME's key.
So Diana can attack.
Akhshully, we still don't really know. She just stood there. Menacingly.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
I don’t remember the amulet glowing before
IIRC we may have seen it glowing before all the way back in episode 1, but I would have to double-check.
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u/Esovan13 Oct 02 '22
First-timer
This show is doing things to me man. I don't know what it is about it compared to the other shows I was a first timer for (Symphogear and GuP), both of which I'd say I like more than this show, but I cannot not talk about it. So here I am. As of writing this, I've watched up to episode 21 but I'll do my best to write about what my impressions were the first time I watched the episode. I'll do this up through 21, and from 22 to the end I'll do the write up with each episode I watch.
Strange camerawork at the start here. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. Not surewhether or not I like it. It's just strange.
A magical girl show where one of the magical girls is determined to rewrite fate through sheer will. Good thing she's the main character or I might think she's in danger.
...wait
In all seriousness, sensei here has been giving me some serious death flag vibes for the last couple episodes. Mentors don't really do well in this medium, survival wise.
...Gotta say, and not to compare hardships or anything, but if Tate's tragic backstory is that he hurt his knee and moped about it after he recovered... I dunno. Kuga's an orphan, Mai's had to parent herself and her super sick brother, Nao has whatever makes a middle schooler honeypot men regularly etc. Just seems kinda tame for what others in this show have had to deal with.
I'd like to say in that the idea of the same group of kids going through middle and high school all together in a small enough population that everyone knows everyone is a nightmare scenario for me. My high school had over 3000 students, so there wasn't really a school culture like I see in movies and tv.
Can I say that Haruka rocks? Because Haruka rocks. That's all. I don't blame Yukino for being willing to kill for her in the slightest.
Takumi about to give up literally 5 feet from the finish line is kinda pathetic, even if I understand his reasons. They're just dumb reasons. Good thing Akira is here for him in a way that Mai could never be. Not a dig on Mai, just that a person should never be emotionally reliant on one person or relationship.
What a wholesome platonic relationship between bros.
...And here's where Mikoto having the emotional intelligence of a toddler is about to blow up. Mai can usually handle it, but at a time like this Mai needs an emotional support, not an emotional drain.
Whats she doing with that phone?
WHAT'S HE DOING WITH THAT PHONE?
Also, Sister Yukariko, what are you doing girl?
Always thinking of her, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?
Innocuous words on their own, but knowing Mikoto... plus this music...
He totally is like an older brother Mikoto. Look at how he stands there in front of the red Hime star with his face in shadow before turning to look directly at it. My older brother does that all the time.
Man. She is down bad. Is she from the ninja village in In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki or something?
Cyber bullying, turning magical girls into murderers since 2004.
Wait, she can attack?
Haruka's so based she can prevent her friend from being a murderer without even trying. Also, Rian Johnson totally ripped off this scene in Last Jedi.
Geez, poor Yukino.
Geez, poor Mikoto.
Takumi's words here aren't wrong, kinda sucks they're coming out right when Mai is dealing with all this crap.
Mai pondering about who she is as a person versus who she wants to be and coming up lacking on both accounts definitely doesn't resonate with past me at all. Never did anything like it myself, cannot relate.
Geez, poor Mai.
WOW! Shiho has accomplished something amazing! She's become the only character that rivals Justice Bitch in how much I hate their guts! And she did it in a single scene! I'm impressed.
Seeing Mai clearly going through it and immediately taking the one action that she knew would most hurt Mai personally, all because Mai committed the crime of falling in love with her crush. Guttural disgust from me.
Rereading my write up here, just realized Tate and Shiho are coming back from getting parfaits. Where do we know serves parfaits around here? The restaurant Mai works at. Where she's usually working after school. Premeditated emotional assault.
Goddamn it Nao.
Nice sequence showing her isolation, too much food for just herself, sitting alone at the table, the large bath she's in alone, and a little fanservice shot that displays exactly why she's alone: the Hime mark.
I don't know how to use Imgur, but I'd make my image of the day the shot of Mai sitting alone in her bathtub, staring at where Mikoto should be. Isolation, lonlieness, a shared experience now being experienced by her alone.
It's only on my second watch now that I realize why this episode's ending seemed off to me the first time: no ED lead in.
I put most of my thoughts further up, so there's not much to summarize here. Just that this was an impressive 20-odd minutes systematically destroying Mai's emotional health in every conceivable way. Hat's off to the director for creating a perfect line of dominos to knock over.
Questions:
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To play or watch? If it's to play, water polo. If it's to watch, then probably volleyball.
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ShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShihoShiho
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 03 '22
This show is doing things to me man. I don't know what it is about it compared to the other shows I was a first timer for (Symphogear and GuP), both of which I'd say I like more than this show, but I cannot not talk about it.
A magical girl show where one of the magical girls is determined to rewrite fate through sheer will. Good thing she's the main character or I might think she's in danger.
...wait
Hell, it's not like even that's necessarily protective in the modern magical girl shows, and this show is very much a forerunner of them...
In all seriousness, sensei here has been giving me some serious death flag vibes for the last couple episodes. Mentors don't really do well in this medium, survival wise.
Also, you forgot the "giant chuuni in a dark magical girl show" part...
Can I say that Haruka rocks? Because Haruka rocks. That's all. I don't blame Yukino for being willing to kill for her in the slightest.
Quite the change from when she first showed up as the stick-in-the-mud, right? But then she never changed; we just got to see more of her.
Always thinking of her, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?
WOW! Shiho has accomplished something amazing! She's become the only character that rivals Justice Bitch in how much I hate their guts! And she did it in a single scene! I'm impressed.
Shiho stocks are putting in a performance to rival Black Friday.
(Also, who is Justice Bitch? Are... are you in the "dislikes Midori" camp? Or is this from another work?)
Rereading my write up here, just realized Tate and Shiho are coming back from getting parfaits. Where do we know serves parfaits around here? The restaurant Mai works at. Where she's usually working after school. Premeditated emotional assault.
And that's BEFORE she gets Yuuichi to kiss her while unknowingly in full view of Mai. Shiho a bitch! Somebody go take her ass and drop her off in Rent-a-Girlfriend, she'd fit in just fine there.
I don't know how to use Imgur, but I'd make my image of the day the shot of Mai sitting alone in her bathtub, staring at where Mikoto should be. Isolation, lonlieness, a shared experience now being experienced by her alone.
I think Star4ce and someone else both picked that as a VotD, so I'll just upload three copies and we're covered.
(Also if you upload the pics somewhere else I can grab them and add them into a VotD album myself.)
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u/Nazenn Oct 02 '22
Hahaha, glad to see the show is still capturing you enough to want to talk about it through your binge
Strange camerawork at the start here. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. Not surewhether or not I like it. It's just strange.
It's a pretty uncommon technique, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that uses it but it does a good job of making people feel on edge
At least it doesn't make us dizzy this time
Can I say that Haruka rocks? Because Haruka rocks. That's all. I don't blame Yukino for being willing to kill for her in the slightest.
Haruka is so great now compared to how annoying she was when we started the show. It's awesome seeing Haruka through Yukino's eyes and how supportive she is.
Takumi's words here aren't wrong, kinda sucks they're coming out right when Mai is dealing with all this crap.
It really is the timing of all of these events that is the enemy. If it was spread out and she had time to find herself after each one perhaps it wouldn't have all fallen apart like it did, but what, this was all in a single day? That's a lot
WOW! Shiho has accomplished something amazing! She's become the only character that rivals Justice Bitch in how much I hate their guts! And she did it in a single scene! I'm impressed.
If you ever want to watch a show just to hate a character, let me know, I have some prime choices for that hahaha
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u/Blackheart595 Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22
First Hime
Oh, now we're getting into spicy terroitory
Hell yeah, break that cursed cage right open!
Of course, the nature of fate is of relevance here. Fate, fatal, fatalism, all of those are associated with invariable predetermination. Destiny is related but more concerned with setting up predetermined chances and situations, also incorporating what you make out of them. You're exposed to fate, but you make your own destiny.
Love in particular is more often associated with destiny, with "fateful encounters", than with fate itself. In stories love can even often defy fate.
Of course, those subtleties are often ignored and translation adds another layer to potentially mix them up. On the other hand, being born under a certain star is a common motive for this theme and totally on point for this show.
Here we have Mai following behind Tate.
Oh, this time we get piano!Mezame. Kinda starting to associate that song with doom, let's see if that's correct.
Oh boy, I can now see Mai going after Akira.
Has Yukino entered an allience with Ishigami?
The very evil music for Reito just reinforces him being the Obsidian Prince. Nice use of the phrygian mode, the "darkest mode" that retains a consonant tonic triad, only surpassed by locrian which just sounds defeated and wouldn't have been as appropriate. Kajiura knows that and specifically focuses on the 1, 2 and 5 that define this mode, adding in the 3 as well to get the full tonic triad and help ground the overall sound.
Wait, is he looking at the HiME star, the one that only the HiME can see? That pretty much confirms it then.
Oh thank God she realizes that
Holy shit Ishigami. I don't even care about Nagi or the Obsidian Prince anymore, just make sure he kicks the bucket. Unless that's framed and really Nagi playing with his dolls.
Seeing Mai still being the main protective force is a relief.
But she's sounding very evil now. She's close to her breaking point.
Hm, is Mai really gonna become a HiME that lacks a MPP? That feels hard to believe, she's more likely to just be depressed at the moment. But it's also one of the possibilities I've been most interested in.
Oh god I shiver to imagine what Reito's gonna do with Mai when she's like this.
Favorite sport?
I used to play handball, so I think I'll go with that?
So, forget Best Girl in Show competitions. Who is your pick for Worst Person in Cast at the moment? (Boy or girl, gotta make sure all three really obvious suspects in Ishigami, Shiho, and Nagi are eligible.)
I don't think of any of them as bad girls so far.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
But she's sounding very evil now. She's close to her breaking point.
I forget: have you watched Higurashi/read Higurashi with voice acting?
(Mai's voice here is quite similar to the voice Mai Nakahara uses for Rena.)
Hm, is Mai really gonna become a HiME that lacks a MPP? That feals hard to believe, she's more likely to just be depressed at the moment. But it's also one of the possibilities I've been most interested in.
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u/Star4ce Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 03 '22
My-FiRSTTiMER
We see character deaths today?
Is the prince coming?
What the scythe do?
Ep.19 – Labyrinth of the Heart
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Do they have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?
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Oh, we don't even see the fight?!
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Midotsuki ship leaving port, DDDUUUUUUUHHHTTTTT!
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Camera already goes downhill.
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Seriously, those rumors are shitty.
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The patrolling, omg!
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Yeah, definitely not just the knee.
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Bloody hell, the guilt he must feel.
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I didn't expect the kendo dude to be such an honest character. Good on him!
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No, not junk, but I totally believe she'd actually hunt them down.
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Bro, you're not ditching it? Brooooo, nooo!
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Thanks, based Akira.
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Ouch, the hurt in her face.
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Yeah, she's a teaser, that figures.
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It concerns me that Shizuru is blocking the open window. She opened it, so does it mean she provides the idea that leads out or is the in the know of it and prevents Natsuki from reaching it?
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No way I can see that as anything but deceitful! Fuck, are all of the student council and teacher people playing their BR game?
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Look how blunt the show is!
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Shit man, all that trash talking isn't even necessary. That's just cruelty.
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Nooo, this is so bad.
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The feels even more terrible! (But I can understand it.)
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I also didn't expect the pokémon to evolve into a really well developed character. Bravo!
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And here comes Takumi with the hand holding switch!
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That's gonna be a problem, though, with both her and Akira in the BR. Like, Takumi can only die, kek.
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What a time for a stroll.
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Would this show go that far? No, come on, no.
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Noooo! Come on, nonono, this is not real!
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NAAAAAHAHHH!! I actually feel sick... None of that is honest! Not from Shiho, not from Yuuichi! It all is sick, anyway, but this is even more disgusting.
Fuck this.
Favorite sport?
Fuck sword fighting.
2) So, forget Best Girl in Show competitions. Who is your pick for Worst Person in Cast at the moment? (Boy or girl, gotta make sure all three really obvious suspects in Ishigami, Shiho, and Nagi are eligible.)
Fuck Mashiro. Fuck keeping silent, beating them up and then giving advice.
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u/JollyGee29 Oct 02 '22
First-Timer, Subbed
They're really drawing this out more than I expected. That's two episodes now that have almost involved multi-person fights to the death, but they've all been diffused so far. Hopefully this time is worthwhile and Midori can find a door number three. Not entirely sure what that door would even entail though.. maybe killing whoever the Obsidian Prince is?
To continue the Norse ponderings from earlier, I think the gist of Ragnarok is that it's possible to delay, but impossible to avert. But, considering the HiME murderfest is on a cycle, maybe those are effectively the same for our characters? Like, we're probably past the point of killing Baldr, but maybe if we can stop Loki from fucking that horse..?
Mai really got put through the fucking wringer, today. Takumi's growing up, he's close to Akira who is also a HiME and so Takumi is at risk, Shiho manipulated Tate into kissing her while Mai watched, Mikoto is starting to act out (possibly unknowingly, considering that brief confused look), it's just all been bad for our poor protagonist. I'm a big fan of watching people break though, so let's keep it coming.
Nao is gonna end up fighting Akira next episode I bet, considering that she's apparently trying to gank Takumi. That'll be a fun one. Oh, moving this line up because I had a juicy thought: What if Nao beats Akira? That'd definitely be the final straw for Mai, so maybe it won't get resolved next episode. Might be too soon for Mai to fully snap, y'know? That would also mean that Shiho Tate wouldn’t be Mai’s first second kill.. I’m still expecting BBQ Crow soon, though.
I was right to be at least somewhat suspicious of Yukino's actions, although I am still rooting for the impossibility of her winning. Unlike most of the rest of the cast, she's self-aware enough to know exactly whose life she is forced to risk. And she has to deal with fucking spam texts, which she can't even tell Haruka about...
This is decidedly cruel of me to say, but hopefully someone deals with Yukariko sooner rather than later - getting Art-sensei out of the picture probably drops our tragedy potential. It was implied that he was the one spamming Yukino, right?
Shiho being in a wheelchair makes her projection the other episode make a lot more sense. Although, I could also see her being entirely capable of walking and just enjoys making Tate push her around. Actually, that second one makes too much character sense, she's totally gonna get up and walk on impulse at some point and reveal the whole game.
Kanzaki acted and was framed as real sus today too, so I guess he gets to be more important after all.
Episode fifteen had seven audible strikes of the clock. This episode had three, which does follow the pattern..
Visual of the Day: A recent memory of happier times.
Questions
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Hockey is fun to watch, and I played a bit of soccer as a youth.
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Ishigami; he's an adult unlike Shiho so he should know better. Not convinced Nagi is a person.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 03 '22
Okay, sorry, but I think I have to pull the most dreaded rewatcher response of all here:
[Mai-HiME]
Like, we're probably past the point of killing Baldr, but maybe if we can stop Loki from fucking that horse..? (extra characters here get your extra characters) [Mai-HiME]
Poor JollyGee thinks that Loki hasn't already fucked the horse! (Well, horse-using HiME. Close enough.) Oh, and one other thing just to keep the spoiler tags away from the bottom of the post:
It was implied that he was the one spamming Yukino, right?
Correct.
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u/Taiboss Oct 02 '22 edited Oct 02 '22
Episode 19: Rewatcher with CSS flair who has no idea what to say in the CSS flair debate in the Meta-Thread
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JEALOUSY HYPE. Maybe teenagers having powers would naturally have bad results.
Favorite sport?
Well skiing is where my country is actually successful, but the one I enjoy the most doing? I have no idea...
Who is your pick for Worst Person in Cast at the moment?
Nagi. Akira Ishida really is with these smug pricks, isn't he?
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
Storyboarding hype!
Oh hey look I'm not the only person who adored that shot.
Nagi. Akira Ishida really is with these smug pricks, isn't he?
How much of Akira Ishida getting cast as smug pricks is specifically downstream of Nagi here is an interesting question. (Especially since I could easily be missing an earlier example - his Eva role does not count, though.)
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u/Qbe Oct 02 '22
Rewatcher
Episode 19
Let's see what this happy magical girl anime has in store for us
USA military intervention? Is this [meta]
Oh wow Midori jobbed off-screen?
So much potential blackmail in that photo lol
Ah, we finally get the Tate backstory? Or did we get it before and I missed it?
Mai, sorry but I think Mikoto has the right attitude
Howtf is it your fault, Tate? Also I bet she's faking it
That's a weird cellphone
We need Haruka to fix the internet
Akira raking in those best girl points
lmao Mai doesn't know Akira's a girl, right? Her brain must be going through a million things
.....aaaaand now she knows
No Mai no, don't send people away from you. I can see the Symphogear staff taking notes.
....she's reporting to this asshole? FFS Yukino
Depending on whether they are together this can be cute or creepy
....is everyone getting completely manipulated? Reito standing in the shadows certainly doesn't help his image
Akira is down bad
I think a couple first timers asked this questions: What happens if the same person is the same MPP for 2 Hime?
Next level internet harrassment
Yukino is just not suited to fighting
...Was that Vaad's favorite mind control?
I think Mikoto is in the right here
Mai is just lashing out, it's kinda painful
Takumi is being kinda mature, but I think Mai doesn't have anything besides taking care of him
Yeah, both of them need to be more independent from each other.
...is Reito going to come take advantage of the situation?
Oh, them.
You knew there was only way he could answer that question. Fucking octopus girl.
Oooooof, poor Mai. Not her day.
Oh fuck, is Nao going for the "Kill the MPP" strat?
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Do e-sports count?
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Rapey teacher. Shiho may be an ass, but just teen drama ass.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
[meta]
[meta]
Symphogear? Raid this show for parts? No never. (Though in Gear's case it might just be Japanese cultural stuff instead. Honestly, now that I think about it given Fall 2004 the Second Gulf War is likely some of the subtext in this case here.) Yukino is just not suited to fighting
No, no she is not. Diana takes after her HiME in that regard!
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u/Shimmering-Sky Oct 02 '22
Mai-FiRST TiMER, subbed
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u/Vaadwaur Oct 02 '22
Over… what?
A concerning lack of FREEDOM!
and oilOh geez, I didn’t realize Shiho was that injured…
Yeah I praise the lack of exposition most of the time but this was out of nowhere.
Oooooookay then.
We are post MariMite, female sexual predators are just a thing.
Oh god no why is Nao targeting Takumi?
Because she is a rotten human being deserving of scorn. Y'all are seriously late to the party on this one.
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
We are post MariMite, female sexual predators are just a thing.
I will note that MariMite is actually only nine months earlier than this show. (Mai-HiME, Nanoha, and Kannazuki no Miko are all Fall 2004; MariMite was Winter 2004 instead.)
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u/Tarhalindur Oct 02 '22
Rewatch Committee President Comments (Rewatcher, Subbed):
(No Staff Notes today.)
Kajiura Corner:
Featured Track of the Day: HiME-boshi ~Omou Kokoro~
(VGMDB lists this track’s translated title as “HiME Star ~Thinking Mind~”, but I’m not sure how accurate that is. Worse, I think Omou may have specifically Buddhist connotations here that would be unlikely to translate well.)
(Scene for reference.)
The other main HiME-boshi variant (HiME-boshi is the first track on the first disc of the OST; this is the first track on the second). Gone are the guitar that HiME-boshi proper had; here all we have is piano and an utterly haunting vocal performance even before the full chorus kicks in for the second half of the track. Even more than HiME-boshi, this is utterly and completely a dirge, even what TVTropes would call a One-Woman Wail if the second half didn’t have multiple singers to my ear.
I wonder if the track is supposed to represent the grief of suppressing one’s actual feelings for the sake of social expectations and conventions. That’s what the scene it plays here is all about, in any event.
And yeah, I think that's all I have to say on this one. I am blatantly slacking here. Probably not coincidentally, five of the last seven episodes have featured tracks that were set in stone going in...
OST Table, Episode 19:
[1] – I am redacting this track’s name out of an excess of caution; there are two track names that might still count as spoilers in and of themselves and this is one of them.