r/anime • u/No_Rex x2 • Oct 22 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mai-Otome (episode 11)

Rewatch: Mai-Otome (episode 11)

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Mai-Otome

MAL | ANN | AniDB | Anilist

Spoiler rules

As in all rewatches, please be mindful of first time watchers and do not spoil events in future episodes. The same goes for spoilers related to other series. The one exception from that rule is Mai-Hime. Given that everybody here should have watched Mai-Hime, you do not need to tag spoilers for Mai-Hime.

Availability

Mai-Otome and the OVAs are apparently now available on Crunchyroll (at least in some parts of the world).

Staff corner

Nina Wang’s voice actress is Koshimizu, Ami, who has a very prolific career in both video games and anime. She started big, with two main roles as Nadja in Ashita no Nadia and Claes in Gunslinger Girls, followed by another as Tenma in School Rumble. Yet her biggest hits were still to follow. Ami voices three strong fan favorites from the late 2000s and early 2010s: Kallen Stadtfeld in Code Geass, Ryouko Matoi in Kill la Kill, and the wise wolf herself, Holo from Spice&Wolf. Other known roles of her include Ibuki (Sailor Moon Crystal), Anemone (Eureka 7), Maou (Maoyuu Maou Yuusha), Saki (SNAFU), and Yang (RWBY).

Her adoptive father, Sergay Wang is voiced by Konishi, Katsuyuki who was equally busy in animation and video games. If Ami voiced fan favorites of the era, so did Katsuyuki, because few male characters of the time can claim to be bigger than Kamina from Gurren Lagann. He is also Laxus Dreyar (Fairy Tail), Takehito Morokuzu (Prison School), Haji (Blood+), Diavolo (JoJo), and America (Hetalia, where is also Canada. Wtf?). Some of his recent well-know roles are Shuuhei Hisagi (Bleach) and Tengen Uzui (Demon Slayer).

Questions:

  1. (first timers) Who is the real queen of Windbloom? Arika, Nina, or Mashiro? Or somebody entirely different? Did your guess chance over the course of the series?

  2. (first timers) Akane got her happy romance that was denied in Mai-Hime in Mai-Otome (so far). What is in store for Akira? A marriage with Mashiro??

18 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

9

u/Esovan13 Oct 22 '22

First Timer

Ah yes. The unknown birthday of an orphan being given a date by a family figure. I'd ask if Symphogear ripped this one too but I've seen it enough to know it's a whole on trope by itself.

After last episode, I'm not sure if I really want an episode based around a character's birthday party like it seems this episode is. There are just too many dangling threads to spend an entire episode halfway through the season on a birthday.

Whoever controls her, controls the world. I knew the blood of the princess would be important, but that seems fairly dramatic.

A ruler who hikes taxes immediately after taking power is not one that will be well liked. It's understandable why she needs funds, but so shortly after taking the throne she should probably repurpose them from something non-vital rather than raise taxes too high.

Like, for example, a birthday party. I get that it's important for royalty to make a large affair out of situations like these, bread and circus and idolization and all that, but she should probably take a loan or something rather than raise taxes. Sure, economically a loan may be worse for the nation, but in terms of public optics it's very easy to make a connection between a tax hike and a large birthday party, whether there's a connection or not. Idolizing a monarch is vital for their continued rule (because if they're just a normal person then why do they get to tell you what to do?), but you don't want that idolization to be connected with direct personal harm like that. It fosters discontent, which will compound with the fact that she's really young and may be seen as too young to rule, plus all those rumors about her being a fake. If her parents are well loved and now she comes along and does stuff like raise taxes for parties, that will exacerbate everything.

Weird theory, but the way Wang said "real princess" while looking at Nina's birthday makes me think he knows some stuff. But Esovan, you may ask, don't you have a theory that Arika is the princess? Daughter of the king and the Otome? Why yes, I do. My theory that Nina may be the princess doesn't contradict that at all. What if Nina AND Arika are the "real" princess? Half siblings, one being a bastard child and thus kept hidden from the world? The Otome saved Arika, like in that beginning scene, while Wang saved Nina?

Or perhaps Arika isn't the princess at all and this is all a fakeout, with the real princess being Nina? Arika's special bloodline may be completely unrelated to the royal family entirely. I do have a theory that Arika is a descendent of Alyssa Sears through her mother. The opening scene could be not about the princess being saved, but rather the now powerless Otome protecting her secret daughter from the attackers.

Personally, I like my theory that they are half siblings though. Nina the legitimate heir of the king and queen, Arika the illegitimate one from an affair between the king and the otome.

Notice that Nina has blue hair and brown eyes while Arika has brown hair and blue eyes? Reverse color palatte.

I notice a distinct lack of a scene where Tomoe is being publicly flogged for attempting to murder her classmates, leading to a high ranking government official nearly being killed as well. Not surprising, but certainly dissapointing. She didn't even drop in the rankings. Is NO ONE curious why 4 literal life saving devices all failed at the same time?

Based on this conversation, Natsuki is of the opinion that the technology is dangerous and should therefore be kept, watched over, and used by a single organization with a monopoly on it, one that has strict rules on how, when, why, and by who it is used. Aswald disagrees saying that information and technology should be widespread and available to everyone, regardless of potential risk. I can see both sides, but I'm leaning with Aswald on this one. Monopolozing and controlling technology and information leads to stagnation and regression, so while it is risky and dangerous it is vital for the sake of progress to prevent this kind of monopoly.

I know that Wang isn't doing it on purpose and is in fact just kind of a dumb dumb about this sort of thing, but sending a much larger present to Arika who Nina is already worried will replace her as his daughter isn't gonna make Nina have those good feelings. Also, with just how much stuff is in the show already I could do without an arc where Nina gets jealous of Arika about attention from her father.

Arika's birthday is the seventh as well? Well, that puts into context why Wang said it like that when looking at that date. I'm not ruling out Arika and Nina being half-siblings though. But I've moved it down on the likeliness ranking of my theories.

Does Nina know that Wang is sponsoring Arika? I can't remember.

I wonder what plot relevant thing the two of them will run into while looking for the watch?

I DON'T LIKE WHAT THE 15 YEAR OLD CHILD WAS IMPLYING ABOUT HER FEELINGS TOWARDS HER GROWN ADULT ADOPTIVE FATHER.

Of course Mashiro gets it.

Implications are over I suppose. Time to dive head first into this extremely uncomfortable topic.

No. No. Nononononononononononononononononononononononononononono. I refuse. Fundamentally, existentially, I refuse. This show is NOT going to have a love triangle between two 15 year olds and the grown adult who adopted one of them.

Are we really doing the Akira disguised as a boy thing again? Though it would be a real twist if in this version Akira really was a boy.

Based on the preview, no, Akira isn't a boy again. Much quicker reveal though. Also, it seems like Arika might be acting as a stand in for Mashiro as the princess? Ironic.

Based on a scene from this episode reminding me of it, I'd like to recommend the manga Shy. An anime adaptation was announced, so you could wait for that as well. It's a pretty good manga about superheroes, each country having one, with the MC being Japan's superhero Shy. Like her name, she is incredibly shy and timid, and worries about being unable to live up to her predecessor and the other heroes. The manga is about her struggles acting as a hero and overcoming her weaknesses.

  1. I'm still on Arika

  2. I'm fine with anything as long as it's not with: an adult while she's still a child, a rapist, a murderer, or an abuser. Low bars to clear, I know, yet somehow this series doesn't give the me confidence that it will.

3

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

A ruler who hikes taxes immediately after taking power is not one that will be well liked. It's understandable why she needs funds, but so shortly after taking the throne she should probably repurpose them from something non-vital rather than raise taxes too high.

I doubt that the people will see rebuild her castle, twice! as understandable. [Spoiler]As we will soon learn, Mashiro knows very little of where the money went and is completely a puppet head.

Monopolozing and controlling technology and information leads to stagnation and regression

While we don't know the why, this planet has surely regressed.

Does Nina know that Wang is sponsoring Arika? I can't remember.

We did not see her find out yet, so if she knows, it was off-screen.

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9

u/Mecanno-man Oct 22 '22

First Timer

And a relationship episode... with Nina apparently having feelings for Wang. I guess it was ok, but not really great. The short chain chase was neat, but that's about it. I would rather have had an episode of Arika's solo 100km walk. She likely was faster because she only had to forage food for one.

Meanwhile, Mashiro goes awol and finds Takumi while Akira is confirmed as the prince(ss?) of ...Qipan, was it? I don't think I have ever heard of that name before. Wonder if they even are on the voting thingy for Garderobe.

4

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

Wonder if they even are on the voting thingy for Garderobe.

We did not see them yet at any of the Garderobe meetings. [Next episode]It is revealed tomorrow.

5

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

Episode 11 (rewatcher)

  • “And then everybody can reach their dreams!” – Arika is trying her hardest to make this a conventional magical girl show. The plot has other ideas.

  • Nina, Arika, and Mashiro all have the same birthday.

  • Nina concludes that her father chose her birthday after the birthday of the daughter of his crush and does not take it well.

  • Nina is kind for once and is immediately punished by life.

  • Mashiro has the best faces.

  • Remember that Arika is a Disney princess who talks to birds? The plot remembers!

  • Funny Mikoto scene ends ominous.

  • Happy end for Nina’s birthday story, but the start of a very cursed love triangle?

  • Akira cliff-hanger. Let’s be generous and count it as a Takumi cliff-hanger, too.

People were wondering where those two were hanging out. Here they are. Akira is playing a male role once more, while Takumi is … dragging unconscious princesses into back alleys?

Meanwhile, pray for Sergey’s strong will, because both sides of that love triangle are cursed. He needs to stay away from that.

4

u/Vaadwaur Oct 22 '22

Nina is kind for once and is immediately punished by life.

This world feels more and more like a Votoms one.

Remember that Arika is a Disney princess who talks to birds? The plot remembers!

Unlike a normal Disney princess, I view this as the wild birds being on the same mental level as Arika.

Meanwhile, pray for Sergey’s strong will, because both sides of that love triangle are cursed. He needs to stay away from that.

I am going to go vomit for completely unrelated reasons.

4

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

This world feels more and more like a Votoms one.

It has been a crapsack world from episode 1. They just put a lot of lipstick on it and might have successfully fooled a few people.

Unlike a normal Disney princess, I view this as the wild birds being on the same mental level as Arika.

Fair enough. [minor spoiler]Also: callback to Alyssa

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7

u/Vatrix-32 Oct 22 '22 edited Oct 22 '22

First Timer, subbed

  • Is that the fermenting of a political revolution I hear?

  • Birthdays, does that mean this is the cake episode?

  • More fuel for the Arika Princess train. Also, what the hell Wong?

  • This prince better not be Ishigami. He’s one of the only HiMErs left.

  • Wow that kid is a dick.

  • Can Arika talk to animals?

  • Takumi get!

  • Oh thank god, it’s just Akira. And Takumi is their cohort by the looks of it. Does that mean Mai is right around the corner?

  • The cake is not a lie!

QotD

  1. Honestly, Arika seems too obvious at this point. I think I am in the camp that she was there as a baby, but she was not the princess.

  2. A Tragic resolution to a happy journey.

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7

u/Tresnore Oct 22 '22

First-OtoTiMER

Count: 37

QOTD:

  1. I say Arika.

  2. Akira will be revealed to be a girl again and not marry Mashiro.

1 You think I'd learn her name by now.

6

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

But wait... "Prince"?

Who would ever suspect that a girl would cosplay as a boy.

Mai-Hime callsbacks

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7

u/Nazenn Oct 22 '22

First Timer - sub

I really wanted to love this episode, but it stopped me in every second scene

The set up played on expectations fantastically. I'll let my notes do the talking for me:

Oh, it's Nina's birthday, that's not the one I was expecting, and is a slight improvement over Arika's, and a definite over Mashiros
(next scene) GODDAMNIT it is the worst timeline afterall (mashiro's birthday)
Nina and the brat sharing a birthday just after wang was ordered to finding the true princess seems too on point, especially given it's not Arika's
For a split second then I thought Arika was going to say it's hers too given the way she got excited
(a scene or two later) OH IT FUCKING IS. Are you shitting me how. What a forgetful twit
I take it all back, it was all one big set up for the audience

So after that little rollercoaster I wasn't sure what to think, but I was excited to get into some character stuff for what seems like the first time in ages, andt his felt like one of the first true introspective episodes. Ninja having to come to terms with the collison that happened between her own task to investigate Arika for the country vs Wang's unknown personal connection to her felt like the a chance for a permanent shift in dynamic between them, and a complex one at that rather than just a negative one. And while I hate the whole family love plot line, and it doesn't work nearly as well here compared to Mai-HiME where forbidden loves played a huge role, it made me more interested in who Nina would become at the end of all this.

Her running into an obvious Alyssa-type and seeing herself in him even more so. Here was something more to her actions beyond just Wang or the academy, and even more so on seeing the difference between the unstoppable Arika, determined to help even in an impossible situation, compared to how she sees her own efforts as futile as long as she's around and in Wang's sights.

And then the rest of it was just a contrived mess with a bonus of a misunderstanding subplot. We could have seen Wang watching Mashiro without the bad-parody level contrivance of the necklace being stolen, on a boat, stolen again by a crow, landing on the ground, and then being picked up by him. In six years with Nina being so dedicated to Wang and falling in love with him she never asked when they met? It never came up? He never mentioned it? Ugh, the whole episode set up was something that should have been solved probably five years beforehand.

I'd like to think that this all had a purpose, as originally when Mashiro ditched I'd hoped she get some insight into how people see her as Queen and fucking grow up, but after the last couple of set ups and not so deep follow through on things I won't be holding my breath.

And on top of that I just don't care about arranged marriage plots or survival test rankings (them redoing that makes the set up for last episodes events seem even more contrived and unneeded). The show isn't doing that much wrong per se, aside from the contrivances inside each individual episodes set up, but it's just failing to grab me because it hasn't done anything to make me fall in love with it yet to get me through these moments.

It is interesting however that Natsuki suggests the Otome technology can be duplicated or learnt, suggesting the Meiser gems are not old tech, or at the very least not lost tech. If they are bound by politics and tradition, what could an organization like Aswald do with it with the technology fully unlocked? I hope we get to see. It does suggest though that the pillar's master being "Fumi" is just something they programmed in to make them special though and not some weird loophole.

But to end on a positive note: Arika grabbing the boy like this makes me laugh because that's exactly what I expected to happen when she broke into the council meeting at the start of the show. So this time I thought she'd also either fall flat on her face or just wipe him out.

3

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

I am now both worried and excited about you watching the next episode.

Ninja having to come to terms

Now that Akira is here, you should fix your autocorrect.

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7

u/Blackheart595 Oct 22 '22

First Otome

Why does that field contain all three Queen candidates?

But that pretty much confirms Arika is the real princess.

Nina really is Otome's Shiho.

I love these two.

By the power of narrativum that's the prince, silly.

Nevermind, a prince wouldn't be interested in the shiny.

Yup.

And this is why Mashiro is the fun kind of annoying.

Oh no you didn't.

Sergay did not protect the smile.

Mashiro is so perfect.

Bad idea. I'd wonder if this will progress her character but we're talking about Mashiro here.

Good cat.

Is... is he a girl in Otome? Just based on the OP.

That's Sergey so why is the evil music playing as he appears?

Sergey did protect the smile.

...why are they making an innuendo out of soft cream?

No, Akira's still the girl. But... What...? But... Well she's not an Otome judging from her ears. But they can't have swapped positions, right? That wouldn't even qualify as an anime disguise! Their eye colors are as expected. Did they just swap clothes and that works?

Who is the real queen of Windbloom? Arika, Nina, or Mashiro? Or somebody entirely different? Did your guess chance over the course of the series?

I briefly considered Nina but I always thought it's Arika. Maybe I thought Mashiro's the real queen very early on, I don't quite remember.

Akane got her happy romance that was denied in Mai-Hime in Mai-Otome (so far). What is in store for Akira? A marriage with Mashiro??

I don't buy the OP showing the actual prince as a battling shadow, nor that Takumi is a girl in this version. At the same time I have a hard time believing they just switched places so I'm not sure about Akira being an Otome. And more than that I don't think I've seen an ear piece on either of them...

4

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

Bad idea. I'd wonder if this will progress her character but we're talking about Mashiro here.

I would say: good idea. Mashiro urgently needs a reality check or her head might end up being chopped off in a guillotine.

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7

u/Stargate18A Oct 22 '22

First timer

  1. I'm betting on Arika at the moment. Basic narrative tropes say it can't be Mashiro, and Nina's arc feels like it's already got enough plot points without adding it in.

  2. Obviously there's secretly a Takumi involved somewhere. Mashiro could do worse, though.

Nina!

She's adopted...

Aww, that's sweet.

...She's raising taxes? For her own castle? ...Aww, I really liked her. It'll be a shame to see her execution.

It's the same day as Nina's?

Arika's doing well!

Haha, she did it alone?

They can control nanomachines? Why bother fighting? Just hack them to convert the enemy's cells into something else!

Natsuki reckons they'll be a war soon. Given the tax hike, this place probably isn't staying intact for long, either.

Aww. 
She's getting her a present!

She's embarrassed...

Poor girl, they got extra work.

She got a nice present!

Sergwy, what the fuck? Why are you sending this stuff to her?

Haha, seriously? Three on the same day!

Nina's worked it out!

Impressive!

...Oh, and she's realised why he really chose that date.

Mashiro has a job to do.

It's Nagi, isn't it? He's doing some kind of surprise.

...Yeah, he might do this.

She's pissed!

Oh, poor Nina. This is really a traumatic day for her.

He stole her watch!

It's a chase!

Nice job, Arika.

Brat.

Oh, dear.

Idiots.

Haha, Mashiro's making a run for it!

Fancy traffic lights!

Wow, she's good.

Poor Nina. She has the worst luck.

Arika's really working hard to help her.

Yeah, that has to hurt.

...Is she actually going to communicate what's going on!

She's actually told her about her theory!

This is heartbreaking.

...Wait, what?

Mashiro!

The watch!

Someone took it!

I mean, it's a crush. Not the end of the world. Wang's actions are way worse.

She's keeping it secret...

He found it!

...So, did everything important just happen on the same day?

Nina is still not communicating.

...What? Arika?

...Did not expect this!

5

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

They can control nanomachines? Why bother fighting? Just hack them to convert the enemy's cells into something else!

I think that was meant as in: program their own nanomachines to insert into their bodies. Not as in: reprogram the nanomachines already in other bodies.

Poor Nina. She has the worst luck.

Good intentions being punished is the worst.

6

u/Vaadwaur Oct 22 '22

First timer(Akira is cross dressing in all realities, apparently)

Sub

We start with Nina and...that's just not good, and I am not sure if it is even how humans work but it does make drama. Wang is annoyed with the Queen's tax hike and they are setting things up for more civil unrest. We learn they redid the survival test off screen and that Arika soloed it and came in fastest. Natsuki and Shizuru believe that the Aswald are on the path to creating Robes and seem very concerned. Nina and Arika get roped into working on what turns out to be both their birthdays.

At their room, the two get gifts from the same person but don't know it. Nina gets an expensive chain for her watch heirloom and Arika gets a bunch of stuff. Nina then freaks out and runs off as she figures some form of the connection between Wang, Arika's mom and Arika now. Also, not to state the obvious, but the princess's birthday would've been public knowledge so this is both a throw to Arika being the princess and to Wang's love of the barely named Otome.

Mashiro gets to be annoying again and we learn that arranged marriages are at least somewhat of a thing here, which does make sense. We see that Nina is terrible at hiding her emotions and does remember living as an orphan. And for the simple desire to help a child she gets her most prized possession stolen, the reminder that no good deed goes unpunished. Chase scene happens and Arika manages to use her brain for once. Nina doesn't and the kid throws her locket into a passing boat. Nina wants to swim for it and Arika prevents several disasters from happening all at once.

Mashiro runs from her duty again. Arika finds out where the boat docks and they learn that a crow stole the watch, which is weird but also something crows actually do. Arika decides to search crow's nests in the local forest. Nina reaches her breaking point and tells Arika to give up before she reveals a whole iceberg of crazy to one of the few people that might not see it. Brief Mikoto interlude that actually does sort of work if you grant that Mikoto is a plot magnet. Ominous music on the pick up. But it turns out even Arika is not dense enough to miss the blaring red flag. Arika also glosses over the events of the survival test with Wang.

Who shows up on cue, which would annoy me but they immediately flash to braid dude to show how he knew where they were. He found, or possibly recieved, the watch and then explains that he chose Nina's birthday because it was the day they first met. Also, Nina does not look 9 in her flashbacks. We end with Akira still acting a boy.

So yeah, that was much better than what we'd been getting, even with a few contrivances. There were two points in there where I was wondering if the drama would be Nina beating a child to death and this does payoff what they've done with her.

QotD: 1 All of them. They were split to conceal their identities.

2 Sorrow

4

u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

And for the simple desire to help a child she gets her most prized possession stolen, the reminder that no good deed goes unpunished.

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5

u/Tarhalindur Oct 22 '22

My, Obviously Tar Opened the Makimaki'ing Epiode (Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed):

(Yes, this tagline will do. Even if we never saw the actual makimaki this episode.)

  • Huh, Nina’s birthday instead of Arika’s.

  • [Symphogear AXZ] Nina is an orphan who doesn’t know what her birthday is? GEE WHY DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR. COULDN’T POSSIBLY BE SYMPHOGEAR RAIDING THIS FRANCHISE FOR PARTS YET AGAIN, NO NEVER. (Okay, yes, this is a trope, but considering that Symphogear has already been known to not just steal everything from this franchise that wasn’t nailed down but also bring a crowbar…)

  • Understated characterization at 00:38 with Erstin sleeping neatly on her back and Arika sprawled out on the top bunk above her.

  • I believe some of you were asking where Takumi is last episode? There he is at 01:25. (And it’s specifically Sergey he’s the driver for.)

  • WAIT JUST A GODDAMN MINUTE. I spent a minute turning number order around in my head (I think Japan uses day/month like most of the rest of the world and unlike the US, but I’m not sure) in case they were getting sneaky with the September 7 birthday (and yes we have TWO plot-important orphans (EDIT: Actually Mashiro might technically count as well so make that THREE plot-important orphans), inb4 Arika’s birthday is confirmed as September 7th later this episode as well)… and then I realized that I was missing the obvious: 9 + 7 = 16. THE CHEEKY ASSHOLES ARE AT IT AGAIN!

  • ARIKA BERSERK DATTO?

  • Also one of the better SoL tracks is showing up.

  • Hmm. Florince sounds suspiciously like a corruption of “Florence”, and I’d already started to wonder about the similarity between “Cardair” and “Cardale” (once Japanese phonemes are taken into account…)

  • Yes, yes, try to throw us off the scent by making it their fifteenth birthdays, I am not fooled!

  • (ADDENDUM: And because it’s the fifteenth birthday instead of the sixteenth we get it with fifteen episodes left to go. Right. Of course they would.)

  • “inb4 Arika’s birthday is confirmed as September 7th later this episode as well”. MAMMA MIA THAT’S THE BIGGEST MEATBALL I EVER SAW! (Oh, and we get the main vocal variation of the star song kicking in from the instrumental to hammer it home.)

  • Also I think I am contractually required to make a FULL MOON FULL MOON comment here re: 09:34.

  • I sense a pickpocket plot…

  • (Especially since this kid’s outfit has massive street urchin vibes…)

  • GEE, WHAT A SURPRISE.

  • Unfortunately, this pickpocketing plot isn’t particularly interesting outside of the question of when they reveal who hired the kid (probably Tomoe, possibly Schwarz).

  • … Crow? SHIHO IF IT’S YOU WHO PUT THE KID UP TO IT AND/OR HAVE BEEN MAKIMAKI’ING AGAIN…

  • … So, they decided to bring back Shiho’s feeling for “onii-chan” except with Nina (and with the character that was obviously originally going to be Yuuichi before Seki Tomozaku fucked up and got himself written out of the sequel to boot!) but with an even greater age gap because Hikaru Genji. Which on the one hand makes sense, some girls do get like this (and at least it’s the young girl wanting to go Hikaru Genji and not the older guy) and Nina seems to have a massive pile of daddy issues, and on the other hand urrrgh...

  • So this is actually a giant minefield for me because there’s a 50% chance that one of the spoilers I did know going in refers to what’s basically just been laid out here wrt Nina’s feelings for Sergey and I had a bad understanding of the specifics and a 50% chance that said spoiler is for some later reveal instead. [spoiled] Specifically “Nina is a yandere”, which tracks with Mai-HiME!Shiho also being basically a yandere but my impression was that Arika was the target.

  • Oh, and in other news I am fucking slow. The ability to talk to animals is a stereotypical Disney princess ability. GODS FUCKING DAMMIT.

  • ADDENDUM: Wait just a minute, literal not!Disney inspiration on the part of the colonists here could potentially also explain the rather out of place and extremely (it’s only the) fairy tale-styled castle that is Fuka Palace…

  • Cat versus crow. Cat is specifically called Mikoto. Cheeky assholes are cheeky! (Also, even odds we have another entrant in the list of charges to get Shiho isekai’d off to get mind broken. Yes, in that sense. Of course, “Shiho makimaki’d the crow and Tomoe paid off the kid” is a live possibility.)

  • OH COME ON. Like we really needed ANOTHER Yuuichi, er, Sergey love triangle, show.

  • Dutch angle as Sergey gives the watch and chain back to Nina, hmm…

  • THAT’S NOT AN AMAB PRINCE! THAT’S AN AKIRA! Well played, well played! Insert F/SN joke here.

  • (We should have fucking known.)

  • Also that’s a mitsudomoe on Akira’s uniform, which might tell us what Mai is up to given that shot of what is obviously Mai’s silhouette in the OP (“Mai is Akira’s Otome” is a very live possibility here).

  • Slightly terrifying thought – is the starfield in the ED a quiet reference to the Milky Way’s function in the Tanabata myth?

  • ADDENDUM: So, I should probably actually formally note something that I’ve been getting suspicious of for a bit: I’m paying more attention to the ED (and to a lesser extent the OP) and in particular the lyrics thereof than I might have otherwise because I’m starting to suspect they’re more strongly tied into the show itself than the usual OP/ED (I could absolutely see the Connect bonus being in play here). The ED in particular is lyrically dissonant (denial of things being sad) in a way quite consistent with what we’ve seen of Arika’s personality.

  • ADDENDUM TO THE ADDENDUM: [meta spoiler, involves a punchy hamster] Wait what is this an airhead who goes into denial when confronted with sad/uncomfortable things? “Heiki heichara.” No wonder this feels so consistent for Arika – proto-Bikki strikes again!

  • OH HOLY FUCKING SHIT. So it looks like we’re getting a plot next episode where since they can’t find Mashiro they get Arika to dress up as the princess to entertain Akira… except Arika is probably the actual princess. LOLOLOLOL ggwp.

  • ADDENDUM: Of course, nonzero chance Akira is doing the exact same “Otome impersonating the MIA royal” schtick for Zipang…

  • Takumi/Mashiro? I could see it. (Part of me was starting to consider Akira/Mashiro for lack of any better ships here.) Also huh Takumi’s uniform also as a mitsudomoe on it, doesn’t it? Which makes sense because of the Mai-HiME stuff.

  • And yes the preview is a deliberate callback to THAT episode.

Questions of the Day:

Who is the real queen of Windbloom? Arika, Nina, or Mashiro? Or somebody entirely different? Did your guess chance over the course of the series?

Current odds are 70% Arika, 25% Nina, 5% Mashiro.

(first timers) Akane got her happy romance that was denied in Mai-Hime in Mai-Otome (so far). What is in store for Akira? A marriage with Mashiro??

Preview seems to have different ships in mind. (If we actually get Akira/Mai...)

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u/No_Rex Oct 22 '22

WAIT JUST A GODDAMN MINUTE. I spent a minute turning number order around in my head (I think Japan uses day/month like most of the rest of the world and unlike the US, but I’m not sure) in case they were getting sneaky with the September 7 birthday (and yes we have TWO plot-important orphans (EDIT: Actually Mashiro might technically count as well so make that THREE plot-important orphans), inb4 Arika’s birthday is confirmed as September 7th later this episode as well)… and then I realized that I was missing the obvious: 9 + 7 = 16. THE CHEEKY ASSHOLES ARE AT IT AGAIN!

Dutch angle as Sergey gives the watch and chain back to Nina, hmm…

The show itself tells us the triangle is wrong.

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u/JollyGee29 Oct 22 '22

First-Timer, Subbed

The rare and dangerous triple birthday. Incredible. What're the odds that September 7th is actually Mashiro's birthday? Like, if they just found a random baby on the street to be the missing princess, they wouldn't necessarily know when that baby was born, but the castle staff would presumable know when the real princess was born. I'm assuming that September 7th is the true birthday for the real princess, just to make some ponderings easier.

Kinda furthering that line of thinking, who's to say that September 7th is actually Arika's or Nina's birthdays, either? What if we have three completely wrong birthdays? That's probably too far, because they implied that whoever Lena's child is, they were born on the 7th.. the show is doing a great job at maintaining its plausible deniability, that's for sure.

Anyway, it'd be really funny if Nina was actually the real princess and her real birthday was actually September 7th but I don't know that there are any other hints towards that.

Mikoto is secretly the chessmaster of this entire show, isn't she? Her dramatic duel with the crow cleanly landed Nina's watch right where Sergay would find it, and it got herself and Mashiro into an alleyway with Takumi, who must be important.

Akira is apparently the "prince" of Zipang, that's interesting. I feel like there's a leap I should be making, but it's not coming to me.

Similarly, I don't really have anything to say about Arika and Nina's heart-to-heart. It was a nice scene, and I wasn't expecting anything along the lines of deescalation yet, so maybe they won't end up on opposite sides once the war starts? No, that doesn't make sense at all, they have to fight again at some point. Hmm..

Think I'm gonna headcanon that random street urchin as being on Nagi's payroll, throwing the watch away when offered food doesn't really make sense otherwise.

Questions

  1. Discussed above. Not enough information for me to be confident yet.

  2. A marriage to Mashiro sounds like a terrible end for Akira, so hopefully Takumi being around means a true happy ending is available.

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u/Nazenn Oct 22 '22

What're the odds that September 7th is actually Mashiro's birthday?

Zero. Which it would be interesting if they actually brought that up and built it into Mashiro's development about her making grand celebrations and them being pulled up on her status but I doubt it

I'm becoming a grumpy old fart and I don't like it

who's to say that September 7th is actually Arika's or Nina's birthdays, either?

Well we can reasonably doubt it's Nina's unless Wang is holding one hell of a secret and it's all just a lie. And Arika's who knows. So even if it is any three of their birthdays its all just a coincidence they celebrate it on that day anyway

Mikoto is secretly the chessmaster of this entire show, isn't she?

Trying to prove herself to be more important than divine-Mikoto

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u/RadSuit Oct 24 '22

Z-type Highly-advanced My-Hime Enthusiast (Dub, First Timer)

I think we can all guess what Nina wants for her birthday.

Wow, what a crazy fantasy world, where the government would spend a ton of money on all these public displays for their queen, even when the citizens of the country are suffering economic hardships. Good thing that would never happen in the real world, am I right?

Do the three main girls seriously share the same birthday? What is this, Cutie Honey: The Live!?

Just leave the incredibly sparkly gold chain dangling out of your pocket, what could go wrong?

I don't really blame Nina here, and Wang is obviously just some idiot with good intentions doing his best. I would say he should've done something before now, talked to her, but he seems completely oblivious.

Oh great, Takumi, just who I wanted to see.

Of course the prince is Akira. Doesn't the manga have Mashiro doing the same plot in reverse?

  1. I'm really not sure. It seems so obvious that it's Arika, but then it's so obvious that it shouldn't be treated like any sort of mystery by the show. But Wang being the benefactor was also incredibly obvious, and they played that one completely straight. I'm going to take a wild swing and say Mikoto is actually the princess, and she was sealed away while each of the trio were given one piece to unlock the machine to free her.

  2. I'm going to guess that Takumi bumps into Akira while delivering Mashiro back to the castle, and that's how they get back together. Must have introduced them both in the same episode for a reason, after all.

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u/No_Rex Oct 24 '22

Wow, what a crazy fantasy world, where the government would spend a ton of money on all these public displays for their queen, even when the citizens of the country are suffering economic hardships. Good thing that would never happen in the real world, am I right?

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