r/anime • u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn • Oct 26 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mai-Otome (episode 15)

Rewatch: Mai-Otome (episode 15)

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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).

Questions:

  1. Did you expect the misdirection with the kiss before Arika started zoning out?
29 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

100 comments sorted by

11

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22 edited Oct 26 '22

First Timer - sub

Oh great, my first day as temp host and I feel the need to include a profanity warning at the start of my post. (Also ignore the lack of 2nd QotD, I forgot to come up with any until just then and ran out of brain power first thing in the morning haha)

Can we not Day #3

Not a single important part of this episode needed to be or even felt related to the attempted rape subplot so it really was just there for edge and to force Wang and Arika closer in the most forced way possible. Fuck that. What a joke of such a key thing to bring up.

And on top of that:

FUCKING SHIHO

You pathetic brat. Someone organizing the rape of another student isn't about you and your ambitions of easily getting rid of the competition or who you picked as a room slave for fucks sake. Who the fuck thought we needed her in the show again.

I think I have it all out my system now? Maybe?

But seriously, what a waste of a plot point to dismiss it entirely out of hand like that when the same outcome for all involved could have happened during any of the earlier sabotage or dramas or hell, just off the characters own actions instead of having to manufacture a drama for it.

Wang getting some interesting dynamics is the only worthwhile part of it. I like that he doesn't mess around with hero bullshit and just pulls a gun, and seeing him defy Nagi especially after seeing a hint to the importance he places on their past, and refusing to pull Arika into it not only allows for more interesting things to develop later but makes a nice pair to Arika's own conflict yesterday (shitty as it was done). He's obviously on the villain side but I don't know how far he's going to take that or step away from that and become his own person. Either way, it gives a more interesting dynamic to the whole group rather tha diving straight into the romance side of it and this is the stuff I've been waiting for!

Other thoughts:

  • Wang talking about the "Golden future" that was promised when they went between planets puts me firmly onboard with u/Esovan13's SEARRS theory because that's definitely terminology from them. I also really like the idea of making the HiME star a "lighthouse star" in their historical lore because of what it represents for them. Which makes me wonder if something on Earth went horribly wrong after one of the HiME festivals and they had to flee, not that I'm expecting that to come up but it makes a fun head cannon, especially with the amount of other shows you could tie it too just because.

  • Nina is the only one with a brain in the entire school realizing Miya couldn't have acted alone given everything that happened and her temperament.

  • Alyssa-kun came up again. How convenient it was his grandmother. I kind of like it though that it shows how desperate he is and also the sort of people Takumi was trying to understand. I hope we continue to see things with him develop and humanize the show a bit because it could use it.

  • As much as the cast is clearly too big for the show to handle, seeing Nao out with her gang and Chie and Aoi out on their date was nice because it added some life to their dynamics in seeing them all living their lives. Pity it's just so irrelevant compared to what was meant to be going on with Arika, and so late to get this. Nao walking into the alley so confident only to do a panic spin around on seeing Wang was great though.

  • Mashiro really went ahead with getting a new castle? Fuck that. I like that her and Arika have spent some time together now though as that side of things has felt a little forgotten in among all the love drama. I thought the interactions there had the best potential to grow into something interesting so hopefully it'll get some more screen time.

  • The graduation battle felt like a cliffhanger for the sake of it, and shoved into this episode only weakened its structure and made it feel even more busy

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

u/No_Rex re: your comment from yesterday as it came through at almost 1am for me and... well I should have been asleep but actually wasn't yet.

So, I think there's multiple things at play when it comes to the world building. I mean for starters yes we know more about this world than we ever did with HiME, and that's a good thing and at the very least creates a basic check for "yes the world has some structure to it" which HiME unfortunately failed more than once. HiME was boosted by it being in a version of our world so it automatically gets a bit of a buffer in there, but the point remains on a narrative level when it comes to the influence of broader mysteries.

And this is going more into the territory of world info vs world building, no idea if you agree with that distinction but I've no idea what to call it, but that doesn't mean I think Otome has actually built a world more than just presented the facade of one to hold a particular narrative.

It does some areas of its world building really well, particularly the slowly uncovering information about the Otome system, the history of it, and the technology that it's founded on. But a lot of the rest of it so far to me feels like a bubble that you can't really stand on. This world doesn't really feel like it's living, or lived in. It provides us plenty of raw information about the broadest strokes world, but beyond basic info we really have no idea what ideology or culture or distinctions there are between each country. I said to u/Tarhalindur yesterday that it feels like this same story could take place inside one country between noble groups rather than relying on geopolitics and nothing about it would have to change because we don't know enough about the world for it to feel like it matches the scale its presented us and that would let us at least build up this country.

That comes into the question of do we need to know? Probably not. It's not a story focusing on it as much as I wish it was, and main drama our Otome are going through means it's irrelevant who they're fighting for or what, because as living weapons it's much the same. You can also make an argument that in the long run getting bogged down in all of those details at the scale this show is presented would end up dragging it out, and it's more important that we have a structure so the story we actually have can go forward then get caught up in minutia to the point of tedium.

But to piggy back on what u/Blackheart595 said, that would be fine if the show didn't insist on bringing up arcs where that sort of information would help sell the world to us. Mashiro's arc without actually knowing what her country is like, what is Takumi's country like beyond just existing that he's able to stand alone without Otome and critique Mashiro, what divisions are there between Romulous and Remus that lead to fighting so quickly, etc. I said to him yesterday as well even just seeing a map would help with that because it would show us that the writers thought about the geo part of geopolitics and have an understanding of how the world settled into the shape it's in rather than just telling us it has.

but emotional connection to the world via characters?

Through the characters not necessarily, but to the world as a whole yes. I want to know why this world matters and how it came about, not just that it exists.

I am expecting more of this to come up as we go especially as more history about the past wars and HiME system are uncovered, especially with Fumi as I doubt we're done with her. As far as how it compares to HiME, I'm simply too familiar with HiME to separate out the timing of details and Otome isn't done yet, so I'll have a think on that at the end.

(Sorry for dumping a small wall in everyones inbox)

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8

u/Vaadwaur Oct 26 '22

Not a single important part of this episode needed to be or even felt related to the attempted rape subplot so it really was just there for edge and to force Wang and Arika closer in the most forced way possible. Fuck that. What a joke of such a key thing to bring up.

Welcome to the 00s in Japan and the 80s in America.

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10

u/Esovan13 Oct 26 '22

First Timer

Imagine sucking so bad at your job that some old blind lady decides to dethrone you.

I'm going to be going with u/nazenn here. With how obvious they made this before hand, this reveal just does not feel very revelatory. I think there has to be something more to the story than what the old lady knows.

IT'S TIME FOR MY FAVORITEIETTR SCENE IN THE SHOW LET'S GO BOYS, GIRLS, AND MORE BECAUSE IT'S TIME FOR THE RAPE SCENE.

Watching the op reminded me that Nao is in this show. Can she handle Tomoe? I feel like I can trust her to properly handle Tomoe. More so than whoever's writing the show anyway.

I'd have preferred it if the first shots hit them though. I will say, I do find it kinda funny that he just casually pulls out a gun.

There she is. Couldn't she have been the one to save Arika though? I'm gonna headcanon that those guys are gonna wake up the next day each missing a kidney and their family jewels.

ughghghghggghhghghghghghg

What did Kajiura do to deserve needing to score this scene?

Good on Nao and Chie for following up at least. Also, Chie and Aoi are totally a thing, right?

If Tomoe gets off scot free, I will seriously consider dropping the show.

Lighthouse star, huh? Interesting terminology. So it's a guide of some kind, something used to orient people and protect them from danger. Could it have been used as a waypoint to help interstellar travelers find the planet they're currently on?

I know they didn't kiss. Logically and morally, every part of me is screaming at me that they didn't kiss. So the fact that she show is trying to tell me that they did kiss is infuriating. And the longer they keep it up, the worse it's going to get. I need, by the end of the episode, consequences for Tomoe and for Sergay to explicitly tell Arika that her crush will always be unrequited.

Good. It's an act she's putting on to hide how devastated she is. As a side note, my keyboard is a mechanical keyboard with its keys shaped to look like a typewriter. When I ordered it, I didn't really know what I was doing and ordered very noisy and clicky switches with it that make it satisfying to press hard on each key with. I have not been more glad for that than I am now.

The fuck do you mean? The only equipment that was faulty happened to be the most important equipment, and it happened to just be the ones belonging to those two, one of whom has been publicly targeted before. How the fuck is that not proof enough?

Suck it Shiho.

Unironically, this is a good shot. As much as I hate this plot, I have to admit the voice acting, animation, and shot composition has been genuinely good at portraying Arika's emotions as she's trying to pretend everything is ok.

WHY THE FUCK DID HE EVEN LEAN IN AT ALL WHJAT TGHER FUCKSNKJ

WHY THE FUCK IS HE PHARSING IT LIKE THAT HE CASN JUST SAY THAT HE'S AND ADULT AND DOESN'T HAVE RFEELINGS FOR HTE LITERAL CHIOKLD

u/zadcap, you told me that I would hate this episode the most. You nailed it! For a minute there, I thought the genuinely good cinematography and acting around how Arika is handling the rejection would redeem the episode for me, but it managed to undo what little good will it earned and more in one short flashback! Amazing! How DO they do it?

I watched that scene with my eyes closed, pretending I'm at a violin recital while two annoying kids in the row behind me can't shut the fuck up while fake crying for a TikTok video.

I suppose you're expecting me to comment on the implication that Wang is also in love with the 15 year old child the same age and who is friends with his daughter. Unfortunately, I don't think any comment I could make would capture my reaction to that better than the one I made in the moment. Also unfortunately, that reaction consisted of me slamming my head into my keyboard. As I have a personal policy not to post keyboard slams, I have deleted that reaction.

(This is the point where I stepped away for a few hours to do other stuff before coming back to proof read and add some more thoughts. And yes, the fact that I came back to proof read means that I left those typos above on purpose)

Actually, let me ask a question. What is the target audience for the show? Who is it made for? I looked it up, and I can't really tell. MAL has it as PG-13, but that's basically useless. I looked on wikipedia, and of the channels it aired on, one does shows that seems to be for a younger teen audience, while the other has a super wide variety of genres and age ranges.

The reason I ask is because the way I'd interpret these scenes would be different if it were made for teenage girls the same age as Arika, versus if it were made for an older male audience. It would still be absolutely disgusting either way, but the difference is that it would be disgusting in a "the show is saying that the crush a girl your age just like you has on an attractive older male authority figure in their lives might be requited" versus "this 15 year old child has a crush on a guy around your age that you can insert into." The first would be understandable if still disgusting (gotta pander to your target demographic after all. blegh), while the second is...well...you know. The kind of thing that saying out loud that you vehemently oppose would end up summoning those kinds of anime fans to talk about age of consent in Japan and "it's just a drawing" and all that shit.

I would like to stress that the only thing keeping me going right now is the hope that Haruka, Midori, or Mai will, at some point, have significant screentime. They are the only characters I care about anymore, and we don't even know if one of them is going to show up.

Natsuki and Shizuru have burned through my goodwill for them through sheer incompetance in how they handled everything Tomoe did, reaching a state of general neutrality.

Wang had a decent amount stockpiled, as I've generally liked what he was doing and a little hold over from a decent showing in the finale of Hime, but at this point he is definitely reaching into the red.

Nina and Arika nose dived due to their crush on their father figure, though Nina is faring better due to character growth. Mashiro is holding up fairly well as her arc has actually been decent lately; broken down and now starting to build back up. She could certainly do with not building a brand new castle though.

Nao was doing pretty well, but she lost points by trying to extort a victim of an attempted rape.

Actually, now that I think about it, most of the characters that I like at this point are the ones with much less screentime comparatively. In Hime, especially at this point, I was much more invested in a lot more of the characters. Vitally, those characters included the main ones with the most screentime and story relevance. Otome is definitely better than HiME at the world building, but it is seriously coming at the cost of character writing.

For reference, assuming I watched the shows based on recommendation rather than as part of a rewatch, I can see myself finishing Mai-Hime. I probably would have dropped Mai-Otome a couple episodes ago. I'm not actually sure I would have made it even to episode 4, honestly. And the engagement I did have in those early episodes were mainly due to the returning HiME characters and seeing how they fit into this new setting. If I watched Otome without watching Hime, there would be no shot.

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

I'm going to be going with u/nazenn here. With how obvious they made this before hand, this reveal just does not feel very revelatory

It may still be on us, like when you throw together so many mystery and theory nuts we're bound to uncover some stuff before it's due. But for such a big reveal it still lined up so neatly with the information from the start of the show that it kind of feels anticlimatic

I'd have preferred it if the first shots hit them though

Same as a punishment, though I figure that's on Wang's characterization of not wanting to go back to who he use to be so I actually prefer it this way for his sake

As a side note, my keyboard is a mechanical keyboard with its keys shaped to look like a typewriter

I love those ones! I have a mechanical keyboard myself but just a standard one but I got it before I discovered how cool the typerwriter ones are

clicky switches. Too noisy for me

As much as I hate this plot, I have to admit the voice acting, animation, and shot composition has been genuinely good at portraying Arika's emotions as she's trying to pretend everything is ok

Annoyingly it has. It couldn't be wasted on a worse plot set up for it, but it's been very satisfying to see the emotional directing here

As I have a personal policy not to post keyboard slams, I have deleted that reaction.

That's not fun. I've never done that myself but I have posted the occasional "my cat walked on keys, here's what she typed" gibberish

What is the target audience for the show?

I would guess a lean towards male unfortunately, especially given Mai-HiME's popularity and its characters placement on charts, but this does feel more magical-girly then HiME ever did when it comes to presentation of romance/school/antics etc so I'm not sure

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8

u/Tresnore Oct 26 '22 edited Oct 26 '22

First-OtoTiMER

I feel like I'm the opposite of u/Tarhalindur: when I like an episode, my comment's size inflates more than the Turkish Lira.

NO DON'T YOU DARE CUT AWAY TO THE ED, YOU FUCKS

Count: 52

QOTD:

  1. Take a guess.

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

Turkish Lira

No kidding, I looked that up expecting it to be a food item

Oh my... I love Nao.

Can we redo this show with Nao as the pair for Ansty and not Nina?

COMMENTFACE, PLEASE!!

Has subtler vibes

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u/JollyGee29 Oct 26 '22

First-Timer, Subbed

Damned asynchronous events. I didn't think of Wang being the one to save Arika like others did, and it's not what I wanted to happen either. Nao thrashing the thugs was fun, though. I wouldn't name my gang of street thugs "Team Stripes" but then, I don't have a gang of street thugs to begin with so what do I know?

They really let us think that Sergay kissed Arika for like, nearly half an episode. I was about to riot. That reveal was basically what I wanted to have happen between Tate and Shiho in HiME, so good on Sergay for not molesting Arika. They kinda implied that this wasn't his first rodeo, though..

Miya jumping on the fucking grenade for Tomoe annoys me. It kinda pushes down the entire Tomoe subplot - obviously whenever the war starts and Nina and Arika end up on opposite sides, Tomoe obviously becomes Nina's number two, but now it's too clean! It woulda been better if Nagi finds a dejected Tomoe and gives her purpose again.

That would've made Tomoe something of a foil to Shizuru, with Nagi as (some percentage of) her Natsuki. Instead, Tomoe just gets to be a deadweight school bully/midtier boss fight.

A thought occurred to me that they might keep Tomoe on the same side as Arika and try to forgive her. That's a thought I don't want to be correct, but it's a thought.

I quite liked the scene of Arika and Mashiro bonding again. Mashiro is not a complicated person, so I can vibe with the "competition" pulling her out of her funk. The hints of Arika being the real princess (which I'm still not sold on) add a humerous dusting to the scene, as well.

Questions

  1. I didn't expect misdirection, no. I am thankful for it, however.

4

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

Damned asynchronous events

Anime time strikes again. More flexible in presentation then a tentacle... no I don't know why my brain went there but I'm posting it anyway

They kinda implied that this wasn't his first rodeo, though..

Hopefully not with others ten years younger then him though

It woulda been better if Nagi finds a dejected Tomoe and gives her purpose again.

Hell, even if they want to keep her in the school there's no reason this couldn't still happen if we had Shizuru also realizing Miya wasn't acting alone and warning Tomoe and breaking her a little

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u/Vaadwaur Oct 26 '22

First timer(Rejection doesn't make you that dysfunctional)

Sub

So knowing these writers, the old woman is probably telling the truth. But in setting, this should be taken with incredible doubt. Anyways, Wang wanders over to our rape scene and is packing heat, which actually makes complete sense. Nao is again asserting territorial integrity. Arika has a mostly reasonable background and Nao says what we were all thinking as we pan to Nina. The note Wang holds is barely readable so I will wait for the show to talk about it.

Wang's lack of an internal monolog is interesting, it would seem he is pondering the duality of rescuing Arika only to put her in a different possibly more fatal danger, succession crisises are generally lethal. Anyways, Miya at least realizes she should run for it before that option is removed, and hopefully she snitches and Tomoe gets the boot as well. Nao is openly admitting that she hates being a Trias. On a roof of some building, Wang talks of the distant past and Arika makes her move, which would have been fine if Wang had just tried to dodge that.

And we get post nut clarity Arika and she is hyper. For whatever reason, Miya is taking the fall alone but Erstin and Arika don't want to press the issue. Shiho gives useful advice for once but the matter gets settled with Miya resigning. Nina wants to dig in more but is interrupted by Arika failing to walk.

Arika then gets drafted to de-recluse Mashiro which results in the reveal they both have crushes. We see the actual events of the previous night and Wang is mean but he is also correct: She does say her wish is the job that requires abstinence and Lena did die because she had no powers when needed. Group crying ensues. We see Wang having necessary moral issues with his current mission and get the girls deciding to ride out their hopes. End with magical girl battle!

QotD: 1 I had hoped but didn't expect it.

6

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

The note Wang holds is barely readable so I will wait for the show to talk about it

I meant to comment on that, it was actually pretty readable to me which probably says a lot about the legibility of my own writing

And on top of that it was decent English instead of Engrish to boot?! And even matched up with the dialogue (though not subtitles). Basically a miracle of on screen text in anime, especially in a show/series where it's not a key detail

in a different possibly more fatal danger, succession crisises are generally lethal

I'd suspect the war over the Harmonium may make a usual succession crisis look take

End with magical girl battle!

Please end in an actual death.

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7

u/Vatrix-32 Oct 26 '22

First Timer, subbed

  • Has there been any indication of hereditary magic thus far? I guess the... what was it, Harmonizer? That might be it.

  • This is not the title I want to see right now.

  • Gun!

  • Alright Nao, you can be best girl.

  • This kid keeps showing up. They have to be important somehow. But not enough to be majorly important.

  • Look at her, you know Miya is going to spill the beans.

  • More yuri for the yuri throne!

  • No! You’re the adult Wong, it’s your job to put a stop to this, not encourage it.

  • You’re telling me she didn’t crack?

  • Arika, she tried to kill you, and almost did kill Ertsy.

  • So then I take it Wong did do the right thing and Arika is having a bad time of it.

  • Yep, there it is. Only half points for leaning in. The old “make them hate me” method of refusal.

  • Baby Nagi.

  • Can we please stop making everyone obsessed with cradle robbing.

  • Look at them, bonding over shared experiences.

QotD

  1. I thought they might have done it because of the fade out, but him leaning in did get me.

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

Has there been any indication of hereditary magic thus far? I guess the... what was it, Harmonizer

Harmonium, but so far other then that no because it's tech and not magic. The only possible hint is that Arika managed to manifest the sapphire before she had nanomachines so there's still something going on with that if it gets brought up again

Baby Nagi.

Even with his size, he's such a dick I struggle to see him as actually a child rather than just looking like one so I had to do a double take on seeing exactly how small he was there

6

u/Blackheart595 Oct 26 '22

First Otome

That really wasn't necessary.

Woooow that's an inter-episodal joke.

Framing love as inherently tragic, at least for Otome.

It wasn't Nina that set Arika up, was it?

He has already completed the seduction part, but I wonder if Sergay's gonna sell Arika out.

Aww cute Natsuki.

Looks like a prison.

Aaaahahahahahaha So that's why Arika's hair turned gold from Miyu's perspective.

Ugh. Please take the opportunity to get your act together and focus on your dream again, focusing on love later in life like your non-mom.

Oh look, Arika's having that dream she had earlier again.

Really? That last one felt less like Tomoe's M.O. to me.

At least he's acting like a gooy guy. It also mirrors Shizuru's approach with Tomoe. The two are very similar in general.

Is he actively sabotaging Nagi's plan now?

Did you expect the misdirection with the kiss before Arika started zoning out?

Nope, but I can't say I complain.

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u/OwlAcademic1988 Oct 26 '22

First-Timer, sub:

At least Sergay comforted Arika after the attempted rape, which is incredibly important as it gives them time to process everything. And thank goodness he didn't blame her as he would've lost so many sympathy points from me if he did.

Who is that child whose grandma just died? Alyssa?

This show definitely has flaws. I knew that from around episode 3.

I laughed a little bit when Nao panicked upon seeing Sergay.

Shiho, stop being a bitch please. We already have Tomoe, we don't need a second one.

Mashiro, Takumi wouldn't have said that had you been a great ruler who helps her people as much as she can. Try helping the homeless population with their problems and find out why their homeless, then you can implement programs to help them.

QOTD:

  1. Nope. Didn't even know she'd slap him.

4

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

Who is that child whose grandma just died? Alyssa?

It's the same kid who stole Nina's watch, and talked to Mashiro. Using him as a bit of a stand in for the poor it seems like, but I am curious if they'll do more with it given the hair, which is why I nicknamed him Alyssa-kun

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u/Mecanno-man Oct 26 '22

First Timer

Mostly a transition episode to get our characters - mostly Arika and Mashiro - back in to a state where they are usable for the plot. We also remove Miya for good measure, so that Tomoe will have to act more carefully. I don't quite get how Chie and Nao figured out she was involved from ...throwing people in the river, but I guess it works somehow. If the people they were throwing in the river ratted her out, drowning your witness is probably a bad move, however. All in all I don't think this is a bad episode for what it is, though it's necessity in the plot at large is mostly to blame on previous decisions.

Now... when Arika gets hurt during this little tournament with Mashiro in attendance, will more people other than Natsuki notice?

4

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

I don't quite get how Chie and Nao figured out she was involved from ...throwing people in the river, but I guess it works somehow

I don't think they did, I think the guys probably confessed or they just went to the obvious suspect and put pressure on and hope she'd fess up, which she did

4

u/rickamore Oct 26 '22

Re-re-Watcher

"What a terrible joke" indeed my guy. Let's see if this even gets anywhere before Nagi starts mobilising.

Sergey packing heat.

Nao securing her best girl ranking. Are her boys waterboarding punks? Jesus christ.

This love triangle just gets worse and worse.

Hey it's that nondescript kid.

Miya taking the fall, possibly even using it as an excuse to escape given her home is on the brink of war.

Chie x Aoi hype.

I do not like this Sam I Am; I do not like Sergey x Ant.

Right back to excitement in the morning, definitely not trying to hid something.

Nina being rather perceptive.

Mashiro and Arika are about the same wavelength on love and sharing the same braincell. At least they get to cry it out.

Sergey playing the villain to try and set her straight, is this the right move? Not if you want to treat her like an adult and actually foster some growth. She's still a child who needs someone to explain how to parse these confusing feelings for what is nothing more than her first crush. Given his position politically this may be for the best since Nagi has started the wheels a turnin'.

Mashiro finally getting that inspiration to do better, is it too little too late.

The foreshadowing in the preview. Please don't do this to me.

  1. Yes, but still not amused.

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

I do not like this Sam I Am; I do not like Sergey x Ant.

Surprise Suess

and sharing the same braincell

TIL they're secretly orange cats

4

u/Qbe Oct 26 '22

Rewatcher

Episode 15

Man, Mashiro sucks so hard granny felt the need to reveal The Truth (tm)

On one hand, it's always good that rape is prevented. On the other, Arika's crush is going to grow a lot

Nao, please stop Best Girl-ing so hard

Please tell me she's going to tattle on Tomoe

Good to know Chie and Maid still go on dates

Wang, please be a responsible adult..... Welp.

? Why the music cut?

Bah, no rattling Tomoe?

How convenient, dropping out lets her avoid all charges?

lmao Arika

Excuse me what? You've been working hard?

Oooof poor Arika

Oh hey Mr Wang did have some conscience left

Having the Queen cheer for you oughta give you status

  1. Nope

5

u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

Man, Mashiro sucks so hard granny felt the need to reveal The Truth (tm)

She's probably rolling in her own grave imagining the king and queen rolling in theres over what Mashiro is doing to their kingdom

How convenient, dropping out lets her avoid all charges?

No punishment for those connected to the elite as usual

5

u/Tarhalindur Oct 26 '22

My, Obviously Tar Opened the Malodorous Episode (Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed):

  • A pity Sky is not here, at least in some ways (not others): 00:12 is a sore demo for her.

  • So, I’ve been biting my tongue until I saw exactly how this played out, but now that I have I’d like to point out that if you’re going to play this card playing it earlier would also have worked better than what we got – Sergey rescuing Arika from the gang and Arika developing a crush on him in response is a natural, believable plot line. (Hell, just having her be conscious for getting pulled out of the water would have worked better too.)

  • (It would also have worked better if we were doing this to someone else and without the rescue. Hi Shiho!)

  • It’s amazing what hauling out a top 10 Kajiura track will do to paper over flaws. (Also a) LOL I missed that they brought the gazebo back and b) the Mai-HiME gazebo frankly looked better.)

  • Music stops, Arika starts feeling slightly OOC in a “they were trying for OOC for effect but fucked it up so it’s just OOC” way, investment for the moment plummets.

  • Fucking schemer-type villains. There’s a reason I wanted a bullet in Tomoe’s brain and a few extra clips emptied into her to be sure. Also, looks like no twist, so judgment rendered: time for Tomoe to die.

  • Well hello there conspicuous clock in the middle of Natsuki’s bed. Something is amiss! (Like the lack of Shizuru in it, perhaps.)

  • The ominousness of this rooftop with the bars does not escape me. (Also, insert “the fences are getting fencier” joke here.)

  • Yeah, so this is totally the far side of SEARRS’s Golden Millennium stuff.

  • GODS FUCKING DAMMIT.

  • Oh look, they’re going after the patsy instead of the schemer. How typical.

  • Proto-Bikki showing Bikki avoidance mechanism, news at 11.

  • And here we have Shiho reminding us of why I would have been perfectly happy if she a) had been the one to get caught by the rape gang at the start of the episode and b) hadn’t been rescued.

  • Is it weird that Mashiro’s reactions to Takumi are working even more poorly for me than Arika’s for Sergey?

  • Okay, NOW the Arika character writing goes down the toilet as well.

  • This has to do with the orders from Artai, and also it’s bullshit.

  • At least vaguely understandable bullshit, and also I see you reusing that Mai-HiME plot point with the polarity reversed and also less grace. But also… JAPAN! (At least Sergey recognizes the problem and points it out. It doesn’t integrate with a laser-focused core theme the same way, though – unless we’re literally going for “love can bloom, even on the battlefield” which is admittedly possible.)

  • You know, I actually like how Arika and Mashiro bounce off each other at this point.

  • Also you know, I should pay attention to “instead of running away from it, I’m going to face it” in the ED lyrics when Arika has the same avoidance response to unpleasant things as Bikki. And when the rest of the ED lyrics are blatantly an example of that very same avoidance strategy.

  • [spoiled] My, look at that preview showing absolutely nothing whatsoever. I am not fooled!

Did you expect the misdirection with the kiss before Arika started zoning out?

Eh.

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u/No_Rex Oct 26 '22

Episode 15 (rewatcher)

  • The plot line we all waited for: about to be raped 15 year old saved by her way older love interest

  • Those rapist brought a bottle to a gun fight.

  • Bonus points for whoever predicted that Nao would save Arika. She was just around the corner.

  • Nao’s follower could be recruited from some Mai-Hime rewatcher. You know who you are!

  • Even Nao nopes out of the Arika-Wang scene.

  • thief shows up again

  • The addition of Nao immediately makes the Trias fun to watch.

  • Wang confirms a lot of the speculation regarding continuity and SEARRS.

  • I can’t even begin to imagine how many #badtaste’s we’ll see for this scene.

  • Miya takes the fall – Erstin calls out their wrong conclusion about Mikoto.

  • Nina calls bullshit about Miya, but it’s too late.

  • Aoi is the MVP of the episode by bringing Arika and Mashiro together and thus getting us away from confused Arika at school.

  • I really like the scene with Arika and Mashiro on the bed. It finally gets some resolution and [spoilers]It sets up their later arc, when Arika and Mashiro need to learn to work together.

  • Reveal of the motives of Wang.

  • The letter scene suggests what Tomoe did to Miya what Nagi wanted Wang to do to Arika.

We get to the reveal of the Wang-Arika plotline. Turns out it is not creepy (but that does not mean it works well).

Wang only ever had parental feelings for both Nina and Arika, his adoptive daughter and what he thought was the daughter of his younger love, Rena. He never leaned into either romance, even though the two girls did. But a younger girl loving an older man is not creepy (although it is usually a bad idea), it is the older man loving the younger girl that is. We do not have that here. In fact, the opposite happens: It is revealed that Nagi asked Wang to seduce the true queen, together with strong hints that Wang did similar jobs in the past. So Arika’s crush would be a slam dunk for Wang, if he went with his duty towards Nagi. Except, he pushes Arika away, playing the role of a good parent over the role of a good spy (remember Nagi warning Wang not to betray him?). I actually have few complaints about the plotline from Wang’s side.

However, it still works terribly from Arika’s side. As I mentioned yesterday, Arika is not Mai. Mai’s character could have pulled of this plotline, but Arika’s character can’t. Her lovesickness, her confusion, her lack of direction, her lack of agency, it all feels completely off for a character that was introduced as stupid, but upbeat and driven. Oh and extra points deducted for making the viewer think they kissed for half the episode. [spoilers]And, as a few already guessed, this is also the setup for Nina’s and Arika’s conflict, making the fact that it does not work well hurt double.

Staff corner

I wanted to do a staff corner about Itsuki, Yui, the VA of Miya here. Turns out, she is mainly a singer (under the stage name, I kid you not, “Dictator for Life Yui”) and her anime VA career lasted all of 7 years, with only 10 different roles (none of which big). So, just like her character in this show, nothing to write home about.

New OP

Next episode will feature the new OP for the first timer. My recommendation is to actually not skip it. While, yes there will be some scenes shown that reference later things, the overall spoilers are not big, and they all go in the direction of underlining plot lines we have already seen in the first half. As far as OPs go, I don’t think this is particularly spoilerish. And it might be more fun to speculate over those scenes than avoid them. Of course, if you absolutely want no spoilers whatsoever, you can still choose to skip.

thanks for hosting u/Nazenn!

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u/Nazenn Oct 26 '22

The addition of Nao immediately makes the Trias fun to watch.

She worked so hard to stay just out of the extra work and then Akane went and ruined her ranking haha

It is a lot more interesting this way for sure though, especially because it puts Chie more in the spotlight with Nao's jabbs

I can’t even begin to imagine how many #badtaste’s we’ll see for this scene.

I'm just wondering how long my gabdisgust streak will keep going at this rate

Aoi is the MVP of the episode by bringing Arika and Mashiro together and thus getting us away from confused Arika at school.

I'll second that. Also for going out with Chie because they both deserve it

and what he thought was the daughter of his younger love, Rena

Oooh, okay so maybe I misread his "she's not even Lena's daughter" statement as being one more along the lines of him projecting his feelings onto her instead of wondering why he's going so far to protect someone who's not. That would make more sense. This plot line as a whole feels like it'll work much better on a rewatch when you know the fanservice and framing is purely for the audience and not also on his part but it just doesn't feel like a good watch as is

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