Mai-Hime ep 26
Erm… Okay.
On the good side, it wasn’t some cheesy reset.
On the other hand, it was the corniest revive I’ve ever seen. Um, so basically after painting everything in swathes of blood-red angst and black despair, we have… Sentai Hime! Please, I like my anime slightly less schizophrenic.
Then again, I have to give kudos to the fact that it wasn’t a reset, that everyone is back for the ending, with their memories, and life goes on as usual. Gee, talk about having your cake and eating it, and getting seconds too. Excuse me while I go into a sugar overload.
Personally, I was pretty much done with ep 25. That was the whole story of Shizuru and Natsuki, and since I don’t really care much for Mai-HiME as an anime, ep 26 is just kind of an extra, heh. So, even though absolutely nothing made sense and nothing was explained and stuff just happened to the whims of the writing staff as opposed to following some even vague rule of logical consistency and human motivation, I’m not particularly bothered.
I am slightly disturbed, however, by the idea that everything that came to pass had no bad consequences whatsoever. I think we really got hammered by the idea that we should no deny our feelings of love, that it’s best to accept them straightforwardly, fully. But, uh, hello… There was a particular someone who significantly reduced the population of the city.
Uh, but dammit… they’re cute! Argh!! They’re so cute! It’s makes me want to gag but they’re so cute I think I’ll just turn off that side of my brain and take it for what it’s worth. -_-;;
One thing I complained about was how the resolution in ep 25 neatly rested on the fact that Natsuki and Shizuru avoided any sort of aftermath… I mean you say what you need to say, then you die, so no worries about how to deal with the situation in the future. This ep turned that right on it’s head, since everyone comes back at the exact instance they green-sparklied. And Shizuru, ah Shizuru, crying into Natsuki’s arms, “Forgive me, forgive me!” That seriously, seriously made the whole thing worth it.
Everything else can be considered a different show *laugh*
Dammit, damn Sunrise and their stupid “Cast Level 99 Gag Anime Transformation”. I guess it’s consolation for those who liked eps 1-7.
I’d love to see a back story on how Shizuru and Natsuki really deal with the aftermath, that very evening once they have some time together alone. Wouldn’t that make a great psychological exploral?
As for Shizuru herself, the only way I can accept her return to normality is if her mental deterioration and subsequent rampage were due to the “curse of Kiyohime”, and that once she revived her mind became clear. Otherwise… bleh, you just substitute one brand of insanity for another.
Ah… demo Kaichou… yappa saikou da (*´Д｀)
So what I guess I’m trying to say is, Shizuru and Natsuki, Forever! In any shape or form? Ah, what weak-willed creatures we are; despite our eternal complaining, we’ll roll over and take it all, as long as you feed us enough warm fuzzy shots of these two :P
5 Responses to “Mai-Hime ep 26”
can u tell me what is natsuki saying to afro sensei and shizuru and why she’s doing all that faces on the scene with the cherry blossom trees?thanx
By mai hime fan on Apr 1, 2005
Teacher: “Well, it’s all over now. The HiME star is gone, and the organization (First District) has been disbanded.”
Natsuki: “Just a teacher, eh?”
Teacher: “Where are you going now?”
Natsuki: “I don’t know. But I need some time to refocus myself.”
Teacher: “Hold on there. As a teacher, there’s something I have to tell you.”
Natsuki: “What?”
Teacher: “You attendence record is absolutely inadequate. If you fail, you’ll have to stay back and redo your first year all over again.”
Natsuki: “Wait wait, can’t you do something about that?!”
Teacher: “Absolutely not! I don’t think you should be headed off to some long journey.”
Natsuki: “Wait!”
Shizuru: “Staying back a year… Isn’t that nice.”
Natsuki: “Shizuru…”
Shizuru: “I guess I’ll just forget about graduating, too!”
BTW, if I heard it correctly, I do think all the HiMEs were somehow cursed to act the way they did. Which means Shizuru was abnormally psychopathic during the whole festival… I dunno if this version is an improvement though ^^;; Pure Natsuki, she’s in for a long year at school!
By No Make Girl on Apr 1, 2005
The 4chan posters had this show pegged and locked:
(posts edited for language)
That’s anime for you, where as long as you have happy happy feelings everything turns out in the end
wheelchair girl: EVRY1 GET HAPPY
MVP’s: *revive* lololthx
Mai: I like j00, mik0to
Mikoto: omg rlymai?! zomg *mikoto no longer under bros control
Kokuyou-no-kimi: OMG DIE B**CHES
HiME: WE HAPPY *happy feelings destroy kokuyou*
Kokuyou-no-kimi: F**KING H4X *dies
Also, I’m one of those fans that only cared about Natsuki and Shizuru. That’s why I didn’t even bother with the raw and the 2chan screens. But this whole reset event — and that’s what is, as all the angst and rage and bad things just disapear instantly. Akane’s psychological collpased is reversed in a matter of seconds. All the guys Nao’s victimized? Just funnin’ them. And the eye is healed so no hard feelings.
Okay so Natsuki’s forgiven Shizuru for molesting her in her sleep and going psycho. Yukino’s seen her disapear Haruka and then laugh about it. “Kannin!” all better. Shizuru tried to murder Nao. “Kannin!” no hard feelings. Okay. But what about all the complete strangers she’s run down and butchered? Actually if this show wasn’t such a hardcore failure at dealing with these hard issues, I could say her flippant, blithe attitude towards her actions shows her psychopathy.
By GUTB on Apr 3, 2005
Well, dealing with the whole show is a bit too much for me. Honestly, if I had liked the show itself, I would have felt pretty cheated by that ending. As it is, I think the whole thing is an incredible disservice to Shizuru and Natsuki. You had this character, Shizuru, who was incredibly complex and conflicted, struggling, breaking… but in the end it was all just “the shroud of evil”.
How absolutely unfair. If the revive (reset implies deletion of memory) removed all responsibility for their actions, the implication is that all the emotions that crashed through those episodes also don’t count for anything now.
I find this extremely sad and disappointing. Shizuru was incredible because she embodied those extremes of emotions. Without them, as you can see, she is but an airheaded 18 year-old schoolgirl whose glompee happens to be a girl.
I’d like to subscribe to my private theory that the OL’s Evilness doesn’t cause the HiMEs to act completely out of character; rather, it simply amplifies their “omoi” and removes the normal inhibitions people have. The HiMEs are special not because they are ordinary people who got caught up in some extraordinary festival; they are extraordinary people who were given an unusual avenue to express their feelings.
But the stronger the feelings, the stronger the consequences. Yes, both good and bad. You don’t just live happily ever after in some pink haze. You laugh and cry and weep and smile and despair and soar, from day to day, and that’s what makes life.
Or so I would like to think. Huh, no wonder I can’t watch Jump anime anymore.
By No Make Girl on Apr 3, 2005
The series was great, I just wish they had less plot holes, then it’d be more popular.
I kind of appreciate it not dominating, though. I mean… imagine a Cartoon Network version.
….
Well, I guess they can leave in about three episodes worth. Yuri and shoujo-ai don’t get the credit they’re due.
One more season coming. I hope we get more Shizuru and Natsuki in it. Maybe married? Living together?
And can they kill Shiho off? Violently? Maybe have her get stepped on or something?
By P-chan on Aug 23, 2005