Shizuru and Natsuki - over too soon!
For some reason, domestication perhaps, these two weren’t terribly exciting in Mai Otome. Natsuki, the somber Headmaster of Garderobe, and Shizuru, her loyal second-in-command.
Then came ep 17, when the brown stuff hit the fan, we incur much destruction and, yes, death, betrayal, angst, fury, tragedy… blah blah… But you know, I only had eyes for Shizuru and Natsuki :D
Shizuru - cool and collected and competent as ever, she’s apparently an excellent fighter even without her robes. And dang, they stuck the good artist on her for this ep, she looked awesome oozing ultra kyoto style as she tells Natsuki to beat it while she handles the riffraff.
Natsuki - much talk, no action for 16 eps, and sadly not much here either (it’s hilarious to hear her complaining in the voice over for the ep 18 preview!). All the same, I really like this Natsuki a lot. Probably has to do with the fact that she’s no longer a 16-year-old kid with some messed up emotional baggage and attitude to match, heh.
In any case, these two rule, and have waaaaay too little screen time.
On a plot-related note, I guess the writers are trying to match the emotional whammy of Mai-HiME, but it’s not doing much for me. I was shocked when Kazu-kun bit the dust, flabberghasted when Mai’s Child went ballistic, and completely, completely postal when Shizuru pulled the nasty. I have no idea what it would take to equal that in Mai Otome. It’s just not quite serious enough, even when it’s being serious, if you know what I mean.
Enough, just give me more of Shizuru and Natsuki being cool.
Not too excited by Natsuki’s transformation, Shizuru’s “Materialize!” was much cooler :D
I want a poster of Shizuru…
