View Full Version : The Mai Otome Season Rating and Final Discussion Thread
This thread was created for rating/discussing the entire Mai Otome season. :)
Subjects that may be discussed in this thread:
General impression on the series
Opinions… like how some things should have been done
Earlier subjects that you feel were misinterpreted
Comments on the concepts of the series
Rating for the series… basically what you liked or disliked about Mai Otome... making comparisons with other series is allowed… but please use Spoiler Tags when referring to them… I for example haven’t seen Gundam Destiny or some of the others that were mentioned in previous ep discussion threads… and having them spoiled wasn’t very nice :(
Spoiler Tag Usage:
Writing this …
Spoilers R us
…will make it look like this…
Spoilers R us
My view on the show :
I liked Otome because it had a great deal of characters... the first time I seen one with so many (I don't think even Bleach or Naruto focused on so much character development... and considering Otome is only a 26ep series it's bold and impressive, IMO)
Another thing that I liked about Otome were the Otome robes... like Natsuki's (silver=gold :cool: )… or Arikas blue sapphire robe… too bad she’s going to use the butchered one (which IMO is uglier then her normal one… )… Nina’s robe is nice too… the black one seems to be cooler when animated (judging from the image on the official site)… perhaps that’s why it wasn’t used earlier on… Miss Maria is cool too...
Now some things that bothered me after Otome finished...
I'm starting to doubt the hole "Tate = Sergay" thing... the only thing they got going for them is the blond hair :eyebrow: ... and I don't remember Tate as a chick magnet (he only had Mai and Shiho if I remember well :rolleyes:)... I'd say that the Captain guy is a much more likely candidate. Here are some of my arguments :
He had some sort of scar… somewhere
Natsuki hated him... with no apparent reason.
He resisted his pervert instincts... in his own way :p
He was a military type of guy
He had some brains...
He knew how to fight... probably
He was the "I want to help people" type of guy (well compared to Tate :eyebrow: )
He survived major blood lost
As for Tate... uh... well...all the arguments I can think of are : he's blond :eyebrow: , and he was a main character.
Full series opinion...
Some people suggested that the series would be better watched from beginning to end in one go :eyebrow:... I bit to differ...HiME was much better watched this way then Otome, in concept and practice… I watched HiME from A to Z after watching Otome ep7 and it was genius... Otome is just one of those series were you’re probably better of watching it every week when it airs, and discussing it with people… it has that type of mystery (well it tried to have that type of mystery)… I think it would get really boring if watched otherwise (of course I could be wrong :P)
My Rating…
One of the strong points of Otome was it's "I R offer" thing from the begging... when it showed the promise of bringing some super exiting story... kind of sucked when it ended up with an average story :( ... oh well the sheer excitement from the beginning can't be taken back... it was totally dumped... but it still counts in the rating ;)... I give it 9.5/10 for the Promise Factor...
Otome didn't reach that high cord with fighting scenes in the second half but up to ep7 it was perfectly balanced... for disappointing in most of the rest of the Ep, and not keeping constant action I give it 7.9/10 (I liked some of the DotVSDot action too :heh:)...
Character development isn't really my thing(I appreciate it :)… but just don’t feel it’s that important to concentrate on developing all the characters in the that type of setting, I personally don’t really like mutants, MO as I see it is suppose to be love story + comedy + war + action + fairy tale + drama… it’s a little too much )… still, for devoting enough time for the Mashiro and Nina I say 9/10 (I'd give it a 10 but Arika's character development sucked on so many levels :mad:)...
Fan-service... hmmm... I saw people complain about it in some of the threads... I think the same people that liked it the most in the begging :rolleyes:*points at Natsuki's naked butt and the beach party*... I personally think it was perfectly balanced... zero to little fan-service in the second part... some constraint in the first... 10/10 :D...
Humor was... uh... ok did we see any that wasn't fan-service ?... a yes MAKI MAKI :D... perfect 10 because I loved it :D... and for being able to make so much of so little :p
Overall I say the series was Good :D
Note : You can also discuss anything in this thread that would go a little off topic in others, like :
Who else thinks Gigi is going to be a main character in the next season, or maybe in the OVA, she gets a lot of screen time for a character that never talks, and her character design looks unique.
I loved it. Not as good as Evangelion, but I shall never find a series that captures my attention so swiftly. I'll edit this post with a review later.. but no time now.. I voted 9/10. Oh yeah.. and.. dare I say it.. it might have beaten HiME for me.. but I'll have to think about this. I only hope Sunrise rakes in a load of cash with the OVAs and we get a series two. I'll be happy just so long as Nina, Natsuki, Nao, Chie, Miyu and Aoi get plenty of screen time.. (Nagi goes without saying) and Erstin comes back from the dead. Hah, well, I'd just be happy if The Mai Project continued.
Silveril
2006-04-12, 16:32
not as good as evangelion? did you even watch the end of evangelion? :p
anyway, i thought that it was a good show, not as good a mai-hime though;
too many characters meaning no developpment for most of them (hello 5 minutes of each pillars action; 2 episodes with mai and mikoto showing) well i can only hope will get something more in the ovas...
also, what's up with so many actionless episodes? some were like *hello? blablablablbalbalbalbalblablablbala nonsense and useless talking blablbalblablbalbla*xD
however there were some good points also: miyu comming back and transforming the moon into a giant pokeball (ahahah I laught so hard), the materialize! sequences, the robes (even thought i have to agree with blackcat (what's up with arika's final robe? it's so ugly!!)..
that must be it.
anyway this is just my opinion x)
SoldierOfDarkness
2006-04-12, 17:47
The series was good, it wasn't super great or super bad, just another ok series.
I'm starting to doubt the hole "Tate = Sergay" thing... the only thing they got going for them is the blond hair ... and I don't remember Tate as a chick magnet (he only had Mai and Shiho if I remember well )... I'd say that the Captain guy is a much more likely candidate. Here are some of my arguments :
And Sergay only had Nina and Arika going for him.
I'm not so sure about Mai since nothing is ever mentioned about it.
shikamarufoo
2006-04-12, 23:41
I loved the series though, it didn't bring out the full potential I thought it had...
Series barely touches on the level that Mai HIme brought to the anime game. The love-story was different and original, something I liked, though the age gap could have been a bit smaller.
The end feels super rushed especially how we get to see all the super-duper cool stuff for only 10 minutes or less.
Characters were great, though not too much development. It was cool though, seeing everyone especially Mikoto in that outfit with Mai-chan~
I loved the music, and it always seemed to fit in with the mood like video game music. 2nd OP was my favorite and ED was ok, though I only listened to it while watching Arika's butt bounge back n forth:heh: lol JK...
Overall 8.5/10
I vote for 9/10
It's not Perfect Than Mai HIME(Forget about the Bad ending and the Worst Ending from Director Cut), Not a Master Piece
But, Mai Otome is a good evolution for the Work of Sunrise
Just forget about some Episode Fanservice (Can count a lot...) But the End was the best... The Music is good too but maybe inferior than Mai HIME and some Kajiura Composition... If You listen some Old Anime With Kajiura, she lost some inspiration and some Music looks Same...
But in the End, 9/10... Watch it, love it...
Give him 8/10 If you haven't watched Mai HIME Yet
Pakxenon
2006-04-13, 00:44
9/10
All it needed was more action and less talking, but otherwise everything was really good, fast-paced (a little TOO fast...), and has addictive factors.
Compared to Mai-HiME, it barely edges out since Mai-Otome was more happier and less tragic. The ending is WAY better than HiME's, though, by a LONG SHOT.
BigPrime
2006-04-13, 01:02
8/10 for me, but I don't think I'd ever give something 10/10 (that would be utter perfection and thus unattainable). It had some flaws, but all shows do. It had fun, cute characters, some good action and a pretty good story. It might have used a bit more action here and there, but what it had was more than good enough. It might have focused some more on some of the other characters, but those we got were well done. The story could have gone a little faster earlier so that it didn't have to rush as fast at the end, but I like the almost slice-of-life aspects of Arikas early days at Garderobe. I like slice of life. It had a good segue into the more serious plot and generally did well without needing any sort of reset to give non-depressing ending. All in all, this show was well worth my time watching it since October and I'll probably sink the money to buy it when/if it comes out Stateside.
until the few last episodes I would give it like 8.5/10, but the action is too fast in the last episodes and they leave so many unaswered questions in the end that I can now give it 7/10 and wait hoping that the OVAs will solve a little.
Mai Hime was much better though.
I'm starting to doubt the hole "Tate = Sergay" thing... the only thing they got going for them is the blond hair ... and I don't remember Tate as a chick magnet (he only had Mai and Shiho if I remember well )... I'd say that the Captain guy is a much more likely candidate. Here are some of my arguments :
He had some sort of scar… somewhere
Natsuki hated him... with no apparent reason.
He resisted his pervert instincts... in his own way
He was a military type of guy
He had some brains...
He knew how to fight... probably
He was the "I want to help people" type of guy (well compared to Tate )
He survived major blood lost
As for Tate... uh... well...all the arguments I can think of are : he's blond , and he was a main character.
You forgot that he wasted Smith.
The Bloodlust Kid
2006-04-13, 17:56
I give it a 8 out of 10.
Otome had great potential, it's only drawback is it's episode limitations.
I thought Mai-HiME would have a great prequel and now the problem has passed down to Otome.
I really do like how Otome was able to create unique societies but the problem is that Windbloom was the only country to get the most exposure.
The main problem about Otome is that the history of Earl wasn't explained much.
What Otome needs is an artbook that can be viewed as a mock history book. Similar to "Xenogears: Perfect Works" if anybody's familiar with that.
And the inclusion of Annam is a plus for me.
Thesinwithin
2006-04-13, 18:10
Personally, I'd give the series an 8/10 because, although a great continuation of the things started in HiME, there were far too many plot holes left unfilled at the end of the storyline.
I did enjoy the early episodes for their slice-of-life-at-Galuderobe, not to mention their comedic value. Arika and Nina's excellant adventures were a real treat to watch.
At the same time, I really wish that Nagi's invasion of Windbloom had happened before episode seventeen. If there were, say, a few more episodes to flesh out the conflict, I have a feeling that the whole 'last dot-vs-dot' would have not seemed so much like a cop-out to me.
I found that the character development was lacking in some areas, but great in others. Nina, Arika and Maishiro were all well fleshed-out characters before the great Nagi (heh, I typed Negi there first... fufufufu) invasion. At the same time, I found myself annoyed at the way that some of the characters were introduced at the very end of the series. And that there was NO EXPLANATION for half of the things that happened in the series.
The main reason I watched this show after watching HiME was for the comedic element, and after that, the Shizuru and Natsuki relationship that to me, at least, seemed to be not as one-sided as it was in HiME. Unfortunatly, Teh Kurger is far too ... dumb for my taste. Natsuki should never be as... I hate to say it, stupid as she was for a good portion of the series. That was one of the major turn offs of the series for me.
Other than that, Maki Maki and Miyu's decent back into Fuuka made the show really worth it for me.
---
Overall - 8/10
I gave the series an 8/10 because it wasn't perfect, I have yet to see an Anime that is. I enjoyed Mai Otome, not as much as Mai Hime though. Three episodes into the series I saw common threads develop in the way the Mai Hime counterparts act in Mai Otome. I like the quirky humor, the feeling of impending doom. Nagi's "Napoleon Complex", and the fact they made Tate (Sergay) much manlier than before. Personally watching seeing Mai Hime before Mai Otome kind of spoiled the way the story would develop, but it also made it easier to look past the plot holes:D. Good series overall I enjoyed it a lot, anything to break the depression of Naruto's 60 episode filler streak.
Tatiana Razajev
2006-04-14, 00:42
As much I'd love to give the series a 10/10, I have to be fair and give it only 8/10. Granted I love My-Otome over all. I also enjoy the references to My-HiME. Especially certain heavy references. Also some of the characters were quite interesting and I liked how many got involved in the final battle.
Now for the flaws. Mainly the flaw comes in the under development of several characters. Plus it doesn't help that several characters appear at the last minute. I would have also liked to have seen more battles. My-Otome suffers from the same fate as My-HiME. In the sense that both should have been several episodes longer to flesh out certain aspects.
If I was being completely biased I'd give the series at least a 9/10, but since I'm trying to be a bit fair and less biased. My rating will have to stand as an 8/10 over all. Simple as that. Still it's become one of my favorite series for its time. So that should count for something if you ask me.
I decided not to vote because I'd like to give it a 6.5...not consistently good, but not average either. There were some nice episodes during the first half, but I feel that there were so many characters and plotlines to fit in that both of these started to fall apart towards the end. I'm looking forward to the OVA, and I still hope they can learn from HiME and Otome and put together a more focused third season.
For comparison, I would have given Mai-HiME an 8 overall. For overall series in general, I don't think I'd give out many "Very Good" or "Excellent" and "Perfection" is virtually impossible.
Overall, 8/10.
Very nice, but could've been much better.
A vast set of characters but able to focus on the main ones and give some of the subs a second job.
Wasted many episodes but came up with a satisfying ending, considering how they had so little time left and only a few episodes left to cramp everything in.
They could've made the robes look nicer, but they're great anyways. (Why must they burn off Rena's robe after Arika used it for only ONE episode, and then give her a fugleh fusion. :mad: But I'm happy with her Meister outfit *points at sig* :3)
Needs more action (the final battle was good ;)), and some characters were intro'ed too late, so late that I have no idea who they are or why they bother to include them. >_>;; (Exclude the Five Collumns/Pillars thingy and the like)
Funny, funny humour. But they stayed at the humour for a bit too long. xD Maki maki! And poor Akane + Kazuya. (´・ω・`)
Sergey has nine lives. :confused:
Too bad I haven't watch Mai-HiME yet. D: *checks KAA*
I really enjoyed Mai Otome. It's seriously a must-watch. :cool:
Maybe I should read the manga. D:
niwasatou
2006-04-15, 09:17
I'm starting to doubt the hole "Tate = Sergay" thing... the only thing they got going for them is the blond hair :eyebrow: ... and I don't remember Tate as a chick magnet (he only had Mai and Shiho if I remember well :rolleyes:)... I'd say that the Captain guy is a much more likely candidate. Here are some of my arguments :
He had some sort of scar… somewhere
Natsuki hated him... with no apparent reason.
He resisted his pervert instincts... in his own way :p
He was a military type of guy
He had some brains...
He knew how to fight... probably
He was the "I want to help people" type of guy (well compared to Tate :eyebrow: )
He survived major blood lost
Brains? WTF?
I voted 7/10. It was never even near to "as good as Hime". :rolleyes:
I enjoyed it because I didn't have to think while watching it. Fin.
Things that were quite poorly executed in the series: (my opinions, incase you haven't noticed)
1) The potential. For a series with pretty well executed first few episodes, it had alot of potential (story-wise) at being a great anime. Ratings for Potential: 9/10
2) The fight scenes. If you take a look from episode 1-26, there was only one decent fight that was shown, that being Nina vs Arika in episode 3. Most the "fighting" bits was merely Otomes flying into each other, causing a big explosion. Ratings for the fights: 3/10.
3) The transition. The way that the story focus shifted from *school life of a happy-go-lucky girl* to a *full-scale invasion* was badly paced. One moment they give us character development of Arika, which I liked. Next moment, the invasion by the slaves, and intrusion by Artai. There was something lacking in between: something was missing. Ratings for transition: 5/10
4) Enjoyability. The first 15 or so episodes were highly enjoyable. Once the war theme was brought it, the way at which it was executed began to wane my interest in the anime. Episodes 19-23 really killed what I liked about the series, which was further enhanced (in the bad way) with low-quality of animation. Last 2 episodes redeemed it alot, yet had alot of holes to cover. Ratings for enjoyability: 8/10
5) Story/plot. The setting for MO was pretty well done, as were history of Earl. First 16-17 episodes generally had substance, which serverly lacked from 19-23, and episodes 25-26 concluded the series pretty well, save the un-answered questions. Ratings for story/plot: 7.5/10
6) Character development. Even though MO has a very large cast, only 6 characters went through some sort of development (Mashiro, Arika, Nina, Tomoe, Sergey, Erstin). However, the development for Mashiro, Sergey and Arika was pretty well fleshed-out and executed, hence it redeems the lack out characters who were developed. Ratings for c. development: 6.5/10
Overall ratings: 6.5 (+ favourtism 0.25) = 6.75/10. Its another "could had been" anime for me. Enjoyable, yes, but nothing memoriable.
I'll give it a 7
The story was good: It had many potential, but I don't know why the writers intended to take it to the wrong direction in most of the episodes.
The main problem with the siries imo is that it took a long time to introduce the characters and left very few episodes to continue with the plot. Another problem is that its main characters weren't as lovable or as cool as Mai Hime's characters.
On the other hand, some of the episodes were really good and the music and the design in general was also good.
Tremalkinger
2006-04-15, 17:25
It's not Perfect Than Mai HIME(Forget about the Bad ending and the Worst Ending from Director Cut)
Wait, what? There's a director's cut ending?
Oh you haven't see It? Yes a director cut ending
just some More Images of Happy Peaceful Shining Day (With the Op Single Shining Day Version) and one of them is a picture with alyssa and Miyu, some yellow canari like Alyssa in Mai Otome. But not the spectaculor thing... Midori return back and... Oh Shizuru appeared when Mikoto is going to die between Natsuki and Nao, she's missing in the original version...
justMartin
2006-04-15, 18:19
Who else thinks Gigi is going to be a main character in the next season, or maybe in the OVA, she gets a lot of screen time for a character that never talks, and her character design looks unique.
Who is Gigi? got a picture?
Who is Gigi? got a picture?
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6292/starclass3fd.th.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=starclass3fd.jpg)
AnimeFreak9
2006-04-16, 05:34
My thoughts overall:
The series had a lot of potential with its diverse and interesting cast of characters and the setup of the relationships between them. I really enjoyed the earlier episodes. However I feel the middle portion of the series stretched out a little too long and the ending episodes were kinda rushed, with TOO many major (and sometimes unexplained) events happening too quickly.
The last two episodes really soured me to the series as I feel they were cliched, fan-service laden and inconsistent.
(Note: Fan-service isn't just sexual: gratuitous displays of techniques, unnecessarily "cool" poses/actions etc. also count).
Below are some of the issues I had with the series:
(1) The fight scenes: Too many instances of: two Otome fly into each other, big explosion - then story moves on. Not enough detail. One such collision per series is enough.
(2) Tomoe (the green haired 'evil' otome with a flap of hair partially obfuscating her face) acted TOO sterotypically evil after she openly started attacking Arika, Yes Mister Bond, before I kill you, I'm going to explain all the evil I did...
(3) Too many instances of external figures rushing in and saving the day at the last second.
(4) Inconsistencies (e.g. Tomoe falling, unpowered, from the sky yet remaining seriously uninjured). Primarily in the latter episodes.
I'd give Mai Hime an 8/10. I'll give this series only a 5/10.
(4) Inconsistencies (e.g. Tomoe falling, unpowered, from the sky yet remaining seriously uninjured). Primarily in the latter episodes.
I fail to see how that's inconsistant, every character in My-Otome has survived near fatal experiences. I'm not surprised out little Comma-head had survived the fall.
Men don't have the Chance...
I fail to see how that's inconsistant, every character in My-Otome has survived near fatal experiences. I'm not surprised out little Comma-head had survived the fall.
There is actually: Aoi fell, but she was injured (quite badly). Hell, she was unconcious for a few days. Yet Tomoe, being de-robe (hence in a sense, at the same physical condition as a normal human) fell at the same or even greater height, and was able to violently take off the cloth that was used to cover her (not to mention that she had crashed through some buildings on the landing).
What...nanomachines giving girls super-human physical capabilities?:eyespin:
There is actually: Aoi fell, but she was injured (quite badly). Hell, she was unconcious for a few days. Yet Tomoe, being de-robe (hence in a sense, at the same physical condition as a normal human) fell at the same or even greater height, and was able to violently take off the cloth that was used to cover her (not to mention that she had crashed through some buildings on the landing).
What...nanomachines giving girls super-human physical capabilities?:eyespin:
Maybe Nanomachines reacts when you have Revenge and Anger lol:heh:
beachslacker
2006-04-16, 12:56
Characters:
Too huge a cast with not enough development of the characters. The only character that truly deserved a standover right from the start was Mashiro, from a spoilt princess to eventually a sensible queen. Also, I was hoping that they explained more of the 5 pillars. Beside Natsuki, Shizuru, Nao, the other 2 pillars just popup of nowhere and joined in the party to save the city. :twitch: Let alone Mai and Mikoto who made a entrance suddenly, I still can't quite figure out what were they really for. And Sergay, he just did NOT know how to DIE!
Styles:
Can we skip the MaryAnn hairdos? Mai Hime stylings were so much better than Otome. And those robes needed abit more improvements.. tho I wanna complain, I hardly see Natsuki in her robe!
Plots:
Typical storyline of trying to takeover a city for technology, battle-style... perhaps not my cuppa tea. Preferred Mai Hime, at least it made more senses when the 12s fought with twist of plots and whys and MIPs that left a more human touch in the whole serie.
Comedy was good throughout. Love it for this portion. There were many more but these are some which left me with a deeper impression.
- Parts like Arika's heartshaped hairdo when Shizuru closed in to her for a tease. (Tho I thought it was a little too exaggerating)
- Nao and Shiho's expressions and dialogues for the sugar and Water Monster scene.
- Nao making fun of Shiho why she ever needed a robe when all she ever needed was her makimaki. (LOL)
- Akane reappearing outside the castle with the #5 pillar.
- Miss Maria! Nobody can miss her in that fighting scene tho it lasted for a few seconds but the facial expressions of those were PRICELESS!
Sidetracks:
We need more ShizNat!!! :upset:
had i not seen mai hime then otome would be great.
hime had it all. action, romance, thrillers, nail biters, and ofcourse drama. it was the type of anime where you had to think.
otome, on the other hand, was straightforward...... for simple minded people.
beach says it well. Mai Hime was too good for Otome to be associated with it. Still it wasn't horrible.. 7 good out of 10.
MattAlchemy
2006-04-24, 00:29
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6292/starclass3fd.th.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=starclass3fd.jpg)
Yeah then her best friend is Yuria, serious friend is Patricia, and the funny one is Kasumi. Then Yuria betrays her by summoning a monster and Patricia becomes an eternal enemy while Kasumi does some funny stuff. Then Bette get's jealous of Gigi because she gets all the love from... I don't know, Shizuru's twin or something. Della, Linda, and Robin are her mini friends! -_____________-
Anyway, I think I give it a 8/10 bcause they didn't rush much.
Keitarou-kun
2006-04-25, 14:15
Very simullary to all other Action/Comedy/Romance ect anime... i loved it though...
And i have a question to ask?
Will there be a new season with Mai-series
and if...
When will i be out in stores for my wallet to get empty :D :P
I live in hope from day to day, Wait for the atlantic delivery boat in bay...
If i find the answer to my wish, Mai-????? would be mine in a single swish :D
mina wa sama desu!
Sayoonara
:Keitarou:
Yeah then her best friend is Yuria, serious friend is Patricia, and the funny one is Kasumi. Then Yuria betrays her by summoning a monster and Patricia becomes an eternal enemy while Kasumi does some funny stuff. Then Bette get's jealous of Gigi because she gets all the love from... I don't know, Shizuru's twin or something. Della, Linda, and Robin are her mini friends! -_____________-
Is that fanfiction :rolleyes:
Will there be a new season with Mai-series
Maybe... who knows... maybe we'll get a hint in the OVA...
__________
:Hmm:... the general opinion seems to be that the story wasn't tolled right... as in... "good story but not as good story telling... "
Maybe watching the ep in different order would have been better...
#1. ep7 (cut the materialization)
#2. ep8
#3. ep9
#4. ep10
...
then cut all the fanservice and fill in the gaps here and there with flashbacks ;)... a jump might be needed...
Lets see for the rest of the ep...
to be continued...
Sorrow-K
2006-05-05, 01:32
I gave it a 6 in my review (http://www.nihonreview.com/wordpress/anime/mai-otome/), but the rating system on my site is different from the one here, so that corresponds more with a 6.5, which when rounded up is a 7, so that's how I voted.
Otome's good points were how it flowed and the way it developed its main characters, but I just couldn't help but compare it with HiME, and as far as a comparison is concerned, Otome just can't hold up. Otome could never create a dramatic stanza as intense as HiME's final third and just wasn't as revolutionary and refreshing as its predecessor.
With that said, there's a lot of good in Otome, and as far as a fun action series is concerned, it delivers the goods. I think a lot of the negative reactions towards Otome have come from people who wanted a direct sequel to HiME, as opposed to an AU.... which I can't say I fully understand, since HiME's story is pretty much complete and there isn't a real need for a sequel. Oh well.
Overall verdict: Not as good as HiME, but lots of fun nonetheless.
mikage-aya
2006-05-13, 04:50
i unfortunatelly watched Mai Otome and then Mai Hime...
when i first saw Mai Otome i thought waw this is a great anime.. this was the impression for the first episodes.. but then.. i dunno everything seemed to go in the wrong direction.. someone said that the charecters were well introduced but this is taking too long and the plot doesn't have time to unfold... it's true.. and i didn't like the ending...
afterwards i watched Mai Hime... and i was surprised ...it was much better... i mean very well done .. all that u could ever want from an anime... and i somehow was happy cuz i felt that it also "repairing" the "mistakes" that were in the Mai Otome... and i liked the ending...
so i think that i'll give Mai Otome an 7.5 - 8
it's a good project ... but i could have been better
Aya Reiko
2006-05-13, 11:10
There is actually: Aoi fell, but she was injured (quite badly). Hell, she was unconcious for a few days. Yet Tomoe, being de-robe (hence in a sense, at the same physical condition as a normal human) fell at the same or even greater height, and was able to violently take off the cloth that was used to cover her (not to mention that she had crashed through some buildings on the landing).
What...nanomachines giving girls super-human physical capabilities?:eyespin:
Don't forget Haruka falling off a cliff onto rock in episode 10 without her robe activated.
Lets start by saying I LOVED Mai-Otome!
Now, I have not made my way through all of Mai-Hime yet as it is licienced and being released in North America [I have principles :) ] But I was familiar with the characters and general idea before going into Otome.
Otome was bright and colourful when it needed to be and gut wrenching with muted colours at perfect times. [A side note, having watched Otome in subtitled form, I won't be able to watch it dubbed when it does come to north america. Not that this is a bad thing, the voices were EXCELLENT]
For specific comments and notes...
This may be a bit reversed with later episodes being easier to remember
-The ending was beautiful, even others jumping in to help Arika lift the flower. She is still a young Meister afterall
-Miss Maria was so COOL in the last two episodes. She didn't even have to turn younger, dealing with the soldiers in the hall was enough!
-I loved Miyu... Her explinations made perfect sense to me and her scene looking in on the unkown girl in the city that was a decendant of Alyssa was poingnant
-The tear jerking moments... Erstin's death, Aoi's sacrifice, Arika talking to her mother... They all made me cry
-All the fight scenes were delicious to watch, ealier ones though I found short and stopped to leave you wonder the outcome, or be told what it was rather than show it. Most likely a time constraint.
-The robes!.... need I say more..... though Shiho's meister robe was a bit much. My favorites... Nina's green meister robe, Maya, Akane, and Arika's first meister robe(I think it suited her active personality better, just make it blue instead of pink)
-Having listened to Mikoto in both english and japanese I can say the japanese voice actor suits her much better as does the buddist robes and 'god' character in Otome more than her character in Hime [thus far]
Now, some comments and expectations on my part
-Haruka and Yukino... I loved these two, however I had hoped for one scene. That would be to have Yukino calm Haruka with a simple stern "Haruka..." and a commanding look, no 'chan', just showing she IS the leader of Aries.
-Shiho's "Maki, maki, maki" scenes were hilarious at the start but should have been dropped or lessened near the end like Nina's 'weakness' was
-Having said that... Arika's exploiting of Nina's ticklishness never grew old! And I am hoping that for the upcoming OAV's one will be a reunion of Arika and Nina, or showing how they keep in touch. And of coarse Arika will have to give Nina a little poke
-For the OAV's.... Yes, one with Nina and Arika's relationship nowadays. Two, tell us more about Miyu, maybe other places she visits, and observations she makes, perhaps a one off 30min story with another of Alyssa's decendants. Note, I am not inclined to believe that it is the same Fuka Gakuen from Hime. For my own sake I choose to think of it as perhaps remnaints of a spaceship they used long ago to come to this world... Modelled after Fuka Gakuen, yes :) Three, some story with Mai, her interactions with Takumi in Zipang perhaps. And fourth, some story with Mashiro and Arika to see how the kingdom and Garderobe is doing...
Well, enough said.... Hope you all find this 'review' interesting.... its my first on this forum :)
Well, I had one of them crazy thoughts today... so I thought I would put it into words..
Has anyone ever compared the Meister Otome [MaiOtome] to the Kirin [Taiho] of Juuni Kokki? [If this comparison has already been done before on this board, just let me know, my ego can take it :) ]
Both are connected to their ruler, one dies, the other dies as well... Both are the most trusted confidant of their ruler. Both can be used in the even of attack or defence [though the Kirin's involvement is indirect]. The two maid differences that I can note are as follows...
One, the Kirin are set with their ruler/country from birth, the otome are selected by any country at graduation(typically).
Two, the Kirin placed their by 'god' to guide their ruler on the right path, to be a voice of reason[followed or not]. The Otome generally follow any order their ruler gives without question. [though Mashiro rightly challenges this concept in the last episodes]
Thoughts?
Miles Teg
2006-05-27, 03:07
Both are connected to their ruler, one dies, the other dies as well...
When the rulers die, the Kirin don't necessary die. Yoko is the second empress of Keiki.
Touché :)
Still think it is an interesting comparison though ;)
Xerion12
2006-05-27, 20:54
It vote it "very good" because there was great action,exiting storyline,animation was cool to @_@ Overall I dont think it even competes with Mai-Hime though.. <.<; As a matter of fact I never did see the endign of Mai otome because my friend made me watch mai-Hime and i totally forgot about Otome.. lol
It's been a while since Otome ended, but I have to say I'm still impacted by it. I have a picture of Nina, Erstin, and Arika on my desktop atm, I still watch episodes now and then, and I listen to the soundtracks quite a bit still.
Compared to Hime, Otome wasn't very good. But lets face it, if you like Hime, Otome will never measure up. Compared to other anime however, and it fares much better. Otome isn't the greatest show ever, I dare suggest that Hime isn't either. But both are highly enjoyable to watch, which for me is the strongest good mark any anime should strive for. Otome stumbles at times in the plot, sometimes going too fast, sometimes going at a snails pace. It certainly suffers from having too many characters and not enough spreading out of screentime. It also suffers from a cliched plot, young kid comes from nowhere and ends up on top of the world, best friend becomes archrival, touching death that you saw coming because it has to move the plot forward, exiled queen regains her people and kingdom back, blah blah. Hime on the other hand was pretty origional. When it become cliched, it was using the cliches in ways that made things...well, better.
Otome suffered from two things. One, it was made after Hime. Two, it wasn't Hime part two. If you replaced the cast with someone else and took out the references to hime, the anime would remain largely intact. So while it benefitted from recognition, it suffered from people expecting things because of what they saw in Hime.
So in the end I gave Otome an 8. With better pacing, better use of characters like we saw in Hime, and toning down on the plot devices, the show could have been better. But it was still very enjoyable to watch, and will remain next to Hime proudly in my collection of favorite anime. Hopefully, we'll see more in the future from the Hime universe, there are so many great stories that could be told.
Otome suffered from two things. One, it was made after Hime. Two, it wasn't Hime part two. If you replaced the cast with someone else and took out the references to hime, the anime would remain largely intact. So while it benefitted from recognition, it suffered from people expecting things because of what they saw in Hime.
3. It couldn't split from Hime... because it looked too much like hime...
4. It had too many obvious HiME references... *thinks of Mashiro in the wheelchair :rolleyes:*... I know it sounds like a good idea... but somehow it's not...
The reason why it wasn't Hime part 2 wasn't because it had a different story but because the story had such a different feel to it that it ended up somewhat taboo to actually link the too series... just how many people have complained that Otome was BAD by referencing HiME :rolleyes: *adds ankoku to the list :D*
Hunter Nin.
2006-08-05, 18:54
I gave the show seven out of ten; good but not great. It really had some pacing issues and too many loose ends.
"It's Rad... I'm a cyborg now." Or something like that. Almost fell out my chair laughing, I couldn't stop thinking "DON'T EVER CALL ME MEG!"
Yuki-san
2006-08-12, 21:52
for me it's a 10 even though this is not the best anime for me...
It has a great story nice animation and effects
The voices were great
The theme and moral was clear
has a nice climax
and the different behaviors.. NICE!!
There's no such thing as a perfect anime... and I think Mai-Otome has a lot more rewatchability than Mai-HiME :)
And Yuki-san is right, the voice actors were amazing! If only the Mai-HiME Dub could have even kept them SIMILAR... Chie and MIKOTO make me shudder...
That said, is there going to be any more Otome or Hime or something similar after teh OVA?
~Loves, Suzuka
Question
2007-03-19, 15:19
I loved Otome.
Its not very common an anime series can hook me to the point where i will desperately keep watching the next episode. Otome did that for me, and so did Hime.
The plot is a lot more straight forward than Hime's, but thats not a huge dis-advantage...theres enough parts in it that keep you guessing and trying to figure out the next piece. However i felt that they didnt elaborate enough. For example the whole R.E.M thing, why cardair suddenly decided to raid the asward for it, why the asward resorted to violence instead of negotiation with garderobe, and a lot of back story wasnt elaborated on.
I still dont get the part where the valkryie system was ALSO responsible for creating a crap load of slaves. Isnt it supposed to be a copy of the fumi system garderobe uses, powering the valkryies?
I didnt like the way Windebloom was taken over so easily. The military like, did NOTHING.
The part where youko runs out and says that everything has been sealed away until the principal certifies it...what i dont get is why natsuki doesnt do it. Infact later on in the series they had to do some funky thing with a laptop and cable connection.
Asward wasnt shown enough IMHO. The only one who got any decent fight scence time was Midori, the next one would be Rad. I found it really strange they would run away to avoid damaging garderobe when they could easily destroy the attacking slaves without any problems(and infact, later on in the series, they do it). I also dont get how smith managed to force the asward to hand over the body, seeing as how the asward are incredibly powerful, and back then schwartz only had those weak slaves. Those 2 scences felt like blatant plot devices to me.
Shiho and the maki maki thing was just WTF. Seriously. I still dont know wtf to think.
I dont get the scence where tomoe hands miya a white envelope and she tears it up on the ship(or how tomoe could get miya to do things for her). Hopefully the OVA will elaborate more on that.
I liked the intrigue of the hime plot more, but i liked the characters and setting of the otome series more. Also the hime plot more or less kills any idea of a sequel, while theres ample room for otome sequels.
Well I just finished this series, I initially watched Mai-HiME two or three months ago and was blown away by it, tears, laughs everything. After it ended I watched half of Otome episode 1, and forgot about it for about a month. I decided to watch Mai HiMe over again to see the stuff I missed, and the hints such as what Nagi tells Mai when she accepts Kagutsuchi, or when Nagi tells Natsuki "Now now it isn't time for that yet" when she is going to fight Nao.
Back to Otome, this time after watching I decided to download all of Otome and watch it through. I must say Seeing Shizuru fight so early in and the other stuff hooked me onto the anime, and it kept escalating. Fan-service moments, some good comic relief. When it moves into the darker-second half I was very pleased with the new opening theme, the words of the song, the plotline all fit great I love that song. Although I feel they rushed it, they could of expanded the anime to 30episodes or simply transitioned the switch to the darker part sooner.
I felt kind of rushed, all this stuff happening in the course of about 5, 6 episodes. Atleast in HiMe the plot starts in ep. 16 / 17 almost right off the bat. The ending of Otome made me tear up, but then again i'm a clinger and a sucker for anime's I hate when they end I always look for more and more and become well, addicted to the anime for awhile after it ends xD.
Character Development: 6.5/10 - It was ok, There was good development for certain characters but with having HiMe characters AND a nice luscious new cast I can see how they didn't fill in everyone really good.
Storyline / advancement 7/10 - I think Otome had a good storyline, the ending was definatly a good one, although leaving me sad as I said.
Music 8/10 - I enjoyed the music in Otome, There were quite a few parts when it suited it perfectly. although the ending theme I wasn't too fond of, especially in the second half of the anime.
Overall 8.75/10 - On the upper list of my favorite anime's, I enjoyed watching it and hope sunrise makes another 'Mai' series
I was dissapointed Mai didn't show up until episode 23, She could of played a bigger role in Otome. They even humour this fact in the subtitles on previews for next episodes "Awww It's already the ending? but I just got here". Natsuki also had a similar one where she finally got to equip her robe and in the same episode Nagi disables all of the robes lol.
When Arika finished Nina off in the final episode I teared up, and when she dove to save her. then it transitions to the ending theme and showing everyone continuing their lives, I thought both of them died :( Alas, they are alive but Still, it seems they are very distant from eachother now. Arika is bust doing her duties as Mashiro's otome and Nina is taking care of Sergay, a better ending than HiME but still a sad one. Atleast i'm thankful this anime wasn't a brain killer like EVA
Edit: I have now seen Zwei 1-3 I'm pleased with it's animation and story. although i'm kinda sad not much nina. =Edit again lmao Guess OVa 4 hasn't airred yet xD
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