Mai Hime / My-Hime

[dreamless]

well, the manga's pace is indeed super fast, and it makes less sense than the anime. Actually the manga reminds me of School Rumble. in terms of not making sense

Nao-chan is catching up, need more votes for Nao-chan

[zrdb]

I am looking forward to seeing how this series ends.

[snoopy007]

Originally Posted by zrdb

I am looking forward to seeing how this series ends.

Well you're going to be waiting a while...

[Greenish Growth]

Originally Posted by DeuceTrick

It's more than a little disconcerting to know that if I were to date one of the girls from My-HiME, I would be THAT guy. You know, the older guy who comes back to high school to date sophomores. THAT guy. It's just weird to think about, is all.

Who is he? Does he only appear in the manga?

[lolicon]

Originally Posted by Takemi_Ikazuchi

...and this my friend, is why some people consider Mai Hime to be shallow.

Well, it *is* shallow. Its just up to the individual to decide whether they like watching something that shallow or not. Lets be honest with ourselves here, Mai-Hime isn't exactly doing anything very original at all. All the jokes have been done before, the premise has been done before, the character stereotypes have been done before, everything is basically a rehash of previous anime stereotypes.

That being said, Mai-Hime executes all of them nearly perfectly. Its not a bad show per-se, but saying it has any kind of depth is just incorrect. It knows its stupid and shallow, so it doesn't try to take itself seriously at all.

[Takemi_Ikazuchi]

Originally Posted by lolicon

That being said, Mai-Hime executes all of them nearly perfectly. Its not a bad show per-se, but saying it has any kind of depth is just incorrect.

Then I must ask you, what is depth? Isn't its balanced sense of execution worth some kind of value? Doesn't the fact that show works despite all the risky elements suggest there is something else?

[lolicon]

Originally Posted by Takemi_Ikazuchi

Then I must ask you, what is depth? Isn't its balanced sense of execution worth some kind of value? Doesn't the fact that show works despite all the risky elements suggest there is something else?

Well, this is going to be rather difficult for me to articulate, but here goes...

Depth is... well, in a nutshell, its how much you can talk about what the show really means. Does a show have philisophical overtones? Are the characters well developed? What kind of message is it trying to give? Depth isn't just a balanced sense of execution -- that would be direction. What I meant to say is that Mai Hime is almost flawlessy directed for the kind of show it is. It doesn't make very many mistakes with pacing, editing, how it divides up the show between the comedy/action/story bits...

Perhaps the best way to illustrate is to offer a counter example. Serial Experiments Lain is a series that everyone here should be familiar with. It has its flaws with its direction (it drags a bit in the middle, and the execution isn't perfect), but there is no denying that it is a "deep" series. The series can be taken literally, but it was also intended to be looked at metaphorically. The writers of the show have intentionally put things in that would not be obvious at first, and that require looking at the series from a different perspective.

There is nothing in Mai Hime that suggests it has any grandoise philisophical meaning, or ingenius observations on the human condition. Character development is pretty standard, not coming anywhere near say... Berserk or Juuni Kokki. As far as I can tell, this series is about as straightforward as you can get. I'm not trying to attack it or judge it in any way, I'm just saying that it is what it is. Melodrama + fighting + ecchi + comedy = Mai Hime. Nothing more and nothing less.

[Esper 28]

lolicon: I don't mean to start an argument or anything but I feel the need to point out that you're looking at the concept of "depth" from only one angle. Why you are absolutely right with what you've said, that is not the only form that depth takes.

I think everyone can agree that the My-HiME universe is pretty extensive. There's a, dare I say it, deep story that, so far, we've only seen the tip of. I believe this is the form depth takes for My-HiME. Perhaps it's not making you sit back and go, "Hm, I need to rethink my perspective on life," but it most certainly makes you sit there and go, "Hm, where is this story going next?" "Hm, who is the next HiME gonna be?"

My point is, depth doesn't necessarily have to be something that makes the viewer have an epiphany to understand it.

As a bit of an aside, My-HiME has a pretty extensive cast. I noticed you said that My-HiME's character development was average. I feel it's more of a case that there's so many characters that the fact it's able to flesh out anyone at an average pace is exceptional. But, in truth, this is really just my opinion.

[Mentar]

Interesting article. I'll bite and reply to that.

Depth is... well, in a nutshell, its how much you can talk about what the show really means. Does a show have philisophical overtones? Are the characters well developed? What kind of message is it trying to give? Depth isn't just a balanced sense of execution -- that would be direction. What I meant to say is that Mai Hime is almost flawlessy directed for the kind of show it is. It doesn't make very many mistakes with pacing, editing, how it divides up the show between the comedy/action/story bits...

Please don't misunderstand this as fighting words, since you make alot of very good points, but in this paragraph you IMHO skillfully manage to disprove your own position.

Look at it this way: You see that Mai HiME spawned countless articles already, so you CAN talk about the show, and excellently so. And not just which HiME has the best cleavage, but also content-wise. Especially when it comes to character development, Mai HiME shines, and due to its very _broad_ cast and plot layout, the structures are just slowly emerging from the mist (the three factions and what they're trying to achieve).

I would agree with you in one point: Mai HiME does not _try_ to be "deep" in the artistical sense. THANK GOD. Most animes trying to survey deep metaphorical insights about the world are bound to crash and burn. Bluntly put, more often than not they fail. Mai HiME is telling a story, with alot of refreshing self-irony, presented in a very appealing way.

So, we're certainly agreed that Mai HiME isn't Lain style of "deep". But is it "shallow"? IMHO not at all. With so many factions and so many characters, all having distinct own agendas and interests, I'm convinced that the second half will do just fine. They had to paint it broadly without too much action in the first half, because otherwise you wouldn't have had time to introduce 30+ characters - and once the crap hits the fan (which is just about to happen), you can't easily "deescalate" back to the school setting again. The foundation of a good and reasonably complex story has been laid, and due to the excellent pacing so far I'm sure it will be executed nicely aswell.

Character development is pretty standard, not coming anywhere near say... Berserk or Juuni Kokki. As far as I can tell, this series is about as straightforward as you can get. I'm not trying to attack it or judge it in any way, I'm just saying that it is what it is. Melodrama + fighting + ecchi + comedy = Mai Hime. Nothing more and nothing less.

Objection, your honor. Character development is atually where Mai HiME shines, in my most humble opinion. I haven't watched Berserk, but I already disagree with your Juuni Kokki statement. Compare the first 13 episodes (the first arc) of JK with Mai HiME - to have a fair length comparison - and you'll see that the character development of Mai has been about as complex as Youko's. She too has gone through lots of changes from the feisty girl who didn't want to have anything to do with HiMEs and fighting over the vulnerable side of her, over the growing sense of responsibility based in her caring nature, up to her current positive determination in trying to set things right. However, Mai HiME also managed to do the same for Natsuki, AND it introduced a huge cast compared to the first JK arc. No, in terms of Character development, MH managed to perform a major feat and even exceeds JK's first arc.

The main difference I see is that JK is trying to be serious about itself, while Mai HiME is delivering its message with a playful wink. The latter suits my tastes better. Both are valid ways to approach things. Your easy "Melodrama+fighting+comedy+ecchi" drama fits for animes like Ikkitousen and Tenjo Tenge. Mai HiME goes beyond that.

[dreamless]

personally, I don't see Mai-HiME as a "deep show", if you want to watch some "deep show", watch Princess Tutu, Kino no Tabi, Hundred Stories, etc. etc. Mai-HiME is a good show, in a sense somewhat similar to, again, Scryed. So I won't call Mai-HiME having much "depth", but I also won't call Mai-HiME "shallow", it's not like a show must be either "deep" or "shallow". For one, it has some great emotional moments, something "shallow shows" generally lack.

[zrdb]

Well, if I wait-isn't that half the fun?

[kj1980]

Can't you people just watch it as regular entertainment?

[Dr. DVS 1]

Originally Posted by Esper 28

I think everyone can agree that the My-HiME universe is pretty extensive. There's a, dare I say it, deep story that, so far, we've only seen the tip of.

Well the preview for the series (back in March) did say this was the 3rd chapter. Perhaps we'll see what happened with the original battle maidens another season.

Spoiler:

Now that it is explicitly known that HiME/Orphan battles ocurred a few hundred years ago.

Masaka... they wouldn't pull a Lucas on us, would they? Worse yet, pull a Gainax on us (cast of Mahoromatic <-> cast of Kono Minikuku mo Utsukushii Sekai)?

[The Yellow Dwarf]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Can't you people just watch it as regular entertainment?

How would that justify the T1 connection and the electric bill? Hey, not many of us here can watch so many anime on TV like you do.

Mai HiME is obviously not a "serious" show: just take a look at all the stupid acronyms that mushroom in the show! But really, it's pretty well-done entertainment that doesn't really aim for much else (other than the regular anime-spawned merchandise e.g. figurines). So just turn off your brain and stop thinking about "deep" or "shallow."

Oh...Nao-chan, don't ever stop being nasty.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Can't you people just watch it as regular entertainment?

because we want to have something to talk about?

[Rei_Ikari]

lol...Anime is anime........if u want a deep and insightful show that reflects the current state of the world watch Pokemon....or Barney for that matter

[dreamless]

lol, Pokemon is Pokemon, if you want something deep and insightful that reflects the current state of the world, go to Iraq

[Mentar]

Talking about it adds to the fun

I dunno about you, but I'm really enjoying exchanging some thoughts and speculations. And then see whether or not they come to pass.

[Ansa]

Originally Posted by dreamless

lol, Pokemon is Pokemon, if you want something deep and insightful that reflects the current state of the world, go to Iraq

That statement owns.

[supabertbert]

any idea when would ep 13 be out? and is it really true there are only 13 eps to this series?? geee...i was hoping for more actually...it's quite a nice series...interesting storyline so far...