[Mai Otome] Episode 11 Discussion/Poll

[lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Just realize something.

Althought just about everyone think Arika is Rena's daughter, yet no one made any mention that Arika could be the missing princess. So that would mean that Rena's daughter is NOT the princess. So the princess and Rena's daughter are 2 seperate person.

So if Arika is Rena's daughter then she can't be the princess. That just leaves Mashiro and Nina.

Also who is Arika's father?

- Rado before he was turn into a borg?
- Sergy the little pimp

I don't which would distrube me more:

Rado to Arika, "I am your father and you are grounded."

or

Sergy who got Rena preggy at age 10 or 13 or what age he was back then

Well, if they...

(spoiler tags just in case *sigh*)

Spoiler:

...follow the route of the manga, then perhaps Rado could end up as her father. He seemed to be older that Midori and Youko in that picture so it's possible.

But Sergei....nah....only an eleven year difference.

--Lone Wolf

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by lone_wolf

Well, if they...

(spoiler tags just in case *sigh*)

Spoiler:

...follow the route of the manga, then perhaps Rado could end up as her father. He seemed to be older that Midori and Youko in that picture so it's possible.

Spoiler:

So does that make Midori her stepmother

But Sergei....nah....only an eleven year difference.

--Lone Wolf

And thats a problem

[PastPrime]

Originally Posted by piccolo

I completely agree with the Harmonium threesome. Perhaps Sergay heard her sing her lullaby?

However, this episode shows a little of what Nina remembers. And if she was born on castle-grounds, how then did she end up living on the streets - forgotten? I am not denying a threesome connection - for there is one - but wonder as to how Nina ended up on the streets and in the Hospital where Sergay found her nine years later. Just what happened in those nine years?

I can't say how she ended up on the streets unless her pickup was missed or the person who picked her up died shortly afterward. But the flashback she had when she was drowning, when she first saw Arika, would seem to indicate that Rena may have put her in a capsule like Arika's. Given all the misdirection in these series, if Mashiro does turn out to be a fake princess then Nina will probably be the real one that everyone is hunting.

[TBox]

Being somewhat familiar with the joys of transliterating Mandarin, I was very suspicious of "Zipang." I find the "Zi" troubling. Given the very un-japanese -pang ending, I keep wanting to read it like Chinese, where the closest spellings in pinyin are zhi or zui... zhi sounds like "chi" and zui is like tsui in Mandarin, but Jackie Chan pronounces it chui (You pick this stuff up in strange places...) And the -i vowel is famous for its (Um, what do the experts call it?) palatalization in Japanese. ta, chi, tsu, te, to.... sa, shi, su, se, so. Just what katakana do you use to get a firm Zi, anyways? My dictionary says it's じ, pronounced "ji"

And what is chipangu in Chinese? Japan.

In short, while it's obvious that Zipang is the japan-kagemusha, I think they're being pretty blatant with the naming convention.

It'd be like a British fantasy cartoon naming some kingdom Angleland. Not subtle at all.

It's not that I think anyone doesn't believe that Zipang is a japan-clone, it's that some people toss the name around like it was as vague as "Wind bloom," instead of a blatant self-insertion.

Am I making sense here? Is this so obvious that no one's felt the urge to mention it before? Then why do I get the impression some people haven't caught wind of it yet?

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by Diodati

Woooah, there's a lack of ShizNat under your name, I barely recognise you anymore! Hmmm that scene was structured kinda weird. Arika was genuinely happy for Nina, and I thought the sound was more from the pendant rather than her 'heart'. So yeah I'll happily go with the idea it may be about Mashiro. Or maybe even whoever gave her the pendant.

I'm not sure I even know how to take that. I may be a ShizNat flag waver, but I CAN converse about other topics, you know. I might even go so far as to agree with your opinion about the pendant. It very well could be the pendant warning Arika about something. Guess we'll have to wait until Sunrise decides to throw us a bone on that one.

[DeuceTrick]

Originally Posted by TBox

Am I making sense here? Is this so obvious that no one's felt the urge to mention it before? Then why do I get the impression some people haven't caught wind of it yet?

I thought it was pretty obvious, yeah. I'm not very well-versed on the particulars, but back during the Age of Exploitation... I mean Exploration, Portugal called the area "Zipang," which was a corruption of what the Chinese called it. No one at the time was very interested in what the natives had to say about this, so it evolved into the modern name, Japan.

[DeuceTrick]

Originally Posted by Kieli

I'm not sure I even know how to take that. I may be a ShizNat flag waver, but I CAN converse about other topics, you know.

You have had that Shizuru/Natsuki icon for what seems like a very long time-- it's become a shorthand for recognizing you on these boards. I think that's all that was meant by the statement, so I'd hold off on getting offended for the moment.

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by DeuceTrick

You have had that Shizuru/Natsuki icon for what seems like a very long time-- it's become a shorthand for recognizing you on these boards. I think that's all that was meant by the statement, so I'd hold off on getting offended for the moment.

Wasn't offended.....well yes I was a little but I was more, shall I say, concerned about being pigeonholed as a possible ShizNat psycho. Hmm...now that I think of it, that might not be half bad

[kazekiri]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Also who is Arika's father?

- Rado before he was turn into a borg?
- Sergy the little pimp

Spoiler:

The first appears true in the manga, assuming Rad isn't lying. Ch. 19 features an attempt to get Arika to come to the Black Valley so it may be the case (though I should point out that Rena doesn't seem to exist in the manga). I don't know about Sergei though, he was pretty young back when Arika would have been born. It's always possible that the father is someone we've never heard of before.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata

Also, in Sergay's diary, you see "Queen's birtday", Nina's birthday, and an ant

Hahaha, I didn't notice that, I just watched it again, hilarious.

[bluegarden]

Crack theory:

-Arika is the missing princess, she has that jewel, that the baby princess was carrying.

-Nina is rena's daugther, you can see that in the flashback, of the episode in wich she almost drowned, she saw rena's face

-Mashiro is a fake princess

i agree with a theory that was posted before. The three babies were in the castle the night of the attack, because there are the chosen ones to play the sacred piano

[Akuma-sama]

Wait a minute.
Mashiro, Arika and Nina all know different verses of the same song. We know that.
We know Arika learned it from her Grandmother. We know Mashiro probably learned it from one of her maids or something, and Nina from Sergei, who most likely learned it from Rena.

...If Arika really is Rena's daughter as is constantly hinted, and her grandmother therefore Rena's mother (from whom Rena herself learned it?), then why do Nina and Arika know different verses?

But if you think that Nina is Rena's daughter, Mashiro is the fake princess and Arika the real one, then Arika would know Mashiro's verse, as that's what her grandmother would have sung to her.

But if Mashiro is the real princess, Nina is Rena's daughter and Arika is the illicit daughter of the Leprechaun king and the Queen of the Ants, it all makes sense!
...maybe.
Or not.
Whatever.

I say Sunrise is going to throw us a curveball on that one. I still say Arika is a descendant of MH's Alyssa 'cuz I love that theory too much (and what it would mean about Miyu), but...
WHO THE HELL IS ARIKA'S GRANDMOTHER DAMNIT! It would all be clear if that was explained...

[Sakuya]

Originally Posted by Akuma-sama

WHO THE HELL IS ARIKA'S GRANDMOTHER DAMNIT! It would all be clear if that was explained...

Maybe they won't show her at all as was the case with Mikoto's grandfather in MH? Well, they did show him but I still don't get what he is and why he told Mikoto to do what she did.

[USCPharmacist]

I have a crazy theory, what if arika's memories are all fake? If people believe she is some kind of genetically engineer otome, then it is possible the creator send her to do some spy work on Garderobe. The Arika we know is just a surface personality that we be purged when the real Arika wakes up. I also think Miyu is link with Arika, cuz she mentioned she knew everything about Arika. Maybe that wasn't a figure of speech.

Then again maybe the floating baby touched the Secondary and splited into 3 person ehehhe, so Nina became Madlax, Mashiro became Margarite, and Arika became the doll

And I is the krazy mofo

[Catgirls]

Originally Posted by USCPharmacist

I have a crazy theory, what if arika's memories are all fake? I

Hmmm...that's kind of an interesting thought.

*ponders*

[kazekiri]

Originally Posted by Akuma-sama

...If Arika really is Rena's daughter as is constantly hinted, and her grandmother therefore Rena's mother (from whom Rena herself learned it?), then why do Nina and Arika know different verses?

One thing to remember is that we have no evidence that baa-chan is really related to Arika. Remember that Arika doesn't know her mother's name. I imagine that if granny was really related to Arika, she'd have mentioned her daughter's name at some point. Actually, this just made me realize something. Garderobe must keep records of its members, right? Why doesn't Arika just ask who the Souten used to belong to? Natsuki and Shizuru know she's got it, if they don't know about Rena I'm sure sombody could look it up.

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by USCPharmacist

I have a crazy theory, what if arika's memories are all fake? If people believe she is some kind of genetically engineer otome, then it is possible the creator send her to do some spy work on Garderobe. The Arika we know is just a surface personality that we be purged when the real Arika wakes up. I also think Miyu is link with Arika, cuz she mentioned she knew everything about Arika. Maybe that wasn't a figure of speech.

You're probably not too far off, knowing Sunrise.

Then again maybe the floating baby touched the Secondary and splited into 3 person ehehhe, so Nina became Madlax, Mashiro became Margarite, and Arika became the doll

And I is the krazy mofo

You've been taking that "Better Living Through Chemistry." mantra to heart again.

[Akuma-sama]

Originally Posted by kazekiri

Actually, this just made me realize something. Garderobe must keep records of its members, right? Why doesn't Arika just ask who the Souten used to belong to? Natsuki and Shizuru know she's got it, if they don't know about Rena I'm sure sombody could look it up.

I'm fairly sure Arika wouldn't want to bother the school principal with her little needs, and I'm thinking that information isn't exactly easy to get.
Besides, FINDING her mother doesn't seem to be her priority at the moment; in episode 1, that was probably her goal, but right now she's dead set on becoming an Otome, so finding her mother is riding on the back seat.
I'm pretty sure the next time she'll see Rena's picture, she'll connect the dots, though; her Meister robes are the same, if pink, as Rena's.

And Pharmacist, sampling your goods is not good for you.

[PastPrime]

Originally Posted by Akuma-sama

I'm fairly sure Arika wouldn't want to bother the school principal with her little needs, and I'm thinking that information isn't exactly easy to get.
Besides, FINDING her mother doesn't seem to be her priority at the moment; in episode 1, that was probably her goal, but right now she's dead set on becoming an Otome, so finding her mother is riding on the back seat.
I'm pretty sure the next time she'll see Rena's picture, she'll connect the dots, though; her Meister robes are the same, if pink, as Rena's.

I think she realized who Rena was the first time she saw the painting. She recognized the earring color. She will probably, at some point, ask Mashiro the name of the Otome in the painting.

[piccolo]

Originally Posted by Akuma-sama

Wait a minute.
Mashiro, Arika and Nina all know different verses of the same song. We know that.
We know Arika learned it from her Grandmother. We know Mashiro probably learned it from one of her maids or something, and Nina from Sergei, who most likely learned it from Rena.

...If Arika really is Rena's daughter as is constantly hinted, and her grandmother therefore Rena's mother (from whom Rena herself learned it?), then why do Nina and Arika know different verses?

But if you think that Nina is Rena's daughter, Mashiro is the fake princess and Arika the real one, then Arika would know Mashiro's verse, as that's what her grandmother would have sung to her.

Here's my theory:

It is unnatural to learn different stanza to a lullaby, and not have them overlap. This was done on purpose. Put together, it is the song that makes the organ work. It is also the only guarantee that it must be them together, and no other.

Sergay did not teach Nina the lullaby. As he told Arika, he does not know the words. Plus a 9-year-old is not usually soothed by singing a lullaby to. Remember, Sergay has been with Nina for only six years.

Because I like Mashiro, I almost don't like the idea that she is not the real princess/queen. She may be the fake princess and left behind in the castle for others to find, like a decoy. Or she was left to be found so that people think she's not the real princess.

Personally, I don't know. But I do know that a thief and not the staff finding the real princess is suspicious. Whatever this thief was doing, if he ended up with a baby in his hands then what happened to the third baby?

I, too, think that there were three births that year at court.

And that there is yet some scandal to be uncovered.