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silverthunder) wrote2011-03-08 11:11 am
silverthunder) wrote2011-03-08 11:11 am
Mai-HiME
So Cody and I finally finished off Mai-HiME (My-HiME?) last night. It was a pretty neat series. The animation and the fight scenes were really awesome, and the music was absolutely gorgeous (well, it's Kajiura Yuki, how can it not be?).
On first watch, this series seemed like a sometimes-humorous, sometimes-action-packed excuse for well-animated fanservice. I think the main thing that kept me watching through the first few episodes was the combination of music and action scenes. Man, that's addicting! 'Mezame' was a beautifully haunting BG number. The humor was kind of hit or miss, in my opinion. Sometimes it got a chuckle out of me, but other times it just fell flat.
Characterization was decent. It wasn't amazingly awesome, but I at least felt like I was watching real people who I knew and understood to some degree. Every now and then I got annoyed with some of them, but I guess that's to be expected. The female characters vastly outnumbered the males, but there was no 'harem' aspect so I had no problem at all with this.
The concept was actually very cool, although it didn't start to get interesting until the whole story was revealed. I was sometimes surprised by which girls turned out to be 'HiME', but for the most part it made sense. The 'important person' for each girl also made sense - normally, it was a boyfriend or something similar, but a couple of times it was a relative or friend. Which made things kind of neat.
Plot-wise... Yes, I enjoyed the plot, although the second half of the series was much, much better than the first half. The pacing was good, the storyline was planned well and foreshadowed appropriately, and everything flowed nicely. The switchover from 'yay happy and fun' to 'zomg angst' wasn't too awkward or forced. There were a few plotholes left (what the heck was the real objective of the Searss foundation?), but overall it wasn't terrible. Of course, we had the necessary filler episodes, especially at the start of the series where the plot was basically just 'yup, orphan attack - okay, kill it!' At the time, I wasn't terribly impressed, but in the overall scheme of things, I don't really mind. The story was good enough that it could be overlooked.
Romance. This was okay. The main romance, of course, revolves around Mai and the two love triangles she got tangled up in, which was decent enough. I don't know if I believed that she and Yuichi could really be as omgsoinlove as the show was pushing for, but their interactions were pretty cute and the second half made for some good angst between them, so I was satisfied.
There was actually one pairing in the series I really found interesting. I didn't actually expect it to happen, but I was surprised a couple of times, ended up liking it even more, and then it did happen. Which was cool. Anyone who knows what kind of pairings I like will probably be able to guess who I'm talking about if they ever see the series. I actually kind of wish there was fanfic for them. I doubt there is, but I might check anyway, just in case. Because they were all kinds of adorable. It would've been nice if there had been more focus on them in the series. Oh well.
Overall, I think I would recommend this series to most people. Even if you're not into anime with "fighting and fanservice", I'd advise you to stick it out through the somewhat mediocre first half, because there is a pretty decent payoff in the second half.
Opening video: LINK (this OP sequence is currently one of my top 10 favorites)
BG music example: Mezame (because it's just that good)
On first watch, this series seemed like a sometimes-humorous, sometimes-action-packed excuse for well-animated fanservice. I think the main thing that kept me watching through the first few episodes was the combination of music and action scenes. Man, that's addicting! 'Mezame' was a beautifully haunting BG number. The humor was kind of hit or miss, in my opinion. Sometimes it got a chuckle out of me, but other times it just fell flat.
Characterization was decent. It wasn't amazingly awesome, but I at least felt like I was watching real people who I knew and understood to some degree. Every now and then I got annoyed with some of them, but I guess that's to be expected. The female characters vastly outnumbered the males, but there was no 'harem' aspect so I had no problem at all with this.
The concept was actually very cool, although it didn't start to get interesting until the whole story was revealed. I was sometimes surprised by which girls turned out to be 'HiME', but for the most part it made sense. The 'important person' for each girl also made sense - normally, it was a boyfriend or something similar, but a couple of times it was a relative or friend. Which made things kind of neat.
Plot-wise... Yes, I enjoyed the plot, although the second half of the series was much, much better than the first half. The pacing was good, the storyline was planned well and foreshadowed appropriately, and everything flowed nicely. The switchover from 'yay happy and fun' to 'zomg angst' wasn't too awkward or forced. There were a few plotholes left (what the heck was the real objective of the Searss foundation?), but overall it wasn't terrible. Of course, we had the necessary filler episodes, especially at the start of the series where the plot was basically just 'yup, orphan attack - okay, kill it!' At the time, I wasn't terribly impressed, but in the overall scheme of things, I don't really mind. The story was good enough that it could be overlooked.
Romance. This was okay. The main romance, of course, revolves around Mai and the two love triangles she got tangled up in, which was decent enough. I don't know if I believed that she and Yuichi could really be as omgsoinlove as the show was pushing for, but their interactions were pretty cute and the second half made for some good angst between them, so I was satisfied.
There was actually one pairing in the series I really found interesting. I didn't actually expect it to happen, but I was surprised a couple of times, ended up liking it even more, and then it did happen. Which was cool. Anyone who knows what kind of pairings I like will probably be able to guess who I'm talking about if they ever see the series. I actually kind of wish there was fanfic for them. I doubt there is, but I might check anyway, just in case. Because they were all kinds of adorable. It would've been nice if there had been more focus on them in the series. Oh well.
Overall, I think I would recommend this series to most people. Even if you're not into anime with "fighting and fanservice", I'd advise you to stick it out through the somewhat mediocre first half, because there is a pretty decent payoff in the second half.
Opening video: LINK (this OP sequence is currently one of my top 10 favorites)
BG music example: Mezame (because it's just that good)
no subject
I pretty much entirely agree with your assessment of the series. For parts of the first half I even asked myself, "why am I still watching this? It's silly!" but the animation quality and the music (and especially the fight scenes) kept me coming back-- but then the second half happened and I was like WHOA.
And, well, the second half wouldn't have NEARLY the power it does if the first half never happened, because you have to really get a sense of how important these relationships are to everyone, and who they are, for the series to really kick you in the gut the way it does.
It's been YEARS and YEARS since I've seen Mai-Hime but the story sticks with me after all this time, so it's really memorable for me. I don't think I'd rank it in my top 20 but definitely probably in my top 50 for anime series. :)
Just... if you end up giving Mai-Otome a go, know that it's not as good. Possibly MORE entertaining, and definitely full of a lot more crack, but the overall story is just not as thoughtful and as well planned out.
no subject
I knew it'd be easy to guess! I am so predictable. ;)
I agree with you about the second half needing the first half to deliver as much impact as it did. This was the second series I've seen that gave me this kind of impression (the first was a harem - go figure), and I was able to recognize it this time around.
This series is probably going to stick with me for a long time, too. It's funny, Cody and I watched the second Evangelion movie on Sunday night, and then followed it up last night with the final five episodes of Mai-HiME, and I don't think either one managed to outshadow the other. They were both pretty awesome.
Mai-Otome isn't on the list of series to check out right now. The premise just doesn't seem that interesting. Maybe I'll change my mind later.