[Anime] Mai Hime, finished

[elfs]

Mai HiME, the anime series I was following last season, has now ended. All in all, I think it was a pretty damn good series and probably one of the better lessons on the craft of series writing out there.

The show does a good job of Chekhov's maxim ("If there is a gun on the mantlepiece in act 1, it had better be used by act 3"). Characters give us hints very early on about who and what they're going to become, while at the same time distracting us from our suppositions. The series closed with a very happy ending, mostly, where Mai got her dearest wish, the first one she voiced in the first episode: to live a "normal" life. When the tentacle monster shows up, you expect it to be Shiho, but it's not, it's Shizuru. And you should have known it was Shiho after all, because she showed us the combat uniform in episode seven!

I'm a little annoyed by Shizuru and Ishigami "surviving"; Shizuru murdered a whole bunch of people who, sure, were orchestrating one of the three factions, but still, she did kill a lot of people. I don't think even her resurrection with Natsuki would make her hale after that. And Ishigami was a power-mad asshole who, it was not subtly hinted, raped Yukariko, yet by the end of the series not only are they alive and well (they didn't die Hime-style, they were crushed to death) but they seem to have been restored to their innocent, happy selves and make a fine couple. Whatever.

Still, it was a lot better than it could have been. Definitely something to buy when it comes out in license. I do not look forward to the American dubs, though.

Comments

[shaterri.livejournal.com]

Huzzah! Glad that you finally finished it. I thought the ending (well, the dramatic ending) was a bit deus ex machina, but given the tone the series was shooting for up front I think it would've been dishonest to go for a really down ending; I was expecting a Big Reset Button of some sort to be pushed, and I thought the way they pushed it was a decent one.

As far as the comedic ending: while some of the bits surprised me too, overall I was really pleased to see it; some of the casual moments ranked with the series' best (Akira's glee at slicing the apple being my favorite example). My impression of the whole thing was that it was basically the production crew saying 'okay, all the gloom and doom is done now. Thanks for sticking with us through the really dark times. Here, have a lollipop.'

One thing to look for, BTW, that some folks in the forums have commented on: there's what looks like a clear lead-in to the next series, at least character-wise, around 23:30 into the Static-Subs fansub (right after the conversation about the future being less certain, after they close the door and we get Mai's 'something happened' reaction)...

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I liked Akira showing off her still-l33t ninja skilz; that was fun, and she and Takumi seem to make a fine couple. I did like Mikoto at the end; she was still a solid character, which pleased me. I did see the lead-in; she's wandering in the background when Natsuki, Mai, and Mikoto walk off-screen in the last shot, and you see her watching Mai with a surprised look on her face.

A one-panel of the character design can be found at Sunrise's home page: http://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/my-hime/web/index.html Look down at the lower left; there's a panel labeled "Coming soon." You can see the same girl there.