(The author of this little breakdown/analysis/review apologizes for both the length and the large amounts of tropespeak involved in this. TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life.)
There're a lot of reasons one can watch an anime series these days. Because it's popular. Because it's got a reputation of being So Bad It's
Good. Because there's one scene you want context on after hearing about it so many times. Because of passing references.
In my case, aside from good reviews from others(Valles, Sweno, and Dren, specifically, I think), there was the question of the fandom reaction. TV Tropes has
some of the most amusingly accurate breakdowns of certain show aspects, but when it's bipolar over whether a character is loved or hated, you know the
fandom's divided on the point. In this case, it's one Ensemble Darkhorse: Shizuru Fujino.
Research into the subject on Wikipedia convinced me that I needed firsthand experience with this series to make an accurate judgment of whether or not Ms.
Student Council President deserved the accusations of "Karma Houdini" that had been leveled at her.
However, Shizuru really isn't a main character. I dare say that until she comes sharply into focus near the end of the series, she's firmly in the
C-tier, with even Haruka being more relevant to the overall plot. And so I certainly couldn't watch the show JUST for her. Which led me into other
accusations and generalizations that came along the way. The following is really just my breakdown of the points as they occurred to me.
1. Wait, what genre are we in again?
Mai-Hime admittedly indulges in a bit of MPD as regards its tone. Episodes can be as silly as a demonic panty thief, or as deadly serious as the occupation of
the school by a private army, with the principal members of the cast hunted and on the run. It goes from casual to hilarious to deadly serious to tragic and
back again, and if it were to be compared to a road, I think the average passenger would feel well in their rights to sue the roadbuilders for physical trauma
involved by all the mood whiplash.
Early on in the series, however, they succeeded in making me care about these characters fairly well, so I stuck around for them in the early episodes when the
plot was lurking beneath the waves, and stuck around afterwards to see how they'd get out of the plot alive. However, someone expecting a straight drama,
straight comedy, straight magical girl show for that matter is going to be disappointed. I liked the combination, but
others might not.
2. So...many....CHARACTERS....need....cast list....
One thing that's been levied at more recent, and just as popular, magical girl show Nanoha is the enormous cast inflation that Nanoha's undergone since
the second season, especially leading into StrikerS. By contrast, Mai-Hime has it from day one, even if not all of the characters are initially clarified.
Also, if you remember who Aoi and Chie are, good on you. If you remember the names(yes, they had them) of the schoolkids that only appeared in the first couple
eps trying to get Mai to go to karaoke, you're even more OCD than I am.
Personally, I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the cast, if only because you could really break them down into their relationships to the principal
cast. Aoi and Chie were Mai's "mundane" friends, while Takeda was Natsuki's unwanted romantic pursuer and Tate's former kendo club
leader. Oh, and that Reito guy. Yeah, don't mind him. I'm sure he won't ammount to anything. ;P However, it's really not that big a cast when
one breaks it down, though I do love the one shot cameo of a young Arika in the last five seconds of the series, pre-saging her ascendancy to A-list casthood
in Mai-Otome.
3. Congratulations, you've learned to work as a team. Now go kill each other.
This is perhaps one of the bigger gaffes, in many people's eyes, of the series. After coming together to fight the Sears Foundation off, and Midori's
wonderful attempt at friendship and bonding over karaoke(I love that episode so much), everyone immediately becomes professional paranoids when Nagi, who's
about as trustworthy as a puddy tat asking to be put in the canary's cage, tells them they have to start offing each other for the sake of the Hime
Festival. And even if his threat that the Hime Star will destroy the world is correct(and Midori has evidence that its increasing proximity is affecting the
world), just two episodes ago, Mai took out a frigging KillSat without any collateral damage at all. So why should they believe him at all? Especially when, in
the climax of the series, they destroy the Hime Star in just that way?
This is one of those context-sensitive bits and where I think the series stumbles a bit. The logic of stopping the Hime Star directly at that point in the
series is, admittedly, somewhat noticeable, but at the same time, there are reasons not to. For one thing, given that
the destruction of the Hime Star depowers the girls, it'd be a little suicidal to ask Mai to, y'know, destroy the thing outside the atmosphere. The
problem is that such a consideration is never mentioned on screen, even though Midori's research probably gives the perfect excuse for someone to realize
this and point out why that plan wouldn't have worked at that time. As to the Hime immediately believing
Nagi's words that killing each other is worthwhile, well, that's for another bullet point.
4. The Mai-Hime War Guilt Trials
Ah, the big one. The finale of the series has a good many characters getting off scot free despite some truly horrific actions. While Shizuru is the most
notable, others include Sister Yukariko, Professor Ishigami, Nagi, and to a lesser degree, Nao. However, the series is good about giving mitigating
circumstances for the most part, even if it's a bit slanted. Never let it be said that Mai-Hime is the most ringing endorsement for the inherent goodness
of the male gender...
Shizuru's crimes are the most self-evident, but also the most forgiveable, from a certain point of view. After she snaps and kills Haruka by defeating
Diana, Shizuru is very clearly not in her right mind. Her expression, the subtle eye-muscle twitches, and the way she's still walking around in that same
kimono even after it's been torn to rags as if she hasn't even noticed what's happened to her body all seem to confirm it. Also, the fact that
Shizuru's character was directly linked to the legend of Kiyohime means her unfortunate snap into Psycho Lesbian territory was pretty much pre-ordained the
moment we found out her CHILD's name.
As to her immediate fall, it shows a peculiar example of Japanese mannerisms and standards that makes it ring a little hollow to Westerners.
First and least severe, of course, is the fact that immediately following Natsuki being crushed psychologically and injured pretty badly, Shizuru abandons her
role as Student Council President to see only to Natsuki. To Japanese, the desertion of one's duty is a significant strike. That she didn't inform
Haruka she was now in charge(or perhaps trusted Reito to take care of it while she was away) seems a very minor slight in our eyes. After all, her dearest
friend ever(and I have no illusions that they were publically just that, regardless of Shizuru's secret attraction) was horribly hurt both physically and
psychologically, and looking after her seems a bit more important than a Student Council position, even if the Fuka Student Council is significantly more
powerful than most. But to the Japanese, Duty is Duty, and Shizuru strikes out hard here.
Second is, of course, Shizuru's self-described "wicked love", which Haruka violently describes as "disgusting" and sees as an
embarassment to one of Shizuru's stature to have such feelings. The Japanese are odd in this way. At the same time, they're less uptight about
experimentation, while simultaneously, they strictly delineate when it is proper to have such feelings. Quoted directly from TV Tropes:
that year) would be expected to have outgrown such little girls' actions. Furthermore, given her status as the head of a large company, the Student Council
President, and effectively the Right Hand Of God under Mashiro, as far as the school's social ladder goes, the Japanese would see that she certainly needs
to grow up and stop being so clingy about Natsuki. Westerners, on the other hand, seem to see the situation as a very sexually frustrated and perhaps
unhealthily fixated Shizuru is too fearful of how her feelings will be taken to tell Natsuki, and that the main points of her obsession stem from that. I tend
to fall in the latter divide, mostly because the series seems to come down firmly in favor of the two getting together by the final episode and further Word of
God from the director in later official media, which will be mentioned later.
Third, and most serious, is the accusation that Shizuru somehow did....not-good things to Natsuki while the latter was in her care, which would certainly be a
sticking point in their relationship. The main evidence of this, however, is seen by Yukino, at a distance, and through sillouhettes on the walls. While
Shizuru quite unambiguously disrobes and lies down beside Natsuki, we the viewers have the benefit of the director confirming nothing untoward happened, which
makes the entire accusation a very tragic affair, as it alters Natsuki's reaction to Shizuru at a very fragile point for both her feelings and her sanity,
leading to a good deal of horrific pain and loss as a result.
However, while both Yukino and Haruka's revelations and accusations may be more Japanese traditional and misguided, the worst part of that situation is
that no one is really to blame, thus resulting in yet another tragedy stimulated by the Hime Festival and the machinations of the Obsidian Lord, particularly
since he was the one that informed Yukino in Haruka's presence that she really should rat Shizuru out, and Nagi
later compliments him on predicting the outcome so well.
Sister Yukariko is often seen as almost worse than Shizuru by some, but at the same time, her upbringing and certain ambiguous notes on her past seem to cast
this further into doubt. Her DVD perspective omake confirms a bit of her backstory, mentioning that she was orphaned at an early age, raised by a convent, and
has had nearly no contact with men in her entire life. Then she is promptly assigned to Fuka Academy, where the most common advice she is asked for is of the
romantic variety....which she has very little experience in. When one considers that Professor Ishigami, who manipulates her for most the series, seemingly
zeroes in on her BEFORE she's revealed as a Hime, one must begin to wonder at the fact that this Division One operative has such precognizance....or that
the orphaning of one of the Hime and the subsequent life that made her extremely naive and easily manipulated by a man that pretended to care about her might
not be such an accident. In the end, Yukariko's weakness is simply part of her personality. Far fewer people seem to cry out against Shiho, who actually
kills Takumi as a result of her jealousy and brings on the death of her beloved "brother" by her own actions as well, whereas Yukariko's
manipulated deceptions injure and drive further down the homicidal path one fan favorite Nao, which might make those that sympathise with her less inclined to
be sympathetic to the one that made her life harder. Personally, I'm more upset that Ishigami gets a free pass by virtue of Yukariko's misplaced
feelings for the bastard than that Yukariko herself is given such apparent forgiveness, as her life at least sucked enough to deserve a lucky break.
Nao herself can be summed up by the director's own words on her:
result of an unexpected attack and injury. While Nao is certainly a sympathetic antagonist late in the series, she also seems to blame Natsuki in particular
for a good deal of pain that isn't really her fault. However, given how even Mai is having her sanity stretched to the breaking point at this point in the
series, Nao's fall off the slippery slope is rather logical, and even more realized when one finds out who her most precious person is, giving one scene of
Nao looking horribly worried on a busstop bench, to the point of biting at her fingers, a good deal more depth. None of the other Hime were probably as
cognizant of the threat to their loved ones as Nao, aside from perhaps Akira and Mai, and her defensive lashing out at others after it's revealed is
consistent with her basic character.
On the other side of things, Ishigami and Nagi get off relatively scot free, despite Ishigami's horrible manipulations of Yukariko and Nagi's own
downright sociopathic behavior in assisting the final driving points of the Hime Festival. Their "happy endings" bother me far more than any of the
Hime, who all suffered horribly, getting a free pass.
5. Shizuru and Natsuki: Will they, won't they, should they, have they?
Ah, one of the side-debates about Shizuru: does she deserve a happy ending with Natsuki after her horrible acts and insanity earlier in the series. The main
question, however, is does she truly feel any remorse for her actions, and two seperate instances seem to say as much. First, immediately after her
resurrection by Mashiro, the normally perfectly reserved Shizuru is in tears, begging Natsuki's forgiveness, which Natsuki gives her with little
reservation. Second, while on the way to attack the Hime Star, Shizuru somewhat absently just asks Nao and Yukino to forgive her, in a rather humorous scene
that downplays the level of trauma those two have suffered at her hands.
While the former is certainly sufficient to clear the slate between Shizuru and Natsuki, one might think that the joking fake apology of that scene is a little
light hearted for what Shizuru did to Yukino and Nao. However, her initial hesitance to so much as speak to them while there suggests that Shizuru IS aware of
what she did to them, and I suspect an off-camera reconciliation happened where she was more sincere and less flippant about it. Given Yukino and Nao are both
a part of the greater circle of friends in the epilogue, one assumes that Nao's near homicidal intentions towards Shizuru for what happened to her mother
would preclude this if Shizuru hadn't actually apologized at some other time more sincerely.
As to the Natsuki/Shizuru shipping, this one's pretty well nipped in the bud. Natsuki's dub dialogue is a lot more explicit in regards to her feelings
for Shizuru than the Japanese, as I understand it, but it has the benefit of hindsight: particularly one epilogue piece in a Mai-Hime artbook where Natsuki
turns down a love letter from Takeda because "there's someone else's feelings she wishes to return", and furthermore notes that Natsuki is
able to speak to Shizuru closely on the day of her graduation, and that "something special probably waits in the future for these two". Double-talk,
possibly, but it certainly seems to imply the director favored the coupling, and the DVD omakes for both Shizuru and Natsuki, as well as Natsuki's second
one, definitely have undertones that suggest Natsuki has feelings for Shizuru she's not entirely sure of, befitting her realization at the end of the
series which explains Duran's sudden increase in size to match even Kiyohime and Kagutsuchi.
6. Final Thoughts
Mai-Hime is, in its own way, an excellent series from my perspective. The characters are almost entirely fairly robust, the plot wasn't predictable at all
and the emotion of the dub voice actors was entirely well done. Some awkward phrasing ("Your like and my like are probably two very different
things", "Yeah, you DESTROYED HIM!") in the script is evened out by the actrecesses' emotional portrayal being very good for the scenes in
question. And, frankly, it made me think more than the average straightforward series. About the characters and their intentions, how they interact, and where
they go from there. And instead of finding a simple solution to my initial reason for watching the show(is Shizuru a karma houdini or not?) I got an
interesting study that delves into culture differences. There are some minor pacing issues and some points that could be clarified to make accusations of
"railroad plot" stick less well, but overall, the series holds together very well, being a more mature version of the magical girl genre that went an
entire other way from how Nanoha would do it a few years later. I look forward to getting to watch Mai-Otome, even if it isn't a direct sequel. That and
rooting for poor Reito. Sorry, Yuichi, but Mr. Smooth Operator still wins points for actually relying on trying to understand Mai's feelings before magical
destined love kicked in and he got turned into the Big Bad.
Thus ends the wall of text. Your tl;dr responses are anticipated. At least, the smartass ones.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
There're a lot of reasons one can watch an anime series these days. Because it's popular. Because it's got a reputation of being So Bad It's
Good. Because there's one scene you want context on after hearing about it so many times. Because of passing references.
In my case, aside from good reviews from others(Valles, Sweno, and Dren, specifically, I think), there was the question of the fandom reaction. TV Tropes has
some of the most amusingly accurate breakdowns of certain show aspects, but when it's bipolar over whether a character is loved or hated, you know the
fandom's divided on the point. In this case, it's one Ensemble Darkhorse: Shizuru Fujino.
Research into the subject on Wikipedia convinced me that I needed firsthand experience with this series to make an accurate judgment of whether or not Ms.
Student Council President deserved the accusations of "Karma Houdini" that had been leveled at her.
However, Shizuru really isn't a main character. I dare say that until she comes sharply into focus near the end of the series, she's firmly in the
C-tier, with even Haruka being more relevant to the overall plot. And so I certainly couldn't watch the show JUST for her. Which led me into other
accusations and generalizations that came along the way. The following is really just my breakdown of the points as they occurred to me.
1. Wait, what genre are we in again?
Mai-Hime admittedly indulges in a bit of MPD as regards its tone. Episodes can be as silly as a demonic panty thief, or as deadly serious as the occupation of
the school by a private army, with the principal members of the cast hunted and on the run. It goes from casual to hilarious to deadly serious to tragic and
back again, and if it were to be compared to a road, I think the average passenger would feel well in their rights to sue the roadbuilders for physical trauma
involved by all the mood whiplash.
Early on in the series, however, they succeeded in making me care about these characters fairly well, so I stuck around for them in the early episodes when the
plot was lurking beneath the waves, and stuck around afterwards to see how they'd get out of the plot alive. However, someone expecting a straight drama,
straight comedy, straight magical girl show for that matter is going to be disappointed. I liked the combination, but
others might not.
2. So...many....CHARACTERS....need....cast list....
One thing that's been levied at more recent, and just as popular, magical girl show Nanoha is the enormous cast inflation that Nanoha's undergone since
the second season, especially leading into StrikerS. By contrast, Mai-Hime has it from day one, even if not all of the characters are initially clarified.
Also, if you remember who Aoi and Chie are, good on you. If you remember the names(yes, they had them) of the schoolkids that only appeared in the first couple
eps trying to get Mai to go to karaoke, you're even more OCD than I am.
Personally, I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the cast, if only because you could really break them down into their relationships to the principal
cast. Aoi and Chie were Mai's "mundane" friends, while Takeda was Natsuki's unwanted romantic pursuer and Tate's former kendo club
leader. Oh, and that Reito guy. Yeah, don't mind him. I'm sure he won't ammount to anything. ;P However, it's really not that big a cast when
one breaks it down, though I do love the one shot cameo of a young Arika in the last five seconds of the series, pre-saging her ascendancy to A-list casthood
in Mai-Otome.
3. Congratulations, you've learned to work as a team. Now go kill each other.
This is perhaps one of the bigger gaffes, in many people's eyes, of the series. After coming together to fight the Sears Foundation off, and Midori's
wonderful attempt at friendship and bonding over karaoke(I love that episode so much), everyone immediately becomes professional paranoids when Nagi, who's
about as trustworthy as a puddy tat asking to be put in the canary's cage, tells them they have to start offing each other for the sake of the Hime
Festival. And even if his threat that the Hime Star will destroy the world is correct(and Midori has evidence that its increasing proximity is affecting the
world), just two episodes ago, Mai took out a frigging KillSat without any collateral damage at all. So why should they believe him at all? Especially when, in
the climax of the series, they destroy the Hime Star in just that way?
This is one of those context-sensitive bits and where I think the series stumbles a bit. The logic of stopping the Hime Star directly at that point in the
series is, admittedly, somewhat noticeable, but at the same time, there are reasons not to. For one thing, given that
the destruction of the Hime Star depowers the girls, it'd be a little suicidal to ask Mai to, y'know, destroy the thing outside the atmosphere. The
problem is that such a consideration is never mentioned on screen, even though Midori's research probably gives the perfect excuse for someone to realize
this and point out why that plan wouldn't have worked at that time. As to the Hime immediately believing
Nagi's words that killing each other is worthwhile, well, that's for another bullet point.
4. The Mai-Hime War Guilt Trials
Ah, the big one. The finale of the series has a good many characters getting off scot free despite some truly horrific actions. While Shizuru is the most
notable, others include Sister Yukariko, Professor Ishigami, Nagi, and to a lesser degree, Nao. However, the series is good about giving mitigating
circumstances for the most part, even if it's a bit slanted. Never let it be said that Mai-Hime is the most ringing endorsement for the inherent goodness
of the male gender...
Shizuru's crimes are the most self-evident, but also the most forgiveable, from a certain point of view. After she snaps and kills Haruka by defeating
Diana, Shizuru is very clearly not in her right mind. Her expression, the subtle eye-muscle twitches, and the way she's still walking around in that same
kimono even after it's been torn to rags as if she hasn't even noticed what's happened to her body all seem to confirm it. Also, the fact that
Shizuru's character was directly linked to the legend of Kiyohime means her unfortunate snap into Psycho Lesbian territory was pretty much pre-ordained the
moment we found out her CHILD's name.
As to her immediate fall, it shows a peculiar example of Japanese mannerisms and standards that makes it ring a little hollow to Westerners.
First and least severe, of course, is the fact that immediately following Natsuki being crushed psychologically and injured pretty badly, Shizuru abandons her
role as Student Council President to see only to Natsuki. To Japanese, the desertion of one's duty is a significant strike. That she didn't inform
Haruka she was now in charge(or perhaps trusted Reito to take care of it while she was away) seems a very minor slight in our eyes. After all, her dearest
friend ever(and I have no illusions that they were publically just that, regardless of Shizuru's secret attraction) was horribly hurt both physically and
psychologically, and looking after her seems a bit more important than a Student Council position, even if the Fuka Student Council is significantly more
powerful than most. But to the Japanese, Duty is Duty, and Shizuru strikes out hard here.
Second is, of course, Shizuru's self-described "wicked love", which Haruka violently describes as "disgusting" and sees as an
embarassment to one of Shizuru's stature to have such feelings. The Japanese are odd in this way. At the same time, they're less uptight about
experimentation, while simultaneously, they strictly delineate when it is proper to have such feelings. Quoted directly from TV Tropes:
Quote: The Japanese believe that young girls are expected to have friendships with each other that emulate boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. This is consideredThe age rankings for such a thing are somewhat vague, but Shizuru, as the equivalent to an eighteen year old(presumably, as she's graduating
safer and temporary, and is known as "class S" (pronounced exactly that
way). This is similar to the Western concept of bi-curious teenagers, though the latter is rather played to demonstrate open-mindedness. The given
cultural explanation is that they can then graduate from these friendships to real relationships with boys, now that they have the confidence and experience.
To remain in a "Class S" relationship is seen as a sign of immaturity.
that year) would be expected to have outgrown such little girls' actions. Furthermore, given her status as the head of a large company, the Student Council
President, and effectively the Right Hand Of God under Mashiro, as far as the school's social ladder goes, the Japanese would see that she certainly needs
to grow up and stop being so clingy about Natsuki. Westerners, on the other hand, seem to see the situation as a very sexually frustrated and perhaps
unhealthily fixated Shizuru is too fearful of how her feelings will be taken to tell Natsuki, and that the main points of her obsession stem from that. I tend
to fall in the latter divide, mostly because the series seems to come down firmly in favor of the two getting together by the final episode and further Word of
God from the director in later official media, which will be mentioned later.
Third, and most serious, is the accusation that Shizuru somehow did....not-good things to Natsuki while the latter was in her care, which would certainly be a
sticking point in their relationship. The main evidence of this, however, is seen by Yukino, at a distance, and through sillouhettes on the walls. While
Shizuru quite unambiguously disrobes and lies down beside Natsuki, we the viewers have the benefit of the director confirming nothing untoward happened, which
makes the entire accusation a very tragic affair, as it alters Natsuki's reaction to Shizuru at a very fragile point for both her feelings and her sanity,
leading to a good deal of horrific pain and loss as a result.
However, while both Yukino and Haruka's revelations and accusations may be more Japanese traditional and misguided, the worst part of that situation is
that no one is really to blame, thus resulting in yet another tragedy stimulated by the Hime Festival and the machinations of the Obsidian Lord, particularly
since he was the one that informed Yukino in Haruka's presence that she really should rat Shizuru out, and Nagi
later compliments him on predicting the outcome so well.
Sister Yukariko is often seen as almost worse than Shizuru by some, but at the same time, her upbringing and certain ambiguous notes on her past seem to cast
this further into doubt. Her DVD perspective omake confirms a bit of her backstory, mentioning that she was orphaned at an early age, raised by a convent, and
has had nearly no contact with men in her entire life. Then she is promptly assigned to Fuka Academy, where the most common advice she is asked for is of the
romantic variety....which she has very little experience in. When one considers that Professor Ishigami, who manipulates her for most the series, seemingly
zeroes in on her BEFORE she's revealed as a Hime, one must begin to wonder at the fact that this Division One operative has such precognizance....or that
the orphaning of one of the Hime and the subsequent life that made her extremely naive and easily manipulated by a man that pretended to care about her might
not be such an accident. In the end, Yukariko's weakness is simply part of her personality. Far fewer people seem to cry out against Shiho, who actually
kills Takumi as a result of her jealousy and brings on the death of her beloved "brother" by her own actions as well, whereas Yukariko's
manipulated deceptions injure and drive further down the homicidal path one fan favorite Nao, which might make those that sympathise with her less inclined to
be sympathetic to the one that made her life harder. Personally, I'm more upset that Ishigami gets a free pass by virtue of Yukariko's misplaced
feelings for the bastard than that Yukariko herself is given such apparent forgiveness, as her life at least sucked enough to deserve a lucky break.
Nao herself can be summed up by the director's own words on her:
Quote: Nao's an interesting study. She isn't necessarily friendly, but that doesn't make her a bad person. The theme surrounding her is that of someoneHowever, her self-reliance and self-centeredness also seem to backfire spectacularly when she lets them drive her into paranoia and vengeance as a
living for herself, and it makes for a good plot device.
result of an unexpected attack and injury. While Nao is certainly a sympathetic antagonist late in the series, she also seems to blame Natsuki in particular
for a good deal of pain that isn't really her fault. However, given how even Mai is having her sanity stretched to the breaking point at this point in the
series, Nao's fall off the slippery slope is rather logical, and even more realized when one finds out who her most precious person is, giving one scene of
Nao looking horribly worried on a busstop bench, to the point of biting at her fingers, a good deal more depth. None of the other Hime were probably as
cognizant of the threat to their loved ones as Nao, aside from perhaps Akira and Mai, and her defensive lashing out at others after it's revealed is
consistent with her basic character.
On the other side of things, Ishigami and Nagi get off relatively scot free, despite Ishigami's horrible manipulations of Yukariko and Nagi's own
downright sociopathic behavior in assisting the final driving points of the Hime Festival. Their "happy endings" bother me far more than any of the
Hime, who all suffered horribly, getting a free pass.
5. Shizuru and Natsuki: Will they, won't they, should they, have they?
Ah, one of the side-debates about Shizuru: does she deserve a happy ending with Natsuki after her horrible acts and insanity earlier in the series. The main
question, however, is does she truly feel any remorse for her actions, and two seperate instances seem to say as much. First, immediately after her
resurrection by Mashiro, the normally perfectly reserved Shizuru is in tears, begging Natsuki's forgiveness, which Natsuki gives her with little
reservation. Second, while on the way to attack the Hime Star, Shizuru somewhat absently just asks Nao and Yukino to forgive her, in a rather humorous scene
that downplays the level of trauma those two have suffered at her hands.
While the former is certainly sufficient to clear the slate between Shizuru and Natsuki, one might think that the joking fake apology of that scene is a little
light hearted for what Shizuru did to Yukino and Nao. However, her initial hesitance to so much as speak to them while there suggests that Shizuru IS aware of
what she did to them, and I suspect an off-camera reconciliation happened where she was more sincere and less flippant about it. Given Yukino and Nao are both
a part of the greater circle of friends in the epilogue, one assumes that Nao's near homicidal intentions towards Shizuru for what happened to her mother
would preclude this if Shizuru hadn't actually apologized at some other time more sincerely.
As to the Natsuki/Shizuru shipping, this one's pretty well nipped in the bud. Natsuki's dub dialogue is a lot more explicit in regards to her feelings
for Shizuru than the Japanese, as I understand it, but it has the benefit of hindsight: particularly one epilogue piece in a Mai-Hime artbook where Natsuki
turns down a love letter from Takeda because "there's someone else's feelings she wishes to return", and furthermore notes that Natsuki is
able to speak to Shizuru closely on the day of her graduation, and that "something special probably waits in the future for these two". Double-talk,
possibly, but it certainly seems to imply the director favored the coupling, and the DVD omakes for both Shizuru and Natsuki, as well as Natsuki's second
one, definitely have undertones that suggest Natsuki has feelings for Shizuru she's not entirely sure of, befitting her realization at the end of the
series which explains Duran's sudden increase in size to match even Kiyohime and Kagutsuchi.
6. Final Thoughts
Mai-Hime is, in its own way, an excellent series from my perspective. The characters are almost entirely fairly robust, the plot wasn't predictable at all
and the emotion of the dub voice actors was entirely well done. Some awkward phrasing ("Your like and my like are probably two very different
things", "Yeah, you DESTROYED HIM!") in the script is evened out by the actrecesses' emotional portrayal being very good for the scenes in
question. And, frankly, it made me think more than the average straightforward series. About the characters and their intentions, how they interact, and where
they go from there. And instead of finding a simple solution to my initial reason for watching the show(is Shizuru a karma houdini or not?) I got an
interesting study that delves into culture differences. There are some minor pacing issues and some points that could be clarified to make accusations of
"railroad plot" stick less well, but overall, the series holds together very well, being a more mature version of the magical girl genre that went an
entire other way from how Nanoha would do it a few years later. I look forward to getting to watch Mai-Otome, even if it isn't a direct sequel. That and
rooting for poor Reito. Sorry, Yuichi, but Mr. Smooth Operator still wins points for actually relying on trying to understand Mai's feelings before magical
destined love kicked in and he got turned into the Big Bad.
Thus ends the wall of text. Your tl;dr responses are anticipated. At least, the smartass ones.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
