Azure Flame

Chie tries pulling a plot out of her magical hat.

A lot has happened over the last three months, but I’m sure most will agree that events worldwide, personal and anime-related must all pale in comparison to the release we’ve all been waiting for- the second episode of Mai-Otome Zwei. In episode one, a mysterious Shadow Otome started petrifying powerful and God Mode supporting characters, Arika and Mashiro had an argument over generic protesters in Wind Bloom, and Mai and Arika protected Black Valley from a giant Slave of the week. This time around, Mai and Mashiro have gone missing for some reason, and on her way to find them, Arika finds herself in the middle of a bus-jacking in Aries. Exciting stuff, eh? No, I didn’t think so either.

Continue reading Mai-Otome Zwei episode 2: where’s the plot?…

For my last few Otome articles, I’ve repeatedly said that I don’t have much more to say about the franchise. Now seems as good a time as any to admit that that never seems to be the case; until the day when I can play as Mikoto in my own isometric battle game, there will always be something more to say about Mai-Otome- and maybe one day I will even be clever enough to understand the complex plot that one troll commenter seems to believe it has.

Continue reading Just when I thought I was done with Mai-Otome, I realised I needed to talk about Zwei…

I’ve never been stuck for things to write about Mai-Otome- indeed, some might even venture to claim that I have already said enough about it. Nonetheless, such claims are not enough to deter me, and so the time has come to turn my sights to the recently completed Otome manga.

As I wrote in an earlier rant, for a while I was wary of even starting the Otome manga; if it was to the anime what the HiME manga was to its respective anime, the horrors contained within could easily be too much for any sane mind to bear. Even so, as the weeks passed, the nagging curiosity that has led me into so many dark and dangerous places persuaded me to download the manga and give it a try. Continue reading Mai-Otome: the manga…

No, I haven’t done anything as insanely foolish as attempt to rewatch the series; however, lengthy as it was, I’ve come to feel that my first rant about Otome just didn’t quite cover everything. And so it is that I return to the stage of Otome ranting to present you with the second part, entitled “why am I still subjecting myself to this?”. Continue reading Rant Bonus Round: Mai-Otome Revisited…

Spoiler warning: this rant will unashamedly give away the plot for the entirety of Mai-Otome and most of HiME.

In October 2005, life seemed good; a sequel to Mai-HiME had begun airing in Japan, and it seemed to be all anyone could talk about. Fans of the original were looking forward to bigger and better adventures, whilst newcomers to the franchise were looking forward to finally seeing what all the fuss was all about. Flash forward half a year, and the embittered survivors could only agree on one thing- somewhere along the line, something had gone horribly, horribly wrong. Continue reading Mai-Otome, or how to deface a franchise in 26 easy steps…