Having seen My-HiME, it’s impossible not to compare My-Otome with it, especially since in the eight episodes released so far on region one dvd, My-Otome drops plenty of HiME references and character revisions. I have a lot of fun with these references, so they’re having the intended effect. The character revision that made me laugh the most was what became of Alyssa. Still, this anime is it’s own beast and in spite of the bonus items for fans of My-HiME, Otome should be able to entertain without getting the references, so I’m trying to avoid comparisons. Just going by the reactions of a friend watching this with me (and bugging me every couple of weeks about the next dvd), My-Otome can be a lot of fun for those who’ve never seen HiME.

(Mildly spoilerific rambling follows.)

Volume two starts off with Arika’s first day of school and the chatter she generates when the administration discovers that her uniform was up for sale at Back Stage, an off-color store that caters to uber fans of the Otomes. The store sells figurines, posters, models, and used articles of Otome clothing that customers prefer unwashed. Back Stage is a funny jab at real life fans, which I resemble to some degree. Really, anyone who owns an anime figure or writes a blog has crossed the line to the dark side of fandom. Anyway, what we learn here is that while Arika has some friends and generates a lot of interest from everyone around her, some people really don’t like that at all and decide to take her down a peg. Arika appears oblivious to the hate though.

The funniest episode on the disc was the episode where gym class takes place at the swimming pool. Now this episode has a level of fan service that will turn some people off, but the fan service here just seems more like a humor device than it is trying to be appealing in that way. I don’t know if this actually makes it better or worse for some in terms of wrongness. Shiho discovers that Arika has never swam before, so she decides to make things difficult and uses her Maki-Maki wheel (with attachment) to summon nearly invisible eel like creatures into the swimming pool. These eels, as they are wont to do, brush up against the girls legs, which leads to some misunderstandings and convenient camera placement. The eels also manage to pull proud Nina under water, embarrassing her in front of everyone, which in turn fuels her need to vindicate herself. Overall, it’s just an awesomely ridiculous episode that ends with a sugar-high monster attack. Shiho and her Maki-Maki steals this episode with an assist from Nao who knows how to push Shiho’s buttons.

I hope they manage to keep Shiho in the series as it goes on. She consistently cracks me up.

The last two episodes on the disc bring us back to the reality that the purpose of the Otome isn’t fun and games. The Otome are weapons and have a long history of being their masters’ weapons of war, it’s just that recent times have been much more peaceful. The populace has somewhat forgotten what the Otome are for and only see them as idols or celebrities of sorts. Arika doesn’t agree with the vision of Otome as weapons of war and says her intent as an Otome is to prevent war, rather than fight wars. It will be interesting to see if Arika gets to keep her idealism or if reality will kick those ideals away, forcing Arika to come to grips with war.

Through some circumstances of chance, Arika and Mashiro sort of set the ball for darker times to come, which might put Arika’s idealism to the test and remind everyone the real purpose of the Otome. Finally, there’s some Otome action from Arika, but it’s brief. The transformation sequence is pretty cool and I like how the gems show a text output of the commands it gives to the robe.

What a cheeky monkey!

At this point, the show has dropped a few things for us to look out for. First, there’s something going on with the three main characters Arika, Mashiro, and Nina being orphans. There have been enough scenes to hit us over the head that this isn’t just a coincidence. Nina and Arika have both been shown as captivated by the picture of the Otome who served the Windbloom royal family fourteen years ago. Then there’s the song pieces that the girls each know. Which of the three, if any, is the real heir? What’s the deal with the blue star by the moon? And more…

In the End

Those who need intellectually validating entertainment might find My-Otome to be total crap. While on no planet do I consider it the best anime I’m watching right now, it might just be the most entertaining. It’s a brain mostly off, laugh at things that are close to being oh so wrong, type of thing. Plus, the animation is pretty good and as I said in my previous post, I love the character designs. Hopefully, now that some of the basics of the world and most of the characters introduced, the next set of episodes will begin to get this thing going and see some more Otome action.

I’m still enjoying the English dub, particularly the portrayals of Shiho, Arika, Mashiro and Nina. Of the male characters, I wish Major Wang would feel more real when talking to Nina, though I think he’s funny when talking to Arika. Nagi also amuses me.