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Sasara Kusugawa bent down to wipe up the spilled cream, being careful not to let the frilly apron touch and soak up any of it. When she straightened up, she turned around and smiled at the old man. The old man, our boss, Master Ernst Von Groaner cupped his stiff leathery mitts around hers and thanked Sasara for cleaning up the spill his clumsy hands had made. She smiled without vomiting and fixed another tea setting.

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I’m used to being surprised by something every time I open the door to the clubroom, but I wasn’t expecting this, not that I’m complaining. Miss Nagato in a swimsuit, now that’s a surprise I can live with on a daily basis. Anyway, I expected Haruhi to be doing all sorts of things around Miss Nagato, since after all, this wasn’t the type of thing Yuki would wear just out of the blue — “blue,” she said — but Yuki was alone in the clubroom.

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The sun bleached the sand so white that it hurt to look at the beach. Everyone else already left, but he stayed behind so that Haruka didn’t have to catch up with the group all by herself. The house was quiet for a change. Actually, the old house creaked at every little thing, so if it was quiet that meant Haruka probably fell asleep or something else that had nothing to do with getting ready for the beach. He thought about just letting her be, since he liked looking at the beach more than he liked being on it, but if they didn’t show up that would start rumors which would end his career as a photographer before it got started. He’d be blacklisted for ruining the reputations of budding idols.

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All afternoon, the only thing I could think about was spreading sweet creamy butter all over Tsukino’s hot buns. I tried not to run to her house like a drooling idiot and used all my willpower to keep from howling as I opened the gate to let myself in the back way. Then as I emerged from the bushes, what I saw was a stab through to the heart. Instead of Tsukino leaning against the kitchen counter waiting for her buns to be done, she was in the back yard laying on a lawn chair, wearing a bikini, and getting a freaking tan. What the heck? I didn’t eat anything before I got here because Tsukino always feeds me and anyone else she can find with the amazing stuff she bakes.

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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.

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