Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Anime Review: Mai-Otome & Mai-Otome Zwei (2005)

A while ago, I decided to watch Mai-Otome again. I know this is a very old anime (it's produced 10 years ago, phew how fast time flies, dosn't it??) but I haven't watch it properly when I was in senior high school. I thought I would only waste my time by watching old anime rather than new anime, but I think it's worth it :) I learn so much lessons through this anime.

MAI-OTOME 
(Synonym: 舞-乙HiME / My-Otome / My-Z-Hime)


PROLOGUE:
Mai-Otome is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters.

The series originally premiered on TV Tokyo from October 6, 2005 to March 30, 2006. An OVA sequel to the series, My-Otome Zwei, has been made and released in Japan, and a prequel, My-Otome 0~S.ifr~, has been completed. The series was licensed for North American distribution by Bandai Entertainment. Zwei leaves the story open for future sequels, and Sifr for future prequels. At Otakon 2013, Funimation Entertainment had announced that they have rescued all of the My-Hime Project anime and will be re-released in 2015.
My-Otome
舞-乙HiME
(Mai-Otome)
GenreAction, Drama, Comedy
Anime television series
Directed byMasakazu Obara
Written byHiroyuki Yoshino
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Funimation
NetworkTV Aichi, TV Osaka, TV Tokyo
Original runOctober 6, 2005 – March 30, 2006
Episodes26 + 10 specials
Left-right: Nina & Arika
STORY:
My-Otome's story takes place in the distant future on the planet Earl, colonized by immigrants from Earth centuries ago. "Old technology" has survived in the form of nanomachines that allow female virgins to take the role of Meister Otomes - bodyguards, attendants and warriors that serve the royalty of various kingdoms.

Arika Yumemiya has come to Windbloom Kingdom in search of her mother, whom Arika knows was an Otome. On her arrival she meets the top Coral Otome student, Nina Wáng, and Windbloom's heir to the throne, Mashiro Blan de Windbloom. The series follows Arika's progress as a student at Garderobe Academy and the machinations of those desiring the destructive power of the old technology for themselves.

left-right: Nao, Shiho, Akane, Chie [the members of Five Pillars]

OST Opening themes
  • "Dream☆Wing" by Minami Kuribayashi (Ep. 1–15)
  • "Crystal Energy" by Minami Kuribayashi (Ep. 16–25)
  • "Fierce Sky/Raging Earth" (猛る空/揺らぐ大地 Takeru Sora/Yuragu Daichi?) by Yuki Kajiura (Ep. 26)

OST Ending themes
  • "Otome wa DO MY BEST desho?" (乙女はDO MY BESTでしょ??) by Mika Kikuchi and Ami Koshimizu (Ep. 1–26)

OST Insert songs
  • "Kaze to Hoshi ni Dakarete..." (風と星に抱かれて...?) by Minami Kuribayashi (Ep. 24)
  • "Hoshi ga Kanaderu Monogatari" (星が奏でるものがたり?) (4th Stanza) by Ami Koshimizu (Ep. 22)


Midori of Aswad, Nina and Arika
MY OPINION:
This is a very nice anime, the story line has wrapped nicely and not boring at all :D Though the main characters of this anime are still 14 years old, it doesn't means this anime will be suitable for kids and teenagers.
There are various anime with various range of age, and Mai-Otome and My-Hime series aren't absolutely not for kids under 17+, why? Because it contains mature contents like nudity, and lesbian thing (there's a student that adores her senior so much, and somehow relate enough with lesbian feeling; in this case: Tomoe adores Shizuru so much, and she would do anything to possess her senior).
Overall, I enjoyed watching Mai-Otome :D :D


OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10

I learn about:
+ Pure friendship, give more instead of ask more.
+ Do not give up with your dreams.
+ Do not be self-centered, there are many needy who need your hands.
+ Do not run from your war field. Running away won't solve any problem.
+ Set your priority, devote yourself for something which worth to fight for.
+ Appreciate and value your life.



MAI-OTOME ZWEI
(Synonym: 舞-乙HiME Zwei / My-Z-Hime Zwei)


PROLOGUE:
My-Otome Zwei (舞-乙HiME Zwei?) is a Japanese OVA anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it consists of four episodes, which were released across three-month intervals and is the sequel to the original My-Otome anime series. It is published in Japan by Bandai Visual and North America initially by Bandai Entertainment. At Otakon 2013, Funimation Entertainment had announced that they have rescued all of the My-Hime Project anime and will be re-released in 2015.

Similar to its predecessors My-HiME and My-Otome, the title is a pun, which derives from the visual similarity of the Latin letter "Z" (from the German word zwei "two") to the kanji "乙", the first of the two characters in the word 乙女 otome "maiden". On the logo, the two similar glyphs are shown superimposed on one another.

STORY:
My-Otome Zwei takes place one year after the events of My-Otome. Arika is now a full-fledged Otome (though still under the tutelage of Miss Maria as she has not yet received enough credits to graduate) and Nagi is incarcerated in a prison somewhere in Aries. The various nations are at peace with one another and plan to hold S.O.L.T. (Strategic Otome Limitation Talks) to discuss limiting the numbers of Otome.

A mission to destroy a meteor threatening to collide with Earl sets into motion a chain of events which result in a mysterious shadowy figure attacking Garderobe and several Otome as well as a new, more powerful version of Slave appearing across the planet. To make matters worse, Queen Mashiro disappears following an argument with Arika. The series follows Arika's search for Mashiro as well as Garderobe's attempts to uncover the truth behind the shadowy figure.

舞-乙HiME Zwei
GenreAction, Drama, Comedy
Original video animation
Directed byMasakazu Obara
Written byHiroyuki Yoshino
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
NA
Funimation
ReleasedNovember 24, 2006 –August 24, 2007
Episodes4


MY OPINION:
I can say the sequel isn't disappointing at all. I enjoyed the whole story and its ending is quite nice too. I'm considering to watch My-Hime and Mai-Otome 0 s.fir when I have free time ^.^ But I wish they do something about Nina's presence as Windbloom's real princess, and I'm intrigued with Mashiro's real parents as well :p

OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10

I learn about:
+ Know your position, do your responsibility
+ No matter how many times best friends fight, they're still best friends
+ Trust your partner
+ Be sincere, be faithful


Sources: Wikipedia

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