Arika Yumemiya has traveled far in search of her goal: the prestigious Garderobe Academy. At this school, young girls are trained to become Otomes, protectors of royal leaders throughout the lands. While attending Arika makes plenty of friends, but some enemies know something about her past that she does not. Nevertheless, her spirit and determination will keep pushing her forward. --- Adapted from it's predecessor, Mai-HiME, this series is not a direct sequel, but an alternate universe setting featuring some of the Mai-HiME cast (though with different personalities).
Story & Characters
Mai-Otome, also called My Otome or My Z-Hime, is the interesting Alternate Universe companion to the successful
26-episode series, Mai Hime. Otome is set in a futuristic setting where the Earth has drastically changed due to a war
called the 12 Kings' War, which apparently wiped out most of the world's technology except for some major
devices which still remain in a country called Garderobe. In this land, many familiar characters are re-introduced, most
of them being "Otome," women who are bred to be excellent in battle and beautiful in nature.
We are first given a glimpse of two major new characters, and a third who has returned with a significantly new
attitude. It is unfortunate that these three are hardly likable in the beginning, for they are unique and definitely
different from the three-person main cast in Hime. There is Arika Yumemiya, the cheerful girl who has come without
family, influence, or anything else except herself, to enroll in the prestigious school that teaches girls to become
otome to find more about the past of her Mother, who apparently was a famous otome. There is Nina Wong, the number one
student in her class at the Otome school, also in love with her father by adoption. And there is the return of Mashiro,
now a rebellious, untalented, selfish princess who will soon become the Queen of Windbloom and Garderobe. Fate seems to
bring them together in a series of odd occurrences, such as when the three find out that they share the same
birthday.
The series also goes into a lot of character pasts, more developed plot twists than the ones in Hime, which shows us the
neglected Mashiro, hearing the whispers that she might not be the true blood princess of the throne, the hurting Nina,
feeling that her adopted father sees her only as a child, and Arika, who is holding the Meister Otome gemstone, the
Azure Sky Sapphire.
Later on, however, when Grand Duke Nagi of Artai causes a war to bring down Garderobe, Otome, and everything else, that
becomes the least of their worries. Nina, being originally from Artai is forced to face off Arika, who has now become
Mashiro's Meister Otome with her mother's Azure Sky Sapphire, and Nina must fight with Artai's legendary
Black Diamond, while all the other otome face off against each other at the whim of their masters.
Rating: 8
Art
The art style is similar, if not identical, to the art of Mai Hime, as they remain colorful, pretty, and somewhat
shoujo. I liked how all the characters seemed to have their own appearances and characteristics in hairstyles, eyes,
body, and fashion sense. I think that this series had more unique fashion and transformation grace than Hime. However,
many people think that the uniforms of the school that Arika and Nina went to had ugly uniforms (I have to agree with
that...). The clothing style is usually on a fantasy-style base.
Rating: 8
Sound
The soundtrack in Otome is done well, although I seemed to hear only three distinct tracks for most of the anime.
However, I thought all of the melodies were very inspiring and fitting with the series. The ending is nice but not
spectacular, and it spans for the whole series. The openings, however, were excellent in my opinion, as they switched
over to another song after the drama got heavier in the plot. The first opening was more perky and fitted well with the
character introductions and comedic air of the first opening clips, while the second was more serious and
action-inducing. The clips with it showed the emphasis of friendship rift, war, and allies in the battlefield. I was
happy that there were two, because the two fitted perfectly with the series, but if one of them had been used for the
whole plot, none of the two would have fit with the whole series.
Rating: 9
Presentation
Mai Otome's general presentation is good, although not excellent. The plot is well done and is creative, but some
developements are not made. Also, the producers use characters from Mai Hime, which causes continuous comparisons and
references to the two series, making the two never complete on its own. Otome would never have made sense without the
former series, Hime, which makes it look too much of something like an OVA or a sequel. Overall, however, I felt that
Otome was better on terms of switching between different genres throughout the series. It was quick to come back when it
went into dramatic and angsty mode, and continued to try to maintain a balance between the comedic and the more serious
tones. This causes it to be less serious than Hime, which was comedic for the first half, a tearjerker in the second,
and came back as a big picnic party in the end. Otome has a better defined sense of plot and genre than other short
animes nowadays, and manages to maintain it's own uniqueness and interesting points.
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
8.5000 (very good)
Reviewed by Rosegirl18, May 23, 2006