Princess Mai's Adventures in the Fuuka Wonderland (My HiME - The Complete Collection (DVD))

Member Name: berlioz II

Product:	My HiME - The Complete Collection (DVD)
Date:	06/11/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Surprising, exciting, unpredictable, filled to the brim with interesting characters...

Disadvantages: ...and only let down by general unevenness of story and a very cheesy final episode.

Mai Tokiha, a 16-year-old high school girl, receives a special scholarship along with her ailing brother Takumi to attend the exclusive private school of Fuuka Gakuen that seems to be a sure chance for her to make her life better than what it has been. Unknown to her, though, is that she hasn't received it thanks to any academic earnings of her own, but for the reason that she is in fact one of twelve HiME (an acronym for Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment), a group of girls who all possess the ability to summon special powers in the form of specific "elements", weaponry that have different traits to them depending on the user. While on her way to Fuuka on a cruise ship, she ends up meeting a young man named Yuuichi Tate and his childhood friend Shiho Munakata, the former who immediately makes a bad impression on her as a pervert. She also ends up witnessing the rescue of a young girl floating in the sea, and saves her by giving CPR when she's brought on board. Later that night, another mysterious girl jumps on board and starts a violent and destructive fight with the girl that was just saved from the sea, and Mai soon ends up smack in the middle of the fight. As the two battle it out, they manage to damage the ship so badly that it is evacuated, eventually leading for the whole thing to split clean in two. And with Mai now in the crosshairs between the two combatants, she tries to save the girl she had saved earlier and ends up deflecting the other combatant's attacking wolf-like robot creature with some kind of a fire shield, thus accidentally finding out about her abilities. As the other fighter then leaves, and the ship rapidly sinking as she's holding to the, now unconscious, other girl, Mai ends up dropping into the water. The next thing she knows is waking up the following day on a lawn, in the middle of a fiery circle with a large trail leading up to it, the younger girl still sleeping in her arms, and the entire student body of Fuuka Gakuen staring at her. Mai's new life as a transfer student had just become very interesting.

Mai-HiME (or My-HiME as the English version of it goes) was one of the surprise successes when it aired back in 2005, and ended up becoming one of the more popular anime series of the 2000s. Mixing together spadefuls of silly comedy, some large-scale action, and a large cast of compelling characters mixed within a plot that is both enthralling, surprising, and also psychologically interesting, it isn't hard to see why the series found its way to becoming such a surprise delight. Produced by the Sunrise studio, the 26-episode anime series hit's a lot of things just right. A spoof of the popular sentai and senshi genres (namely series featuring warriors and other groups of people with superpowers fighting together), Mai-HiME is both a fun and entertaining series, while its deft development of its wide range of characters over the course of the series that takes them on a journey of ever-developing drama and angst, makes it fairly similar in its progression to Neon Genesis Evangelion before it... though minus all the big psychological questions and general sense of pessimism, even if the ride does get pretty rough as the series goes along. Mai-HiME is certainly a series that manages to be both highly entertaining, but through its many twists and turns will always make you want to see more. Expect the unexpected probably describes the majority of it pretty well.

As such, the series features a lot of backstory and general mythology that is good to understand and pick up on as the story exposition goes on. Since the dawn of time, there have always been HiME - 12 girls with special powers that reciprocates every 300 years among new generations. These girls have several hidden traits they can use and all are identified by a special birthmark in some part of their bodies. For one they can call on an "element", which is essentially a special weapon that can take many different forms for different people and as such have their own unique strengths. These are essentially for the girls immediate usage and make for powerful defensive and offensive objects they primarily use when engaged in battle. But when needing more power than that, they can also summon a "Child", which is basically a big, animal shaped, bio-mechanical creature that packs quite a big wallop - though here too some of the "children" are more powerful than the others, so the user must know how to use them strategically the best way. This all translates into a story that is both intriguing in its parade of mysteries that are revealed little by little as the story moves forward without actually getting too confusing while doing so, keeping a clearly logical and fairly well defined progression throughout, not always a given for such stories.

The series itself largely consists of two, very distinct halves. The first half is essentially an introductory half, taking up episodes 1-16 which are more light-hearted in nature. In this arc we first discover the initial reason why all the HiME have been gathered at the academy. As the HiME essentially are protectors of sorts, they've all been brought together to fight these monstrous, ugly beings called "orphans" that are plaguing Fuuka's lands with ever increasing nuisance. The origin of these creatures is never really explained, but they are essentially summoned by the creepy, and somewhat supernatural, boy named Nagi Homura. For the majority of the first half the anime focuses on both introducing the majority of the different HiME, while staging large battle scenes for the eventual defeat of said monsters in a very monster-of-the-week sort of way. These are often interspersed with more comedic moments such as a very entertaining cake-baking contest among the majority of the main characters, the results being hilariously chaotic, or a likewise amusing trip to the karaoke. This half of the series culminates on the first major battle with the two shadowy factions (First District and Searrs Foundation) vying for the power of the HiME and the Hime Star, the latter whose meaning is only revealed in the series' second half. The advancement from the initial monster fights to the all-out invasion of the rival Searrs Foundation is very well achieved, thanks to hints dropped here and there of the true intents of the HiMEs, combined with some major character building that is guaranteed to make the watcher want to root the heroines to victory throughout, and ending with a very emotionally satisfying climax in more ways than one. It is perfect in its way to build up our caring for these individuals by allowing them to essentially engage in this kind of camaraderie so that when the story really kicks off we are more emotionally vested with them all to make the follow-up all the more devastating.

After these first 16 episodes are past, it is only then that the real reasons why the HiMEs have been brought to the academy is revealed. At the end of the 16th episode, the previously shadowy aggressor Nagi steps up and declares that the HiME Carnival is now going to start. For the HiME have not actually been brought to Fuuka to fight the Orphans, as they were told, but in fact they are there to fight each other! This is the fate of the HiME. The twelve of them are to fight to the death, if necessary, so that eventually only one is standing, and this final HiME will then become the bride for the so-called Oblivion Prince, the master of the HiME Star which only the HiME themselves can see. It is a perpetual circle when every 300 years the HiME will partake in this Carnival and fight for this last position in order to win this ultimate prize. If they refuse to fight, the Hime Star will eventually land and destroy the Earth. And to offer an extra motivation, each HiME are required to stake the thing most important to them, as they are told when they accept their "Child". This important thing is none other than the person dearest to the HiME, let it be a friend, a lover, or a family member. Each HiME is intrinsically linked to this person so that when the HiME's Child is destroyed, this also means this other person ceases to exist. It is a genius form of storytelling that first unites all these disparate characters together for some good old fashioned action heroics where they need to fight together and forge close friendships, and then summarily destroys everything that has been built up in one swift blow. What advances from this point onwards only escalates in intensity, explosive emotional moments, and one surprise twist at a time that is sure to hold you on the edge of your seat until the end.

Now, let's take a look at the characters next. As the cast is quite large, with the HiMEs, the secondary characters, and other bit players, I'll try to only provide a cursory glance at them all but, since much of the series relies on its surprise aspect involving these people, I won't mention any specific spoilers unless they're painfully obvious from the start. First there's of course Mai Tokiha, the hard-working and cheerful individual with the large breasts (a source of much comedy). As the title of the series already tells you, Mai acts as the main character and thus a lot of the series also focuses on her. Mai perhaps goes through the most emotional pain throughout the series as she has to struggle with her new-found abilities, taking care of her brother who has a heart condition he developed when he almost drowned while he was a child (and which claimed the life of their mother), has to work hard to keep food on the table, and also juggle her love life with two guys she meets, Tate and Reito Kanzaki. As Mai is a deeply caring person and tries to remain positive as a general rule, seeing her life get ripped apart several times over is harrowing to watch, and makes her the emotional cornerstone of the whole anime. Acting as the foil to Mai's cheerful nature is Natsuki Kuga, a loner and a pretty grumpy individual. She has more knowledge of being a HiME as her mother was employed by First District, the hidden organisation that the academy belongs to. Suffering from wanting to bring down District One to avenge her mother's death, she has taken to being cold and lonely, aiming clearly for a goal and not that concerned about making friends. But as is only expected, she does end up warming somewhat to Mai and eventually becomes friends with her. Incidentally, Natsuki is also usually the brunt of various embarrassing situations, such as revealing her intimate parts when a particular Orphans steals her underwear, or doing a sexy hitchhiking stop for a car loaded with her teachers and friends. And she also has an undergarment fetish...

The girl saved from the ocean in the first episode is Mikoto Minagi, confired a HiME in the first episode, and wields a sword as a permanent element (the others' elements materialise when needed). Mikoto is very cheerful (to a fault), naïve, lazy and wild - particularly if she eats anything hot. She loves Mai's boobs and nuzzles up to them regularly (and indeed shows a very deep love for both Mai and her cooking), while she has her own agenda of finding her brother she promised to seek out at an early age, this latter proving to become a major issue for her loyalties later on. Mai's main love interest comes in the form of Yuuichi Tate, who is torn between his feelings for Mai and the constant showings of affection of his childhood friend Shiho Munakata (which of course is only ripe for some major jealousy). Tate is essentially the guy who wants to desperately help out and do the right thing, but usually can do nothing better than to just look on and curse at his uselessness. Not to mention several bad decisions - even if executed with good intentions at heart - only lead to more problems throughout the series. Shiho on the other hand is generally a loud, hugely annoying and rather easily angered girl who has already claimed Tate as her own and plans to eventually marry him. Shiho is one of those whom you are almost bound to love to hate. While not truly a bad person, she does have a tendency to act selfishly and do things that can unleash some dark demons from within her. Not to mention the four pigtails of hers seem to have a life of their own. Creepy.

Yukino Kikukawa is a generally shy and very timid girl with special knowledge on computers and other technology. She is involved with the Student Executive Committee, a separate group of the Student Council that acts as the maintainers of peace on campus. Yukino's best friend, and superior, is the loud-mouth Haruka Suzushiro, who has a tendency to mispronounce words (which Yukino regularly corrects) and otherwise keep a hard stance on the maintaining of rules. She holds a deep hatred toward her supposed rival, the Student Council President Shizuru Fujino, a perpetually calm person who has a very confidential friendship with Natsuki, loves to drink tea, is hugely popular among the female populus at school as she has many fangirls who are more than happy to serve her (not that she's complaining), and seems to be better in the know on various issues of the school due to her position. Her importance to the story, though, only really steps up toward the end of the series. Acting as Vice-President is the elegant and aristocratic Reito Kanzaki making, with the similarly elegant and refined Shizuru, the school's dream team of finesse, and many people think the two are a couple (which they were for a short time). However, Reito quickly starts to show interest toward Mai, and becomes her rival in love with Tate. Again Reito is not everything he seems and only toward the end are some shocking revelations unveiled of his true colours. Mai's brother Takumi, as previously mentioned, suffers from a bad heart, and is in need for an operation. He is a gentle person (almost feminine) and often entertains some fatalistic thoughts as he considers himself a burden to her hard-working sister. His roommate is the strict and fairly Natsuki-like Akira Okuzaki, though not sporting Natsuki's blatant pessimism. After some initial coolness, Akira ends up befriending Takumi and becomes his greatest protector in place of Mai.

Acting as a total delinquent is the middle-schooler Nao Yuuki, who is morally reprehensible and loves to pilfer money out of the horny men she seduces in the town of Fuuka. Continuously after her own gain, Nao is not an immediately likeable person, but proves to be one of the most intriguing characters of the series. Particularly her transformation into an antagonistic person is executed in a way that makes her rather a tragic character than an outrightly hateable one despite her actions. Nao is just being Nao, after all. The utterly hyper Midori Sugiura, a self-proclaimed leader of the HiME and part of the teaching staff at age 17 is an undeniably entertaining character. And with her non-stop cliché slogans show, she's the group motivator for a lot of the time, even if she tends to not be the most graceful person around. The most outwardly innocent Sister Yukariko Sanada works at a church on the campus and often gives Godly advice to people that frequent the establishment. However Yukariko, despite being a devout believer, can't help but develop feelings toward Fuuka's art teacher, the somewhat sleazy Ishigami-sensei, who isn't exactly that worried about maintaining the purity of the good sister, something which will carry great repercussions later on. Working with Mai in the same restaurant, Akane Higurashi is a pretty normal girl with a sweet crush on Kazuya Kurauchi (or Kazu-kuuun!). She doesn't really play a huge part in the story, but still holds significant importance. The pair of Miyu Greer and Alyssa Searrs are both dependant of and very devoted to each other, with Alyssa being in the church choir (with somewhat mangled English skills), and Miyu essentially being her protector. Both play a major part in the first arc's final episodes but of which I won't say any more of.

The Head of the school, Mashiro Kazahana, is a (seemingly) young girl stuck in a wheelchair and is wheeled about by her ever-present and very amicable maid Fumi Himeno. Mashiro of course is fully aware of everything that goes around in the school, the Carnival, First District, Searrs, and such. Many people also seem to suspect that she knows more of than she is willing to say, and thus for the HiME (Mai and Natsuki in particular) tends not to be a very pleasing person, despite her friendly and understanding demeanour. The entity of Nagi Homura is largely played for comedy, though he does have a definite eerie side to him. Often lounging around reading books, and appearing and disappearing at will, he is the most identifiable foe of the story, though not the main one, and never engages in battles himself. Nagi, being the ringleader of the Carnival, also tends to nudge and manipulate the other HiME to go in the directions he wants them to go - usually meaning the one that will cause most mental anguish. Rounding out this huge cast are Mai's two best friends, the gossip-hound Chie Harada and her close friend Aoi Senoh, the captain of the kendo club Masashi Takeda (often the victim of Natsuki's fury), the school nurse Yohko Sagisawa with her air of being a responsible adult and thinking alcohol is the greatest invention of mankind, and finally Natsuki's First District contact Sakomizu-sensei. Of course there are also a handful of various other people like the traitorous priest Joseph Greer and Natsuki's outsider informant Yamada, but they tend to play less significant roles.

Now, I've gone through all the characters with as much detail as I dare so as to give a specific idea of all the kinds of people that frequent the anime for a reason. For as much as the plot and the various conspiracies that perpetuate the story are interesting in their own right, this series is really all about its characters. This series is really all about people's feelings of each other and the relationships they share more than anything else. And despite the huge amount of people within the story, the majority of them also receive wonderful development without causing any to be clogged up or somehow ignored. Certainly some don't get as much as the others, but still this series lives and breathes through its characters and everything they are subjected to go through. And as the anime relies so much on the element of surprise, and the sudden dramatic twists these characters face almost episode in, episode out, you'll most likely gain the most enjoyment in trying to figure things out on your own as you advance through the episodes. Particularly as the identities of the different HiME are only revealed gradually, though most are known by the time the midway point is reached, it can still leave you guessing until the last before the final one is revealed. Also the story itself constantly keeps you on your toes, particularly when reaching the second half as nothing can be taken for granted. If you expect some characters to live, indeed they actually might not. And the farther you get to the anime the more dramatic and hopeless everything seems to become, which is again helped immensely by the more lighthearted first half in adjusting you to liking most of these characters as a team and then turning them all against each other in such a sudden smash. The effects truly are powerful.

However, despite all the strengths of Mai-HiME, it is not flawless. For one, even if it is one of its strengths, the unpredictable nature of the series does have the downside of making the series somewhat uneven, and perhaps too reliant at times on its shock factor which, while I see this series having a lot of re-watch value, probably won't effect you quite as powerfully the second time around. Also the mixing together of some very silly humour, some big battles, and then halfway through changing everything to super angst drama can have a very divisive effect. It is likely that you may either end up liking the first half better while finding the second too heavy for what you've come to like about this series, or then consider the first half to be fluffy nonsense that is vindicated by the very dramatic second half. I personally enjoy both sides for what they are, but this can become an issue for some. And as much as these halves are pretty much polar opposites of each other, if that doesn't divide opinions, then the final episode certainly will. In short, the grand finale must be one of the greatest pieces of cheese I've ever seen. Without giving anything away, whereas the steady build-up toward a ultra-dramatic conclusion feels almost a given after all the suffering the characters have gone through, instead the writers try to shift the balance back toward the first half's ideology. Now I have nothing against an "all's well that end's well" type of ending, but when you have the characters spouting corny lines and basically trying to lessen all the emotional turmoil of the past nine episodes or so, it can't but help make you feel a little cheated. And while there were many at the time correctly guessing how everything would eventually tie up, and thus some also feeling happy about the solution, it can't be ignored that trying to shift away from the angst to something of lighter, more heroically corny substance is bound to make you feel at least a little disappointed (and that's not even mentioning the aftermath).

The animation quality is of a pretty high standard throughout, and the character designs are all pretty personable and unique in their own way. The action scenes are really well handled, and while Mai-HiME may not be the most eye-popping thing you've ever seen, it remains of strong quality. The voice acting is also superb mostly, particularly the work of Mai Nakahara as Mai, Saeko Chiba as Natsuki, Naomi Shindou as Shizuru (talking with a strong Kyoto accent), Sakura Nogawa as Shiho, Yuuka Nanri as Nao, and Yukari Tamura as Midori standing out for their wonderful characterisations. The music of Yuki Kajiura also acts quite well in supporting the series, particularly the very beautiful choral theme that signifies the HiMEs themselves often used for very good dramatic effect. All in all, Mai-HiME is a very recommendable anime for the enthusiast, though maybe not the best place to start for a newbie. Concurrently to the anime series, a five-volume manga adaptation was also produced, but it features several large differences to the anime's story (outside of the basic concept). This manga may be nice for anybody wanting a bit more, but several character relationships are different, some HiME are not the same as in the anime, the story is mostly supported by big action scenes as opposed to the characters taking the story forward, and it is pretty much overflowing with fan service (female underwear, nudity, clothes getting ripped to pieces...) to being particularly good in comparison to the anime. The anime was also later followed by a sequel of sorts in the form of Mai-Otome that is basically an alternate reality series with some of the same characters put in new settings with new protagonists taking the main helm and featuring a much more straightforward story less dependant on the shock factor. Ultimately, I'd rate Mai-HiME with a 4½ rating, but due to the final episode and general unevenness I can't really push it up to a full 5, thus a 4 it will be. But regardless of its flaws, this is a very enjoyable and often exciting anime that is sure to maintain interest no matter what feelings you will eventually be left feeling for it. Recommended.

© berlioz, 2009

Summary: Delightfully entertaining anime series well worth checking out.