the chase begins
Oct. 19th, 2005 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
branchandrootSome preliminary ideas on the setup of Mai-Otome, and the refractions from Hime.
So Windblossom is clearly something in relation to Nagi's kingdom. A city-state? A conquered province? The source of the Otome, at any rate, and Otome clearly have something to do with the Slaves.
Most Otome seem to require a contract with someone who can release their Robes. There is a certain implication, though, that the Five Pillars do not require such a contract. They are constrained, but more, it seems, by some kind of political treaty than a contract with an individual Master.
Nagi, as usual, knows more than he's telling.
---
The name, itself, is one connection to Hime. The name used for the Hime by anyone being mystical was "the dancing maidens". Mai otome. But Otome, in this case, also clearly means "maid", as well as maiden, in the sense of a domestic servant. Albeit a very highly respected one. This seems to be a reference to Fumi, Mashiro's maid/warrior in Hime.
Kazahana, the surname of Mashiro's cover identity in Hime, is, if I'm not mistaken, Windblossom.
The individuals of Schwarz and the Slaves they call up with those nasty purple crystals seem to function in a similar fashion to a Hime, her MIP and her Child. If the Slave is killed, the caller goes up in green sparkles just like the MIP did when the Child was killed.
The Robe of an Otome seems centered on ankle and wrist bracelets very similar to Mai's elemental.
Some characters seem to have been tweaked for reprise, and others for contrast.
Shiho and Nao, for example, are in reprise. Shiho's two-facedness, this time, is deliberate rather than unconscious. Nao's generalized malice apparently required no revision.
Shizuru is just as much of an evil tease as ever, and she flusters Natsuki just as much.
Mashiro the bratty tomboy, on the other hand, is contrasted sharply to Mashiro the soft-spoken and sorrowful invalid.
More when I have more than two eps to go from.
So Windblossom is clearly something in relation to Nagi's kingdom. A city-state? A conquered province? The source of the Otome, at any rate, and Otome clearly have something to do with the Slaves.
Most Otome seem to require a contract with someone who can release their Robes. There is a certain implication, though, that the Five Pillars do not require such a contract. They are constrained, but more, it seems, by some kind of political treaty than a contract with an individual Master.
Nagi, as usual, knows more than he's telling.
---
The name, itself, is one connection to Hime. The name used for the Hime by anyone being mystical was "the dancing maidens". Mai otome. But Otome, in this case, also clearly means "maid", as well as maiden, in the sense of a domestic servant. Albeit a very highly respected one. This seems to be a reference to Fumi, Mashiro's maid/warrior in Hime.
Kazahana, the surname of Mashiro's cover identity in Hime, is, if I'm not mistaken, Windblossom.
The individuals of Schwarz and the Slaves they call up with those nasty purple crystals seem to function in a similar fashion to a Hime, her MIP and her Child. If the Slave is killed, the caller goes up in green sparkles just like the MIP did when the Child was killed.
The Robe of an Otome seems centered on ankle and wrist bracelets very similar to Mai's elemental.
Some characters seem to have been tweaked for reprise, and others for contrast.
Shiho and Nao, for example, are in reprise. Shiho's two-facedness, this time, is deliberate rather than unconscious. Nao's generalized malice apparently required no revision.
Shizuru is just as much of an evil tease as ever, and she flusters Natsuki just as much.
Mashiro the bratty tomboy, on the other hand, is contrasted sharply to Mashiro the soft-spoken and sorrowful invalid.
More when I have more than two eps to go from.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-19 07:10 pm (UTC)Am I the only one who finds the new main character extremely annoying? Then again, I couldn't stand Mai either, but liked the show enough.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-19 07:29 pm (UTC)One of these days I'll have to write something up about this tendency of anime and mangaka to use German as their language for connoting dark mysticism. WK, DN Angel, Mai-Otome... that's three examples, it'll work. Ooo, and possibly Angel Sanctuary...
But back to the subject! I actually liked Mai a good deal, but, yeah, Akari gets very badly on my nerves. Sometimes I can deal with the UberGenki, but this one kind of grates.
Shizuru, on the other hand, is enough to make up for a lot. *snickers*
no subject
Date: 2005-10-19 07:43 pm (UTC)And yeah, I'd love to read an essay on that. I've never thought about it. I wonder what others would fit that tendency?
Mai for some reason I couldn't warm up to after her whole angsting over her love life. Although she doesn't get on my nerves as much as the new girl.
Shizuru is always a trip. *chuckles*