When last we left Rena and Sifr in Mai Otome 0~S.ifr (舞-乙HiME 0~S.ifr~) it was so many months ago that I pretty much had completely forgotten who, what, where, when and why. How always involves three things – partial nudity, explosions and lots of screaming, that one’s easy. ^_^
But the story was easy enough to catch up on. Sifr is the bastard child of the Windbloom family and thus, has the power to make the Harmonium work. Garderobe’s babealicious, but misguided headmistress has decided to kill Sifr to keep that from happening. On the other side, the evil-eyebrowed Schwarz is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trailing a captured Sifr behind them. (Surely I was not the only one who thought them taking her to outer space then blowing up the station and taking her back to earth was just about the stupidest waste of fuel ever?) Defying both sides are Bruce, Rena, Shion, Mayo and Eliot. And Mayu, who obviously could have taken care of all of this on her own, but doesn’t, for whatever reason.
I kept getting the feeling that series continuity was being ignored in this OVA. Probably because in Mai Otome, the Harmonium had been been buried and forgotten for ages, but s.ifr only takes place a generation before. Or maybe it’s just an alternate universe. Or something else. But, it had the three things we cared about – a hot Garderobe headmistress, Rena getting to be uber cool as the Blue Star Sapphire Otome and some Yuri service. We even got the added bonus of Sifr having some brass. So really, who cares about the rest? It was shiny and colorful – exactly what we want out of our Mai.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 7
Music – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 4
Overall – 7
Oh, and I completely forgot! An adult female kissed an adult male and he did NOT nosebleed or pass out or anything else idiotic. He blushed – totally approved behavior for being kissed by a pretty girl.
It is a wonder, though, why this series are still considered to be “Mai”
The reason why I liked Mai HiME so much, is because of the characters. So while it was interesting to see them in the new setting in Otome – I did not like it since I had no respect for Arika and Nina, and I hated the role that was given to the rest of the characters.
When I watched S.ifr, I was in numb state “what was the plot again?” The thought of watching the next episode made me feel like womiting. But… somehow, I did in fact hoped for a greater continuity, for something that would finally tie up two series.
But, on the other hand, it is sad that this series are over. I thought that they would write fanfics on their own work forever and ever, puting the character in yet new settings…
I much preferred Otome to HiME, myself. But I’m also not in the habit of having expectations for anime. It’s so much easier than constantly being dissapointed, because the companies don’t do what you want. LOL
Am I the only one who wants the Artemis thing cleared up? I understand that the original HiME’s powers came from the HiME star, but now Rena having a similar marking and calling upon Artemis for a new robe? I’m confused O_o