My absolute favorite panel of My-HiME Volume 5 is the first page. We see TWO gaudily dressed women, arrogantly posed, smiling condescendingly and clearly labeled “Three Cosmic Beauties.”
Eventually we learn why the third of the three Cosmic Beauties is not present in this panel, and I agree that a label stating “Two of the Three Cosmic Beauties” would not have been as dramatic, but…still. Totally typical of the whole My-HiME experience. ^_^
In case there hasn’t been enough screaming in the previous four volumes, the decibels are upped a few extra notches for this one. Pretty much everything is said in REALLY BIG LETTERS!!! so we know they really mean it. Nagi returns from the dead only to be killed again, which is pretty darn satisfying and, since there’s only one person in the whole world Mai loves more than anything, of course she has to fight that person. Tate gets both girls, sort of, and they beat the bad guy and save the world. Yay us.
Haruka and Yukino have a shiny hero moment which ends with Haruka’s apparent death, but that is of course reversed in a totally Haruka moment at the end of the volume. Second best line of this volume – Shizuru, at Haruka’s reappearance, “Waste of a good funeral.” Youko and Midori get a snuggly moment which pleased me, since they always seemed a more likely pairing to me than Midori and some random old guy.
In conclusion, ShizNat fans should avoid this series like the plague, as should anyone with a shred of dignity. Haruka x Yukino fans will find some sparkly bits hidden among the muck.
Ratings:
Art – 6
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 1
Service – 5
Overall – 5
I shout out, well mumble anyway, thanks to Okazu Superhero Bruce McF for sponsoring today’s review!
Oh, best line of the volume? In the author’s note at the very end, Kimura-sensei recalls, “Ken-etsu-sensei kept saying disheartening things like ‘Let’s try not to get cancelled!’ when we rode on the train together.” Says everything you need to know about this series, IMHO. ^_^;
But yet they didn’t understand that the key to not being canceled might just be Shiznat? /facepalm
Nice that there is some Haruka awesomeness though.
@Anonymous – The magazine that this manga ran in has few, if any, ShizNat fans. It ran in Champion Red, a magazines notorius for make protagonists and a LOT of vioence against women. The story did make it to completion, so their formula worked just fine for their audience.
Cosmic Beauties? Wtf, did Battle Athletes sneak in here when I wasn’t looking?
Sometimes I wonder if these people care that the characters they created are not just dishrags they can rinse and reuse.
*sighs*
Nice straightening out of Natsuki. Totally fixed that “problem”.
I still marvel that anyone would want to read about or even see Tate. He’s such a mouldy piece of bread. Not even multi-grain or whole wheat.
And nice review, as always!
@The Denominator – No, they don’t care because, yes, the characters *are* a commodity. If they can re-purpose them to fit a different audiences’ requirements and make more sales, they will. This is not Art – it is Business.
I commend you for your ability to read this manga without having to just kill yourself, as I fled howling into the wilderness. And I’m a person who read all of Mission: Earth on a bet. A 50 dollar bet. I really should have asked for more money.
Anyway, I would say that Midori’s professor was set up in the anime, but could have been done so better, as we never get to really see him on screen. (And yeah, we get way more of Midori and Youko)
I love the Mai Hime anime, but the manga is SO PAINFUL.
Mind you, the Mai Otome Arashi manga is worse. If you can read that and stay sane, you are far tougher than anyone else on Earth.
–John Biles
The manga was SO HORRID you deserve cookies for reading it.
Too bad I can’t cook!
I swear, Haruka and Yukino are almost the only reason to read this tripe.