Miss Maria ga miteru! She really does pop up whenever any of the students are up to mischief! Looks like the mystery Otome from last week’s preview might actually be Ms Discipline Mistress herself, in her teens, 50 years ago. Most significant for me were two larger ideas. The first, which had been hinted at during Ep 6’s biology book, from Irina that the people of this planet had originally migrated on spaceships from Earth. The second, from Argos’ conversation with Midori and the Aswald, that the Black Valley seeks to revive a lost past, probably one based on the technology we are more familiar with. Was the loss due to warfare or an active purge? Also see Random Curiosity, Equivocal Resolution and white sonata. Continue reading ‘Mai Otome 08′
ZOMG. What a dramatic episode.
The accident eight years ago that claimed the lives of Rin’s parents and Kaede’s mother shocked Kaede and she lost the will to live. To save her, Rin claims responsibility for the accident and Kaede returns from the edge literally with a vengeance - her newfound purpose in life is to make Rin’s life a living hell. Rin’s dream in Ep 5 was part of a memory when Kaede told him that he should just die for killing her mother. After years of abuse, Kaede finally realizes the truth via an old postcard and tries to atone for what she has done by becoming Mahoro.
But with Rin finding happiness with Shigure Asa, and that she has never seen him so happy before, her atonement project - the foundation of the third phase of her life - slowly but inexorably crumbles. And with it, her self-restraint. This culminates with her wishing death on Asa using the exact same phrase that she cursed Rin with. Asa, who is in the midst of a serious attack, collapses spectacularly - almost as if in response to her curse. Coming to her senses, Kaede is horrified - it seems that, in addition to Rin’s parents, she’s now killed the girl he loves. Continue reading ‘SHUFFLE! 19′