It’s the Birthday episode. Mashiro, Nina and Arika all share the same birthday. There’ll probably be a tonne of speculation out there about what this means and who is the real princess blah blah. I just think that because the OP groups the trio so closely, they’ll sit down together and play that Harmonium some day. Also plenty of Nina angst due to Jumping To Conclusions and Assuming The Worst, feeling that since Arika came into her life, her precious Otousama doesn’t love as much anymore. She’s somewhat placated at the end when Sergey reminds her that he chose 9/7 to be her birthday because it was the day they first met rather than, as she suspected, that it was the birthday of Rena’s daughter whom she thinks is Arika.
So funny. I was particularly tickled by how pleased Akane looked in contrast to Yokho, Natsuki and Chie looking apprehensive and Shiho looking positively terrified.
Kudoes to Irina for making fun of Nina’s stoic act. As we see later in the episode, she’s really very fragile emotionally.
So Nina remains No.1, Tomoe No.2, Arika rises to No.29 and Ers-chan falls to No.30. I just have this horrible feeling that this bodes ill for Ers-chan because the ranking of the other girls like Irina, Yayoi and so on aren’t reported. There will probably a plot point on this later with Ers-chan having crosshairs on her. If I recall correctly, only about half of the Corals will go on to become Pearls which means Arika and Ers-chan are on the wrong side of that line but the former’s momentum is up while the latter looks like she’s going down.
Arika’s pigtails are so expressive, particularly the heart. Also liked Irina, Yayoi and Lilie’s reaction to Nina’s yelp. It must have been quite a face that Nina made.
Somehow Nina’s Daddy Complex has become less disturbing. Maybe it’s because Tomoe’s Shizuru Crush is so much more psychotic. But Arika’s relationship with Nina will be severely strained when Nina finds out Daddy is Arika’s patron at school. Also Arika and Sergey just seem so much more at ease with each other but that’s really because Arika gets along well with people much more easily in general.
A tribute to the people who are actually running Windbloom. Aoi and Sakomizu. LOL
Akira arrives. Expect many typoes and much confusion as she’s mixed up with our pigtailed heroine. Looks like Arika will be masquerading as Mashiro in the next episode. My guess is that Akira is masquerading as Takumi. Meanwhile Takumi puts the moves on Mashiro, neither realising who the other is. Given the flame shaped emblem, it’s only a matter of time before Mai returns. Wonder if she’ll still be Takumi’s brother - probably more likely to be Otome to his father or something.
“My guess is that Akira is masquerading as Takumi” - oh, that would be sweet :) I hope your prediction is right on spot :)
Wow I never thought about that before, but I think you are absolutely right. Awesome job Zyl! It’s a pleasure reading your blog on Mai Otome, since it’s composed differently than others. Also, I love the speculations you make, since it’s usually right on the money. GJ!!!
Haha Well judging by the last couple of post, I am betting that you are a Erstin fanboy? I guess you like the quiet, girly ones eh? Well Asa’s an exception…XD
The main reason I’m an Ers-chan Fanboy is because of her crush on Nina. It’s so cute! Sometimes I wonder if Nina also resents Arika, not only for appearing to steal Sergey but Ers-chan too. LOL
Whatever one says about the Mai HiME franchise, they have the most hilarous preview dialogue sequences. My favourite for MH was at the end of Ep 17 with Mai thinking Takumi was calling her fat and then ending with her howling like a deranged dog. The preview dialogue at the end of this ep was just sweet as well - at first implying that Arika is licking Ers-chan’s boobs but then it was just a birthday cake Ers-chan had baked for Arika.