Erstin Ho
Who Betrayed Garderobe
But Died for Her Friends
A.R. 316 - 331
Those familiar with my previous posts will know that I’m an Ers-chan Fanboy so I took this episode pretty hard - I must confess that I was cry for almost half an hour. -_-;; I had hoped that Ers-chan would play a role in reconciling Arika and Nina at the conclusion of the series. However it seems obvious now, with hindsight, that Nina would be provoked to attack Arika by what Mentar called “the handkerchief of hell” but that Arika would need some serious jus ad bellum and Ers-chan’s death at Nina’s hands would serve that perfectly.
It seems that Ers-chan was not consumed by the Schwartz crystal and her personality remained intact to the very last - because of her Otome nanomachines? Despite dutifully obeying John Smith’s every direct command, she also exhibited some free will in not attacking Arika with the fullest of her Slave’s abilities and even sacrifices herself by using her Slave to take Nina’s attack on Arika. Her family has also been in the service of Schwartz for many generations as claimed by Smith and later confirmed by Ers (who said her father, mother, grandfather were all like her - did they receive the Black Letter and leave her orphaned with her Garderobe fees paid by Schwartz funds?). It suggests to me that potential receipents of the Black Letter are a select group who may have pledged their family’s service for benefits in the past and, as Shizuru said to Rad, live in fear of receiving the Black Letter for their whole lives. The Black Letter and crystal probably do not hypnotize them or take them over if Ers’ is anything to go by. Plus the summoning symbol is the SEARRS logo - a link to Mai HiME?
And now all this has been revealed to us, Ers’ expressions of doubt about becoming a Meister Otome takes a more sinister turn instead of just a lack of confidence in herself. I think probably the most terrible moment for Ers-chan was to be unable to meet Nina’s gaze. She looked unhappy for most of this episode but I thought she looked utterly miserable when faced with Nina’s shocked stare. And perhaps this was why she did not rat on Tomoe as she may have been conscious that her own impending betrayal would be so much more serious.
So while the Ers-chan Fanboy in me mourns her passing, I’m somewhat consoled that her death has yielded maximum dramatic impact. She was so moé, harmless and helpful plus that bittersweet unrequited love for Nina and a much more prominent supporting character in comparison to Mai HiME’s Akane - which combined into making her the logical choice for series transition sacrificial lamb.
[Edit: Ok, now I've seen the sub, Ers-chan doesn't come across as being so helpless and hapless. I'm sure some readers believe that Ers-chan was "spineless" for not defying John Smith but, to the Ers Fanboy in me, that seems a tad harsh. Although she didn't want to fight Arika, it also seems that she believes in Schwarz's goal of spreading Garderobe's technology to the rest of the world and seized on Arika's off-hand comment to that effect in the previous episode - so it's not unlikely she agrees with the aims but finds the means unpalatable. As she was raised and trained as a Schwarz sleeper from a young age by her parents and grandparents, these beliefs are probably not superficial. The familial factor, pseudo-religious-cult indoctrination as well as the threat of possible sanctions against herself and her family for defiance all adds up to, what seems to me to be, significant pressures on a 15 year old. I'm not entirely sure if I could tell John Smith to bugger off if I was in her position but that's just me.
And I don't think she's coming back since her role is closer to a Gundam SEED sacrificial victim (e.g. Nicol, Toelle, Flay etc.) than the HiMElander scenario where the loss of so many members of the cast would have surely hurt Bandai merchandise sales.]
Ah, Nao-oneesama has got really strong survival instincts. A Column without a Master, GEM or ROBE at present.
I actually felt sorry for Tomoe in this episode. Must be getting soft in my old age. She didn’t do anything devious, tried her best to do what was expected of her but was humiliated in front of her precious Shizuru-oneesama.
Natsuki’s robe is rather less hideous than Nao’s or Nina’s but I’m not hugely enthused. What I did like was the way she shouted “Materialise” - very authoritative. And I liked her elegant materialising pose-routine. The scene when Shizuru told her off for being naive was great, shows who’s the Big Sistah around here.
Now she’s a principal without a school. Though I wonder what are Schwartz’s plans (btw what did Aswald want from Garderobe?) as they clearly refrained from harming the students, saying that robeless Otomes were not their enemies. Horrible thought that the captured Corals and Pearls are going to be made directly into Slaves or Schwartz servants like Ers-chan. Pretty mortifying for Ms Maria - like to see Rome being sacked by the barbarians, the source of its power nullified by that ultra-phallic cartridge, nekkid woman psi disrupter.
Nagi has shown himself to be ever the brilliant schemer. He turns Nina against Sergey and Arika, pins Arika between Ers and Nina. He has used Schwartz to portray himself as the liberator and protector of Windbloom who drove away the Slaves but has kept a major card hidden from John Smith who was shocked that Nagi had the legendary Ultimate Black Diamond (which seems to be the opposite of Fumi’s White Diamond). Like I said in my previous post, looks like Schwartz will betrayed by Nagi and either effectively neutralised or made into a mere instrument of his will. (Btw what did Nagi promise Schwartz?)
In all, an OMFG episode and no clue at all how Arika and Nina can reconcile. Hope that, with nine more episodes to go, the series can end strongly.
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Totally a OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!111one episode.
Normally, I watch the raws and subs more than once for this show, but this was the first time I had to watch the episdoe in immediate succession.
I was both shocked but not completely surprised that Erstin turned out to be our black letter Otome. In hindsight, it’s very obvious, but I guess I was thinking, hoping, that the very obvious in this case was a red herring. But, damn, was it ever effective.
So any idea why taking out the Schwarz cannon was not priority #1? Seems like a very large tactical oversight.
The ease and deliberate nature of the Schwarz attacks, especially on the shrine suggests that Erstin was a highly effective, if very reluctant, double agent. Though, there is also the possibility that Erstin wasn’t the first infiltrator.
Heh, I’m thinking now that Tomoe may turn out to be on the side of good, her imprissoned with Shiz sure would do that for me..:) The OP of her all evil looking may indeed be a red herring, but I suppose you can’t just up and forget all she’s done so far…. OMG how can anyone survive the blast at the end… Natsuki and Nao where in friggin awe of Arika and Nina’s power and knew it would be bad…. Well Sergey should survive, he’s dang near invincible….
Chalcuhuite - yes, I was wondering why Nats and Shiz didn’t taken out the Obelisk of Light straight away after the attack on the port and then on the arena. Though if they did, Garderobe won’t be overrun and the plot can’t move in its current direction. About the ease of it all, having Nagi as your planner and having new tech from the capsule stolen from Erias and then Aswald probably helped quite a bit.
Voodoomage - you’ve got a good point but I’m thinking that Tomoe will find out that she has *no* chance with Shizuru with Natsuki in her heart and that may cause her to either try to get rid of Natsuki (her approach to dealing with Arika so far) or to go completely berserk and bitter against ShizNats.
On a separate note, Erica has mentioned on the YCML that there’s a good chance that we’ll get another crappy reset ending a la Mai HiME and Ers-chan will be brought back. But it seems to me that Gundam SEED has an influence here and by the laws of Bandai, killed-off characters who can’t move much merchandise won’t be brought back e.g. Rusty, Nicol, Toelle, Natarle, Flay etc. In Mai HiME, the HiMEs all had, at least, figurines of themselves and their Childs to flog so permanently killing off so many of them would probably hurt merchandise sales too much.
You know, I’m going to say something similar about the potentiality of reset on the YCML. I figure it all depends on how many characters they off, 1 or 2 and it’s like Gundam Seed, if half the cast or more goes then they have to reset. Way too many people will be upset.
Oh and a pox on lazy writers falling back on dramatic convention!
Ers-chan’s fate may have been sad, but the preview illustrated the true tragedy: no Natsuki battling!
Even poor Natsuki whines about how she didn’t get to do a damn thing while Shizuru chuckles to herself T__T…
Chalcahuite - good call on the possibility of reset. Upset fans don’t buy much merchandise. About lazy writing, well, after GSD, it’s not as if we should have had such high expectations. And given that most fans enjoyed Mai HiME’s OTT melodrama, it’s not entirely surprising they’ve gone down this route as well. BTW I’ve added another paragraph on Ers in the post, bit of a rebuttal on the “spineless” accusation. ^_-
Kabitzin - I just love the Shizuru x Natsuki voice overs for the previews so far. The Shizuru-as-Dhuran licking Natsuki was sooo funny and this one would have been better if Natsuki was more teary and waily, and needing xxxtra comfortin’ from Meanie Big Sis Shizuru. They should do omake specials based on those!
Sunrise is still just teasing us with the ShizNat in this episode.
I have this aching feeling deep down in my gut that the teasers ShizNat fans have been getting will remain just that. Or even worse Sunrise will give us all a good swift kick in the jewels and have Shizuru’s special person turn out to be someone other than Natsuki.
Somebody please rufute this idea.
I fully admit to being a sucker for OTT melodrama, Oniisama E, Rose of Versailles, Ace wo Nerae, etc. Loved them to pieces. But, I don’t think that OTT melodrama and good writing are mutually exclusive. And I will always excersize my right to complain about it. ;)
You’re right, “spineless” was probably a bit harsh. Just caught up in the emotion of it all, I guess. ;) After the sub, I’m generally more sympathetic to Erstin’s plight. But, I still wish she were more assertive, I find that kind of passive self-victimization annoying in real people, let alone characters in a frustrating, yet compelling anime.