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4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Trainwreck, 25 Feb 2010
This review is from: My HiME - The Complete Collection [DVD] [2004] (DVD)
My-HiME fits the description of 'beautiful trainwreck' better than any other anime I've watched. It starts out as a high school slice-of-life series, with a lot of ecchi humour, even the 'monster of the week' battles providing far more in the way of amusement (a panty/bra stealing creature, for example) than danger. Then, in the last twelve episodes or so, the drama side gets going, which results in it turning into a less gruesome version of Battle Royale, with robots added on top. The two differing sections of the story do end up blending well together - the first part providing time for viewers to become attached to the characters - but it was certainly strange to see a light-hearted anime take such a dark turn...
If nothing else, you have to praise the visual and audio aspects of the series. It has lovely art and very good animation, the character designs (the faces, short skirts, big breasts and super model female cast) and bright colours unsurprisingly reminding me of Code Geass. The soundtrack is mostly stellar, too, with the music Goddess known as Yuki Kajiura pulling out one of her overall weaker (compared to her best work) but by no means poor collections of music. Even the English voice acting impressed me, Mai's voice fitting her fiery yet loveable and cute personality like a glove... However, where My-HiME falls short, and what makes me class it as a trainwreck, is its story.
Put simply, the story is about a group of twelve girls and their loved ones. Each of the twelve girls (referred to as 'HiME') has a different power, some being elemental and others being the ability to use weapons, and each can summon a mecha/monster (referred to as a 'Child' if it obeys a human and an 'Orphan' if it doesn't) to fight with them. Mai, the female lead, moves to the prestigious Fuka Academy (which accommodates elementary-high school ages, and has dormitories for both genders), along with her younger brother at the start, and there she meets and interacts with the other girls with powers and her new classmates.
Sadly, there isn't much actual plot covered in the 26 episodes. The first half focuses heavily on characterization, fan service and comical goings on. The second half focuses on characterization and battles, each battle resulting in a new death. In between all of this, not a lot beyond the basic premise of the story gets a look in. This resulted in very little of the plot making sense, and the final episode was a failure (partly) because of this.
Why were the 'Child' and 'Orphan' creatures in existence? How could they be summoned by certain people? What was the character reminiscent of Kaoru from Evangelion (Naji)? Why did the HiME ritual occur every 300 years?
None of the above questions, or numerous others I have, receive answers within the series. When the final episode rolled around and the world was saved from destruction in predictable fashion, I was left with a blank expression on my face, reflecting on the many questions without answers and with disappointment in the place of the answers I desired.
Apart from its production values, what saved My-HiME, for me at least, was the quality of its characterization. Over the course of the series, you learn all about Mai. Her relationship with her brother is explored and plays a major role, and as a result of an involving love quadruple I came to care about her as a person, as well as her likeable main love interest. And, though the other cast members didn't get anywhere near as much time because of the amount of them - the number reminding me of Negima's never-ending character list to begin with - enough of the personalities and back-stories of those that mattered got covered for me to become emotionally involved with many of them. The characters laughed and cried, and I was able to feel their emotions; never feeling disconnected.
But, switching back to the story, the final episode almost ruined the good that came before. If you're the sort of person that cringes when you see deus ex machina twists, your face won't be a pretty sight after finishing the anime because it's practically non-stop deus ex machina in the last episode. Without wanting to spoil too much, what happened at the end of My-HiME is equivalent to every emotional, heart-wrenching moment of a story being made worthless, destroying any attachment one has to the many moving scenes included. Even though I enjoyed what came before immensely, I felt like time slowed down at the end - it was a sad way to end such an absorbing title.
To sum it up, Sunrise know how to please anime fans; men/otaku in particular. They keep the skirts high, the chests large, the comedy amusing and are masters at pulling away at the heart strings of viewers with dramatic action, or just plain old fashioned drama. They know how to make up for what would normally by anime ruining flaws. If not for the poor excuse of a story and even worse attempt at an ending, if only for enjoyment alone, I'd be rating it higher, but it wasn't to be. Instead, I'll give it a solid 8/10, thinking of it as something of a guilty pleasure.
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