5 May 2006: My-HiME
Mashiro and Fumi.
The nice thing about re-watching a series is you pick up on a lot of nuances that go unnoticed the first time around. In the case of my DVD-inspired My-HiME Re-watching Project, it's been more than a year since I finished the series the first time, and I've since watched its sort of sequel My-Z-HiME, Mai-Otome.
Yukino and Haruka.
Originally, I felt that the first half of My-HiME was pretty entertaining, but nothing compared to its very strong second half (final episode excepted). Now, I appreciate the smaller bits that I didn't notice before. For example, proto-Nina is all over My-HiME, minus the hot-to-trot vibe of her Mai-Otome counterpart. She's just a background character, but she does produce a number of "Hey, that's Nina!" moments.
Mai.
Likewise, it's nice seeing the main characters again, and watching how they interact. With the benefit of already knowing how things shake down over the course of the season, and how their stories are re-told and re-imagined in Mai-Otome, it encourages the viewer to play closer attention to their motivations and influences.
M.I.Y.U., you big faker.
And I predict these effects will also generate greater empathy for the choices characters like Sister Yukariko make when they feel their backs are to the wall later in the series. I know I felt quite a bit more sympathy for Akane during her My-HiME tragedy, after having many "Hey, that's Akane; boy, she's fucked" moments while re-watching the series' early episodes.
Akane and Kazuya.
Watching My-HiME again also hilights some of the shortcomings of Mai-Otome. For one, Yuki Kajiura's music in My-HiME is considerably stronger than her work in Mai-Otome, particularly in the more desperate and plaintive moments. The My-HiME ED is also much better than the cheery Mai-Otome ED, which is rather unsuited to the later episodes. The juxtaposition of the serious conclusions of many later Mai-Otome episodes with the spirited ED was kinda jarring. Sunrise should have replaced the Mai-Otome ED when they switched its OP to the Gundam SEED-esque version.
Kazuya and Akane.
One problem of re-watching My-HiME now is that I'm stuck waiting for DVD release dates. But at least I'm not in 2.5-show slow time anymore.
Akane.
I am also still kinda bummed that I never got my End of My-HiME ~ Air ~ My Purest Heart for Thee ~ LOAD SILVER CARTRIDGE ~ movie. Midori did bust out a kimochi warui in one of the episodes, though.
