Mai-otome

Once in the Kingdom of Windbloom, a riot occurred. It so happened that just at that time the otome , who was in the service of the king, resigned, wanting to start a family. The king and queen were killed, but the former otome managed to save the princess by sending her down the river in a closed capsule ...

14 years have passed ...

In the desert is a girl Arica Yumemiya. Separated from their parents since infancy, they know nothing about them, except that her mother was once an otome. And now Arica goes to Windblum, where there is the only school in the world that teaches otome, Gardede . She hopes to find some information about her mother, in addition, perhaps, to become an otome herself.

Arriving in the city, she first meets Nina Wang, a student of Gardede, and the adopted daughter of Major Sergei Wang, and then - the proud and eccentric princess Masiro Blanc de Windblum, who, due to some whim, ran away from the palace.

Just at that time, the hostile Schwarz organization became active. Taking advantage of the fact that the princess is outside the palace, they make an attempt to kill her. Arica and Nina could not have defended the princess themselves if the Meister otome , Shizuru Viola had not intervened. Seeing how Shizuru is fighting, Arica became even stronger in her desire to become an otome ...

Otome

The term “ 乙 HiME ” stands for “ 乙 -Type Hi ghly-advanced Machining E quipment” (it should be noted, however, that the Japanese explanation of this term does not mean “Equipment”, but “abilities” (能力) ) The same word also refers to girls with these abilities. Otome are special elite servants who serve in the service of kings and other noble persons and are their advisers, assistants and bodyguards. They can only be girls, and many girls from around the world want to become them. Since only one school in the world, the Wardrobe, is engaged in teaching otome, students from all over the world are sent there. However, otomes should be impeccable in everything, starting from manners and behavior, and ending with the mind and mastery of martial arts, therefore, at the end of school, only a few are awarded the title "Meister-otome" (this word is written that way, in the German manner, Meister ). After entering the school, special nanomachines are implanted in the students' bodies, as a result of which they acquire abilities that are much higher than the abilities of ordinary people; up to the point that the meister otome can fight alone in a war against an entire army. However, these nanomachines react negatively to male hormones, therefore sexual relations with the opposite sex are prohibited from the home; they have to choose between love and service as an otome; Nevertheless, even among the ministers there are those who, having completed their service, later entered into marriage.

GEM

GEM stands for Generable Enigmatic Mathematics. At the same time, in English, gem means "gem" - GEM is usually a gemstone earring that attaches to the otome left ear. The second GEM, paired with this one, is in the ring of the master ( Eng. Master, マ イ ス タ ー, Maysut:) , that is, the person served by the otome (the exception is the pupils of the Gardepee and the so-called “five pillars”). The purpose of GEM is to control the operation of nanomechanisms implanted in the body of an otome. In order for GEM to act, the master must authorize it. After authorization and the execution of the “Materialize!” Command, the HiME energy begins to act and their vestment ( robe ) is activated.

Robe

Robe - Otome War Vestment. It is activated by the command “Materialize!”. Provides the otome with their superpower, protects them, and also allows them to fly.

Contract

Otome are prepared to serve any particular person (usually from the rulers of states, because only they can afford it). Entering the service, otome concludes a contract with this person. After that, she can use her super powers; however, for this each time authorization of the master is required. A contract is not just a contract; the feelings of otome and the person to whom it serves turn out to be in a certain way connected. If otome wounds, the lord feels pain; if the otome is killed, the master also perishes; and vice versa.

If the otome does not have a permanent master, she, if necessary, use her strength, can conclude a temporary contract (for example, Nina signs such a contract with Mashiro in the first episode of the series).

The exception is the “five pillars”, which do not have their master (their mistress is Shinso (真 祖) Fumi Himeno) and can activate their super-abilities at will.

Wardrobe

Specialized school teaching otome. Located in the kingdom of Windblum. The etymology of the word Gardede (ガ ル デ ロ ー ベ, garoudero: be ) is not explained, but it can be assumed that it comes from the French words garder - to store, guard, and robe - dress ^[4] (in this case, the military clothing otome).

Since this is the only school in the world where Otome is taught, students from many countries of the world are sent there. However, not many reach release and become otome masters.

Girls from 14 to 16 years old are admitted to school. The training lasts 2 years. The students of the first, preparatory year are called “coral otome” (コ ー ラ ル オ ト メ, ko: raru otome ). Their number is about 50 people. In addition to the training itself, they perform a lot of physical work, such as daily sweeping of the territory. They should also serve second-year students, whom they respectfully call "onee-sama." Pupils of the second year are called “pearl otome” (パ ー ル オ ト メ, pa: ru otome). They are half as much, about 25 people. In view of such a large dropout, competition is often observed between the students, sometimes even hostility.

When one of the "pearl otomes" finishes their studies, special demonstration fights are held on the occasion of their release (舞 闘, buto:; a special term consisting of the characters "dance" and "battle"). Two representatives of the “coral otome,” who are determined through preliminary battles among themselves, are fighting the “pearl otome”. Regardless of the outcome of the battle after it, these representatives become "pearl otomes."

As in the case of the “five pillars”, the mistress of the coral and pearl otome (as well as school employees who are otome) is considered to be Shinso Fumi Himeno; however, they cannot activate their GEM themselves; This requires permission from the school.

Arika Yumemiya ( 夢 宮 あ り か Arika Yumemiya ) - The main character. Separated from her parents from infancy, she grew up in a distant province, with her grandmother. She knows nothing about her parents, except that her mother was once an otome (this was Rena (Lena) Sayers, the first otome in the service of King Windblum). Therefore, when she was 14 years old, she went to Windblum, to the Gardepee school, to learn something about her mother, and to become an otome herself. By nature, peppy and optimistic, but often quite frivolous. At the same time he knows how to achieve his goal; so, she managed to enter the Wardrobe, although accepting students in the middle of the school year was against all the rules. In martial art, otome immediately showed good results; with ordinary school subjects, things were worse. For her appearance, she received the nickname “Arinko” from Sergey Van (from Japanese 蟻 , ari , ant); so, however, independently of him, others call her. In the course of the series, she becomes the Meister otome, thus passing the stage of the “pearl otome” (although, formally, being appointed the representative of the “coral otome” at the demonstration fights (“butoh:”), she should automatically receive this status). Her GEM is “Sapphire of the Blue Skies” ( 蒼天 の 青玉 , so: ten-no seigyoku ). Her mistress is Queen Mashiro.

Seiyu : Mika Kikuchi

Nina Wáng - At the beginning of the series - student of the Wardrobe, coral otome. He does not remember anything about his parents. Her adoptive father is Sergei Van, whom she loves dearly, and is constantly trying to do so that “ from: -sama ” was pleased with her. By nature, calm and restrained, almost the exact opposite of Arica. Arika immediately reacted rather coldly, while studying at the Wardrobe, however, their relationship improved. However, she continued to be jealous of her for Sergey. In fact, she is the princess of the Blossoming Wind, as the Duke of Nagi finds out, but in the end she refuses this role and in the end remains With Sergey. Like Arica, she became an otome meister, jumping over the pearl otome stage. Her GEM is “Extremely Black Diamond” ( Japanese 漆 黒 の 金剛石 , Shikkoku-no Congo: seki ). Under the influence of “harmony” in the last series, she almost lost her memory, absorbed in the black diamond, but Arica saved her. Her master is the Duke of Nagi.

Seiyu : Ami Cosimizu

Mashiro Blan de Windbloom - Princess, and then the Queen of Windblum. Nothing is known about her childhood, so many doubt whether she really belongs to the royal family. Mashiro knows about these doubts, and this gives her feelings. However, at first she behaves arrogantly and willfully, using her royal power. She cares little for the life of the common people outside the walls of the palace; she even pronounces, a little twisty, the famous phrase of Marie Antoinette : " If they do not have bread, let them eat cakes ." During the series, however, to a large extent under the influence of Arika and Prince Takumi, as well as due to subsequent events, she began to think about the queen's responsibility for her people ...

Erstin Ho ( Jap. Erstin Ho ) - Apprentice of the Wardrobe, coral otome. Originally from Annan. Arika and Nina's roommate. By nature, she is modest and shy, therefore she is attracted by the peppy and active Arica. Entering school, she strove not to make friends with anyone (she had reasons for that), but she made friends with both Arika and Nina. Performance is excellent. As an otome, she did not show such outstanding results as Arika and Nina, but she supported them in every possible way, and even risked her life because of Arika. Since her family has long worshiped the “god of knowledge and technology”, she also participated in the fight against the Wardrobe - but at the same time, if not for the “slave” she had caused, then Nina would have killed Arika. And it so happened that Nina, having destroyed the "slave", also killed Erstin. According to Japanese Wikipedia, the name Erstin Ho is an anagram from the word Holstein (Holstein, in this case - the breed of cows; a hint of Erstin’s large breast size) with the typical Japanese substitution “l” for “r”.

Seiyu : Minami Kuribayashi

Irina Woods ( Jap. Irina Woods ) - Apprentice Gardepe, coral otome. Originally from the Republic of Aerisu. Another friend of Arika and Nina. He is fond of technology, so often happens in the laboratory of Dr. Yoko. She also likes to invent different original things, for example, a giant vacuum cleaner that she did to help Arika with cleaning (unfortunately, unsuccessfully). After leaving school, she remained with her to engage in scientific research, helping Dr. Yoko and the cyborg professor from Aswad.

Seiyu : Kumiko Higa

Natsuki Kruger ( Jap. Natsuki Kruger ) - Headmaster of the Gardepe School. Usually calm, restrained and reasonable, although by the will of the authors of the series sometimes gets into rather ridiculous situations. She was one of the first to appreciate Arika’s potential and wanted to take her to school, although this met with resistance from other members of the council. During the occupation of Windblum and the school, he travels with Nao, seeking to negotiate assistance with the leaders of the surrounding states. Meister otome, one of the “five pillars”. Her GEM is “Snow-Ice Crystal” ( Japanese 氷雪 の 銀 ​​水晶 , hyo: setsu-no ginsuyosho:) . Her mistress is Shinso Fumi Himeno.

Seiyu : Saeko Chiba

Shizuru Viola ( Japanese: Sizuru Viola ) - Originally from Windblum. He lives at school, is the main assistant to Natsuki, although it is not entirely clear whether this is an official position. Like in Mai-HiME, she loves Natsuki, only in this case she does not hide it. It always looks elegant. He speaks with a Kansai accent. It is one of the best otomes of that time; it was her battle in the first series that inspired Arica to become an otome herself. Meister otome, one of the “five pillars”. Her GEM is “Bewitching Amethyst of Beauty” ( Japanese 嬌 嫣 の 紫水晶 , Kyo : en-no murasakizuizyo:) . Her mistress is Shinso Fumi Himeno.

Seiyu : Naomi Shindo

Sergey Wang ( Jap. Sergay ) - Representative of the state of Artay. Foster father of Nina. He has the title of Major ( Jap. 少佐 , sho: sa ), but is actually Nagi's assistant. Being in the service of Nagi, he committed many murders in the past, but he can be kind and caring. He dearly loves Nina, as his own daughter, and provides care to Arika.

Seiyu : Katsuyuki Konishi

Nagi Dai Artai ( Japanese: Nagi Dài Artai ) - Duke, head of state of Artai. The same prudent and cynical as in Mai-HiME, but if there he mostly watched and commented, then here he takes active steps. He seeks to capture the technologies behind otome, and with their help - to capture the world. Repeatedly made proposals to Princess Mashiro, but he needed her only as a means to achieve his goals, and she perfectly understands this. Nevertheless, it was largely thanks to him that Arica was able to become a student of Gardede, although he did this, of course, not for her sake, but for fun and spite Mashiro.

Seiyu : Akira Ishida

Miyu ( Jap. Miyu ) - A strange woman in a black cloak and pointed hat, traveling the planet. In fact, she is an android robot, her name stands for “Merciful Intelligent Y ggdrasil U nit” (unlike Mai-HiME, where the first word was read as “ M ultiple”). As in Mai-HiME, she is infinitely devoted to Alyssa Searrs, but here Alyssa is present only in the form of a golden bird on Miyu’s shoulder (as well as in her memoirs). However, according to Miyu, Rena Sayers is a descendant of Alyssa (it is also possible that the name “Sayers” is a distorted “Searrs” over time). Therefore, Miyu helps Arika, the daughter of Rena, being for her something like a good fairy (perhaps for this reason the authors of the series gave her such a robe, usually characteristic of sorceresses). As a robot, she has considerable combat capabilities, and is able to fight experienced otomes.

Seiyu : Kiyomi Asai

Midori ( Jap. Midori ) - Head of Aswad. Asvad was once a state, but now it is only a collection of nomadic settlements, other, "civilized" states considered illegal. Midori comes from the kind of kings of Aswad, but she earned respect among the people for her own affairs and concern for people. People simply call her “the boss” ( 頭領 то , then: ryo :) . As in Mai-HiME, she claims: “I am 17 years old,” but in this case this statement has reason. During one of the past wars, as a result of the use of weapons of mass destruction, their state was destroyed, and people became infected with a serious illness. Midori's body development stopped at the level of 17 years, its further life is supported by nanomachines, similar to those used in otome. However, her closest assistants were even less fortunate - they became cyborgs . She is at odds with Windblum to get nanomachine technology, but she doesn’t need it for power, like Nagi, but for the revival of her people. Midori is the only Mai-HiME hero who has "taken" her "Child" with her to the new series - Gakuteno (but here, of course, this is a robot or a "slave"). To manage it, as well as to maintain her own life, she uses a REM device, copied from the GEM otome.

Seiyu : Yukari Tamura

Tokiha Mai ( 鴇 羽 舞衣 Tokiha Mai ) - Meister otome, who has become a "living legend." The main character Mai-HiME; in Mai-Otome she became “Princess May” ( 舞衣 姫 , mayhime ) in the literal sense of the word - she is a princess from the state of Jipangu (the prototype of which was medieval Japan ^[5] ; for this reason, immigrants from this state were kept in TV series Japanese names). May went to study at otome to be able to help her brother, Takumi, who was to become the head of Jipang. Already almost finished training, she doubted between choosing the path of service as an otome, or living in marriage. For this reason, she went on a journey from which she did not return. Many considered her dead, in fact, she ended up in Black Valley, where Mikoto Koshkoboginya lived ^[6] . Like Mai-HiME, Mikoto became attached to May, and especially to the food she cooks. In addition, Mikoto swallowed GEM Mai, thus becoming her mistress. In the series, May appears only in the latest series, but references to her are found earlier in the course of the series. For example, in series 5, when the interior of “Backstage” is shown, the store for otome fans (an obvious parody of shops for anime fans), on the wall you can see a poster with the image of May. In the same series, “Tokiha mushroom soup” is mentioned. Given that Mai has always been distinguished by her culinary abilities, it can be assumed that the soup was named after her (especially since this is the favorite soup of the cat Mashiro, Mikoto ). Despite the peaceful life in the valley, May remains an experienced otome master. However, sometimes she uses her abilities in an unconventional way, in particular for cooking. Her GEM is the Ruby of the Fiery Strings ( Jap. 炎 綬 の 紅玉 , enju-no ko: gyoku ). Her mistress is Mikoto the Feline Goddess.

Seiyu : Mai Nakahara

Mikoto the Feline Goddess ( ミ コ ト 猫 神 様 Minagi Mikoto ) - Lives in the Black Valley. As in Mai-HiME, it is very attached to May and her food. And in general, her character and appearance have not changed much, only here she wears the traditional clothes of Buddhist monks, and instead of the old sword in her hands is a staff with the image of a cat's head. Despite her appearance, she has serious combat abilities; neither May nor Arika could defeat her. According to Miyu, Mikoto is HiME in the original sense of the word; she even has a corresponding mole. As for the cat Mashiro named Mikoto, then it is in a certain way connected with the Cat-goddess. Mikoto says that through her she could watch Mikoto and Arika. In general, it should be noted that in the series there are several cats with the same appearance, but with different marks on the forehead. At least one frame of 23 episodes contains two of them at once.

Seiyu : Ai Shimizu

Tokiha Takumi no kami Tadayori ( 鴇 羽 巧 海 頭 忠 頼 Tokiha Takumi ) - Brother Mai and son of the shogun of the state of Jipangu, respectively, his future ruler. It has a soft character. Weak in health, and therefore forced to take pills regularly. He is worried about the loss of May, and even having arrived on a visit to Windblum, he secretly fled to the city to find any information about her. His state, like real medieval Japan, is kept in isolation, not participating in any international agreements, etc. However, in the last series it is mentioned that Takumi sent his help in the fight against the occupation of Nagi.

Seiyu : Yugo Takahashi

Okuzaki Akira ( 尾 久 崎 晶 Okuzaki Akira ) - Takumi's assistant and guard. The character is usually cold and restrained, although Takumi loves and worries about him. Like Mai-HiME, her first appearance on the screen was in the image of a man: she replaced Takumi during a visit to Windblum when he fled to the city. Although her functions with Takumi are close to those of the otome, she herself is not otome. Moreover, Arika answers the corresponding question with some irritation: そ ん な 者 と 一 緒 に す る な, that is, roughly: "Do not put me on a par with these." This attitude towards otome is apparently caused by the fate of May, who disappeared precisely during her training at otome. Akira herself is a bit of a kunoichi (female ninja).

Seiyu : Sanae Kobayashi

The series uses two versions of the opening intro : one in episodes 1–15, and the second in episodes 16–25. Ending (closing topic) one.

Opening Topics

Dream ☆ Wing

• Words, Music, Performance: Minami Kuribayashi

Crystal energy

• Words, Music, Performance: Minami Kuribayashi

Closing topics

Otome-wah DO MY BEST DESHO? ( Japanese 乙 女 は DO MY BEST で し ょ？ )

• Sing: Mika Kikuchi and Ami Cosimizu

The series consists of 26 episodes of the usual length (that is, about 24 minutes). When broadcasting, the last two series were shown in a row. Announcements (preview) at the end of each series are on behalf of different characters; their content, as a rule, is little correlated with the content of the series.

Russian translations of names in this table are unofficial, since there is no official translation of the series into Russian.

• The official website of the series (Japanese) .

• Anime "Mai-Otome" in the encyclopedia of Anime News Network
• Mai-Otome anime in AniDB database