Episode 1:
Ep.1 of My-HiME fighting starts off w/ Natsuki kicking Tate's ass and then proceeds w/ her going up against Mikoto and later Mai. Fab fight and awesome animation as expected w/ first episodes.
My-ZHiME also starts off w/ a strong 1st episode to grab the viewer's attention. We get Nina fighting 'blokes', then fighting a slave and finally we have Shizuru finishing off the slave in very awesome style.
Both were very strong here and it's hard to pick one over the other.
Epiosde 2:
Not much action in HiME's department but there is still some. We only get a bit of fighting w/ Duran going up against an orphan at the end of the episode.
For Otome, after a sick ep.1, we don't get any action at all. The episode was mostly a comedic chase scene. Yukariko shows off some off her skills but i don't really count that as cool as she was here.
This one belongs to MH even though the action was weak, but hey, at least it had action.
Episode 3:
MH continues off of ep.2's cliffhanger w/ Mai going into full effect. Mikoto fights the Orphan who transforms and kicks Mikoto's ass. Natsuki gets in on the action as well. Mai is the one who seals the deal w/ kagutsuchi showing up and obliterating it. Good stuff here.
W/ the lack of action in ep.2, Otome returns w/ the butou of Nina vs. Arika. Though it was mostly one sided, it was still very cool to see Nina kick ass and pulling her signature 'hadouken' attack :P. Shiz & Rad's tussle was good too, sadly it was too short.
Both episodes delivered here, and while both were very good, i'm usually a fan of the one on one fights like fighting games and fighitng movies.
Episode 4:
the natsuki panty episode which i dug for obvious reasons. great fanservice here but that's not what i'm judging on :D. Anyways, the 3 valkyries share their action screentime in this episode and it was a good one at that. Love Mai's flaming kick.
Otome continues from ep.3's ending in where Arika attempts to save the day only to have Haruka do it in the end. I don't consider Haruka's scene as an action/fight scene as all she did was throw a spaceship. Thus, no action here.
Episode 5:
Both series were on the quiet front here as neither featured any real action. MH focused on the development of Mai as well as hinting at some story points (First District, Akane, Miyu). They teased w/ that cool shot of Natsuki materializing w/ her element but sadly nothing.
Otome's episode was mostly the 'mystery' of arika's robe. Also, just story development here on Miya, who relates to Tomoe. Only 'action' you could say was Nina kicking a tree.
Therefore, a tie of nothing.
Episode 6:
The great Sugiura Midori is introduced and what an entrance. This is the episode that made everyone love her (though i had loved her before the show aired as was the case w/ Natsuki & Mai :P). She just kick so much Orphan ass here and one's gotta love Tamura Yukari yelling Gakutenouuu!
Otome also delivers a some good action and fanservice this episode as we get the little girls in bathing suit and Nina fighting in one as well. However, her fight was pretty meh and is obviously outdone w/ Nao's first appearance in her robe, who was just sexy here.
While some may think i'm biased, i just think that Midori's action scene was just more satisfying as it was longer and featured more action than Otome's.
Episode 7:
HiME focuses on Nao this episode and reveals to the audience that she's a HiME. We get potential fights but nothing really happens. the Nao vs. Mikoto fight was off screen and the Nao vs. Natsuki would've been great if our hot and drunk midori didn't get in the way. Nagi's interruption didn't help. Thus, all we get is Nao using her element and showing us some of her finger-lickin' skills (which doesn't count in my system).
Otome really shined here as we get Arika going into Meister robe for the first time and kicking some major slave ass. She finishes off w/ her signature bolt from the blue sky in style. Great story development too, though that has nothing to do w/ this :P.
Obviously we know who the winner of the episode is.
Episode 8:
The Akane episode. Great emotions in this fight and the foreshadow of how dark this series was heading. The fight was very good as it was essentially Akane and Harry/Hurry's only time to shine as they wouldn't show up together until ep.26. Miyu coming in and finishing things off just hinted at how awesome she was.
Ep.8 of Otome didn't have any action. it was more story development on the history of the Otomes, the nations and the school of Garderobe. Ho hum in the action department.
Episode 9:
The great swimsuit episode me wuv. Natsuki....hot damn....infamous hitchhiking scene. Other than that, NOTHING (action-wise).
Also a swimsuit episode w/ the hotter older ladies. Sadly it was too short. This episode was the survival exam and didn't feature much action either. All we got was Lumen attacking Arika which i don't consider a fight scene as the opponent didn't (cuz she couldn't) fight back. If it was longer, maybe. but it was short and was only a couple swipes. therefore, nope.
Episode 10:
The cooking episode and the unveiling of Akira the Ninja (or should i say kunoichi) HiME. Akira's dedicated episode was good stuff in showing off some of her cool abilities, sadly the animation was as good as some of the previous ones here. Still great stuff, nonetheless.
Now this is what i'm talking about, Midori on the battle front w/ wielding two swords as her primary weapon and showing fanservice in her normal black bra outfit. Just haawwt. This episode we got Haruka finally fighting and getting her ass whupped by Gakutenou. However, the obvious highlight was Midori stopping Haruka's attack and then going one on one vs. shizuru. Great animation, music and yukari going 'gakutenouuu'.
Episode 11:
Mainly quiet episodes here. In HiME, Yukariko is revealed as a HiME at the end but we get no action from her in this episode. In ZHiME, we're focused on Nina's birthday and her chasing her watch locket. Thus, nothing for both series.
Episode 12:
One of the best episodes in terms of action for the series. We're given the story details on what happened to Aoi and Yuakriko firing some of her 'elemental arrows' at an Orphan in the beg. However, it's the episode's end fights that shines as we get Alyssa + Miyu and their orphans against the 3 main valkyries. Miyu just totally kicks everyone's ass here and is the highlight.
Otome continues from ep.11 w/ the arrival of Takumi and Akira. Mostly development on Mashiro here. We get some action when it's revealed that Akira was posing as Takumi. However this action is nothing to write home about as Akira throws a bomb, kicks Arika and has a clash w/ Nina. That's it. I wish she had use her cool sword.
It's obvious who won here.
Episode 13:
For MH, a character development episode of the complicated relationships. Nothing else, 'cept for Artemis blowing up a bridge, but that doesn't count.
Otome's Akane episode and happy 'ending' at that. Thus, the main fight was Akane's fight against a slave. She pulls off some cool moves, but seems to be mostly struggling due to being distracted. The action was good but I had hoped Akane was more powerful being the #1 Pearl Otome. Sadly, she felt weak to me.
And that ends Round 1. I'll cover the 2nd half in the next couple of days. Speaking of fighting I picked up Street Fighter 2 issue 3 yesterday. Yes, UDON has finally released issue 3. So if you haven't picked it up yet, do it now! A pretty good issue w/ Ryu's training w/ Dhalsim. there's basically a Ryu vs. Dhalsim fight, T.Hawk vs. thugs fight (which kinda sux) and Ryu vs. Akuma fight (hehe). Issue 4 will have Ryu vs. Gen as the cover hinted (in which i posted some months ago). As usual, I got the Alvin Lee cover (cover A) which can be seen here, as I don't feel like taking a pic.
1 comment:
I just finished My-Otome today and those last two episodes were just great. I can't wait for that OVA. Know anything about it?
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