Mai HiME 19

This is how you make Sith lords, strip them of their emotional support, flay their minds with trumped up half-truths and in their despair, the beckoning Dark Side will embrace and empower them. I was half expecting a jet-black Kagutsuchi complete with dark flaming feathers (think Sugintou ~Rozen Maiden~) to rise from the sea in response to Yukino's clandestine attack. Alas, Mai's initiation to the dark side was incomplete, foiled by the zealous Mikoto (actually I know it's never meant to be but it would be interesting development ). I personally thought Mai's treatment of Mikoto was callous though it made Mai more human. One of the reasons I couldn't quite connect with Mai was her goodie-two-shoes image. There was something unreal about her perfect sister/Mikoto guardian roles. But with her flawless facade shattered by Takumi's piercing remark, we now see the suppressed, unpleasant Mai surface. Suprisingly, because of this, I liked her even more. She's, after all, just a 15 year old and I felt it in this ep.

Shiho, on the other hand, possesses a most devious and vindictive streak that I'm only seen in aggressive boardroom take-overs (ok, heard ). I had the urge to pluck out her tentacle hair one by one and tie nice pretty knots around her vulture-like neck during her 'Onii-chan kiss' feint. For a 13 year old, she has great potential... I'd wager all the MEGAMI magazines in my room that she'll be a SURVIVOR champion some day.

Even though ep 19 was scarce on action, it did a wonderful job of character development and I've certainly invested a lot more emotionally into the characters with this 25 mins. The last I had expected was the fracture of Mai/Mikoto's partnership though I must say it makes good drama. The writers are also ruthlessly exploiting the angst with a follow-up of their clash. With the preview of Mai and Mikoto going for each other's throats, I can't wait to see next ep.

6 days and counting... sigh.....

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3. Mai HiME 24