hontou ni
5Apr/052

Mai HiME 26

I can't help but feel mildly disappointed with Mai HiME's conclusion. It was as if the pens of the mighty SUNRISE writers were stifled and constrainted to a feel-good ending. There was too much unjustified goodness which ran contrary to the sheer ruthlessness that permeated its preceding eps. Possibly the higher echelons of SUNRISE (who may be too sensitive to market forces) were worried that the pervasive air of doom/gloom in recent eps may cause dives in DVD sales and had thus decreed a feel-good ending to pander to the tender, emotional needs of MH's preceived audience. (Either that, it was done so as to quell an impending street riot for Natsuki's death in ep 25). Anyhow, we have "Shining days", a school-day utopia not unlike the one envisioned by Mai during her hypnosis by Yukariko (ep 24). However, I personally felt such an ending drained the series of a certain intensity and also weakened its credibility. Gosh, everyone and I mean EVERYONE had a picture-perfect finish which I found really hard to believe. The series was on a runaway bullet-train to Armageddon and very suddenly, it arrives in gakuen rakuen (campus paradise). Personally, that was a huge mental inertia which even the mighty SUNRISE could not overcome since the execution of the story U-turn was attempted in a single episode.

That doesn’t mean that the ideal ending was for the MH world to crash and burn (no, I don’t belong to the camp that believed Saikano’s ending to be indescribably beautiful.). In fact I support the return of the HiMEs and their precious ones. However, I also believe that a REAL death would certainly make the finale a lot more memorable. For example having Mai (or even Mikoto) die, in order to forge a path for the rest of surviving cast (plus their resurrected other halves) to live better lives (ala X-TV). We can still have ‘Shining days’ and all the goofiness SUNRISE was to inject in its finale but reinforced by a tragic undercurrent of Mai’s sacrifice, giving us a poignant bittersweet end. (Think Mahoro’s dichotomy of her expiring life versus her happy maid life. The sweeter her current life, the sadder it truly is.) Well, I guess it's a matter of personal preference and yeah I’m actually biased since tragedies resonate stronger with me.

Despite its shortcomings, the finale was still somewhat satisfactory (if not a little forced) and a fitting end to the series (even though it may not be the best IMO). There were also some loose story threads which I have overlooked since the strength of MH lies in its characters and the story had sufficiently built itself up as an effective platform for intricate/poignant character liaisons throughout the series. Thus, I'm not going to complain about the inconsistencies of the HiME matsuri or Mai's unexplained resurrection in ep 15.

Truly, Mai HiME had been a tremendous ride and in spite of its weakened conclusion, I’m looking forward to owning the R1s and seeing more of SUNRISE’s works. Yes, thanks to MH, SUNRISE has toppled BONES to become my current favourite animation studio. Now I can’t wait for Mai HiME to be licensed. :)

Related posts:

  1. Mai HiME 05
  2. Mai HiME 04
  3. Mai HiME 22

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  1. omma
    January 30th, 2010 - 08:39

    I can’t find the link to your review of episode 25…sorry i’m a late bloomer…still a bit shock that Natsuki died…I’m not finished the series yet but wanted to see what was going on first before i tried watching it all.

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  2. Stripey
    January 30th, 2010 - 09:16

    Oh I didn’t blog ep 25. :P But here’s a link to an esteemed fellow aniblogger’s thoughts on Mai HiME

    http://www.seaslugteam.com/archives/category/mai-hime/

    The ending changes greatly in tone with the preceding eps and has divided MH fans into 2 distinct camps with those disgruntled with the ending being the larger of the 2. Do moderate your expectations before diving into ep 26.

    Nonetheless, MH remains a GREAT series one series and surely one of my favourites for ALL time. Enjoy!

    ( REPLY )

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