Search - My-Hime, Volume 1 (Special Edition) on DVD

AWAKENING NEW POWERS

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 03/31/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"15 year old Mai Tokiha and her younger brother Takumi have been invited to attend the prestigious Fuka Academy, a unique island school that is administered by its own attendees. On the ship ride there they meet two of their fellow students. Yuichi is a normal guy but might just be a closet pervert, and he is always accompanied by his childhood friend, Shiho, whose tendril-like hair reflects her emotions, especially her jealousy of Mai! Things get a little stranger when a girl's body is pulled from the water. She is revived by Mai's CPR training but the strange thing is that when they pulled her out she was gripping a large grey sword! Another mysterious yet beautiful girl enters the picture, who seems to be either trying to kill or capture the sword wielder. She has some pretty fancy pistols that seem to materialize out of nowhere to match up against the sword. When the battle begins, Mai finds herself in the middle and awakening an unknown power in herself. Mai is a "Hime" and it is no coencidence that she is journeying to Fuka Academy. Secret powers are gathering together girls with supernatural abilties to fight against an enemy from the stars called "Orphans". Even if she takes on that battle and wins, she'll still have to do all her schoolwork too!

When all the sword-play, shooting, and pseudo-mecha fighting ends in the frenetic first episode, My-Hime brings in a lot of comedy and bishojo elements. While the show might not be that original, the characters more than make up for it, with some top-notch acting by the Japanese cast. Everyone involved has a wide dramatic range, playing not only the action, but the comedy to the hilt and reminds me a bit of Full Metal Panic in feel. The designs and animation are fantastic, but once again it is the characterization that makes this show tick. The only danger I can see in this show is that it could have the potential to fall into the "Monster Battle of the Week" formula, but with some clever writing this first volume avoids that. It remains to be seen if this continues to be the case. This is the first series in a while that I've really enjoyed. It's a real treat.

Extras are pretty slim. After each episode is over, there are some very funny featurettes about the characters in the show, which seem like they were already included, so they don't seem like "extras". There's also a Japanese promo clip.

I would also recommend the anime Full Metal Panic, Azumanga Daioh, and Midori Days."

A good start to a great series

Liberty Meadows | California | 01/24/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"MY-HIME (aka MAI-HIME) revolves around Mai Tokiha, a teenage girl who has received a scholarship to the prestigious Fuka Academy. While traveling there with her little brother (who also has a scholarship) aboard a ferry, they spot a girl floating face down in the ocean. The girl is rescued and revived -- but what's with that mysterious sword she's clinging to?

Soon all hell breaks loose as another girl boards the ship intent on eliminating the rescued female. Clearly these are no ordinary girls as they both openly display spectacular superhuman powers. Somehow Mai gets caught in the middle of the battle and before long she is showcasing her own heretofore untapped superpowers.

From thereon, MY-HIME plays like your typical "cute teenage girls with superpowers" anime as Mai arrives at Fuka Academy and has to balance her banal school life with the revelation that she is no ordinary human being, and neither are some of the other girls at the school. But just when you think you've got things all figured out, the plot takes one unexpected turn after another.

For the first few episodes, MY-HIME does a credible job of introducing a various assortment of characters and mixing together equal parts comedy, drama, romance and action. The character designs are quite appealing, the artwork is smooth and fluid, and the action sequences are impressive. Mai is a very likeable lead character who earns viewer sympathy by the way she cares for her sickly younger brother Takumi, who has heart problems.

MY-HIME is a colorful and eclectic anime series that was highly popular in Japan and spawned a sequel of sorts called MAI OTOME. MY-HIME consists of 26 episodes, which will likely be spread over 7 DVDs. I'm giving the first disc only three stars (I'd give the entire series 4 stars overall) because the initial episodes are light and entertaining (one episode features a monster that steals girls' underwear), but more amusing than memorable. If you are a fan of anime like PROJECT A-KO or SCRYED or SCRAPPED PRINCESS, then MY-HIME should be right up your alley. Although not as dark or gory as ELFEN LIED (another "cute teenage girls with superpowers" series), I found it vastly superior in terms of storytelling and character development.

In the second half of the series, the show takes a decidedly darker turn as more and more revelations pour out and the characters are faced with making some life altering decisions. It is then that MY-HIME turns into a truly great anime, albeit one that is slightly let down by a rather cheesy finale.

The collector's box for Vol. 1 is a disappointingly cheap effort from Bandai. It's thin and flimsy, and likely to get damaged during shipping. Unless you really want the T-shirt that's included with the box, you're probably better off just buying the cheaper standalone DVD release."

A great blend of modern action anime

M. Lam | NY, USA | 07/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My Hime is a little bit hard to describe. It has elements from lots of different anime, so it seems familiar but at the same time easily stands out (rather than being a copy-cat anime).

My Hime was released somewhat recently (the copyright reads 2004-2006), so the animation is very clean and well done. The character designs are all top notch, so the show is quite excellent visually.

Several of the main characters are "Hime", girls with special abilities. This brings some magical girl aspects to the show, but the battles in My Hime are more intense than in most magical anime. For example, one girl has a huge sword that cuts through pretty much anything, while another summons a set of guns and a robotic dog with mounted cannons on it.

Besides the battles, which are pretty cool, the show focuses a lot on the charaters. So far the story is very interesting. It's not terribly dark, but at times is fairly serious. At other times, the show is quite whimsical. It all blends together well for an enjoyable experience."

I'd give it 4.5, but there's no button for that.

Chira Wilder, Anime Reviewer | 02/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The series, Mai/My-HiME, follows the "adventures" of Mai Tokiha, the heroine and semi-namesake for the series, who has recieved a scholarship for both herself and her brother, Takumi, to attend Fuuka Academy.

In the first few minutes of the series, we learn that there is a red star near the moon that only Mai can see (well, Takumi can't see it), and that they are both orphans. A girl is seen floating in the water, clutching a sword, and of course, Mai rescues her, only to find that another girl, who can apparently also see the red star, has come onboard the ship to destroy Mikoto (the girl with the sword). All three arrive at Fuuka alive.

Mai learns that she is a HiME (short for Highly advanced Materializing Equipment), and must protect the school from Orphans- monsters that have appearing around Fuuka with great frequency. For the first fifteen or so episodes of the series, this is the main plot line- fighting Orphans, while still trying to maintain a "normal" school life without any of her friends knowing she's a HiME, and taking care of Takumi, who has heart problems. It's a rather banal plot line, but the characters are well thought-out, and although the humor can be a little racy at times, it's funny and keeps the show from becoming too action-y. But it truly is the characters, as well as their motivations, that drive the story. The plot line does take a few unexpected twists and turns at times, hinting at darker sides of what seems to be a rather light-hearted action/sci-fi series. The music, done by Yuki Kajiura, is fabulous, and the ending song, Kimi ga Sora Datta, is one of my all-time favorite songs.

After episode 15 or so, however, things take a very drastic turn. I won't reveal anything, but I will say that this is when my interest in the series stoppped being simply for entertainment and a few laughs, and actually about the series, and the characters, and what would happen next. This was where the series took a 180 turn on its head, and completely sucked me in. Character's flaws, passions, drives, every emotion, comes out in full play. I actually found myself in tears a few times. It's where it gets good.

The ending is a bit of a let-down; it seems slightly rushed, but I'll just say that it stays with the quality of the second half until about 3/4 of the way through ep. 26, which is the final episode. It's a fantastic series, so don't get discouraged and push it off when the first few eps seem cliche and familiar. It takes a few episodes for this series to really shine through, but when it does, it's worth it."