Mai-HiME

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Alternative Titles

English: My-Hime

Synonyms: My Princess

Japanese: 舞-HiME

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 26

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Sep 30, 2004 to Mar 31, 2005

Premiered: Fall 2004

Broadcast: Fridays at 01:30 (JST)

Producers: Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo Music, Studio Zain

Licensors: Funimation, Bandai Entertainment

Studios: Sunrise

Source: Original

Genres: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Mecha, Romance, School, Shoujo Ai

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.53¹ (scored by 42,559 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet aired' titles are excluded.

Ranked: #1590²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1075

Members: 90,640

Favorites: 1,215

7.53

Ranked #1590Popularity #1075Members 90,640

Fall 2004TVSunrise

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Episodes: /26

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Synopsis

Thirteen girls, each with the ability to materialize "Elements" and summon metallic guardians called "Childs" have been brought to Fuuka Academy to battle mysterious creatures called Orphans. Each with a different personality and background, they must decide who they truly care about and why they fight.

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Background

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Mai-HiME
Alternative setting:	Mai-Otome
Side story:	Mai-HiME Specials, Mai-HiME: Kuro no Mai/Saigo no Bansan

More characters
Characters & Voice Actors

Kuga, Natsuki

Main

Chiba, Saeko
Japanese

Tokiha, Mai

Main

Nakahara, Mai
Japanese

Minagi, Mikoto

Main

Shimizu, Ai
Japanese

Fujino, Shizuru

Supporting

Shindo, Naomi
Japanese

Yuuki, Nao

Supporting

Nanri, Yuuka
Japanese

Sugiura, Midori

Supporting

Tamura, Yukari
Japanese

Okuzaki, Akira

Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae
Japanese

Tate, Yuuichi

Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu
Japanese

Suzushiro, Haruka

Supporting

Yuzuki, Ryouka
Japanese

Homura, Nagi

Supporting

Ishida, Akira
Japanese

More staff
Staff

Nagai, Tatsuyuki

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Obara, Masakazu

Director, Storyboard

Mima, Masafumi

Sound Director

Oota, Masahiko

Episode Director, Storyboard

Edit Opening Theme

"Shining Days" by Minami Kuribayashi

Edit Ending Theme

#1: "Kimi ga Sora datta" by Aki Misato
#2: "It's Only The Fairy Tale" by Yuko Miyamura (ep 15)
#3: "Shining Days" by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 26)

More reviewsReviews

Sep 9, 2008

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

KaminaKai (All reviews)

169 people found this review helpful

"An overlooked masterpiece that deserves a lot more attention."

I watched Mai HiME long before joining MAL so I didn't know what to say when I first saw the overall rating to be so low. Thus I decided to re-watch the show this past week to refresh my memory and to prepare for this review. If there is one thing my opinion changed about this anime since my first time watching it a few years back, it is the quality of the animation which we will get to in a moment. One short recommendation before we begin the review, get lots of tissue paper when you read more

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Jan 6, 2007

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Hiromi (All reviews)

107 people found this review helpful

Mai-HiME sports the story of Tokiha Mai and her brother Takumi as they enter the prestigious Fuuka Gakuen. As the viewer, you're introduced in the first episode to several "HiME's" - girls with the power to materialize their own individual equipment.

Characters include the 13 HiME's, each with a distinct personality and Child - a sort of mecha guardian. Each HiME also has one special person, very important in her life. That makes a main cast of 39 (or 26 if you don't include Childs). From here, there's several more main characters related to the plot as well as quite a few sub-characters. Sounds confusing, right? Sunrise does an amazing job of maintaining this large cast - main character names will always remain with you (or at the very least, their faces will be memorable) while the few interesting and comedic sub-characters also prove to be very memorable as well *cough*Chie&Aoi*cough* Main characters have backdrops to their personalities, reflecting their actions and continue to develop through the story.

Animation and Sound are top notch as expected from Sunrise and Kajiura Yuki. The soundtrack's most prominent pieces feature language-less vocals mixed with various background music (pseudo techno, strings) which will easily stir the emotion tied to the scene. I truly, have never heard any other anime's soundtrack that can even match the raw power of HiME's. Although the art style is simplistic for characters, you can really tell the difference between Mai HiME and a lower budget anime. Specifically, the battle scenes prove to out match Gundam war zones.

The most important part - the story. Mai HiME features two very different arcs, the first lasting about 16 episodes and setting the stage for the second. The first is a simple "defeat the bad guys while dealing with school, love and drama," however, the second changes the story completely. When I saw the change, I nearly choked on my drink. I won't spoil it, but it's quite the heart breaker. Both however expand on characters and situations to give a very powerful feeling to watch more - While Mai HiME was still coming out week by week, I literally watched each episode 3-5 times ^^;;
Another great part of the story is how each episode inter-connects with another. Something small may happen in say, episode 5 but in episode 8, that something small creates a greater impact that you'd imagine at first. >.> Sorry about the poor explanation XD. To be able to make the viewer put all the pieces together shows an incredibly high level of planning.

Mai-HiME is amazing at what it does. Drama, action, comedy, romance - if you're looking for any of these, watching Mai-HiME will not disappoint. Don't be fooled by the overly comedic appearance though - by episode 8, 15 and 16, you'll be dying to watch more as you sit through some of the heart wrenching situations the people you've seen up till now have to live through.

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Apr 14, 2010

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Kira-HiME (All reviews)

107 people found this review helpful

I have managed, in complete fruitless productivity of my time, to sit down and watch this series repeatedly, approximately 5 times, excluding the very first time I watched it. I had seen a small article in Anime Insider on series' that were slowly becoming growingly popular, and decided that after seeing many dedications of fanfiction and fanart made toward this series, that I'd give it a shot. It takes a lot to get me to sit down and risk any possibility of wasted time watching television, but I was certainly not disappointed.

At first, it seemed to me that I was getting dragged into another magical-girl-super-happy-fun-time-shoujo-drama bit. But after about episode 3, I realized that there was something...else, a mechanic that seemed to me as cryptically subliminal. I thought, "angst, perhaps?" I indeed did see a touch of dark story that plagued many backgrounds of the main characters in the show. That is what had peeked my interest in the beginning: to continue examining just what made these HiME girls tick.

The company did a very good job of expressing different personalities in all of the characters. Each persona had their own individualism without becoming redundant or too obnoxious. Each girls' CHILD specifically expressed the more deep, introspective psyche to each of the characters' personalities (Natsuki's cool, level-headed demeanor expressed by the ice wolf Duran; Nao's manipulative, sexual charm demonstrated by the slick and dangerously beautiful Juliet; Mai's tragic, yet passionate willpower and strength shown by the power of Kagutsuchi, etc...)

When the characters collide in conflict, there is no awkward dialogue (save for some traditional mou and fanservice-y scenes), and it made me feel as though I had some deep, underlying connection to these characters, caring about their own feelings as if we were good buddies. The story that drives the entire plot, basically: "You will destroy all the lives of those around you so only you may prosper, and you will watch the loved ones of those you have defeated die." Once I took in all of the both large and minuscule details of the plot, I had sunk down so deep into the depths of this anime that I had become enthralled by it.

The dramatic music promotes a heartbroken beauty when watching the incredible art of this show come to life. The use of shadows, flamboyancy of bright and deep color, and the intensity of shading and lining makes this series not so sore on the eyes. Although, like most shows, there are the common examples of "forgetting" to draw in the facial expression or what have you in characters "behind the main scenes".

I hope that others can come to appreciate this marvel of a series that I have come to love. Either that, or I'm just crazy. Nevertheless, I hope other anime lovers out there will come to see this show the way I see it: Beautiful, dramatic, and addicting.

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Oct 24, 2007

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Master10K (All reviews)

67 people found this review helpful

This anime will take you on an emotional rollercoaster; it will make you laugh till you wet yourself and even make you cry till you run out of tissues. It is truly an amazing show that has it all: Romance, Action, Drama and plenty of Fanservice. ^_^

This anime is about girls who are able to see a strange red star. These girls are known as HiME (Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment) and they each have special abilities to materialize elements to use in combat. From the beginning of this amazing series it may be hard to see why so many people love Mai-Hime however the first half dedicates itself to light-hearted humour and character developments. The comedy aspect of the series mixes well with the fanservice, to create something that is entertaining to watch and the characters that are introduced and developed are not only limited to the few stars of the show. It is until a major turning point that the series takes spin to the storyline; filling it with intense action, romance, heartache. The major plot is also finally revealed, as it is about the fated battle between the Himes, with their Childs (strange mecha-like beings). What makes it so incredible is that each battle will always have a tragic conclusion, which you may even shed a tear for. T_T

The reason behind those tears you may shed is solely because how well each of the characters and their connections between each other (either romantic or friendship) is developed.

As for the animation, I would say that Mai-Hime is animated well, with decent environments and character designs that suit their personalities. The action sequences are quite the treat and even though the quality may reduce slightly, the somewhat fluid animation makes up for it. What helps intensify these moments are the added CG effects and the over-the-top emotions. The music was alright to begin with but with the added plot twist, came an improved soundtrack. It really made a difference in the emotional scenes and also the action sequences.

Overall Mai-Hime is a surprisingly amazing anime, which was far above my expectations. After watching countless Action, Romantic, Comedies, I didn’t think I would find anything of the same genre that could standout but Mai-Hime proved me wrong. With such a fun anime with characters you’ll easily grow attachments to, I was worried when the show went on to a darker path. Yet this darker storyline worked so well that I ended up getting so emotional I had to hold back tears. The ending to the show was partially satisfying but it was still incredibly stupid and just didn’t go well with the storyline. So if you allow this marvellously, entertaining anime to grab your attention then you’ll love it like I did; however, if not, then this anime is just not for you.

^_^

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Mai-HiME

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