Dye's Psycho-Analysis of Shiho Munakata

Background Information: Shiho is a middle school girl first introduced in episode one of the series. She is easily distinguished from the other characters by her four ponytails, which seem to act in very tentacle-like manners. She has been friends with Tate since childhood and is often seen hanging around him. It is obvious from the beginning of the series and onwards that she harbors romantic feelings for him. Towards the end of the series, it is revealed that she is a HiME herself, but she does not seem to be able to control her HiME powers at all.

Warnings, cautions, notes, and randomness that you should know: I'm writing this analysis based on pure memory, so if there is incorrect information, let me know and I will fix it. Before reading this, you should have watched Mai HiME, or at least know all the essential details, because there will (undoubtedly) be many many spoilers. And some opinions. Okay, a lot of opinions.

My psycho-analysis: My first thought on Shiho's character is that she is a very clingy girl, driven to the brink of insanity and back due to her love for Tate.

She is clingy on two levels: physical and emotional. The physical is obvious in that we see her always hanging onto his arm, or something similar. And the physical clinginess is easily explained by her emotional clinginess towards him. Her emotional clinginess towards Tate is what many people would call "possessive". Even though Tate is not her boyfriend, she feels that she has claims on him. She won't let anyone else have him, simply because she "fell in love with him first" (see episode 24). It is made obvious that Tate has no romantic interest in her, but she persists and does not allow anyone else to have a chance with him. And when she finds that Tate is interested in Mai, she attacks Mai and/or her loved ones. (She did kill Takumi in her batshit instanity.)

Which brings me to a point that I had never thought of until I talked to Raven about her. Shiho just wants to love and be loved in return, and the person she has chosen for that to happen with is Tate. Not a strange selection at all, if you think about it. Tate is her childhood friend. They've known each other for a long time. He cheers her up, makes her laugh, comforts her, and protects her. To her, Tate is everything she wants and needs.

Therefore, when Mai comes into the picture and Tate starts showing romantic interest in her, Shiho felt like she was losing the one person who would love her, who has loved her (in a sibling way), and has been there for her.

At this point, Shiho is desperate to keep him. She will do anything in her power to keep Tate by her side, even if it meant using guilt.

Now, having said all of that, I will have to backtrack and say this. Shiho is in middle school. Does she even know what love really is? Because she throws it around alot, saying that she loves him, but her actions suggests that instead of love, it is obsession.

Now, I am tired and my brain has ceased to work anymore. I'm sure there are many, many more things to say about her, but...
*puts up "Brain stopped working, try again later" sign*

I will probably add more at a later date when my brain decides to function again. In the meantime, feel free to comment. XD

MidnightPersona wrote:*is tired, so be warned this may not make sense*

Obsession is a good way to put it, but that doesn't mean she doesn't understand love. I think she does, but it gets clouded by her desire. With Tate, I think she is more in love with the idea of him than the boy himself. Though, I cannot refute you, I also cannot deny that going after someone you perceive a threat makes sense. I mean, competition can be a double-edge sword.

I can agree with you that she does understand love, but I honestly feel that she does not understand what being in love is. Because to me, when you are in love with someone, you are not selfish. You do not think only of yourself. Instead, you think of them, what is best for them, and what makes them happiest. So yes, Shiho loves Tate, but she loves herself more because she wants him more for herself than she wants him for him.

She has placed him in difficult spots because of her selfishness. Now, I'm not saying it's not understandable and I am by no means holding this against her. She is in middle school. She does not know and understand the concept of "in love" yet. If she did, she would have gracefully bowed out and made life much easier for Tate and Mai to be together. Because sometimes, being in love means granting the other person happiness, even if it means sacrificing yourself. (That is my opinion, of course.)

ookamidesu wrote:I can agree with you that she does understand love, but I honestly feel that she does not understand what being in love is. Because to me, when you are in love with someone, you are not selfish. You do not think only of yourself. Instead, you think of them, what is best for them, and what makes them happiest. So yes, Shiho loves Tate, but she loves herself more because she wants him more for herself than she wants him for him.

She has placed him in difficult spots because of her selfishness. Now, I'm not saying it's not understandable and I am by no means holding this against her. She is in middle school. She does not know and understand the concept of "in love" yet. If she did, she would have gracefully bowed out and made life much easier for Tate and Mai to be together. Because sometimes, being in love means granting the other person happiness, even if it means sacrificing yourself. (That is my opinion, of course.)

^ *rates post and agrees with completely* =3

As the old adage goes, if you truly love someone then that means sometimes you love them enough to let them go. That's what Shiho should have done, but she couldn't see beyond herself to make such a self sacrifice for the person she so-called 'loved'.

Yuri-hime wrote:

ookamidesu wrote:I can agree with you that she does understand love, but I honestly feel that she does not understand what being in love is. Because to me, when you are in love with someone, you are not selfish. You do not think only of yourself. Instead, you think of them, what is best for them, and what makes them happiest. So yes, Shiho loves Tate, but she loves herself more because she wants him more for herself than she wants him for him.

She has placed him in difficult spots because of her selfishness. Now, I'm not saying it's not understandable and I am by no means holding this against her. She is in middle school. She does not know and understand the concept of "in love" yet. If she did, she would have gracefully bowed out and made life much easier for Tate and Mai to be together. Because sometimes, being in love means granting the other person happiness, even if it means sacrificing yourself. (That is my opinion, of course.)

^ *rates post and agrees with completely* =3

As the old adage goes, if you truly love someone then that means sometimes you love them enough to let them go. That's what Shiho should have done, but she couldn't see beyond herself to make such a self sacrifice for the person she so-called 'loved'.

Thanks Yuri! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks like that. ^-^;

ookamidesu wrote:Because sometimes, being in love means granting the other person happiness, even if it means sacrificing yourself. (That is my opinion, of course.)

An almost recurring theme throughout the Carnival arc. :) I finally got around to reading your analysis for Shiho Munakata, Dye. Thanks for reminding me a while back. ^_~

You know I'm not the biggest Shiho fan in the world, so I'll make this brief. Raven is right about something, it was a clouded love Shiho had for Tate. Let's say Shiho is a good person who honestly admires her 'prince. Let's say she wanted to take the next step by having Tate become more than a mere 'brother'. And why not, They knew each other for so long despite constructing their relationship as siblings rather than lovers. That is all well and fine except that Tate has fallen in love with someone else who shares the same feelings in return (just took her 20+ episodes to admit it). And when a person sees their treasured loved one happily embraced with another, they have to grow up and accept it. Otherwise you pass up on several good people who could of been a better 'prince' than Tate ever was.

To be sentimental though, it is hard to let go of that ONE person you've shared many happy memories with. I'd like to think we've all be there. If you're lucky enough to hold onto that "love at first sight" relationship forever, kudos to you. It doesn't work for everyone, that's the reality of it. It's that reality that made the Mai-HiME story connect with us as human beings; dealing with our own relationships.

Though the hurt and the happiness.

MidnightPersona wrote:Honestly?

Yes, when you really love someone you let them go... but what if you letting them go to someone you *know* will hurt them?

Honestly, with the way Mai treated Tate when Shiho was around Mai seemed down right abusive and Shiho saw Tate just desiring boobs. Yes, we know that that wasn't always the case but think of what happened when Shiho WAS around.

You have to remember that she barely knew the guy in the beginning. It's only when they actually started talking, without Shiho around, that the spark between them began to ignite. Even if you use Shiho's absence as a defense, Mai's difficulty in being honest with herself made it seem like the relationship was cruel and distant. Without it, the story wouldn't flow. But the episode where Tate became green sparkles, the most destroyed individual was Mai. So much that Natsuki had to calm her down.

I'll be uploading that scene to our channel sometime tonight, it's a crucial point in our fandom's history. One of the greatest scenes in the entire series.

Kiros Razer wrote:I saw her as an emotional being and needy,
It seemed like the version of her calling her child was created by her unstable mind.
She subconsciously fought while maybe elsewhere.
Not sure the correct term for that.
Look at how her face looked like a possessed being under control.
I figured her emotions and feelings cause her to go into a state of mind and fed her emotions to that version.

She didn't seem to get that if Mai was defeated Tate would die.
She was obsessed with getting rid of Mai.

My view is only due to my lack of interest in the character but trying to understand how Shiho's mind worked.
I'm sure someone else could get a better view of her than me. x.x;
Mine aren't as reasearched as things I am more interested in knowing.

However I may at least have more acceptance once I understand her.

I don't think she was in her full mind when fighting Mai either..
I noticed she seemed to realize a lot when Nagi spoke with her..
Like her doing the fighting but not seeming to grasp she was.
but many of the characters seemed driven into insanity.. in their actions and thoughts.
Probably fear and what not of loss of their important person.

It's like she split into two people entirely, yes. The goodness of Shiho that was insecure about herself and the darker part of Shiho that felt betrayed by Mai when she noticed that Tate preferred her. As we've seen eventually, her deepest moments of despair trigger not only her CHILD, but also her spirit form.

The difference between her and someone like Shizuru is that Shiho kept falling deeper and deeper into despair knowing she was loosing Tate to Mai. It wasn't a pledge of eliminating anyone in her way, just Mai Tokiha. It's a more personal exploration of the psyche for Shiho and after many years, I can somewhat sympathize. Yuuichi has been her own knight in shining armor since they were very young. It didn't matter if Shiho was having a rough day or going through some personal crisis; Tate was also consistent in her life. Basically, he was something she could look forward to on a daily basis, hence the clinginess.

Her downfall is not realizing that the decision for Tate to love is ultimately not up to her. He chose Mai and she had to live with it, no matter how much it hurts.