Mai HiME Episode 2: After-School Secrets?

There’s a lot done in the pre-intro section with very little. We see Haruka, Reito, Yukino, and Shizuru introduced for the first time in the student council room and get a remarkably good idea for how they all interact with each other: Haruka’s very into the whole “propriety” thing, Reito and Shizuru are more relaxed and definitely seem to be on the same wavelength, and Yukino is mostly there in an observatory role (a fact which Shizuru wields pretty deftly in later episodes…).

As an additional note, I love how Reito interacts with Mai here. I don’t usually ship heterosexual couples, mostly because their chemistry tends to rely on writers assuming attraction rather than working to establish it, but that’s not the case here; Reito is clearly handsome, he’s nice to Mai while she’s under pressure in a stressful situation, and she’s appreciative of him extending his hand in tacit support of her against Haruka’s big onslaught. I buy her interest in him and it’s only reinforced by later episodes, especially since he’s consistently chivalrous and tries his best to be there for her in a way that doesn’t feel like she’s being backed into a corner (maybe he’s not nice to her entirely altruistically, but still, I much prefer her dynamic with Reito to hers with Tate).

Tate and Mai’s relationship continues to be belligerent, despite Takumi waving around his medicine to reassure her that Tate isn’t a bad guy and he did make sure to look out for him. I do like this kind of bickering in the context of a friendship, since they’re both giving as good as they get (and I love their mutual teasing), but I’m not so sure I like it in a love interest; I’m continuing to cheer for Reito in this little triangle.

I also don’t really like how Tate blows Shiho off so much; I understand it, I sympathise with it, and it makes sense as part of his characterisation, but… I dunno. I’m not sure what I think of Tate in general, to be honest. (◎ ◎)ゞ

There’s also Haruka’s feud with Shizuru. Their personalities are clashing so one-sidedly that it’s no wonder Haruka feels bitter; she knows Shizuru is better-articulated and can’t really argue back against her, despite coming from an understandable position, and Shizuru talks rings around her both without putting in any noticeable effort and without seeming to consider where Haruka is coming from. I have to say that, while Shizuru is my second favourite character, I feel for Haruka. She’s doing her best, only to have everyone else seemingly bulldoze over her.

Also, Mai and Takumi! These siblings are so obviously affectionate with each other and I find it very sweet, to the point where it’s one of my favourite parts of the show. Takumi himself is also persistently charming, even if he is irresponsible with his medicine all the time. Something about how he doesn’t seem afraid of showing vulnerability or emotion really gets me. He’s just a nice, genuine boy. (/▽＼*)｡o○♡

There’s also some good signs of Mai’s hyperfocus on him evident here; she takes the power of Kagutsuchi pretty much just because she wants to look out for him without concern for sacrificing her own life, and it’s easy to see why Takumi might find this overbearing and feel guilty about it. Her quick adoption of Mikoto as another person to take care of is also super cute; I love the mental image I have of Mai going around collecting feral children to adopt and feed ramen to.

Speaking of Mikoto, the way she’s portrayed is super cool for me. They find a nice balance between the funny aspect of her being essentially feral, the emotional simplicity, and the danger of someone acting on fighting instinct. The “me Tarzan, you Jane” scene made me laugh, the ease with which she warms up to Mai doing something nice for her, and the way she flattens her immediately, about to poke her eyes out.

Mai’s dynamic with her classmates is also something I’m fond of. There’s a habit of characters either being ostracised or being super popular, especially if they’re transfer students, and I enjoy that Mai makes an effort to ingratiate herself in that kind of nervous “gotta make a good first impression” way. I dunno! Even if it’s small, I think it’s another good example of how Mai is genuinely a relatable main character who comes across well as someone normal. It helps that Chie and Aoi are decent supporting characters whom I quite like, independent of their friendship with Mai.

Natsuki! My favourite! I like that we see her as a not entirely antagonistic figure here. While she’s rude to Mai, she’s also clearly on her side with the killing of the Orphans and her opposition to Nagi’s smug attempts to tease Mai about Takumi’s safety. Makes you more interested in her and simultaneously puts her as an uneasy ally, with plenty of time to develop her into a proper one over the course of the series.

There are a couple of insubstantial cameos: Nao, Akira, Akane, and Youko (whose reaction to Mikoto disappearing is hilarious – she’s almost like, “welp, not my problem anymore, bye”). None of them amount to much yet, even if they’re cool to see for rewatchers. Nagi and Mashiro themselves show up in a way that shows them both to be connected in some way, but Mashiro doesn’t seem to be fond of him, so their alliance is pretty questionable.

When it comes to Yukariko’s short scene, it’s an example of one of the things I love the most about this show, which is its ability to make jokes about a character’s personality that end up being their downfall in the Carnival arc; her obsession with “the passions of puberty” and the constant references to it despite the kendo-goers obvious confusion is played for comedy, but it’s actually a large flaw of her character. Ishigami can sense her naiveté regarding her desire to explore sexuality and takes full advantage of that repressed curiosity when manipulating her.

Some thoughts about the future episodes and the overall timeline… Nagi says Mai is the last HiME, so has Shizuru already awakened? Given how badly Natsuki seems to fare against a lot of the Orphans in the series, I like to imagine that her way of fighting them is to mostly shoot at them and wait for the mysterious squid to show up and kill them for her. Well, in my little personal joke-omake headcanon, at least.