Is Shizuru a good leader?

But about how the values dissonance concerning Shizuru leaving the school? This may or may not apply to everyone specifically but in the West and the East in general see the situation concerning Shizuru's rescue of Natsuki differently. In the West, Shizuru leaving the school to rescue her friend/lover Natsuki is somewhat understandable considering the situation. After all if your friend was in trouble wouldn't go out your way to help them? However the school was in a crisis and Haruka and Yukino needed Shizuru's help and she left at the worst possible moment. Which leads to how the East sees it, Shizuru committed a dereliction of duty and she should not had left the school.

I am only being general but in Japan, Shizuru just lost of points when she went to rescue Natsuki. I am only being general here as the situation can interpreted in many ways but what do you guys think of it?

Personally the one and only true leader of the HiME is Midori Sugiura, but I think Shizuru does have many good attributes of a great leader: She has Charisma, Money, Poise, Grace, Power, and Sex Appeal, Lots and Lots of Sex Appeal

Midori Sugiura wrote:Personally the one and only true leader of the HiME is Midori Sugiura, but I think Shizuru does have many good attributes of a great leader: She has Charisma, Money, Poise, Grace, Power, and Sex Appeal, Lots and Lots of Sex Appeal

Correct. The thing is Shizuru doesn't want to be a leader of any kind. That job is best for the HiME of Wind, someone born to lead others and takes pride in it. Shizuru abandoned her duties at Fuuka...*gives pro-Yukino fans a moment to cheer*...because it's not her style.

shezaei-neko wrote:I think that out of ALL the hime, only Natsuki and Midori could be considered leaders.
But I really doubt that Natsuki would like to become one. It's not her style either.

Lone wolves naturally work alone. Midori is the opposite of that, so she takes the cake. Currently, Midori is the leader of the HiME Rangers, but Mai is the most powerful overall. Though, Mai would be the first one to tell you that she isn't a leader type.

shezaei-neko wrote:Midori would always say that Mai is the ace under her sleeve.

: *facepalms* What am I? Midori's weapon of mass destruction? Don't pull a George Bush on me, Midori-chan.

Hmmmm, wouldn't Shizuru still be pulling the strings backstage had Natsuki, Mai or Midori stepped forward?
As student council president they would ask her opinion and she just has that way of talking that'll get to you and influence your decisions.

Besides, Natsuki in Mai Hime would just freak out everybody and launch them into a panic state. She's too rash and would rely heavily on Shizuru to do the boring soothing the masses stuff! Even in Mai Otome just her presence commands much more respect out of the other state leaders towards Natsuki and they challenge her less.
Mai isn't so sure of herself and likes the "mother" role more.
Midori would turn the show into crack sentai! She's more like Natsuki than we give her credit for, she'd rather take the hard deadly stuff on her own not to put others in harms way and keep quiet about it. That's noble, but as a leader that leaves the group in complete disarray.

CaptainVonCookie wrote:Hmmmm, wouldn't Shizuru still be pulling the strings backstage had Natsuki, Mai or Midori stepped forward?As student council president they would ask her opinion and she just has that way of talking that'll get to you and influence your decisions.

Hmm, I do not think, that for Shizuru it would be easy to manipulate Natsuki, Midori or Reito ... because these characters, they will most likely feel, that they are being manipulated .... they are not Haruka ... =)

Plus, the leader is not a person who is lying and achieving something dishonestly. Such people may temporarily occupy a leading position, but they can not stay long in this position, because in reality, they are not leaders. They have no real power, which a leader should have. Err... I'm not saying that Shizuru is such a person... I have never considered her a deceiver... although she may be a deceiving when needed =)

CaptainVonCookie wrote:Besides, Natsuki in Mai Hime would just freak out everybody and launch them into a panic state. She's too rash and would rely heavily on Shizuru to do the boring soothing the masses stuff!

I disagree entirely... Natsuki Kuga proved herself to be a very capable leader, who in extremely stressful situations can handle everything rationally and calmly without panic...

Natsuki is a very cool-headed, efficient and reasonable character. While, yes, in trivial situations, she may be a rather hot-headed and quickly lose temper, but also calm down quickly. But... BUT! In serious situations, she ALWAYS acts cool-headedly, rationally and logically! Natsuki is not really impulsive, all of her actions have a serious reasons behind...

A few of the most demonstrative examples...

1) (Mai-Hime, Ep. 15) When the Searrs Foundation had occupied the academy... and Mashiro had asked for help from HiMEs...

- Natsuki was the first one who agreed to help! And all the others followed her example... By this she showed her leadership abilities...

- It is also difficult to forget the fact, that she actually had teamed up with the organization, that she had hated the most, and to destroy this organization was the goal of her life at that time! By agreeing to help, she showed that she has excellent composure/self-control and rational and calculating mind...

- And when, in the same episode, Nao refused to cooperate and said to count her out, cuz she wanted nothing to do with this... Again, it was Natsuki who convinced her to cooperate, knowing that they need Nao's help... it was an act of manipulation, necessary manipulation on Natsuki's part...


2) When Shizuru was in a 'psycho' mode... and when they started to fight... Natsuki clearly knew what she had to do ... that she would have to kill Shizuru and herself, on the occasion... And she still did go through with her plan... I mean, Natsuki did understand, that she would kill Shizuru, the person she loves the most... but she still did not hesitate and did not doubt...She was collected and cool-headed ... Her hand and resolve had never wavered.... If you think about it, it was much more monstrous, than what Shizuru did... Natsuki showed inhuman, monstrous composure/self-control and cool-headedness. Also I think, Shizuru's mental breakdown actually was a very human, as strange as it may sound...

3) And Natsuki's whole quest against the First District... She did not declare war on them openly, she also did not fight against them openly... Natsuki acted calculatedly and intelligently, she secretly was gathering information about them. And she had planned to methodically destroy the organization from within once and for all.

And in general, in the course of Mai-Hime, Natsuki was the voice of reason.

---

Now on the topic....

I do not think, Shizuru's a good leader... I agree with shezaei-neko, I think she is an excellent diplomat and extraordinary and loyal warrior... but she is not a leader type... although I do not think, that Shizuru is a 'follower type' person...

And Natsuki, I think, she has the potential to be an excellent leader, but I again agree with shezaei-neko, I doubt that Natsuki would like to become a leader...

I think Midori already could be considered a true leader...

I've tried to make a list of qualities of a good leader and to apply them to Shizuru, Natsuki and sometimes to Midori...

1) Intelligence
All three girls are very intelligent...

2) Sobriety. Mental stability. Composure. Stress tolerance.

- Natsuki and Midori pass this test with excellent marks.

- Shizuru does not pass this test. Under pressure, Shizuru began to act irrationally ... Example, she summoned her weapon, naginata, and intended to defeat Yukino even before she had turned on 'psycho' mode. Yukino and Haruka did not pose any danger to her or to Natsuki... It was a very rash and irresponsible move. Cuz if she puts herself in danger, she also puts Natsuki in danger... And when she had turned on 'psycho' mode, she also rushed in the thick of the fight... thereby, Shizuru did not protect Natsuki, but instead she subjected her to more danger... it wasn't for Natsuki's sake... Shizuru did not hear and did not want to hear any reasons, she acted on her feelings only...


3) Sense of purpose and ability to achieve goals...
All three girls pass this test.

4) sense of responsibility...

- Natsuki is a very responsible person... One of the examples, she delivered Akane's notes even after she had a hard fight with Duran, when she awoke as HiME...
From 'Natsuki no Prelude': "She had fulfilled her promise to Akane, leaving her notes in her mailbox. She then returned to apartment, fallen into bed and slept for 24 hours.
Even once she had woken up, the events of that night still felt like a dream."

- I find it hard to tell if Midori a responsible person or not...

- I do not think that Shizuru is irresponsible and the fact that she always shifted her duties at Fuuka and responsibility on Haruka, this is not an indicator... Cuz this was never her responsibility, she did it for Natsuki....

5) Readiness to make tough decisions --- 6) Charisma and charm ---
All three girls pass these tests with excellent marks.

7) The art of communication

-Midori is good at it!

-Shizuru is the master! She's great at reading people, she has excellent negotiation, conversation and diplomatic skills and she can be a good manipulator.

- Natsuki needs to learn a lot on this matter, but she has the potential.
I already wrote that Natsuki was able to say the right words and to manipulate Nao when needed...
Also she was able to manipulate Akane... From 'Natsuki no Prelude':
"But, that's... taking advantage of you, Kuga-san."
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to walking alone at night. And besides, this is a rare opportunity for me to offer such a service, isn't it? You should accept a person's kindness humbly, don't you think?"
...
Natsuki just smiled wryly to herself. In actuality, she had just done this to make sure Akane did not hinder her investigation of the interior of the school.

8.) Creativity.

-Natsuki often showed her creativity and resourcefulness...

-And I'm sure that Shizuru is also a very creative person=)

-I dunno about Midori

9) Ability to make a long-term plans, strategies...

- Natsuki pass this test.

- Shizuru, imo, did not shown herself as a good strategist, and also she did become a pawn in the game of OL...

10) Ambitiousness

-In my opinion, Natsuki is rather an ambitious person and her quest against the First District is a proof...

-Shizuru is not really an ambitious person...
From 'Natsuki no Prelude':
Natsuki: ".... I didn't think you were someone who was striving for power."
Shizuru: "I'm not really, this is just a trait everyone seems to attribute to me."

11) Decisiveness.
All three girls pass this test with excellent marks.

12) Enthusiasm.
Natsuki fails this test...

13) trustworthiness/reliability

-Natsuki is a very reliable person...

-Shizuru is also a very reliable person for Natsuki :)

In the end, I think, Shizuru is someone who often acts on her feelings (examples, elections for the high school's student council president; psycho fiasco). And Natsuki is guided by the logic ... both options sometimes beneficial and sometimes flawed ... so I think the team Natsuki + Shizuru complements each other superbly!

I apologize for the mistakes and chaotic expression of thoughts... It's late night, or you can say nearly morning and I'm very sleepy...

Hmm. Shizuru doesn't seem to express interest in leadership like Haruka does. But she seems like a CEO type, and far from being the inspirational leader type. Good for business, bad for army, I guess.

Icemera wrote:Hmm. Shizuru doesn't seem to express interest in leadership like Haruka does. But she seems like a CEO type, and far from being the inspirational leader type. Good for business, bad for army, I guess.

It's just not her style, you're right. The CEO position (tea enterprise?) would suit her better as it's a non-barbaric business. Should Shizuru agree to Midori's HiME Sentai, she'll let her do all the "leadership".

Luu Sky Sapphire wrote:The CEO position (tea enterprise?) would suit her better as it's a non-barbaric business.

Lol. I think Shizuru is too violent for plants. I can see her acting as 'M' from 007 XD (when she's older and more mature than in the series).

Icemera wrote:Lol. I think Shizuru is too violent for plants. I can see her acting as 'M' from 007 XD (when she's older and more mature than in the series).

On the contrary! Shizuru is quite the advocate for plants! Even going so far as to inform Natsuki that they're precious and delicate things:




omg that smile. it gives meh feels~

Haha!!! She is sort of like 'M' in Mai-Otome. During her serious moments anyway, like when she kept Nina from running away.