Current mood:	obsessed
Current music:	"Shining Days" - Kuribayashi Minami, My-HIME OP

More My-HiME ramblings
^_^;; Okay, so I started writing with the idea of organizing my thoughts, then realized I couldn't remember everything that had happened and the sequence of events so it turned into an episode summary. While working on the summary it occured to me that I should jot down brief characters sketches as well, and in the midst of doing that, I thought a pictorial representation would be helpful.

This is typical of my non-existent attention span.

Summary of ep. 1: Tokiha Mai and her brother, Takumi are travelling by ferry to Fuka Academy. Takumi notices Mai gazing and we learn that Takumi cannot see the red star though Mai can. The Tokiha siblings meet Tate Yuuichi (Seki Tomokazu) and Munaka Shiho. (Shiho calls him "oniichan" though they are not related.) The ferry becomes a battleground between Minagi Mikoto and Kuga Natsuki and is destroyed. Both girls demonstrate super-human abilities, and Mai inadvertently gets dragged into the fight. In a panic, Mai creates a shield of flame and Natsuki retreats, warning Mai to stay away from Fuka. Mikoto and Mai fall into the water as the other passengers escape on rafts. Nagi (Ishida Akira - does this man get the most interesting roles, or what?) watches the chaos from the top of a school building, pleased that "Mai HiME" has arrived and he can move on to the next step. The next morning Mai wakes up to find that she and Mikoto have mysteriously ended up in the school yard, dripping wet, with the entirely student body staring at them.



Characters for ep. 1
Tokiha Mai: Energetic and cheerful, she devotes all her time to caring for others. Since her mothers death, she has looked after her sickly younger brother, Takumi, and now she has Mikoto, whom she indulges and spoils like a younger sister. She fears her power and fights with hesitation, only wanting to protect those around her. When Takumi tells her to do something for herself for once, Mai can only brood in confusion, with no idea what that could be. Her dearest person is probably Takumi... though the Tokiha siblings have been growing apart lately and Mai's relying more and more on others.

Tokiha Takumi: Mai's younger brother has a weak heart and a temperature nature. People tease him for being a "siscon" (sister-complex), but in his condition, he wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for Mai so who can blame him. Akira has him correctly pegged as a defeatist though, good for him that he's realized he's depended on Mai too long and needs to take his life into his own hands.

Tate Yuichi: An ordinary high school student who too often finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. His character parallels Mai's in many ways. They both live in a state of perpetual self-denial.

Munakata Shiho: She is almost always hanging onto Tate, calling him "oniichan" though they are not related. My perception of her goes from annoying brat to jealous woman somewhere around eps. 16-18. She is obviously very devoted to her oniichan and knows him better than he does himself. She hasn't been revealed as one of the HiME yet, but it's highly likely, in which case her dearest person is almost certainly Tate.

Minagi Mikoto: Another character devoted to her older brother. (Is anyone else seeing a theme here?) Mikoto has come to Fuka Academy in search of her older brother. "Anyone who gets in my way, I'll fight," she says more than once. She never backs down from a fight and is held back many times by Mai.. If I were a betting woman, I'd say those words will come back to haunt Mai later on. Her dearest is either her missing brother (Reito?) or Mai, her surrogate sibling.

Kuga Natsuki: She wants revenge on the First District, the people manipulating the HiME Festival behind the scenes. Natsuki's mother was a researcher working with them, but when she tried to escape with Natsuki, Dr. Kuga drove off a cliff, presumably to her death. I say presumably because Natsuki obviously hero worships the memory of her mother and because she's never shown as being at ease around anyone, if Dr. Kuga is still alive, She could be Natsuki's dearest. The only other possiblity I can see is Shizuru.

Honou Nagi: One of the members of First District, his job is to ensure their plans are being carried out, and preside over the HiME battles, but he doesn't strike me as the purely obedient type. He has to be getting something out of this. Nagi shows a particular interest in Mai. I have a feeling that will be important later.