Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

Midori faces off against Mikoto and manages to stall Mikoto for long enough to boot up Miyu. Unfortunately, Mikoto finally summons her giant CHILD, and Gakutenou ends up being sacrificed in order to save Miyu. Mai drops in, as per Nagi’s suggestion, and is shocked to learn that Mikoto is still alive. Mikoto reveals that her Ani-ue is Lord Kokuyou and that she was raised for the sole purpose of serving him. When Mikoto goes to destroy Miyu’s vessel, however, her strike is caught bare-handed, and Miyu bolts away to cosplay as Shishio at the local con.

Meanwhile, Natsuki bursts onto the scene to stop the yuri-battle, and Shizuru is horrified that Natsuki heard everything. Haruka is feisty to the end, but Kiyohime easily defeats Diana, and so tentacle action is denied once more in Mai Hime. Before she dies, Haruka tosses her armband to Yukino. Shizuru then confesses her love to Natsuki and declares that she will destroy Natsuki’s enemies. Conveniently, Reito and Nagi are watching the action on the underground jumbotron (I wonder if that Mashiro-doll is still hanging up there), and Reito orders Nagi to give Shizuru the location of the old hags and the reason why First District is called First District. In yet another attempt to take out multiple enemies at once, Reito has realized that the old hags will cause the same string of events to repeat and he wants the future to be shaped by the hands of youth (I suppose 300 years is considered young in some cultures).

After the Shizuru battle, Natsuki collapses in the middle of a random street and is brought to a hospital. She runs into Tate and explains about the danger of being an MIP. In a different hospital room, Youko gives Mai Midori’s package. Midori’s letter explains that when an MIP dies, a pillar goes up in that strange underground room. When 11 pillars go up, a door opens and the last remaining HiME receives the power of the red star… in exchange for becoming Lord Kokuyou’s wife. The letter concludes by advising Mai not to lie to her heart about her MIP, and Mai finds her self doodling Tate’s name on the foggy window. Midori’s package is not the only one in Youko’s room, however, and when Youko mentions that Yukariko’s recent visit was her first doctor visit ever (as her CHILD can heal her), Mai realizes that the “Nao attack” earlier was a scam. Speaking of Yukariko, she beats up Ishigami and says she can no longer fight for him.

Although Tate promised to meet up with Shiho at the park to celebrate the anniversary of the day they met (omfg, she still remembers?) with her love scarf, he totally ditches her to look for Mai. Shiho goes out in the rain and tries to wheel down the very edge of the steep stairs. Obviously the girl is not too bright… Anyway, she falls and is injured and miserable while waiting for Tate to stand her up again. While Tate is thinking about Mai and not Shiho, we hear Yukariko tell Mai that everybody desires someone else, and we all must decide who we desire. This is similar to the question that Takumi posed earlier, and while Mai is off-guard, she is caught in an illusion. Yukariko then tells Mai not to sin for the one she loves, because Mai thinks that by winning, she can bring back Takumi.

There was a whole lot going on in this episode, and I can’t wait to find out that Mai’s MIP is actually Mikoto and not Tate. It was a real shame about both Haruka’s and Midori’s fate, and Midori is one of my favorite HiME’s in the show. My other favorite, Natsuki, continues to be ignored by the writers, except whenever they feel they should tie her up every few episodes. Shizuru is a lax stalker! Speaking of Shizuru, I saw someone (but I can’t remember who T_T) mention the legend behind Kiyohime, and it really is rather apt. Too bad almost none of the other CHILD names are obviously significant (with the exception of Kagutsuchi).