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Mai and her brother have been accepted to a high dollar boarding school. Upon
traveling to the school, they encounter a young girl brandishing a giant sword
and another with what is best described as a lethal, ice shooting transformer.
Caught in between the two battling, Mai discovers that she has some super powers
of her own. Mai is a HIME.
This story has so many levels of interest. First, you have the premise of a
number of super powered young girls called HIMEs. Each girl has a special
ability, such as creating a special weapon from thin air, controlling and
element, or controlling technology. Secondly, you have the backdrop of the
boarding school with the usual school entrapments (studies, teen romance,
etc..). There is also a strange air about the school as everyone seems to have
some sort of a secret and have been enrolled for a reason. There are also
auxiliary characters that know more than they’re letting on.
Part of the enjoyment of this anime is the discovering of the HIMEs.
Initially, you are given the first three, but there are a total of twelve. In
its own right, this is partly based upon the “Shichinin no Samurai” story as the
girls are gathered for some upcoming conflict. Some of the HIME join, some
don’t. Some of the HIME are not exactly interested and some are almost evil in
nature. This is a diverse group.
While all of this would make for an interesting story, there are other
elements added in. After a few episodes, we start to encounter the “oufans,” who
are different types of giant monsters the HIME have to deal with. We also
encounter an interesting type of vampire. Finally, we discover along the way
that the story of the HIMEs is directly tied with the valkyries of German lore.
In retrospect, this anime has a lot of similarities to the cult classic
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as the themes of female empowerment meet the forces
of evil in the same style. This show will switch gears by interjecting an
incredible monster fight in the middle of Mai preparing for her first kiss.
There are also humorous moments interjected such as the oufan who loves to steal
women’s undergarments to Mikoto, another HIME, having bad experiences with too
much curry.
If you’re looking for a complete, thought provoking anime, Mai HIME is the
place to start.
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