Line #26 YMMV/MyHime


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Some suspect that Shizuru was {{not h\|imself}}erself during her PsychoLesbian phase, especially considering that immediately after [[spoiler:being resurrected]], she [[TearsOfRemorse breaks down crying]], [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone begging for Natsuki's forgiveness]].
3	** Going even further, there's a theory that ''everyone'' ([=HiME=] and human) is being gradually affected by the [=HiME=] star. Most characters aren't outright going crazy, but emotions are getting raw, tensions are increasing... the star wants a battle royale, so it's pushing everyone into doing things they'd never do normally. If this is true, and the characters ultimately realize it, then the happy, all-is-forgiven ending makes more sense.
4	* AmericansHateTingle: Italian ''Mai-[=HiME=]'' fans hate Shizuru after she [[spoiler:destroyed Yukino's Child, killing Haruka]].
5	* AntiClimaxBoss: [[spoiler:The Obsidian Lord goes down in one attack after the Himes destroy the Hime Star.]]
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rudziat8H_k Mezame]]'' by Music/YukiKajiura is a choir-metal mix which intensifies dramatic sequences. Putting this track on when Mai loses it, was an utterly devilish move.
7	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
8	** Shizuru. She has many fans who appreciate her complexity as a character and devotion to Natsuki, but people who are fans of her victims often hate her. It's hard to find anyone who's indifferent.
9	** Yuuichi's manga version. He gets a noticeably larger role in the manga than in the anime, to the extent where he's the manga's protagonist, is the center of a LoveTriangle with Mai and Natsuki, and has several of his more [[CannotSpitItOut questionable]] [[TheLoad aspects]] from the anime being removed or diluted. Some people think this makes him a better character while others believe he became a generic protagonist and accuse him of being a SpotlightStealingSquad.
10	* BrokenBase: The second half of the show, particularly the outbreak of violence between the [=HiMEs=], some specific characters' actions and personality shifts, and the ending are controversial.
11	* CompleteMonster: The [[BigBad Obsidian Lord/Prince]], [[spoiler:the [[GeniusLoci will of the [=HiME=] Star itself]]]], is a maniac with a desire to [[KillAllHumans wipe out humanity]] in both versions:
12	** [[Anime/MyHime Anime]]: [[spoiler:The Obsidian Lord/Prince is the leader of District 1/the First District. Long before his awakening, he had Mikoto Minagi and Reito Kanzaki raised in a cult, making Mikoto kill her own grandfather and eventually [[DemonicPossession possessing]] Reito. After using Nagi Homura to create the monster Orphans and manipulate the heroines into destroying the rival Searrs Foundation, getting scores of people killed as a result, he forces the heroines into the [=HiME=] Carnival/Festival, a DeadlyGame in which they must destroy each other's [[{{Mon}} CHILD]], which will result in the person they love most dying, under the threat of destroying the world via ColonyDrop if they refuse. Having held these bloodbaths numerous times in the past, he, as Reito, manipulates Mikoto, Shiho Munakata, and [[TheHeroine Mai Tokiha]] into fighting each other, deliberately getting Takumi Tokiha and Yuuichi Tate killed to break Mai. He also takes the victims of the battles and [[AndIMustScream traps them in pillars]] to use the souls as power. When Mashiro Kazahana confronts him, he restrains her and puts her maid, Fumi Himeno, under mind control to serve him. Finally, he reveals that he intends to make Mai, the winner, into [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe his bride]], and have her [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill Mikoto]] before using her to birth his new, "perfect" race to replace humanity after he kills them all]].
13	** [[Manga/MyHime Manga]]: [[spoiler:The Obsidian Lord/Prince is the mastermind behind the monster Orphans who seeks to destroy humans after having nearly done so in the past. Having [[DemonicPossession possessed]] the bedridden Takumi Tokiha, he orders Nagi Homura to create the Orphans and cause chaos, while also manipulating the rival Searrs Foundation into attacking. He has Nagi transform Pochi, an Orphan that Mikoto Minagi has been caring for, into a monster that attacks the heroines and is forced to kill itself to save them. He later uses the Star to corrupt Shiho Munakata, turning her into a possessive maniac who kidnaps Yuuichi Tate. Revealing himself to [[TheHeroine Mai Tokiha]], he uses her love for Takumi to turn her into his minion and [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe bride]], then broadcasts his plan to the world and, to show he is serious, obliterates Washington DC. When the other heroes infiltrate his lair, he has Mai and his creations, the Great Cosmo Beauties, brutally beat them. Finally, he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness betrays the Cosmo Beauties]] by absorbing them into his [[OneWingedAngel CHILD form]], and tries to use the [=HiME=] Star to wipe out humanity.]]
14	* CrackPairing: In-series (well, in-series-''extra'') example -- the {{Omake}} for episode 21 seems to be {{s\|hipTease}}uggesting ''[[TeacherStudentRomance Mai/Midori]]''! The two are close friends, but both are heterosexual with male love interests.
15	* DieForOurShip: Shizuru x Natsuki fans bash Nao. Nao x Natsuki fans bash Shizuru. Mai x anyone else fans (Mai x Mikoto fans ''in particular'') bash Yuuichi. In the manga, fans of Shizuru x Natsuki bash Yuuichi because in that version, Natsuki is attracted to him instead.
16	* DracoInLeatherPants
17	** Nao is quite popular, despite luring in and robbing men via EnjoKosai as a means of getting revenge, and [[spoiler:kidnapping Takumi, indirectly leading to his death, and later attacking Natsuki a few times in revenge for her eye being put out]].
18	** Shizuru's fans tend to overlook her actions, including [[spoiler:killing Yukino's child, leading to Haruka's death, killing Nao's child, leading to her mother's death, and [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork destroying the First District Headquarters]].]] What exactly happened with Natsuki in the incident Yukino witnessed is less clear, though.
19	** Interestingly enough, some of Shizuru's haters actually forget the First District's real goals when calling her [[spoiler:destruction of its headquarters]] her MoralEventHorizon. It's arguable how much the {{Mook}}s knew about the plans or how necessary killing them was, but trying to pass off the leaders as victims clearly falls into this trope.
20	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Of the side characters, Shizuru and Haruka tend to be the most popular, which is ironic given their ([[UnknownRival mostly one-sided]]) rivalry.
21	* {{Fanon}}: Nothing is ever said about Shizuru's financial status in show, but you would be hard pressed to find a fanfic that builds on the original universe that doesn't have her as heir to a powerful and wealthy family. Also, it is well established that Natsuki has a DeathGlare, but fanfic writers almost universally attribute it as her own particular brand, calling it the "Kuga Death Glare."
22	%%* GrowingTheBeard: Arguably the eighth episode.
23	* HarsherInHindsight:
24	** Reito jokes about it being "dangerous" to leave Shizuru to tend to a sick Natsuki by herself in the audio dramas. Shizuru later kisses Natsuki while she's asleep (and might have gone further slightly before that), and also [[{{Gayngst}} angsts]] quite a bit about her feelings being improper, which at least one other person (Haruka) also agrees with. One could see it as a case of Reito being more on the mark than he might have realized, and/or that the joke helps reinforce Shizuru's belief that it's wrong for her to love Natsuki.
25	** In the prototype trailer, Mikoto performs a DynamicEntry on Shiho, kicking her away from Mai as they're engaged in a tussle. [[spoiler:In the actual show, when Shiho attacks Mai with her Child, Mikoto intervenes to save Mai, destroying Shiho's Child and thus killing Yuuichi, the boy Shiho and Mai love, in the process]].
26	* HilariousInHindsight:
27	** In early episode, some of Mai's yaoi fangirl friends imagine a romance between them because they find both of them cute (not knowing that Akira is a girl), before Mai tells them to keep her brother out of their {{Crack Pairing}}s. And later in the series, Akira and Takumi do seem to be romantically involved.
28	** There is a piece of promotional art that shows, among other things, Shizuru hugging a very annoyed looking Alyssa, a broken-heart symbol above Shizuru's head. Certain promotional materials and the manga spell out that Alyssa is essentially Natsuki's little sister.
29	* ItWasHisSled: It takes several episodes for the show to start hinting that Shizuru is in love with Natsuki, and the confirmation of her feelings - which only happens in the final arc - is played as a dramatic revelation. It doesn't work well as one anymore, because [[PortmanteauCoupleName ShizNat]] ''dominates'' fan works of the franchise, making it really hard for newcomers to watch the show without knowledge of the ship.
30	* JerkassWoobie: Nao. She's bitter, hostile toward most people, goes [[DisproportionateRetribution to great lengths]] to avenge her [[spoiler:losing an eye]] and robs perverts for fun because [[spoiler:her father was killed and her mother went into a coma during a robbery]].
31	* LauncherOfAThousandShips:
32	** Shizuru is the show's "crown princess of yuri", who probably has been paired with any named female character close to her age, though most fans prefer to ship her with Natsuki.
33	** More so with Mai. By canon relationship (being at the center of a LoveTriangle with Reito and Yuuichi), canon implication (see IncestSubtext above, and LesYay below), or fan re-interpretation, Mai may have literally been paired with every other character in the series.
34	* LGBTFanbase: Naturally given the number of lesbian characters.
35	* [[HoYay Les Yay]]:
36	** Mikoto's behavior toward Mai, naturally giving way to plenty of ShipTease moments between the two. [[spoiler:In reality, Mai feels more comfortable being Mikoto's CoolBigSis, though it's rather blatantly implied that Mikoto wants more than that.]]
37	** Especially notable when Shiho [[TheGlomp glomps]] Mai:
38	---> '''Mikoto:''' (* ''grabs Shiho's hair''* ) Those are ''my'' melons. (* ''tosses her aside, glomps Mai herself, and starts nuzzling Mai's chest''* }
39	** Not only does Shizuru have her very close friendship with and romantic feelings for Natsuki, but in one of the sound dramas, "Lingerie Rhapsody," she's ''very'' pleased to check Mai's bra size (including even putting the bra on her), and notes that she's quite attractive. Natsuki implies that Mai is inwardly enjoying it all.
40	** There's also Yukino's obvious attraction to Haruka.
41	* MemeticMolester: Shizuru, thanks to the Drama CD. To elaborate, in the duet, "Demonic Uproar/Natsuki's Desperation", Natsuki is having a SickEpisode, and Mai and Mikoto show up to take care of her at Shizuru's request (Reito made up some business for her because he thought it would be "dangerous" for Natsuki to be alone with Shizuru). Eventually, Midori, Shizuru, Yuuichi, and Reito all show up. Midori suggests that since Natsuki isn't getting any better, they try an old folk remedy that involves a green onion...[[AssShove and the patient's posterior]]. No points for guessing which character (Shizuru) volunteers to apply the remedy while the others hold Natsuki down.
42	* MemeticMutation: Promotional magazine material for the show created the format for 'bust comparison charts' that spread so much that even other creators started using it.
43	* MemeticTroll: Shizuru Fujino, mainly in her pre-FaceHeelTurn, Student Council President days.
44	* {{Moe}}: Mikoto, she's extremely cute and her childish behavior makes her even cuter, notable examples include a scene where she grabs onto Mai and clings to her for the better part of a day, and Mai isn't even particularly bothered by it, having apparently gotten used to her acting this way by that point in the series.
45	* OneTruePairing: Shizuru and Natsuki, also known as [[PortmanteauCoupleName ShizNat]], overwhelmingly so. The ''Mai-[=HiME=]'' section of fanfiction.net has more Shizuru×Natsuki fanfics than there are ''all other stories combined.''
46	* ParanoiaFuel: So many characters are not what they appear to be, in a negative sense, whether their positions in the school are a cover for their true roles, or they're hiding secrets about themselves, including having deadly supernatural powers. Are you sure you ''really'' know them, or just who they're pretending to be?
47	* PeripheryDemographic: Aside from the normal lovers of MagicalGirl series, ''Mai-[=HiME=]'' gained a surprising amount of interest from lesbians, mostly thanks to the draw of the Natsuki x Shizuru pairing. This was embraced by the writers, and expanded upon in the supplemental materials, and then made canon in ''Anime/MyOtome'', along with various other couples and hinted same-sex crushes.
48	* ReplacementScrappy: One of the main criticisms of Haruka being a Hime in the manga is that she is one instead of Shizuru. With that said, this does not apply for [[BaseBreakingCharacter the fans who despise Shizuru]], who see this move as a TakeThatScrappy and poetic justice given what Shizuru did to Haruka in the anime.
49	* TearDryer: In the finale, the BigBad has been defeated, and we find Mai, Mikoto, Reito, and Yuuichi on the front lawn of the school, with the other [=HiME=] running over as it looks like Mikoto is [[HeroicSacrifice dying from the wounds she received]] freeing her brother, Reito, from the grips of the Obsidian Prince's control. Everyone begins to cry, even formerly antagonistic characters like Nao...until they hear the familiar and loud sound of [[GrowlingGut Mikoto's stomach rumbling.]] Mai flips the girl over to reveal WingDingEyes and Mikoto weakly declaring, "Mai...I'm starving! I'm done for." The only response is Natsuki delivering a FlatWhat.
50	* TheScrappy: Two of them, to varying degrees: Yuuichi (NonActionGuy and DieForOurShip effects) and Shiho (ClingyJealousGirl who wants to take Yuuichi away from Mai, and even [[spoiler:kills Takumi]] out of spite).
51	* StoicWoobie: Natsuki has become fairly bitter and lonely after her mother's death and her father abandoning her, but hardly ever shows it.
52	* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Haruka is relatively well-liked by the fanbase, while in the anime, most of the characters besides Yukino find her annoying. [[CurbStompBattle When she went up against Shizuru in the election, she lost]], getting twelve votes while Shizuru got over ''eight hundred''. While Shizuru [[BaseBreakingCharacter is highly divisive]], negative opinions on Haruka are rarer, which might have contributed to Haruka being made a Hime in the manga rather than Shizuru.
53	* TheWoobie:
54	** Akane, especially considering her mental breakdown after [[spoiler:the death of her boyfriend, Kazuya]].
55	** Mai. She blames herself for a childhood tragedy in which her mother died and her brother's heart was weakened. She's forced to fight against her friends in the Carnival, and [[spoiler:loses two of her most important people]]. The toll these tragedies take on her becomes increasingly evident over time.
56	** All the girls qualify, to some extent. Natsuki lost her mother and was abandoned by her father, and the revelation that her mother tried to sell her left her broken. Nao's father was murdered and her mother left comatose after a home invasion, and while the criminals were caught, they get three meals a day and a roof over their heads, while her relatives dumped her in an orphanage. Shizuru is in the closet over her {{Gayngst}}, as well fearful of her love interest being of IncompatibleOrientation to her. Shiho just wants Yuuichi to love her, and is painfully aware that he's drifting away from her. Being a Woobie seems to be a prerequisite to being a Hime, with Midori being the exception that proves the rule.

Context YMMV / MyHime