i'm rewatching mai-otome, and the first episode is every bit the fever dream that it was the first time it graced my eyes. i love it.
this quasi-mahou shoujo au is truly a treat. it's such fun to see new(er) characters join in the antics, too, of course. i'm finding that, for me, arika is growing on me with her very genki attitude much like mai did over the course of the og series. i think i'll reserve making a fuller comparison once i've worked a decent way through the rewatch-- so i'll just close this with saying that i like the nod to mai and natsuki's dynamic through arika and nina :)
a tiny confession: aside from wanting to sink into the nostalgia of this era in anime, my (other) main purpose for giving this a rewatch is research. world-building stuff, mostly, but i also want to watch my faves living it up again in an au, haha
another confession (tho is it really?): 'more shiznat' is all anyone needs to say to lure me in like a plankton to sunlight. it's really that simple. their dynamic is fun here, too-- and, oh my gosh, i love a shizuru that delights in showing off how capable she is. this feels very 'tendou maya' of her, but i'm also getting 'juri without the gay grief' vibes, big time. i know i know, shizuru is smack dab in the middle of these two queens, but i think what really matters is my taste in class president-types, yes?
(though, does maya count, there?? alas, i'm getting carried away, huh... )
anyway, arika is 1000% me, swooning over how beautiful shizuru is + picking our jaws up from the floor after watching her take out the monster of the day. i appreciate what an honestly exciting first ep it is, especially this time around. right, it's definitely a fever dream of a very delightful variety, and i'm honestly just here for the vibes while i work on some tactile projects. ('these costumes were sponsored by mai-hime/otome!' ...or something like that )
thanks for reading, catch you on the next ep!
