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Nov 18, 2008 6:51 PM
#1
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Oct 2008
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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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What an amazing series. I'm so happy with the way things turned out! ^_^ I wonder how Mai-Otmoe will be.
Nov 18, 2008 6:54 PM
#2

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Jul 2007
2338
Far sub par, unfortunately.
This is the second time I've seen someone content with the anime ending. (The other time being on another forum when people praised Mai Hime's return to its comedic roots).
Though I did like the ending, it also ruined everything that the series had been building up. D:
Nov 19, 2008 6:40 AM
#3

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Aug 2007
1804
I actually enjoyed the series very much, even the ending.

I concider the battle the end end, and then the after part was just that, the after part. Im glad they put it in, else if they left it off just with the end of the battle, I would have had a "Thats it?" moment.

I like knowing they returned to normal. Its also a good set in to Mai-Otome, which is shown by the Mai-Otome character walking around in the background.

Nov 19, 2008 8:15 AM
#4

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Feb 2008
4350
Good series, decent ending. It would have been a bit better if something more emotional happened and everybody didn't just come back to life like that, but I'm not really complaining about how it turned out. Happy endings are always good too.

I'm going to give this show an 8/10 overall, since it was very good. The episodes near the end get much higher than that, since they were great.

Overall, I'm glad I watched this.
Dec 3, 2008 9:15 AM
#5

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Jun 2008
15
I enjoyed watching this series very much, especially the last episodes, but I don't think the end fits very well. It was much too easy imo, there could have been more drama in the final episode.
Nevertheless, I really liked the character development and look forward to Mai-Otome, too. ^^
Dec 13, 2008 3:46 PM
#6

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Dec 2008
104
Overall a very good series, though honestly not one of the greats. The ending could have been a bit better, the whole 'everyone comes back at the end and all is well' bit is convenient and works but is not all too creative (personally I think they could have shown us some more mind-blowing Kagutsuchi action as well...limit release, anyone?). The points where the anime really shines is in the character development and the dynamics of relationships between the characters, which I believe it stayed true to the very last episode. I haven't heard anything about Mai-Otome yet, but after this series I will look forward to it.
Dec 13, 2008 3:52 PM
#7

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Jun 2008
3162
Worst ending ever. it's one thing to have them all alive again but for them to all forgive each other and act like nothing ever happened is just so annoying.
Dec 21, 2008 11:50 PM
#8

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Dec 2008
6
Well where to start...First, I am not a big fan of anime that are Action that have the bit with "Love and Willpower will over come anything," but I was actually okay with this one, because it was more than just the idea of love but the actual feeling they had for someone else. That was good and it did show a lot of character development because of this, so this and the great action it gets a thumbs up on.

The ending is another thing, I hate the whole "Love and Willpower bit" as mentioned before, but to have their powers return is silly. And of course that means they get their love ones back too because that is their power, it is far too cheesy for me. I actually enjoyed that this anime went to despair and sadness, it was refreshing to see an anime do something out of the normal. It then just disappointed me when they all came back alive, and went for the Fairytale ending.
Jan 11, 2009 4:49 PM
#9

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May 2008
327
I liked it very much xD
9/10 from me ^^
Jan 22, 2009 9:50 PM

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Sep 2008
7062
After finally finishing the anime about a year after I finished the manga, I felt as though it was a very good ending. I had a feeling everyone would be coming back to life somehow; the anime just seemed to carry a happy tune. Besides, what kind of ending would be fit if all the characters die. Then again, I'm a romance junkie so all I cared was Tate being revived.

Although it is very different from the manga counterpart, they executed it in a nice way. I'll admit though, I was quite depressed at first when they could summon their child so easily. D:
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Feb 1, 2009 9:12 AM

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Jun 2008
181
Really nice anime that actually triggered my "only one more episode" phase for the second half, meaning I just could not stop watching it. The story was great and so was the character development. Sunrise did a good job with possibilities of losing the loved one at the places the loved ones were shared or mutual. The ending was, well.. a bit out of phase. Everyone coming back and acting as nothing had happened was a bit unrealistic. Still, overall I liked this one. :D
skriticosFeb 1, 2009 9:16 AM
Mar 11, 2009 1:39 PM
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Feb 2008
3
I saw something amazing ! :D
After rewatching this series I noticed something cool.
In the last 5 seconds of mai-hime the main character of mai-otome appears in the background as a freshman.
i loled
Mar 22, 2009 10:45 PM

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Jan 2008
6961
The ending was, well a typical happy ending. Nothing wrong with that but it kinda ruins everything that was built up until this point. For that I'll give it an 8, consider that as a high 8.
Mar 27, 2009 9:09 AM

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Jan 2009
50
Liked the anime pretty much, also "predicted" that everything would be fine so the ending didn't dissappointed me. Really liked the second half of the series since the first half was kinda slow paced. (as expected from introduction episodes).

Giving it a 8.
May 4, 2009 9:03 PM

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Apr 2008
192
Hm.. it was an ok ending, could have been better. I wish the fights were alittle better.. I mean, come on, one fiery blast and that's it? What was the point of showing all the himes flying on their children or whatever? Overall, I enjoyed it.
Aug 4, 2009 9:30 AM

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Jun 2009
880
It's like a joke, isn't it? A big joke. Like a dream, a fairy tale where everything turns out fine in the end and nobody gets hurt.
Well amazing though; I've been expecting a far worse ending than that.
Aug 24, 2009 1:51 AM

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Feb 2008
479
it was a good series with alot of drama in the second half, glad i watched it
Oct 8, 2009 8:56 PM

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Jun 2008
15842
Disappointed by the ending also. Why can't people accept a more grown up ending were fights end with casualties but life moves on. This bringing back all the dead and everyone is suddenly happy and friends is too childish.
Also the fact that they put so much staff in that last episode made it seemed like they were ending it in a hurry.

I expected that they will make something like this but i still had a small hope that they will surprise me since they had done it once with all the drama and all those major characters killed during the series.

I would have given it an 8 but because of the last episode it goes down to 7.
Nov 4, 2009 12:29 AM
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Nov 2008
48
I liked the fact that almost everyone lost and some people died. It made the anime more serious. But this ending was just stupid :l
Dec 10, 2009 10:05 AM

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Jul 2009
6620
So Dragon Ball ending huh? and they are being friendly so easy..hmm oh well predictable

8/10 though kinda disappointed with Reito being alive..if he dead i'll raise again
And what the heck..with the kiss scene..at least show some proper kiss scene!!

And foreshadowing for Mai-Otome at the end huh?
Dec 31, 2009 1:34 AM

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Nov 2007
3017
Well Yay for happy ending I guess =O I mean it did ruin the whole serious feeling of it all but at least it was happy right ^^"? Overall a very nice series glad I watched it =D
Jan 17, 2010 9:47 PM

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Apr 2009
2210
The first half was okay, but after the ending of the Searrs arc it got really, really good.

And in the end they threw away everything that they built up.

:/

Oh well, it is sort of nice to see a happy ending given how attached I was to most of the ships. All in all a good show. Ok first half, absolutely fantastic last half, and an ending that completely throws away the fantastic second half. A lot of the relationships were great (AlyssaxMiyu, HarukaxYukino, etc), but the TatexMai relationship was god awful for so many reasons (I greatly dislike Tate; it's not so much him trying to be "I will protect you" as him being a spineless asshole who constantly puts other people in harms way and gets in the way of far more interesting characters), so meh. Action and artwork were average, monster designs were neat. Gets a 9/10 from me (or 6/10 on my comparison scale) for the fantastic second half and some great characters/relationships, though it would have been a 10/10 (7-8/10) if it hadn't been for the ending and Tate.
Confucius say man who stand on toilet is high on pot.
Jan 23, 2010 2:21 AM

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Nov 2009
36
I enjoyed all the episodes, last one was not as intense I thought, cause it was the last episode. Though during the entire series, each time Mai summons Kagutsuchi to fight, I want to scream at the enemy, "Its gonna eat you now." Because nothing elese ever comes to mind when I see it being summoned. In my opinion, its looks like a kind of cybernetic-like Leviathan with flaming phoenix wings and a sword through its mouth. So it looks cool, dangerious and hungry haha.
Feb 8, 2010 8:01 AM

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Dec 2007
4827
It was by far the worst episode I have seen in my entire life. I never really took the effort to write about it, but here I am. I would've rated this anime a 6, but the last episode just screwed that over.
Mar 3, 2010 5:00 PM

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Aug 2008
1374
Just to point out for those who didn't notice, one of the heroines from Otome made a quick cameo in the epilogue. Umm I think.
Mar 9, 2010 4:50 PM

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Aug 2008
2035
Wow, for a great series, this show sure had a terrible ending. Over half of it was spent on the epilogue! Also, no great showdown? Fail. I can't believe the Lord of Obsidian or whatever was so quickly defeated.

I'll still give it an 8, though, because it did entertain me for most of the season.

Thanks, person who gave me this on another site a long time ago, lol.
May 13, 2010 11:09 PM

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Jun 2009
1371
I really liked how the show got progressively darker. Up until the ending i was planning on at the very least giving this series a 9 or even giving it a 10 if the ending was good. Sadly, the ending was so terrible that I really don't want to give it more than a 7.

Why did everything have to be so bright and shiny? Maybe I should have seen it coming, their powers are fueled by love, but after Mikoto appeared to have killed Mai's brother I really expected that this couldn't end entirely well. Really, what I wanted was for everyone to just stay dead, but I could have been ok with it if Mikoto had just stayed dead or someone else not survived. There's not even any lingering resentment. In fact, things are probably way better than they could ever have been without the red star's involvement.

I guess I'll give it an 8. The ending doesn't retroactively make the entire anime crap just because it blinded me with sunshine and roses.
May 21, 2010 6:00 PM

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Feb 2010
114
Just adding my $0.02 I have re-watched this series at least 3 times now and I love this. Ending is kinda lame, but most of the series leading up to it is something else. Animators have a thing for really short skirts but that's a bit of a side note.

9/10 overall.
We will never forget those that have fallen for our freedom!
May 27, 2010 9:43 PM

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Apr 2010
865
The heCk Fucking Ending<< T_t.
Aug 26, 2010 7:10 PM

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Apr 2010
70
---What I've learned from 26 episodes of Mai-hime---
Rape is love x 3
incest is crazy
People don't die if they are killed.
everyone will be instantly forgiven so that we can have 10 minutes of fucking happiness for the Mai.
Oct 15, 2010 4:12 PM
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Sep 2008
54
I thought it was a bit slow in the beging, but it pick up wonderfully in the end. I am curious in why they did not leave the dictor's cut as the normal esp. it was a bit better than cutting the esp down. i do not think a esp running a little long is a good reason. it is the last esp, we can cheat a little for it:P
Jan 2, 2011 4:59 AM

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Dec 2008
579
Monad said:
Disappointed by the ending also. . This bringing back all the dead and everyone is suddenly happy and friends is too childish.
I would have given it an 8 but because of the last episode it goes down to 7.


Pretty much this.

Sugiura-sensei's reaction: "What, everyone just comes back to life and wins with the power of love and friendship? You've got be joking. Screw these losers, I'm going to go and kick some ass with Indiana Jones."


All the dramatic tension of death and betrayal just doesn't work at all if everyone can come back to life. And how the hell is everyone lovey-dovey despite mutually trying to slaughter all that they hold dear and precious? We didn't even get the love quadrangle resolved!

In short, I thought the ending was awful and destroyed everything the show had been trying to create for the last 10 episodes.
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Douglas Adams
Feb 9, 2011 1:15 PM
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Jan 2011
2
I actually really like this anime. I'm not one that goes for this type of anime but in this case, I really enjoyed watching it. The beginning was kind of wtf but it got better the more episodes I watched. I just wished that Natsuki and Shizuru had gotten together. Sure Shizur was overreacting and went on an obsessive rampage but I think they woulda been cute. <---- is a yuri fan-----
Ending coulda been better though, but it wasn't all bad.
Feb 17, 2011 4:45 PM

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Aug 2009
3452
And so they all lived happily ever after.
This anime teaches us that what one does is immaterial and forgivable as long as everyone gets revived in the end. DBZ ftw. However, I can't be genuinely angry for I'm also somewhat happy to see everyone alive, mainly because certain characters have grown on me and also cuz I had a feeling sth like this would happen. This anime never gave away the feeling that it would end with everyone dead anyway.
Overall, it gets a 7 from me; it could have been an 8, but after this ending, it's only due to me liking Natsuki coolness that it didn't get a 6.

Oh, yeah, i ROFLed at Miyu and Nao being nuns. Their religious community sure isn't picky, I'm guessing just about anyone could enlist.
metamorphiusFeb 17, 2011 5:08 PM
Apr 25, 2011 11:32 AM

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May 2008
69
I can accept the ending perfectly fine, if I can just get a HOW and WHY. If something happened that makes sense in terms of the story and its universe, it was great.
Jul 5, 2011 8:40 AM

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Feb 2011
894
Lame ending but still love it.

8/10
Mar 1, 2012 3:36 PM

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Jun 2010
1134
The series started slowly and kinda boring but I was surprised how it became later. Everyone started to die and Mai started to losing it. Therefore, I was expecting for a tragic ending too, but... Everyone magically revived and life was fine. And everyone was treating each other the same way before the carnival. I was hoping that someone would stay dead, at least Mikoto.

Therefore, the ending made me to lower my score.
Sep 1, 2012 12:35 PM

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Dec 2011
8944
What a shame.

After such a good series as well. I see a lot of people lowered their score based on the ending, and in all honesty I'm toying with the idea of doing the same.
But I don't think I will. The series up to that point was so good and all.

It was my first marathoned anime in a long while, and I still think it was a good choice. And glad I bought it.

Only thing left is to come up with a way of generating a good ending without bringing people back from the dead and without everyone suddenly putting aside all their differences.
Maybe explore some of the characters in my mind further too. In a sense that's one way a not-so-good ending is better; you get to have fun coming up with a better ending to the series.

Thanks to episodes 8-25, this still gets a 9/10 from me. For the time being - I may yet adjust it if I change my mind. But I doubt I will - the effect of endings tend to get less over time not more.
There is no such thing as shit taste. Only idiots who think everyone should have the same taste as they do.
Sep 4, 2012 7:49 PM
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Aug 2012
26
The ending was a bit blah. And I'm talking the end end, not the battle portion. I had expected everyone to be brought back, and happily they did it in about the only logical way, destroying/releasing the pillars. Shame they left the relationships so open ended though, but that's typical. Overall, I'm torn between 8 and 9, so 8.5, and I'll decide what to rate it later.
Sep 22, 2012 4:07 AM

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Oct 2007
396
I've rewatched the entire series a few times, and although the ending still bothers me somewhat, I think I've come to appreciate it as a part of the show's mythology. I just wish it was handled a little better.
Oct 4, 2012 4:52 AM

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Sep 2012
31
orp said:
I've rewatched the entire series a few times, and although the ending still bothers me somewhat, I think I've come to appreciate it as a part of the show's mythology. I just wish it was handled a little better.


After watching so much anime i've become kind of a nit-picker. It was hard for me to get over the fact alone that these girls were summoning weapons and mecha out of thin air. Then this ending came and the things start to pile up. I really enjoyed episodes 20-24 and the searrs arc, but overall I think sunrise kind of pushed it with this ending. Apparently there was an alternate ending; I need to see that.
0aklandOct 4, 2012 4:56 AM
Steam ID - Infernox755
Apr 9, 2013 4:45 PM

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Aug 2008
2155
Easily one of the worst endings to any anime ever. I would have preferred an open ending to this piece of garbage.

They basically made the entire second half pointless and a joke with this ending. This is why if you're not willing to kill off a character...don't friggin bother in the first place.

I guess this is the Clannd Syndrome. Where the writers are just laughing their butts off while pulling everyones heart strings and then the ending is just "hah fooled youuuu"
May 19, 2013 9:38 AM
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May 2013
17
Omega19 said:
Well where to start...First, I am not a big fan of anime that are Action that have the bit with "Love and Willpower will over come anything," but I was actually okay with this one, because it was more than just the idea of love but the actual feeling they had for someone else. That was good and it did show a lot of character development because of this, so this and the great action it gets a thumbs up on.

The ending is another thing, I hate the whole "Love and Willpower bit" as mentioned before, but to have their powers return is silly. And of course that means they get their love ones back too because that is their power, it is far too cheesy for me. I actually enjoyed that this anime went to despair and sadness, it was refreshing to see an anime do something out of the normal. It then just disappointed me when they all came back alive, and went for the Fairytale ending.


New age anime has constantly gone the bittersweet or truly harsh ending route. This show went from comedy to romantic comedy to dramatic romance with light comedy to depressing drama to soul crushing despair and back again. For you to hope that a seemingly light action romantic comedy should leave all the characters dead at the end is pretty sad to see.

Anyway I loved all of it because Mai was brought to Shinji realization of what he had gotten into. I just cannot believe that this show wasn't tagged with psychological as for 7 episodes straight, supporting characters were dying left and right. I mean the girl loses her brother, her best friend (thinkin Mikoto killed him) and the love of her life at one point. All and all a great series that I give an 8/10
Jul 5, 2013 9:20 AM
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Jul 2018
564074
I didn't like the ending too much though I was kinda expecting it to end this way. Would've prefer the darker atmosphere...

Still, Mai-HiME was awesome! Very enjoyable to watch from beginning to end :)

That OST probably scored an extra +1 from me though xD I'm a sucker for that kind of music.
Aug 23, 2013 11:37 AM

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Nov 2012
273
Liked the ending, hated the series. Ok no, it's the other way around. I expected them to revive all the dead ones in the end, but the execution was lame. But I can live with that. I actually liked that Mikoto was apparently dead and then nope, she was just really hungry. That was a nice subversion... but after that it went downhill. What I found truly unacceptable was that all the HiMEs forgave each other tacitly, like it was a dream. Then Mai and Tate go back to being a tsundere couple just because they're interrupted... what about their emotional confessions earlier? Inconsistent only for the sake of forcing an open ending, that's just stupid. Also, I was never really sold on that "battle royale because convenient reasons" excuse, but the drama and plot twists were worth it. I was getting Evangelion vibes left and right, that was also nice.
I would've given this show a 10 but with the last episode it'll be a 9 -- the ending doesn't retroactively ruin the series for me, and it was a hell of a good ride.

That being said, I watched this after I read it was similar to Madoka, and now I understand why everyone said Madoka is a spiritual successor. Seriously, deconstructing the magical girl genre, the personalities and design for Homura and Natsuki, the (initially hidden) risk of becoming a magical girl/HiME, how Mai and Madoka want everyone to be happy and end up seeing a lot of close people die and practically losing their minds... Though there were some things I liked better about HiME and others about Madoka.

Mai HiME:
-character development feels more fleshed out due to more episodes, the character interactions and the setting are more rooted in reality and akin to Evangelion (I was surprised some mature themes were explored in a similar way)
-attempts more humor, even in the final arc they try to balance the drama a bit
-male characters have a better presence

Madoka:
-better world building and twists, tne entropy thing seems more interesting and less of an excuse to justify the drama
-better fight scenes, seriously, some battles in Mai HiME were wasted potential ._.
-the ending is also a deus ex machina, but is not totally happy.

All in all, I'll probably start Mai Otome, although I've been told is not as good.
Sep 12, 2013 9:41 PM

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Jul 2013
3769
Really didn't like the ending to this, in fact the Shizuru as a HiME reveal is where the show officially lost me I think. She's completely undeveloped with little screen time and then suddenly within 5 episodes is responsible for defeating 3 characters and somehow turns out to be Natsuki's loved one all along? Meh. But either way it's pretty annoying/unacceptable that the show did such a good job at constantly raising the stakes only to hit a reset button in the last 10 minutes anyway.

I still don't at all understand what Mai saw in Tate, but admittedly I don't expect there to be much logic to a 16 year old girl's affections and I guess I can see their one bonding moment where she breakdowns shaping her feelings in a big way.

It was still enjoyable for the most part it's really just the final 5-6 episodes that bugged me. I liked Natsuki and Nao's characters quite a bit, some characters were completely unlikeable, others still had some good things about them. Still a lot of unanswered questions for really no reason, but that's whatever I suppose.
Oct 21, 2013 7:41 PM

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Oct 2013
111
They went for way too much with that ending and it was just kind of lame. There wasn't really any emotional impact in the finale compared to previous episodes. It was just so cheesy and childish.

There was some insurmountable struggle against fate going on and it turned out that they just had to attack the star to end it all. Okay Sunrise.
Oct 29, 2014 1:32 AM

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Aug 2010
253
I kinda wish everybody stayed dead.
Still good anime ;D
Jun 4, 2015 11:22 PM
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Apr 2015
201
Agreed with everyone that the ending is lame. I think in general anime ending needs to be at least 1-hour long to do the ending justice, since otherwise it just feels rushed. And this one is way rushed.

I can accept everyone being revived, this after all isn't a pure drama, but they should have done that better. People start to pop out of nowhere, nothing is even tried to be explained, HiME star blows up just like that... etc.

Overall still a fantastic 2nd arc with a weak ending - 9/10. First arc 7/10 so total 8/10.
Jun 23, 2016 11:46 AM

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Feb 2014
1733
I know that not everyone is a fan of the whole revival ending but I'm a total sucker for happy endings so I'll take it xD

10 seconds left in the ending of this series and...there goes Arika Yumemiya! xD

Cool battles in the ending, and they played a bunch of awesome songs. Kinda sad that Kagutsuchi had to leave, but getting rid of the HiME festival is definitely for the better. Lol when Mikoto "died" of hunger xD And when that girl wants to join the choir and then Nao and Miyu as nuns (as crazy as that turned out) give her really weird answers like "backstab your friends" xD

I'm glad I rewatched this! I love this series so much :) The action is awesome, the Soundtrack is amazing, both the comedy and the drama are well done, and the pacing of the show is good too. Yeah I agree certain characters can be kinda weak (*cough* Tate *cough*) and certain parts can be confusing but a lot of stuff was cleared up for me after rewatching, and I could definitely see more about the characters than I could the first time. Is this show objectively amazing? Definitely not. But it's still my favorite :3 10/10

So Mai-Otome is also good albeit pretty different form Mai-HiME, but what I would really like to see if there's a continuation of the franchise is the previous HiME festival featuring Mashiro. It wouldn't even have to be a full series, it could probably just be an OVA or something, but however it would happen I think it would be pretty interesting.
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