My-HiME

This article is about the anime series. For the manga series, see My-HiME (manga). For the unrelated 1890 novel 舞姫 (Maihime) by Mori Ogai, see The Dancing Girl.

My-HiME
Main cast of My-HiME
舞-HiME (Mai-HiME)
Genre	Action, Fantasy, Romantic comedy, Sentai
TV anime
Directed by	Masakazu Obara
Written by	Hiroyuki Yoshino
Music by	Yuki Kajiura
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	Bandai Entertainment
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	September 30, 2004 – March 31, 2005
Episodes	26 + 26 dvd only shorts cuts
Related works
My-Hime (manga) My-Otome My-HiME EXA My-Otome Zwei My-Otome 0
Game
Publisher	Marvelous Interactive
Platform	PlayStation 2
Original video animation
Released	January 27, 2010
Anime and Manga Portal

My-HiME (舞-HiME, Mai-HiME^?) is an anime series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, the series originally premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from September 2004 to March 2005. The show is a comedy-drama focusing on the lives of HiMEs—girls with the capacity to materialize photons—gathered at Fuka Academy for a secret purpose.

The series is licensed for North American distribution by Bandai Entertainment and European distribution by Bandai's European subsidiary, Beez, with the first American DVD released at the end of March 2006. Bandai released the Complete Collection DVD set in America on October 7, 2008. It is also shown on Anime Selects On Demand but only for a limited time.

Terminology

Main article: List of My-HiME terminology

Plot

Main article: List of My-HiME episodes

Mai Tokiha is an ordinary high-school girl who has recently transferred to the Fuka Academy with her younger brother, Takumi. However, a routine boat ride and a chance encounter with a mysterious young girl changes everything. Mai discovers that she and some of her classmates possess the powers of HiME and must battle against mysterious creatures called Orphans and an ominous organization called the Searrs Foundation. Along the way she must face her own demons and understand what it means to love.

Characters

Main article: List of My-HiME anime characters

The show's cast of characters is mostly composed of students and staff at Fuuka Academy, with the emphasis on the female cast. Although most of the cast is already introduced by the second episode, only a few characters are disclosed as HiMEs; the other characters' abilities and alignments are revealed throughout the rest of the series.

The main characters are the hardworking, caring Mai Tokiha, the cold beauty Natsuki Kuga, and the catlike Mikoto Minagi. Other characters are shown with a wide range of personalities and relationships. Director Masakazu Obara, states that he "wanted to reverse the roles that men and women usually play," placing females in the lead roles.^[1]

Related works

The My-HiME manga follows an alternate storyline at Fuka Academy. It was first serialized in Akita Shoten's Shōnen Champion and later published in North America by TOKYOPOP.

An anime spin-off, entitled My-Otome (舞-乙HiME^?), premiered across Japan from October 2005 to March 2006. This series contains many characters with the same (first) name and similar appearance as the characters of My-HiME, but it is set in a far future timeline.

A PlayStation 2 video game, Mai-HiME: Unmei no Keitōju (舞-HiME 運命の系統樹, Mai-HiME: Unmei no Keitōju^?, lit. Family Tree of Fate) was developed by Marvelous Interactive and released in Japan on June 30, 2005. This adventure game follows a storyline different from the anime and manga series. A remake, Mai-Hime - Unmei no Keitouju Shura, was released for the PC.

Two PlayStation Portable fighting games, Mai-HiME Bakuretsu! Fuuka Gakuen Gekitoushi?! (舞-HiME 爆裂!風華学園激闘史?!^?) and Mai-HiME Senretsu! Shin Fuuka Gakuen Gekitoushi!! (舞-HiME 鮮烈!真風華学園激闘史!!^?), both developed by Sunrise Interactive, were also released.

A trailer for a Mai-Hime movie was included in the first DVD of Mai-Otome, with the title Fuuka Wars or The Great Battle of Fuuka. However this trailer was revealed to be a fake, with a release date of 20006[sic]. Fan response to the trailer was positive.

This recently announced manga will be titled My-HiME EXA.

Theme songs

Main article: My-HiME soundtracks

Opening themes

• Shining☆Days by Minami Kuribayashi (ep. 1–25)
• Never ending Crossroad / Endless Crossroad (終わりのないクロスロード, Owari no Nai Crossroad^?) by Yuki Kajiura (ep. 26)
• Princess Ashura (阿修羅姫, Ashura-hime^?) by Ali Project (My-HiME PlayStation 2 Game Unmei no Keitoju)

Ending themes

• You were the Sky (君が空だった, kimi ga sora datta^?) by Aki Misato (ep. 1–14, 16–25)
• It's only the fairy tale by Yuko Miyamura (ep. 15)
• Shining☆Days by Minami Kuribayashi (ep. 26)
• Silent Wing by Aki Misato (My-HiME PlayStation 2 Game Unmei no Keitoju)

Insert songs

• When a Small Star Falls (小さな星が降りる時, chiisana hoshi ga oriru toki^?) by Minami Kuribayashi (ep. 15 and 26)
• It's only the fairy tale by Yuko Miyamura (ep. 7, 8, 11 and 15)
• Flower by the Lake (水辺の花, mizube no hana^?) by Saeko Chiba (ep. 16)
• Sword of the Heart (ココロの剣, kokoro no ken^?) by Ai Shimizu (ep. 16)
• Lovely Intersection (愛しさの交差点, itoshisa no kousaten^?) by Mai Nakahara (ep. 16)
• Parade (off vocal) (ep. 10 and 16)
• Fuuka Academy School Song ~Crystal's protection~ (off vocal) (私立風華学園校歌〜水晶の守り〜 (off vocal), shiritsu fuuka gakuen kouka ~suishou no mamori~ (off vocal)^?) (ep. 26)
• last moment by Yōsei Teikoku (My-HiME PlayStation 2 Game Unmei no Keitoju)
• Fortuna by Yōsei Teikoku (My-HiME PlayStation 2 Game Unmei no Keitoju)

References

1. ^ Dong, Bamboo. "Kicking Class", Anime Insider, January 11, 2007. Retrieved on April 18, 2007.

External links

• (Japanese) Official My-Hime website
• (Japanese) TV Tokyo's My-Hime website
• (Japanese) My-HiME - Unmei no Keitouju website
• Bandai Entertainment's My-Hime website
• My-HiME (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia