 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Summary:
Nina is getting dressed and notices the Coral Robe in her closet. She remembers once telling her father that she’d never get married and would stay his daughter forever. In Windbloom, the armies and Otome of Remus and Florence have gathered to ally with Nagi after they were given a demonstration of the Harmonium’s power. Meanwhile, masked Cardair men have carried Kazuya away from a love motel and Akane. But Akane is then approached by Maya Bryce, one of the five Columns. In Airies, Haruka is furious that their own plans have been slowed because Remus stopped trading raw materials. Fortunately, another one of the Columns, Sara Gallagher, comes bearing presents from Zipang.
Back in Windbloom, Rosalie Claudel, Laura Bianchi (Otomes of Florence and Remus, respectively), Miss Maria, and Yukariko are discussing the impending war when Nina appears with the Valkyrie and makes it known that they’ll be under her command. Miss Maria gives Nina a letter that was found in Erstin’s stuff. Tomoe starts giving Nina a hard time about the war and Sergay, but Nina claims that she’s doing this to realize Nagi’s ideals. Tomoe tries to tempt her by mentioning a loophole when it comes to men, but Nina slaps Tomoe in response. Tomoe goes crawling back to Shizuru’s arms to get comforted. Unbeknownst to Tomoe, Shizuru has gotten a letter from Irina and Natsuki.
Nao and Natsuki have come back to Windbloom and are hiding out under the BACK STAGE store with Irina and the stripes group. Natsuki’s plan seems to be progressing, and it includes something that Irina has been working on using Yohko’s computer and a book left behind by Eristin. In a molten pit somewhere, Miyu remembers Alyssa and, for Arika’s sake, she pulls a giant box out from the lava. Over at the Aswad village, it seems that Lumen died and Rado isn’t doing so well after the Cardair fight. Rado doesn’t want Midori to be sad because he’s already technically dead. However, Yohko shows up and says that she doesn’t want to lose him a second time.
That night, Chie visits the bedside of Aoi. In her own room, Nina reads the letter from Erstin. Erstin knows that if they’re reading it, then she’s already gone. She had understood her mission and had wanted to stay a loner. But then she met Nina and Arika and had so much fun with everyone in the class. She had loved the two of them and had always wanted to say Sorry and Thank You to her two precious friends. Sergay comes looking for Nina and finds her in tears from the letter. He struggles with how little he can do for his most important person when she’s suffering. It is at this point that Nina stands up, takes off her clothes, and asks her father to take away her Otome capabilities. Sergay initially refuses, but Nina starts crying because she cannot become her father’s blue star. This jolts Sergay into hugging her, and, as he remembers her growing up, he leans down and kisses her.
On a balcony somewhere in the city, Natsuki asks Nao what she thinks about the existence of Otome. Nao’s reply is that they are a necessary evil. Natsuki then tosses Nao a jewelry box, inside of which is Nao’s Column GEM. Back in Nina’s room, Sergay leaves a pleased-looking Nina in bed as he gets dressed and heads to the chamber where Rena’s capsule is. In going against Nagi in order to protect his most important Nina, Sergay raises his gun at it. However, John Smith catches him and when John Smith tries to pull a gun, Sergay shoots first. But before Sergay can complete his task, he’s shot in the back of the head. The gunman is no other than Nagi himself. And it is Nagi who tells Nina that Sergay suffered a lot of brain damage and is going to die soon because of a gunfight with John Smith. However, Nagi then tells Nina that using the Harmonium can revive him. In her grief, Nina’s GEM reacts and activates the Harmonium.
Finally the day has come: Natsuki initiates the Windbloom liberation operation. The Artai forces spot three red flares – a declaration of war. Haruka launches the Super-Class, Sand-Lurking, Aircraft Carrier Suzushiro. It comes crashing through the Artai forces and deploys its guns. Inside the Harmonium room, Sergay is now floating in mid-air with a green field around him. For his sake, Nina would make the entire world her enemy. Nagi knows that the battle has begun, but his own preparations are also ready. And finally, in the Black Valley, Arika and Mashiro are ready to leave. Mai is reluctant to let them go, but Mashiro says that everyone has started fighting to regain her country, so she must also go. Miyu warns Arika that there will be lots of Otome along with the Ultimate Black Diamond and the Harmonium blocking her way. Arika responds by saying that she’s going to make a country where everyone smiles – that’s her dream right now.
Preview:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Love Motel – Akane and Kazuya seem to get interrupted yet again because of the whole Cardair succession ordeal. Perhaps Akane still has her Otome powers? There’s gotta be some reason she’s being approached by Maya Bryce.
Hey, they spelled it right – I’ve decided to switch over to Columns instead of Pillars. For me, they’ve given the name a lot more credibility now that they’ve spelled it correctly (as opposed to “Colums” back in episode 17). Anyway, I kind of wish they had developed Sara and Maya a bit more, so that the producers are not just using the two as more firepower on good guy’s side. That is, assuming that Sarah and Maya decide to fight next episode.
The best laid plans… – So let’s see, on one side we have Nagi’s armies and Otome along with the power of Nina and the Harmonium. On the other, we’ve got the rest of the countries, along with the help of probably all of the Columns (Shizuru included). Oh and Irina’s planning to do something – I bet she’s found a way to start up Fumi so that the Columns can use their Robes.
Ok, and..? – So Lumen died and Rado isn’t doing so hot. Yohko arrives to save him and will probably succeed someway or another. What I want to know is how this will relate to the main story. I hope that Yohko hasn’t just developed a miracle cure and the Aswad don’t just swoop in to turn the tide of battle next week. I want something a bit deeper story-wise than that.
They didn’t…They DID!?! – Well, I was very wrong when I doubted that Sergay would do something with Nina. For the record, I almost felt like I was writing a porno or something while I was typing up this summary (sadly, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this feeling). As for if Sergay accomplished his “duty” in taking away Nina’s Otome capabilities, it doesn’t seem to appear that way because her GEM still reacted and started up the Harmonium. It begs to question if the “loophole” that Tomoe mentioned was somehow used. Oh, I also want to point out that Nina had switched to “Sergay” instead of “Otou-sama” by her last scene.
Spiderman, Spiderman, friendly neighborhood Spiderman – Since Nao’s got her GEM, Spiderman can’t be far off 😀
Dead or Alive – Ouch, a bullet to the head that causes extreme brain damage. At least he got John Smith out of the way before Nagi got him. And here I was thinking that the body count was rather low. As for whether Nina can revive him or not, I don’t think he’s going to come back to life. Maybe he’ll get to say some final words of goodbye, but in my opinion, Sergay is a goner. Keeping him around would be way too awkward for both Nina and Arika. Oh how I hope Nina doesn’t wish for a reset or something….
Declaration of war – I think Haruka is having too much fun in her new ship. But with Otome on the battlefield, what’s the point of even having all that expensive hardware out? I can see any of them easily slicing through the battleships, the same way a Gundam would in any of the Gundam series.
Onward, to the one-hour finale! – It worth repeating that there are a LOT of characters in Mai-Otome. In the final battle next week, it’s possible that every single one of them (from Mai to Takumi to Shiho and so on) will have a part to play. Or I should say that’s how I want it to turn out. There have been so many separate story lines going on at once, and hopefully they’ll all converge nicely in the final episode.
