So I finished the anime a little while ago and I just finished reading this. There's a lot to unpack about this series, so I made a pros and cons list about things the manga did better and worse compared to the anime, as well as my final thoughts on it. There will be spoilers for the manga, so proceed at your own risk.
Pros of the manga: •I liked how Midori’s child turns into a giant robot. •Somethings, like why Mikoto carries her sword around at all times, are explained. •I liked Akira’s weapon more here than the one she had in the anime. •I think an alternate setting where HiME’s aren’t a secret is an interesting idea.
Cons of the manga: •Just about every character feels like a bastardization of their anime counterpart. •Mai, Natsuki, and Tate didn’t change by the end of the series despite all they went through. •A lot of characters are either barely used (Akira and Sister do so little and Midori doesn’t feel as big of a character as she was in the anime) or are completely forgotten about. •How is it that they made Akane a bigger character, but still had her do nothing? •Takumi’s and Akira’s relationship is nonexistent. •The whole Key think was stupid, made the HiME look handicapped, and forced characters to be in situations they shouldn’t be in. •It throws on so much shit that it’s hard to keep track of what is happening. •Shizuru and Natsuki are no longer a thing, in fact, Natsuki is straight and Shizuru’s sexuality is never confirmed. •The part about Keys dying if a child is destroyed played such a small part in the story that it might as well not have been in there. And the fact that HiME could get new Keys makes the idea of Key’s dying sound less serious. •Miyu and Kagutsuchi were nerfed. •Mai’s classroom friends were less important than in the anime. •Takumi spends more than half the manga in a hospital bed doing nothing before suddenly dying and becoming the BBEG. •The fan service was worse than in the anime. •Tate is not a bad character (at least in the anime), but he should not have been the main protagonist. It’s called Mai-HiME, not Tate-HiME. •Mikoto is no longer a main character and has less development.
Verdict: It’s not completely awful, but when compared to the anime it’s just a mess. Yes, the anime wasn’t perfect and even I will recognize that it had some big flaws. But there was so much good stuff in it that I was able to look past those flaws and still view it as a great show. But the manga has so many bad things and things that don’t work that those flaws further prevent me from liking it. It’s a bad sign that I’ve read fan doujins of Natsuki and Shizuru that were better written than this. Only check it out if you’re curious as to how Mai-HiME would look like as a harem manga, and then stay to see how stupid it gets.
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This topic may contain spoiler
So I finished the anime a little while ago and I just finished reading this. There's a lot to unpack about this series, so I made a pros and cons list about things the manga did better and worse compared to the anime, as well as my final thoughts on it. There will be spoilers for the manga, so proceed at your own risk.
Pros of the manga:
•I liked how Midori’s child turns into a giant robot.
•Somethings, like why Mikoto carries her sword around at all times, are explained.
•I liked Akira’s weapon more here than the one she had in the anime.
•I think an alternate setting where HiME’s aren’t a secret is an interesting idea.
Cons of the manga:
•Just about every character feels like a bastardization of their anime counterpart.
•Mai, Natsuki, and Tate didn’t change by the end of the series despite all they went through.
•A lot of characters are either barely used (Akira and Sister do so little and Midori doesn’t feel as big of a character as she was in the anime) or are completely forgotten about.
•How is it that they made Akane a bigger character, but still had her do nothing?
•Takumi’s and Akira’s relationship is nonexistent.
•The whole Key think was stupid, made the HiME look handicapped, and forced characters to be in situations they shouldn’t be in.
•It throws on so much shit that it’s hard to keep track of what is happening.
•Shizuru and Natsuki are no longer a thing, in fact, Natsuki is straight and Shizuru’s sexuality is never confirmed.
•The part about Keys dying if a child is destroyed played such a small part in the story that it might as well not have been in there. And the fact that HiME could get new Keys makes the idea of Key’s dying sound less serious.
•Miyu and Kagutsuchi were nerfed.
•Mai’s classroom friends were less important than in the anime.
•Takumi spends more than half the manga in a hospital bed doing nothing before suddenly dying and becoming the BBEG.
•The fan service was worse than in the anime.
•Tate is not a bad character (at least in the anime), but he should not have been the main protagonist. It’s called Mai-HiME, not Tate-HiME.
•Mikoto is no longer a main character and has less development.
Verdict: It’s not completely awful, but when compared to the anime it’s just a mess. Yes, the anime wasn’t perfect and even I will recognize that it had some big flaws. But there was so much good stuff in it that I was able to look past those flaws and still view it as a great show. But the manga has so many bad things and things that don’t work that those flaws further prevent me from liking it. It’s a bad sign that I’ve read fan doujins of Natsuki and Shizuru that were better written than this. Only check it out if you’re curious as to how Mai-HiME would look like as a harem manga, and then stay to see how stupid it gets.
anime was way better ┗( T﹏T )┛
I found it really boring.
boring