Art by Kimura Noboru, Story by Sato Ken-etsu
Tokyopop, 196 pp.

Who would like this book: Jack from the MangaCast – he liked Pastel, so maybe he’ll like this. Also in my weaker moments I will admit that reading this was like eating a peep–no nutritional value, probably really bad for you, made of only sugar air and chemicals, but when you want a peep, other junk foods just won’t do it for you.

Who would hate this book: Fans of the My-HiME anime series – particularly female fans.

“Hime” means “Princess” in Japanese, but don’t let the title fool you – the My-HiME manga is not for girls. In this case, “Hime” is a B.S. acronym for “Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment”. Fans already familiar with the My-HiME anime series will probably be as disappointed and agitated by the manga as I was because many My-HiME anime fans are girls. The cover of the manga is blatant enough that most girl fans of the show should know to steer clear. Mai’s watermelon-sized breasts go well beyond the level offanservice in the anime series, and it gets worse inside the book, where girls clothes are regularly shredded/dissolved/or otherwise removed by monsters/energy blasts/explosions/themselves.

My-HiME, in all its incarnations, is a magical girl show for teenagers and more mature audiences. There are nine “Himes” and each can call a “Child” which is actually a bio-mechanical-magical-ish monster to her aid. They all attend Fuka Acedmy, where, for one reason or another, the Himes end up battling each other. In the anime series the fate of a Hime and her Child are tied to the person who is most important to the Hime – in protagonist Mai’s case it is her sickly younger brother. In the manga, the person most important to the Hime is called a “Key” and must be present to summon the Child. Mai’s Key in the manga is her love interest, Yuuichi Tate.

Although Mai is the protagonist of the anime, Yuuichi is the protagonist of the manga (at least in this volume). The story follows Yuuichi as he begins attending Fuka academy as a new student, and is quickly drawn into a conflict between Mai and Natsuki. A love triangle forms that is definately not from the anime, as Yuuichi becomes the Key for both girls.

The plot moves along at lightening pace, launching into battle scenes with almost zero character development. Knowing about Children and Orphans from theanime series makes it confusing – but if I hadn’t watched the anime series, I would have been even more confused. I say “Children” here, but at times the manga uses the word “Childs”. I don’t care if “Childs” is a transliteration from the Japanese – it’s really distracting to read.

Between chapters there are one-page interviews with the producer of the anime series and the seiyuu who voices Mai. Hilariously enough, even the seiyuu admits that the manga is confusing:

“When I first read the manga, I was totally shocked at how different it was. ‘Why is Mai already at Fuka Acedemy?’ and ‘Huh, what’s a Key?’ But the battle scenes were really cool so I had lots of fun. The ‘I don’t need a Child, I’m fine with just an element’ line stood out. I thought, ‘Oh that’s too cool~!’ “

The producer of the anime reveals in his interview that the anime, manga, figures, and various video games of My-HiME were all released at the same time:

“Actually My-HiME (My Princess) includes manga, anime, a PS2 game, I-application games, drama CDs, radio, figures, and other various merchandise, all befitting our princesses. I’m very proud of them. Whether you came across My-HiME as manga, anime, or radio first, all stand as pinnacles in a cloudless sky. I think it’s all due to our princesses’ beauty. Do appreciate it fully!”

Although all of the series in the My-HiME franchise share the same character designs and fighting styles, the plot lines for each media outlet were developed independently, presumably for their simultaneous release. From an American standpoint, this kind of cross-platform development is somewhat weird. Usually things that make it to different media forms on this side of the Pacific are based on one original source (like the Lord of the Ringsvideogames are based on the movies based on the books). As it is, the My-Hime manga feels like reading ecchi doujin of the My-HiME anime written by someone who has never seen the series, but had their friend tell them the plot a few months back.

Mai Otome, as long as we’re on the subject, also has a manga series and an anime series. Although all the My-HiME characters are in Mai Otome, it takes place in an alternate universe and many of the characters have slightly different personalities. I’ve only seen two episodes of Mai Otome and I’ve never read the manga. It was too jarring for me… but not as jarring as reading this book.

The presentation is a little odd. My-HiME and Welcome to the NHK are the first and only mature Tokyopop titles I’ve read. Welcome to the NHK had footnotes in the back, and a high print quality. For some reason my copy of My-HiME has weirdly low-quality paper, reminiscent of newsprint, as well as cheap ink that rubs off on facing pages. Maybe it was just my review copy…? The NHK printing was perfectly fine. As per the usual for Tokyopop, no sound effects were translated.

I should probably admit at this point that I have cosplayed as both Mai and Natsuki. When I wen to Anime Expo 2005, I ran into the only other My-HiME cosplayer, a girl dressed as Shizuru. She was super happy to see me! In retrospect, I’m glad I was dressed as Mai at the time and not Natsuki. Had the manga become popular here before the anime, I would have serious second thoughts about dressing as any of the characters, as it would attract the wrong kind of attention.

My favorite character (for the record) is Mikoto, because she is essentially a junior high girl who wields an extremely large and heavy sword. One reason I was drawn to the anime in the first place was Mikoto’s sword swing – as she goes to strike the blade scrapes along the ground trailing sparks. A little girl with a giant Berserk-like sword will grab my attention any day of the week! Mikoto is sadly under-used in this volume of the manga.

Overall, the first volume of the My Hime manga can be summarized by one line from the Simpsons, spoken in a TV movie called The Erotic Adventure of Hercules: “Hercules! The cyclops tore off our clothes!”