Hello everyone,
Continuing from yesterday review, let's go review another of the original anime project linked to Mai Hime, one that got even more fan-base and adaptations than the first one.
It is named Mai Otome and feature mostly the same characters from Mai Hime with some new addition as main characters.
Let's start with a synopsis :
Arika Yumemiya has traveled far in search of her goal: the prestigious Gualderobe Academy. This is the school where young girls are trained to become Otomes, protectors of royal leaders throughout the lands. Here, Arika makes plenty of friends, but some enemies know something about her past that she does not. Nevertheless, her spirit and determination will keep pushing her forward.
Yeah, the setting is quite changed, even though it's always a school, this time the setting is a fictional world rather than ours (fictional in both style and technology).
The story by itself is even more addicting than the Mai Hime one, I managed to finish all the season in one non-stop marathon.
All the plot surrounding the nanomachines and the old lost technology is rather strong even thought they didn't explain exactly everything about it. (there are still some dark spot in all the story)
Important is also the way they manage the death of characters in this series...remember if someone looks like he died, BE SURE to wait till you see their dead body otherwise it may not be the case...(hence the title of this review. 
)
The characters are many like in the other series, but this time most of the focus is given exclusively to the main four girls and their actions, while the rest of the cast is mostly put aside.
There is some growth in the characters in this series, the one getting more growth is Mashiro Blan de Windbloom with her resolution to change her country after watching the poor life of her own citizen, and the hardship she has to endure when she is exiled.
My favourite character is by far Mashiro, other than being criminously cute, her growth from a crybaby to a woman who want to make the difference in the kingdom she rule is one of the most nice thing of this series.
The visual quality is high quality and the animation mostly consistent during all the episodes (even during the fight scenes mostly).
The Opening and ending animations were nicely animated. I liked a lot the opening, especially the first part when you see Arika and Mashiro fighting alone against an army of enemies to protect the kingdom.
Sound quality is also top notch, with many big names working for this project like Yukana in Mashiro's role, Ami Koshimizu in Nina's role, etc... the voice acting is basically perfect.
Also loved both opening songs by Minami Kuribayashi, but not so much the ending by Mika Kikuchi and Ami Koshimizu.
Concluding, this is a great series, at the same level if not higher than the predecessor and a must watch for anyone who likes battle/romance/comedy series.
Hey, this time around we have even a decent ending, what can go wrong?!