To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the popular anime "My Otome" since its first broadcast in 2005, a specially drawn 20th anniversary visual by character designer Hirokazu Hisayuki has been released. Two 20th anniversary promotional videos have also been released on YouTube. The opening version features the opening theme "Dream☆Wing" sung by Minami Kuribayashi, while the ending version features the ending theme "Otome wa DO MY BEST desho?" sung by Mika Kikuchi and Ami Koshimizu. The opening version looks back on the girls' battles and memorable scenes, while the ending version looks back on their memories. Director Masakazu Obara has provided a congratulatory comment.
"Mai-HiME" is the second work in the "Mai-HiME" series. "Mai-HiME" is a battle action anime featuring beautiful girls, billed as "Sunrise's first moe anime." The TV anime "Mai-HiME" aired from September 2004 to March 2005, and the second work, "Mai-HiME," aired from October 2005 to March 2006. After that, the OVAs (original video animations) "Mai-HiME Zwei" and "Mai-HiME 0 ~S.ifr~" were produced.
◇Comment from Director Masakazu Ohara
Hello to all the fans, summer has arrived for My-Otome. Congratulations on the 20th anniversary. Thank you very much.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry to start off so abruptly, but is this okay?
It's the 20th anniversary, but Fate, which is almost the same time as this, has been in business for the last 20 years. Given that, it's only natural that there would be celebrations like "It's amazing that it's been around for so long" and "That's great."
But what about this one? I don't know if the work in question is just My-Otome, or if it includes the later works like Zwei and Shiful, but it's basically been left alone since it ended... I mean, first of all, was there a 10th anniversary or something? I was still working for Sunrise at the time, but, man, I've never heard of it... No, that's fine, but then they suddenly asked me to comment on the 20th anniversary, and all I could come up with was, "Huh?" or "What?" What on earth were they celebrating? Like, "It's been 20 years," or "You've gotten old," or something like that? No, no, no, it's fine from now on, so why not add a bit more substance to it? Something impactful.
For example, it may seem very presumptuous to bring up Kamen Rider Kuuga, which is currently having a retrospective exhibition, but Lyrical Nanoha, which was released around the same time, was also being rebroadcast intensively on TV, right?
And Mai-Otome HiME? What are they going to do? They can't just make a few commemorative acrylic stands and call it a day, right? The fans wouldn't be happy. I've never met them, though. They're making a ton of money from Seed Theater and Sieg Axe, so shouldn't they do a bit more to help the weak, or eliminate disparities...that's the kind of world we live in? What do you think? Right?
No, I'm not complaining or anything. I'm just saying this for your company's sake. Sunrise? Ah, it's called something different now. I don't really care either way.
Well, that's why I put in a lot of pressure to make My-Otome HiME's 20th anniversary an even more fulfilling year. So, My-Otome fans, I did it, didn't I? Congratulations on your 20th anniversary. Yes, thank you. Well, see you next time.
{Continued from the 20th anniversary comments for "Sora Kakeru Shoujo"}
