One HiME is fine by me
September 6, 2006
I've decided to get back on the horse and resume writing The Villain again. Why, you don't ask? Well, because I received a letter from a fan. Since he may stumble across this site eventually, let's just say it was enough to convince me to keep going. Tact is the ability to describe someone as they see themselves. Having an easily inflated ego, I couldn't resist. And so I'm back in my old habits.
This time, though, I feel I can step back from my comic a little and survey what I've done. Hmm... no, not done. Doing. Something I noticed while I'm sketching out the comics is that I get stuck fairly often. I've got a few panels done, and I'm trying to come up with something funny for the next row. I'll get on one track, thinking I can set up something killer with one idea. Sometimes it doesn't work; I'll try a few variants, but if after about four revisions I can't get anything I'll just scrap that idea entirely and go in a different direction.
I'm sure this is all par for the course for comedy creation, but it feels a bit odd. I have something called a plot that I'm trying to follow, but I still feel like I can whip the wheel of my story around should I choose to. I almost went all serious and sappy in the middle of #103, which would have greatly accelerated my character arcs. But then I decided against it and continued with the hostility. Somewhere in an alternate universe I'm sure I went with my first choice. I really feel like I can sense my decisions branching out... at least when it comes to a two bit internet sprite comic.
In anime news (by which I mean news that nobody gives a crap about), I'm obsessed with the show My Hime. Sorry, My HiME. No... Mai-HiME. They do a terrible job with that acronym: HiME stands for "Highly Advanced Materializing Equipment." Yes, there's an extra A in there. In the end it's just another show about schoolgirls fighting demons.
There are a few things I like. The writing is really spot-on. Even though everyone except the main character is a one dimensional cliché, they have different things to say than others in the same cliché (having watched a bunch of these types of shows, I know what the stock dialogue is). The action is also wonderful. It looks like an expensive show, with the subtle use of CGI and how they don't drop frames from the deliciously fluid fight scenes. Plus, there are no girl robots, so everyone is free to hit on everyone else.
Of course, getting to the best part of the show is going to invalidate everything I said earlier (right, ladies?). This show knows what fan service is supposed to be. Or, what I think fan service should be: clearly delineated from the main event. At the end of each show is a short skit where the writers get to break the fourth wall. We've seen the main character, Mai Tokiha, talk about getting her first bra by herself (see right image), two schoolgirls duel with sexy bedroom scenes, and an older girl describe one of her classmates. Oh yes.
Having had my fill of showing this to my male friends, I don't think I'll subject it on anyone anymore. Disc two comes in tomorrow. I can't wait.
