Otome

Otomes (乙HiME, lit. "乙-class HiME") are the political female warrior figures in the Mai-Otome universe, serving as bodyguards towards the nations of Earl. Their powers and skills are vast making them by definition supersoldiers (in a unorthodox fashion as they are also technically magical girls), as Nao explains to Arika the military strength of any country is measured by the number and quality of its Otome. All of Earl's females train to become part of the occupation and reach the title of Meister, where they are highly respected as political symbolism towards the country they serve.

Otomes are trained exclusively at the Garderobe Academy, located in the Kingdom of Windbloom. This is due to the Academy having the technology to monitor all GEMs, as well as a repository for considerable scientific, technological and historical information. Such is the monopoly Garderobe holds over science and technology on Earl, several groups seeking to develop science are antagonistic towards it, most notably the Schwartz and their erstwhile allies the Aswad.

History

Pre Mai-Otome

During the War of the Dragon Kings 50 years before the Mai-Otome TV anime, and the Schwartz-induced battle between Carla Bellini and Laula Bianchi, the Otomes of the rival Lutesia Romulus and Remus respectively, Otomes have been more of a de rigeur accessory for leaders and aristocrats than the actual "weapons of mass destruction" they were previously. There had been no battles between Meisters during this time apart from a skirmish in which Lena Sayers easily overcame four of Garderobe's Five Columns after they planned to kill Lena's friend Sifr Fran.

Abilities

Otome receive their powers from nanomachines injected into their blood that grants peak-human strength and limited healing abilities. It is from the nanotechnology the Otomes are able to materialize their battle robes and element weapons where they are regulated by the GEMs, which takes the form of a jeweled earpiece pierced in the Otomes' left ear.

However, said nanomachines are vulnerable to the prostate specific antigen (PSA); acting as an antigen, PSA causes an Otome's body to develop immunity against nanomachines (and any future injections), rendering her permanently powerless. Therefore, Otome cannot engage in sexual intercourse with males.

Etymology

• The Japanese word "otome" (乙女 otome, "otome") means "maiden", which can be considered to the Otome's forced virginity.
  • This is, however, not the way it is spelled in the original title of Mai-Otome (舞-乙HiME, Mai-Otome), which only uses the first kanji of the word. In written form, Otome are called 乙HiME (乙-type Highly-advanced Materialising Equipment).

Meister Otome

Meister (pronounced "MaiStar") Otomes are the official GEM contractors of elite rank, which are mostly qualified Garderobe graduates. The GEM acquired is proof of the Meister's contract while also their given honorific titles which are shared between inheritance, for instance Lena Sayers and Arika Yumemiya are both referred to as the Blue Sky Sapphire.

The contract of a Meister and their Master puts them mutually linked both physical and spiritual to the actual definition "till death do us part". Meaning each feels each other's injuries and if one dies, so does the other.

By the real-term definition, the term "Meister" means 'a person who is good at what he/she does' in English, while also meaning "Master" in German.

In addition, current undergraduates have, under exceptional circumstances, served Masters in a capacity similar to that of a Meister. This happened during the War of the Dragon King as well as in the cases of Nina Wáng and Arika Yumemiya, who both began serving Masters whilst Coral (i.e. first year) students.

Mai-Otome Zwei

Otome	Master	GEM	Allegiance + Notes
Haruka Armitage	Yukino Chrysant	Continental Orb Topaz	Aries, Brigadier General
Chie Hallard	Lt. Gen. Bowman	???	Aries, Delta Force
Dorothy		???
Gigi		???
Jessica		???
Ảnh Lữ	Nguyễn Bảo	Infinite Wisdom Azurite	An Nam
Rosalie Claudel	Charles Guinel Roy d'Florince VIII	Abyssal Green Jadeite	Florince
Shiho Huit		Spiral Spin Serpentine
Laula Bianchi	Queen of Lutesia Remus	Flowery Splendour Enstatite	Lutesia Remus
Carla Bellini	King of Lutesia Romulus	Rumbling Thunder Garnet	Lutesia Romulus
Akane Soir	Kazuya Krau-xeku	Pure Heart Malachite	Cardair
Mai Tokiha	Mikoto the Cat Goddess	Fire Stirring Ruby	Nekogami National Park
Arika Yumemiya	Mashiro Blan de Windbloom	Blue Sky Sapphire	Windbloom
Nina Wáng		Neptune Emerald	Artai/Windbloom (interim contract)

Five Columns

The Five Columns are the five top selected Otomes of Garderobe Academy. All ranked Meister and loyal only to their master, Fumi Himeno, thus require no master's certification to activate the GEM, though the robe's status depends on the master's condition.

Mai-Otome

Number	Otome	GEM	Notes
1	Sara Gallagher	Galactica Aquamarine	Originally was supposed to be Mai
2	Natsuki Kruger	Ice Silver Crystal	Headmistress of Garderobe
3	Shizuru Viola	Bewitching Smile Amethyst	Vice-Headmistress of Garderobe
4	Juliet Nao Zhang	Break String Spinel
5	Mahya Blythe	Swirling Dance Fluorite

Mai-Otome 0~S.ifr~

Number	Otome	GEM	Notes
1	Elliot Chandler	Galactica Marine
2	Una Shamrock	Bewitching Smile Amethyst
3	Rei Zarganote	Intensely Playing Peridot
4	Kyoko Shimabuki	Whirlwind Rose Quartz
5	Iruma Vandeveld	Ice Silver Crystal

Gallery