Shiho Munakata (宗像詩帆, Munakata Shiho?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series My-HiME, and also appears in the alternate universe sequel My-Otome, where she is known as Shiho Huit. She is voiced by Sakura Nogawa in both series and by Leda Davies in the English dub.
Common Characteristics
Shiho's distinguishing feature is her four pink pigtails and her tendency to become jealous easily. She is also very mentally unstable, and this is utilized in different ways in respective series.
My-HiME Anime
Shiho Munakata is a childhood friend of Yuuichi Tate, whom she affectionately calls her brother (onii-chan) despite the fact that they are not related. She is in the Fuka Middle school, and quickly makes friends with Mai Tokiha and Mikoto Minagi. She is a miko at her grandfather's shrine. She is very possessive of Yuuichi and is in love with him, and even expresses to Mai that she wishes to marry him.
The fact that her hairstyle makes her look like an octopus is something of a running gag in the early episodes of the series, as well as her sporadic movement of her hair and its reaction to her moods.
In the latter half of the season Shiho becomes mentally unbalanced when she realizes that Mai and Tate are developing feelings for each other, despite Mai's earlier vow to cheer for Shiho in her pursuit of Tate. Feeling betrayed and injured when an Orphan attacks her, and because of his extreme guilt Tate stays by her side while she is in the hospital. While Mai is watching Shiho even asks Tate to kiss her in order to hurt the other girl.
At the same time a mysterious figure in a wedding kimono with a flute repeatedly tries to kill Mai, and this eventually comes to a head when Tate is late for his "date" with Shiho in the park due to his helping Mai escape from Yukariko Sanada's illusion, a fact Nagi uses to his advantage to awaken Shiho's dormant HiME powers and summon her Element, a flute that can distort sound waves, and crow-like Child named Yatagarasu. The tension comes to a head when Shiho attacks Mai - a precarious situation since Tate's life force is linked to both Mai and Shiho's Childs, and he will die if either Child is killed. Tate, realizing this, asks Mai to kill Yatagarasu to end the situation, but while Mai is unwilling Mikoto's pendant takes over her body and she takes out the Child, stripping Shiho of her powers and killing Tate.
In the final episode Shiho's powers are restored and Tate is resurrected, and in the final episode Shiho is still claiming ownership over Tate and appears to have returned to normal.
My-HiME Manga
In the manga Shiho is still the childhood friend of Tate, who is now the protagonist. Tate was kicked out of his former school due to an incident where he tried to stop Shiho's sexual assault by several gang members, which resulted in a long scar on his arm (it is unclear what happened to Shiho after that). She appears later in the storyline as a PRINCESS, an artificially created HiME, to protect Tate and restart her life. She takes control of Mikoto Minagi for a time using her Child's abilities. She is eventually defeated by Mai after she begins to lose her mental balance due to the approaching influence of the HiME star. In the end she and Mai are still fighting over Tate.
Element and Child
Her Element, a flute, can manipulate sound waves. She also appears to be able to astrally project part of her soul as a means of attacking Mai in the anime. Her Child in the anime, called Yatagarasu, is a large crow-like creature able to fire its feathers in projectile attacks, while in the manga her child resembles an octopus whose spores can control whomever it comes into contact with.
My-Otome
In the My-Otome anime Shiho Huit is a Pearl Otome along with Chie and Akane, and her mental instability is used as comic relief, in particular her rivalry and attempts to sabotage the careers of those she sees as insulting of Cardair, her homeland. She has a great rivalry with Juliet Nao Zhang.
Shiho is best known for the voodoo-like practices she uses to curse others, a trait that earns her the nickname of "Uzumaki" (literally "spiral") and her chanting of "Maki Maki" (turn turn) which becomes a running gag, as well as the tendency for her sabotage attempts to backfire. After the invasion of Garderobe she takes Lilie Adean and Yayoi Alter into the woods in order to spin for her success, something that eventually allows Chie to break free of her command restraint and take a hit for Arika Yumemiya.
She eventually becomes the Otome for Florince in the place of Akane Soir, who elopes with Kazuya, and gains a Meister GEM known as the Spiral Spin Serpentine (螺旋の蛇紋石 Rasen no Jamonseki) that utilizes her spiraling abilities. Her Robe resembles her Child from the My-HiME anime and has a skull motif.
She is seen briefly in the background of the first episode My-Otome Zwei in the first scene, where she is crouched in the corner and spiraling. In the third episode she is one of the Otome in the bath during the SOLT and reveals her dislike for Rosalie Claudel, the other Otome of Florince. When Shiho's top is stolen by a drunken Ahn Lu it is also revealed that Shiho stuffs her bra.
My-Otome manga In the manga Shiho's role is reduced, and there are actually two of her. The first is Shiho Huit, who is still a Pearl. She initially covets the Blue Sky Sapphire and has Erstin Ho fight Arika for it. Shiho is without the "maki maki" device, but appears to be very fond of drills, a trait that she apparently shares with her idol, Meister Reira Mariposa of Cardair.
The second is Shiho Munakata, the resurrected HiME, who takes on her counterpart, amusingly claiming to be her identical twin separated at birth (though this is almost certainly false).
Name Origins
- Shiho's My-Otome surname, "Huit" is French for the number 8, which is likely a reference to the association of spirals in that series with her character and of manipulating the luck of others. It may also reference her association with octopuses.
- The name and appearance of Shiho's Child from the My-HiME anime, Yatagarasu, references a symbol of the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, an enormous, three-legged raven that carries messages from the gods to the Emperor. That the Child Yatagarasu possesses only one leg instead of three, however, is believed to be a visual reference to Shiho's mental instability.