Maihime

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. Adapted from its predecessor, Mai-HiME, this series is not a direct sequel, but an alternate universe setting featuring some of the Mai-HiME cast (though with different personalities).

The story is set in 1955 in Kokuga, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. One thousand years ago it was the site of the ancient capital, Suo no Kuni, and traces of the Heian Period (year 794-1185) are passed down to us in the form of ruins and historical place names. The protagonist is Shinko, a third grade elementary school student, who was born and raised in one of the town's venerable families. She is a little girl whose characteristic is a strange curl on her forehead (she calls it her "Mai Mai"), and her love for playing in the fields. On the other hand, her secret joy is to imagine and to daydream about the world of one thousand years ago. Her fantasies travel far into the days of the Heian Period… One day, a girl called Kiiko transfers from Tokyo and enters Shinko's class. This girl from the big city has difficulty feeling at home in this small town, but gradually her friendship with Shinko deepens. Before long, the two of them become engulfed in a strange incident of one thousand years earlier...?!

Hideo Ozu is an editor in a shady adult video company. For years, he has dreamed of being a motion picture director while his childhood friend Mai Kurosawa has become an upcoming actress. Then one day, his dreams are shattered when Mai takes all of his amateur videos of her and tells him to get out of her life. On his way home after a few drinks, Hideo bumps into Cyberdoll Sara, who makes him mark an invoice. When he arrives at his pad, Hideo is greeted by three Cyberdolls - Mai, Ai and Mie. All three of them happen to look like different age variations of Mai Kurosawa. And when Kurosawa announces the release of a biography video of her using Hideo's old footage, Hideo decides to start his directing dreams over again using his three Cyberdolls.

Mai Tokiha thought she had enough trouble in life between taking care of her ailing brother and transferring to a new school. But when she saves a mysterious girl wielding a sword, everything changes. A power awakens within her and she becomes a HiME, a battle princess! But she’s not alone with this power—eleven other girls share her fate, and the burden is a heavy one.