When My HiME first appeared I got pretty excited. Magical school girls, monsters and a load of fanservice were shoved down my throat and quite frankly, I loved it. As the show has gotten further into its run though things have dwindled down to the point that they are barely simmering. The action has been replaced by kooky adventures and the intrigue that was omnipresent had been shrugged off somewhat. Because of that the recommendation hasn't crossed the line of being "highly" recommendable, but will that change with the third volume?

In case you haven't checked out the reviews for the previous two volumesm let me fill you in on the premise of the show.

My HiME focuses on a school called the Fuka Academy where some weird stuff is going down. Orchestrated from behind the scenes super-powered vixens fight in a never ending struggle against monsters known as Orphans. These lovely ladies are known as the HiME (Highly-Advanced Materializing Equipment) and possess a variety of powers and unique traits. They can craft weaponry from thin air and called critters known as Children into battle. One of the interesting aspects that came to light in the previous volume was the fact that Children are connected to someone important in a HiME's life. The life-bond of sorts naturally provides a certain amount of risk because of the Child falls in battle; so does the host.

In the last volume more attention was paid to character development though there were a few snippets of action here and there. Mai (the main character) made a vow to herself that she wouldn't use her HiME powers because frankly, she didn't accept them. Since the other girls are more than willing to flaunt them it was no real surprise that Midori stepped up to the plate. During a wedding ceremony an ancient Orphan is accidentally unleashed and is brought down nigh-single handedly by the busty redhead. Mikoto was also roped in to defend young girls against the predators that attack them. In the meantime some behind the scenes workings were underway that alluded to possible future plotlines.

When the third volume gets underway things get started in relatively boring fashion. Mai finds herself working over the summer as a lifeguard and gets into a pickle between Tate and Reito. She wants to like both but of course that type of indecisiveness just isn't going to fly. To distract us from the romantic sub-plot Natsuki bursts into the scene to drags Mai, and subsequently Mikoto, along with her to a broken down First District base. As the episode unfolds we learn that Natsuki apparently grew up there and we even see some flashbacks into her childhood.

The second episode on the disc is entitled "Cake Wars" and as you'd expect it's kind of goofy. Everything starts out with an Iron Chef opening atop of Fuka Academy complete with a Chairman Kaga-like entrance by Midori and characters rising to the cooking arena via platform. An Orphan appears to ruin the festival and it is revealed that someone is controlling the creatures from the shadows. The mystery about who is behind it doesn't stay a secret for long though since immediately we are shown that it's the priest and his girls of power. Their motive is the only thing that is unknown at this point.

One thing is certain though, they have it out of the HiME and in the third episode they send a moth-like Orphan out to collect blood samples and identify the ones they call "Valkyrie". When three girls turn up buck-naked and with a strange mark on their neck everyone in school assumes the worst and before you know it rumors about vampire attacks spread like wildfire. Do the main girls hide like the rest of the students or do they confront the threat head on? Things heat up in the last episode on this volume as more HiME are introduced and the girls confront Miyu and Alyssa.

This volume of My HiME finished much stronger than any of the previous ones. The action was intense and the intrigue is there as far as what Miyu and Alyssa are up to along with the Searrs Organization. The episodes here feel wildly unbalanced though thanks to the goofy bits in the first and second ones. This is still a solid volume to the series and helps move things along though to be honest I'm not as drawn in as I had hoped. If you're looking for a superpower high school girl show with a whacky sense of humor and interesting premise you'll definitely want to check this one out.

With a recent production date My HiME offers some very nice visuals within its 1.33:1 presentation. The image is crystal clear with no grain or noticeable artifacts. There was a slight amount of aliasing, but it wasn't anything too distracting. Typically the grain arrives in a transfer that features a lot of dark scenes and such, but this anime in particular is about as colorful as it gets. Artwork and animation is top notch with very fluid movement and some very attractive design.

Two stereo tracks are featured prominently on this release with English and Japanese getting the language treatment as you'd expect. The quality is fair with mild diversity in the audio direction but neither track has a lot of depth. Voice acting for each track is generally well done and acceptable so at least that's not an issue. I didn't hit any technical snags while I was watching either and found the volume pitch to be spot on. English subtitles are included on the disc as well.

There's nothing on this disc that really resembles bonus material. Textless animation, trailers and some DVD credits are all that you're going to find in the extras menu.

I have to admit that when the third volume started out on the beach and then moved into the cake baking contest I started to get worried about My HiME. The tale is spotty to be sure, but the show just seems to be all over the map at times. One minute it's an action packed mystery with a great amount of intrigue and the next it's slow, plodding, and downright sterile. These episodes do help the series along, with the final two being phenomenal, so in the end this volume squeaks by with a recommend.

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