Possible Influence: Dance in the Vampire Bund on Deus x Machina

While reading up on Karasuma Wataru‘s Deus x Machina, I noticed people were comparing Machina to Mina Tepes from Tamaki Nozomu‘s Dance in the Vampire Bund – some even claimed that Machina’s design bordered on plagiarism (Bund=2007, Deus=2008). It’d been too long since I’d read any of Bund to comment on that, so I checked it out to see how they compare.

I wouldn’t consider Deus x Machina plagiarism at all. The obvious similarities between Machina and Mina Tepes are that both are lolis, often portrayed in sexually suggestive poses which involve twisting their bodies a lot; both have a sort of commanding presence (Machina especially); and most notably, they both wear long hair in twintails.

Machina after a shower; Deus x Machina chapter four

Episode of the Month – Mai-HiME Episode 15 – School Girl ☆ Through the Galaxy

To make up for obviously not posting anime moments weekly, here’s an anime episode for the whole month. More specifically, it’s about 2 particular moments from the episode, neither of which I wanted to miss out on talking about. There are spoilers for Mai-HiME, and if you haven’t seen it, this isn’t a show you want to be spoiled on, though I wouldn’t say anything truly big has happened at this point compared to the episodes that come later.

Much like Gurren Lagann, Mai-HiME sort of has two climaxes – one in episode 15 and one in episode 26. The first climax takes out the first major villains in the series, though ultimately the whole villainous force was probably just a thing to push along the set-up part of the story. I’d go so far as to say the whole first 16 episodes are just set up for the stuff that happens later, but extremely well-written set up done in ingenious ways. Therefor, the first climax, while exciting, doesn’t hold all that much weight in light of the act that the overall plot and drama just breeze right by it, barely paying attention to it. However, not wanting to be just a throwaway plot, the first climax makes a point to be doubly exciting and fun.