Juliet Nao Zhang

For the Mai-HiME character, see Nao Yuuki.

My-Otome[]

Anime[]

In My-Otome, Juliet Nao Zhang is one of the Pearl Otome, assigned at rank number 4, at Garderobe and originates from the nation of Artai, being of the same nationality as Nina Wáng, who is assigned to be her room attendant. Arika Yumemiya is later assigned as her room attendant as well. She dislikes her Western-name and prefers to be addressed by her middle name. She has an intense dislike for fellow Pearl Shiho Huit and enjoys seeing her in awkward situations. When Akane Soir elopes away with her boyfriend Prince Kazuya Krau-xeku, Nao is moved up the rank to number 3 and is inducted into the Trias.

Unlike her bitter Hime counterpart, Nao's personality is more mischievous. She can be quite civil and charming, and is shown to be a caring big sister towards younger Otome, giving them assistance and guidance concerning adult life, one way or another, as she sees fit; though the

privateness of Nao's lessons leaves a lot to be desired, as shown when Arika considers it appropriate to massage soap over Erstin with her own naked body in the school baths thanks to her "lessons."

Although she is a good student, Nao deliberately held back in order to avoid getting into the Trias, as she prefers to spend time in the city, where she is known as Juliet. She has a gang known as the Stripes, in which she is the only female and is amusingly made of the men her Mai-HiME anime counterpart victimized, the "uniform" including a shirt striped in pink and white.

Exactly what she and the Stripes do on the street has never been divulged fully, but it appears to be for the cause of good. This is evident when Nao seeks out and punishes a person who sold off Arika's uniform. Later, when Miya Clochette's gang attempts to rape Arika, Nao and company arrive to save her and later torture them.

Her goal in life was to find a rich man and live comfortably. Unfortunately, that path has been closed off to her when Nao is chosen to become the 4th Column, one of a special group of Meister Otome who work directly for Garderobe and the Founder, Fumi Himeno. Unlike Nina, Nao does not side with Nagi and instead works with the other Columns to free Garderobe from Nagi's invasion. Before the battle, Natsuki gifts Nao with the latter's own GEM, the Break String Spinel.

In the end, Nao's gang teams up with Natsuki and assists in bringing Fumi back online, enabling the Otome to Materialize again. In the last episode she is seen seated with the other Columns in a dress that resembles a qipao with a spider ornament on the front of it.

OVA[]

Nao makes two appearances in the first episode of the new Mai-Otome Zwei OVA, one at the beginning and another right before the credits roll, though she has no lines. She appears to be traveling in Artai, with members of her gang and one of Mikoto's cats, Jyuubei.

In the second episode, she appears briefly when she is visited by Nina. She and the Stripes have set up a base in what appears to be a bar, though Nao comments that she is bored by the lack of activity she has seen lately. She also expresses the sentiment that Artai is a boring country, and that she apparently went to Garderobe to get away from it.

In the third episode she travels with Nina to an abandoned library in search of a book concerning the entity that has been petrifying Otome, and after making their way through the trap filled library find a cocoon-like chamber. Nao engages in battle with the entity using her wires, though she is eventually petrified, but not before hooking a wire onto the entity's weapon that pulls the building down and allows Nina to escape.

Nao is restored to normal in the final episode, following Yuna's defeat of.

Manga[]

Nao and Nao — Juliet Nao Zhang in the My-Otome manga

In the Mai-Otome (manga), Nao shares with her HiME counterpart's a tendency for truancy. It is not stated where she comes from. She is myopic and requires either contact lenses or a large pair of spectacles to see. The Stripes gang is also nonexistent in the manga.

When she first appears in the manga, it is together with the other members of the Trias from the anime. She is already a member, unlike in the anime where she was inducted after Akane ran away with Kazu. However, she is only formally introduced in Chapter 7. Before that happens, though, earlier in the chapter she accidentally enters Manshiro's bathroom and thinks him to be the member of Schwarz that had infiltrated Garderobe. However, Manshiro beat her off. Inadvertently, she sees Manshiro's penis and proceeds to tempt him with an offer of sexual intercourse. Just as they were about to copulate, however, she kicks him away and ties him up with her trademark wires.

Nao is subsequently not seen for a large part of the manga, but after Lena Sayers is sent to Garderobe for medical treatment, the latter falls under her care. Lena had instructed Nao to place her in the Shinso Core if any serious harm were to come to her, something that was carried out in Chapter 37. In Chapter 39 she saves Manshiro from a combined attack by Kuga and Yuuki, the latter of which she proceeds to battle.

The HiME version of Nao is resurrected by Mashiro along with the other HiME with much of the same personality. The main departure for this version of Nao is that she thinks of the HiME Natsuki as an older-sister figure, as opposed to the all-out-feud that was present in My-HiME.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Her voice actor Yuuka Nanri, who portrayed both Mai incarnations, is best known as the vocalist of the group FictionJunction Yuuka and Marcy Lannan.
Note that when Nao materializes her Robe, she licks her hand which is a similar habit her Mai-HiME character possessed.