Midori in is the leader of the Aswad, who are a fighting group with membership drawn from the last survivors of the 'Black Valley'. She seeks to recover the ancient technology to cure the disease plaguing the Black Valley. Her personality has made a drastic turn, just like with Mashiro's, as she is now rather cold-hearted, and a rather firm believer in revenge and honor. She was childhood friends with Garderobe scientist Yohko Helene and still insists that she is 17, but it is on a more serious note as her youth is preserved by a device she uses. She first appears as a masked figure who enters into an alliance with Cardair, though tentatively, in order to take back lost technology that will benefit her people.
Midori reveals herself when trying to eliminate Arika Yumemiya and Sergay Wáng, who stumbled upon Aswad's plans. Showing off her imitation GEM, she battles Shizuru Viola and Haruka Armitage, and escapes when John Smith of Schwarz takes the technology that Aswad had acquired. When Garderobe is invaded by Artai, she sees it as an opportunity to steal the technology housed in the school, and attempts to infiltrate the building, only to be stopped by Natsuki and Shizuru. Not wanting to risk damaging the technology housed in the school, they escape.
After Arika Yumemiya's near fatal battle with Nina during Garderobe's invasion, Aswad surprisingly takes her in after finding her in the desert in a coma like state. They also agree to take in Mashiro, who they also find in the desert. Through the protagonist's eyes, we see another side of Midori; though stern and ruthless, she is a good leader, who values honor and protecting the weak. She is just and fair, and is much loved and respected by the people of the Black Valley. When refugee's from Windbloom arrive, Mashiro enters into an honor bound agreement with Midori: by allowing her subjects food and shelter within the Black Valley (and refraining from killing them on the spot), she will allow Aswad the technology they need. With this agreement, they become Mashiro's allies, coming to her aid when she and Arika take back Windbloom. Mashiro looks up to Midori as a strong and just leader, and sees her as a role model who she aspires to become more like.
In the seventh DVD special, Midori fights a Materialised Kitty Mikoto after finding Arika in the desert and is later seen sleeping with the cat on her chest. Her comrades comment on how she loves cats despite her usual cold attitude.
She is also seen briefly in the third episode of Mai-Otome Zwei with the other Aswad cyborgs as they search for the Black Valley, which has mysteriously disappeared and taken Mashiro, Mai and Mikoto with it to an unknown part of the world.
Mai-Otome manga[]
There are not one but two Midoris in the Mai-Otome manga.
The first Midori is the manga's leader of Schwarz, the cult taking the place of the manga-nonexistent Aswad and protecting the Black Valley. Like her Mai-HiME counterparts (and unlike her Mai-Otome anime version), she claims to fight for Justice.
She was initially imprisoned in Garderobe and known as "Prisoner No. 17". Her prisoner transfer was conducted with Shizuru Viola and the Cardair Otome Rila Mariposa. Her Schwarz underlings attack the convoy and conduct her successful jailbreak. She proceeds to do battle with both Otome and kills Rila, escaping afterward.
When Manshiro and his retinue go to the Black Valley in search of Arika Yumemiya's mother, she plans to have Arika join Schwarz, but this never comes to fruition. When Cardair forces attack to avenge their late Emperor John, who died because of his connection with Rila, Midori fights with Akira and is outwitted, leading to her defeat.
Eventually Manshiro and Arika manage to fend off the Cardair forces and Garderobe personnel arrive. On Manshiro's request, the people of the Black Valley are moved to Windbloom. Midori leaves Manshiro a cryptic warning regarding Sergay and disappears along with the rest of her team.
Midori reappears when it is time for Manshiro's coronation. In disguise, she, Gal and Dyne enter Windbloom and manage to outsmart Haruka Armitage despite the latter's attempts at finding Schwarz members. When Sergay reveals his villainy and sets Mai Tokiha on Manshiro's entourage, Midori saves Manshiro and his group. Midori comments on the danger Manshiro has put himself into by having two Otome contracted to himself, but per his request, she leads the people of Windbloom out of the country, including Arika who suffered mental trauma. When the girl expresses her desire to return to fight for Manshiro, Midori gives her the REM despite the protests of her lackeys, saying that she wanted to "gamble with herself" and "believe that these children can win"[1].
The second Midori is Midori Sugiura revived from the dead, as previously seen in the Mai-HiME manga. She ambushes an off-guard Shizuru Viola (who is complacently wondering where her own second is) shortly before Midori arrives to assist her former enemy; the leader of Schwarz using Gal's power in place of her REM. Stating that she would not allow the Shinso statue of Lena Sayers to be destroyed because she was the woman Rad sacrificed his life for[2], the two women do battle.
Eventually, Midori Sugiura is killed by Manshiro's Trinity Lover Strike. Exactly what happens to Midori the leader of Schwarz is unstated, but given the appearance of her smiling visage as shown in the events after the return to peace[3], it would seem to be a happy ending for her.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Mai-Otome anime version of Midori fights with twin kodachis. In addition, she uses the Reinforcing Enigmatic Matrix (REM), a modified version of Garderobe's GEM technology that enhances her body without Materializing a Robe. Initially its effects last only 300 seconds, but Yohko eventually upgrades it to have unlimited duration. She can also summon Slaves; in this case, her personal Slave resembles Gakutenou.
In the Mai-Otome manga, Midori retains the labrys of her HiME version. However, she may be the most skillful fighter of her time. In Chapter 18, she combats two Materialised Otome, one of them being Shizuru Viola, without even activating her REM. She takes Rila's Beautiful Power attack with nary a scratch and in retaliation kills Rila in one attack. Her sheer power as demonstrated in this case has led to much speculation on exactly how Garderobe managed to capture her in the first place. However, she is easily beaten by a single, well-placed strike from Arika when Cardair attacks Schwarz.
Her REM works differently from her anime version's, as it enables her to draw on the power of the other members of Aswad. It is first shown to allow her to "combine" with Gakutenou to form a Robe of her own, though it more resembles armour than the "skinsuits" of the Otomes' Robes. Eventually she also draws on Gal's power to combat the revived Midori Sugiura.
The manga's revived HiME version of Midori Sugiura appears to retain powers identical to her HiME manga counterpart. However, they appear to have become stronger in their own right as she managed to ambush Shizuru Viola and was about to continue before Midori, the leader of Schwarz, intervened.