is a fictional character in the anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 My-Otome

My-Otome

is an anime series created by Sunrise. Directed by Masakazu Obara and written by Hiroyuki Yoshino, it is a spinoff of My-HiME anime series and as such My-Otome takes place in a new setting with new main characters....

. She is voiced by Minami Kuribayashi

Minami Kuribayashi

is a Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress from Shizuoka prefecture.Her involvement in the game and anime Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, where she voiced the role of one of the characters, Haruka Suzumiya and performed and penned the theme songs and other songs relating to the series, has brought her...

 in Japanese and by Lori Barnes-Smith in the English version.

Character overview

She is one of Arika's roommates and a good friend of Nina Wáng

Nina Wáng

is one of the main characters of the anime TV series My-Otome. She is the top student in the Coral class and also one of Arika's roommates. She hails from Artai, a poorer kingdom than Windbloom with no Otome of its own. She and Juliet Nao Zhang are intended to fill this void and serve their country...

, as well as being the 17th Coral in her class. She is sweet, friendly, and often quiet. Hailing from the country of Annan, her parents are wealthy enough to pay her hefty tuition fees. She and Irina serve as Akane's room attendants.

Erstin harbors romantic feelings for Nina, which was most evident in episode 6. During a pool scene, a creature was swimming around tickling the girls. Erstin thought it was Nina who was behind her and told her that if it's her, she's fine with it. When Nina nearly drowns, Erstin performed CPR on her in a rather affectionate way.

Erstin quickly acquainted herself with Arika Yumemiya

Arika Yumemiya

' is a fictional character and the protagonist of the My-Otome anime and manga series. She is first introduced in the first episode where she travels through the desert to Windbloom to find out more information about her mother, whom she was told was an Otome. After seeing the power of the 3rd...

 and didn't hesitate to help her in the best ways possible. She comforted Arika who at the time was being plagued by thoughts about her love towards Sergay

Sergay Wáng

is a character in the My-Otome anime and manga series. In the manga, his name is Sergej August Taiki. He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi in Japanese and by Phil Fulton in English. - My-Otome anime :...

. Erstin herself knew she wasn't as strong as Nina or Arika, so she did her best to support them in the best ways possible.

During episode 16, Erstin found out that Tomoe Marguerite

Tomoe Marguerite

is a secondary character in My-Otome who is the 2nd top Coral student in Windbloom. She is also Chie Hallard's room attendant and later on in the series becomes an antagonist...

 was responsible for the many strange accidents that Arika was suffering from. When Tomoe was about to drop acid on her, Erstin shoved Arika out of the way and took the shot and fortunately suffered minor injuries. Strangely, she did not speak out.

When Schwarz launches an attack on Windbloom, Erstin is revealed to be a spy

SPY

SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

 and agent of Schwarz and uses a sickle wielding Slave. Smith, a Schwarz agent, orders her to kill Arika, but she hesitates because of their friendship. Unfortunately, she is killed when Nina (who had just activated her Meister Robe) tries to attack Arika. She commands her Slave to block the assault and as a result, it is destroyed by Nina's attack, ending her life. While Arika was reluctant to fight Nina before, Erstin's death serves as a trigger that changes Arika's view and results in the beginning of a rivalry between the two girls.

Schwarz

It was revealed that the Ho family provided many Otomes to Garderobe who unfortunately fought in the Dragon King War, suffering in many casualties. This prompted the family to join Schwarz and support them in which Erstin was forced into the cult.

My-Otome Zwei

Mashiro mentioned Erstin to Mai Tokiha

Mai Tokiha

is a character from the My-HiME and My-Otome anime and manga series. She is voiced by Mai Nakahara in Japanese and Carol-Anne Day in English.- Common characteristics :Mai is depicted with short orange hair and a rather large bust...

 due to the issue on the SLAVES, saying it was pitiful for Erstin to carry a SLAVE. In the preview for episode 4 of Zwei as the characters are saying what they wish for in the next episode, the voice of Minami Kuribayashi

Minami Kuribayashi

is a Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress from Shizuoka prefecture.Her involvement in the game and anime Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, where she voiced the role of one of the characters, Haruka Suzumiya and performed and penned the theme songs and other songs relating to the series, has brought her...

 (who plays Ribbon-chan) is heard switching to her Erstin voice and saying that she hopes to stay alive until the end, after which the other characters are heard laughing nervously.

In the fourth episode when Yuna is attacking the Black Valley Ribbon-chan tells Nina that she will use her SLAVE to fight and protect people, at which point Nina has a flashback

Flashback (narrative)

Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...

 to Erstin and finds the will to fight alongside Arika and Mashiro. At the end of episode 4 Ribbon-chan is seen walking up the stairs to Garderobe and declaring that she will become an Otome, and at this point the audience can see that under her hood she bears a remarkable resemblance to Erstin.

My-Otome Manga

My-Otome (manga)

is the manga counterpart to Sunrise's My-Otome series, following a storyline different from that of the anime. It is authored by Hajime Yatate , Tatsuhito Higuchi , Hiroyuki Yoshino and Kenetsu Satō...

In the manga's universe, Erstin's character is largely the same, including her crush on Nina and later Manshiro (a male body double of the real Mashiro) believing him to be a girl. But she is Coral No. 3 in the manga. This version of her character is noted as having F-cup breasts by Arika, and appears to suffer from androphobia

Androphobia

Androphobia is an abnormal fear of men. The word is derived from the Greek άνδρας and φόβος .:)Androphobia may be related to traumatic events in the sufferer's past...

, or fear of men, steming from past sexual harrassment. This was due to drawing unwanted attraction to her larger-than-normal bust. Her oneesama is Shiho instead of Akane as in the anime.

She initially hated Arika for separating her from Nina because she had to move to another room to make space for Manshiro, which made her an easy victim for Shiho to manipulate into fighting for the Blue Sky Sapphire. She was the second of the initially-ignorant to discover Manshiro's manhood, when she was an accidental witness to him urinating, a discovery that horrified her at first. However, after Manshiro protected her during a Schwarz attack, she managed to accept the truth, and falls deeper in love with him. She refers to his penis as an "elephant". Eventually, she "persuades" Natsuki to let her move back into the room occupied by Arika, Manshiro and Nina.

Unlike the anime, she is not a member of Schwarz. Although she comes close to death as a result of a self-directed suicide bombing aimed at Duran, she never actually dies. Eventually she gains a Meister Robe, the Rainbow Cloud Rhodonite ( 綵雲の薔薇輝石 Saiun no Barakiseki), of her own and is vital in defeating Fumi and the revived HiMEs.

In the Arashi spin off, she along with Arika and Nina act as Mashiro's maids, much to the students dismay. After her appearance, Arashi, Nagi's younger sister (thought to be male) invades the academy, and Mashiro makes her servant, and Erstin tried to use her sex appeal to defeat Arashi, however, her efferts were in vain, since Arashi was female to begin with, and was actually crossdressing at the time. Erstin was then sent out with cow as pushinment. Mashiro had walked in on theme, but apparently got the wrong idea, and quickly left. It is unknown what Mashiro was thinking at the time, Erstin, in her regret, cries to him that it was a misunderstanding.