One of the benefits of having an ensemble cast is the ability to shift story perspectives. Often the process of fleshing out secondary characters helps bring about storylines that wouldn’t work if the point of view remained with the primary protagonist (if the comic has one). Shifting the point of view also helps bring a sense of freshness to the story and helps emphasize the fact the world doesn’t revolve around one or two key characters… but that in fact all of the characters have lives of their own… and stories well worth telling. Thus I was rather intrigued when Anne Onymous chose to shift the newest Wotch storyline from character-Anne to a little-used character of Mingmei.

Mingmei’s past is actually a fairly fascinating one, as she once was a middle-aged male teacher who, thanks to one of Anne’s miscast spells, ended up a teenaged oriental schoolgirl. This included a mental shift, though eventually Mingmei came to realize something was wrong, and after finally confronting Anne learned the truth (a truth that Anne also had no idea about). While some readers are critical about how so many male-to-female transformees have opted to remain women (and it’s a valid complaint), Mingmei chose to remain a girl for a much more logical reason: as Professor Sorgaz, he had no family, no friends, and no real life. By becoming Mingmei, he could live life again, and avoid the pitfalls that led to his previous dull existence.

Unfortunately, we’ve not seen too much of Sorgaz’s influences with Mingmei. Just how thorough the amalgamation has been, I’m unsure. However, with the recent discovery of the sentient slime and dimensional-stowaway Myrrh, and Anne’s own difficulties which are keeping her from even talking to her friend long enough for Mingmei to explain what’s happened, it seems likely that it’ll take the maturity of Sorgaz’s influences to help Mingmei deal with her new-found friend… a friend who doesn’t quite understand that the world she’s now in wouldn’t be that tolerant of sentient shape-shifting slimes, or of what actions are acceptable or unacceptable in her newly-adopted world. Undoubtedly Anne’s story and Mingmei’s little dilemma will merge in time, but in the meantime it’s a fun change from the usual Anne-centric storyline.