selector infected WIXOSS -04
I didn’t batteru once this episode…
Wow. I really wish this episode didn’t end on a cliffhanger, as I so wanted anyone to try Iona or Akira out in battle.
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Dirty Underhanded Tactics
Don’t mind me, just spawn site camping
Iona brings with her a strong hint of Ice Queen, a perfect foil to Akira’s temper tantrums. It looks like these two are strong opposites, but it looks like Akira may be learning a thing or two from Iona. As we see Akira is not above underhanded tactics to flush out her prey. Iona is not above bushwacking to get hers. But whomever gets to sit across from Ruuko might be in for a rude awakening. In this episode, things may look serene, but as has been shown in bits and pieces the last few episodes, scary stuff is just waiting to cut loose. If we take the MTG basis of colors, then Black is stagnation, ruin, rot….the not so fun stuff of life. So instead of Ice Queen, should we be looking at a Witch/Necromancer Queen?
Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful
How many of you were just plain disgusted with Akira this time around? Yes, underhanded is underhanded, but not paying back on the deal, and insulting her fans/friends as an exclamation point is just beyond the pale. It makes me wonder if her wish is to just be instantly adored without the actual work of keeping people interested. I’m reminded of how the wish in Madoka shaped the Puella Magica’s powers. She has the power to see so deep, yet remains indecently shallow.
The Paths of Friendship
Yeah, how many of us thought this was something else last week?
They say that confession is good for the soul, and if that is true, then perhaps Yuzuki can allow herself to heal. That scene with Ruuko was quite sweet as she has come to realize that this friendship is far more important to her than the game. After getting beaten down hard in Selector battle, she is starting to see the game in a very different light. It’s one thing to just sit down with friends to play a normal game, quite another to invest your heart, soul, and secrets to something, well, that has secrets of it’s own. Which I will get to in a moment. Yuzuki was incredibly defensive of Ruuko during Akira’s stalking mission. Her apology just gets that much deeper seeing how far she is willing to go for her friend. But was she blind to Ruuko’s ambition all along. Is Ruuko blind to that ambition?
Hey, some hotdogs and a round of beer up in here!
For such a friendly scene, we get much much more than just recreation. In this we discover that Midoriko is quite relieved as it seems that Hitoe has already gotten her wish, all without having to risk more Selector battles. For such a shy girl, making friends like this must be a blessing, and her avatar is feeling less heat for it. Well, until she gets to stating that she almost wishes she wasn’t Hitoe’s LRIG. Something that Hayano reminds her not to feel. As for that, it is only for Tama to be as cheerful as ever about being Ru-chan’s friend. Which isn’t allowed either? Just what are both Green and Red implying. Does Tama know what she is in for? Does Ruuko?
“If the city disappears, will it wash away Yuzuki’s pain?” Again that juxtaposition of the falling column and the monstrous white apparition. Again, this time with a thru the eyeball push, a clue as to Ruuko’s mindset.
For some reason, I just don’t give Iona equal odds after this exchange
And in the end, we get to the heart of the show, at least the heart I am most interested in at this moment. Wishes drives the power. And those two are in balance, one way or another; and it’s a sticky affair that balance.
It’s Blasphemy to engage in Selector battles without a wish in your heart. Well, this is a new wrinkle. Is this strictly speaking, Iona’s opinion, or is this a chapter and verse affair. If we take it as opinion, it is much less interesting, but still with what I am perceiving her character as being. Cold, calculating, and unwilling to feel anything for the other. Black indeed. If this is a chapter and verse affair, then that might dovetail into the balance of power and wishes. Is Tama making up for something that Ruuko has either unrealized or repressed. Scary indeed.
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This has set just a flat out insane set of circumstances for the next battle. Iona vs. Ruuko? That looks like the most obvious. But it has a much more epic feel about it, hardly the thing they would place nearer to the premier of the program. If anything, we should be getting more on both Iona and Akira’s individual backgrounds. I hope they can keep the pace up, cause at this point any battle with the three of them involved would probably break the battlefield. By the way, I am aware that as of this writing the card game itself is available. Thou I am not interested in the game, I am quite happy to see it discussed in comments. Thanks, folks.
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t think Iona’s going to battle Ruuko now. Iona is repulsed by Ruuko’s lack of a wish. I think she was going to battle Ruuko, but is too disgusted.
I think that there’s something more between Tama and Ruuko. Ruuko’s lack of a wish fits in perfectly with Tama’s lack of desire for anything except battling. I don’t know what Hayano and Midoriko were hinting at about Tama, what’s so ‘too bad’, I’m sure we’ll find out.
It’s interesting that Yuzuki is so much more scared of Akira than Ruuko. She didn’t even ask Ruuko if she was afraid of fighting Akira. Just assumed that she wouldn’t want to.
And Akira is certainly a little bitch, isn’t she. Not endearing at all.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I was thinking that too. But somehow, I think Urisu, Iona’s LRIG will taunt her into it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Hmmmm… green loli looks like a reverse trap…
*Runs global scenario permutations* ah… if only real life were more depraved…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I plead the Fifth. Or a fifth. Mrs. Walker’s son’s amber elixer, double, tall with soda.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Iona is one that shouldn’t be taken lightly and should be approached with caution. Since she doesn’t give into emotion like Akira, it could mean she’s far more cruel and calculating in tactics. Finding out Ruuko’s state of mind simply looking her in the eye is unsettling. I’d say it’s an ability derived from her LRIG card.
Yeah, Akira continues to disgust with her shameless and irredeemable behavior though most of my focus was on her temporary underlings who deservingly got shafted when their role was over. That’s what you get for helping a shady spoiled brat working an angle. Akira will get her just desserts in the end, most likely it’ll be ugly so I’ll be patient. Karma is a bitch, after all.
Ruuko is making herself an interesting protagonist. She has no wishes; therefore no real reason to participate with other Selectors yet at the same time being driven by a growing lust for battle for battling’s sake. I’d say there aren’t any wishes because she hasn’t questioned her life up until now. To her, nothing felt lacking. It was all going with the flow. Even her involvement in WIXOSS was pushed onto her by someone else to begin with.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Because Iona has a supergravity cannon?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Now that you’ve brought up that Arpeggio of Blue Steel reference, Iona’s cold, emotionless, intimidating demeanor that commands authority is similar to that of Kongou.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Even better since Kongou has a….
Super-enchanced Supergravity cannon!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
The VA is rather channeling her voice from WCW’s Ayaka. Hard to believe that she is also the voice of Chihaya from Chihayafuru…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We are privileged as audience members to see this. These girls were not. But then, they were not exactly on the side of the just in the tactics, were they. In the end, I still felt kinda bad for them. I don’t really know why.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. Though you’re feeling sympathetic after they’ve already received their reward for their transgressions and that wouldn’t even happen while they were in the process of committing said transgressions because their actions were appalling.
To their defense, the girls were desperate to be admired, willing to do anything and Akira, cruel as she is, took advantage of that and kicked them to curb when she was finished with them. The girls were both villains and victims of circumstance. This is why things aren’t always cut and dry. The world isn’t black and white, it’s gray.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I wonder if the battle of Black vs. White will make for a Gray world?
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Tama has some super cute expressions!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Between pouts and battle faces, she exudes kawaii…