selector infected WIXOSS – 12 [END]

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It isn’t all Black and White

 Thank you for joining me again. I want to thank everyone. Fellow commenters, and fellow writers for supporting me in my first full series for Metanorn. It’s been a trip! Alright, let’s wrap this finale up…

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Bending the Rules

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Hitoe keeps the faith

Well, it seems that I was kinda right about Hitoe. She didn’t exactly forget her friends, just that remembering was incredibly painful for her. We’ve all had memories we would like to forget, and I suppose that those that cause actual physical pain would be the top on that list. But not this girl. We can and do learn from pain. I like fighters like her. But on to the wish and it’s surroundings. With a victory in mind, Hitoe doesn’t seem to mind the Eternal Girl Snare; especially if it means freeing LRIG!Yuzuki from the card. Her wish is the same. So that would mean that Yuzuki would maintain those friendships. Well, you can say that evens out, right? Would that have been something that LRIG!Yuzuki would have been in line with?  Or is it that for Hitoe, the journey is how you make the ending? As we learn, both Selector and LRIG have to be on the same page when it comes to this wish. Something that Ruuko learns in a much harsher fashion.

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The final final bateru

Oh, one of the things I love about the outset of Ru and Iona’s battle. Yes, they get straight to it. But not before Iona asks Ru if she wants to say a few words, or ask any questions. Nope, OPEN! Then that twisted battlefield. It is part of Iona’s mental landscape, and it takes Ru quite aback. “Is this what your heart is like?” she asks, “I thought you were only interested in battle” Iona responds. Folks, ask questions. Chew the fat if you have a chance. It could be fun, it could be intel, or both! That might have given her something of a clue about Iona’s endgame(?), but she was to focused on winning this battle. And don’t you think she rather get’s ahead of herself? Having confidence that you will win is one thing. But calling it before the dust can even rise?

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I think I have a new favorite character!

Iona has been playing a much larger game; I’ve been suspect of one for quite some time. Now, whether or not she has been an LRIG before, and has knowledge of the White Room and Mayu, or she somehow got that information from Ulith is the devil in the details. She knows this stuff, and seems to want to exploit it. So to me, if Ru sticks to her cards of wanting the Madoka option, then that puts Iona in a very interesting position. As LRIG!Iona, if she can get Ru to stick to that wish and exploit Ru to that goal, then Iona get’s that wish. This puts focus on Iona’s original wish. To be in the White Room? If so, that puts Ulith!Iona there already, doesn’t it? I cannot even speculate as to why she would want these events to turn as they do, but it still suggests a larger game. What have these two been cooking up behind the scenes?

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Forget the windows…find the door, Tama!

With all that in mind, let’s get back to what I feel is the biggest issue of the whole first cour ending. What the heck happened to Tama? Mayu played the basest of manipulations, the baldest of lies on Tama. Was her ego so fragile as to accept this voice? One she knew more than Ru’s own? Is that all it took to cause Tama to cheat the Oath? If so, what angle of the game is Mayu playing. We already know this thing is rigged from the start. Actual suffering with no real gain, as the wishes you get are ones you could have already gained, and insult to injury, don’t get the result of at all.  It feels like the disregard of the sacrificed pawn. That is what the pawn is there for. But is it also there to get to the other side…Still, where did she go? It looked like a third loss for Ru, but that wasn’t quite it. Again, the rules to this thing are so insane.

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Betrayal?

The oath wasn’t complete. Ruuko’s desperation was palatable. I would have been more pissed off than anything else. Iona gets the win because of a “condition”. Wow, next time you play a game, you’re going to read all the rules, aren’t you? And quiz the game maker!

Quite possibly one of the best final episodes I’ve watched in quite some time. I’m always of the opinion that if things come in two parts, the first part has to tell it’s own story without being dependent on the second. The first can lead in, of course, but it must have the requsite beginning, middle, and end. WIXOSS kinda breaks that down, as the ending begs more questions. It doesn’t feel quite incomplete, but it feels like it hasn’t finished. This has both good and bad points. Good in that it really does make you thirst for the next cour. Bad in that it doesn’t really finish. But for that ending, and it’s lead in, I’ll take this one to heart.

I think WIXOSS managed to surprise quite a few people. It was quite prejudged before it aired, and dropped by many after the first episode. Those that stuck with it, enthused about it, and the show caught on. It also managed to be both a card game anime, and not one at all. I have given many props to the production for it’s pacing, and how cooly it shifts characterization from full on knowledge, to secrecy and more. It is most definitely in my tops for AOTS.  I hope to see everyone this October! So I will thank everyone again for the support over the past three months, and ask one more time, what did you folks think?

Preview

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But does it taste good on a bagel?

 

Thanks for Watching!

About

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
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24 Responses to “selector infected WIXOSS – 12 [END]”

  1. jimbobi says:

    The question on my mind is, if Hitoe’s wish had come true, what would happen to the now human Hanayo/Yuzuki? I’m sure the powers that be wouldn’t want a doppelganger running around(?).

    Nevertheless, props have to be given for an awesome twist to S1. I was actually unaware there would be a S2 otherwise I’d have been anticipating something.

    The big question is: what was Iona and Ulith’s mutual wish and how does that tie in with Mayu, the White Room and the whole structure of the WIXOSS game? At the end it seemed as though there was some co-ordination in the attacks by Ulith and the visions Tama experienced of Mayu.

    So, Iona’s endgame…continuing the pointless battle that is WIXOSS for an as of yet unknown motive? If there is a relationship between her, Ulith and Mayu then it could be that keeping the game rolling is beneficial to her, thus her enjoyment of Ru’s ‘only interested in battle’ mentality. Those without wishes would be the best fuel to keep perpetuating the cycle of WIXOSS. That’s my theory anyway.

    Thanks for your love-bomb posts on Anime Talk about Selector Infected WIXOSS Skylion, they’re what brought me back to this show after initially dropping it and I’m glad I did! Bring on season 2!

    • skylion says:

      At the end it seemed as though there was some co-ordination in the attacks by Ulith and the visions Tama experienced of Mayu.

      Yep, they did quite a good job pacing that scene.

      Those without wishes would be the best fuel to keep perpetuating the cycle of WIXOSS. That’s my theory anyway.

      Good theory.

      And, you welcome.

    • thorgriim says:

      Iona’s endgame?

      After watching this and reading I got to thinking, Iona’s end game..maybe she’s playing the villain in order to find someone that has the same wish as hers so they can defeat this game and save those they care about and then some.

      Or maybe Iona still thinks Ru doesn’t have a wish so she could use Ru to battle, because Iona think’s Ru just wants to battle and has no wish so what better way to make her own wish come true while using Ru to achieve it

      but I could go on more, But whats missing is Why does Iona wanna visit the white room and what benefits does going there have? If you where to take over that white room what could you do? become god?

      hehe idk maybe in just spouting nonsense but some food for thought, Either way, I’m looking forward to season 2 for sure, I need my “FK YA BATERU”

  2. Kyokai says:

    I never got around watching this show but congrats on your first finish of a show successfully on Metanorn. Keep up the good work! :3

  3. thorgriim says:

    Well first of all, at first I didn’t think much of this series, i kinda went into it with a mind set of “oh a card game with wishes.. roll eyes, ehh i’ll give it at least 3 episodes” feeling. Though what a Surprise, this series was worth the time to watch and I’m glad I stuck to. However I don’t really drop many series after watching them, they have to really lose me at the start for me to drop em.

    Man what an Ending, now even more questions to the ones I’ve already had, like you said skylion, the pacing was great, no mini recap, no wait, it just put us right into the ‘FK YA BATERU GOO!’ Going into this episode I kept wondering How they will end it and tie into the second cour. My guess was.. Ru will win and have a Madoka route, but that doesn’t solve the second season bit.

    But I can see a few ways this is going to go down and can’t wait for this series to return with more Bateru! So thanks Wixoss, now what will you do to fill in this waiting void?!

    • skylion says:

      What to do. Enjoy the Summer slate of course.

      Glad you stuck with it. It’s been good to have you around.

      I hope they take a different thematic approach with Spread. Infected was all about the continuity of wishes/thought, choices, actions and outcomes. And they played that game back and forth. You see the outcome, now see the process that got the character there. It was very well played.

      But Infected played the battles with a demurred approach. I want Spread to bust that wide open and show intense all out action. Not so much a shounen approach, but what this sort of writer can do with that approach. Oh, and now I’m thinking of BRS and would Okada redo that?

      • thorgriim says:

        Id love to see BRS redone, but I fear there really isn’t much to tell unless they make it their own spin off.. but then it may not be BRS hehe.

  4. BlackBriar says:

    Congrats on first officially completed series, skylion. Hard to believe an entire three is almost over since you joined Metanorn. Now all that’s left are Black Bullet and Hitsugi no Chaika.

    If that battle landscape truly mirrors Iona’s mentality, then she must really be broken inside. Don’t tell me her wish was to become the LRIG of the Selector who shares her love for battles. Is she that much of an incorrigible warmonger? I think Ulith agreed to go along with Iona because once the wish was realized, she’d be able to battle again but from a Selector’s seat.

    Overall, it was a surprise series with a satisfying enough finale and cliffhanger to tease us so I regret nothing investing my time in watching it. Whether the card mechanics are explained or not is a trivial matter. It was more of a means to end to keep things rolling. The core of the show is the psychological traumas that are imposed. I hope the second half gets here soon because a lot of questions were raised. It did very well setting up the story to this point but I still find WIXOSS an insane game with countless pitfalls ready to trap more victims. You get screwed no matter what choice is made, win or lose.

    What I’m wondering is what hoped to gain by deceiving Tama. Ruko wish was to release all LRIGs so naturally she would be included. That’s why I’m bugged by Maya’s statement of Ru only thinking of her friends when she considers Tama as one as well.

    Interesting move calling the second half “Selector Spread WIXOSS” instead of “Selector Infected WIXOSS 2”. I guess it’s hinting the infection of WIXOSS is spreading.

    • skylion says:

      Thanks, it’s been quite a bit of fun doing this. So some disclosure. I thought the idea behind the show was complete nutbags. I didn’t think it had a shadows chance of being any good just given the description. But, since I am a huge fan of Okada I was willing to blog a show that she had a hand in pretty much sight unseen.

      I’m glad I stuck with that feeling. Okada hasn’t failed to rouse my storytelling sensibilities in this outing.
      t
      Mayu played very much upon Tama’s sense of being left out. Tama has a sense of newness about her, and so she doesn’t register with the twisted nature of the game. Mayu took those doubts and twisted them.

      WIXOSS is that realm of the White Room, whatever it may be. Selector’s somehow infected it with wishes that couldn’t come to fruition without the game. Now, Selector will spread the White Room to new places. For what? Oh, who knows for now!

  5. Highway says:

    Did Ruuko actually ever lose an official battle? I can’t recall her losing. She beat Hitoe. She beat Akira. She and Yuzuki got interrupted, She and Iona got interrupted. So I think she’s undefeated (or at least was, and I don’t know if this counts as a defeat).

    I honestly have no idea what Iona was playing at. And I don’t know what Ulith will do as Iona now. I also have no idea why Iona replaced Tama as Ruu’s LRIG, except for the fact that Tama somehow betrayed Ruu, and that was enough to demote her or something.

    • skylion says:

      New episode, new rules.

      And I don’t recall Ru ever losing, and this one wasn’t really a lose.

  6. Foshizzel says:

    Congrats on finishing your first series on Metanorn!

    This was one of the best damn episodes of Wixoss and the ending totally caught me off guard! Damn Ru now season two is the hunt for Tama <3

  7. d-LaN says:

    http://selector-wixoss.com/comic_radio/index.html
    WIXOSS is getting two spin-off manga. Appli Blue (temp) focus on Piruluk and Re/verse (temp) will be about an original charcter.

    And congrats for finishing your first series here, Skylion.

  8. BlackBriar says:

    You’ve got to hand it to the show for being cryptic in its episode titles. They gave an even more ominous feeling adding to the despair the girls were going through.

    1. “This Miracle Trembles”
    2. “That Poisonous Meeting”
    3. “This Nonsensical Peace”
    4. “That Wish is Blasphemy”
    5. “The Invalidated Vow”
    6. “This Pure Heart”
    7. “The Girl’s Desire”
    8. “That False Vow”
    9. “The Cruel Truth”
    10. “That Stranded Emotion”
    11. “The Summer of Dreams”
    12. “That Choice…”

    • skylion says:

      I never gave much meaning to the title, as after the first to they felt randomly cryptic…

      • Highway says:

        I didn’t give much credence to episode titles as well, because they put them up after the episode. Doesn’t mean much when you’ve already seen it.

      • BlackBriar says:

        Alright. Something else caught my attention. Given this was the last episode for the first half, the OP had sound effects added in. Notice the sound of water splashing, glass cracking and breaking, card upgrade activations, the landing blows from the LRIG’s attacks. I guess the staff was determined to do a proper send off.

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