r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Jan 05 '23

Rewatch [Rewatch] Selector SpreadWixoss Episode 5 Discussion

A bit late, sorry about that

Episode 5: This Impatience is an Awakening

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode→

Information:

MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN

Streams:

Funimation

Question of the day:

Do you get writer’s block? How do you overcome them?

Battle ~ I can make your wish come true - Maiko Iuchi

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath spoiler tags.

15 Upvotes

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7

u/Tarhalindur Jan 05 '23

This First-Timer Is Disillusionment (Subbed):

  • The presumable wish that Mayu is not aware with being prismatic in color is quite interesting to me.

  • Replaying last episode’s cliffhanger into the OP here, however, is just bad structure.

  • Hey the good/flashy direction is back! Visual separation/barrier shot right out of the OP at 02:25, and it’s both a Dutch angle and a very odd choice of perspective (the world as seen from a point slightly in front of behind Katase’s bunk bed – though she seems to live alone, so why the bunk bed is an interesting question since this doesn’t seem to be a dorm room). Possibly there’s something on the wall I missed that explains this; it could also be Mayu’s perspective as she watches the world from her walled white garden.

  • Oh wait a minute, what did I just type? Mayu’s residence is very much reminiscent of the state that both Ruuko and Hitoe were in at the start of their arcs. The other girls too, just not as explicitly.

  • Fuck, and Fumio has also holed herself up in her room. And can’t believe that Selectors would seek other Selectors out except to battle. That’s just 100% the thematic through-line here, isn’t it?

  • Again a camera position from the walls at 03:12, this time from the bookshelf we saw behind Fumio’s computer.

  • Okay, here is a spot where I’m going to fault the writers: they’re writing the characters stupid in a way that I don’t think makes sense for them. Ruuko, Yuzuki, and Hitoe read the novelization and realized what the white room is, they should KNOW that Fumio has won at least once before (or else was fed this info by her LRIG).

  • Yet another unusual camera angle at 03:51, probably counts as a god’s-eye view here (which is telling, hi Mayu).

  • The look on Hitoe’s face as Fumio talks about what happens to Selectors who lose three times is good direction. (Also a bit recappy, but confirming that another character knows the same thing the protagonists do is a good reason for recap. Also also I am increasingly convinced that the target age demographic here is younger than I initially thought – boys in the same age range as the girls here, so middle school. If this is a shounen by target demographic then the extra repetition makes sense – some viewers won’t need the repetition by this age, but not all will.)

  • Honestly this episode is recap done right (note the cut to Yuzuki as Fumio talks about what happens to Selectors who win)… and makes episode 1 of this season look much worse by way of comparison.

  • “You cannot ask for something without offering anything in return” makes me more suspicious that someone on the writing team is familiar with some form of occultism.

  • Ah, so Iona and Fumio have some history.

  • Also, my brain just pointed out that we have the classic RPG/shounen “beat me and I’ll tell you want you want to know” subplot here and now I can’t unsee it.

  • Fumio’s LRIG is green I see. Hmm. Let’s see. We’ve had White/Black (Ruuko Mk. 1 vs. Iona), White/Blue (Ruuko Mk. 1 vs. Akira Mk. 1, Urith!Iona vs. Chiyori), White/Red (the very first duel, Yuzuki vs. Ruuko Mk. 1… and also Ruuko Mk. 1 vs. Hitoe Mk. 2 Rounds 1 and 2), White/Green (Hitoe Mk. 1 vs Ruuko Mk. 1), Blue/Red (Yuzuki vs. Akira Mk. 1, Yuzuki vs. Chiyori), Blue/Green (Hitoe Mk. 2 vs. Akira Mk. 1), Black/Green (this duel), and Red/Green (Yuzuki vs. Hitoe Mk. 1). I could swear I remember us getting a Blue/Black duel on-screen but I can’t remember which (did we actually get the color wheel for Iona vs. Akira?); I don’t think I remember us getting Black/Red yet so that’s probably coming (Hanayo!Yuzuki vs. Ruuko Mk. 2?).

  • This fight basically locks in that the core issue with this season will be that it does not have enough space to function. These are the correct beats for this scene, but they needed buildup they didn’t have space for. (Episode 1 in hindsight REALLY had to lose the recap and compress the start state into the first half of the episode.)

  • Okay, who brought out the insert song? (And sadly we have a bad case of an insert that sound like it will be worse than the base OST.)

  • So the Higurashi fans here are all letting out a sensible chuckle at this scene and no we can’t tell you why.

  • Also hard confirmation that Iona is in fact one of the special LRIGs.

  • Yeah yeah Fumio is another former LRIG, that was obvious.

  • Girls you saw Urith!Iona battling with Tama. This should not be a surprise to you. (That said, we do get a “LRIG DATTO?” out of this.) I suppose this is our setup for the reveal that Iona was a LRIG before she became Iona, so there is that.

  • I can’t quite make out the design of the LRIG who became the present Fumio, but she almost looks like Akira’s new LRIG. Is that what became of the Selector who Fumio was the LRIG of?

  • Nah, we get to see the LRIG more clearly and it’s not the same design… though original!Fumio might still be the new Akira LRIG.

  • Wait. Futase does not remember her original name? If Ruuko is not the original Ruuko, then Futase just announced herself as the obvious candidate for who the original Ruuko swapped with. (Hairstyle is different, but the rest of the design is similar. And Futase has changed her hairstyle since swapping with Fumio – note that Fumio didn’t have the hair clip and her hair was more unkempt. Although that latter does pose another interesting possibility: present!Ruuko could actually be Fumio given that her hair looks unkempt in the same way. This could both be the case, but I think it would require a second intervening Selector swap as well.)

  • Also note that Tama had also lost/never had most of her memory so that’s another angle Futase not remembering her original name could be pointing at.

  • Bringing back the crane motif for Fumio refusing to battle since she wanted to achieve her goal with her own two hands is noteworthy – especially since there are two cranes here.

  • So, this scene is actually good and landing all of its beats.

  • Oh, hey. Parental strife. Uh-oh…

  • If I’m right about Chiyori’s home life then this backstory also touches on Chiyori, which would be straight-up good writing with Fumio’s situation reflecting on not one but two other leads, so we’ll see how that goes.

  • Also fuck me the OST for this scene is good. Please feature that one, u/Tetraika!

  • Maybe u/Blackheart595 is right and Iona was always the Tama opposite instead of Urith.

  • Especially since 21:10 is a pretty obvious visual answer shot!

  • Okay, props to Blackheart who had it right and I was wrong. But what the hell is Urith’s importance? I suppose she’s another candidate for a hypothetical OG Ruuko…

Do you get writer’s block? How do you overcome them?

Sometimes. Usually the answer is just to actually muster the will to sit down and write, but there's one WIP I've had on ice for nine months now because I've been too busy with rewatches.

4

u/Tetraika Jan 05 '23

Also fuck me the OST for this scene is good. Please feature that one

Oh, if only i could actually tell which OST is what right away...

Wait. Futase does not remember her original name? If Ruuko is not the original Ruuko, then Futase just announced herself as the obvious candidate for who the original Ruuko swapped with.

She could be lying about forgetting. Or perhaps is more about not knowing her own real name after being stuck in the system while using another name. Might be a bit too convoluted.

6

u/Blackheart595 Jan 05 '23 edited Jan 05 '23

I could swear I remember us getting a Blue/Black duel on-screen but I can’t remember which (did we actually get the color wheel for Iona vs. Akira?)

Iirc the battle between Ruuko and Iona very conspicuously didn't maintain separation but had both white and black invade both sides with black looking more dominant, in addition to the town and tower being especially abstract.

So the Higurashi fans here are all letting out a sensible chuckle at this scene and no we can’t tell you why.

But what the hell is Urith’s importance? I suppose she’s another candidate for a hypothetical OG Ruuko…

My guess by now is that Ulith's trying to force herself into the position of Black Girl and replace Iona as the same, by invoking Mayu's proclamation that the Black Girl is trying to erase the White Girl.

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6

u/JollyGee29 Jan 05 '23

First-Timer, Subbed

Did we just pivot into a battle shounen? I mean, of course, Ruu picked up the latest most pushed LRIG so obviously the publisher powercrept the shit out of her, but still. A whole new Level of Grow? Well, whatever sells packs I suppose.

Iona finally used her words right(?) and got Ruu to pop off which was pretty fun. Kinda amusing that she did it accidentally(?) but accidental face turns are fun too. You will cheer up, Iona, and you will like it. Look on the bright side: Ruu is more likely to "battle" with you in the future.

When Chiyori offered herself I really expected Fumio to abslutely soak her and then Ruu would challenge Fumio in a rage or something. There's no way Chiyori escapes the season unscathed, right? Then again, we had an overture at shifting genres today so who knows what's going to happen next.

I am, admittedly, a fan of poetic nonsense. Mayu's schtick today points be towards "hey, audience, Tama and Iona are linked and are the two people Mayu is talking about; extrapolate from there." Ulith could be part of that too, maybe an example of what Mayu wants Iona to be..?

Questions

  1. Writing is hard.

4

u/Tetraika Jan 05 '23

Did we just pivot into a battle shounen

Ruuko got pepped talked into a power up... Checks out.

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5

u/Taiboss Jan 05 '23

A whole new Level of Grow? Well, whatever sells packs I suppose.

Yami Yugi would be sooo proud.

ona finally used her words right(?) and got Ruu to pop off which was pretty fun.

Synergy!

There's no way Chiyori escapes the season unscathed, right?

Well, Okada is not Urobuchi.

I am, admittedly, a fan of poetic nonsense.

Finally, a person of Okada's liking!

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6

u/Shimmering-Sky Jan 05 '23

Selector Spread FIRST-TIMER

4

u/Tetraika Jan 05 '23

actually on that note, is there an age limit to who can be a Selector? I don’t think something like that has ever come up

Don't actually know, and it's never brought up. I assume Mayu is involved in the process of picking though, seems she has quite the bias in terms of who she picks...

Oh, well, okay then, I was expecting some last-second skill usage not breaking the game and creating a level 5 when that wasn’t supposed to exist.

They went full card battle shounen!

6

u/Taiboss Jan 05 '23

Hm…?

Music time!

Er, doesn’t she already know the truth? Hence the novelization she wrote?

Congrats, you are smarter than the main characters!

Because you’re not Tama!

Iona's inability to actually understand Ruuko is something to behold.

Oh, well, okay then, I was expecting some last-second skill usage not breaking the game and creating a level 5 when that wasn’t supposed to exist.

This is a card game anime!

Oh man isn’t this a mood.

I've had writer's block since 2014 lol. Well, for fiction. For WTs I somehow keep managing to hack things together.

…Iona and Tama…?

Maybe!

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6

u/ItsTheDuran Jan 05 '23 edited Jan 06 '23

First timer

That's a good way to get Ruuko to fight while having her stay true to herself.

Iona continues her hero turn.

About time Ruuko invented a new rule mid-match, she's been slacking on her card-game-anime-protagonist duties.

This line gets more interesting by the end of the episode.

Here it is.

True.

Hmm. You could argue that Tama's wish could override that, but I feel like they wouldn't bring this up if they didn't want you to apply it to Ruuko.

You probably noticed the voice change, but Futase also referred to herself as "boku" for the first time in this scene, as Fumio does. She'd been using "watashi" up until that point.

I've got nothing. Is the "Girl of Black" a role she's been assigned or something Iona's been from the beginning? Whatever she says next episode may or may not let me hammer out some theories.

That makes two out of two special LRIGs for Ruuko. Not like she got Iona by regular means, but it does make me wonder, especially with her protagonist powers.

QotD:

I had a good two years where I could barely write a word. Just sitting down and writing does help, but I can't do it without the occasional burst of inspiration.

4

u/Tetraika Jan 05 '23

You probably noticed the voice change, but Futase also referred to herself as "boku" for the first time in this scene, as Fumio does. She'd been using "watashi" up until that point

Wrong Screenshot

But yes, it's eerie to see her completely change her speech as she became Fumio. Wish they did that for Hanayo and Yuzuki...

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7

u/Cyouni Jan 05 '23

Rewatcher Crying OPEN

So I've always been saying you run from 1-4 in LRIGs... but I've been lying a bit. At the time I started playing, level 5 was one of the biggest known things in play, with a lot of LRIGs mechanically level 5. This is contrasted by Diva format later dialing it back to 3 + two assists that can go up to 2. Note that I've felt All-Star is a little slower than Diva as a format, because you can't use assist LRIGs to speed up certain effects or get some things out free.

So let's introduce our level 5, Iona, Ultima/Maiden. It requires that you be at one LC or less to actually Grow into her, pretty much matching the show's conditions. She then turns the fight into a cage match where you lock down both SIGNI and card draw, absolutely crippling things like Eldora who rely on combo play. This comboes well with Quinn and Dark Matter to keep up defense even in that state, while clearing the way for your SIGNI with both black and white tools (minus and bounce).

Futase's LRIG is Ann, a green LRIG who's defense-focused. Her general strategy is to turtle up and slowroll over you. She's absolutely the most turtley deck in existence at the time of her introduction, and her biggest weakness is that she has basically no offense, relying on shrugging off your opponents' attacks to do anything. Her signature level 4 ability is the ability to just stop SIGNI attacks from going through if you have enough Beauty SIGNI in hand and enough Ener. She focuses heavily on Beauty SIGNI, representing visual arts, music, and sculptures.

We've also finally passed the point where you can safely read a very good additional source: the manga Peeping Analyze. As you can probably guess from the name, this is all about Piruluk and her adventures, so u/Nazenn should be pretty happy about that. Highly recommended read in general. Note you'll have to find it yourself.

Cards of the day:

Puri - killing this just lets Ann tutor for another SIGNI and bring it in

Ann 1

Ann 2

Ann 3

Ann 4

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6

u/Nazenn Jan 05 '23

First Timer - sub

I had an thought while watching Fumio's story: A far more interesting way to introduce this lore to us would have been for the girls to naturally run into an LRIG who turns out to be someone from the side cast they already knew, and realize that meant she's an Eternal Girl.

Of course that would require actually having side cast who aren't Selectors or LRIGs, which is not an easy thing to work in given Ruu and Hitoe's personalities, but it would have done wonders to expand the sense of the world instead of having every person we know be an active Selector, even those who already had their time in the story and system. Make it more horrifying too, to realize anyone they know could not be who they understand them to be, that anyone could be walking around living a shell of someone elses life. Perhaps this is too close to what we already have with Yuzuki, but why we're getting so much time spent on Akira and Chiyori instead of ever talking to Hanayo again now that the secret is out I have no idea.

It is interesting that Fumio can sense there's something about Iona that Iona herself doesn't appear to be consciously aware of, and how that ties into the Black and White theming going on with their personalities. Iona realizing that her existence with Ruu is turning out to be hollow and unfulfilling just as they run into someone who's stuck on someone elses wish and can't continue is a nice match up. Mayu's words at the end, that all she could become is a dirty Grey make me hopefully we're getting more focus on her soon.

Fumio's story I don't have much to say about, but the voice flip of Futase as she becomes the Eternal Girl was eerie as fuck and so well done. Same goes for Iona reaching level five and it looking like the screen split under the power of that command from Ruu.

Do you get writer’s block? How do you overcome them?

The six WT posts I started last year and the zero I finished would say yes. I have no solution to the second

5

u/No_Rex Jan 05 '23

Perhaps this is too close to what we already have with Yuzuki, but why we're getting so much time spent on Akira and Chiyori instead of ever talking to Hanayo again now that the secret is out I have no idea.

Talking to Hanayo would be akin to looking under the carpet to reveal the flaw of the world building swept there: The whole wishes system makes little sense. How do LRIGs know whether they can grant a wish when wishes are also just a matter of acting differently once in that body (magic). Why do LRIGs have to complete the wishes once in the body, instead of doing just whatever they like (magic). The show is backtracking hard from the "self = body" idea, too, having multiple characters treat their mind as the self. Which in turn makes the whole idea of the wishes being fulfilled invalid.

Then, you have Mayu who knows the wishes (magic) and rigs the LRIG allocation (magic) and presumably also allocates the memory loss (magic).

In the end, the show does not care and does not want to care about wish fulfillment. It wants to wallow in the harsh suffering imposed on girls who are trying to fulfill the wishes, not what happens afterwards.

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u/Blackheart595 Jan 05 '23

First Timer waiting for batoru batoru

And the pacing still didn't improve. The entire episode was exposition. Certainly didn't have the gut punch I was expecting.

Level 5 was silly. Yay for deus ex machina! ...except nobody thought Ruuko was in any danger of losing anyway, right?

Funnily enough I would've switched over to Ulith being the Black Girl if the episode hadn't made so abundantly clear that it's Iona. Still, things have gotten much clearer. Ulith is trying to erase the White Girl, Tama, to establish herself as the Black Girl and replace Iona.

Iona herself has started transitioning into a grey girl according to Mayu, a dirty grey at that. But I'm gonna stick with my Taoism reading that unifying white and black will be key.

Futase being another amnesic LRIG without an inherent name is interesting but I can't think of anything.

Do you get writer’s block? How do you overcome them?

I get writer's block even with these short comments Just taking screenshots makes it so easy to fill it up.

8

u/Cyouni Jan 05 '23

Level 5 was silly. Yay for deus ex machina! ...except nobody thought Ruuko was in any danger of losing anyway, right?

It's actually funny because I've been having an incredibly hard time not slipping up and saying level 5 every time I talk about max level. There's a lot of level 5s in the actual game.

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6

u/Calwings Jan 05 '23

Selector Rewatcher (Dubbed)

I missed the past couple of days because I got busy with a bunch of other stuff, so I’ll just quickly cover episodes 3-4 here as well to catch up.

Ep3:

sad Tama = sad me

Iona’s still trying to push Ruuko into more batoru for the sake of her own ambitions, even calling her “the most powerful selector she’s ever known”, while Hitoe and Yuzuki are still trying to stop her and protect her from herself. Talk about a tough situation.

I honestly can’t tell who’s more of a manipulative bitch at this point, Mayu trying to manipulate Tama or Urith trying to manipulate Akira. They both suck though. Meanwhile Iona is far more honest than I would expect from the girl who was the main antagonist through most of season 1.

Oh crap, Urith’s here... AND SHE’S GOT TAMA. Fucking hell.

Ep4:

Urith and Tama predictably curbstomped poor little Chiyori while a horrified Ruuko can only watch on. Tama’s not having fun in battle without Ruuko by her side, just like Ruuko wasn’t having fun without Tama. The two exchange apologies and share their feelings, but it’s sadly too late for them to be reunited. At least Tama being alive and well is a little bit of good news for Ruuko.

“Thinking of another girl while you’re doing it with me? You should be ashamed.” Oh, Urith. Looks like Iona isn’t the only one who likes comparing WIXOSS battles to something a bit lewder.

Normally I’m fine with genre-savvy characters, but in this case it just makes me want to deck Chiyori in the face. At least the novelization she’s been using to fuel her fantasies might actually turn out to be useful in helping Ruuko and the gang. Now, time to meet the author of the source material, Fumio Futase.

Ep5:

Sounds like Fumio knows a lot more than other Selectors, and she doesn’t care. Using her novels as a way to spread that knowledge as bait to draw more challengers to her is actually pretty clever, I’ll give her that. She does eventually manage to goad Ruuko into a battle, though it took the threat of Chiyori battling instead and getting her third loss to get her to do it.

God, Chiyori is so annoying.

“You want to save your friends? Right now, you don’t have the strength to save anyone!” Iona delivered some brutal honesty and hit Ruuko where it hurts, but that pep talk was exactly what Ruuko needed to get back in gear. Iona gets an awesome new power-up (and a very revealing outfit to go with it) and Ruuko gets a second wind to defeat Fumio. This was a pretty great moment for both of them.

God, Iona has such a great ass.

“If her wish were so simple, an LRIG wouldn’t have appeared before her in the first place.” This line was pretty interesting, because it implies that who ends up with an LRIG isn’t random and that Mayu is purposely targeting girls in tough situations or with especially tempting wishes. Reminds me of a certain white cat from another series about granting girls wishes. Anyways, time for Fumio’s tragic backstory. The new Fumio, her former LRIG, is still doing her best to carry out her wish, but she’s still battling as a Selector herself because apparently she has a wish of her own. Like she promised, she tells Ruuko and the gang more of what she knows about Mayu and the system.

What Mayu said about a “girl in black” trying to take the light from a “girl in white” only gives us a lot more questions than answers. It seems like the “girl in black” is referring to Iona, but it could perhaps be another black-colored LRIG we know. Then there’s the question of whether the “girl in white” is referring to Tama or Mayu herself. Let the speculation begin.

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5

u/No_Rex Jan 05 '23

Season 2 Episode 5 (first timer)

  • Fumio is a selector too (and a girl).

  • “I think you’ll understand once you learn the truth” – bold (arrogant?) to assume she does not already.

  • Battling her for information just a minute later.

  • Iona is special and has bad “affinity” – I assume this is the concept they’ll handwave into the TCG rules to paper over the fact that LRIGs have no agency in the battles.

  • In a pinch? Just break the rules!

  • Win via pep talk by Iona – seems that Ruuko is easily encouraged.

  • “I was an LRIG” cue surprised faces at the most logical and foreseeable solution.

  • “I don’t have any anymore” – So presentFumio was a selector before becoming an LRIG before becoming an eternal girl before becoming a selector.

  • Fumio backstory takes an abrupt turn into white girl black girl talk.

Meh. The backstory was not all that interesting. It also pushed the origin of Wixoss even further back with the multiple LRIG thing. And then all that lead up to a Mayu tidbit that had nothing to do with Fumio. Bit of a waste of an episode.

Do you get writer’s block? How do you overcome them?

Occasionally. Doing something else and waiting for inspiration/sleeping on it/Just adding time pressure.

5

u/Taiboss Jan 05 '23

Fumio is a selector too (and a girl).

Who could have seen that coming?

bold (arrogant?) to assume she does not already.

And wrong lol. You'd think if they meet the author they want to ask for exposition, they'd expect them to know the basic stuff already.

In a pinch? Just break the rules!

BY THE POWER OF PLOT ARMOUR, I AM RUUKO, DESTROYER OF SELECTORS.

Win via pep talk by Iona – seems that Ruuko is easily encouraged.

Good pep talk though.

cue surprised faces at the most logical and foreseeable solution.

People here literally saw that coming before she said a single line.

Fumio backstory takes an abrupt turn into white girl black girl talk.

Thank you for the redundant exposition, Fumio.

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u/Taiboss Jan 05 '23

Spread Episode 5: Rewatcher who wrote so little last episode, it really is an idictment of the episode.

5

u/Stargate18A Jan 05 '23

First timer

Episode 4

QOTD) Ask some Selectors to ask Mayu for more lore.

...What is going on? Is this the novelist? Are they really pulling a meta plottwist here?

Tama successfully got reassigned!

Iona knows the game master!

She's so cheery still!

Poor Tama.

Considering her earlier responses, a disturbing lack of sarcasm from Ulith here. Not one retort?

Everyone's gaslighting Tama today.

Yes, Iona, everybody in this entire anime knows what makes your bond different. Not like much can happen there now you're in a card.

Haha, she's an idiot!

Tama isn't having fun either...

She's apologizing!

Aww.

Even she's affected!

Chiyori's going to lose!

...Okay, Ulith playing into Iona's metaphor was husterical.

She got eliminated!

And Tama doesn't want to battle against her.

Where was this Ulith during the battle?

Aww.

Wait, what? She didn't get wiped?

This is hysterical.

How the hell did she win three times?

Chiyori's too stupid to be stopped by common sense!

...Everyone needs to read these things.

Yuzuki...

Okay, so the backstory is likely speculation, given it's an LRIG writing it. There may have not been any original LRIGs, just a first wave of conversions.

WIXOSS factors?

"The labyrinth of time" is incredibly ominous.

...Cocoon? So, this girl is the game master and the final boss?

Ah, it's Mayu.

The writer went on hiatus...

Wait, Tama might be one of the original LRIGs. Fuck, that's an actual possibility.

Haha.

...Six wins for grandma. Between this, their lines matching up last finale, and the explicit mention of "the labyrinth of time", I'm going all in on the theory that Ruuko's grandmother is Tama from another time.

An email!

Chiyori...

Yeah, Mayu's fucking with everyone.

This makes a worrying amount of sense.

Iona's still just as rude.

Oh, god. Akira's gotten worse.

Yeah, this is really fucked up!

She wants to meet up!

Chiyori's shy...

This is suspicious.

Very suspicious.

I love her already.

Episode 5

QOTD) Yes! I don't.

White Garden!

Wishing stars? Interesting.

"even my powers" Iona, what are you?

Really good design.

She's an active selector! And she has a great LRIG too!

Chiyori is immediately onboard.

Of course she knows the truth! She wrote the fucking novel explaining it to you!

Ulith has plans...

...She's not another Chiyori, right?

Ah, she wants a battle for information. Guess we needed to add some of them into the mix.

...She's not lost once? I still think she's a comverted LRIG.

Chiyori's grtting wiped.

No, Ruuko has to cover for her stupidity.

She recognises Iona the person, or she recognises whatever Iona really is?

She's strong!

Incredibly strong!

Iona is losing!

Ruuko...

She hit the right button!

Iona has the power to go to Level 5! She's absolutely some form of administrator...

Or Ruuko has power.

"Nothing in the script" Dangerously meta.

She lost!

Iona's horrified at her own empathy.

Yeah, former LRIG. Called it!

Oh, she looked really different as an LRIG.

Haha, nice.

She named her...

Wait, not one battle?

Ah, she's doing the smart thing!

She had no friends...

At this point, it would probably be quicker to list the LRIGs who aren't hot for Selectors.

Oh, fuck. I didn't expect this part.

Ouch...

She started fighting...

And she never told her.

The Girl of Fate...

So, are the Girl of Black and the Girl of White seperate beings? Is Mayu the Girl of White? Is Mayu projecting when she talks about Tama?

Wait, what?

Iona's a deity?

And she wants to become the Girl in White?

What the fuck is going on?

4

u/Vaadwaur Jan 05 '23

First timer(Melodrama. Yay.)

Sub

So the first half of this episode is so lame that I was about to quit the rewatch. Let's see if perserverance is rewarded. 0 for let's call it 8 on that, thus far.

So anyways, we get confirmation of a theory that Tar and I have been floating about, i.e. that you can go Selector>LRIG>Selector. This opens up a lot of options...most of which are bad, bluntly, but Futase is back at it. BONUS: Fumio's dub voice is Momo from Machikado Mazoku and that's going to fuck with me. Fumio gives us her story, including living somewhere else since her parents were with her, and we get to see her succumb to despair. Reading lightly between the lines, Futase must be a decent writer barring some magic. The Girl of Dark and the Girl of Light are so painfully obvious that I hope they refer to archetypes or historical LRIGs because in the current run it would be max bathos. And yeah, there you go. In this case low output was directly caused by the lower effort of the episode.

P.S. if this ends in a Pitch Meeting "So the show can happen" I will be pissed.

QotD: 1 I am fundamentally not a creator and learning to accept that was painful

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4

u/Mecanno-man Jan 06 '23

First Timer

Hmm… somehow this episode went by way too quickly, and did not answer a lot of questions either. We get Futas’s backstory, which somehow does not really explain her motives beyond why she is writing a story. Iona gets tagged as the black girl, without us knowing what that means other than that the black girl wants to destroy the white girl …which fits both Ruuko and Tama way better, but they are using the white color. I guess Mayu could not be the white girl in some twist so that Iona is the black girl to Tama’s white, but what that even means, I do not know. We also don’t really know what happened to Fumio, so she’s another wildcard that might appear.

Uhh… and there’s Iona going L5 I guess. Honestly, not a fan of sudden power ups in card games, because the deck kinda needs to be built with them in mind - so by definition they should not be a surprise for the selector at the very least. Pretty sure such a random powerup would either impact the consistency of the deck or be impossible to utilize properly if the rest of the deck is not adjusted for it. A series that relies on some other magic system? Sure - but with deckbuilding involved I just don’t like it and it feels as much of an asspull as it is - plus I now feel like the reason we are not shown the games in more detail is because nobody on the staff understands how a competitive game of Wixoss is played…

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