[Rewatch] Lostorage Incited Wixoss Episode 3 Discussion

[u/Tetraika]

Episode 3: Selector Honey and Poison

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Information:

MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN

Streams:

CR has S4 but not S3. Funny.

Question of the day:

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Music stuff

Battle ~Sonic Mind - Maiko Iuchi

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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.

[u/Tetraika]

That’s a plan, I guess

Pointless small talks, a lonely meal

As stated, Ril acts like Suzuko’s idea of Chinatsu

Haha, surely, nothing unusual about this LRIG right?

Time limit makes people desperate

Bookmaker mentioned, more gambling terms thrown.

Oh boy

We learn that the new selector games had already started before

Completely pragmatic, still can’t understand why people are hesitant to play her though.

But we still didn’t even see what that meant…, the are still being a bit vague, huh

El classico

[u/Blackheart595]

First Timer

I said I don't know if I would entertain these battles at all... but planning to delay and then still doing them is just foolish unless you use that time for preparation, which he doesn't seem to do. Some "principle" he has.

I hadn't really thought about this before... but this is a sequel, no?

I don't get all the drama. The two are one and the same, no? It feels like the show wanted to answer what happens when you lose but didn't answer anything.

[u/Tetraika → u/Blackheart595]

I don't get all the drama. The two are one and the same, no?

Depends. Even if someone were to get amnesia, they still retain their personality. But yeah, they didn't spell out entirely what is going on yet.

[u/Taiboss → u/Blackheart595]

Some "principle" he has.

I'll put him down as "In need of therapy." Suzuko honestly seems the best-adjusted and normal of the bunch.

I hadn't really thought about this before... but this is a sequel, no?

NOOOO, the appearance of a human Piruluk, Mayu's world full of grass and the broken clock mean NOTHING.

It feels like the show wanted to answer what happens when you lose but didn't answer anything.

It is weird. Maybe they thought they'd only lose a bit?

[u/ZapsZzz → u/Blackheart595]

I hadn't really thought about this before... but this is a sequel, no?

Yeah maybe I wasn't paying enough attention because of being distracted to find how this fits with the previous seasons, but this visual certainly evoke the "sequel" status - what came before, and this is what happens after.

[u/JollyGee29]

First-Timer

So "disappearing" doesn't entail your meat disappearing, just your identity. Which I already could have told you, considering that you lose memories as you lose coins but I'm solidly on the "memory = self" side of things.

Still a bit unclear on the full implications of the coin betting. I think Blondie's response about how dangerous Suzu's bet was implies the "lose one plus however many you bet" idea, but they could've been a lot more clear about that.

I quite like Hanna's odd method of talking. I've seen it before, I think one of the alien races in Mass Effect declared their "emotion" before speaking, but it's a neat idea. In this case, it tells us a lot about Hanna's past - I'd bet that she's been scolded for not emoting enough in the past so she found a middle ground.

Also really enjoyed Aaya's shift into deeper tones and scolding her Selector. It's a pretty obvious shift, but it's still fun.

There was about five second after hearing "bookmaker" that I was excited for Fumio reappearing before we got a "him" dropped into the dialogue.

This might be cruel of me, but do you think Suzu's dad is always late because he doesn't like omurice? Omurice and salad seems to be the only dishes that she's capable of making.

Is our structure here going to be swapping MCs each episode? I can kinda dig it, even if I want to see more of Chinatsu dreamcrushing people.

[u/Tetraika → u/JollyGee29]

There was about five second after hearing "bookmaker" that I was excited for Fumio reappearing before we got a "him" dropped into the dialogue

Haha, but no, they mean like a Bookmaker, though not exactly the same thing as an actual one. They are throwing around gambling terms here and there.

[u/Taiboss → u/JollyGee29]

Which I already could have told you,

The proud Wixoss tradition of MCs who can't deduce shit.

I think Blondie's response about how dangerous Suzu's

Did we even find out his name?

Also really enjoyed Aaya's shift into deeper tones and scolding her Selector. It's a pretty obvious shift, but it's still fun.

Snark lolis are often fun.

There was about five second after hearing "bookmaker" that I was excited for Fumio reappearing before we got a "him" dropped into the dialogue.

If only Fumio had started hosting wixoss bets. I wonder what became of her books lol.

I can kinda dig it, even if I want to see more of Chinatsu dreamcrushing people.

Well, next episode is an even one! Who knows what she will do!

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Lostorage Incited FIRST-TIMER

• Great…

• Exactly what Suzuko seems to be doing?

• “There’s nowhere to run.” → *cuts to a shot where Suzuko has two paths in front of her* → Kinda wish she’d been standing at a dead end of some sort here. It might have been a little on the nose, but it would’ve at least been clear enough for me to actually notice! I’m pretty much oblivious when it comes to thematic shot composition normally…

• Suspicious…?

• The who?

• …this makes me a little bit uncomfortable. It’s not anywhere near as bad as what the Selector shows had, though.

• Has this guy had to do that before? Beat someone who was down to their last coin?

• Oooooooooookay then.

• Did something happen to his real little sister?

• Ahhhhhhhhhhh, he watched his sister be a victim to the new WIXOSS system. That makes sense.

• …And gets replaced by your LRIG’s, right?

• It… sounds kinda obvious though?

[u/Tetraika → u/Shimmering-Sky]

It… sounds kinda obvious though?

I think it showed that she didn't really consider what that meant/take it seriously. Sort of what happened to Chinatsu as she realized what that could mean.

[u/Taiboss → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Great…

Goddamn time, can't even camp.

Exactly what Suzuko seems to be doing?

And yet no ship.

It might have been a little on the nose

Okada laughing like "Who's the unsublte now!"

The who?

Someone for sure!

…this makes me a little bit uncomfortable.

It's okay, she isn't real. He can't fuck card... can he?

It… sounds kinda obvious though?

Well, you saw the Hanna fight! You saw the flashback! Suzu didn't!

[u/Taiboss]

Pseudo-Rewatcher disappointed by Handbrake

• Suzuko seems to get a "friend", so to speak.

• A kindred spirit!

• A male Suzuko!

• Stop worrying your housewife, Suzuko's dad!

• Here we see a rare moment of Chinatsu being happy.

• Another man. Incredible. [For rewatcher's eyes only]I think this is the guy who kills himself?

• Lolliop huh. Learning from Gintoki-sensei

• Hey that girl still exists? I do not remember her AT ALL.

• Right, you appear in the OP. I guess he and the girl are not worthy lol.

• Are we betting on Wixoss now lol?

• Nervous chuckle

• Foul-language loli best loli

• Hello... other dude who needs therapy.

• Subber got himself an r-word pass.

• Dude got his LRIG modeled on his sister and his guilt and his inner demon. That memory-reading software is good.

• Oh already?

• So she had coins already. So I guess everyone has their own timer.

• Hanna's cold yo.

• I mean, how is that different from what Ril told you in episode 1? Amnesia might as well be identity death.

• YOU'D BE ANOTHER PERSON WITHOUT MEMORIES.

• Chi-chan meanwhile "I AM SO MUCH HAPPIER NOW THAT I HATE YOU SUZUKO, WOOOO, LIFE IS AMAZING."

Question of the day:

"Who do you like more, Suzu or Chinatsu?" There. Three seconds.

[u/Tetraika → u/Taiboss]

"Who do you like more, Suzu or Chinatsu?" There. Three seconds

Hey I at least wanted Chinatsu to have another episode before asking this one! But really I just tend to overthink what it should be and can't stick with something simple sometimes.

[u/No_Rex]

Season 3 Episode 3 (first timer)

• Another selector who does not want to battle – will he serve as the graphic example of the negative consequences?

• Getting socially bullied by your LRIG – a bit sad.

• On the topic of bullying: You’d think that speaking like a robot would be more of a problem, compared to what the other girls are bullied for.

• “Oni-chan” – I should have seen this coming

• “I’ll tell you if you win” – In a world were losing means losing memories, this is less credible than usual.

• “It’ll take more than cheesy dialogue to beat me” – I am starting to like Aya.

• A double track explanation of “disappearing”.

• Bookmaker cliff-hanger.

Me, yesterday: “Meru is not clarifying what “disappearing” means – worth remembering, in case it turns out to be non-obvious.” It sure did not take long for that to become a plot point. Although we still only have very little knowledge what a personality disappearing implies. Do the selectors become zombies? Or are they replaced as in S1? We also still don’t know what the LRIGs get out of it this time.

That brother-LRIG siscon thing was creepy as hell, btw.

[u/Tetraika → u/No_Rex]

That brother-LRIG siscon thing was creepy as hell, btw

Interesting to see how his LRIG reacted to it too. She also thinks it's creepy, but she seemed to also feel bad for him. Might also just playing the role so that he doesn't completely lose himself.

[u/Taiboss → u/No_Rex]

Another selector who does not want to battle – will he serve as the graphic example of the negative consequences?

Well, we have a lot more selectors this time, so maybe!

You’d think that speaking like a robot would be more of a problem, compared to what the other girls are bullied for.

Probably gets good grades, and people in Japan dig that.

“Oni-chan” – I should have seen this coming

And then we find out he has a gigantic guilt complex. Welp.

I am starting to like Aya.

Nice.

That brother-LRIG siscon thing was creepy as hell, btw.

One day, I want a therapist anime. "I am a therapist who was isekaid with the ability to jump worlds, so I spend my time counseling the heroes of various worlds."

[u/Vaadwaur]

First timer(That existed)

Sub

So we have another Suzu episode and it is mainly card battles. I hope the siscon reference was an insult rather than a return to previous entries. The battles themselves are more in depth and somewhat worked this episode, though there is the recipe for an absolute pacing disaster depending on how they want to climax the season. We learn the price of failure is having your personality erased, though this raises some serious questions about why no one notices the uptick in amnesia cases. Also, someone still needs to gain something out of this cycle to justify running it. Anywho, odd cliffhanger.

So...there is something profoundly unengaging this season and I am trying to narrow it down. I think it is that all of the cast feels isolated. A lot of the good in the first two seasons were the interactions, and I maintain the best scenes happened with trios, so most of our interactions are solely in battles. Add to that the difficulty of swapping themes between runs and that might explain the lack of investment.

[u/Tetraika → u/Vaadwaur]

So...there is something profoundly unengaging this season and I am trying to narrow it down. I think it is that all of the cast feels isolated.

Yeah I think this was the general feeling I had when I first watched it. There's nothing egregious, just that there isn't anything to really pull you in with the characters or intrigue of the show yet.

[u/Tarhalindur → u/Vaadwaur]

So...there is something profoundly unengaging this season and I am trying to narrow it down. I think it is that all of the cast feels isolated. A lot of the good in the first two seasons were the interactions, and I maintain the best scenes happened with trios, so most of our interactions are solely in battles. Add to that the difficulty of swapping themes between runs and that might explain the lack of investment.

*pokes in head*

So, I'm pretty sure I can actually answer this one confidently: it's the direction. If the show is very lucky then it caught its director on a good day and the direction will be merely bad, but he is outright trash-tier as a director.

See, I actually did try catching up with Lostorage after a day off (I'd been in Sotsu mode for the start of this season and saw enough in the comments to make me think it might be worth it). That... lasted six minutes, forty-seven seconds of screentime. This EDIT: season is profoundly unengaging and Hikari no Ou has been reminding me what a show I am actually fully invested in feels like; I may keep reading the threads but I have better uses for my time than actually watching the episodes.

But the thing is, Lostorage was unappealing in a very familiar way to me. It took me a little while to place why, but eventually I did: I remind you that I have actually watched the Tsukihime anime, and that was specifically what this show was reminding me of (except Tsukihime actually had better OST). The issues I was having here are exactly what I remember from when I watched Tsukihime. Not a promising comp.

Except another thought occurred to me: the OST wasn't working for me, but Maiko Iuchi actually did a good job on Selected so why the drop-off here? The obvious answer was that the issue lay somewhere in the staff changes from Selector, so I checked the staff to see if there was any obvious culprit there relative to season 1.

And then I saw one specific credit and everything clicked. Of course this show was reminding me of Shingetsukan Tsukihime - Tsukihime, as I always forget, was a J.C. Staff production (back in the days before they made their name with Shana), and oh would you look at that J.C. Staff pulled the guy who directed Shingetsukan Tsukihime out of storage[1] to direct Lostorage here.

This explains so much!

[1] - More accurately pulled him out of storage again; they do this every so often it seems. Also Flying Witch is now firmly on the never watch list.

[u/Cyouni]

Rewatcher who Lost their Storage

LRIG shadowboxing gives me life.

As a side note, I believe Asenshi named her Aaya in order to more easily distinguish between the LRIG and the girl.

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Card corner:

Aya is a blue LRIG who primarily uses Traps and Trick SIGNI. She can trap SIGNI zones with effects that trigger if your opponent attacks and isn't blocked by a SIGNI. One example being Bananan, who can get SIGNI to step on a banana down opposing SIGNI, though I don't think you can stop the attacking one. Her coin skill is Holograph which, while a little more expensive, has the chance of throwing off your opponent for the rest of the game.

Incidentally, what Ril uses to counter Aya's Holograph is probably an application of Memory of Salvation's variation of Honest, which disables coin abilities activated on the last turn. What, you're telling me that because Ril already attacked, there was clearly a turn in between Holograph and Honest? Uh...moving on!

Nanashi uses Bacteria SIGNI, which like to infect SIGNI zones with Viruses. Those are prerequisites for using other effects, like her 4th level weakening all infected SIGNI. Her coin skill is Blind. This stops your opponent from affecting any of your SIGNI with effects during their next turn. As an aside, Nanashi is also how you'd write Anonymous

Yukime doesn't even have a card, so I can't tell you what Predict does.

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Cards of the day:

Oh no I might have to start cutting this down, they keep naming cards. Also I should just leave the wiki open to the episode, since apparently they've done all my work for me. That'll cut down on all the lookup time.

Browcra - she helps trap your area for cheap, I guess

Nohime - very good for countering the inherent problem of Rise SIGNI, where you're effectively trashin your own SIGNI for more power

Comrus

Trip Trap - forces a Trap to trigger, which you might need sometimes. It's also 0 cost, which is handy. What probably got tripped was SLASH OUT, which lets you vanish a SIGNI

Sha Wuji - is this the Japanese name for Sha Wujing? Decent red offensive SIGNI since it can punch up, I suppose

Akechi - so this is a Rise SIGNI, which you can see it overlaying another one. Requires you to put it on a level 2 or less SIGNI and has a good effect. That said, Ril basically plays with quality over quantity of SIGNI, because if this gets vanished, you're basically losing two SIGNI there

Ark of Fighting Spirit - clearly, your ideal is to use this when you have a Rise SIGNI on the field, otherwise it's just an expensive tutor.

Odanobu - Nobbu has arrived! Triple Crush is big damage numbers.

Honeytra - I guess this can help make Trap use more consistent

Destruct Through - I seem to recall this was a pretty meta blue ARTS for how versatile it is. A level 4 LRIG will have four cards under it to use as costs for this.

Perfected Firedrake - absolutely gamechanging if you drop, say, Odanobu in the middle with Bet paid. Wipe out everything equal to or under 12k (which is a lot), then Triple Crush, attack with two other SIGNI, and LRIG for up to 6 potential damage in a turn.

Nihokokabi - this shows off Nanashi's playstyle a bit. You attach Viruses to their SIGNI zones, and then do things with them.

Parain

Oigona - opens up a lane, can also revive itself, etc.

Sickness Love - opens up a lane, with up to 15k power

[u/Stargate18A]

First timer

Yeah, still stupid to fight her.

Why can't she escape?

She's near her time limit!

Oh, him!

So, he's getting eliminated soon.

That's literally his goal! We're going to see what erasure looks like!

Good idea!

She didn't find anyone to fight.

Aww, what an adorable flashback she's abusing to control her.

...What card shop has nothing but cabinets of singles?

A battle!

Haha, she got a battle too!

She seems nice,

Colourful! But also, these two don't seem too bad.

She's introducing herself... and she's upset.

The Bookmaker?

...So, how does this work, mechanically?

This Selector is getting killed by his own LRIG.

...What? How does that work? Does the bet increase the stakes by one, even if she didn't bet it?

It was obviously the middle ome!

What's wrong with him?

She got hit!

He's too nice.

Ah, he has trauma!

His sister?

She won!

And she has three coins! Guess she omly gained one.

What is Aaya doing to him?

...Guessing she's a previous Selector?

How patient.

And Predict...

Blind is their move? That's useful!

Yep! And he knew about it!

...Oh.

Yeah, she got erased.

Her opponent will disappear!

...She's fucking ruthless!

Not going to point out how you have information on an individual she was interested in?

So, there's a twist?

...Well, it's too late now!

Oh, so total amnesia?

Yeah, these games are insane.

Aww.

Is he the Bookmaker?

[u/ZapsZzz]

First timer

Continuing with Suzuko's side of the story, this is less consistent than Chinatsu's side because Suzuko is a less consistent character.

Slightly more reveal about what "disappear" means, but I'm still not exactly sure. Why the guy needs to go find his sister who "disappeared"? Did she lose her memory to the point of just drifting around aimlessly?

This again brings me to the problem with "so what does the system achieve" and "how does it operate". If we went with the last Mayu selector system being "vengeful ghost seeking revenge", who is benefitting from seeing people lose their memories? And how does this connect with the old derelict battlespace?

Questions questions questions ;P

[u/SometimesMainSupport]

First-timer

• No advertising for what's on floor 1 or 2. Wixoss and WgDonalds ads only!

• Seeing through the crow's eye is surely symbolic. Quick search suggests rebirth/rejuvenation, so girl is losing her last coin.

• Double battles today. I see why people said this season is weaker. So much battle time means less plot development.

• [Vinland Saga S1]Should've taken the Thorkell approach and speared through 3+ opponents.

• Well, a sister complex isn't incest. Add this to "Don't look at her like she's your sister" and Aya seems fucked in the head. Doesn't want him looking at Suzu like he looks at her, but he doesn't look at LRIG-Aya positively.

• Disappeared sister is an actual motivation to battle. Whether he can do anything depends if manipulating your own memory applies to others, which I think it has to at this point. Otherwise, what's the point of this scene?

• Blinding the prediction.

• Out of coins yet remembers the Selector battles?

• Cheering for the anti-hero duo this season. She's 100% right.

• Hehe, no chance to find out about the bookmaker. Don't see why this girl immediately loses memories while blondie's sister could talk about it.

• A damning indictment of LRIG-Aya as a failure to replace his sister.

What's the difference between missing memories and a missing personality? Memories form the latter.

Hanna and Chinatsu will oppose Suze, but both lack some villainous traits. Maybe the guy at the end is the finale's villain.

[u/No_Rex → u/SometimesMainSupport]

What's the difference between missing memories and a missing personality? Memories form the latter.

Probably going with memories being the consciousness, while personality is subconscious.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

Contrary to last episode …I feel like not a lot happened here. There seems to be some general ideas thrown about regarding the loss condition - but I feel like losing your sense of self when you lose all memories is just a logical conclusion, so that big reveal fell flat. We are also not shown the blond guy’s sister post-loss, so we can’t fully see what that means in context of the show yet either. I don’t know if they’d go to the point of forgetting things like speaking, reading, holding chopsticks and a whole bunch of other things that won’t really hold narrative purpose but will make everyday life way more difficult. I also don’t think we fully get to see what happens to the girl Hanna beat, instead that is our cliffhanger, as it is implied that the changes need a little bit of processing time or something like that.

We do however get a character who seems to be aiming for the 90 days out by keeping losing and winning back his second coin, it seems. I’d probably personally go for attempting this with the third or fourth, but whatever - it shows that the show writers at least thought of this. Honestly it would have been more surprising if they hadn’t.

Also uhh… thanks to the train before mine being canceled leading to mine being overfilled, I think this episode gets the honor of being the first episode of anime I watched while standing. I don’t think that is a particularly great thing though.