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Key Board · 2014-12-14, 18:58

Something about Ruuko feels incomplete

Tama is a "white" girl who has a taste for darkness. But she herself is ashamed of this.
Yuki is a "black" girl who has a lot more kindness than you'd expect. She just had to hide it.
Ulith was a bored sociopath. She had a problem with other people being happy
Mayu was a troubled neglected child. She also had a problem with other people being happy and misinterpreted the solution to this.

Meanwhile Ruuko is... Ruuko

Stark700 · 2014-12-19, 12:03

Episode 12:

Spoiler:

All in all, an alright series. Wasn't ground breaking but quite memorable in many ways.

elior · 2014-12-19, 12:20

this was a great happy ending even if it was a bit rushed in the last episodes i enjoyed the ending very much

VDZ · 2014-12-19, 13:32

The ending sucked. Ruuko teaches Mayu about the power of friendship and everything is magically solved because of it. And done in a cheesy manner, too. If this weren't the last episode I'd have dropped this show after this.

MartianMage · 2014-12-19, 14:15

So the show has ended huh...

One thing I really don't like about this show is how it just shoves stuff to our faces without really explaining... it's like we're just supposed to accept it no questions asked... why was Mayu treated as such in the first place... how did Mayu even create these battles from nothing...

Also while the card game aspect might not be important to the story I just feel that it's a wasted opportunity to just devolve all battles into 2 LRIGs shooting beams at each other.

Anyway after thinking about it... I'd give the show 5/10 for below average. IMO the show is pretty average in all aspects except I have to dock 1 more point because of the "a wizard did it!" aspect of the show.

IceHism · 2014-12-19, 15:34

I really liked the atmosphere of the first season heavily and the psychological struggles of the characters were really well done.

However, over time as Spread aired, i lost more and more motivation to even watch the show. There was something that i can't really put my finger on but it wasn't exciting and and i was no longer invested into the story. I especially hated Mayu as a concept or character as they explored her more. Akira was pretty cool but i dislike Ulith.
Also, who thought Chiyori or Futase Fumio were good ideas

But hey, at least a good end in this was possible. Loved the monologue in the end (damn, i have a weakness for those or something)

I'd put the first season at about an 8 or 7 but the second season is more like a 6 or 5 to me. so i'll just make both of them 7/10 as a combined thing.

heh, maybe it's just that Okada mari can't write anything more than 1 cour shows.

Guido · 2014-12-19, 18:47

I'm only one episode away to finish WIXOSS, and it would be hard for me to say good-bye, because even if the story is not great still engages at a personal level that's immersive.

To some degree I can empathize with how Mayu has been feeling and holding, living day by day in that enclosed room locked from the outside and being just another spectator to the outside world that unfolds before your eyes.

With time you develop a conformist attitude and feel no compulsion to muster strength to go directly to the door and open it.

Kuro went to bring other girls to come into Mayu's world, but Shiro felt always trapped inside the room with no way out.

In summary, Mayu's world of black and white is how she sees the outside world with somebody else's eyes, but she has grown too attached dwelling inside her conformist shell that thought to be left behind or abandoned by somebody from inside or outside scares her the most.

Making a little stop, here I'm grateful they return to the characters of Hanayo and Kazuki, and, at least, Kazuki has perception of what's going on based on what he accidentally eavesdropped from Hanayo-Yuzuki, and from what Hitoe and Ruko explained to him.
Another cruelty of Mayu's world:
- Yuzuki gets reunited with Kazuki, and so close to each other and yet there's a wall that prevents her to leave and be with him; thankfully, Kazuki could feel Yuzuki's presence within the card, even if he's no Selector.

There's so much happened in this second to last episode, and I really wish for Ruko to win and bring a happy ending to all her friends, to Yuki, to Tama, to Mayu, and to all Lrig, and Selectors.

Please Ruko, give Mayu love and acknowledgement so that this cycle of tragedy can end at last.

Key Board · 2014-12-19, 19:20

Wixoss was definitely above average
but I think it also missed the potential to be spectacular
I think it tried to be too many different things

but the core theme, if you frame it from Mayu's circumstances, is solid
The show didn't bother dwelling on the mechanics of the card games
but instead it chose to address the emotions that gave birth to curse

It was a good show. Or rather, a good fairy tale.

Triple_R · 2014-12-19, 19:26

My initial response to the ending is slight disappointment.

I'm fine with it being a happy ending, and in fact I was hoping for that or "bittersweet", but there's something that feels a bit weightless and vaguely "unearned" about this ending.

I think I would have preferred it if Ruu vs. Mayu was in fact a proper Selector battle, and played out as one to an eventual conclusion. Okada could have still slipped in her Mayu character moments, and I think Ruu's victory would have felt sweeter and more hard-fought to me if it had resulted from Ruu using her well-established talent at Selector battles in order to defeat the person who originated Selector battles in the first place (which could have been nicely poetic, sort of in a SAO kind of way). That would have likely carried more weight to me than Ruu successfully answering some borderline "trick question" riddle about a character that, frankly, we haven't been given much reason to like or care about.

Anime likes to give its villains last-minute sob stories, and I find that this tends to be very hit-and-miss. In Mayu's case, it wasn't just a miss to me, it felt like an unintentional caricature of this trope.

Oh well, I'm glad Ruu got her happy ending, and WIXOSS was certainly a fun ride with some extremely nice highlights at times. But with this conclusion, WIXOSS will not be displacing Love Live! Season 2 as my favorite anime of 2014. Whatever minor issues I might have had with LL! Season 2's ending, it nonetheless felt very well-earned and generally well-presented to me.

Key Board · 2014-12-19, 19:33

It would definitely flow better if Mayu was more directly involved since S1

edit:

I felt the show was saying something when they didn't emphasize the cardgame mechanics
Instead they emphasized the feelings behind the card battles
important card battle had more talking about emotions than game mechanics, or Iona and Ruu's case showing said emotion
Ruu didn't win because of skill. She won because of emphathy

Triple_R · 2014-12-19, 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Key Board

I felt the show was saying something when they didn't emphasize the cardgame mechanics
Instead they emphasized the feelings behind the card battles
important card battle had more talking about emotions than game mechanics, or Iona and Ruu's case showing said emotion

Selector battles typically struck me as an almost pure contest of will, with skill at the game being secondary to that or even flowing from that personal force of will.

And that's fine, I could go with this sort of shonen-hero esque approach, as opposed to the much more technical Yu-Gi-Oh! or Saki (with its highly intricate exploration of mahjong rules and victory conditions). But even with this more "emotional/personality" than "logical/analytical" based approach, the Selector battles did in fact typically meet with a natural game victory conclusion... even if it was off-camera.

Ultimately, I just find it rather dissatisfying for the final Selector battle to be resolved with something that usually starts a generic Batman vs. The Riddler conflict.

I mean, seriously Key Board, all of this two seasons worth of grueling emotions and tears and intense Selector battles boils down to "Riddle me this, Ruu!" and you don't find that kind of, well, lame?

I certainly find it lame, honestly.

Key Board · 2014-12-19, 20:14

oh, you're talking about the pick my color riddle
yes, it does feel hammy
it could have been executed better.. or they could have picked a different allegory.. probably..
I don't play card games, but that pick my color riddle does sound like an actual card in card game battle
huh, so I guess Wixoss does care about the mechanics a bit after all

but well, Mayu psychotherapy it's not without precedence. They have been psychoanalyzing Mayu for the last 3 episodes
and one of the conclusions is she wanted to be shown empathy by others

now that I think of it, it reminds me of an \\ understanding // ending, typically used in present mecha anime

Sageblink · 2014-12-19, 20:50

During this "pick my color" crap, I was like "Grey. Pick grey. Because Shiro + Kuro = Grey"... But no. Dirty trick you played there, Mayu.

Well, it's the end. Happy that Ruko is still waiting for Tama to appear somewhere. Strange we don't get to see Hanayo is human form (or did I miss it ?). How convenient that they all live in the same city...

Nymbryxion · 2014-12-19, 20:57

Meh ending....

On the side note, all the teasers in the first episode in season 1 never happened (the big impaled monster girl thingy)....

Key Board · 2014-12-19, 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nymbryxion

Meh ending....

On the side note, all the teasers in the first episode in season 1 never happened (the big impaled monster girl thingy)....

they didn't explain any of that
my biggest complaint about the show

Master_Yoma · 2014-12-19, 22:28

Spoiler for Nice ending:

8/10 Funi need to release this

night_sentinel · 2014-12-19, 23:25

I'm not going to dispute the slight disappointed feeling that the ending gave. I myself was hoping for an S3. I felt that there is still more of the story that need to be told. That and there is a criminal lack of Yuki in the ending montage. More than Tama, I feel that she is quite central to the S2 storyline. (Or did Tama/Yuki merge or something into one person. Meh)

Still, as someone who like the TCG game itself. I feel obligated to point out that the picking the color move that was used in the anime is actually a legitimate game move and I find it particularly poignant the way they managed to work that in the anime.

Please see here.

This is the important translation part.
[Action] Exceed 5: Choose one card from your hand. Your opponent declares one from White, Red, Blue, Green, Black, Colorless. Reveal that card, and if it is a card that does not have the declared icon, put all of your opponent's SIGNI into the trash.

What does this mean to those who don't play the TCG?

Ulith level 5 has a one time special ability that basically asks the opponent to guess what color the card that he/she picked. If the opponent guessed wrong, Ulith trash all of their signi leaving them with no defenders. (Which essentially meant losing the game at that late stage unless they have a surprise counter (ART) for it)

If they guess right, nothing happens and Ulith just wasted her exceed.

Edit:
Note that this doesn't mean that I'm defending the battles itself. While the mechanics are mechanically sound, the deck itself is a bit too prepared and does not correspond to plot developments.

Benigmatica · 2014-12-20, 00:22

Spoiler for Episode 24 (Selector Spread Ep. 12):

serenade_beta · 2014-12-20, 03:22

Meh, the scriptwriter didn't do that great of a job cleaning up the mess she made. I guess it was an okay ending, since everyone except a couple of "evil" characters or so get a happy end, but I'm not left with the feeling that it was done well. Last few episodes especially chaotic and sudden.
Meh, it was fun seeing all of the messed up characters and stuff though. It was fun until the ride started to stop. 7/10

Diveman · 2014-12-20, 08:52

I don't know if I missed it or if they never explained it but, why was Mayu in that room again? I get that she was being kept there and wasn't allowed to go out, but for what purpose?

2014-12-14, 18:58	Link #281
Key Board Carbon Join Date: Nov 2003	Something about Ruuko feels incomplete Tama is a "white" girl who has a taste for darkness. But she herself is ashamed of this. Yuki is a "black" girl who has a lot more kindness than you'd expect. She just had to hide it. Ulith was a bored sociopath. She had a problem with other people being happy Mayu was a troubled neglected child. She also had a problem with other people being happy and misinterpreted the solution to this. Meanwhile Ruuko is... Ruuko __________________ "Legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.” Malcolm Gladwell

2014-12-19, 12:03	Link #282
Stark700 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Somewhere on Earth	Episode 12: Spoiler: Welp, so Ruuko makes her final resolve in this episode. It looks like Mayu breaks down a bit at long last after realizing everything.. Another magical girl is born as well. It looks like the show went for more or less of a happy ending. Not bad. The song they used at the end reflected good emotional feel. I'm also glad to see Ruuko still remaining friends with Yuzuki. All in all, an alright series. Wasn't ground breaking but quite memorable in many ways. __________________

2014-12-19, 14:15	Link #285
MartianMage Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006	So the show has ended huh... One thing I really don't like about this show is how it just shoves stuff to our faces without really explaining... it's like we're just supposed to accept it no questions asked... why was Mayu treated as such in the first place... how did Mayu even create these battles from nothing... Also while the card game aspect might not be important to the story I just feel that it's a wasted opportunity to just devolve all battles into 2 LRIGs shooting beams at each other. Anyway after thinking about it... I'd give the show 5/10 for below average. IMO the show is pretty average in all aspects except I have to dock 1 more point because of the "a wizard did it!" aspect of the show. __________________ Homura: Die monster! You don't belong in this world! Kyubey: It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was called here by humans who wish to pay me tribute. Homura: Tribute? You steal girls' souls, and make them your slaves! Kyubey: Perhaps the same could be said of all religions. Homura: Your words are as empty as your soul! Lolis ill-needs a savior such as you! Kyubey: What is a loli? A miserable little pile of moe! But enough talk...have at you!

2014-12-19, 15:34	Link #286
IceHism Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2014	I really liked the atmosphere of the first season heavily and the psychological struggles of the characters were really well done. However, over time as Spread aired, i lost more and more motivation to even watch the show. There was something that i can't really put my finger on but it wasn't exciting and and i was no longer invested into the story. I especially hated Mayu as a concept or character as they explored her more. Akira was pretty cool but i dislike Ulith. Also, who thought Chiyori or Futase Fumio were good ideas But hey, at least a good end in this was possible. Loved the monologue in the end (damn, i have a weakness for those or something) I'd put the first season at about an 8 or 7 but the second season is more like a 6 or 5 to me. so i'll just make both of them 7/10 as a combined thing. heh, maybe it's just that Okada mari can't write anything more than 1 cour shows. Last edited by IceHism; 2014-12-19 at 16:06.

2014-12-19, 18:47	Link #287
Guido Snobby Gentleman Join Date: May 2004 Location: Monterrey, México Age: 43	That Locked Window I'm only one episode away to finish WIXOSS, and it would be hard for me to say good-bye, because even if the story is not great still engages at a personal level that's immersive. To some degree I can empathize with how Mayu has been feeling and holding, living day by day in that enclosed room locked from the outside and being just another spectator to the outside world that unfolds before your eyes. With time you develop a conformist attitude and feel no compulsion to muster strength to go directly to the door and open it. Kuro went to bring other girls to come into Mayu's world, but Shiro felt always trapped inside the room with no way out. In summary, Mayu's world of black and white is how she sees the outside world with somebody else's eyes, but she has grown too attached dwelling inside her conformist shell that thought to be left behind or abandoned by somebody from inside or outside scares her the most. Making a little stop, here I'm grateful they return to the characters of Hanayo and Kazuki, and, at least, Kazuki has perception of what's going on based on what he accidentally eavesdropped from Hanayo-Yuzuki, and from what Hitoe and Ruko explained to him. Another cruelty of Mayu's world: - Yuzuki gets reunited with Kazuki, and so close to each other and yet there's a wall that prevents her to leave and be with him; thankfully, Kazuki could feel Yuzuki's presence within the card, even if he's no Selector. There's so much happened in this second to last episode, and I really wish for Ruko to win and bring a happy ending to all her friends, to Yuki, to Tama, to Mayu, and to all Lrig, and Selectors. Please Ruko, give Mayu love and acknowledgement so that this cycle of tragedy can end at last.

2014-12-19, 12:20	Link #283
elior Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2011	this was a great happy ending even if it was a bit rushed in the last episodes i enjoyed the ending very much

2014-12-19, 13:32	Link #284
VDZ Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008	The ending sucked. Ruuko teaches Mayu about the power of friendship and everything is magically solved because of it. And done in a cheesy manner, too. If this weren't the last episode I'd have dropped this show after this.

2014-12-19, 19:20	Link #288
Key Board Carbon Join Date: Nov 2003	Wixoss was definitely above average but I think it also missed the potential to be spectacular I think it tried to be too many different things but the core theme, if you frame it from Mayu's circumstances, is solid The show didn't bother dwelling on the mechanics of the card games but instead it chose to address the emotions that gave birth to curse It was a good show. Or rather, a good fairy tale. __________________ "Legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.” Malcolm Gladwell

2014-12-19, 19:26	Link #289
Triple_R Senior Member Author Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Age: 42	My initial response to the ending is slight disappointment. I'm fine with it being a happy ending, and in fact I was hoping for that or "bittersweet", but there's something that feels a bit weightless and vaguely "unearned" about this ending. I think I would have preferred it if Ruu vs. Mayu was in fact a proper Selector battle, and played out as one to an eventual conclusion. Okada could have still slipped in her Mayu character moments, and I think Ruu's victory would have felt sweeter and more hard-fought to me if it had resulted from Ruu using her well-established talent at Selector battles in order to defeat the person who originated Selector battles in the first place (which could have been nicely poetic, sort of in a SAO kind of way). That would have likely carried more weight to me than Ruu successfully answering some borderline "trick question" riddle about a character that, frankly, we haven't been given much reason to like or care about. Anime likes to give its villains last-minute sob stories, and I find that this tends to be very hit-and-miss. In Mayu's case, it wasn't just a miss to me, it felt like an unintentional caricature of this trope. Oh well, I'm glad Ruu got her happy ending, and WIXOSS was certainly a fun ride with some extremely nice highlights at times. But with this conclusion, WIXOSS will not be displacing Love Live! Season 2 as my favorite anime of 2014. Whatever minor issues I might have had with LL! Season 2's ending, it nonetheless felt very well-earned and generally well-presented to me. __________________

2014-12-19, 19:33	Link #290
Key Board Carbon Join Date: Nov 2003	It would definitely flow better if Mayu was more directly involved since S1 edit: I felt the show was saying something when they didn't emphasize the cardgame mechanics Instead they emphasized the feelings behind the card battles important card battle had more talking about emotions than game mechanics, or Iona and Ruu's case showing said emotion Ruu didn't win because of skill. She won because of emphathy __________________ "Legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.” Malcolm Gladwell Last edited by Key Board; 2014-12-19 at 19:46.

2014-12-19, 20:14	Link #292
Key Board Carbon Join Date: Nov 2003	oh, you're talking about the pick my color riddle yes, it does feel hammy it could have been executed better.. or they could have picked a different allegory.. probably.. I don't play card games, but that pick my color riddle does sound like an actual card in card game battle huh, so I guess Wixoss does care about the mechanics a bit after all but well, Mayu psychotherapy it's not without precedence. They have been psychoanalyzing Mayu for the last 3 episodes and one of the conclusions is she wanted to be shown empathy by others now that I think of it, it reminds me of an \\ understanding // ending, typically used in present mecha anime __________________ "Legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice—that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can’t treat one group differently from another.” Malcolm Gladwell

2014-12-19, 20:50	Link #293
Sageblink Speculation is wrong. Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Paris	During this "pick my color" crap, I was like "Grey. Pick grey. Because Shiro + Kuro = Grey"... But no. Dirty trick you played there, Mayu. Well, it's the end. Happy that Ruko is still waiting for Tama to appear somewhere. Strange we don't get to see Hanayo is human form (or did I miss it ?). How convenient that they all live in the same city...

2014-12-19, 20:57	Link #294
Nymbryxion Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2014	Meh ending.... On the side note, all the teasers in the first episode in season 1 never happened (the big impaled monster girl thingy)....

2014-12-19, 22:28	Link #296
Master_Yoma Nekokota Festival Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Lost in the Fairy Forest	Spoiler for Nice ending: Ruuko saving Mayu and everyone 8/10 Funi need to release this __________________

2014-12-19, 23:25	Link #297
night_sentinel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Earth	I'm not going to dispute the slight disappointed feeling that the ending gave. I myself was hoping for an S3. I felt that there is still more of the story that need to be told. That and there is a criminal lack of Yuki in the ending montage. More than Tama, I feel that she is quite central to the S2 storyline. (Or did Tama/Yuki merge or something into one person. Meh) Still, as someone who like the TCG game itself. I feel obligated to point out that the picking the color move that was used in the anime is actually a legitimate game move and I find it particularly poignant the way they managed to work that in the anime. Please see here. This is the important translation part. [Action] Exceed 5: Choose one card from your hand. Your opponent declares one from White, Red, Blue, Green, Black, Colorless. Reveal that card, and if it is a card that does not have the declared icon, put all of your opponent's SIGNI into the trash. What does this mean to those who don't play the TCG? Ulith level 5 has a one time special ability that basically asks the opponent to guess what color the card that he/she picked. If the opponent guessed wrong, Ulith trash all of their signi leaving them with no defenders. (Which essentially meant losing the game at that late stage unless they have a surprise counter (ART) for it) If they guess right, nothing happens and Ulith just wasted her exceed. Edit: Note that this doesn't mean that I'm defending the battles itself. While the mechanics are mechanically sound, the deck itself is a bit too prepared and does not correspond to plot developments. __________________ Saki - The Conclusion of the Fifth Stage Match Saki 190 - Yuuki Gambling Mathematical Waves Saki - 1st Half of the Vanguard Finals - Mysterious Cousins and Rare Yakumans Last edited by night_sentinel; 2014-12-19 at 23:40.

2014-12-20, 00:22	Link #298
Benigmatica Deadpan Rambler Join Date: Nov 2012	Spoiler for Episode 24 (Selector Spread Ep. 12): So the only way to settle a BATTORU... is to guess which color Mayu is holding! Glad that Ruko guess it right, but good riddance to Ulith! Well, I have to say that it's a happy ending where every LRIG returned as humans! And damn, what a tease to Tamayuki, she should meet with Ru-chan already!

2014-12-20, 03:22	Link #299
serenade_beta そのおっぱいで13才 Join Date: Dec 2006	Meh, the scriptwriter didn't do that great of a job cleaning up the mess she made. I guess it was an okay ending, since everyone except a couple of "evil" characters or so get a happy end, but I'm not left with the feeling that it was done well. Last few episodes especially chaotic and sudden. Meh, it was fun seeing all of the messed up characters and stuff though. It was fun until the ride started to stop. 7/10 __________________ -Blog --> http://tdnshumi.blogspot.com/ (Mainly about video games) -R.I.P. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Gaming wouldn't have been the same without you (9/19/13)

2014-12-20, 08:52	Link #300
Diveman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2011	I don't know if I missed it or if they never explained it but, why was Mayu in that room again? I get that she was being kept there and wasn't allowed to go out, but for what purpose?