Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today is certain to be a moment of reckoning, as we return to Blue Reflection Ray with Mio’s promised reprieve just now coming to its end. Having vowed to rewrite the past and thus provide her doomed world with a future, Mio is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect her sister Hiori. Meanwhile, Shino waits hungrily in the shadows, plotting to turn that same sister into the despairing fuel for her ambitions, with Mio’s demise likely serving as the catalyst.
It’s all a satisfying muddle of desperate hopes and brewing betrayals, lent some welcome emotional weight through the clear merit of Mio’s challenge to the Blue Reflectors. “Embrace your trauma in order to overcome it” is not a universally applicable solution, particularly for someone like Nina, who has not only suffered more acutely than any of our heroic leads, but who also lacks the support network that cushioned characters like Miyako through their recovery. And beyond this, for all we’ve learned about the reflectors, they still appear to be appendages of a system we do not understand, designed for purposes that remain wholly unclear. Thus our heroes enter the day of reckoning with no plan, no coherent philosophy, and no understanding of their own purpose. Let’s get to it!
Episode 11
We open with Ruka now captured, laid out on the sofa as that creeper Uta makes her weird smile and starts getting all grabby. Even for a group of villains, I feel like allowing Uta to be one of your representatives is just terribly publicity
“Is this your first time losing your feelings? Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” While Mio’s argument hinges on the erasure of emotions being a necessary defense against sufficiently debilitating trauma, Uta happily leans into the idea of this process as an invasion, emotions being “taken” in the same way chastity can be “taken”
“What we want is you and your partner’s little flowers.” Once again, Uta intentionally drawing a parallel between extracting feelings and sexual assault
Uta is so eager to brag about their plans that she actually informs Ruka they’re targeting Hiori
Meanwhile, Shino is singing Mio a lullaby about a rose that pricked the boy who picked it, “so he would have something to remember it by.” A song that implies it is only through the suffering we cause that we exist in the memory of others – a troubling implication, given their general philosophy of erasing unpleasant memories. They aspire to live as ghosts, haunting others but ultimately fading into oblivion
And of course, this whole maternalistic lullaby scenario emphasizes the infantilization of their worldview, how it’s really just an attempt to retreat to the baggage-free simplicity of early childhood, the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
With storm clouds hanging overhead, Shiori and Momo go searching for Ruka
Miyako’s phone connection breaks as they reach the rose garden. She prepares to head out herself, but is confronted by Saiki Yuri, the girl who was spying on her previously
Momo soothes Shiori’s nerves by transforming, her new look serving as a reminder that they’ve grown stronger together. I also like how their conversation continues through Shiori’s own transformation – these transformations don’t occur outside of time like the frequent standard, and thus transforming before the battle is tactically necessary
Hah, they’ve actually got Ruka chained to the altar at the chapel. Just really not her day
Mio’s transformed look is really quite something. With her extended, color-shifting hair and long antenna-like ribbons, she looks like some kind of ominous moth or crow. I suppose that fits with the persistent crows outside
“We weren’t able to talk the other day. So… I want to hear what you’re feeling.” Hiori attempts to put the lessons of her relationship with Ruka to work in reaching Mio. This is likely the only answer to Mio’s fundamental critique – that in order to lighten the load of our memories and genuinely connect, we must find willing partners who will accept our feelings without judgment. Not everyone is strong enough to embrace their feelings alone, but a trusted partner can make things easier
That does make me wonder how the Red Reflectors actually work, though. The power of the Blue Reflectors is based in the trust and strength of their bonds, but the Red Reflectors seem able to grasp power even though most of them hate each other
“You don’t need to know. That way, you won’t suffer.” Mio sees her feelings not as a burden to be shared, but a curse to be guarded so as to shield others
“I can see how much you’re suffering.” But Shiori’s counter proves the weakness of Mio’s perspective – because Mio’s suffering is Shiori’s suffering, even if she can’t understand it. Holding your pain inside will not prevent the people you love from feeling it alongside you
Shino actually agrees Mio should share her feelings, clearly up to something
Oof, the character faces are rough in some of these cuts. Blue Reflection is not the most visually impressive show at the best of times, and at others the placement of characters’ eyes and mouths make them look like animated thumbs
With Shino in attendance, Mio’s resolve is hardened once again. “Reflectors can’t protect anyone.”
Yuri claims she is working for the AASA. Alright, finally someone who actually knows what’s going on!
“The Common is a world created by people’s collective unconscious. It’s the place where everyone’s consciousness and memories are stored, and it’s a place we must not interact with. Originally, the crystallized versions of everyone’s feelings should only exist in the Common. They should not appear in our world. After the fight with the Sephira, the space-time became distorted. The laws of the world were changed. And this distortion is now quickly spreading. And the reason it’s now speeding up…” …is the process the Red Reflectors were pursuing. Alright, that actually covers a lot of it! So Reflectors are indeed inherent intrusions on our reality, “guardians” that shouldn’t actually be interacting with humans at all
And the Red Reflectors’ stolen feelings are becoming fuel, used to foster further distortions of reality
Mio states that Reflectors can only momentarily quell fragments – unless the emotional root of the fragment is dealt with, they will grow once again
Ooh, I love these fantastical backgrounds we see Mio wandering through as an explanation of her path here. The metaphor is clear: young girls are set to walk along winding stone paths flanked by abyssal chasms, an illustration of the claustrophobic expectations placed upon them, and the harrowing consequences of not fulfilling them
“So you think the worst experiences will make you stronger. You make me sick. Your shitty past is useless.” Nina responds to Shiori’s optimism with understandable venom. We’d like to retroactively assign meaning to suffering in order to feel like we at least gained something from it, but the truth is that most trauma is just trauma, most scars are just scars. Suffering does not inherently make us noble or wise
“We won’t let the sadness and the suffering of all those girls go to waste.” I can actually see Nina’s point – suffering has no inherent value, but the Red Reflectors can actually put that suffering to mechanical use, and thereby give some meaning to the plights of their targets
“We’re going to connect those feelings and open the door to the Commons. Then we will manage those Fragments ourselves.” So they’re basically going for a human instrumentality project to ensure total mutual understanding, with them as overseers to make sure everyone plays nice
I like this conception of magical girls – they’re actually too powerful for our world, beings that shouldn’t exist here, and thus their very presence causes distortions and ripples. I’m in general a fan of magical systems that see magic itself as somehow toxic or hazardous to life, an aberration in reality – Roadside Picnic has been one of my favorite articulations of “magic” ever since I read it
“Basically, the dignity of those feelings will be lost.” Interestingly, Yuri sees the very privacy of their feelings as crucial to their nature
Shino’s solution is to simply mold everyone’s feelings into pleasant, agreeable shapes, so there’s no disagreement or unhappiness. She sees the answer to the inherent conflict of human identity in the erasure of human identity
The Red Reflectors then claim it is time to remove their rings, which seem to be resonating with their stockpile of energy
Ruka wakes at last, and begs Hiori not to surrender her ring
“I won’t hand over my feelings, no matter what!” But the rings are merely a symbol – Hiori now has total confidence in her feelings, and doesn’t need the ring to ignite them. Thus Ruka breaks free
Ooh, some nice fluid cuts as Momo leaps into battle. Not many drawings, but the choreography possesses a strong sense of impact and follow-through
Aw shit, we’re rolling credits right through the battle. Too much to get to!
“Humans are weak.” I wonder if Shino is a Sephira herself. She certainly hasn’t expressed any actual human emotions so far
“I don’t want you to suffer anymore.” Mio, that’s a funny thing to say while flinging spear-pointed chains at someone
“This time, I’ll be the one to help you.” Shiori offers both an apology and a promise, assuring Mio she is now strong enough that her sister need not shoulder all the weight
Mio cannot be swayed! But Momo dives in front of the strike!
And Done
Welp, that can’t be good – now Mio is blooming into some kind of self-hating monster of regrets, and our reliable senpai Momo is apparently dead. I imagine that’ll all play out horrifically next episode, but to be honest, I’m more intrigued by the information we received in the margins here, regarding the distinctive nature of the Commons and what Reflectors are actually supposed to be used for. I’m quite taken with the idea of “magical girls” being an outcome of seepage from an inhospitable, unreachable world of magic, and have to imagine the show will be taking a dramatic turn as we swerve into the consequences of Shino’s ambitions. As for Shino herself, she’s frankly the show’s weakest narrative link at the moment; she’s just “evil,” there’s no substance to her, and her ability to mind control others diminishes the substance of the conflicts around her. Here’s hoping she gains some context or texture as her nefarious dreams come to fruition!
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