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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Spring 2021 First Impressions – Blue Reflection Ray

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 24

Source: Game

Story Summary: Ruka is a quiet girl with a longing to connect with others but an inability to do so effectively. She carries regrets with her after transferring schools, and can’t seem to change her situation for the better. When her roommate Hiori returns through the window of their shared dorm room after an absence, Ruka is immediately struck by her natural, outgoing nature. Though they are very different people, they seem to share a connection; the ring that Ruka found dropped on the ground one afternoon seems to make a pair with one that Hiori received from her sister’s belongings, and both house a power that neither could have imagined.

Impressions: If I had to describe this episode with a word, I might use “inscrutible.” It keeps many of its details close and presented through flashbacks and other indirect means. Oftentimes that sort of thing doesn’t bother me, because I enjoy the feeling of not knowing everything. However, there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit well with me and I think its opaque nature might be part of the reason why.

When details are sparse, characterization is key, and I don’t feel like that’s a strength of this episode. I get the sense we’re meant to deeply sympathize with Ruka’s inability to make friends, and there’s a part of me that truly knows how it feels to be too awkward to maintain close, deep friendships. It’s hard to make connections with people, especially if you’re really shy and prone to having all the wrong things to say. That said, aside from her obvious awkwardness and reticence, Ruka feels like a black box of emotion. Her reactions feel flat and one-note, especially when it comes to any type of unusual situation – it’s a lot of repeated exclamations about how relationships are hard and how she doesn’t understand how people can just reach out to others for no reason. Yeah, I get it… but she sounds like a broken record.

Hiori, on the other had, is an airheaded genki girl archetype with a melancholy backstory that’s hinted at several times, but just doesn’t feel tied to her character very deeply. It sucks because it feel like her story should be ripe for establishing the (assumed) themes of the series – making and keeping connections, because they can be so easily lost. And yet, I’m left feeling nothing about her.

Opposites attract.

Overall, this episode just feels disorienting, as though too many important details were left out of the mix. I worry that perhaps those details are outlined in the game on which this was based, which is fine I suppose but I don’t think most English-language viewers will have played it and there’s not a lot here that would motivate me to want to do so. Perhaps once the story gets going it might level out, but as of episode 1 I’m not particularly impressed.

Pros: I think the magical girl transformation outfits are pretty fun. Thus far we’ve seen about four and they’re colorful and fanciful, with an aesthetic that feels unique.

Cons: So I suspect from what I’ve seen thus far that this story has a strong leaning toward Yuri elements; if that’s the case I’m already a bit concerned by some of the antagonists’ characterization. There’s one baddie we meet who reads like some kind of manipulative (and mildly unhinged) lesbian stereotype. Queer-coded villains are unfortunately old hat when it comes to media, but this sort of representation is one of my most-hated manifestations of it.

The character designs are just odd and inconsistent. There seems to be an emphasis on delicate linework which is fine, but the characters are shaded with a lot of pink that just makes them look like they’re all running a fever. The quality of the animation doesn’t flatter the character designs, either; there are a lot of weirdly-placed eyes and such.

The zones into which the characters are dragged when evil is afoot feel like discount witches’ labyrinths. While I feel bad when all magical girl series get compared to Madoka (it’s not fair to either), sometimes a cheap knockoff is just that.

Content Warnings: Mild bullying. Mild violence. Depression/isolation. Implication of character death.

Would I Watch More? – I still don’t even have a strong sense of the episode I did watch, which doesn’t make me inclined to watch any more.

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