{"id":132183,"date":"2024-06-15T15:59:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrongeverytime.com\/?p=39546"},"modified":"2024-06-15T15:59:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T14:59:06","slug":"blue-reflection-ray-episode-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/15\/blue-reflection-ray-episode-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Reflection Ray \u2013 Episode 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we\u2019d check back in on the drama of Blue Reflection Ray, on the precipice of our first formal magical girl battle. With Miyako\u2019s life hanging in the balance, blue and red Reflectors are squaring off in a kaleidoscopic nightmare realm, intent on either saving Miyako from her self-hatred or conditioning her into a pure avatar of suffering. Can Hiori handle these foes, and will Ruka rise to the challenge and join her!?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, probably, though I imagine we\u2019ll be in for some bitter struggles on the road. Personally, I\u2019m intrigued both to see how this show handles a full-on battle, and also just eager to get back to the banter between our leads, particularly if Miyako\u2019s about to join them. Her bitter snark seems like the perfect counterpoint to Ruka\u2019s timidity and Hiori\u2019s false cheer, and I\u2019d love for her to encourage Hiori to really feel <\/span>mad<\/span><\/i> about her unhappy family life. The show appears to be establishing a binary of positive and negative emotional powers that seems ripe for immediate deconstruction, and with our leads\u2019 circumstances largely established, I\u2019m eager to see more of the show\u2019s actual hand. Let\u2019s get to it!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Episode 3<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cHiding Your True Feelings.\u201d An episode title that immediately calls to mind Hiori\u2019s glib reflections on her absent mother<\/span><\/p>\n

We open on Miyako as a young child in a bedroom fit for a princess, admiring a handful of jewels. \u201cEver since I was little, I loved pretty, shiny things\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey glittered and shined, proving their existence so that someday, someone would find them.\u201d She obviously sees herself in these jewels, holding out the hope that her own glittering form might one day be appreciated by her distant mother<\/span><\/p>\n

A visual echo of her bedazzled picture frame falling as her phone hits the ground. These red Reflectors are drawing her in by replaying her unhappiest memories<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The effects animation seems to echo the strengths of the OP\u2019s fight animation: lots of ragged, energetic cuts with loose, morphing forms and delicate linework. An effective look, both inherently quite pretty and also infused with a sense of irregular sharpness, implying violent physical consequence with a single missed step<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you going to do with Miyako and her feelings?\u201d The framing of this \u201cFragment\u201d system seems to emphasize the distance between our emotions and our actions – we can\u2019t help what we feel, but we can help how we consider and act upon those feelings, and the two Reflector organizations seem to embody the poles of those reactions<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently the closed spaces they create are known as \u201cLeap Ranges\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI can feel her suffering.\u201d Ruka, who is so in touch with her emotions that they\u2019re practically paralyzing her, can immediately connect with Miyako\u2019s pain. Ruka and Hiori seem like a natural pair, offering a clear route for mutual growth as Ruka learns to not be overwhelmed by her feelings through Hiori, and Hiori learns to genuinely embrace her own through Ruka<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow am I supposed to ignore someone when they\u2019re suffering?\u201d Hiori already possessing the Heroes\u2019 Mantle of Responsibility<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll violate the depths of your heart.\u201d I feel like you have to start questioning the righteousness of your cause when your allies are spouting shit like this<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Murder-happy Uta\u2019s powers are expressed as a purple goop or miasma, which seems about right<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur little flower is taking so long to bloom. Maybe it\u2019s because those two are here.\u201d Yeah, it seems like you can bloom into either a red or blue Reflector, depending on whether confronting your feelings leads you to hope or despair<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow? How can you always keep looking forward?\u201d Ruka\u2019s thoughts offer another framing for the same binary: looking forward versus obsessing with the past<\/span><\/p>\n

Ruka recalls a girl she failed to save, a girl she knew was hurting, but who she considered \u201cnone of her business.\u201d After failing to reach out to that girl, she internalized inaction as her fundamental nature<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I do feel like these witch world overlays o<\/span>n the backgrounds can make for some overly busy visual compositions. It can tougher to grasp character form and relative distance with so much visual noise in these shots<\/span><\/p>\n

Momo\u2019s opponent seems briefly put off guard when Momo asks for her name. It seems they all have their own reasons for joining this red Reflector group<\/span><\/p>\n

The red Reflectors claim they are just going to take Miyako\u2019s fragment, which the blonde girl describes as \u201cridding her of this rotted abscess, and that \u201cshe\u2019ll be saved once she\u2019s rid of it.\u201d So their plan is to simply excise negative feelings, again reflecting this episode\u2019s title<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In response, Ruka articulates the healthier approach: embracing your feelings, reflecting on them, and ultimately working through them. Even if your feelings seem self-defeating, simply refusing to recognize them will never allow you to move past them<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just told myself I wouldn\u2019t be able to help her, and decided how she should feel about me.\u201d Ruka\u2019s usual method, which Hiori already challenged last episode<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to change!\u201d And through voicing her desire to change, Miyako\u2019s own Fragment begins to clear. A mechanical reflection of how articulating your regrets and failings can often make others feel less alone, less isolated and buried under the weight of their negative thoughts<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was wondering where I recognized Hiori\u2019s voice actress from, and it turns out she actually plays Maquia from, uh, Maquia. Watch Maquia! Okada\u2019s powers have only grown since she\u2019s escaped the confines of TV anime, and Maquia\u2019s one of her greatest works yet<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTied down to the past and made to suffer through unnecessary feelings.\u201d The villain\u2019s perspective is somewhat sympathetic, but also oh-so-adolescent. Sorry girl, but the accumulation of loss and regret is a necessary aspect of life, as important in shaping our mature identities as all the happy times<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter how sad those feelings, how much pain and suffering they cause\u2026 even then, we can\u2019t be the ones to decide for them!\u201d Robbing Miyako of her negative feelings means robbing her of the possibility of learning and growing from them, as Ruka has now learned from her own regrets. If we never experience hardship, we can never grow into our most thoughtful, empathetic selves. If we <\/span>deny<\/span><\/i> our experience of suffering, we can never reach out to others who have suffered, in the way Ruka just demonstrated<\/span><\/p>\n

This process is represented visually for Miyako, as she reaches into the imposing darkness of her memories to extract the precious jewels she treasured, the positive lessons she has gained<\/span><\/p>\n

The blonde enemy Reflector introduces herself as Niina Yamada. Your classic chivalrous warrior type, utterly convinced of the righteousness of her cause<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ooh, I like this cut of Niina melting away in the form of lightning. The effects animation does seem to be this show\u2019s best aesthetic trick<\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly, both blue and red Reflectors can prompt one of those memory flashes through physical contact. Momo\u2019s opponent invokes a flash in Momo, making me feel like an idiot for not recognizing that Momo was actually the girl fighting alongside Hiori\u2019s presumed sister in the first episode. So that\u2019ll make for an interesting conversation<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour case cracked, so we tried to fix it.\u201d \u201cYou found me\u2026 it\u2019s okay for me to be here.\u201d Miyako\u2019s gems, the symbol of her identity, here validated and protected by Ruka and Hiori<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you grade-school boys or something? Hand over those beads.\u201d Miyako makes it about forty seconds before returning to her usual self. Fantastic<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout your sister. You can talk to me about her, if you want. You\u2019re always eager to help others, but when it comes to yourself\u2026\u201d Ruka swiftly pinpoints Hiori\u2019s core contradiction, while also offering a way forward, a path for actually engaging with your painful emotions<\/span><\/p>\n

Our final reveal of the episode: Hiori\u2019s sister actually switched from the blue to red Reflector side!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And Done<\/b><\/p>\n

Excellent first battle, girls! This is clearly a production of limited means, but there were still some nice flourishes of animation throughout that first fight, though the direction and art design weren\u2019t entirely up to the task of celebrating them. But that aside, this episode served as confirmation of many of our early assumptions regarding this whole Reflector system, with the conflict seemingly resting on the question of whether you attempt to embrace and work through your negative experiences with people you trust, or whether you isolate yourself, both from the feelings you dislike and the people you might share them with. It\u2019s already clear that the red Reflectors aren\u2019t really unified by any sort of common friendship or guiding principle – they are each alone in their own unique way, and I imagine we\u2019ll soon be learning the reasons each of them chose to turn away from their feelings. Plus, Miyako\u2019s joined our main pair! As long as she\u2019s around and being her grumpy self, I\u2019ll surely be having a fine time.<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I figured we\u2019d check back in on the drama of Blue Reflection Ray, on the precipice of our first formal magical girl battle. With Miyako\u2019s life hanging in the balance, \u2026 Continue reading \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[61,122,127,129,124,128,125,132,131,133,126,130,123,66,94,88,97,56,64,65,60,112,40,75,95,104,33,120,105,101,98,115,30,29,41,86,70,69,68,72,71,26,118,108,87,46,55,48,52,54,51,50,83,62,58,57,109,35,59,63,85,79,82,96,80,27,81,114,44,42,43,45,38,39,110,117,100,111,116,73,89,90,92,91,93,84,78,37,102,34,36,77,67,74,99,113,119,28,121,32,47,49,53,103,31,76],"class_list":["post-132183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anime","tag-airpods","tag-anime","tag-anime-characters","tag-anime-cosplay","tag-anime-edits","tag-anime-merchandise","tag-anime-movies","tag-anime-news","tag-anime-recommendations","tag-anime-reviews","tag-anime-series","tag-anime-streaming","tag-animes","tag-app-store","tag-app-store-samsung","tag-appgallery","tag-appgallery-oneplus","tag-apple","tag-apple-music","tag-apple-tv","tag-apple-watch","tag-bbc-sport","tag-best-mobile-games","tag-bixby","tag-bixby-xiaomi","tag-champions-league","tag-cyberpunk","tag-cyberpunk-2077","tag-fantasy-football","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-formula-1","tag-fortnite","tag-free-fire","tag-free-mobile-games","tag-freebuds-pro","tag-galaxy-a52","tag-galaxy-note-20","tag-galaxy-s21","tag-galaxy-watch-4","tag-galaxy-z-fold-3","tag-game","tag-games","tag-golf","tag-harmonyos","tag-how-to-backup-iphone","tag-how-to-factory-reset-iphone","tag-how-to-reset-iphone","tag-how-to-restore-iphone","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone-5","tag-how-to-unlock-iphone-6","tag-huawei","tag-ios","tag-ipad","tag-iphone","tag-live-soccer","tag-lol","tag-macbook","tag-macos","tag-mate-40-pro","tag-mi-11-lite","tag-mi-home-security-camera-basic-1080p","tag-mi-home-security-camera-basic-1080p-huawei","tag-mi-smart-band-6","tag-minecraft","tag-miui","tag-mlb-scores","tag-mobile-game-design","tag-mobile-game-development","tag-mobile-game-marketing","tag-mobile-game-monetization","tag-mobile-games","tag-mobile-gaming","tag-nba-scores","tag-nba-standings","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-scores","tag-nhl-scores","tag-one-ui","tag-oneplus","tag-oneplus-9-pro","tag-oneplus-buds-pro","tag-oneplus-nord-ce-5g","tag-oxygenos","tag-p40-pro-plus","tag-poco-x3-pro","tag-pokemon","tag-premier-league","tag-pubg","tag-pubg-mobile","tag-redmi-note-10-pro","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-pay","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-steam","tag-steeam","tag-top-10-anime","tag-valorant","tag-when-do-the-iphone-7-come-out","tag-when-does-the-iphone-7-come-out","tag-when-is-the-iphone-7-coming-out","tag-world-cup","tag-xbox-series-x","tag-xiaomi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132183"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132743,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132183\/revisions\/132743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}