WIXOSS Diva(A)Live

I really have no words for WIXOSS Diva(A)Live. It's just bunch of cringy idol clichés that aren't enjoyable in the slightest. Shame on MAL for putting 'Psychological' tag on this series. I really got fooled.

The story is predictable to the core, characters are either mediocre or just straight out cringy. To be honest, the only good point of this anime are some of the designs. As a self taugh artist, I can appreaciate the work that was put into the costumes of their avatars but even those aren't all that good (like that monster cotsume, I get it, it was supposed to be a joke ... later on but it just doesn't work at all).

I gave this abomination of a WIXOSS spin-off 4/10. Don't watch it, it's a waste of time, it has nothing to do with original WIXOSS and as far as it comes to idol girls anime, I'm not an expert but I can bet my money there are many series that are way better than this one

Once a "DIVA", you always want to fight and win!

Humans are living beings who never want to lose. Losing is a terrible feeling that we all have experienced firsthand already. But it is well known that you learn from your own mistakes. Even in a card game, every side wants to win at any price. Welcome to the world of “WIXOSS”!

Hirana, a first-year high school student, always had a dream. One day she wanted to be as strong as the legendary diva "Eternal Girl" who fascinates selectors with songs and performances with overwhelming strength. But this dream requires a lot of hard work and perfect ... team chemistry since only one team can be at the top. With Rei and Akino, she has found two friends and team partners for life. Together they dare the step into "WIXOSS LAND" where the "Diva Battles" take place in form of three versus three. In addition to their many successes, they faced terrible defeats as well. Nevertheless, they manage to motivate each other and to remind the others that there is “NO LIMIT” what they can achieve together!

Hirana is the center of their team "No Limit". She is a cheerful and upbeat girl who enjoys "Diva Battles" and spending time with her friends. She has known her best friend Akino for a long time. They have had many wonderful moments in their childhood together. Despite Akino’s shyness, she agrees to support Hirana and fight with her. She knows a lot about the cards and puts the deck for the team. With Rei, they have a girl who has previously participated in various battles already. She is very serious and has an incredible will to win. The special thing is certainly the harmonious relationship on and off the “battlefield”. All three are very good friends outside of the virtual world as well and have lots of fun together.
We don't just experience the everyday life of our main team "No Limit". We also get impressions of their opposing teams such as "Card Jockey", "Deus Ex Machina" or "DIAGRAM" and their relationship with each another. Despite being opponents on the field, they always can count on each other in critical moments in real life. It's amazing how much they support each other with any problems. In addition to their enjoyable moments where, for example, everyone is together in the swimming pool, there are also dramatic moments such as the relationship between Rei and her ex-teammates Madoca and Sanga. Nevertheless, they manage to solve everything with the help of their friends.

The "WIXOSS LAND" certainly stands out in the art style. It's the arena where all the important battles take place. They fight until their last card. The combat animations are nothing special, but the important phases are still clearly recognizable. The enlargement of the cards played are particularly successful. Our girls with their different costumes are surely an eye-catcher on the brightly lit battlefield. Each team has its own style and dresses accordingly. The personality of the girls can also be easily recognized from the representation. In addition to cute girls like Akino, we also have more cool characters like Excel. The animations aren’t special but still enjoyable to watch.

The "Diva Time" is one of the most important elements to gather new fans. After a winning fight, the team has some time to choose a program. We experience the diverse music in “WIXOSS” here. Our team "No Limit“ e.g. has the theme of idols and this is also reflected in the OP "D-(A)LIVE!!" sung by them. In the anime we see various ED from different teams. That is certainly also a strong peculiarity. We experience different songs that differ in style.

"WIXOSS Diva(A)Live" is the only anime I've seen from the "WIXOSS" series, so I didn't compare this one with the previous settings, instead looked at it individually. I have to admit that I still don't have a plan for exactly how the card game works after finishing the anime, but it definitely looks interesting. It would be nice if they had explained it a little more detailed. The connection between "Diva Battles" and "Diva Time" is something special in my opinion. We do not only experience fights, but also their style of music. Another highlight in my opinion is the deep relationship between the teams, even though they are rivals.
In the end, I would recommend this anime to everyone who wants to see some more action than just CGDCT plus the slice of life combination. We have here cute girls for sure but also lots of exciting fights!
Finally, it can be said that you should always stick to your goal, even if there are many setbacks.
There is “NO LIMIT” what we can achieve!

Being a fan of the original 4 seasons of Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS, I was willing to give this show, the next WIXOSS, a fair chance, despite the poor initial reception. Both seasons of Lostorage WIXOSS sold poorly compared to Selector WIXOSS, so the executives probably thought that another dark WIXOSS season wouldn't be financially viable. But idol culture has exploded in popularity, so why not cash in on the craze?

This WIXOSS has nothing to do with Selector WIXOSS. Battles are done via an online version of the game, WIXOSS Live. This game is slightly different because now there are support LRIGs implemented into the ruleset, allowing ... teams of 3: the center and 2 supports.

By focusing more on the actual card battles instead of the story, the viewer needs to be presented with some sort of strategy. Yu-Gi-Oh's drawn-out method of explaining every card is a bit extreme, but at least it means that even a non-player knows what's going on. There are also plenty of themed deck battles with cohesive strategy in Yu-Gi-Oh. We didn't see that here other than the team that had a punk rock theme and used sound-based attacks. Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS avoided discussion of specific cards, which made the game mysterious, and it relied on the coolness factor of 2 LRIGs powering up and fighting each other. In WIXOSS Diva(A)live, it was all about the correct topdeck, then winning without any explanation.

So with the card battling itself not being a highlight, how about the story? The main characters of our WIXOSS Diva team, No Limit, aren't special. One of the girls in particular is one of the nastiest unlikable protagonists because she has repeatedly abandoned her old teams. The story is just a typical "trying to be better at the game" plot, but without No Limit exhibiting real effort to move up. One episode was a call-out to Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS fans, as they dangled what could've been a dark and edgy plot development, but it's resolved in 5 minutes. It's either the best episode in the show, or the worst one, because of the tease.

As for the idol aspect, this show was made on a very low budget. It certainly doesn't have the refinement and care of something like Love Live or BanG Dream, as those are much larger and more lucrative. The animation quality is significantly worse than Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS, and character models are very basic.

WIXOSS Diva(A)Live tried to be a card game show, and an idol show, and failed spectacularly at both. It has none of the psychological elements of Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS. And there's absolutely no reason for Selector/Lostorage WIXOSS fans to watch this. It is one of the weakest shows in the Winter 2021 season, a season that many have declared as the greatest season of anime of all-time. You have plenty of better things to watch than this.