When I first came to watch this series, at the episode, at the first minute, I already knew it was going to be something amazing. It didn’t disappoint me in that aspect, I wouldn’t say it turned out better than what I expected it to be but it did reach the already high quality I requested from it which is already a great accomplishment which is why I consider this anime to be one of the best I watched in 2014 so far, however I cannot hide that there are some minor setbacks that prevents it from getting a higher praise.
Story: 7/10
The story starts our protagonist Kominato Ruuko, a rather shy high school girl that finds herself chosen as a Selector, a girl that was the ability to get any of her wishes granted if she managed to be successful at playing the popular card game WIXOSS, and meets the mysterious girl imprisoned in one of her cards named Tama. I won’t head into further details to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. It may sound fairly generic or an average normal story, but it starts with so many dark undertones from the first episode and keeps growing and developing until the show becomes surrounded by darkness and despair. A positive point in this story is the mystery around the events that occur was very well executed, giving the watcher the feeling that something is going to go wrong at some time in the plot but not knowing what will happen. Other than they did a terrific job at developing the dark undertones and shaping them until the anime because a bona fide dark psychological story. However the show does have two major flaws when it comes to writing, first is the presence of plot holes that grow bigger by each explanation about the “wish granting” part of the show and its mechanisms and the unsatisfying ending that does leave a lot of questions to be asked, while I do know that there is a season 2 planned I am reviewing the first season and merely pointing out what the first season lacks. Other than that, the card game aspect of this show doesn’t even have proper explanation when it comes to rules to the point where I start thinking that whatever you do is allowed there, and again I am aware that the card game is not an end but a mean however I at least want to know what the hell is going on when there is a battle scene.
Characters: 7/10
Character development in this anime is only giving to the characters that need it, which means our main character Ruuko and her friend Yuzuki are the only one whose personality you grasp and who clearly made a noticeable change with the progress of the plot, the others are given proper development progress by degree of importance to the story with the exception being the villains. By the way, the character of Yuzuki is given more spotlight when it comes development than the main character which is by no means bad, it even made me like her more than any other character, but that spotlight did come with huge consequences, the main one being that they just kind of froze her progress as a character by the last episodes of this show. Enough about the protagonists, the villains constitute the setback of the character department. There are three antagonists in this story, the first is Akira which did a great job at being hated then disappeared after being dealt with, then there is Iona, “the great demon lord” of our tale, which appears a lot more evil and creepy than the last villain and finally the main villain that kept a brief appearance in the first season to be more developed in the second season perhaps, this one is related to the “wishing” aspect of this show. The common point, shared by these different persons, is their obvious lack of background or explanation behind their motives.
Animation and sound: 7/10
The art in this anime is above average, the dark tone is well presented by the rather shadowy colors used, the character designs are not exceptional but not really bad either and the animation shines when it is most needed to affect the watcher either by giving an eerie feeling of uneasiness or by accompanying the already painful events happening, the opening and ending are also good as standalone tracks. The soundtracks are taken from different genres and, while not remarkable when heard alone, are well used to fit the happenings and the change of tones during the episode. I can’t say much about the voice acting other than it was believable and unforced.
Enjoyment: 8/10
My enjoyment largely depended on the other elements of the show, the sound and animation did a good job to keep me watching the story, the characters made the time I spent watching this anime worthwhile and lastly, I liked the twist and turns the story took even the ending that was, in my opinion, rushed and not properly set up. Though I was turned off in some moments due the striking resemblance the story has with Madoka Magica, another show I liked a lot.
Overall score: 7/10
To sum it all up, I am positive that this show is by far one of the greatest this year has had so far. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a dark anime or anyone wanting to spend some time watching a good story. If there is an anime that mustn’t be forgotten in the rankings this season, it is this one.
