For a quick summary, skip to bottom paragraph.
The chains that bind us the most closely are the ones we have broken.
The ‘lost storage’ part of the title is some great wordplay as it can be substituted for lost memories which is what defines this anime. The protagonist in question Homura Suzuko has returned to her hometown only to find out she must participate in a WIXOSS game that involves LRIGS. Morikawa Chinatsu, a childhood friend who has experienced hard times with her family’s financial position makes a declaration to Suzuko. Chinatsu without a moment’s hesitation firmly tells her to disappear as if she were unsightly. Chinatsu is adamant that she will regain happiness by severing all her ties with Suzuko, who is left stunned and speechless from their meeting.
The WIXOSS game in this instalment has changed its rules, with the most noticeable one being that males are now participants this time round whereas in the prequels it was restricted to just females. The consequences for the game have changed dramatically, with winning and losing being dependant on the number of coins a LRIG user has. The LRIG user loses their personality and effectively dies when their coin’s total reaches to zero. The user’s LRIG takes possession of the former host’s body and continues life as planned. This is much like the LRIG switching bodies with their users once they became an eternal girl.
Memories are the strongest themes associated with this version of WIXOSS. The notion that one would retain fond memories and try to block out unpleasant ones is the norm. The idea of altering undesirable memories is something that many would approve for due to its benefits involved. However, even when a LRIG user has obtained the 5 coins required to change a single memory, it never goes as planned as one has to reexperience that memory, which may prove to be repulsive for some as was the case for Mikage Hanna. Just like the other instalments it’s still a lose-lose situation with nothing but hardship and despair awaiting our participants.
The bond that Suzuko and Chitose share goes back many years to the time they were still in elementary school. Personal circumstances dictated that they would not be reunited until sometime later but that didn’t stop Suzuko from keeping her in the back of her mind. The matching key-chain is a solid representation of their relationship, even though Chitose trampled on it declaring it was all over between them. Suzuko still was optimistic that their friendship could be restored and was genuinely concerned about her wellbeing.
The girls have had their fair share of problems with Suzuko arguably having it the worst. The simple matter is she lost her mother during the separation stage and returned only because of her father’s work commitments. Meanwhile, Chitose’s family business went under with her family having to relocate most of the time due to the job insecurity involved. This doesn’t give the right for Chitose to act all obnoxious because of the fact she has suffered all this time. There was never a reason for Chitose to hate her knowing deep down she honestly liked her and saw her as the ideal friend.
The antagonist this time is a man named Satomi who is known as the broker between the LRIG users. The shady man can set up matches for his clients who are desperate to earn some coins. The strange thing is that nobody suspected him of being a LRIG user this whole time. The fact is that LRIG users can identify each other within a certain radius but can’t detect him is baffling. I thought that all LRIG users had to carry their LRIG cards around but he never did which was surprising. It is known later that he challenges others to a battle when they are at a risk of being erased all together.
To him, the act of ending one’s life is deemed to be irrelevant as he derives pleasure from the opposition’s anguish. The level of corruptness found in him was pitch black meaning he was a lost cause from the very beginning. The ability for him to nonchalantly carry out murders from a personality sense is made redundant when we find out it’s a former LRIG now in possession of the body. He wasn’t evil for the sake of being evil and I just found him to be a poorly written antagonist along with the plot conveniences.
There is extra symbolism that needs mentioning. The LRIG template seen in the very beginning of the opening is an important discussion point. The white girl is the LRIG before users insert their personal memories into them. The template LRIG before then is a pure entity, meaning it has neither positive or negative memories. I would use the analogy of a new-born infant who enters the world as being sinless with nothing to be judged on. The LRIGs reflect the mental state of the user with Suzuko’s LRIG resembling Chinatsu and vice versa. The themes to be honest are a lot more engaging than the other aspects of the show such as the card battles which are secondary in nature.
Now on to the technical aspects on the show, with the art style being quite different from its predecessor. The prequels had a design being dubbed dark moe which was true for those who sat through it. The art style is less moe than before but has much better character designs along with the fact you can’t have moe guys. There was a need to conform to a more traditional look even though the setting stayed relatively the same. The background art with some of it being CGI looks vastly improved in comparison to the prequels. The actual animation seems to have taken a decline in quality with it looking less fluid than before and more of an emphasis placed on still frames and such. There are also occasions of sloppily drawn characters which is just a minor gripe of mine.
The sound by Maiko Iuchi (A Certain Magical Index, Heavy Object) was relatively tame compared to the other series she has produced music for. There was extensive electronic music used in this one which would be found mainly in the card battles. The tempo adjusts to the intensity of the scene which is determined by the situation involved. The voice actors did a decent job which was expected of them but Hashimoto Chinami who played Suzuko kind of irritated me with the prolonged “Chi-chan” cries making her sound like a child asking for forgiveness.
TLDR: All in all, this was a relatively decent addition to the WIXOSS series but I find to be poorer in terms of script quality but in terms of thematic depth, it’s right up there with the characters holding it back. The production side to it felt adequate but feels like only the bare minimum being met in standards. The show is watchable but definitely has it faults here which is reflected in my score.
