Story/Characters/Enjoyment: 9.5
Now, you're probably looking at this review and thinking: a 9.5? This guy must be crazy. That 9.5 rating comes with one major caveat: I am rating Selector spread WIXOSS as a *stand-alone* series. Why? Well, due to my own foolishness, I mixed up which season to watch first, so I went into Selector spread WIXOSS having never watched the first season (Infected). From what I could tell, the first season was entirely unnecessary (drawing out revelations and character development that could happen in a single episode), and watching just the second season (spread) makes for a much more compelling experience. My real-time response was, "holy crap they're not wasting any time. The flashback and indentifiable character tropes make everyone really clear and that really enables them to tell a compelling (though not hugely original) story without a lot of bull$#! time wasted introducing generic characters." Sadly, season 1 was all generic character introductions, and you don't really get to the real plot until season 2.
The second season by itself has an excellent story, pace, and consistent themes that stand out compared to other series in its genres. A friend recommended this to me as "the bastard child of Yu-Gi-Oh and Madoka" and it lives up to that assessment. This series fascinated me though for how much of a different direction it went in compared to those series.
While Yu-Gi-Oh spent most of its time effectively as a commercial for trading cards and was written in long, drawn-out fights to showcase them, WIXOSS barely explains the rules of the card game, and frankly, it's not necessary. Sanderson's Law states that magic systems only need to be as well-defined in fiction as their importance to the plot (e.g. Gandalf's powers are really nebulous, but it doesn't matter because he doesn't solve everything with magic. Contrast with Harry Potter which has strict magic rules because everything is done with magic). The plot in WIXOSS has nothing to do with the card game and everything to do with communication, friendship, betrayal, and catharsis. You can tell by looking once at the characters their relative ability at the card game; the game itself is irrelevant because what actually matters in the plot is the relationship between them. Watching WIXOSS flipped the traditional card-game anime script in a way I found oddly compelling.
Likewise, WIXOSS handled a number of plot elements better than Madoka, especially the critical examination at the themes of constant self-sacrifice that (somewhat questionably) permeate magical girl series as well as shoujo series in general. It examines both the power and cost of making wishes into reality in a much grittier and compelling form than Madoka. Mari Okada (O Maidens in Your Savage Season) has consistently impressed by examining the character depth and realistic consequences of classic character tropes, and does not shy away from the strife, confusion, and anguish in the process.
Art: 8. It was good, and I enjoyed a lot of the set piece designs, though some of the characters felt a little flat.
Sound: 8. The voice acting was generally good to very good and the BGM set the mood well, but nothing stunningly noteworthy.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this series (ignoring the pointless first season), and would recommend it especially to more experienced anime-watchers looking for more self-aware and critical series.
