Whats up of us, and welcome again to Improper Each Time. Immediately we’re returning to the tangled drama of Blue Reflection Ray, a truth I announce with some trepidation, given the present’s latest flip in the direction of genuinely harrowing private drama. Princess Yuki’s experiences with on-line abuse served as a considerate exploration of each the promise and risks of searching for group on-line, successfully capturing the contradictions of socializing in on-line areas. For the many individuals feeling remoted in our more and more atomized fashionable world, on-line communities are a vital lifeline – however crowdsourcing your sense of self-worth is an extremely fraught gambit, thus necessitating the forging of real, intimate connections like Yuki’s bond with Miyako.
Then we obtained into Niina’s story, which has confirmed even extra devastating. Abused by her mom and finally solid out on the road, Niina had misplaced all hope for the longer term when she was found by Hiori’s sister Mio, and drawn into the corporate of the pink reflectors. Might any promise our group may supply sound like something however fanciful, naive lies to at least one so mistreated by life? Regardless, I’ve been completely impressed by Blue Reflection Ray’s refusal to drag its punches, and may solely hope higher issues lie forward for poor Niina. Let’s get to it!
Episode 7
“Please, Simply Let Me Have What I Need.” A title that instantly brings the Smiths music to thoughts, although I extremely doubt that’s an intentional connection
“Perhaps this rain is like their tears of pleasure. They’ll be reunited. I’m positive of it.” A mysterious chilly open, accompanied solely by a grey, cloud-blotted sky. The match lower from this shot to the blue sky of the opening looks like a promise – can we draw these lonely characters again to the sunshine?
A montage of scenes that includes Mio and Momo appear to indicate we’re lastly revealing Mio’s story. Given these scenes are apparently flashing earlier than Momo’s eyes, it looks like she truly felt Mio’s new partnership with Riina taking the place of their very own prior bond
Even the opposite women notice one thing has occurred to Momo, however she tells them it’s nothing
Within the wake of Mio sharing her imaginative and prescient, Niina lies shocked on the sofa. Uta tries to guess no matter Mio confirmed her, revealing her personal insecurity in her makes an attempt to dig at her former companion. Uta claims to solely love struggling, however her true needs are all the time written on her sleeve – she’s truly a fairly commonplace adolescent, divorcing herself from vulnerability via her melodramatic poise, however secretly needing the identical issues as everybody else
When her first two provocations fail to realize a response from Niina, Uta then guesses that Mio declared Niina was “lukewarm and boring.” An tried insult that solely demonstrates how a lot Niina’s earlier phrases struck house for Uta, such that she can not consider a extra damaging insult to throw again
As soon as once more, Miyako proves herself the brains of the group by mentioning Momo’s unusual habits from earlier
Miyako and Ruka each have already got their general group’s schedules plotted of their telephones, which Hiori interprets as a mirrored image of their love for Momo. The reality lies someplace within the center – Hiori’s lack of scheduling is absolutely only a results of her scatterbrained persona, however Miyako and Ruka’s dedication to their duties does certainly converse louder than their precise capacity to articulate their fondness for one another
Ruka nonetheless addresses Hiori formally as she asks about her sister. A neat encapsulation of her persona, as Hiori identified concerning that woman who wanted assist earlier – Ruka is fast to acknowledge the emotions of others, however lacks confidence in imposing herself of their lives
“It was a wet Tanabata,” Hiori explains as we lower to Niina, implying this reminiscence is identical one Mio shared along with her
This reminiscence reveals Hiori being her similar caring self, fretting that Tanabata’s star-crossed lovers can’t meet on a wet day
“Perhaps this rain is like their tears of pleasure.” Flashback Mio makes an attempt a constructive reinterpretation of this wet Tanabata. Her musing over the lovers’ separation appears entwined along with her coming separation from her sister
Each of them have written needs for his or her mom to return house, the true inspiration for his or her lonely reflections
Clearly impacted by this alternate story of a neglectful mom, Niina heads out
Miyako receives discover that Uta is perhaps exhibiting up on the Tanabata pageant. A closed loop, then – Tanabata is when Mio disappeared from Hiori’s life, and this present pageant may simply be the second she returns
Ruka bumps into Momo on the comfort retailer, who’s shouting at some unknown superior on her telephone concerning the connection between her and Mio. Welp, no hiding it anymore, Momo – although I’m personally most curious as to who she’s speaking to. What group truly exists round these reflectors, and why is that group retaining itself hid?
Oh my god, listening to Ruka describe Hiori as her “buddy” is a lot. God this woman is awkward
Momo reveals as little of the reality as she will be able to, stating solely that she’s realized Mio is working alongside Uta and Niina
“Yesterday, Mio’s reminiscences flooded into me for some motive.” Ah, so Momo truly wasn’t hiding the reality – her data of Mio as a companion was erased as effectively
Wonderful deadpan beat of some random man strolling as much as the comfort retailer, seeing the clerk is engaged in some form of pressing magical woman debate, and swiftly making his exit
So this complete reminiscence deal is considerably fascinating, because it appears too adjoining to the pink reflectors’ promise of “stealing away all of your painful reminiscences” to be a coincidence. Once you place that alongside the truth that Niina appears to have absorbed Mio’s reminiscences, the connection between reflectors and reminiscences appears much more obscure. Are pink reflectors simply performing as containers for one another’s reminiscences, sharing their struggling as a result of the burdens of one other are simpler to bear than your personal? There’s truly a sure fact in that, which is in step with this present’s basic implication that the pink reflectors clearly aren’t “evil” or something, they’ve simply embraced much less wholesome strategies for grappling with their trauma
The truth that Momo’s reminiscences of Mio had been wiped continues to be fairly mysterious, although – that makes Momo seem to be she was truly Mio’s first “sufferer” as a pink reflector, that Mio instantly stole her reminiscences of their partnership, however sharing these emotions with Niina introduced them again to the floor
“How will you be certain?” “We resonated.” Seeing an echo of your ache in one other – relatively than making an attempt to make your ache disappear, taking solace in our widespread expertise of struggling, and our mutual want to beat it. The entire resonance system echoes our basic productive technique of overcoming trauma, the identical recognition that Miyako provided to Princess Yuki
“Saying that you just like being alone simply proves you haven’t any thought what it’s truly wish to be alone.” Our Uta-adjacent goal Kana appears to have a equally misanthropic philosophy
Uta arrives to devour Kana’s prey
After which reflector time prompts. I’d nearly forgotten Miyako hasn’t truly activated as a reflector – I’m immensely curious as to who she’ll find yourself resonating with, and need to assume it’s one among our pink reflectors. Her and Uta would make for a hilarious pair, however I’m fairly positive Miyako would truly kill Uta
Niina arrives as effectively, and instantly blasts Uta. She calls for a one-on-one battle with Hiori, clearly intent on taking Hiori’s place in Mio’s coronary heart
“Why does my chest really feel tight? I really feel like crying.” Hiori can’t assist however resonate with Niina’s ache
Hiori tragically tries to bond via them apparently each having older sisters, which in fact solely pisses off Niina extra
Love this depiction of Mio approaching as a morphing silhouette, making her seem to be some monster from past the celebs
The flower is plucked, Mio and Niina make their exit, and Hiori is as soon as once more left alone on a chilly Tanabata evening
“Or what? You simply needed us to endure eternally?” Then Uta’s acolytes encompass the social gathering, admonishing them for his or her “cruelty” in refusing to let others abandon their fragments
And Finished
Jeez, nothing’s ever straightforward for our poor women. The group’s grand reunion with Mio proved to be a catastrophe for everybody, with Hiori clearly struggling the worst from her sister’s new obvious nature. Within the wake of her mom’s disappearance, Mio was the household she clung to, her one supply of heat in a world that’s regularly as isolating and disappointing as Niina is aware of it to be. She’s been placing on a powerful face ever since then, however her want upon the Tanabata tree demonstrates that she has in fact been propelled by an undiminished religion, a hope that someday her sister would return. And now she finds out that not solely is Mio an enemy, however she’s even changed her with a surrogate youthful sister? I’m undecided even animal-faced ice cream will elevate her spirits at this level, however goddamnit group, you gotta attempt!
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