Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we\u2019re returning to Blue Reflection Ray, in the wake of a confrontation that proved devastating for our would-be heroes. Hiori\u2019s positive attitude has always seemed brittle at best, an aspirational facade draped over a core of hurt and longing for her sister\u2019s return. Having been abandoned by both her mother and sister, she was nonetheless beginning to embrace the new family of her fellow reflectors \u2013 until her sister Mio at last reappeared, now dedicated to stealing the pain from the hearts of others, and with a replacement sister standing at her side.<\/span><\/p>\n Hiori\u2019s situation echoes the moral ambiguity of our reflectors\u2019 general ambitions. Though they seek to address the pain of others through offering companionship and nurturing their hopes, Hiori clearly demonstrates that such an approach doesn\u2019t necessarily address or repair their core emotional wounds. If even a blue reflector like Hiori is only pretending to have overcome her trauma, what right do any of our heroes have to claim their mission is just, particularly when the alleged victims of the red reflectors are outright telling them to mind their own business. Is it truly any healthier to live with trauma than to excise it? We cling to the post-hoc rationalization that suffering makes us who we are, but is it fundamentally noble to feel broken, or are we simply attempting to draw meaning from the senseless violence of life? With such difficult questions now clouding the air, we return to the battlefield of Blue Reflection Ray!<\/span><\/p>\n Episode 8<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cPanic.\u201d Yep, sounds about right<\/span><\/p>\n We open with Ruka relaying the events of the last episode to Miyako. A scene that naturally illustrates this production\u2019s limitations, as it\u2019s mostly composed of pans that avoid any movement beyond the occasional lip flaps<\/span><\/p>\n Miyako demonstrates her fundamentally kind nature, saying \u201cthat\u2019s too cruel\u201d and immediately inquiring about Hiori\u2019s condition. Though she acts snarky and aloof, she actually seems to be the most sensitive and driven member of our team, as demonstrated during the Princess Yuki mission<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what\u2019s for breakfast today. I\u2019m starving!\u201d Hiori arrives, and has unsurprisingly chosen to suppress her feelings regarding her sister\u2019s reappearance, clinging to her usual cheerful persona. It\u2019s the method she\u2019s always used for handling her grief, and again calls into question how our blue reflectors are truthfully any different from the red reflectors. If the only two choices are to bury your trauma deep beneath a fake persona or forget it entirely, who <\/span>wouldn\u2019t<\/span><\/i> choose to forget?<\/span><\/p>\n The other two fret over Hiori\u2019s true feelings as she throws herself into class activities, finding whatever work she can to presumably distract herself. As her sharp asides in earlier episodes demonstrated, she\u2019s used to suppressing her sorrow and bitterness<\/span><\/p>\n Miyako reflects on her own reasons for wanting to keep her dark feelings \u2013 how she felt they were a meaningful part of her, and that she wouldn\u2019t actually be herself with those feelings extracted. It\u2019s likely the best argument for the blue reflectors\u2019 mission, but it\u2019s unsurprisingly not a compelling pitch to people who are simply suffering, who cannot see their traumatized selves as anything but broken versions of their old selves<\/span><\/p>\n Miyako herself can\u2019t deny the appeal of the red reflectors\u2019 offer. I appreciate the acuity of her perspective; we\u2019re not wasting any time on belligerently challenging the philosophy of their opponents, as Miyako can recognize from the start that what they are offering is understandably valuable<\/span><\/p>\n Miyako\u2019s understanding of the opposing perspective makes it hard for her to know what to say to Ruka or Hiori, because she\u2019s not even certain that what they\u2019re doing is right<\/span><\/p>\n Momo takes the first step to clear the air, apologizing to Hiori and revealing her history with Mio<\/span><\/p>\n Momo reveals their parent organization may know something, but is refusing to elaborate. Even <\/span>more<\/span><\/i> ambiguity regarding the morality of their quest<\/span><\/p>\n Hiori once more attempts to put on a brave face, simply restating their most urgent objectives, but Ruka won\u2019t have it. She\u2019s not only come to know Hiori too well for this, she\u2019s also gained the courage to speak out \u2013 the quality she previously praised in Hiori, her ability to actually reach out and lend a hand to those who are hurting. Embodying the strength she has gained from spending all this time with Hiori, she drags her away from the other two, and demands she acknowledge the pain that she\u2019s surely feeling<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou just keep doing things for others. It\u2019s so annoying\u2026 and frustrating.\u201d I appreciate that in spite of this clear character growth, she\u2019s still not actually <\/span>good<\/span><\/i> at articulating herself. She\u2019s gained courage, but is still the same awkward, too-blunt speaker, the kind of person who has learned through unhappy experience to keep her thoughts to herself<\/span><\/p>\n Their hands part at this outburst, a break in connection underlined by Hiori\u2019s \u201cwe didn\u2019t resonate today. I wonder why\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, over at the red reflector church, Mio is still thinking about her confrontation with Hiori, which has Niina in turn worried about her own bond with Mio<\/span><\/p>\n And Momo decides to search for Mio on her own, certain that Mio still loves her sister. Momo\u2019s recklessness and Miyako\u2019s thoughtful pragmatism make for a fun contrast \u2013 I assume they\u2019ll eventually become a pair as well, and am looking forward to seeing them bicker their way there<\/span><\/p>\n Hiori takes Ruka to a rooftop garden to talk privately. Interesting how this greenery echoes the floral patterned backgrounds of the reflector world, which is also a place of unvarnished emotional honesty. A minor visual motif there, one that contrasts against how technology in this world is often exploited as a false promise of connection that ultimately just leaves people feeling more isolated<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt times\u2026 no, you were always annoying.\u201d Ruka can\u2019t really turn off her brutal honesty. She\u2019s the opposite of Hiori, who always masks what she truly feels behind a chipper facade<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJust like you care so much about everyone else\u2019s feelings, I want you to realize how important your feelings are, too.\u201d Ruka and Miyako are in truth the only successful instances of the blue reflector philosophy, while Hiori has learned to suppress her feelings, and Momo\u2019s feelings seem to have been tampered with in a manner similar to the red reflectors<\/span><\/p>\n Hiori essentially talks her way into confidence confessing her feelings, first beginning with neutral reflections on how the fireworks must have seemed from this rooftop, and from there winding her way towards admitting everything that happened on the bridge, and how she frankly isn\u2019t sure how to feel anymore. This show\u2019s character-rich dialogue remains its greatest strength; everyone has a voice and a perspective, but they all feel naturalistic, conveying great differences in perspective without relying on exaggerated affectations (except for when the characters are consciously putting on such affectations)<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy did I want my feelings taken? What did I want to do?\u201d Even the pied piper of the red reflectors is now doubting her cause, realizing that without her negative feelings, she has no motivation at all. I suppose that is the strongest counter to their philosophy \u2013 that without the great tumult of our emotions, we simply cease to exist as passionate, driven actors in the world. We live without purpose, content purely with the fact that we\u2019re not being hurt<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t remember myself. I can\u2019t remember how I felt or what I was thinking\u2026 at all.\u201d The promise of the red reflectors is fantastical, but it\u2019s a fair enough parallel for the various ways we can actually turn from pain by courting mental oblivion<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t exist.\u201d Without her feelings, painful as they are, she is nothing<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI guess I\u2019m already dead.\u201d There is sadly only one escape from the inherent anguish of consciousness<\/span><\/p>\n With nothing left to feel or live for, Kana walks in front of a truck, but is saved by Hiori and Ruka<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDoes that mean that once you lose your feelings, you disappear? Does my sister know that?\u201d Hiori\u2019s learning more about Mio, but it\u2019s not particularly comforting knowledge<\/span><\/p>\n Ooh, I like this sort of \u201cvideotape rewind\u201d effect they use for the world falling into red reflector darkness. This production\u2019s resources are certainly limited, but they\u2019re offering what flourishes they can for these witch world sequences<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently the red reflector Shino has the ability to conjure this domain, and make all within it vulnerable to extraction<\/span><\/p>\n But Hiori still can\u2019t transform. Ruka again demonstrates her personal growth, assuring Hiori that everything will be okay. It seems she\u2019s learned that trick from Hiori, of believing in a better ending and thereby making it possible<\/span><\/p>\n The stolen emotions are transferred directly to the church\u2019s windows, suffering captured within the glass<\/span><\/p>\n Ruka attempts to counter Shino\u2019s spell, banishing this miasma with a power of her own. And looking up at her brave friend, Hiori is reminded of how her sister used to protect her as well<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI hated that other people saw our lives as sad, so I always made sure to smile in front of others.\u201d Her mother\u2019s disappearance swiftly taught her to dislike being pitied. Mio was the only one she was able to cry with, and Hiori\u2019s been holding in her pain ever since losing her too<\/span><\/p>\n Her memories bring clarity: she still loves her sister, and she trusts in Ruka\u2019s feelings as well. Even if she doesn\u2019t know how things will proceed, she holds these things true<\/span><\/p>\n And Done<\/b><\/p>\n Thus Hiori can finally cry in Ruka\u2019s arms, once again holding her feelings tightly, and no longer apologizing or pretending to be brave. A crucial episode for Hiori, who\u2019s been concealing her suffering ever since this series began, and who has only acquired new reasons to feel lost and abandoned along the way. But alongside the revelation of her sister\u2019s disappearance, she has also found Ruka, a friend with whom she no longer has to perform a cheerfulness she can\u2019t actually feel. To hide your feelings behind a mask is little different from what the red reflectors are doing \u2013 it is a denial of self, a tragic assumption that feeling nothing is preferable to engaging with your pain. But it is only through embracing our feelings that we can hope to accept and move beyond them \u2013 and with Ruka at her side, it seems Hiori is ready to reach out to her sister as well.<\/span><\/p>\n This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrongeverytime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/November15112806.jpg?resize=584%2C329&ssl=1\")
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<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n