[DreamSword]

Episode 4: New Orleans

This episode highlights what is probably my biggest critique of The Reflection as a whole: And that's the lack of balance between the two ongoing storylines.

Last episode, X-On got an entire episode all to himself, so here you might think that I-Guy would get the same treatment. And, heck, it certainly looks like it's gonna be that way at first. But no. Sadly, this episode is still 60% X-On(although I guess more specifically, Eleanor). Which double sucks because the I-Guy plot is far, far more interesting.

On the X-On side of things, the group realizes that one of Wraith's' next targets is likely in New Orleans, and so they head there to head them off. There's some cute interactions with Lisa along the way, and once there, they learn of two more Reflected who have also been kidnapping others of their kind. These two being known as Merchant and Trader.

There's a few other things to this too, such as showing off the racism of the locals(who refer to The Reflected as "Reffers"), X-On being a dick, and showing that the overuse of one's' powers tires them out ala Lisa, but these things are all far less compelling than what I-Guy's' story brings to the table.

Because you see, I now get to finally present to you all what is without a doubt the best thing in this entire show; Sky Show.

This is the first episode where we get to hear a good chunk of the song uninterrupted, and god DAMN is there a good reason this song is regarded as a huge pop hit in-universe. No joke, this song is awesome, and composer Trevor Horn really outdid himself here. Speaking of him...

Yeah, he's in this show as himself too, just like 9nine. This anime has alot of that, huh? Anyway, Trevor Horn composed the entire soundtrack for The Reflection, including the anime-as-hell ending theme SunSunSunshine. And he did a wonderful job.

So what exactly is Ian/I-Guy going through? Well, he's essentially having an identity crisis. I-Guy is becoming really popular with the people of LA despite some criticisms from the media, and it's in a drunken stooper that Ian comes to think that, essentially, I-Guy is replacing Ian in the eyes of the public. Despite being the one behind Sky Show, Ian has basically been forgotten, and the song itself is now more attributed to I-Guy, to the point that some are now even calling the hero Sky Show rather than his actual hero name.

We also learn what Ian's' power actually is and why it destroyed his singing career. Turns out, if he lets his voice get to too high of a pitch, then it sends out sonic waves that cause major damage to the surrounding area. All the lazers that I-Guy uses in fights? Yeah, turns out those are powered by Ian's' voice. At the end of the day it is just a suit.

Heck, I-Guy even very easily upstages Ian during a show at a private party. Ian can't sing, but all I-Guy has to do is just show up and play Sky Show over his speakers and people cheer. I was super into this character arc and wanted to keep going with it, but unfortunately, it's cut short in favor of the X-On plot, and it's unfortunately a sort of reoccurring thing that The Reflection will be guilty of from here on out.

I've seen examples with dual plotlines getting proper balance(see: s-CRY-ed), but unfortunately, this anime isn't one of them, and it's a damn shame.