[Frontier]

I just watched the first episode of Love after World Domination, which is basically a romcom in the vein of Boarding School Juliet (if you haven't checked it out, you should) with tokusatsu and Sentai trappings.

And by Sentai trappings, I mean they go pretty all out in terms of the archetypes, transformations, action, and how they handle the team. It felt very faithful in that respect, with the added addition of some sweet romance.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frontier

I just watched the first episode of Love after World Domination, which is basically a romcom in the vein of Boarding School Juliet (if you haven't checked it out, you should) with tokusatsu and Sentai trappings.

And by Sentai trappings, I mean they go pretty all out in terms of the archetypes, transformations, action, and how they handle the team. It felt very faithful in that respect, with the added addition of some sweet romance.

I'm usually not one for romance, but hey, I'll add it to the list and if people want me to talk about it, sure, I'll give it a chance. Thanks for letting me know about it!

[Daikaijuman54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frontier

I just watched the first episode of Love after World Domination, which is basically a romcom in the vein of Boarding School Juliet (if you haven't checked it out, you should) with tokusatsu and Sentai trappings.

And by Sentai trappings, I mean they go pretty all out in terms of the archetypes, transformations, action, and how they handle the team. It felt very faithful in that respect, with the added addition of some sweet romance.

Same here, but as is my usual schtick, I was going to deliver a review after it was finished, but as of the first episode I found it entertaining.

Also, the motif for the Sentai team is hilarious.

[DreamSword]

Episode 6: San Antonio

This is an episode that starts kinda weak, but only gets better as it goes.

Upfront, it's so strange that they decided to title this episode "San Antonio" when said area only has to do with maybe 3 minutes of the entire episode?

Anyway, Team X-On is on the move trying to rescue more members of the Allen family, but unfortunately, the villains keep beating them to the punch. While there are some new faces(whose names are never revealed), others return.

Though the newbies feel like blatant ways of just showing off more superpowers(a fish man, a guy who can phase through matter, an illusionist), it was nice to get more personality out of characters like Flaming Fury and Dead Wing(the man bat from the first two episodes).

Where things start getting good though is when we're introduced to a new character: Margarette, who hasn't seen her daughter Nina in 20 years. A good chunk of what makes the majority of this episode work is not just the atmosphere but also alot of great little character moments sprinkled about. Eleanor having "WTHX-ON" as her laptop password was great.

Really though, the scene that was probably carried best by all of this is when the group decides to head to LA to find Nina. The scene with everyone in the car talking about their own relationships with their families was fantastic. It's also here that we learn that Lisa calls her wheelchair "Big Wheel" which is a shout out to the (in)famous Spider-Man villain of the same name. And it's also here that was finally meet Wraith(pictured above).

With how active the villains are in this one, I felt it only appropriate that the song of the post be "Here Them Come" which plays whenever the villains are on the move.

The climax of the episode works well enough: Mother and Daughter reunited and making amends, and then a standoff between our heroes and antagonists. Where it got real good though, was when a familiar song can be heard faintly from above...

Both when I first watched this anime and now that I'm rewatching it, I got super excited at the prospect of the two plots finally intersecting. And it also helps makes sense as to why Margarette and Nina are the last of the Allen family to be kidnapped; I-Guy has been putting a stop to pretty much all crime in LA, so of course the villains have to do a concentrated push here! It's a great hook to end the episode on, and makes me excited for the next.

[DreamSword]

Episode 7: Team I-Guy

While a bit of a mixed bag, I still come out overall liking this episode.

Things start off really strong though with the first half of the episode being an all out brawl between the Reflected, and man is it cool!

I really can't say much more than that really, as it's an action sequence that I just highly recommend watching for yourself. This episode is full of great artistic direction, and the fight is one of the two reasons why.

In the end though, Margarette ends up sacrificing her life in order to save Nina, and while this would be strong enough on its own, the middle section is kinda where the episode stumbles. Why? Because X-On decides to blame I-Guy for the entire mess.

I've complained before about stuff like this when it came to other shows like SSSS.Gridman or even recently with Kamen Rider Zi-O; But if you don't know, I absolutely cannot stand when a story tries to paint a character as an asshole without having any legs to stand on. X-On really has no business pinning blame on I-Guy when X-On has been nothing more than a selfish douchelord throughout this entire show.

It would be one thing if it were simply an outburst due to emotions running high, but it's not. The way the episode is framed we are honestly meant to think that somehow it's I-Guy's' fault that the fight went south even though it was a situation no one could've done anything about. And making things even dumber is how X-On goes right back to being a dick immediately after. It's nonsense.

But, after that, and even if the setup is pretty weak, the rest of the episode is spent with I-Guy, and boy does most of it pay off really well. We get more of a look into Ian's' past, and a bit about how his production crew would later on evolve into his mission control which would help I-Guy take form. Ian is of course frustrated due to the whole affair of the night, but he comes around to celebrate with his friends over drinks and music. We even get a glimpse into the production of Sky Show, and just how much that song means to everyone.

It's not all ups though, because while Ian is out roaming the streets to clear his head, Wraith soon appears to Ian, rewarding Ian with money for staying away from the home base for an extended period. Ian immediately realizes the implications and rushes home, and what follows is simultaneously one of the best and worst sequences in the entire show.

Ian returns home, finding that all of his friends have been murdered. The art direction and atmosphere throughout this entire sequence are fantastic, with no sound other than Ian's' heavy breathing, and a final message recorded by Ian's' friends. Barely any visuals either outside of flashing red alert lights, which give us small glimpses around the murder scene. And all set to the pre-recorded message of Ian's' friends celebrating how they finished a new and improved version of the I-Guy suit, and how they know Ian has what it takes within him to become a true hero.

It's an incredibly well done scene that I was super into, but I'll also fully admit that killing off the crew is something done a bit too early. I get wanting to give Ian motivation to hunt down Wraith, but that could've been done via the death of Margarette, or heck even just having the base be attacked without any death, as it's such a shame that now, we'll never get to know more about Ian's' crew: Their backstories, their dreams, their family, nothing. The show still gave me enough to think that this scene works well for what it is, but it could've been so much more for sure.

Overall, this episode has some really strong highs, it's just unfortunate that it has a really steep low in the middle and debatablely the end. Either way though, Ian remains the best character, and that ain't gonna change.

[DreamSword]

Episode 8: Beef or Fish?

The title comes from a weird non-sequitur scene with the idol girls towards the end of the episode. Why they went with it, I have no idea.

Anyway, cool episode for the most part!

To me, the primary times that this show shines are when it's focusing on its characters and atmosphere, and that is no more apparent than in this episode, which is almost entirely dialogue.

The primary "plot" is about Eleanor meeting with Steel Ruler, who offers Eleanor a deal: If Eleanor gives herself up to Wraith, then Wraith will release all of the kidnapped Reflected in exchange. There's also some small background details offered up about X-On, but really, none of that is what matters.

What does matter is the glimpses we get into the lives of, well, basically everyone else in the episode, primarily Steel Ruler and I-Guy.

It's in episodes like this where the show's' minimalist style really shines. The handful of flashbacks we get into Steel Ruler's' backstory were absolutely great to watch, and added a great dimension to an already cool character. The story of a homeless girl in Detroit, who one days finds herself stabbed during a mugging, only to be saved by the smoke from The Reflection... man that was great.

I-Guy's' involvement in the episode is alot less, but it's still cool to see. He's essentially become Batman now; Seeking revenge for his fallen friends and now driving around in a new car on top of sporting a suit that appears to be black instead of blue.

And finally, I feel like I now really need to highlight the show's' use of soundtrack. I've been making it a point to showcase various songs from the anime throughout these posts, but the way in which they're utilized throughout The Reflection is really cool and not something I see very often. The minimalism of the show serves to really highlight how every song is used, as you don't get to hear the soundtrack itself very often. As such, it really makes it feel as though every single episode has its own unique soundtrack and I dig the hell out of it. Heck, the song used throughout most of this episode?

Great song on its own, but having it play during specific moments, especially those flashbacks with Steel Ruler, really only makes those scenes all the more powerful, and I really gotta give it to the sound designers on this.

Overall, the atmosphere of this episode was spot on, and it made for a really interesting watch. Good stuff.

[DreamSword]

Episode 9: Downtown L.A.

Not gonna lie, this episode was a whole lotta nothing.

Does the plot get advanced in any major way? Not really. Is there any big character developments or atleast some nice interactions? Nope.

Eleanor decides to take the deal of joining Wraith in exchange for releasing the other Reflected(which, funnily enough, Steel Ruler outright admits is a trap), and the government attempts to tail them in the most obvious way ever.

As such, the entire first half of the episode is dedicated to a car chase which, when you're involving people with superpowers, you'd think could be really cool, but unfortunately the show's' more subdued style really doesn't lend itself to a super exciting chase sequence.

The feds fail in keeping track of Eleanor, and so they decide to arrest Team X-On(for some reason), and it's here we learn that the government calls those who inhaled the smoke "Dark Reflected" and those bathed in the light "Brightstar Reflected." Wraith then begins to psychically call out to all Dark Reflected, causing Vy to run after him, thus providing a lead as to where Eleanor is.

This catches the attention of Ian, whose car we learn has an AI in it, so I guess he's also Night Rider now. Oh, and the idol group we've been following throughout the show is also now in America, so they're finally about to get fully involved in the plot. And... and that's literally the entire episode, really. Some meandering and pedantic talk aside, that's it. It really is the type of episode that could've been like six minutes instead of the full 22.

So uh, not great! I guess all I can do is end this post off with my usual music showcase. So this time I'm gonna go with "My Daily Life" which plays whenever the idols are the focus of a scene.

Atleast things are going to pick up from here on out.

[DreamSword]

Episode 10: Eleanor

This episode was nonstop character drama, which of course means I loved the hell out of it.

The short of it is that while everyone is fighting it out in the home base of Wraith, Eleanor is making contact with Wraith himself, which leads Eleanor into making a life altering decision.

The biggest highlights of this episode are the one-on-one bouts that happen between certain characters. X-On and Steel Ruler, I-Guy and Dead Wing, and of course, Eleanor and Wraith. Each of these feel like a huge leap forward in alot of the arcs that have been going all throughout the anime.

Steel Ruler is the one who shines in the first match-up: Berating X-On for being such an uncaring dick while showing more of her humane side that we saw a couple episodes ago. It's clear to me that she's envious of Eleanor, as while Eleanor has friends who care about her and help her along in her daily life, Steel Ruler very much does not, and she doesn't want to see that taken away from Eleanor, knowing how much of a precious gift that can be.

With the second match-up, it's a conclusion to a rivalry that has been going on ever since the story began, and it's here we learn why exactly Ian's' friends were killed: It was Dead Wing who did it, seeking revenge for all of the times that I-Guy humiliated him.

So what does I-Guy have to say about this particular revelation?

Quite alot!

And of course last and most importantly is Eleanor and Wraith, and to help set the mood, here is what I consider to be Wraith's' theme song, as it plays during the most important stretch of the episode.

It's all talking with these two, with Wraith highlighting just how exactly he managed to get so many Reflected to follow him. He's very much a cult leader, with all the mind games and charismatic talk that comes with such a position. He reveals that he knows alot about Eleanor; Even triggering the memories of abandonment that Eleanor received from her parents and making a solid point about X-On's' trash behavior. The atmosphere here is incredibly spot on and sells the entire thing flawlessly.

And in the end, it leads to Eleanor being possessed by Wraith, and one final, big, revelation.

Wraith is actually Ethan, the brother of Eleanor who was allegedly dead for all these years. It's a wonderful hook and brings a level of credence to Wraith's' claims that Eleanor was the centerpiece of alot of the plot that's been going on over most of the show.

In the end, I feel like this episode highlights alot about what I love to see in this show, and makes for a great lead-in to the final stage.

[DreamSword]

Episode 11: White Sands

This episode is all about conflict. Both internal and external.

The reason Wraith was abducting women of the Allen family is revealed: Many of them inherited the same power of being able to teleport via The Reflection, and such, Wraith brought them all together as a means of reaching out to more Reflected much easier.

The result is that hundreds of Reflected from across the United States are instantly teleported to the White Sands of New Mexico to hear Wraith speak. He gives a speach about everyone banding together to help mold the world into a place where the Reflected are accepted, and, rather realistically, while many are either on board or left to contemplate, there are just as many who have no intention of putting up with any of this and attempt to leave.

Wraith, however, anticipated this, and also anticipated how the US government would react to a bunch of Reflected gathering in one place at once.

Armed forces are sent in to dispel the situation, with every intent of using force should no one comply with their demands. This is already enough to get people to start panicking, but then Wraith strikes first, causing a riot to break out.

So you can see that the entire situation is incredibly dicey, with everyone responding to the ensuing chaos in their own way. Those aligned with Wraith of course fight the army in an effort to show the valiance of their cause, Team X-On does their best to keep both sides to fighting eachother to avoid bloodshed, many other Reflected and Soldiers fight in self-defense, and I-Guy and 9nine, being perhaps the smartest out of everyone there, just stay out of the situation in its entirely.

While all of this is really interesting for me to see play out in its own right, the biggest takeaway in this entire episode for me was how this episode also asked a question that I never thought about, but boy am I glad that it did.

Said question being: What if one of the survivors of The Reflection were hit by both the light and the smoke at the same time?

Because as it turns out, Eleanor was one such person, and highlights just how much Wraith is directly connected to her. He very much comes across as a piece of her broken psyche come to life, and with her accepting his words, hands reigns over to him as the dominant personality. Suddenly, the two sharing knowledge and Wraith being able to appear to her no matter where she was suddenly makes sense. Heck, Ian's' friends getting killed could be seen just as much as Eleanor's' negative feelings lashing out against Ian just as much as Dead Wing does.

The next episode is the finale, and it looks as though things are already getting wild. Excelsior!

[DreamSword]

Episode 12: The Reflection

This finale comes SO CLOSE to being perfect!

Okay, so here's the basic premise. Wraith manages to feed off of all the negativity circling the area now that the riot has broken loose, and thus begins to grow even stronger as a result.

Not only does he manage to possess nearly every Reflected there, but he begins to use his newfound power to summon an eldrich horror from beyond the skies as a means to plunge the world into eternal darkness. If he is doomed to be a being of negative emotion, then so too shall everyone else.

The action is intense, and the emotion runs incredibly high for every character involved. It's really great stuff!

And yet, in the end, who do I end up caring about the most?

Yeah, the idol group is actually a squad of magical girls who each control a different element, and they fight similar to how I-Guy does; Blaring their theme song as they battle. It's a match made in heaven!

That's not to say that I-Guy is outdone though. His rivalry with Dead Wing at long last comes to a close, and when everything starts to literally go to hell, who's the one leading the charge? I-Guy, and he doesn't care if he has to shred every bit of his armor to scrap in order to do it.

But it's not like only 9th Wonder(magical girls) and I-Guy get to shine. Pretty much everyone gets there moment here. From Lisa being determined to face life head on despite her struggles, to Michael and Vy reconciling, to Steel Ruler realizing that she doesn't have to live life in desperation anymore, pretty much everything comes together super well!

So of course, the one weak spot lies in what the show considers its two main characters: X-On and Eleanor.

Eleanor regains her senses from within Wraith pretty much out of nowhere, and while her speech about trying to find light in even the darkest times is great, it's sort of undermined by not only her just suddenly showing up out of nowhere, but also what they pull with X-On.

X-On, in a total bait-and-switch, is revealed to not actually be a Reflected, but actually a genetically altered superhuman experiment, and as such he not only still has his powers, but is able to copy Wraith's', and thus put in the bulk of the work in saving the day.

Now, it's not a complete misstep, since in the end, it's Ian who finishes Wraith off(excellent choice!), but man, it all would've been so much more powerful had it either been a unified effort, or heck, even just have Eleanor herself put a stop to everything after some introspection.

Regardless, Wraith is put to rest, and everything appears to be wrapping up for a happy ending.

...

...

...

And then the show decides to bait for a second season in the literal last moment. A second season which will, unfortunately, never happen, thus ruining the entire mood the episode had built up really well up to now and ruining any chance for an epilogue.

I've already stated in my talks about other shows that I can't stand things like this, and The Refection unfortunately serves as a prime example as to why. Yeah, sure, a second Reflection Event happening in the show's' universe is believable and would make a greating starting hook for a second season, but to serve as the ending to the show, and not giving a send off to all of these characters who've been built up all throughout? I don't agree with that choice at all. Major letdown.

Despite some minor setbacks though, I do still feel that the episode is a pretty solid finale overall, and left me with more positive feelings than negative.

Final thoughts post coming next time!