Selector Infected WIXOSS

selector infected WIXOSS (pronounced "we cross") is a Japanese television anime series produced by J.C.Staff in collaboration with Takara Tomy and Warner Entertainment Japan. The first season premiered in Japan between April and June 2014, with its second season, selector spread WIXOSS, airing from October 4, 2014. A film, titled selector destructed WIXOSS, will be released on February 13, 2016. Two manga spin-offs have been produced, and a trading card game by Takara Tomy, titled simply WIXOSS, was launched in Japan in April 2014.

Plot

WIXOSS (short for "Wish Across") is a popular trading card game in which players battle against each other with fighters known as LRIGs (ルリグ, Rurigu) ("GIRL" spelled backwards), using cards to support them. Ruko Kominato, who receives a WIXOSS deck from her brother, discovers that her LRIG, which she names Tama, can speak. She soon learns that she has been chosen as a 'Selector', girls who must battle against other Selectors. Should they be victorious in battle, they will be able to have any wish granted, but should they lose three times to other Selectors, they will not only not have their wish granted, but it will be reversed. As she and various other Selectors battle it out for the sake of their wish, Ruko finds herself drawn into the dark sinister world of WIXOSS, discovering that win or lose, there is always a cost.^[1]

Characters

Selectors

Ruko Kominato (小湊 るう子, Kominato Rūko)

Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel^[2] (English)

The main protagonist, who possesses the LRIG card, Tama. She is unsure of what kind of wish she wants and is generally the spectator of the dark nature of WIXOSS. Despite becoming more and more aware of the terrible nature of the Selector battles, she often finds herself enjoying battles. Ruko later finds her own wish, which is to free the LRIGs from their cards and return them to their own lives. In the end of season 1, Ruko loses Tama, and her new LRIG card becomes Yuki. In Spread, she adds the condition to turn all LRIGs into humans so that even those who were originally LRIGs can also become human, which she does in the final episode. She starts looking for Tama some time afterwards.

Yuzuki Kurebayashi (紅林 遊月, Kurebayashi Yuzuki)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (Japanese), Apphia Yu^[2] (English)

One of Ruko's friends at school, who possesses the LRIG card, Hanayo. She has feelings for her twin brother, Kazuki, and desires to use her wish to make such a relationship possible. She is straightforward and bad at containing her emotions. She fulfils the conditions of her wish and enters a ritual with Hanayo. However, Hanayo takes over Yuzuki's body to receive the benefits of her wish, whilst Yuzuki becomes Hitoe's second LRIG. She is freed after Ruko has her wish granted in the last episode of Spread.

Hitoe Uemura (植村 一衣, Uemura Hitoe)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Tia Ballard^[2] (English)

A shy and timid girl, who possesses the LRIG card, Midoriko. Her wish is to have friends, which she appears to fulfil herself after Ruko and Yuzuki befriend her. However, upon losing three battles, she becomes unable to make friends, losing her memories and becoming pained by any thoughts or attempts at friendship. Later on, she receives another LRIG card containing Yuzuki and becomes a Selector again, while becoming a bit more cold after her next fight with Ruko. In her final fight with Ruko, Hitoe reveals to have gotten her memory back a while back, revealing her cold act to be a facade, and wanted to become an Eternal Girl to help free Yuzuki from her card. She becomes friends with them again after this.

Akira Aoi (蒼井 晶, Aoi Akira)

Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki (Japanese), Jamie Marchi^[2] (English)

A fashion model who, despite having a cute personality in public, is actually incredibly sadistic. She has a strong hatred towards Iona, her wish being to ruin her life. She possesses the LRIG card, Piruluk. She ends up losing three battles and receives a large scar on her face, ruining her modelling career. In Spread, she receives another LRIG, Milulun, and falls for Ulith, following anything she orders her to do. In the series finale of Spread, she is shown to be working by Iona's side, and has a book about her resolution on blue WIXOSS decks.

Chiyori (ちより, Chiyori)

Voiced by: Mako Morino (Japanese), Lara Woodhull^[2] (English)

An energetic school girl who possesses the LRIG card, Eldora. She is delusional about WIXOSS believing that it is her destiny to be the heroine in the game just like in the novel she likes to read, not taking the consequences of the game seriously. As such, her wish is to become a LRIG much to Eldora's annoyance. She is eliminated when she suffers her third loss in a battle against Hitoe that Eldora lost on purpose to spare her the pain of battles by having the reverse of her wish become reality. In the series end of Spread, she is seen with a note as Ruko passes her.

Fumio Futase (ふたせ 文緒, Futase Fumio)

Voiced by: Harumi Sakurai

A novelist who is the author of the WIXOSS novel that Chiyori likes to read. It is later revealed that Futase was previously the real Fumio's LRIG, who took over her body after Fumio became an Eternal Girl, her experiences serving as inspiration for her book. In the last episode of Spread, both Futase and Fumio return to their own bodies.

Iona Urazoe (浦添 伊緒奈, Urazoe Iona)

Voiced by: Mamiko Noto

The real Iona Urazoe who made contract with Yuki, whom she simply referred as 'LRIG'. Her wish is to no longer be Iona Urazoe since she grew tired of many people's expectation for her to succeed her family's business. Once her wish is fulfilled, she met Mayu in the white room who then told her the entire truth behind the Selector battle, but Iona was content with the truth since her wish has been fulfilled. This angered Mayu and as the result, Mayu purposely sent her as an LRIG of Selectors who are not compatible with the battle. After Ulith's wish is fulfilled, Iona returns to her hollow body since Tama refused to enter it. At the end of Spread, it is shown that she's still working besides Akira.

LRIGs

Tama (タマ)

Voiced by: Misaki Kuno (Japanese), Monica Rial^[2] (English)

Ruko's LRIG, white in color. She has a cutesy appearance and lively personality. In battle, however, she displays a frightening bloodlust. After failing to form a contract with Ruko, she ends up becoming Ulith's LRIG. She at first forgot about Mayu, but remembers fully later in Spread. She is the 'Girl of Light', an LRIG created by Mayu, and her true name is Shiro. She later rejects taking over Iona's body, and returns to Mayu as a result, only to shortly after get locked up by Mayu. She is later freed and merges with Yuki. In the series end after Ruko's wish, Tama is shown to have become a human, sitting on a rooftop.

Hanayo (花代)

Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Caitlin Glass^[2] (English)

Yuzuki's LRIG, red in color, composed and keen. After Yuzuki fulfills her battle conditions, Hanayo takes over Yuzuki's body in order to receive her wish. Initially approaches Kazuki only to fulfil Yuzuki's wish, Hanayo started to develop genuine feelings for Kazuki as they spent their times together. This makes her feel no longer able to fulfil Yuzuki's wish out of fear that she will become a Selector to wish to be happy with Kazuki and betray Yuzuki. She is freed after Ruko's wish in the series finale of Spread, seen as a human with short hair observing Kazuki and Yuzuki briefly near a playground.

Yuki (ユキ)

Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese), Anastasia Munoz^[2] (English)

Known for most of the series as Iona Urazoe, a fashion model at the same agency as Akira, who can sense what a Selector's wish is. She has a keen thirst for battles and takes an interest in Ruko, feeling that she is just like her. She possesses the LRIG card, Ulith. After becoming a Eternal Girl, she becomes Ruko's LRIG, while Ulith takes over her body as part of her wish is to become the LRIG of a Selector who is stronger than her. In Spread, It is later revealed that she is originally an LRIG named Kuro that created by Mayu along with Tama, and she's referred as "The Girl of Dark". Yuki also begins to bond with Ruko, and later becomes her friend, and like Tama desires to help Mayu become their friend as well. After the original Iona Urazoe manages to return to her original body, Ruko gives her the name Yuki to distinguish them. After Ruko does her wish in the last episode of Spread, although Yuki is not shown, she is assumed to also have become human, as Ruko's wish was to turn even those who were originally LRIGs into humans.

Midoriko (緑子)

Voiced by: Minami Takahashi (Japanese), Carli Mosier^[2] (English)

Hitoe's LRIG, green in color, passionate and loyal. She is sent to another Selector after Hitoe lost her third battle. At the end of Spread, she is seen as a human, meeting Hitoe on a bus.

Piruluk (ピルルク, Piruruku)

Voiced by: Saori Ōnishi (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

Akira's LRIG, blue in color. Her personality is cold and indifferent, which, as Akira remarks, is reminiscent of Iona. Following Ruko's wish, she is seen as a human in the end of Spread reading a magazine. Her backstory is revealed in the manga adaptation, Selector infected WIXOSS - Peeping Analyze. Her real name is Kiyoi Mizushima (水嶋 清衣, Mizushima Kiyoi). She was cold and anti-social, refusing to socialise with anyone due to her experience being betrayed by her supposed friend during elementary school. She considered opening her heart when her classmate, Ayumi Sakaguchi, constantly trying to befriend her by inviting her to play WIXOSS. Kiyoi at first agreed, but quickly distanced herself again when her classmates called her "gross" due to her previously indifferent attitude. Kiyoi's attempt to avoid Sakaguchi inadvertently resulted with Sakaguchi being hit by a truck and falling into a coma. Once realising that Sakaguchi truly wanted to become friends with her, Kiyoi became determined to save her and became a Selector with an LRIG named Remember whose ability was reading the future. However, when becoming an LRIG, Mayu shows her the outcome of her wish: Remember, who now inhabits her body, "saves" Sakaguchi by secretly turning off her life support and leaving her to die, ending her suffering.

Ulith (ウリス, Urisu)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Bryn Apprill^[2] (English)

Iona's LRIG, black in color. She has a sadistic personality similar to Akira and enjoys mocking weaker opponents. After Iona becomes an Eternal Girl, she takes over Iona's body, later becoming Tama's new Selector. She eventually becomes another Eternal Girl, with Iona's body returning to its original owner. She becomes Mayu's LRIG since her new wish is to become an LRIG of a selector who can bring greater despair to others. When Mayu gives Ruko a chance for instant win if she correctly guess what the colour of her card is, Ruko correctly guessed that Mayu's card has no colour, resulting with Mayu's loss and Ulith destroyed into nothingness.

Eldora (エルドラ, Erudora)

Voiced by: Satomi Arai (Japanese), Mariela Ortiz^[2] (English)

Chiyori's LRIG, blue in color, who cares more for her well being than her own. She goes elsewhere after Chiyori loses her third battle.

Milulun (ミルルン, Mirurun)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka

Akira's second LRIG. Also blue in colour. Like Akira, she acts cheery and lively, but has shown indifference towards the suffering of others, as shown when she mocks Akira after the latter was shocked by Ulith's betrayal. At the end of Spread, she is seen as human, getting down from the same bus that Piruluk rode.

Anne (アン)

Voiced by: Juri Nagatsuma

Futase's LRIG, green in colour. She wears a standard Japanese hakama with big ribbon on her hair.

Other characters

Kazuki Kurebayashi (紅林 香月)

Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi (Japanese), Micah Solusod^[2] (English)

Yuzuki's twin brother, who is one of the few non-Selectors to know about the secrets of WIXOSS. He had been oblivious of Yuzuki's feelings for him until after she had fulfilled her wish. He has reciprocated those feelings, unaware that Yuzuki's body had become inhabited by Hanayo until near the end of Spread.

Ayumu Kominato (小湊 歩, Kominato Ayumu)

Voiced by: Haruki Ishiya (Japanese), Clifford Chapin^[2] (English)

Ruko's older brother who gave Ruko her WIXOSS deck.

Hatsu Kominato (小湊 ハツ, Kominato Hatsu)

Voiced by: Tamie Kubota (Japanese), Juli Erickson^[2] (English)

Ruko's grandmother.

Mayu (繭, Mayu)

Voiced by: Risa Taneda (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)

A mysterious white woman who oversees the Selector battles, LRIGs, and Eternal Girls. She grew up in a secluded room and created the Selector battles as a consequence of her loneliness. This changes upon Ruko talking with her in the final episode of Spread. After being embraced by Ruko, Mayu is freed into the outside world.

Media

Anime

selector infected WIXOSS, produced by J.C.Staff, is directed by Takuya Satō and written by Mari Okada, with character designs by Kyuta Sakai and music by Maiko Iuchi of I've Sound. The first season aired on MBS between April 3, 2014 June 19, 2014 and was simulcast by Funimation in North America^[3] and Crunchyroll in other territories outside Japan.^[4] The opening theme is "killy killy JOKER" by Kanon Wakeshima^[5] and the ending theme is "realize -Yume no Matsu Basho-" (realize -夢の待つ場所-, realize -Where Our Dreams Are Waiting-) by Cyua. A second season, title selector spread WIXOSS aired between in October 4, 2014 and December 20, 2014. The opening theme is "world's end, girl's rondo" by Wakeshima, whilst the ending theme is "Undo -Ashita e no Kioku-" (Undo -明日への記憶-, Undo -A Memory For Tomorrow) by Cyua. An animated film, selector destructed WIXOSS, will be released in Japanese theaters on February 13, 2016.^[6]

Movie

On the "selector Special Event" the anime staff announced that an animated movie is confirmed to be in production however it is unclear if it is a recap movie or a sequel to the original anime series. ^[7] On July 17, 2015, the film's title revealed to be Selector destructed WIXOSS.^[8]

Manga

Three manga spin-off series, written by Okada, are being produced. The first, selector infected WIXOSS -peeping analyze-, is being illustrated by Manatsu Suzuki and (under the title selector infected WIXOSS -blue appli-) began serialization in Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine from July 19, 2014 to May 19, 2015. The second, selector infected WIXOSS -Re/Verse-, is being illustrated by Meki Meki and will be published in Square Enix's Big Gangan magazine. The third is selector stirred WIXOSS and follows the story of the new LRIGs added in the TCG as of WX-08 - Incubate Selector.^[9]

Trading Card Game

A card game titled "WIXOSS" by Takara Tomy has started on April 26, 2014.^[10]

References

External links

• Anime official website
• Trading card game official website
• Selector Infected WIXOSS (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia