Lostorage Incited WIXOSS – 08

「闇／渇望と喪失」 (Yami / Katsubou to Shoushitsu)
“Darkness / Fervent Desire and Loss”

Damn things certainly blew up this week. Not only was Bookmaker of all people revealed to be a LRIG, but Chinatsu continues along the path to destruction while Suzuko finally finds her inner strength. Did we mention the ominous warnings of worse to come?

The true shocker of course was definitely Bookmaker. His being a LRIG in a Selector body isn’t actually all too surprising, but I never seriously anticipated it. The fact does answer how Bookmaker knows all about the Selector battles though, especially some of the personal details regarding his “client” list. Remember that ability for third parties to be pulled into Selector matches? Guaranteed Bookmaker abuses uses it (along with his personal recording system) for full effect. The LRIG background furthermore explains a good chunk of Bookmaker’s fetishism. We knew the man enjoys watching his clients mentally suffer (just look at sheening, hauty chest), but a surprising part of it is a curious mix of revenge and indifference—Selectors are apparently nothing more than toys to Bookmaker, existing for self-made amusement in the midst of a boring world. Bookmaker’s personality increasingly reminds me a lot of Ulith, Iona’s LRIG from the original. It was hard to pin before, but given Lostorage’s links back to the original WIXOSS, I wouldn’t be at all surprised now if Bookmaker is in fact Ulith and his (her) masked joker turns out to be Iona. That’s certainly one way of making jaws hit the floor.

On the other side continues the Chinatsu-Suzuko struggle, where it seems we are finally reaching the endgame. It’s evident at this point that Chinatsu is looking for a way out from her plan (if only subconsciously at the moment), given her withholding of Shouhei’s contract from Bookmaker, and the ease which Suzuko sliced through her mental front. Particularly intriguing, however, is how Chinatsu’s counterbalance is slowly becoming Meru, who looks like the only thing keeping Chinatsu on track. There could be several reasons behind Meru’s encouragement of Chinatsu, but given this episode’s turn of events, I’m leaning towards the cynical one of Meru wanting Chinatsu to break. Most LRIGs obviously want freedom, and given Chinatsu’s treatment of Meru so far, I highly doubt Meru is an exception. This will be the relationship to watch.

Suzuko in comparison, however, has apparently found her inner resolve and is now properly set up as the saviour of this story. The pleasant surprise for me was how well Suzuko’s development was filled in this week. Not only does Suzuko’s fighting purpose now have a proper, logical basis (independence from Chinatsu so Chinatsu isn’t bothered), but Suzuko’s neediness also has an answer in the form of a lost mother. This is a surprising bit of backfill answering most of the outstanding questions regarding Suzuko’s and Chinatsu’s personalities. Whether this development could have been done earlier is up for debate, but these answers help eliminate many of the holes in both characters’ actions.

Given all the reveals and answers put forth this week, you’d imagine things would slow down, but it looks like we are only getting started. Piruluk’s warning (and her knowledge of Hanna’s investigation) is as big a hint as any something massive is coming, and that preview definitely indicates so as well. Considering next time is likely about Hanna, I fully expect some death flags finally being realized.

Random Tidbits

Really curious why Hanna’s LRIG Anonymous referred to herself as “LRIG of the beginning”. Might be a hint towards explaining things.

The sexual innuendos just do not stop. Doing the deed, cannot get it up anymore, what else remains? Best one had to be Bookmaker calling out Masaru with the “materializing his desires” swipe though.

Interesting insinuation by Bookmaker that LRIGs are not human, it potentially indicates LRIGs are not former Selectors after all. Makes it all the more annoying how Lostorage still refuses answering where Selectors “disappear” to.

Preview