One Sentence Summary: The viewers get to learn about the past of Kiyoi / the original Piruluk, see the current fate of Tama, and watch the Selector Battles begin anew.
My Actual Thoughts & Recounting of Events:
Wow. Piruluk just became one of my favourite characters of all time. Now that’s how you do a tragic backstory. Anime-only viewers have been largely in the dark when it comes to Piruluk’s past for 3 seasons, but I would say the wait and the time investment has been worth it.
With that being said, it appears this episode was largely an abridged retelling of the manga, selector infected WIXOSS -peeping analyze-. Peeping Analyze, by the way, happens to be the name of the skill that both Piruluks use to peer into their opponents’ hearts and see their wishes.
The episode presented Kiyoi’s backstory out-of-order, I should mention. I rearranged the screencaps so I can talk about Kiyoi and her story chronologically, however.
In short, Kiyoi’s story is one of repentance and revenge. A cheerful girl named Sakaguchi Ayumi tried to befriend her back when Kiyoi was overly fond of and only knew of WIXOSS as a card game. But then she grows insecure / succumbs to peer pressure by nasty girls talking about them behind their backs, which causes Kiyoi to push Ayumi away. Ayumi, however, pushes Kiyoi out of the way from a car and ends up in a coma. It’s like Truck-kun’s influences extends far beyond just the isekai genre…
After Kiyoi fell into despair over being directly responsible for Ayumi’s fate, WIXOSS things happen and Remember becomes her LRIG and promises to fulfill her wish of saving Sakaguchi. But, as you know if you had watched the original series, nearly all LRIGs are manipulative or at least deceptive. Remember is no exception and she “saves” Sakaguchi by cutting her off life support once she’s inside Kiyoi’s body.
This in turn angers Kiyoi, who has at this point become known as Piruluk. As a result, Piruluk becomes just as cruel as Remember and uses other Selectors as she vainly attempts to hunt down Kiyoi.
So Kiyoi / Piruluk becomes the very best LRIG at seducing young maidens with falsehoods, which pleases sadistic and warped Mayu. But Kiyoi is more or less on the verge of giving into despair until she manages to become the LRIG of best girl, Hashimoto Amiya.
Since Amiya resembles Ayumi so much, Piruluk is initially in shock. But the pair slowly open up to each other right before they run into Remember (who, as mentioned earlier, is in Kiyoi’s body). Due to receiving a phone call about how her mother’s health is rapidly declining, Amika decides to fight Remember despite Kiyoi’s pleas. After all, Amika is participating in the Selector battles hoping that she can fulfill her wish and heal her mother.
Due to some pre-game trashtalk by Remember, Amika is upset that Piruluk lied to her. Piruluk in turn admits that she wanted to leave Amika’s side earlier so she wouldn’t get hurt, but she couldn’t voluntarily stay away from Amika and just wanted to be by her side. Is that a confession? That sounds like a confession to me, folks.
Both Kiyoi and Remember’s LRIG get ready for a final clash right after Kiyoi asks for Amika to trust her one last time. Amika agrees and tells Kiyoi to use Peeping Analyze. But then Amika ends her turn which allows Remember to easily win.
AND THEN it turns out that Kiyoi used Peeping Analyze to change Amika’s wish to “I want to lost my mother.” Since Mayu’s Selector System is twisted and makes the Selector who has lost 3 times to see the opposite of their wish come true, that means Amika will never lose her mother and that her mother’s health will improve. Wait, did Amika’s mother just became immortal?
Of course, Mayu is pissed that Piruluk found a loophole and punishes Piruluk after she basically tells Mayu that she pities her and that meeting Amiya has allowed her to trust in others again (which partially explains why she’s asking Ruko and Suzuko to help. Ruko turned her down, by the way, but we all know she’s going to join Kiyoi later on).
According to online sources (i.e. summaries of selector infected WIXOSS -peeping analyze-, Remember becomes a LRIG and tries to tell her LRIG, who is now occupying Remember’s body, a way for both of them to keep their real bodies. However, Remember is served justice and becomes a bookmark since the other girl likes Remember’s body and doesn’t want to give it up. Would have been nice for us, and Piruluk, to see that, but it also would have altered Kiyoi’s story of suffering by throwing her too much of a bone.
The episode ends with the viewers finally seeing Tama again (after all, we didn’t get to see Tama at all in the finale for selector spread WIXOSS and then Lostorage Incited WIXOSS happened), the person occupying Carnival’s LRIG body / Carnival being able to restart the Selector Battles by being chosen, and the girls receiving their LRIGs.
Admittedly, Kiyoi backstory might come across as being a bit rushed as seen in this post and in the episode. But almost all the viewers just want to see people fight each other already so finally shedding some light on Kiyoi and then moving onto the action probably couldn’t be helped. I still think that the episode did a great job revealing her past and showing her character development despite the time constraints, though.
More despair next week, folks!
The Lily Garden 