Blue Reflection Ray

Individual pieces of human emotion usually take form as flowers known as "Fragments." The select few who possess strong enough Fragments can become "Reflectors," beings who equip specialized rings that allow them to connect their thoughts, memories, and emotions to those whose feelings waver. There are two types of Reflectors—those who wear blue rings to protect those falling into depravity by preserving their Fragments, and those who wear red rings to prevent negative emotions by stealing the Fragments of those who begin to develop severe woe.

Despite wanting to socialize with people around her, transfer student Ruka Hanari's shy and introverted personality always gets in her way. In a chance encounter, however, she bumps into a woman who happens to drop a blue ring as she hurries away. Unable to return it, Ruka brings it back with her to her dorm. There, she meets the outgoing Hiori Hirahara, who also has a blue ring. They find themselves in several conflicts against red Reflectors, slowly realizing the true power of the rings that they hold.

Now striving to become Reflectors themselves, Ruka and Hiori must learn to work together and become stronger so that they can save not only the people around them, but also themselves from the emotions that hold them back.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hanari, Ruka Main

Chisuga, Haruka Japanese

Hirahara, Hiori Main

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Hirahara, Mio Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Komagawa, Uta Supporting

Tanabe, Rui Japanese

Yamada, Nina Supporting

Tamaki, Nina Japanese

Tanabe, Momo Supporting

Takakura, Yuka Japanese

Shirakaba, Miyako Supporting

Oowada, Hitomi Japanese

Mizusaki, Shino Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Saiki, Yuri Supporting

Sakura, Ayane Japanese

Tachibana, Ryoka Supporting

Hirayama, Yurika Japanese

Aoi, Hiroyuki Producer

Okada, Kouji Producer

Takashino, Shuuichi Producer

Yoshida, Risako Director

Reviews

Jan 2, 2025

WolfTK01

Recommended

Blue Reflection Ray Review. You should watch this Anime.
A fascinating show. The surface story is a well designed and plotted magical girl show where the protagonists try to protect other girls' negative feelings from being "consumed" by the antagonists for their own use.

But the show subverts anime tropes to create a sense of foreboding, and the way the show plays with the characters' perception of reality makes the viewer question everything they see. The theme of hundreds of girls and women living with social anxiety, depression, imposter syndrome and other mental health problems is a dark commentary on the mores and structures in modern society. ... And personalities, the way they act. Plus they can transform. The way they interact with the main Reflectors reminds me of how Haruka and Michiru would act around the main Sailor Guardian members. And they feel like the outer Senshi of the Reflector group. This Magical girl Anime and video game series gives me strong Sailor Moon vibes more than any other Magical girl series. Even Ruka Hanari looks similar in character design to Sailor Mars Rei Heino.

You should watch it if you haven't yet. The music is beautiful, the characters are lovable. It has a great well fleshed out storyline. The Anime is based on a video game series, that has really fun gameplay. Also the storyline is very enjoyable. I recommend em to everyone who is into Anime. Or just wants a fun Magical Girl Anime to watch. The transformations are similar to Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica in a way. Some of the art style reminds me of Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Like the color schemes in some scenarios. Ruka Hanari looks similar to Sailor Mars Rei Heino in a way. This has one of the best Anime OST BGM soundtracks I have ever heard hands down. If you have not played Blue Reflection, Tie/Second or even watched the Blue Reflection Ray Anime. Then you're missing out. This series is quite enjoyable and lovable. Blue Reflection Ray takes place between the first and second game that is a must watch. I really enjoyed it a lot. Blue Reflection Sword other the girl who dances in illusions. Blue Reflection Tie.

I love Mel Kishida's art style. It's very pretty. The Anime as a whole is perfect. It may not be the cream of the crop, but it's still really fun. And really enjoyable. Reflector, Magical girl, Magical girls. Gust Koei Tecmo Video Games and Anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Feb 19, 2025

MelodyOfMemory

Mixed Feelings

Midway through Season 1, a girl is being brutally abused by her mother when she claims she understands what she's going through because she found out the psychological term for it. This is enough to make her mother stop and break down in tears. This clunky, didactic scene exemplifies Blue Reflection Ray: a well meaning show that wants to say relevant things about teenage girls' hidden issues, but lacks the care and finesse to do so in a convincing way.

To be clear, this is not a Wonder Egg Priority we're dealing with. The writing issues are more its tendency towards convoluted soap opera / RPG ... melodrama than anything offensively bad. But the setup is an interesting one. For those who haven't played the first Blue Reflection game, first, you're not missing much because it's terrible. But Ray is effectively an interrogation of that game's core premise of having magical Reflectors delve into people's minds and understanding their problems to give them advice at the end. All good when it's mostly the petty concerns of well-off high schoolers, but what if they were to encounter more serious, deeply rooted problems? Are inexperienced teenage girls really fit for this level of psychotherapy? Especially when employed by an organization that's unresponsive and bureaucratic? (brilliant satire of the typical "mysterious org that works in mysterious ways," btw)

Enter the Sith Lords, er Red Reflectors, who decide to rid the world emotions so girls will never have to suffer again. Hmm...where have I heard that one before? Knights of the Old Republic II? Tales of Symphonia? Okay, maybe not the most original premise, but it does provide the backdrop for an interesting ideological conflict. But in practice, fights tend to degenerate into lead character Hiori going all talk no jutsu about how precious and important feelings are (hmm...sound familiar? Maybe a certain other series that likes to use "darkness" and "heart" a lot?) Basically, for all its overwhelmingly convoluted, poorly explained world building and overly padded out 24 episode run time, the plot is really a standard "Villains extract Fragments from girls of the week so they can open the door to Kingdom Hearts, er, The Commons." Complain as I may about tropey writing, the final two episodes are such a loving homage to RPG final dungeons that I can't help but enjoy it. If only the rest of the show was exciting as that finale.

Other examples of the show's contrived melodrama: The first arc is about a rich girl whose parents don't understand her, so she tries to get herself run over by a train. Main sisters Hiori and Mio have lost their mom and have waiting a long 5 years for her to return. Somehow, no one intervened in all this time, but it's later revealed their aunt was willing to take them in (sounding way too casual about the situation), but Mio stubbornly refused. (given sequel game Second Light's reveal of her mother's motives, I guess stubbornness and questionable decision making runs in the family?) Edgelord Red Reflector rival Niina constantly carries around a rolling suitcase that her abusive mom claims is their entire life, only to later open it and angrily realize it's nothing, even though she should have noticed how unusually light it felt. And there's a scene where the main villain's powers are revealed...to come from a dark cloud. That's like the Medabots scene where Space Medafighter X's mask breaks off to reveal another mask, except ostensibly not meant to be a joke.

Still, while I wouldn't call it a good anime or an underrated gem by any means, chances are, if you've played a lot of RPGs as the writers themselves have clearly done, you're probably immunized to needlessly convoluted and cheesy soap opera writing, and watching girls fight each other with their friends as their power isn't the worst way to spend 24 episodes. Tone-wise, it's a nice crossroads between the optimistic tone of Sailor Moon era magical girls and the art style and more psychological focus of the Madoka era.

Finally, how much does watching this anime add to the follow-up Blue Reflection: Second Light (which actually is a decent game)? Not much, honestly. If the events of the anime get referenced at all, it's only in broad strokes, and aside from the main characters' mother showing up, Second Light's plot goes in a very different direction. There really should have been better communication between production staff before attempting to pull a Blue Reflection Cinematic Universe on us.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Sep 24, 2021

AprilDruid

Not Recommended

This has to be one of the worst series I've watched in a good while. I'd have dropped it, but I thought "It'll improve!", in fact the first handful of episodes were pretty good, visually it stood out from other magical girl shows and it seemed like this would be a hit. It just falls into mediocrity however, leaving you to not care about the plot or characters ultimately.


I'll give them credit where it's clearly due. They try to present an emotionally mature story, but they fail to that, rather this "emotionally mature story" is just boring. Evil Magical Girls is a trope ... not done very often and I had so hoped this would have been interesting, but instead it just leads me to wonder how anyone thought this series needed to happen.


Animation wise it looks like they cheaped out after the first handful of episodes. What started as an interesting look at the genre I enjoy so much, has ended becoming one of the worst looking shows of the season I feel. Maybe I need to have played the games to know what's going on, maybe I just need to pay more attention, but one thing is certain, this is just boring.


If you're wondering "Is this worth my time?" it's not, it's incredibly skippable and you would be better off doing such. Go watch Precure or something, if you want magical girl, or the new season of Magia Record, at least you won't wind up disappointed by what you watched.


Upon viewing the finale, I've asked myself "Why did I watch this awful series?" And I don't know. The animation didn't hold up, it looked sloppy at many points. The characters themselves had no real motivations, they were just there to have depressing things happen. There's no payoff, there's no villain, it's just all sadness. Maybe the game is better, but I don't even know if this has anything to do with the game. It ultimately doesn't matter, as if this is what's meant to represent the game, I'll avoid it at all costs.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Poll: Blue Reflection Ray Episode 2 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 16, 2021	37 replies	by wildhood »» Feb 21, 7:55 AM
	Poll: Blue Reflection Ray Episode 24 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 24, 2021	36 replies	by OtakuHaruxro »» Oct 22, 2024 8:28 AM
	Poll: Blue Reflection Ray Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Apr 23, 2021	28 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 28, 2024 1:53 AM
	Poll: Blue Reflection Ray Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 9, 2021	84 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 28, 2024 1:11 AM
	Poll: Blue Reflection Ray Episode 23 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 17, 2021	21 replies	by WolfTK01 »» Jul 10, 2023 3:51 PM