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Selector Infected/Spread WIXOSS

Well, I'm going to be frank this you. I'm not easy to impress, neither am I easy to surprise, but this anime (as I'm going to refer to both seasons as one proper anime) has caught me off-guard. Selector Infected WIXOSS and Selector Spread WIXOSS. I remember seeing both of those on a site with updates to ongoing anime quite a bit ago, but for some reason I passed on watching them. I just... didn't feel like it. Or maybe it was the title that seemed interesting enough for me to leave those alone.
Even though I say that, there was a small bit of interest still in me once I set out to watch other anime, so I had this feeling I might be coming back at some point. And that point, as it turned out, was a week ago, when I was finally convinced to watch both seasons... by a song. An opening of the second season, 'world's end, girl's rondo' by Wakeshima Kanon, proved to be interesting enough and was such a sweet tune for my ears I decided to reach out for the titles. And after seeing both of those, I can assure you, dear readers - I did not regret it in the least.

Certainly, one thing is given. The beginning of the anime was a bitter pill to swallow, at least for me. For the first few episodes I had a feeling I was watching some sort of shoujo drama, with friends holding the key to everything a heroine needed. Gladly, however, Selector Infected took quite a turn nearing the end, making the show a great deal better - and in turn, stirring up my curiosity to no end. And then, in the very last episode, just when I thought I knew what was going to happen, I have yet again been proven wrong, with the story not closing up the way it should and instead spreading out to the second season.
Regrettably, Selector Spread suffers from similar problems as Selector Infected. At the beginning, it's quite tough to get into and willingly follow the story. Luckily, this period is way shorter than the first season's and the story gets back on track rather quickly. This said, there was a number of things, small bits and pieces, that I didn't exactly like throughout the series. Starting with how this anime has no specified audience, as the premise screams 'shounen', while the characters and story goes way off into the 'shoujo' territory. And it's worth mentioning that it gives off 'Madoka-ish' vibes. But what is this anime really about? Let me write you a short synopsis so you get the gist of it.
Yearning for nothing special, Ruuko Kobayashi lives a normal life with her grandmother. She doesn't have any friends, but it doesn't bother her in the least. One day, her brother gives her a present - a deck of a popular card game, called WIXOSS. After opening it, however, her world is turned upside down, as she discovers that one card is very special, because it, well, is alive! How it later turns out, by owning such a card, called LRIG, Ruuko has become a Selector - a girl that fights for her wish to come true. But how does a person without any wishes fit into this template?

Of course, after reading such a synopsis, some of you might say it's but a standard card game anime. "I thought Yu-Gi-Oh! didn't involve magical girls", others can bring up. And you know, it's all correct. But one thing makes this anime an original experience, and it's how it doesn't really focus on the card game at all, rather on the plot. You see, in this anime the card game is treated with such a distance they didn't even bother to explain how the game works. Proven, we get to pick up a few rules here and there in one fight or another, but that's about it. The anime limits the time for fights to a bare minimum solely to focus on the plot. And this small fact makes such a huge difference to how the anime is being watched - not like any other card game anime, but rather as an anime patronizing plot before anything else.
Personally, I think creators did a good job blending the elements of different genres into this. Having the plot in check, the visual side doesn't fail to impress. Sadly, the same can't be said about the soundtrack. Apart from the song I already mentioned, the only one worth praising is the ending of the same season, 'realize'. The first season's ideas ran out with 'killy killy Joker', which, as much as it might sound like a pretty enjoyable song, in fact is but an excuse to let Kanon squeak. I'm sorry Kanon, but as much as I love second season's opening, I can't help but admit the first one is undoubtedly low-tier. How does the rest of the soundtrack fare? Well, I can only say that I was surprised to say the least. Given the theme of the anime and how it feels to watch it, hearing dubstep-ish wobbles or glitch effects was a fresh surprise that miraculously didn't feel wrong.
Even though I praised the anime highly all throughout this review, I got to admit, it's not something everyone will enjoy. It needs a lot of dedication to actually get through the first episodes and finish the whole thing. And the plot is rather specific too, so there's that. Though in all honestly, I can wholeheartedly recommend this anime to pretty much anyone, seeing as it covers a huge variety of topics, some of them being as risque as, for example, incest.
Now then, with everything out of the way, I can finally put this review to a close. To summarize everything I covered up until now, I gotta admit this one is rather a guilty pleasure. It's not perfect in any way, it's not even 100% original, but it's worth the watch. Well, I guess it's time to roll out the ultimate final judgement, is it...

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Judgement: uncode the acrostic