#Blue Reflection Ray

[bijeille]

[carmench4n]

[majokkoradio]

"Blue Reflection Mio/Ray -Battle Theme-" - Blue Reflection Ray - BGM

[yfalog]

[sirophim]

Fanart of Uta Komagawa from Blue reflection Ray/Tie

[jewlwpet]

My good friend @pochqmqri subbed the first Blue Reflection Ray OP based on the translation I did!

[magicalgirloftheday]

✧・ﾟ:*Today’s magical girl of the morning is: Hirahara Hiori from Blue Reflection Ray!✧・ﾟ:*

[mahou-furbies]

Magical girls from Blue Reflection Ray.

[moonlit-skyy]

WIP Blue Reflection Hinako fanart

[littlemisspinky]

"my sword is for protecting the things you care about, Mio"

Momo from blue reflection ray! ive also been playing its sequel game, blue reflection tie, and having a lot of fun doing so <3

[bestnekozena]

瑠夏ちゃんおめでとう！ / Ruka's Birthday -08/16/2022

[fuckyeahanimebirthdays]

Amiru Sumeragi (Blue Reflection Ray)  » March 15

[lesbianladybrown]

Blue Reflection Ray

Lycoris Recoil

[majokkoradio]

"Tsunagari Yuku Sekai" - Blue Reflection Ray - BGM

[yfalog]

[lesbunnian]

Since Twitter might be dying, I'm gonna post my Blue Reflection Sun rambles here. This is a more in-depth discussion about the Blue Reflection Sun "Controversy" here that I have already made a shorter statement on my Twitter: here

TLDR: I still feel the same way but with more looking into it and taking in more opinions. I'm even MORE cautious.

But here we go.

For those of you who aren't aware cause it is a niche franchise, Blue Reflection is a Magical Girl RPG developed by Gust (the same developers of the beloved Atelier series) and published by Koei Tecmo in early 2017 that eventually had gotten an anime called Blue Reflection Ray and a sequel game called Blue Reflection Second light that came out in 2021.

It's a small franchise but it is a beloved one for many, many reasons. As a game series that prides itself on all female casts with in-depth emotional storytelling that explores the nuanced of a young girls life in ways most games and hell even anime ignore. It caught the eye of A LOT of women. Plus the magical girl market isn't even touched really in the gaming sphere unless you play a game based on an already living magical girl IP. But Blue Reflection was new and it handled it's emotional storytelling gracefully as well as having very heavy lesbian or at least bi coded things. (You can take the girls on dates in Second Light). So, of course, this attracted the girls and the gays (mostly there are of course cis male het fans of Blue Reflection) to the series and to love it. And the fact this niche franchise got not only 2 games but an anime is very impressive. After the release and subsequent great positive reception of Second Light alot of Blue Reflection fans (which I will now abbreviate to BR) we're looking forward to the future of the series. Including me.

My relationship with BR is a very positive one. I played and genuinely loved the first game and still have yet to watch Ray or even play second Light due to financial troubles and time management. Though I plan to. But ive beaten the first game 3 times over and nearly 100% it. So I'm a very loyal fan to BR. It was the first RPG I played to explore such themes in life and honestly it is one of my favorite games of all time. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Sun. A new game under the BR franchise. Of course, it diminished a bit when I heard it was a mobile game, as alot of niche mobile games never get sold to the west, but I was still interested and optimistic. Until, I saw an article mention the infamous thing-

'there is a male protag'

Now, again for the uninformed this isn't a big deal. Alot of jrpgs is male protag led. But for BR it is a BIG DEAL. as BR 1, Ray, and Second Light were entirely female lead casts. Cause the main theme of BR is female growth and development. It explores the nuances, day to day happenings, traumas, and more of a teenage girls life. Which, isn't new for the magical girl genre but it was new for the video game market. It was this that made BR so unique and beloved. That earned it it's audience that allowed BR to get not only a sequel but an anime. Besides Sun is not being developed by it's original maker Gust, it's being developed by DMM. Which I know little about so I shall not speak on them.

This sounds like the perfect pipeline to suddenly through in a harem whiteboard protagonist that every girl can use as a bouncing pad to grow from while being in love with him. Which, as you can expect from a series that original have well rounded female characters playing off of each other and learning to grow organically from their bonds, caused a large uproar from the fans. JP and western alike. Which surprised me, it's rare to see worldwide fanbases agree like this.

Now, I did mention that I have a bit of hope, cause it's not out yet and we can only tell how this male protag is handled. And many people outside of the BR community are calling the current fans 'stupid', 'overreacting', or even 'bigotted' for their freaking out. Which I also think is wrong. Cause we have a reason to be cautious. BR was a safe haven franchise for some. For WLW to see themselves and see their struggles either current or when they were younger being somewhat explored in a game. To see characters like them or hell, even be like me and see a game that encourages your femininity and tells you not to shy away from it. And any gender can really get attached to those themes. But of course, it really hits a chord with those fans. So of course they will be upset, of course they will feel alienated because after 2 games and an anime, Gust has built this IP that means so much to such a large marginalized group of people and seeing it suddenly fall into the norms of anime jrpg, or even worse MOBILE anime jrpg silliness hurts.

Now, I have hope. Why? Because Gust owns BR. and Gust writes men really really well. I feel like we all forget that half of the Atelier games also have male leads. Logy, Vayne, Felt, Razelux, and more. Those characters are good. And it's not like there are no men in BR at all. There are of course mentions of boyfriends, fathers, brothers, male teachers, etc. Also, there may be a twist with the protag that makes him more up to the girls level of characterization that makes up for it. Maybe he's trans? Maybe he's also just coming into a time to explore his feminine side? Who knows? Cause the game isn't out yet.

Of course, like I said, DMM is heading this project which still leaves me room for being worried. I love BR so,.so dearly and I wouldn't want to see this mobile title make it burst into flames. But I've already seen some fans who already have decided to not get the game, and even someone go as far to destroy their copies of BR 1 and Second Light. Which is NOT what you should do.

Personally, my move is this. Wait until Sun comes out, look out for the story and see how the protag is and if you think it's worth trying. Try the game (especially if it is free to play) but DO NOT use your money on it yet. Only use money when you can confirm that you like the protag and how they characterize and use him. If they do well, fall into it. If they fail, quit the game. Especially if the fabled "harem" route becomes a reality. You vote with your dollar people.

Now, remember everyone, we all love Blue Reflection, and we want more of the magic gust have us on 2017 and 2021. So we need to be willing to give them a chance to explore where to take BR but be critical when it is a way that takes away the magic we all loved. After all, BR reminded me that being a girl doesn't make me lesser or just a commodity for someone else's dreams.

Go on Reflectors!