This critical review may make it sound like I dislike this series, but if that were the case I would not have watched it beyond the first episode. I like to demonstrate that quality is objective by being able to point out the flaws and criticise even things I enjoy. Although I like this show, I can readily admit it is not a particularly good show. My estimation of the first season was 6.6/10, which means I think it's an above average show, but just shy of actually being good.

Lets start with the flaws.

First of all the inauthentic overly cute voices make me cringe. This is behaviour that I discourage when I see it in children at the age of 6-8 years old. If this behaviour persists into a person's teenage years, they will most likely be a social outcast with very few friends who gets severely bullied in high-school. And if it persists into their adult years they're basically Michael Jackson. With young children growing up, I encourage them to use their natural voice, and take the opportunity to explain to them the importance of being authentic and maturing as they grow. Fortunately the main character, Ruko, isn't too overly cute. Although she is at times, she has a much stronger personality than characters like Hitoe and Chiyori.

Going into the second season, I see a lot of the writing being made up as it goes along. I find this convolutes the plot. Since it's based on a manga, this is most likely an inherited flaw, but I haven't read the manga. The trope of characters forgetting things, like who they were and where they came from, is overused in this series to a tiring degree. The writing lacks forethought and creativity. Not to mention there's a lot of copy paste from other anime. The authors of this anime are obviously not well read.

Cliches in the writing include Miyazaki style overly sympathising with evil characters while simultaneously frequently portraying very superficial heroes and villains. In the heroes, cowardice is often sympathised with. Meekness and cuteness are idolized. There's subversive sexualized costumes, like Iona's card costume for example, with plunging cleavage. The scenes between Yuzuki and her brother, especially the bedroom scene where the incestuous wish comes true. The romanticisation of incest. And it's all done in a very PG Disney style, without really delving into the arguments. It's just superficially glossed over. I don't judge people like that, but they only talk about love in terms of sex, which is lust, not love. There's no reason they can't be intimate and love each other without dating or doing anything that's going to lead to babies with webbed feet. These are the kind of shallow people who think romance is the meaning of life, and there is no god. Like the characters in the story acting like they aren't following a script and there aren't authors who created them.

Friendship is another thing very superficially portrayed. Basically, though not quite exactly, Ruko befriended the first people she came across, and everyone else is just a background character completely ignored. Everyone in their circle of friends plays this card game. Imagine if all your friends listened to the same genre of music, or played the same game. Imagine not having friends outside that tiny world. That's almost as bad as checking your phone when it vibrates, being surprised by the email notification, opening the email, and being surprised by the contents.

Characters being incessantly surprised by things, like another person greeting them or responding to what they said, is an anime trope that makes me cringe almost as hard as characters having indistinguishable faces and constantly wearing the exact same clothes all the time. Most anime artists should learn a thing or two from the likes of Gundam F91. Sadly the writers of WIXOSS copied the tired cliches of popular Otaku anime tropes such as being shocked that someone else walked into the room.

At least three times I cringed so hard I considered stopping watching the show. But most episodes have a touching scene that actually brings a tear to my eye. The backgrounds are detailed, and the color composition is decent. There are some interesting camera angles, and at least a few times I got that Serial Experiments Lain nostalgia. The main character has just enough depth of personality and strength of character to keep me watching. As long as the quality doesn't suddenly drop in the next two seasons, I intend on finishing the series. All the cringey elements I described aren't as bad as most shows. So it's manageable as long as the redeemable qualities are there.

And that pretty much sums up all of my feelings towards the show.