- Meet Reina Izumi. She has moe eyes. She craves attention and love. And she likes being petted.
- Being serious now, and we’re talking about a show that has gotten me very impatient over the last few weeks, Myriad Colors Phantom World is actually getting better, much to my surprise. The action is beginning to take a back seat, leaving Mai, Reina and Haruhiko to take center stage. It’ll be this character interaction that can make this show, which has an incredibly bad plot, redeemable in some kind of bizarre way. In these last four episodes, we have been able to identify these characters. The moe-lovers have Reina, while the Mai-lovers care not just for her Phantom-beating abilities, but for her bosoms, which has already brought on many many memes. The fact that Koito is starting to receive more of a presence is good in my books; I seem to be the only person who likes her as viewers I know find her elusive attitude incredibly annoying and off-putting. She’s also contrary to Mai, Reina and Haruhiko being social and popular, which gets on their nerves. KyoAni love to produce the popular school cliques in their shows; perhaps Koito will be part of Mai-senpai’s ‘family’ soon and be one of the popular kids. I like her how she is right now though. Sorry KyoAni…
- But this week is Reina’s show; you could even go as far as saying that this is a direct continuation of what happened last week. Despite her moe looks and politeness, she lives a rather unsettling and unhappy life at home. Her parents see Phantoms as something to be despised, and thus greatly disapprove of her being a part of them and having Phantom Eating powers. I don’t doubt that her birth parents mean a lot to her, but what Reina has craved is a family that will be there to see her off when she goes to school, to welcome her when she comes home, etc. It was the turn of a Phantom to possess her and whisk her away to an imaginary world where such a loving family exists. A bunny family.
- While the show didn’t go completely deep, it certainly gives off the impression that seemingly perfect girls can live very flawed lives, and that there’s nothing wrong with wanting happiness. If this were a SHAFT adaptation, then they’d no doubt go into how Reina committed two of the seven deadly sins: greed and envy. Maybe we ought to be thankful they chose not to do it…
- She sees the little world of Mai playfully fighting with Haruhiko and sees love and affection; the kind that her parents don’t give to her. Mai and Haruhiko enjoy being with her because of who she is, and not what she is (like her birth parents do). The imaginary world she unfortunately lands in is something she wants in reality and it’s something that, when Mai and Haruhiko go in to rescue her, puts them both in an awkward position. They see her as part of their team, so when they see that Reina’s feelings are much deeper than they realize, they are the ones who must push forward in an attempt to get her out of a world that is not real, even if it’s her perfect world. A world that she wouldn’t want to leave.
- It’s actually a very touching episode, and definitely the best one so far. We really get to see Reina’s pain, and how much she craves a family that will be there for her, no matter what. The fact that the Phantom revealed itself to be harmless and kind of apologized for causing her any distress was something interesting, but what was even more interesting was that they gave her the option to stay. This could be something that can be easily dismissed, but I have the niggling feeling that this is a small sign of what is to come in the future, and how the relationship between humans and Phantoms is more than these people realize. After all, Haruhiko does let on that while Phantoms are a trickery of the mind, it is still up to the beholder to determine what is real or not. Another stab at The Matrix.
- Well, I am beginning to see Myriad Colors Phantom World in a different light, and it’s this episode that’s done it for me. It may be a bit of a filler episode, but it’s still shown us that it’s not all about Mai kicking butt, Haruhiko being thrown around and being picked on, and Ruru doing…nothing. Something that resembles a story is starting to emerge, and I’m kind of relieved that it’s finally reached this stage (a third of the way through) rather than later. This episode has shown that teamwork is not only an important thing in regards of taking care of troublesome Phantoms, but something that should be cherished. I said last week that Mai still has work to do in order to be a better senpai… Well, I think what she’s accomplished in this show is a step forward. Being the oldest, she is the figurehead and needs to be someone that the others in the team can look up to and be proud of working with. Let’s all hope her attitude will change towards the end. As for Reina? Well, she won’t change, but that’s not a bad thing.
- So my theory of Reina crushing on Haruhiko was way off…