Yes, actual lesbians. A lot of anime, comics, video games, and other geek media are infamous for queerbaiting, that is, showing two same-sex characters getting very close and intimate with each other, but denying that they're romantically attracted to each other or leaving the relationship just vague enough that fans have plausible deniability to say they're not gay and people are reading too much into things. However, in this case, the romantic relationship is real. Two girls in the Japanese anime-inspired role-playing video game Blue Reflection: Second Light say "I love you" to each other and get into a serious, explicitly stated romantic relationship, which got a lot of fans excited because this sort of explicit confirmation rarely happens.

However, their hopes were dashed because immediately after this game, the series releases the mobile game Blue Reflection Sun, starring a bland, self-insert Gary Stu male harem lead who all the girls fall for and who proceeded to completely take over a series that previously was all about magical girls fighting cosmic evil forces, their relationships with each other, and how they found hope together. This made a lot of people, such as r/yurimemes, very angry and was widely regarded as a bad idea.

And yet, was this really such a huge about-face? The series from day 1 was always, well, explicit about its intentions and target audience (I advise against clicking the Steam screenshots for both BR games. Or the sexist Steam forums for the games). Unfortunately, this is part of a trend of many Japanese series starring schoolgirls being full of male gaze scenes to pander to perverts despite picking up a lot of female and queer fans.

Is it queerbait in spirit when a series has an actual lesbian couple, but its producers display little interest in the queer audience? That is the guiding question behind the tragic tale of this dead cult RPG multimedia series. Note: unmarked spoilers ahead.

Blue Reflection (2017)

Once, there was this kid, who, got into an accident and couldn't come to school but when, she finally came back, her hair, had turned from black into brown blonde. She said that it was from the Reflector Ring on her hand.

Blue Reflection started as a spin-off from the Atelier series, which has a cult following among cozy RPG fans. It got some attention for being one of the few original magical girl video game series in existence, but didn't make waves otherwise. Despite being a full priced PS4 game, the gameplay scope was so small that it feels like one of those experimental DS games. The story has an intriguing premise: a ballet prodigy, Hinako, discovering a new life after a career ending injury, but it's basically a character of the day plot where she and her new self-appointed friends (it's complicated) meet a classmate with a stock interest, find their inner feelings in another dimension, The Commons, representing human emotions, and resolve their problem in the real world. Though most of these classmates are stereotypes whose personality begins and ends with their interest, notable characters include Yuri, an autistic, er, "savant syndrome" girl who learns to open up to people, Mao, who is basically an asshole shonen rival like Seto Kaiba, and Sarasa, who's really into Hinako and wants nothing more than to be ballet partners with her, but isn't one of her magical self-appointed friends so she never stood a chance (at least Hinako acknowledges her in the second game). Also something something Kabbalah angels straight out of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The writing is pretty simple, but has a nice focus on empathy and could have been suitable for the younger audience if it weren't for its copious amounts of fanservice. It's still T rated, but there are a lot of shower and underwear scenes, the camera is constantly gawking at Hinako's chest and body, and there's this notorious scene where another girl, Shihori, steals her underwear and gropes her while emotion drunk or something. Still, the game has a lot of close friendship scenes that aren't...that, so it gained a niche yuri fanbase. Wouldn't recommend buying this at full price, though.

Blue Reflection Ray (2021)

I am Shino. Time shall compress, all emotions denied.

Blue Reflection given the Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords treatment. An anime that questions the very premise of the original game, goes off in its own direction, and the first indication that every entry was a different team doing their own thing with minimal regards for continuity despite the series' insistence that everything is connected.

Despite the original game being niche, series producer Mel Kishida really wanted this to be his mark in history. So they announced three follow-up entries, the anime Ray, the direct sequel Tie, and the notorious time bomb of a mobile game that was Sun.

If you haven't heard of Blue Reflection Ray, even as a magical girl fan, well, it was so unpopular that it couldn't even get a complete Blu-Ray (heh) set. Why? Well, the washed out colour palette and limited animation turned off a lot of people. Even then, it's very slow going and convoluted in a way that definitely shows its Japanese RPG roots.

Anyways, this anime takes the whole "go into someone's mind to solve their problems" premise and asks, "what if said someone had more serious, traumatic issues to deal with?" As in, broken homes, abusive parents, and stuff like that. Are ordinary teenagers with attitude really equipped to play magical therapist, especially under a bureaucratic, unresponsive, seemingly uncaring mysterious organization? Despite all this, the core framing plot is pretty simple. Sith Lords, er Red Reflectors go around stealing girls' emotions so they can gain enough energy to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, er, The Commons. And then proceed to deny all emotions so no one can get hurt anymore. It takes a certain mindset to enjoy something like this, and if you want to check whether that describes you, I recommend reading this review comparing it to Kingdom Hearts in more detail.

As for the yuri content, there's a fair bit of it. The most notable is that the second half introduces Ryoka and Amiru, a pair who is so close that the former would do anything for the sake of the latter, even join the Sith Lords. Another notable character is Uta, who's a dark comic relief character here, but gets a more prominent role in the next game. Because it's an RPG, amnesia is involved.

On the plus side, no fanservice, aside from maybe a very brief bath scene.

And now, for our feature presentation.

Blue Reflection: Second Light (2021)

Go. Now. If you want it. Another world awaits you. Don't. You. Give up on it. You bite the hand that feeds you!

Our two main characters are Rena and Yuki.

Rena is a tall, stern, standoffish girl who resembles a female version of Squall from Final Fantasy VIII. Like him, she becomes increasingly panicky and depressed after spending too long in a Japanese RPG and having to deal with the crazy plot. To a lot of us, that's the most relatable thing ever.

Yuki is a short girl with no magical powers, like Meiling from Cardcaptor Sakura, but always wants to help with a perky optimistic attitude, yet harbours a dark secret. Like Vanille from Final Fantasy XIII.

While games like FF13 strongly suggest a loving relationship like Fang/Vanille, but don't actually admit it, Rena has the courage to outright say it. "I love you."* The sentimental music that plays afterwards is the sound of the yuri fandom's hearts going aflutter. It's the most talked-about thing about this game. A major Atelier fansite had the author going into great gushing detail about it. So was this a sea change moment for seeing lesbians on screen? The herald of a veritable Garden of Eden for queer media?

...

We're on Hobby Drama, what do you think?

As for the game itself, it's a vast structural improvement on the original game. There are actual, distinct worlds now representing the hearts of each girl, and of course Rena's Super Mario Galaxy inspired garden is the most beautiful. The battle system is faster-paced, resembling Final Fantasy XIII except with a pause for each girl's turn and with full control of each character. You even get a magical girl transformation if you get to a high enough level in the battle. So while still niche, this game attracted a larger fanbase than anything else in the series. Chances are, if anyone is talking about Blue Reflection, it's about this game specifically.

Which is ironic because its Japanese subtitle, Tie, implies it's actually supposed to be a bridge to the other three entries. Yet seeing the entire series doesn't add much to this game. The story was outsourced to four different writers from a company specializing in video game writing, so the character stories are almost entirely original with only vague connections to the other entries. Also, Mel Kishida had significantly reduced involvement in this one, so it's less pervy than the first game (though still, don't check the Steam screenshots).

I also have to mention Uta, because she became a huge fan favourite here. The other characters remember her as a sadistic villain, but because she doesn't remember anything right now, Ao (the actual main character, btw) decides to give her a chance and eventually she comes out of her shell and gets redeemed by the power of love friendship and understanding. She became popular as positive example of a neurodivergent character, who is shown to be emphatic and introspective in her own way. Her story is also pretty tragic, especially for those who have very complex relationships with their family.

So we've reached the high point of the series, a game fondly remembered by the small group of yuri, magical girl fans, and queers and allies that played it. Unfortunately, "Here comes the Sun."

*Video has the full hour-long Rena/Yuki love story if you're curious. And there is a scene that resembles Final Fantasy X's infamous Tidus laughing scene in it.

Blue Reflection Sun (2023-2024)

For Mel so loved the world that he gave his one and only Sun, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.) - Kishida 3:16

To spare anyone from having to sit through tedious mobile game cutscenes, here is a summary of the Blue Reflection Sun experience in 19 seconds.

Simply put, a tall male figure the characters call "Leader" is now the protagonist. "Leader" is ostensibly a self-insert for you, the player, even though people would insist Ao from the second game fulfills that role perfectly fine. The girls, who used to be able to handle things on their own, are now so incompetent that they're dependent on "Leader" to solve everything for them. As for how the game treated Uta, well, it's pretty bad. A bunch of female and queer gamers who thought they found something that speaks to them in Second Light felt understandably betrayed. The last time this happened was with Lapis ReLights, so with that precedent, people were constantly counting down the days to when Sun would also expire. It barely made money, but apparently it was just enough to stumble along for a year. And it led to massive review bombing of the Steam reviews for the first two games.

But really, this was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. Mel Kishida wanted a male protagonist for the first game, using the typical excuse that he's meant for audiences to relate to, so this is him finally implementing his True Original Vision no matter how much the series had branched off since then. And Second Light had several subtle references to "Leader." Even if one of the writers snuck in Actual Lesbians somehow. It's tempting to dismiss this as a case of problematic faves. But really, queer folks have been lacking options for a long time (hopefully this continues to improve).

Besides, Sun went supernova and disappeared into a black hole abyss, so even if it took the franchise with it, we can all safely forget this mobile game ever existed and pretend Second Light is a unique, interesting footnote in gaming history. Will it have an impact on the queer gaming scene or magical girl video games in the long run? That's for time to decide.

Reflect on your...childhood. Your words, your memories, your sensations. Time...it will not wait. No matter how hard you hold on, it escapes you. And....