Selector Destructed WIXOSS Movie

EDIT 9/25/18: I've gotten some messages regarding people who were slightly confused over this review, so I'd like to clarify something. At my time of writing this review, the Lostorage WIXOSS series had only just began airing (literally five days after I wrote and posted the review), and as it hadn't quite been a thing at that point, I want to mention that any mention of the "WIXOSS series" in this review is SOLELY directed towards the Selector WIXOSS series, whether it be Infected, Spread, or the Destructed movie. Even to this day, I have yet to watch the Lostorage WIXOSS series and currently have no plans to,and the series itself is COMPLETELY unrelated to this review. Sorry if that was confusing to anyone, but this review was written at a time when it didn't exist, so I didn't have any way to know whether or not my usage of specific terms would be confusing within the context of this review. The rest of the review beyond this line has been untouched; hopefully MAL staff doesn't take my review down for editing it two years later. Contains spoilers of the first and second seasons (none of the actual movie, however), so read at your own risk. This will be less of a review of the actual movie and more of a review of the fact that it was a movie. I'll explain that in more detail later. I have every right to believe Selector Destructed WIXOSS was just as good as the second season, and even better than the first. What I don't quite agree with 100%, however, is the fact that it was made into a movie. Please, do NOT panic when I say this. Don't consider this an automatic dealbreaker if you've seen the first and second seasons and are trying to decide whether you should watch this movie or not. But, about 70% of the movie is recap of the first and second seasons. This may come off as a bit of a disappointment to some, especially for people like me who had been waiting nearly 8 months since its original February 13th release date in Japan for this movie to be released on BD and subbed. And hell, I'm sure there are MANY other diehard WIXOSS fans who had been watching the entire series weekly since it started airing, and it's felt like a seemingly endless journey waiting for the series to be concluded. However, just in-case you don't understand based purely on my rating, I was the exact opposite of disappointed. Here's some facts about the state of recap present within Selector Destructed WIXOSS. It gives you just enough to enjoy the movie if you're one of the people who have never seen anything WIXOSS-related and just decided to go out and see the film, but at the same time, doesn't overload you with stuff you already know if you're a returning fan who's already seen the first and second seasons. In its own way, it's a perfect way to bring up more WIXOSS fans. They'll watch the movie, and sure, they'll already know all that happens. But some things that aren't explained in the movie (that, as someone who's seen both seasons, can confirm ARE explained in the TV series) might draw curiosity out of some of the viewers, and cause them to go and watch the first and second seasons. And, with how underrated WIXOSS is, I'm MORE than welcoming to any attempt to draw in more fans. Why were things done this way? Simple. The entire sequel aspect of this movie comes from things being explained within the actual storyline present within the first and second seasons. The movie starts out with a bit of a prequel, explaining one of the loose ends I actually audibly spoke about having a problem with within the first season. It continues with more recap, but as the recap continues on, more and more plotlines that perfectly (and I mean PERFECTLY) tie up some other loose ends present within the series are sprinkled within the film, making it feel like a much more fulfilling experience. It, then, ends with a very well-written ending that I couldn't have asked to be any different. The reason that I don't agree 100% with the fact that this all was turned into a movie is simply because I do think that this all could have just been added into the first and second seasons. The prequel aspect could've been added in a way similar to the psychokinesis scene in Shinsekai Yori, where it seemed random and out of place but as time continued on, you begin to understand it more and more. The rest could've just been placed within the series chronologically, with no problems. And the ending, at the very least, could've been an OVA of the 2nd season. Let's face it. 70% of a 90 minute movie being recap doesn't sound very appealing, it means that only about an episode's worth of content was actually fresh. To think that that couldn't have been squeezed into a 26-episode multi-cour series is absurd. It's quite obvious that the purpose of the movie was just to milk the series, and bring up more fans of it by forcing them to sit through it in a movie theater in order to watch it. But, while I did say I don't agree 100% with their choices to do this, does that mean I truly disagree? No, not at all. If their goal of this movie was to milk it by bring up more fans of the series, then I am completely okay with that. It just gives me more WIXOSS to watch, and more people to talk about it with. No problem with that. So, as for the new content, how good was it? It was nearly flawless when you look at it a certain way. My biggest problem with the first season was that it only deconstructed aspects of what a majority of the card game sub-genre has been up to now. When I started watching the series, by around episode 3 I was really craving a full deconstruction, but that wasn't what I got. What I got was a story written similarly to Madoka Magica, in how only certain aspects are deconstructed and the rest are left out in the cold. It was definitely still a great series simply because of how well characterized every character was, in addition to how well the story went with what it had to work with, many of the situations being handled really well, and overall great directing. But I was still left a bit underwhelmed. Then we continue onto the 2nd season, which pretty much fixed every problem I had with the first season. Every single aspect of what makes the card game sub-genre what it is was completely deconstructed in pretty much every possible way. The psychological aspects behind how well developed every character was, the loopholes in the system, the way everything was created. Just everything. I really was amazed, and I didn't really expect such an amazing season out of it. But, here's a fact: there was a reason why I didn't really expect things to go the way they did. You see, while I DID want things to go in a way that completely deconstructs the card game sub-genre, I didn't expect they would because I knew the process of creating a story that did just that wouldn't be easy by any means. It was going to be a heavy load to carry, and I thought it was kind of a miracle that they pulled it off. However, given how heavy of a load it was, things weren't pulled off flawlessly, and there were still quite a few unanswered questions by the end of the 2nd season. So, I thought it was amazing but wasn't quite at the level of being a masterpiece. Then, we continue on with this movie. Every, and I mean EVERY, single unanswered question, loose end, and confusing plot point was answered flawlessly. What we were given was a completed work, one that showed that everything was planned from the beginning, and how well-written the story was as a whole. The things that were missing from the 2nd season that made me not consider it a masterpiece were present within this movie. Even though I wouldn't consider either a masterpiece, I have every single right to say that the WIXOSS series as a whole is deserving of being called one. I do want to say that the way things were presented was kind of fun, in its own way. It reminded me a lot of the presentation of the Monogatari series, where everything was aired in non-chronological order and felt a bit like a puzzle, which made it kind of fun. The WIXOSS series, up until the movie, was definitely chronological, and even the movie itself was chronological. But, the fresh content introduced within the movie that wasn't within the first and second seasons wasn't chronological to the first/second seasons. So, it was a bit fun in that regard. And, in the end, the movie really was just about as good as I expected it to be. All my questions were answered, and I end with a fulfilling experience that I think is worthy of being considered one of the best I've ever had with anime before. I don't completely agree with the fact that it was made into a movie, but with everything all said and done, I think it's fine that it was just because I still got to experience everything in a way that was quite close to perfection.