YMMV / Mirror World

• Awesome Moments:
  • Aile is a walking repository for this, being a cheerful, fun Action Girl who at one point even puts down the monstrous House Dusk leader Zeil.
  • In Chapter 16? Vita takes out a seed-ghoul, which even impresses House Noon's members.
  • Chapter 18? Little Wigavat takes a member of the horrific Brood to save Vita.
  • Vita overcomes her fears to remain with Wigavat and steadfastly refuses to yield to Inoptica in the end. If she loses her name? "I'll find another."
  • Vita convinces the krylryk, Cheshire, to let go of everyone in Inoptica, showing it compassion and mercy, convincing it to release the others to let them have their lives back while coming to grips with its existence in a new and better way.
  • Realizing Zeil is incapable of stopping his attack and how close he is to slipping. Geiger engages the insane Night Claw in a last battle, trapping Zeil and 'blinking' them high into the air..sending them plummeting to their mutual demises, making the ultimate sacrifice for those in Inoptica, including his beloved family in House Noon.
  • There's something incredibly awesome about the fortitude of everyone in Inoptica by the end. All those returned to earth pick up their lives, mostly better people for it (except Syrile). Michael is able to return to his love Margaret, Holly decides to bring joy to all the people she can, Angie opts to leave a life of prostitution with her head held high, Sorin and Sorina return home and Vita decides to embrace the future with a smile.
• Complete Monster: Syrile—real name Ishirō Hamada, a former member of Unit 731—is a member of House Dusk and one of Korva's minions. Obsessed with perfecting the devoiding process, Syrile resurrected hundreds of corpses and experimented on them, not caring that the reanimated bodies became sapient and were fully aware of all the torture that Syrile put them through. Syrile even went as far as arranging fatal accidents on various inhabitants of Inoptica just so he could use their bodies for future experiments. After kidnapping Geiger, Syrile forces Vita to assist him with his plans, only to later take her hostage as a bargaining chip when House Midnight attacks House Dusk's stronghold. Eager to save his own hide, Syrile kills Razmin before teaming up with House Dawn and offering to expose the secrets of the other three Houses. Even after Syrile becomes human again and returns home, all he can think about are the ghastly experimentations he plans on conducting in the future.
• Funny Moments:
  • Chapter 17, when Vita is offered a drink she suspects may be alcoholic. When Wiggy describes its effects, her response is a deadpan "better avoid that then."
  • In a bit of dark comedy? Syrile believes he's gotten away with everything, returning to his time away in Japan as 'Hamada,' a member of the infamous Unit 731, gloating over how he'll go back to war crimes and feeling not an ounce of guilt. Except he's in a quaint little place called Hiroshima, and oh, what's that date...?
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Everything about Wigavat, or 'Wiggy.' She's a little girl whose batlike qualities do nothing to prevent her from being cute as a button, who's a perky little source of joy to House Noon. She treats Vita with concern and kindness, and her bond with her brother Volte is just adorable.
  • After Vita takes a level in kindness, she devotes herself to Wigavat, bonding with her and protecting her with all she has. On the flip side, despite having every reason to hate Vita? Wiggy refuses to, constantly reaching out to Vita and kindly being there for her in turn.
  • After Vita saves Wiggy and Geiger, she seems well more accepted by House Noon, who begin treating her as a friend.
  • Wiggy and Vita's relationship evolves to that of a treasured siblings' one. Realizing how her fear and pain led her to abandoning Wiggy at a point of her need, Vita devotes herself to the little bat girl who refuses to resent or abandon her. By chapter 18, Vita and Wiggy have protected one another and steadfastly refuse to abandon the other, no matter what. Ever.
  • Vita goes from a cynical, bitter, unsympathetic loner to someone compassionate, caring and who finds it in her to forgive Cheshire for all he's done, showing the krylyrk itself caring and understanding to resolve it to change itself in a better way.
  • The finale. all of the people of Inoptica touched by Vita and one another return to happy lives. Holly will never forget her friends and returns to bringing joy to people. Michael gets to be reunited with his beloved, Sorin and Sorina have one another, and Angie leaves a bad life for a job and a future she makes herself.
  • Vita, despite everything, opts to face the future with a smile, armed with the knowledge she will one day see Sorin and Sorina again...and more than that, she even believes she'll see her mother again, remembering how much her mom truly loved her all along.
  • In a meta example, the story's ultimate portrayal of Vita's issues is an exceptionally nuanced and sympathetic take upon depression and anxiety. The story refuses to ever judge Vita for her problems, only her worst actions, and portrays her as developing and coping with it. They aren't issues that leave her, but Vita's bonds allow her to deal handle it, and those around her help her grow more. The story's utterly empathetic view towards these issues is a breath of fresh air and contains a rather heartwarming message for those who struggle with these problems. By the end, she's even able to help others suffering from the same. Even if they are godlike beings.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • As horrible as Zeil is, not even he deserved to have his humanity destroyed by the devoiding experiments, made into just a shell of what he was and vainly trying to remember his care for those he once loved.
  • Dreya is certainly pitiable as well. While her ruthlessness and cruelty are offputting, Dreya is driven to avenge her leader and has lived with too many of those close to her dying, and her realization of the cost of her actions is certainly sobering.
  • Volte, or 'Sorin Reiner' manipulates just about everyone in Inoptica, causing a massive trail of devastation and bloodshed in his quest to escape. Despite this, he's driven by nothing short of desperation to escape a horrible situation and world, and his firm focus is always, always his beloved little sister. Even if his methods are wrong and callous, he never intends for anyone to actually be hurt through it.
  • The krylyrk itself, or the mysterious Cheshire, causes so much pain and suffering, but in reality? It's a sad, lonely creature whose world was destroyed and it just wants to make a special wonderland and share it with people.
  • Even Wydel, the Sprucequeen, is a figure inspiring pity, for all her cruelty. Strip away the power and she's a lonely, sad girl who just wanted to go home and be human again.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Syrile's Devoiding experiments take him from just a callous mad scientist into the most evil being in all Inoptica, torturing many innocents and robbing them of all humanity to perfect his process.
  • Wydel's actions? Trying to kill thousands because of her dissatisfaction with how things proceeded with Volte seal her as not simply alien and unknowable, but absolutely despicable.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Much of Inoptica is a bit terrifying: prowled by horrific abominations, with mysterious beings playing their own games, slowly mutating those who arrive and with one House being composed of vicious beasts who hunt others for sport.
  • The very nature of Inoptica functions as this. You get stuck in a strange 'flipped' world...but gradually, little by little, you change. You twist into a creature that could be a terrifying monstrosity or at best, take some animalistic traits. You forget your name and who you were, and you can be aware this is going to happen to you and there's nothing you can do to change it.
  • Syrile is maybe the most twisted figure in the story; a creep who erases the minds of others and keeps them as trophies.
  • Props to House Dawn and the seed-ghouls. Bizarre plantlike monsters who are utterly hostile to outsiders and are willing to kill everything else if they don't get their way.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: The first third of the story focuses mostly on world building and introducing its large cast of characters, and Vita, for the most part, spends a majority of this time complaining and whining about her predicament. The story picks up from chapter 10 onwards, a huge slew of revelations are exposed, the Grey-and-Gray Morality themes are much more fleshed out, and Vita starts developing more as she evolves into an Action Survivor and forms a heartwarming bond with Wiggy.
• Tearjerker:
  • Most pronounced when Volte dies. The pain of the House of Noon is palpable, but all that pales to the reaction of Wigavat. The poor kid runs out, finds her brother's corpse and Vita can hear her scream in primal grief.
  • End of Chapter 17? Vita realizes she's losing her memories of her life on earth, facing the strong potential her very identity will be obliterated.
  • The death of Razmin. For all her sins, Raz truly cared for House Noon and those inside it, and dies rescuing those she cares about from the depraved Syrile, having time to exchange her final words and to ask not to be brought back.
  • In a strange way, even Zeil is subject to this. The devoiding experiments have brought him back to life, but robbed him of the last shreds of his humanity. Zeil is left broken and an only remember he used to be better than what he is now, and that he once cared for others...but can't hold on to those feelings anymore as much as he tries and wants to.
  • Volte's sheer horror upon his revival, seeing what his schemes have wrought and how many of the people he cares about have died.
  • Vita's realization that she is not intended to save Inoptica. Rather, she is the chosen host of the krylyrk. For the girl who was learning optimism at long last, this is a savage kick to her.
  • Even the krylyrk itself invokes this. After its own world was annihilated, it can't even remember much of it and just wants to have people close to it...unfortunately, it thinks they'll be happy when it 'perfects' Inoptica for them through Vita, only to have them despise it all the more. The krylyrk, or 'Cheshire' is left aggrieved, horrified and realizing it will always be alone before Vita steps in to offer it the compassion it truly needs.
  • Vita's memory of the last day she saw her mother, who pledges to love her and asks her to never forget her is a much ore realistically heartrending moment.
  • Geiger's sacrifice to stop Zeil, after his bitter, sarcastic moments earlier on? He's the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice to bring down the insane Night Claw for good, while preserving his own humanity.
• The Woobie:
  • Vita has a tough enough life already, nevermind when she's stuck through a supernatural mirror and hunted by forces she can barely understand.
  • Wigavat is an adorable little girl thrown into horrible situations. First her beloved brother dies, leaving her isolated, and then evil forces keep threatening her left and right until she's nearly murdered by a depraved mad scientist.
  • Razmin just wants to escape Inoptica, and tries to spy for House Dusk in order to prevent bloodshed. Nothing goes the way she wants it to, people keep dying, and she's left nothing but remorseful, despite all her good intentions, resulting in her giving her life to save people who have every reason to hate her, with her remorse and sadness at all she's done driving in just how sorry one feels for her despite her actions.