#I think what I was really mad about was the Aoi duel

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

Me about Spectre lately

[morsking]

i was told to come here for fate zero kotomine kirei questions? i was thinking about kirei in f/z and realized i don't think i actually completely understood his arc and specifically how it relates to his spirituality/belief in God? can you explain to me what happened to this strange knife-throwing man

i’d be VERY happy to, i love talking about kirei even if i don’t do it very often.

this is something that becomes a little more clear later on in heaven’s feel but the gist of it is that kirei has an inexplicably sadistic nature he does not understand where it comes from or why he has it. for the majority of fate/zero’s first part, he doesn’t even know it exists until gilgamesh slowly draws it out of him by making him deconstruct his own thought process and personal beliefs.

kirei was raised catholic and had a priest for a father, so kirei had catholic teachings of altruism and asceticism hammered into his young brain on top of risei’s, his father’s, expectations and desires for kirei to be “pure and beautiful”, just like kirei’s name suggests. 

kirei, however, secretly felt repressed by those teachings and expectations since forsaking personal happiness and helping others never brought him any joy, and because he never felt any joy in helping others, he reasoned that joy and pleasure were sinful indulgences that a believer, much less a priest, should never partake in. he therefore internalized displeasure and complete emotional detachment as a natural and righteous state of life. this, coupled with the catholic belief that selflessness in life would mean salvation in death, resulted in kirei becoming far too guilty to ever chase after pleasure because doing so would mean betraying not just the faith in his Lord, but also all the hard work and love his father had put into raising him as a pure and beautiful person. kirei respected his father’s ideal and tried his best to live up to it, but fundamentally could not understand it, and he could not love the man it belonged to. in response to these emotions, kirei resorted to grievous and deadly methods of self-harm to keep himself walking the righteous path.

nevertheless, kirei could not contain his curiosity (and unbeknownst to him, his yearning) for pleasure and travelled the world attempting to find meaning and enjoyment in different activities. he graduated top of his class, skipped grades as an exceptional student, worked diligently as an executor, and even ate some of the most exquisite delicacies known to man... and found them all tasteless and unfulfilling. kirei was a truly hopeless individual with no direction or sense of self and personhood. he had failed to find meaning in basic, and even some luxurious, delights every human being desires to experience.

in a desperate, final gambit to connect with the inner humanity he lacked his entire life, kirei attempted to fall in love with a woman called claudia ortensia. claudia was terminally ill, and was not expected to live for much longer. while she did love him, he could not bring himself to reciprocate despite his best efforts. they were together for two years and had a child, caren, out of wedlock. throughout his time with claudia kirei could only find salvation in claudia’s suffering. but claudia, an incorregible saint, was willing to suffer if it meant bringing him joy and salvation. claudia slowly died, and soon enough her time was at hand. kirei believed that as her husband it was his duty to at least say his farewells on her deathbed. as claudia lay dying, kirei relayed the simple fact to claudia that after all their time together, he did not love her. to prove him wrong and save him, she disconnected her life support machine. kirei cried at the sight of wife selflessly dying to save him, and claudia, with her fading strength, told him that those tears were proof that he did love her, and that love is proof of his humanity. 

unbeknownst to either of them, the true reason kirei cried was because he didn’t get to kill her himself.

kirei handed over his child to the church. if marriage did not save him, parenthood wouldn’t either. kirei contemplated suicide, but instead opted to return to his teachings and live as an executor, craving even the most artificial of purpose to justify his existence. 

we then reach fate/zero. kirei is at his lowest emotional point, and sensing the pit in his soul yearning for purpose, the grail bestows him with command spells. kotomine risei contacts his ally tohsaka tokiomi, and takes kirei under his wing as an apprentice in magecraft. 

kirei is a natural prodigy at magecraft, and is able to almost master every single discipline before abandoning it in frustration at his failure to find fulfillment and joy in it. (interestingly enough, he has a particularly high affinity for spiritual healing and surgery.) while kirei intends to follow tokiomi and risei’s orders to crown tokiomi as the victor of the grail war, he secretly begrudges being a bored pawn with no freedom and bears no actual loyalty to either of them.

in the world’s most bizarre boy-meets-girl scenario in the history of anime, kotomine kirei learns of emiya kiritsugu. kiritsugu is a mercenary employed by the einzberns to participate in the holy grail war. he has fought in countless battlefields, only joining the fight when combat is at its fiercest. he has killed scores upon scores of mages who deviate from the clocktower’s rules, and has been reported to have taken extreme measures in his assassinations such as bringing down an entire commercial airline just because his target was in it. kirei is mystified by kiritsugu’s lack of moral restraint, personhood, and regard for his own life. kirei immediately projects his own lack of self into kiritsugu and is desperate to understand him. he vows to meet kiritsugu in battle to finally grasp the answer to the question that is his existence.

as he attempts to meet kiritsugu throughout the story, kirei is approached by gilgamesh, the world’s most ancient hedonist. gilgamesh senses that kirei is repressing a fundamental part of himself, and that’s the true source of kirei’s unhappiness. gilgamesh attempts to make kirei realize that kirei has never lacked anything, he’s just tried to avert his gaze from the truth of his own nature. gilgamesh tells kirei that pleasure and joy aren’t things that are inherently sinful. human beings instinctively seek pleasure as and end in and of itself, and kirei is no different. because pleasure is a natural human drive, it can never be something unforgivable. to drive his point further, gilgamesh asks kirei that if he can’t see himself winning, then he should try to imagine a scenario where the war’s weakest combatant, matou kariya, does. 

kirei does try, but before he can tell kirei what he envisions, gilgamesh stops him. gilgamesh reveals that there was no point to engaging in speculation when kirei asks if there was one, but the fact kirei did anyway shows he found a meaningless notion entertaining, and therefore, fulfilling. this comes to a head when kirei decides to heal kariya’s burn wounds after his confrontation with tokiomi. kirei experiences a rush he’s never felt before. he hasn’t just helped kariya stay in the race for the grail out of his own volition, he has done it against his master’s orders and best interests. 

when risei is killed by kayneth, kirei finds his grief to be oddly forced and empty. surely, he must be devastated at the death of his father, the man who loved him, raised him, taught him, and made him who he is today. but strangely, his grief seems to be directed at something else. that’s when gilgamesh appears to him and tells him the reason why he’s sad isn’t that his father died, but that kirei didn’t get to kill him himself. this shocks kirei to his core, but he’s also forced to entertain that notion. once he realizes that gilgamesh IS right about what kirei really wanted out of his father, he’s ordered by tokiomi to leave japan and exit the war as demanded by irisviel if an alliance between the tohsakas and the einzberns against the matous is to take place. kirei secretly meets with gilgamesh, who is bored and frustrated with tokiomi, and they agree to partner up and kill tokiomi. kirei realizes that there was a satisfaction in killing tokiomi and having the last thing he ever saw be kirei betraying him and asserting his personal desire over his obligation to his teacher. 

kirei, now fully committed to discovering what he yearns for the most, tells kariya he will allow him to duel tokiomi once more in exchange for bringing him the container of the holy grail and the person closest to kiritsugu: irisviel. unbeknownst to kariya, tokiomi’s wife aoi has been summoned to the church by kirei. kariya finds tokiomi already dead, and aoi walks into kariya holding tokiomi’s corpse. aoi believes kariya has killed tokiomi, and angrily accuses kariya of never having loved anyone. kariya reaches the breaking point of his rage and suffering after being rejected by aoi, the person he was enduring torture and humiliation for, and asphyxiates her in madness. realizing what he’s done, kariya runs away from the church wailing in grief and guilt. kirei and gilgamesh had watched the whole affair, and kirei realizes that what he finds meaning and pleasure in is inflicting suffering upon others and watch them collapse under the crosses struggles they carry. while he does not understand why he is this way, he nevertheless wants to find out to feel complete and intends to use the grail for that purpose.

kirei meets with irisviel, and demands answers for his questions about emiya kiritsugu. irisviel reveals kiritsugu is not the heartless killing machine kirei believed him to be, but fundamentally an altruist who wishes to shower the world in peace and blessings and seeks the grail for that purpose. she condescends kirei by telling him kiritsugu is not like him, he is far better and that’s why kiritsugu will not lose. finally understanding the man whose nature has eluded him and finding where kirei’s karma stands in relation to him, kirei kills irisviel and vows to destroy kiritsugu’s dream with his own hands. 

when kiritsugu and kirei fight and the grail interferes by crowning kiritsugu the winner rather than reach a stalemate, kirei watches kiritsugu speaking with angra mainyu. he observes kiritsugu realizing that what he wanted all along was to live peacefully with his family even if it meant forsaking the world to a violent extinction. he is baffled at kiritsugu rejecting the cursed genocidal grail, and demands kiritsugu to hand it over if he doesn’t want it, because kirei has the need to find the defining principle of his own existence. after kiritsugu kills kirei and has saber destroy the grail, the curses that spill out of it engulf kirei’s corpse and resuscitate him. angra mainyu has declared kirei as the winner for the sake of using him as an anchor and a midwife for his eventual birth. 

upon seeing angra mainyu’s catastrophe, kirei concludes that the calamity he is standing over is what his heart has yearned for all this time. he laughs in shock, irony, and glee that despite kotomine risei’s righteous nature and teachings, kirei is simply a monstrous and heretical cur who thrives in the agony of mankind. when gilgamesh asks if the sight of angra mainyu’s birth has satisfied him, kirei replies that it doesn’t, because kirei has been shown the end result of his desire rather than the actual philosophical principle and logical process that guides to the outcome. so for the next 10 years, kirei wrestles with the fact that he still cannot abandon his teachings and his obligation to be somewhat helpful as a priest for the desire to reject and challenge god and allow angra mainyu to fully manifest in this world and engulf it completely to finally give his existence meaning and validity because he knows his impulses to be wrong and yet needs to know why he has them and whether he is still worthy of living while having them. he is willing to manipulate and kill and betray and curse and deprive and destroy the world just for that chance at redeeming his existence because not understanding himself and having denied himself joy for so long has utterly broken him as a person and this is all he has left after a lifetime of denying himself happiness, empathy, and understanding to work through his feelings. to bless angra mainyu’s birth as a man of the cloth would reconcile his religious principles and belief in a merciful all-loving god with his yearning to accept and comprehend himself, because if angra mainyu can be allowed to live and prosper in this world while being the unforgivable culmination of all sin, then maybe he can too. (this is also a powerful and intimate parallel to both shirou and sakura that deserves its own post that i may or may not write later.)

that’s pretty much his development throughout zero and his defining character struggle in fate/stay night. this is something that spring song will delve into further and it’s actually quite interesting how such a bastard of a man suddenly becomes so sympathetic towards the end of the entire game. 

grace if you ever have time for it i heavily encourage you to read through the heaven’s feel route whether through letsplayarchive or by playing realta nua yourself whilst we wait for a spring song release in the west because your perception of everyone will change drastically as you understand them at a much deeper level the movies could not show because of runtime constraints. i hope this explanation wasn’t too long or convoluted or raised more questions than delivered answers. three good friends of mine, thessaliah, kurozu501, and avicebro here on tumblr can probably elaborate further and offer more insight if you’re interested. 

[howaboutalittlehelpneos]

So since I've been saying nothing but good things about Vrains, I feel it's only fair to counterbalance my positivity with negativity that no one asked for. Why? That's just the kind of bitch I am, so here are my problems with Vrains.

So many of the duels in Vrains are heavily favored towards more... How do I say... Plot centered characters. Yusaku, Ryoken, Homura, Lightning, and Bohman have the highest amount of wins in the series, while other supporting characters are left to fall by the wayside. The infuriating thing about it is that they're usually characters that are set up to have intimidating past win records, and you're told that these characters are supposed to be the best at what they do, but they end up losing almost all of their duels.

Because of the fact that some characters are established very solidly in the “they will never/almost never lose” category, any time one of the side characters happens to go up against them, there’s never any real sense of suspense. There’s no room to wonder “Are they going to win this one?” because you already know that no, of course they aren’t, they don’t have enough main character energy to pull off a win. Vrains suffers from the same problem GX did with being heavily centered around their protagonist, and while there are more people aside from just Yusaku winning duels, the fact that he never loses and that his rival only loses three times throughout the whole show kind of makes the problem worse. I like Yusaku, and I think Revolver is okay, but man, it gets kind of tiring seeing Emma and Go and Blood Shepard and Spectre and Aoi and Akira constantly get dunked on any time one of them happens to duel Yusaku/Revolver/Bohman/Lightning.

I’m especially mad about Emma losing all the time despite having one of the best decks in the show, where her only win in all 120 episodes was against Shima. Shima. I love him, but it’s not exactly something to be proud of. It isn’t even like it’s an issue of the writers not being able or willing to let a girl win a duel because they did perfectly fine with Aoi! She had an okay number of wins under her belt, so it’s even more infuriating to me that the only other relevant girl in the show gets to win one (1) duel. Against Shima. God damn it.

This is just a personal gripe, but. Damn it. I wish we’d gotten to see more of Earth and Aqua. They kind of got the Rin and Yugo treatment from Arc-V, where we get to see them together only in flashbacks, Aqua got kidnapped, and Earth was only with her for a few minutes after saving her before he had to push her away so she wouldn’t be in danger (as opposed to just pushing her out a window because of mind control), and then Earth got captured and basically tortured to death. Both of them end up dead by the end of season two, they do not get to come back, and that is the end of them and their love.

On another Ignis related note, Windy. Windy is made out to be this horrible, irredeemable villain for almost the entirety of his screentime, only for them to drop the bomb on us that he was actually never evil to begin with, he was just reprogrammed by Lightning to make him that way. Well, that’s good, right? Now that we know Windy was only acting that way because of his code being altered against his will, we’ll finally get to see what the real Windy is like-

No. We don’t. After Windy has been reverted back to normal, he never says a Word in the few brief moments we get to see him again. The most we get to know is that his real eye color is purple.

And now, since I’ve completed Vrains... The ending with Ai’s existence supposedly causing the end of the world. I take issue with the whole apocalypse setting they tried to show us being brought about because of Ai because they never show us... How. In 5Ds, with Yusei being left alive and going on to become Z-ONE, they actually explain how his desire to save everyone was eroded over time until he came to the conclusion that sacrificing the city to save the entire world was a necessary evil he was now willing to go through. We don’t talk about the plot twist they pulled in that arc, it didn’t happen, don’t know what you’re talking about. With Ai... They don’t give us anything beyond his existence leading to the apocalypse. We never get to see how it got so bad, if it was something Ai himself did, if Ai somehow changed from just wanting to live in peace to wanting killing and violence, all we know is that if he lives, the government comes after him with tanks and blows up the whole city??? Which like. Seems just a Bit excessive to blow up buildings and waste tons of innocent lives just to get to one gay robot. You’d think they’d be more specifically targeting him instead of just laying waste to everything in sight until they eventually kill him. 

If Ai being alive is really going to cause all this hell, to make it believable to the viewer when we’d only ever known Ai to want peace, they’d have to show us some event in the future that caused Ai to change his views on humans being his allies, but they don’t give us any of that. They had the building blocks, but couldn’t stack them up in a way that made that scenario feel plausible. To top everything off, after making Playmaker kill him because of his dangerous existence leading to the end of the world in the future, no for real guys stop laughing, the final episode resurrects Ai at the last second, just showing us a glimpse of him coming back into existence somewhere in the Cyberse, with Playmaker assumedly going out to search for him.

So... All of that was pointless, then? Is the future still going to be a barren hellscape because Ai came back? The whole point of his assisted suicide duel with Playmaker was to make sure he wouldn’t be alive anymore to cause the end of the world, but if you give us this glimpse of him being somehow brought back, then what was the point of everything we just watched? Can Ai exist or can’t he? Fuck me man, I know it was probably just put in to satisfy fans to show us “haha sike he’s not dead, don’t worry”, but if you want the future safety of everyone in this show to hinge on whether or not one person lives or dies, then can you at the very least make up your mind on whether they live or die? FUCK. 

Well... I think that’s about everything I have to say, minus a few smaller personal gripes like “why couldn’t we see Roboppi again” and “for a whole season being dedicated to his safe return, we sure did get to see very little of Jin after he got rescued”. Yeah, I think I got it all out of my system. All in all, I did enjoy Vrains, and I do look forward to going back and watching the whole thing subbed, but... Yeah. You know me. Just gotta complain about the things I love. :P

[shidoukanae]

YGO! Questionnaire

Tagged by @cipher-wise​

Favorite series:

My favorite series based on what I watched and enjoyed would have to be Arc-V!!! It's honestly the series that got me to adore YGO when previously I'd seen YGO as, and I chilidishly quote, "uncool". Everything about Arc-V is pretty much wonderful: Yuya's presence as a "everyone MUST be happy" kind of character in a plot that discusses themes of war, revenge, and despair is absolutely refreshing (especially when Yuya's ideals of happiness are stripped from him and made a mockery of by, *coughs* one of my favorite characters in the franchise *coughs*). 

I love how the four Yuu boys are a wonderful combination of "protagonists" (/anatagonists) and how they each play off of each other's weaknesses and strengths, often acting as mirrors to each other in their individual dimensions while having amazing interactions (Yugo and Yuri, anyone? Yuri and Yuya?).

I admire how the endgame plot is a perversion of Yuya's ideals: he gets what he wants, showering happiness upon all, but that "happiness" is corrupted into the notion of entertainment. While Yuya seeks to provide people with smiles and laughter, to give them hope to work together through tough times and to stay strong in the face of adversity, his "counterparts" in the endgame are really good at acting as Yuya's mirror: showing that his style of performing can also be used to appease the bloodthirst of one's own self and that happiness can be corrupted into self-deserving power.

...Hard to put that into exact words without spoiling a lot of things but, gosh, let's just say that Yuri and ____ are the perfect mirrors to Yuya in terms of what his entertainment dueling style is meant to be.

The plot over all is pretty good! I won't lie and say it stands strong all the way throughout the story but the first half is amazing and there are some pretty strong episodes in the second half (Yugo and Rin, the parasite episodes in general, Yuri Yuri YURI). I can definitely say that the humor is there, the characters are amazing (if nothing else, watch for the Yuu Boys, the Bracelet Gals, and Shun versus Sora!!) and having come into the show around episode 104, I was pleasantly surprised by the trip Arc-V brought me and how it played with its protagonist, giving him hope, kicking him down, and toying with his mind - just like the way a warzone might to any idealistic individual.

In terms of other series, I like VRAINS but only up to like episode 19 (or the end of the Data Bank arc). It had potential and I kept hoping it would get better but the plot was constantly floundering, there are plot holes abundant (sewer monsters, ugh), character development is inconsistent not to mention very shallow, VRAINS has some of the best side characters but they're kicked to the curb by a bland protagonist and a villain that could've been so much cooler but they made him a sympathetic mess.

...I have a lot of gripes with VRAINS but, if it were to ever be rewritten with clear goalposts and plot twists in mind (not to mention development on ideas like Charisma Duelists because at the end of the show I still have not a fucking clue what a Charisma Duelists is or was) I would say it has potential to become my favorite series but Arc-V clearly beats it for me in every category lmao.

Zexal’s also really good too!!! I don’t get all the hate behind it because it’s actually really interesting and engaging (also IV’s definition of fanservice is literally the only type of fanservice I will ever accept) and I think I’ve even cried a couple of times during the course of the plot which is like,,, shocking considering it’s not a show I thought I’d cry over (I cried in Arc-V too but goddamn does tiny Yuya just want to make you tear up lmao). This show is really good emotionally and it’s literally so stupid how Kaito carries a lot of the early and middle game of the show yet most of the meat of the plot doesn’t begin to unravel until the second season.

Also, if you ever want to watch a show of 100+ episodes that is so masterfully written that there is foreshadowing for stuff in like episode 130+ on EPISODE ONE, please watch this. Literally there are so many hints of what is going to happen in the future in the early episodes and you won’t really be able to tell what those hints are until you’ve finished the show but goddamn when you go back and rewatch things it does indeed feel amazing how much foreshadowing they threaded into the show without you ever knowing...(please don’t search for spoilers if you intend to watch this. I went into the show knowing some spoilers tho not all and, while I was still pleased by what I watched, I honestly can agree the show is A Lot Better without knowing ANYTHING)

Favorite Protagonist: Yuya. For sure, out of all the series, Yuya. 

He’s a refreshing protagonist, especially considering he shines in a world of war and despair. He’s also someone who you empathize with right at the start and want to hope in, especially since he is the “happiness” in a word of “madness” and “sorrow”. He’s not someone out to save the world (not really, anyways), but his actions touch on the lives of others anyways, giving people in a hope in a world that is otherwise cruel and heartless. Also, it really helps that he’s able to pull you into his world of “egaos”, making you believe in him and root for him despite how cheesy his ideals may or may not sound.

Also love how, despite being the centerpiece of “happiness”, Yuya isn’t allowed to always be happy :> Not spoiling plot related things but if you like protagonists going off the rails insane at times, Yuya’s definitely a fun protagonist for that!!!

Favorite Rival:

Kaito Tenjou!!! Literally the best rival in the series that I’ve seen. Everything about him is literally perfect ngl. From the way he’s chillingly introduced, with the spine-tingling whistles and cruel, almost merciless nature, to the way he slowly becomes sympathetic while also remaining a terrifying presence whenever he appears...I love him????

Favorite BFF:

Does Shoichi count? Because like...he’s Yusaku’s closest friend and ally in the series and I generally don’t pay attention to the other BFF’s in the other series (or at least, the ones I can recall bc I know in Zexal that Yuma has a whole group of friends lmao).

But I like Shoichi!! He cares about Yusaku a lot, is pretty damn cool as a sidekick hacker, his sideplot with his brother was actually honestly endearing and I loved the mystery about him. His early-game jokes w/ Ai to tease Yusaku were also a good laugh.

Favorite GFF: 

Not a girl friend forever for the main protagonist (although she like...lowkey confessed to him...though that plot really never went anywhere so I still don’t know what the fuck THAT was about) but,,, Ema Bessho,,

If y’all knew me back in my peak YGO days when VRAINS was airing,,, this gal was and STILL is my favorite girl of the YGO series. Even though she was pretty much done dirty imo I still love her (even despite considering she’s been made a damsel-in-distress at least three times, she’s only ever won one duel on-screen despite being supposedly good at dueling, ngl they could’ve done so much more with her but tbh she’s mostly just an asset to solve problems at whim and barely gets character development/does nothing but watch and spectate stuff late-game).

Even though she’s like...the unfortunate side character who’s probably meant to be more fanservice than interesting, in the first 19 episodes (and even the Revolver vs. her fight as well as the one time she meets Aoi IRL early-game) made her out to be a lot cooler and complex than she ended up being. I mean,,, a hacker gal who’s self-serving, cynical, and cold-hearted taking on the tasks of her (potentially ex) boyfriend while being really nice to his sister to the point she baffles even herself,,, we could’ve had a really unique and cool character to play around with here but instead we got...cool-ass character with potential to be something more reduced to a spectator with nothing better to do than idolize the main protagonist and have a plot with her brother that honestly detracted from her character more than it added to it imo.

Also Ema could’ve been a female Yuri but,,, nope,,, they decided she was better as a background piece instead TwT

Favorite Villain: Yuri.

Literally Yuri.

I could choose the leather jacket w/ fluff boi in a certain series because hot damn was that guy convincing AF that he wasn’t an evil psychopath (and even while knowing that he was, I still got fooled into thinking he was a good guy somehow omg) however,,, I’ve always held a love for Yuri and the way he’s been portrayed.

Despite ALWAYS being the bad guy, the show has always made this purple fucker into the most entertaining character on-screen. He even beats Yuya sometimes in terms of how entertaining he is - that’s literally how good he is,,

Also his facial expressions are amazing, he’s a VERY VALID threat to the main cast (and his creeper levels are not only off the charts but literally called out by the main female protagonist herself lmao), and he acts as the perfect foil to Yuya, battling not to entertain others but to entertain himself.

Also, he likes killing people.

No this is not a joke.

He literally likes killing people. And is pretty sadistic about it, too.

(^^^^ for those who don’t get the joke, “Fusion” is pronounced “Yuugo” which sounds similar to “Yugo” which is what,,, Yuri is making fun of,,, more context is needed of course but this is a Great Running Gag)

Favorite card:

I don’t know if it actually exists as an actual card but...that crystal dragon from the YGO movie with the glass pyramid. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon...it’s really pretty...I love it...

Favorite Episode:

I’m...too lazy to search for names of these episodes but I can give brief summaries of them,,, because I can’t choose,,,

Arc-V: Shun vs. Sora (ALL episodes). Hot damn if you have never watched YGO but want to try and see for yourself why people like it: WATCH THESE EPISODES. I can’t explain how amazing these episodes are and, while I admit jumping straight into them might have you missing out on some important context (such as who Shun is or why Sora’s battle tactics lead to revelation) it’s honestly an amazing fight regardless. The battle starts off plain enough - there’s obvious tension, it seems like a typical fight of a battle royale, etc. - my god does the battle ramp up in emotional tension and promptly kick you in the gut with not only how blindsided you’ve been, but it also showcases just how cruel these “entertainment duels” can really get.

Any episode with Yuri. Literally any episode he’s in. 

I think this is like...episode 8 of VRAINS...but whenever it is that Akira hires Ema to find the reason why Aoi just...straight up got knocked into a coma. Literally this is my favorite episode when it comes to Ema. The way she makes fun of Akira even while aware of his situation,,, her cruel selfishness and desire for money bubbling to the surface, the way she confesses how she can’t be trusted willingly and still asks Akira why he’s hiring her,,, god I love this episode in terms of what Ema could’ve always been.

Episode 13 (/14?) of Zexal!!! This is the episode Kaito appears and when the show REALLY picks up. Kaito is a fun bastard of a rival and tbh I don’t think I’ll ever stop getting chills of him walking in, debris frozen in time all around him, as he approaches his victim, whistling an eerie children’s tune as he gets ready to close in for the kill,,,,

Favorite Deck to Use:

I don’t...really play the game itself but...I have used a couple of decks and I guess you can say I really love Raid Raptors??? First of all, those warbirds make really fun sounds I love ‘em in the anime but they’re also just fun to use in general (even tho I used a,,, very basic deck for them,,, I love them still).

Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum or Link:

XYZ bc it’s really the only summoning method I’m used to lol :P. Also XYZ loyalist I guess???? 

Years in fandom: roughly five to six years iirc? I mean, I was a fan of the early day YGO and watched it as a kid but not active enough to be in the fandom for it lmao. Also not in the fandom atm because Sevens lost my attention (it’s a good show!!! I’m just unfortunately more a fan of things with serious plots and darker themes and it’s hard for me to stomach slice-of-life shows that don’t focus on a mature and engaging plot). However, Arc-V and Zexal holds a special place in my heart (as does VRAINS, begrudgingly) and so I occasionally find myself wandering back to these shows like right now,,, 

[hydradrive]

Go Hellnalysis (aka : hydradrive gets mad at the fanbase for ignoring go’s ongoing 2 season long breakdown for like, 5+ paragraphs)

We are talking S1 foreshadowing as it relates to the facts of S2. As already mentioned, I think it sucks of the writers to do it to him like how it sucks how they treated Emma and Aoi throughout the entire series and reeks of colorism like. having your two darkest skinned characters be actively antagonistic as s2 goes on is a bad fucking look. 

But it’s there, and I am not happy that people defend Lightning weirdly when he treats people he knew for years badly, and then turn around and say wildly fucked up shit about Go.

I guess today is the day i Get Into It Again. I’ll be rehashing some of my points from my old thread on nac, so strap in i guess.

This is said to Playmaker in season two. 

‘After i lost to you’. 

So, by episode 4. And the text backs this up. The text in season one aligns.

In Go Onizuka VS Genome :

[ transcript for subbed text: 

Dr. Genome : Did your defeat at Playmaker’s hands force you to evolver? 

Go Onizuka : As much as I hate to admit it, yes. That was when everything changed. 

/end text screenshot id ]

That was when everything changed.

Let’s look at the rest of it, then. How it affected him, in the long-term. The Go Analysis... Is here.

MASSIVE CWs for discussion of canonical weight loss, brief discussion of disordered eating in the context of that, and a whole bunch of other stuff re: the brain hack that I don’t even know how to tag, really. medical? Basically, if you have any triggers relating to that, please exercise due diligence because I will not pull any punches about the implications.

tldr version :

This is real dialogue from Go Onizuka’s first (and only) duel against Revolver. 

No matter what he says trying to spin it a different way after this segment of text, that it’s about fighting for yourself, these statements exist, and they exist with the context given by his own words; that he was struggling, mental health-wise, when he said these words.

[ transcript for subbed text: 

Go Onizuka : Until now, I’ve battled in front of huge crowds. (There is a single beat frame, to indicate silence.) But I realized I’m all alone. There are no fans rooting for me here. I realized... We always duel alone. We fight for ourselves, not for anyone else. 

/end text screenshot id ]

But perhaps this isn’t compelling enough for people. Fine. Let’s go even further back.

[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers : Go Onizuka : It’s my fault that Makoto is in this condition. /end text screenshot id ]

Go has an easily seen habit of assuming the worst, and with regards to stuff like Makoto, blaming himself, to the point that if his manager hadn't said more on Makoto, he would've been going into VS Genome blaming himself for Makoto getting into duel monsters in the first place.

In episode 5 it was shown that with one loss he was entirely certain that nobody would care about him in any capacity:

But why?

... It’s brought up in one of the first episodes of the entire series.

[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers : 

Go Onizuka’s Manager : That’s exactly it. It’s a winner-take-all world, after all. 

/end text id. ]

And given an even more... depressing? Spin later, when Go thinks about it throughout S1 and S2 during his duel with Takeru:

[ transcript for screen readers : 

Before I was placed in the orphanage, I only relied on myself. The world I lived in was all about survival of the fittest. “You must protect yourself” was my credo. 

/ end text screenshot id ]

It’s genuinely that simple. He slipped back into his old way of surviving because the way he did in season one didn't. save him. it didn't save him from a duel he needed to win, not just for himself necessarily. he would have died if playmaker had lost. a lot of people would have. He was already starting to have these doubts about his entire reason d’etre for dueling, and his loss only further spurred it on.

It’s repeated, again and again:

[ transcript for screen readers :

Go Onizuka : For everyone to appreciate me, I must win! 

/end text screenshot id ]

That sentiment. “People won’t like me if I lose.” “People will abandon me, if I lose.” In his own words, his losses, losses in duels that were important, rotted him. And it /is/ true. His manager said he’d leave if he went to try and stop the Tower Of Hanoi and lost. And he followed through with it, by all implications. He didn’t come back until season 3. Keeping in mind that Go’s self-hatred spiral regarding guilt over in his mind dragging Makoto into the mess that was season one-era Hanoi shenanigans was only cut off because his manager and other people talked him out of it... Yeah.

This is before we bring in the other complicating factor : a certain little company, who never did anything good for anyone. A man, who despite supposedly being well-intentioned, did very little to help, until it reached the darkest point.

[ transcript for subbed text for screen readers, since that’s the primary important stuff : 

Akira Zaizen : But we don’t intend to acknowledge that the network was on the brink of destruction. So I ask you don’t cause the press to delve into this. 

/end text screencap id]

People focus so much on him yelling at the press because they keep asking about Playmaker but with this context?

[ transcript text for screen readers: 

Akira Zaizen: You’ll continue to be the focus of the press. /end text screenshot id ]

He’s not allowed to talk about how you nearly died.

He’s not allowed to talk about what really was at stake.

In fact, he’s not allowed to even act in a way that makes people even a little suspicious about what happened.

And yet.

‘But he could just ignore this advice’ . Not really. Go Onizuka’s platform was built in Link Vrains. Being the whistleblower about the actual danger of Link Vrains would not endear him to Sol, and potential backlash from Sol, from everything we know about the company? Hmm, gosh, wonder why that might be bad. Almost as if Go is basically a livestreamer who is at risk of having the video platform he exists on die.

It would be incredibly difficult to continue working under the public eye like that. The stress from that alone would start tearing someone to pieces.

Ergo, his decision to work for Sol Technologies as a bounty hunter. Both jobs now hinge on him currying favor with a horrible megacorporation, one just has less baggage from his past way of surviving and gives him the ability to talk a tiny bit more freely about things.

This is all the leadup, of course, to the ultimate lowest point. The duel chip. Brain hack.

[ transcript text for screen readers: ‘By implanting this duel chip, the brain’s thought capabilities expand.’ /end text screenshot id ]

[ transcript text for screen readers: 

Akira Zaizen: You can always refuse.

Go Onizuka : Your methods are dirty. You guide me to the gates of hell, but you don’t care what happens afterwards.  /end text screenshot id ] 

Let’s talk about the physical side-effects of the brain chip on Go Onizuka.

Me, personally? I genuinely wonder what came first; the most severe physical side-effects or a worsening of Go’s mental health that made him stop eating. 

It’s never stated what came first. We only see the mental health side effects of the chip in flashbacks initially.

I looked at one of the instances where Akira pulled go out of the sim wrt: the listed sys/dia ratios on-screen. They have those in certain shots, btw! They’re consistently really fucked up!

Here’s what those were, in one very notable instance:

... So, right off the bat, a heartrate of 195, huh.

And a sys/dia of 187/112 with a mean of 136. Wow! I wonder what that means for him!

I can tell you. 

He statistically would be in the range of having a hypertensive emergency. Having rates like this can damage your heart muscle when you don’t literally have a heart attack, hypertensive encephalopathy, ( which can cause dizziness and altered levels of consciousness, if we are getting into it.), kidney failure, coughing up blood...

I don’t want to speculate too much about why the Duel Chip caused this, but I will note that blood pressures like this sometimes come about as result of issues with the neuroendocrine system. This would tie in with a loss of appetite and some of the other things Go seems to canonically have had from the getgo of having the chip installed, and probably added on to his already pre-existing mental health stuff which I personally parsed as depression.

... I think this mostly covers the main points of what gets missed. Aka, literally all of his arc. Just, literally every piece of his arc. People miss all of it.

Also, to reiterate : it is NOT GOOD the way this is framed by the writers. it is loaded to, in a series heavily informed by the main character’s trauma, have a teenaged darker skin character ( Go is 19!! ) be portrayed as more erratic, etc etc. I do Not care about Lightning. He is a little robot, and while there is probably some ableism in the way trauma is represented therein as a corrupting force, it is far more worrying how Go is treated in terms of representation, and I am not going to bat for the guy who treated Haru like dogshit lmao. 

The fact that one of the two darker skinned MOC is given more obvious mental/physical illness signifiers in terms of symptoms to mark them as antagonists (when, again, Yusaku literally CANONICALLY HAS PTSD) fucking blows, and I’m going to personally fight the writers. 

But. I am also laying the blame at the fanbase’s feet for this shit, too. They literally ignored this to coo over Lightning. I’m going to bite them.

[darkzorua100]

Okay Vrains, you really put me through the ringer with how you decided to handle some events in season 2. Safe to say it could have been better but it could have been worse too. Still I needed that break from it because I really didn’t need to stress over a freaking children’s card game anime. The stupid things my brain decides to take priority over are just dumb. 

Anyway moving onto season 3 and right away I have one BIG question.

How did we go from this?

to this?!

HELLO?! EXCUSE ME?! Ai and Roboppy are going to be our more then likely final villains?! Well I guess we owe Ryoken another apology because yeah he was definitely right about something. 

On a complete unrelated note, is it bad that I lowkey find Ai’s human form attractive? I mean Ryoken/Revolver still top tier in the looks department but damn boy you definitely didn’t get your fashion sense from Yusaku I can tell you that much. I also can’t wait to see the Aiballshipping that’s going to come from this. Finally something more then tentacle porn to work with!

Okay just to point this out. It technically hasn’t been confirmed that these are Ai and Roboppy in human forms but it really is looking to be them. Besides the appearance details (the girl sharing Roboppy’s color scheme and eyes) and the boy sharing Ai’s (with the addition of the Ai themed earrings), the preview gives it away by the spoilers telling us that Ai and Roboppy are going to be paying Queen a visit but instead we see these two in the preview confronting Queen and we don’t have any new names on the cast list either but we know for a fact that these two are speaking from the preview. 

Now one of the things I’m wondering is how did they get human forms? We don’t know how long Ai and Roboppy have been missing since we don’t know the time skip between season 2 and 3 but even if it has been months such as the three month time skip from seasons 1 to 2, I don’t think he created these forms. One of the big things they introduce in today’s episode was that SOL has officially created androids they call SOLtiS (I’m now counting down the episodes until we get the Detroit: Become Human subplot).

It is kinda hard to notice in the shots that they gave us but if you look close enough you can see that the SOLtiS have the same throat device (I have no idea what to call it until we know what it is (my best guess is the power cell) as our two “new” characters. My best guess is that Ai and Roboppy broke into SOL to steal some bodies for whatever it is that they are planning and possibly to take over SOL to use their technology for again whatever it is they are planning to do (maybe to try and being back the other Ignis since we see them mourning the others (even Lightning) in the destroyed Cyberse World). On that note rip Queen. She is so freaking dead and Ai is going to become the King Chess Piece for all we know while Roboppy will become the Pawn.

So if their main goal is to bring back the other Ignis because of his guilt of not being able to save them, how is he going to do it? If Yusaku and Ai are actually going to clash because of this, like the new opening is suggesting and the fact that the spoilers told us that these two “new” characters are going to be our new threat that Team Playmaker is going to have to face off against, it has to be something bad that Yusaku isn’t going to allow to happen. Because why else would these two be against each other when they both share the same goal. Takeru and Aoi want Flame and Aqua to return and I bet that some part of Spectre would also want Earth to come back. So that’s why I think there is more to Ai and Roboppy going after SOL then meets the eye.

I’m starting to think they might actually try and recreate the Hanoi Project.

If they want to actually recreate the rest of the Ignis down to the last detail, the best way might just be to go back to the source, their Origins. They might actually go after Takeru, Jin, Miyu, Spectre, and Windy’s Kid and force them to go through their hell (or heaven in Spectre’s case) in order to bring back their corresponding Ignis using SOL’s technology. Obviously since Ai was created from Yusaku, he wouldn’t need to be apart of this but I think it is safe to save that Yusaku wouldn’t be a fan of this idea and that’s where the clash is going to happen.

But yeah I don’t see this new development as Ai just suddenly deciding to take over humanity because screw them for getting his friends killed (even though it was Lightning’s fault (blame him for everything) but more along the lines of him just being driven by guilt and him trying his best to set things right. I don’t think he wants to fights Playmaker, especially after everything they been through together, but will if he has too. On that note, I’m very much looking forward to that match because if Yusaku wasn’t heartbroken before when he had to face Revolver at the end of season 1 and during his duel with Kusanagi in season 2, THIS is what’s going to break him and if he EVER is going to lose to someone, it is going to be Ai. For one, he can actually LOSE this time since I don’t think Ai will actually kill him and two Ai, besides Kusanagi, knows Yusaku better then anyone. The Ignis was based on him after all and has grown alongside his human since the very beginning. I also very much hope we get a Ai vs Revolver match up now just so Revolver can say “I told you so” and for Ai to get some more sweet sweet revenge. Biting his arm off wasn’t good enough, let’s go for the whole thing this time around!

But yeah, season 3 is off to an interesting start. Next week’s episode is going to be when we find out where the lines are drawn and to get an idea of what Ai is trying to do. The opening seems to hint at that Ai might have went a little crazy based on his facial expressions and if that’s the case I’m going to blame that on Lightning. When Ai took in his power he also took in some of his craziness. Getting some flashbacks to season 3 of GX now along with the Duel Terminal storyline with how the Vylons went mad. I’m all for crazy Ai though. That just sounds like fun. 

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 19 thoughts

this is... the most screenshot heavy post i’ve made so far, lmao, so please bear with me. as i’ve said, this is one of my favorite duels, and there’s a lot that gets covered here. like, seriously, i haven’t written this post out yet but i can guarantee this will be my longest so far lmao.

the beginning of the episode starts off fairly standard, and mostly dueling:

i really do love the pacing of this duel. i was glued to the edge of my seat while watching these episodes. i remember it so clearly, too, because i’d been binge watching from episode 16 that day, and got to like, 24 by the time i stopped, lmao.

ai does a lot of cute/funny stuff this episode, to help break up some of the more dark tones of the rest of it, like this:

it really makes me miss hi in this form :( i really like his soltis form, don’t get me wrong, but i miss him on yusaku’s wrist lol. i would say when things were less angsty, but, well. lmao.

we very quickly get akira’s rad boss monster summoned out:

and seriously, i just love the animation for it. it’s so sick. the door, the fire, how it looms behind him at first.... aaaaaa. so cool.

and of course the classic:

the worst part about this line is it’s said so often (esp in arc v LOL) that i actually. have slipped up and said it in normal, day to day conversation before. my boyfriend looked at me for like a minute and gave me the deepest sigh i’ve ever heard the first time i did that pff.

also:

i couldn’t not screencap this, given what my blog is for LOL

every time something reminds me of that painful final duel, i have to screencap it and make you guys sad with me. if i have to be sad seeing all this stuff, knowing where their relationship goes and how the series ends, so do you.

also, though, i forgot how often this was brought up before the bohman duel lmao. it makes that theory look a lot more credible, so it’s cool that it had all these little hints towards it, even if it ultimately wasn’t true.

seriously, my heart. i don’t think i need to talk much about this scene to make y’all sad, but really. they went from this to i loved you. ugh, god, i’m so sad thinking about it lmao.

there is so much to talk about between akira and playmaker and even blue angel in this episode, so i guess we’ll start here.

it is hard to decide that you want to take control of your trauma and do something about it. it is not easy. to see yusaku fight for that right so thoroughly is incredible, and really, really validating.

more sadness! seriously, this is too much. this deck was created specifically for him by ai. i don’t like this anymore lmao

but even besides that, often times the protag’s decks mean a lot to them, obviously, but i love that it wasn’t built strictly by yusaku. his cards were literally made by ai, and i think that’s such a cool twist. 

but then, akira’s speech:

i talked last time about akira wanting to handle things himself, and i briefly touched on him thinking he knows best...

but i really admire how calm yusaku stays at that tbh. he gets angry, reasonably so imo, but he takes this so well. i know i was a much more volatile kid then he is, so respect lol

i’ve spoken at length already about akira, but i also want to talk again about how oblivious he is. he is so blinded by his own thoughts and feelings on the situation that he doesn’t stop to think about how yusaku might be feeling -- and worse, honestly, how his sister might be feeling.

it was why he was so visibly shocked when emma mentioned a few episodes ago that aoi wasn’t just a little kid anymore. it’s so clear that he still, at the moment, sees her as the six year old girl he swore to protect, and not the sixteen year old person she’s become. he doesn’t think about how she might be feeling towards his actions, or why she does what she does.

this is highlighted as early as episode 6 iirc, when he asks her why aren’t you happy? as much as i, personally, dislike his character, i can’t deny it’s very realistic and well written.

speaking of aoi:

i love how she’s written in this episode, too. but her entrance here is great, and i love how she stands up to him about this. it’s minor, but it’s still a good step. when she’s blue angel -- or blue girl, or blue maiden -- she feels comfortable doing that. at least a little, and it obviously grows throughout the series. i hope that transfers over to the real world for her, too.

and then, we finally get the full story:

i remember flinching when he started talking about it, remembering the shots of yusaku getting electrocuted from his duel with revolver.

i really love this. i said it last episode, but vrains handles yusaku’s trauma so realistically and it’s amazing.

i remember originally staring open mouthed at my tv screen while this part played. we got a bit of it from the other episode, but the full context truly shocked me. where’s that post that says “who thought this was an acceptable backstory to give to a card game protag” bc honestly??? YEAH

it’s still hard to watch. it’s still hard to see play out, even if it’s only fiction. even though i’ve seen these clips so many times, and written about them in detail a few times too. doesn’t matter lol. watching it in context actually still made my stomach drop.

which leads me to talk about reactions to this, actually:

the two that vrains focuses heavily on are blue angel’s and kusanagi’s, and they contrast really well here imo.

blue angel’s is a normal reaction. it’s horrified, both at the thought of it happening and at the fact that someone would actually do that to another person -- a six year old child, no less.

kusanagi’s is strained. he is angry hearing about this, thinking about jin. we’ve been told, and have seen in the last few episodes, how much the lost incident impacted kusanagi and his brother, but i really love that the show tells us that here, too, and shows the difference between hearing about a tragedy and being involved in some manner.

i did not expect it at all when first watching vrains, and honestly, it still impresses me how gracefully they handled it coming off of arc v (cough, shun i love you but really cough cough). no hate on arc v at all, it’s my third favorite ygo very close behind gx, but the difference between the two on how they handle these things is staggering.

this whole section makes me thing that ryoken talked to yusaku fairly often, after the first time. which is something i don’t see brought up often? but that’s so important imo. it meant that yusaku had someone encouraging him not just once or twice, but on the regular, but also it meant that ryoken was constantly risking himself to comfort that child. 

we don’t see too much of ryoken when he’s a kid, but we do see him scared and crying over the lost incident. the fact that he was able to talk calmly to this child so many times is really amazing. it also makes more sense as to why ryoken feels so guilty over calling the police -- he probably felt that maybe if he had just kept up his encouragement, the kids would’ve all gotten out okay and his father wouldn’t be in a coma. 

this was so powerful. it’s obvious, and i think anyone with half a brain would understand that the LI isn’t something that a kid would recover from easily, but i love this anyways. 

he wasn’t saved. and even if he was in body, it’s still something he and all the other victims will live with for the rest of their lives.

this also is something i don’t feel like people bring up enough, but does this mean that yusaku went around asking the kids at the hospital when he was rescued? it’s not hard to believe they were all put together, at least for a short amount of time, but it’s still something i feel like people overlook. 

i also love this, because it’s nice foreshadowing to how revolver feels. he’s not captured, not like yusaku and the lost kids were, but he is a prisoner. and just like ryoken saved yusaku, way back then, he is determined to repay the favor.

not just because of that, either. because that voice meant so much to him. because that voiced saved him. because that voice understood him, and was there for him in his hardest moments. god i love them.

i love this shot. it’s so dramatic, how the match the drum beats with flashes of everyone’s reactions.

but it drives home his point, and while i know most of akira’s development came through emma and aoi, i’m sure this helped, too. 

i’ve sung vrains praises this entire post, but i’ll do it again -- this is incredible. this is so realistic. it’s so well portrayed. and it’s really honest to god incredible that we got a protag in ygo who was shown going to therapy. 

ygo has always dealt with some pretty dark subject matter, and it’s never really been shy about showing it on screen. i’m not saying that at all. arc v obviously dealt with some pretty heavy stuff, and while i haven’t seen zexal (keep shaming me please) i know it does, too. 5ds obviously has the dark signer arc, and the later arcs concerning bruno and also yusei’s father, and gx has... well, it’s entire third and fourth season. 

but we see everyone healing via card games. we see those shows talk about these things, but kind of at the same time, skirt around the subject matter; or if they do go deep into it, they pull out (ie 5ds) or the characters don’t get resolved properly (ie arc v). 

idk where i was going with this but i just really love that this happened, this was shown on screen, and they stuck to yusaku’s character. they didn’t just... up and make his trauma and his world view disappear at the end. he has a bittersweet ending, but it suited him and his development. a lot of people were mad about it, and i get it -- i wanted him to be happy, too.

but that’s not always the case, and it’s really important to me that vrains doesn’t pretend it is.

anyways, though, i’m almost done with this episode i promise lmao. before the episode ends, we get this:

and i think it’s honestly kind of cruel that akira says this, after everything, and still maintains his point of handling it himself. he has heard, first hand now, how horrible the incident has scarred yusaku for life. and yet, he still is stubborn in refusing to relate or at the very least empathize.

what i mean by that, since we obviously see him attempt to last episode, is he refuses to look at it from someone’s else’s perspective or in a way that might make him uncomfortable. the way my boyfriend describes these kinds of people is that they “haven’t had their bubble popped”.

everyone has a bubble when they’re born, and that bubble shields you from realizing that the world is a cruel and hard place. even if you go through hardships, sometimes your bubble stays put, and you think that is the worst of what can happen. 

i’m explaining this very poorly, because i’m running on not much sleep and i’ve been typing about this episode for like, far, far too long, but essentially, he refuses to step out of his comfort zone and recognize, in playmaker’s case, that he doesn’t have a right to interfere and that playmaker’s desire to handle it himself is justified and helpful for his healing. and in aoi’s case, that just because he does a lot of good for her doesn’t automatically mean ignoring her for work and keeping her locked in their house is an okay trade off. and also that she’s not a child anymore -- she’s nearly an adult and she deserves to be treated as one. 

those thoughts seem to unsettle him. you can kind of see it in how detached he is after hearing all that come from playmaker. blue angel is visibly shaken up by what he’s said. akira doesn’t even flinch, because he’s not really listening right now. 

i’m glad he learns to, or at least learns how to start, later on.

anyways, i think that’s enough for this post lmao. this took forever to type up, so let’s hope i actually have time to cover up to 21 here today LOL. if you read all that, thank you for your time on my kind of dumb vrains thoughts :’)

[3w-writer-with-wings]

Miyu and Aoi

So yeah R.I.P my Miyu is Aoi theory, but still I’m glad I post it since I had many sub-theories in case Miyu was another person that Aoi. I’ll post my own quotes from the theory and screenshots to check what I got right :P So here we go:

“The only way this could work, would be if Miyu used to be Aoi’s friend that Aoi met in the park. If Aoi was this lonely kid all alone on a swing, then Miyu could be a cheerful kid that wants to play with her.”

“They might’ve become really close friends and Miyu could inspire her to be like Blue Angel.”

(May I just add that I absolutely loved the fact that Miyu drew a Kuriboh XD)

“This arm could be Miyu’s and the ring (oddly similar to bracelets from Arc V) could symbolize their friendship.”

I had a theory that Miyu might’ve given that ring to Aoi, but instead of that Miyu accidentally dropped in the drain and Aoi took the blame. Either way I like that it still kinda symbolized the friendship - Miyu knew that the ring was really important to her mother - in fact it wasn’t even hers - so if she chose to show something that precious to a friend Miyu must’ve really trust Aoi. Aqua states that Miyu saw her as her saviour so taking the blame must’ve shown that Aoi trusts her too and is willing to help her out. Miyu so continued to remember Aoi right until meeting Aqua.

“Maybe Aoi goes back to the park to search for Miyu, but she only finds her mother who tells her that Miyu can’t play with her anymore and this causes Aoi to become even lonelier.”

I know this is from the dream, but it is a great way to show that she in a way lost Miyu with whom she used to play in the park. The true reason why they couldn’t be together anymore was that Akira had to move and Miyu’s mother forbid Miyu from seeing Aoi due to the lost ring. Still it’s a nice way to mask the fact that Miyu was later abducted.

While Miyu’s mother did tell her that Miyu can’t play with her anymore, it was for a different reason. In a way I do understand mother’s concert - she doesn’t know Aoi and she was just informed that this unknown girl convinced her daughter to bring HER own ring. Of course, her mother is concerned and worried about Miyu playing with a wrong crowd. I’m only mad that she just dragged her away before Aoi could say a proper goodbye or Miyu to stop crying. 

“And when Aqua locates her Origin, Miyu tells her she can’t fight with her, but believes Aoi could fill her shoes and that’s why Aqua knows about Aoi.”

“Aqua’s Origin gave information about Aoi to Aqua”

While Miyu doesn’t directly tell Aqua that she can’t fight or anything about Aoi, this still happens. I actually like this scene so much better since it reveals so many things. 

1) Lightning somehow find out who Aqua’s partner is (if you remember a conversation between Takeru, Flame, Yusaku and Ai on the ferris wheel, both Ignis claim that Ignis only know their own Lost Child since they didn’t know which Ignis was based on Jin) (Also I’m kinda puzzled why Miyu’s silhouette had ponytails while her actual hair is loose - maybe it was a way to remember Aoi)

2) Aqua was in the real world without a duel disk! Both Ai and Flame can’t really float around in the real world since they are bound to duel disks, so how could Aqua come to the real world?

3) Since Aqua is based on Miyu and she got her memories as well, she probably sees Aoi as her childhood friend now. And that I think it’s the most brilliant way to include Aoi in the main group without her being a Lost Child. I can’t wait to see more of Miyu’s backstory next week and I can already say this will give Aoi lots of character development! If you remember in the beginning of the episode, Aoi finally asks what exactly are Ignis and even if Aqua wasn’t based on Miyu, she would most likely still protect her from SOL. Aoi wished to help people from the start and now she has both motivation and reason to do it, not to mention she kept on learning.

We were afraid Aoi would end up the same way as Yuzu, but from what I see, she’s gradually maturing and earning a spot for a major character. She thought she needs to please her brother - she learned how to fight for herself. She thought she was a hero that needs to save Specter - she realized she isn’t. She thought Ignis is something SOL will deal with - she decided to team up with Aqua. 

Can’t wait for more next week! Those two episodes are literally meant to bring Aoi and Emma back and man did they do a great job! Yes, bring the girls back! They deserve it!

[akiharashizuka]

Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains episode 25 thoughts

Virus Deck Operation

I find it funny that Ai wants to celebrate Kitamura being bashed all over the internet. At the same time, I feel bad for him because he was only doing his job and we all know that comments on the internet can go way too far at times.

Yūsaku and Kusanagi are more focused on getting info, rather than joining Ai’s attics xD 

So, the official spelling of her online name is Baira. I was skeptic about this, but it is confirmed by the VS-screen later on. In Japanese, the “v” sound doesn’t exist, so it can get confusing when it comes to foreign names. It doesn’t help that V and B sound similar.

It’s interesting to see that she is fully aware that they are committing a crime. And she doesn’t wish for Revolver, who is most likely around Yūsaku’s age, to shoulder that. What’s more, both seem to know who he is in real life, and Faust is like a brother to him. Didn’t expect that kind of relationships within the Knights of Hanoi. I like where this is going.

I also like how the writers keep humanizing them, but don’t let us forget that they are the antagonists. And even the Knights themselves don’t think of themselves as heroes.

Never thought I would witness Yūsaku being waken up, so he wouldn’t be late for school xD

Pff xD Gō sure fooled them. Hmm, the belt and that hat-thing kinda give it away though xD Still, I like the disguise.

I found it weird that Emma decided on a whim to pay Aoi a visit, after hearing about Blue Angel not showing up anymore. She even gave away her identity, but in a very smart way, so only Aoi could realize that. The dialogue between them seemed more like her trying to provoke Aoi, rather than give advice. But, I guess that worked better. And, at the end, even she is confused with her actions. Going out of her way to help out a confused girl isn’t really something this greedy treasure hunter would normally do. Guess this means Emma is going to get character development.

As for Aoi, I like that she straight-up says that she doesn’t duel for others’ sake. It’s the truth, since she started being Blue Angel for her own reasons. And now, she doesn’t have them anymore. Seems logical so far, but she is so bothered by it because there’s still something she wants to do. Also, she looked completely calm during the discussion, but we see a bit later that she is actually really mad.

Ai just said that idiot is a forbidden word. And this time he wasn’t imitating the normal AIs. Ok...

I swear, when Ai commented that all there is to eat are hotdogs, I thought Kusanagi will demonstrate his cooking skills by preparing a proper meal xD Instead, he mentioned other fast foods.

Canceling broadcasts because people keep coming to Link VRAINS and endanger themselves. I find this realistic. Stuff similar to this happen in real life as well. However, it’s not the broadcasts’ fault that people have no sense of danger and are acting stupid -_-’ Neither is the fault of the people behind it, since they didn’t tell them to log in. 

Baira started threatening the 2 reporters, but stopped once she realized that they truly know nothing. That’s very rare. In most cases, the villain just ends them. Another thing to point out is that Baira was probably hoping that Blue Angel won’t show up ever again in Link Vrains after that incident. And for her own well-being nonetheless.

We also get confirmation that the program used on Aoi was the prototype of Another. Speaking of which, she demonstrates again her perceptiveness  by realizing that Baira was the one to create it. And this gives Aoi a better reason to challenge her. So, at first she only wanted to duel someone, probably any Knight of Hanoi, in order to blow up some steam, but now she has a specific target.

So much for the reporters quitting broadcasts xD I expected Akira to be even more shocked, eventually shout a “Nani!?”, but guess he’s too stoic for that.

Didn’t expect his co-worker to be a fan of Blue Angel xD

She said she doesn’t duel for others, but this proves otherwise. Knowing what it feels like to be trapped, thanks to that virus, Aoi probably sympathizes the most with the victims. And now that she found the culprit, she can’ help but want to do something about it. 

Adding her perspective on that incident and how it affected her was nice to see. It proves that her reason for challenging Baira isn’t a shallow one. It might have been at first, but changed once she found out that she developed the virus.

I didn’t expect that kind of archetype for Baira. It seems it also has a bit of Ancient Egypt theme going on, which is a nice callback to Duel Monsters. It also contains some medical terminology, which makes sense for the character. I guess for the archetype as well. People from Ancient Egypt had advanced medical knowledge for its time. The mummification process is proof for that, since it involved removing organs and preserving them, as well as applying on the body different oils and alcohol to prevent decaying. 

The deck also involves a Virus strategy, which usually leads to deck destruction. However, here it negates effects and changes ATK to zero. Well, it’s easier to destroy them this way.

It’s interesting what Baira said about Blue Angel’s deck being popular and having countermeasures for it. I guess that’s what happens in real life as well, in a competitive environment.

I’m impressed at how quickly Yūsaku noticed Baira hiding.

Judging from the preview, it seems he finds out that she was one of the doctors who took care of Aoi. Many have noticed that right after her debut, so guess it’s not such a big reveal. 

We got a new ending theme, which I’m going to talk about tomorrow. Wished I could write that today as well...

[lilyhoshikawa]

okay @yugiohlesbian got me excited again so here’s my vrains theories

so like, the whole thing about aoi looking really bored in her portrait may not mean anything but what i like to think it alludes to is that aoi is really pretty blunt and possibly unfriendly irl, sort of like selena, because of her position as (from what i can tell so far from stuff on the wikia?) the daughter of the head of SOL tech. she has an image to maintain and all. but she secretly really loves girly things and wants to be an idol type (thus her VR form) and she lives out that dream using her VR self. possibly something she’s defensive about, and maybe there’s a point where someone goes “why can’t you just be blue angel in real life” and she gets mad because of course she can’t, her father is too important and she has to keep up an image, etc

as for yusaku i’ve said before i want him to be a sort of mix between yusei and some of the happier protags, but i’d kinda like to see a new thing explored with him. fromt he promo material it seems like he’s already an expert duelist, so what if his development is less becoming good at duels and moreso learning how to duel for fun and make meaningful relationships. like, i envision him as this serious hacker who feels like he has a serious job and duties and is kind of oblivious to people’s emotions and tends to be kind of awkward in personal contact. and as he duels he realizes that he CAN have fun in duels and make friends without always fighting for a serious purpose (thus the existence of “chatisma duelists”). like maybe he’s great at winning duels but he’s not great at making a lasting difference. and maybe he’s made to learn that his beliefs in the nobility of what he’s doing are wrong and comes to question why he’s fighting at all, which hinders his dueling

those are just my theories for yusaku + aoi thusfar based on what we know

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 17 thoughts

blue angel is back and ready to go! this little mini arc, from 16 through the akira vs pm duel, is one of the highlights of S1 for me, so it’s been a lot of fun watching these back. this was where i originally got super invested, and it went from something that i enjoyed watching and was looking forward to seeing play out to binging all day every day until i got caught up LOL. anyone who knows me from twit/yt knew how bad it was, lmao.

anyways, this episode starts off with blue angel coming in to help playmaker, instead of the other way around. their back and forth is kinda funny to me, with her saying she owes him and him being like ??? to that lmao. 

she also says this:

and i had completely forgotten how dead set she was in the beginning on defeating him. 

though that desire is quickly replaced with some other character development that i adore, it still leaves me strongly wanting an actual female rival in ygo LOL. oh well. maybe for ygo 7!

anyways though.

god i really don’t like this guy LOL i don’t think that’s an unpopular opinion or anything, and i think he’s not exactly supposed to be likable, but i’m not sad we never saw him again really pff

we also get the emma/akira convo about aoi, which i really like.

emma: says something about how blue angel showed up on time akira: !? emma: idk what youre talking about

LOL something about that just made me laugh a lot. but even more so, this conversation gives us this:

which is the beginning of akira’s realization that he can’t control aoi’s life forever. i really love how this doesn’t come from the MC, but from emma. vrains underutilized a lot of the side characters (like, spectre should’ve dueled more and miyu should’ve been more of a character, for example), but i really like how they had takeru, ryoken, aoi, and akira all develop as their own characters separate from yusaku when necessary. 

it’s something that was kept up with for a lot of the series, though it would’ve been nice if S3 wasn’t cut so short so we could’ve seen more of aoi’s development, but still. 

i also really like this scene because emma isn’t saying it just to get akira to go with her and finish her plan. she reminds him of that after this, which shows that she really cares about this. she doesn’t really know aoi, they’ve had like, one conversation at this point iirc (which was last episode in LV), but she’s a really independent woman, and can obviously tell aoi wants to be treated as one, too. i really love their mentorship and it’s nice to see it take it’s roots as early as this episode!

and blue angel. seriously, i love her, and this episode reminded me of why. she’s a really fun duelist to watch tbh. not my favorite, and obviously vrains has some killer duels (one of my top 5 is coming up next episode, for example), but she’s just fun. i love her as blue girl and blue maiden, too, but blue angel is probably my favorite design for her.

look at her! it’s so fun to compare and contrast aoi vs her persona, because obviously some of it is acting, but how much? comparing to blue girl and blue maiden later down the line, i think if given the chance to act how she wanted IRL instead of constantly being isolated and worried about ruining her brother’s reputation, she’s be more spunky and sassy. in all her forms she’s got that going for her, and i think that is part of her true nature. IRL she’s just too shy and too worried over akira as i said, but in LV? she’s free to be whoever she wants. i love that.

anyways though, we don’t often get two duels in one episode, but vrains can do it pretty well for these shorter duels. i understand with how the format is now it’s not really.. possible, to shorten most of the duels, but it still would’ve been nice to see a couple more cutaway duel episodes. imo anyway lol.

moving on though, we cut back to yusaku, who has some mad recursion on his deck LOL and gets this dude from storm access:

i couldn’t remember who he got while i was watching this back, and i don’t remember him like.. ever using this again LOL maybe i’m wrong but i really don’t recognize this monster.

i get they probably didn’t want to give him something too big or cool during a transition episode, but it still would’ve been nice to have him gain something of importance lmao. i would say it’s almost nice since it makes it seem like storm access is just another skill, but like, vrains puts so much emphasis on it. throughout the whole series. so it makes it feel kind of off in this duel lol.

anyways, though, then its the end scene:

and i am so excited to watch this duel again. like a month ago i rewatched it just because i enjoy it so much, but i don’t even care lol. this duel is so good. i almost want to wait until sunday when i know i’ll have time to cover it all in one sitting, lmao, but idk. we’ll see what i decide to do later ig!

[darkzorua100]

So episode 88 was kinda a mix bag for me. As a stand alone episode, it was good. Konami finally getting the chance to advertise the Soulburner Structure Deck in the anime, even though it has been a while since its release in Japan, was just funny to me because of how obvious it was. On the other hand, the details that they let slip in this episode about what going to be happening in incoming episodes just made me groan because I was seriously hoping they wouldn’t go this route but at last, this is the path we are taking now and I know for a fact that no one is going to like the end result.

So while I’m on the topic of that, I’ll just get the negatives out of the way. First off, Blue Maiden vs Bohman has basically been confirmed by Lightning during this episode. A lot of people were speculating for that to be the case but I was still holding out that that wouldn’t happen. For one, Blue Maiden is going to die during this duel, that isn’t even up for debate, and she’s going to die without even getting a solid win for her character even after all of this so called development of hers. Yes she technically won against Haru but that was FAR from a good win for her when it was practically handed to her on a silver platter. Again, that whole duel was just disrespectful and now with her dueling Bohman, we are only adding more insult to injury. Since Bohman is using the same deck as Haru, I feel like this is just going to be a repeat of that duel just with a few differences in order for Bohman to pull out the win. Oh I am not looking forward to this duel at all because it is just going to be god awful. Blue Maiden is going to die without really doing anything after all this build up for her and as for Aqua...well who knows what will actually happen to Aqua after this duel. Will she get absorbed into Bohman straight away or will Lightning keep her around until he has all the remaining Ignis in his grasp? Hopefully the former because the later just scream Damsel in Distress to me.

Now lets talk about Soulburner vs Windy. The beginning of this duel was enjoyable. Windy using his cards’ effects to keep juggling Salamangreat Roar around was amusing to me but at the same time, I can’t help but worry with how much emphasis they have been putting on this card. If Soulburner gets the chance to finally use this trap, there is going to be a good chance that will be the reason that Windy loses this duel. With how much emphasis they have been putting on this duel with the bonds between the Origins and their Ignis, I feel like Soulburner has to pull out the win to reinforce that belief and it just sucks. I’m still holding out that Windy will put out the win but I’ve been skeptical about that since the moment this duel was revealed. I’m just going to be honest with you guys as always. If Soulburner pulls out the win next week, you all know I’m going to be pissed and I won’t sugar coat it. 

But like I said, I didn’t hate this episode. Besides those two main issues I had, I found this episode interesting for many reasons. For one, they actually revealed Windy’s kid this episode. No name but that could be revealed next week. His design is really simple and that seems to be a common theme with the Lost Children, not counting Yusaku for obvious reasons. Like take the counterparts from ARC-V. We got a full rainbow of color when it came to them. The Lost Children, on the other hand, designs as a whole are just really simple when you take into account that this a Yu-Gi-Oh series. I do feel like Miyu and WO’s will have insane Link Vrains designs though, similar to Aoi, so I’m really interested to see what they have planned for them in the future. Of course, we don’t know what Windy’s Origin looks like currently. They showed us moments before his car accident and it was revealed that he wasn’t actually in the car itself. He was actually ran over from the looks of things. Now this leads to a new question. Was his body just hit and went flying while the car continued on and crashed into the building or was his body stuck to the car as it continued on and collided with the building as well? If he collided with the building, yeah I don’t think he could have survived that. Being inside the car is one thing but outside of it is another. Now if he was just hit by it, he could have very well have survived. People can survive being hit by a car head on and with as many people around as there were, he probably made it to a hospital in record time. Now I’ve very curious to know what his physical injuries are now. He might not have burn scars but the chances of him being paralyzed are still there. Not to mention the brain injuries he could have sustained. WO seemed to have adjusted well to life after the Hanoi Project but who knows how that is going to change if something in his brain got severely damaged or destroyed. Really is just fascinating and scary how suddenly a person can change if something happens to their brain.

The beginning of this episode was also really funny. Takeru’s fear of ghosts is just amusing to me. Like this guy has gone through actual hell during his childhood, lost his parents, and has spend ten-years of his life in a depressed state, and yet he is terrified of the paranormal. I mean, in retrospect, it makes sense because of his trauma towards Despair from the Dark, which looks like a ghost. I do want to see him have a duel against Ghost Girl though, since her deck is based around poltergeist, and see if he just freaks out.

Watching this duel was like waiting for a timebomb to go off on either end. Windy has a short fuse and Soulburner has so much build up anger that’s just waiting to be unleashed. Windy is trying to get under Soulburner and Flame’s skin by saying things like “oh partners are nuisances” and Soulburner is just done, saying things like how they went through actual hell because of the Hanoi Project, just waiting for someone to save them (loved the fact that after he says that they cut to shots of Playmaker, Lightning, and Revolver (god what is going through his head right now after hearing all of this?) and Flame brings up a good point that if it wasn’t for the torture all six kids went through, none of them would be alive right now. They should be grateful to them and their sacrifices (and again, love the fact that we got shots of Ai and Aqua’s reactions after hearing that and right afterwards Revolver who is just PISSED (again what is going through his head right now from hearing all of this?) but of course, Windy doesn’t give a sh*t and Lightning seriously just thinks Flame is a broken toy at this point. 

But yeah, overall solid episode. Again I’m still extremely worried about how this duel is going to end, and what else is later going to happen down the line, but hey, we got Windy’s Kid revealed finally and I’ll count that as a victory. If we get his name next week, regardless if Soulburner wins, I’ll count that as a small victory and hopefully won’t be as mad as I probably will be.

[darkzorua100]

I really shouldn’t be annoyed at this, like seriously we all saw this coming if Aoi wasn’t going to be Aqua’s Origin, but I don’t think I have been this infuriated since the Shun vs Ruri duel in ARC-V because the conclusion to that duel was so stupid and where this plot is going between Aqua, Miyu, and Aoi is just as stupid in my mind. 

I’m so sorry for this rant but I need to vent for a bit on why I really don’t like this turn of events. Honestly, I recommend you guys just leave if you wanted Aoi and Aqua to team up or you just don’t want to hear me complain.

So on one side of the spectrum, the long debut on whether Aoi was a Lost Child is finally over. Miyu, her childhood friend, is actually Aqua’s Origin but whoopty doo to that because Aoi is still going to be the one to be Aqua’s partner going forward. Why? Oh because the writers are dicks and are using Lightning as a scapegoat to make their partnership make sense.

I made it clear that I didn’t want Aoi to be Aqua’s Origin but I would have rather have that then this. Vrains has made it clear that the bond between Ignis and their Origin is important, as seen with all the other Lost Children. Yusaku/Ai and Takeru/Flame teaming up. Spectre being able to sense Earth’s death. Lightning using Jin as his puppet and Windy taking out his Origin. Regardless if it is good or bad, they have a connection. And then there is f*ck you in the form of Aqua and Miyu. Okay the whole thing with Lightning makes a little bit of sense. Ryoken said that he would have gone after Yusaku and Takeru if he didn’t give him the protection program as seen with Jin and Windy’s kid. The fact that he attacked Miyu follows the pattern that has been established (how he was able to find her though I have no idea but this is Lightning we are talking about here. The program he used to trap Aqua might have also been used to find her Origin). What follows though is what pisses me off because Aqua isn’t able to save Miyu from her coma and just leaves. First off, if we are to assume this is Miyu’s real life body, how is Aqua in the real world? As shown with Ai and Flame, the Ignis have to be connected to a online source in order to be in the real world. Aqua isn’t. And then there is my main issue for this mess: Aoi and Aqua teaming up. Miyu is Aqua’s Origin, not Aoi! At the current moment, she literally just exist because we need an Origin for Aqua and then we are passing up what should be their partnership onto Aoi! Why? Because f*ck you that’s why!

I could very well be jumping to conclusions, after all we only seen one episode of these three together, but after the Rin and Ruri situation, I honestly don’t see why Miyu should exist if we are just giving her role to Aoi. If you honestly wanted Aoi to have a Ignis, why did you seriously not just make her a Lost Child?! I would have been fine with the memory bullsh*t for her and Akira if that was the only way you could have done it, and while it would have just been pure BS, I much rather have had that then this. 

And before anyone says anything like “Oh you are just mad because you don’t like Aoi”, it isn’t that. I do like Aoi and the fact that this is where they are taking her character just don’t feel right. It feels like it is coming out of nowhere to me and is just a forced connection made so her and Aqua would have a reason to team up in a common goal to help save Miyu from Lightning. 

Then there is Miyu’s herself.

Wow, her design is simple. Yeah sure Aoi has a similar simple design that isn’t common when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh but at least she gets a upgrade in Link Vrains with Blue Angel/Blue Girl. Unless we will actually get to see Miyu in Link Vrains in the future with a crazy Link Vrains’s design, she looks like background character and feels like one too just to improve Aoi’s character.

Also what happened to the twin tails? People were saying that Aoi was Aqua’s Origin because they share similar hairstyles, and the silhouette of the Lost Children had twin tails as well, so were they honestly contemplating on making Aoi a Lost Child and just decided to throw that idea out the window in favor of this? What is continuity anymore? This is why the theory of Blood Shepherd being Windy’s kid is a thing. 

I want to say one last thing before I put this rant to a end. I compared Aoi and Miyu’s relationship to Yusaku and Ryoken’s and yeah it basically is. The reason that Aqua knew about Aoi is because Miyu had her as a strong memory. Considering that Aoi took the fall for her when she lost her mother’s ring, and must have felt so bad about it after all of these years, I’m not to surprised by that. However, I don’t like how Aoi was conveniently dreaming about her before the big reveal that Aqua is her Ignis. I feel like the dream sequence should have happened sooner in the show so it wouldn’t have felt so shoe horned in during the episode.

I know I will get a lot of disagreement towards this. If you like this turn of events, that’s perfectly fine! Everyone has their own opinions after all. Mine just happens to be in the minority. I just don’t find this fair at all to Miyu’s character and that’s what aggravates me. She should be important. She is a Lost Child after all. Instead, we are taking the result of her trauma and giving it to Aoi and that’s just not right in my eyes. But when has Yu-Gi-Oh ever been fair to their female characters? Watch as this partnership between Aoi and Aqua ends up being meaningless in the long run. That wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

[darkzorua100]

When it comes to the majority of the anime I watch, I don’t believe in the concept of death. Unless I see a body, I don’t believe a character has actually died. When it comes to anime like Yu-Gi-Oh, even if we see them die on screen, unless it is some kind of Bruno case (which is extremely rare), they always find a way to revive the dead characters in the end. It is why I don’t believe Windy’s kid and Earth are dead dead. I’ve been so conditioned to believe that the character is still alive or will be bought back in some BS way because it always happens. The Boy Who Cried Wolf scenario.

That’s the best way I can describe the end of the Ghost Girl vs Blood Shepherd duel. 

Now the duel itself was amazing. We got to see both sides Synchro Summon and the plays that Ghost Girl made were just awesome and to me felt like something you would actually see in the real life card game from a Altergeist player. Sadly though, BS still ended up pulling out the win and at this point, after what just happened, I can’t take him serious anymore when it comes to Emma. What happens is what we basically are never going to see after the BS vs Soulburner duel which is that Blood Shepherd doesn’t shoot Ghost Girl. He lets her keep her account, making the whole duel completely pointless since he doesn’t even get Aqua afterwards for winning. Are you kidding me right now? This is actually stupid. Playmaker vs Bohman round 3 and Soulburner vs BS results left a bad taste in my mouth since they both felt like cop-outs (so Playmaker and Soulburner wouldn’t actually lose) but this is actually a cop-out. People have pointed out that Emma would have been just fine if she lost her account. She could have took the Kusanagi route for Aoi. That would have been perfectly fine! No instead the writers chickened out at the last second and boom, Ghost Girl is still alive out of basically pity from her older brother all because she had to get the final words in of “oh just to let you know, our dad died. Hope that doesn’t change your thoughts about deleting my account!”. I hate the Aoi/Miyu/Aqua story because it feels so cheated in but this...this is just the writers not holding up their end of the bargain and now I can’t trust them to not do this again when it comes to Emma and Kengo. I just hate when people set a set of rules for their universe in fiction and just don’t follow through with them. Why should we be worried about these characters then if nothing bad is actually going to happen to them? Playmaker and Soulburner never losing because they have a Ignis. Blue Maiden is probably never going to lose now because she has a Ignis. I don’t see what I should care or worry about them and that makes me so mad but mostly sad. 

So we get somewhat of a backstory for Emma and Kengo. They are actually half-siblings with them sharing a father who left Kengo’s mother for reasons and years later met Emma’s mother and they got busy, resulting in Emma’s birth. Seems to me that Kengo has always had a bit of a resentful side to him because of this and his car accident simply brought him to his breaking point or simply just gave him an excuse to unleash all of his anger out onto the world. Now I’m honestly not trying to find reasons to hate on the show as of late, since that seems to be a common factor now, but I don’t like how Emma found this out. Her doing some digging into Blood Shepherd’s past I can see, since this is Emma, but I don’t understand why they didn’t show us the ending to their confrontation in 63, 14 episodes ago all the way back in the beginning of August mind you, if they weren’t going to go back to that scene as the reveal. If they just showed us the end to that confrontation for the beginning of the episode as the recap and added onto it, with Blood Shepherd letting it slip that they were siblings and Ghost Girl being shocked about it, it could have lead Emma into doing all that digging to find out that hey, they actually are siblings. If we are to believe that she knew about this since the beginning of season 2, since the flashback showed her in her old Ghost Girl avatar, that just doesn’t make sense since Emma was clearly still wondering what the actual hell was going on, retconing the whole thing. 

The duel was awesome. It was just the beginning and the end parts to it that were just done so badly -_- 

Now onto the thing the everyone is going crazy about: Blue Maiden. Again, I’m not trying to hate, if you love the new design that’s great! More power to you for getting a design that screams character growth. I just...don’t. And I honestly don’t know why. The outfit is fine, I think it is just the hair that makes me dislike it so much. I was honestly expecting to to be long, since her Blue Angel form had her hair in ponytails and Blue Girl was short (which btw I’m going to miss that hairstyle since it was amazing) but the color pallet just looks wrong. It is a different shade of blue from what Aoi’s other forms had, actually the color pallets were flipped, so maybe that’s what bugs me. Also, the fact that she does look so grown up just looks...wrong? Is that the word to use? She is supposed to be sixteen and looks like she should be Emma’s age or something. It just doesn’t feel right. I know I’m going to get used to after a while but for now...I just don’t know. 

So we get a little bit more about Miyu, who actually did change her hairstyle during the Hanoi Project to reflect Aoi, and yeah Aoi is her Ryoken. Simple as that. Still don’t like this development but I’m starting to sound like a broken record as this point so moving on. Aqua and Blue Maiden team up, as to be expected, and them and the boys fly off into the sunset (well not really but you get the idea) as the new trio (because Go decided that frame was more important) which honestly doesn’t feel earned (since the boys still hasn’t told Aoi their identities yet or just the fact that they are going along with the fact that Aoi has an Ignis after the fact that she tried to steal theirs for SOL) but I’m just complaining at this point for no god damn reason.

So yeah, if it wasn’t obvious, besides the duel, I really didn’t like this episode. Honestly I do like how they are trying to get the girls involved in the story, which is saying something since in the previous series they would have been written out completely at this point, let alone have such a big role in the story that Aoi has now, but I just don’t like how it was structured to get us to this point. Aoi/Miyu/Aqua came out of nowhere and the Emma/Kengo storyline, while it had so much build up to it, just didn’t have the payoff that it deserved but that might just be me. I never expect any of my opinions to be popular and I’m fine with that. Once again, if you love everything that has been happening so far for the females, that’s amazing! I’m glad for you! Truly I am! I just wished I could say the same. 

The preview though. Wow Blood Shepherd is getting screen time in the form of duels. We knew about Ghost Girl and Lightning but not Revolver. Omg yes! We are actually getting the Wild West shoot out! They are actually going to duel in a wasteland! I wasn’t expecting this. I just thought 78 was going to be a plot episode. I’m not complaining this time but you all know I’m a Ryoken/Revolver fangirl so there might be some biased there. I have no shame to admit that. So who do I think is winning this? Pfff not even a question, Revolver is so going to kick his ass. He’s going to Mirror Force him just like he did to his younger sister and when he does I’m going to laugh so hard at the irony. Oh it truly is a wonderful thing to have our meme lord back.

[darkzorua100]

Well...that just happened. Only seven episodes in and I’m pretty sure Yusaku might have indirectly killed Blue Angel because of what the Knights did to her. And before anyone points out that Aoi is just in a coma, I said Blue Angel, not Aoi. Aoi is in a coma for all we know while Blue “Angel” is still apparently in Link Vrains from what episode 8 summary is telling us. Now if Vrains is supposed to take after 5Ds like how Zexal did with the original series and ARC-V did with GX, I think we should be VERY worried about what the future for Aoi/Blue Angel will be because from what this scene could be hinted at along with the new support Trickstars have been getting lately, I think Blue Angel is going to be turn into a Blue Devil. Might not be the exact name but yeah, I’m starting to think Aoi is going to become a fallen angel from this point forward. 

So why do I say this? Well I have a few reasons for this theory, some I already listed above, and others that might make little to no sense at the currently moment but that is a theory all on it’s own. So two for one I guess in terms of Vrains theories. 

So for the first reason, Vrains is taking after 5Ds from the looks of things like many people have figured it would and the ending to this duel reminds me of another duel from 5Ds.

Carly vs Divine part 1. How did that duel end again? Oh yeah, Carly got murdered. She fell out of the window to her death. But what happened afterwards? She became a Dark Signer and her and Divine had a rematch and she destroyed him, almost killing him in the process as well. 

Now let’s look at Playmaker vs Blue Angel. After Aoi lost her mind here, Yusaku was able to beat her and from the looks of things, Blue Angel fell to her “death” as well. However, in the next episode, Blue Angel is back and is challenging Playmaker to a rematch. At the moment, we don’t know if he will accept it, since it seems like we could also be getting a Revolver vs Playmaker duel from the preview, but if he does, which I think he will just to figure out what the heck is going on, I think Aoi could very will beat Yusaku this time around thanks to her new cards.

This leads to point number two: the new Trickstar cards. When Carly dueled Divine again, her Fortune Fairy monsters were turned into Fortune Lady cards. While it looks like Aoi’s Trickstar monsters are going to stay the same, main deck wise, her Link Monsters are totally different. The first would be “Sweet Devil”, the exact opposite of Holly Angel, and another one called “Bloody Mary” (which at the moment we don’t know its effects but the name “Bloody Mary” isn’t exactly a folklore we associate with good).

And the final reasons has to do with a theory for the AIs in general. At the moment, there are six of them along with six children from what we got during Yusaku’s flashback in episode 2. But I can’t help but wonder if there is a seven one along with AI due to the fact that I think they could be based off the seven sins.

Now this might sound completely crazy but just hear me out. Each of the AIs has a color that is associated with one of the sins.

Yellow - Greed

Orange - Gluttony

Purple - Pride

Light Blue - Sloth

Blue - Lust

Red - Wrath

Green - Envy

Now this might be a long shot to say but it the Blue Ai does belong to Aoi later down the line, it would explain her behavior. Since we don’t have a seventh AI to really determine if this is light blue or normal blue, I’m going to say her’s is Lust. Lust is usually associated with sexual desire but it really is just a strong desire for something. Aoi has beyond this point showed to have a strong desire to be recognize by her brother and I think that card that Specter gave her didn’t so much as brainwash her but unlocked that part of her even more from the AI to the point that it drove her to madness such as the nature of the seven sins. 

Of course, I do see a problem with this since if the Orange Ai does belong to Go down the line like the opening has hinted at, he hasn’t really shown any traits that would associate him with Gluttony (if anything, he has shown more Envy than anything), same with Revolver if the Red Ai will become his with it being Wrath (which again, hinted at him getting redeemed in the opening) but like I said with Aoi, I think these traits are mainly going to show when the Knights use some kind of card on them, like a virus I guess you could say. 

And finally, there’s Yusaku who has Ignis. Keep in mind, Pride is said to be the main sin but it can also be a good thing. Having to much of it is what drives people into madness. This is honestly how I view Yusaku. He clearly is an anti-hero at this point and we know that he wants to destroy the Knights but just how far is he willing to take this goal of his? Well he’s willing to kill Ignis if he has to but doesn’t want someone like Go to be involved. At some point however, I’m sure he’s going to snap and like many people think will happen, Ignis is going to take over, just not in the way we think but honestly, who knows. We’re only seven episodes in after all and who knows if there will be a seven child or Ai or not. We still don’t know who the other two children are, expect one being Kusangi’s brother from what’s been hinted at but some people think he’s Revolver so *shrug*. 

But just over all, if the Seven Sins theory is just a random theory of mine for the long run, I truly do think the other reasons I listed above do hint at Aoi/Blue Angel turning into a Fallen Angel down the line. This could just be for a single episode or maybe it will last for the whole season. All I do know is that when an angel loses its wings, it is never a good thing. 

[pendulumprince]

So if Ignis and Roboppy did do the do... and Ignis enjoyed it and... wait. DOES THAT MEAN THEY CAN FEEL? I know it's a weird question to ask but if they can then there is a new world of possibilities that can be explored here! Like, maybe Yusaku can take him out and have him feel what the ocean water is like? Or maybe what being hugged is like? Or the warm breeze that blows when Kusanagi's cooking up hot dogs? The grass after the morning dew? The beach sand? A kiss? What will happen next?

Well, I think it was foreplay? Like the sex wasn’t completed? It’s not like they were in the troughs of passion, it seemed to me like the warm-up stage lol

But getting to the point of this message, because… this message is important for my health and wellbeing.

This isn’t a weird question at all. On a factual, canon level, I think the AIs can feel. It’s at least been confirmed with Ignis, and we’re only four episodes in.

In episode 1, when Cracking Dragon bites into Ignis he screams because shit, did that have to hurt. 

And then in this most recent episode, we saw Ignis and Roboppy getting it on and he was obviously feeling something there.

We don’t yet know if he can smell or taste anything, but we know Ignis can see, hear and feel.

Which means… once they build a better relationship, they might end up inadvertently doing some cutesy shit in the midst of fighting the KoH/SOL/whoever else. 

And now here comes the painful part. And idk if you meant for the Igsaku trash in me to come out, but. Yeah this is an Igsaku post.

During the summer, after long and strenuous nights of hacking, cracking, and busting balls across the internet… they’ll go and watch the sunrise together. 

The first time they go up on top of the hotdog truck to watch it, Ignis tries to write off it’s beauty. He explains the science behind it in order to demystify what they’re seeing, and Yusaku agrees that it’s true. But he doesnt look away; that all-too-rare smile doesn’t leave his face. His partner knows, and is still in love with what he’s seeing. 

And Ignis figures it might be nice to appreciate the natural world in all it’s orderly chaos: how the colors meld together to make way for the rising sun, how the wind of the ‘real’ world is gentle in a way data wind never is, the smell of the ocean. Maybe some things can be explained to infinity and never lose their beauty.

During the winter, Ignis notices the cold but it doesn’t really effect him one way or the other. This isn’t the case for Yusaku, who likes to stay inside the hotdog truck with his coat on, only peaking his head out if he has to roast any rude customers. 

The smoke from Shoichi’s cooking makes the entire place feel warm, but Ignis still asks if he can go inside Yusaku’s coat with him. It takes a bit to convince him, but in the end Ignis gets his way. And he knows humans have certain internal, biological functions that go on involuntarily to keep them alive; but actually getting to listen to Yusaku’s heartbeat makes him feel more than he probably should. How irrational.

But being zipped up inside Yusaku’s coat isn’t a real hug. A real hug is when they’re in the apartment at night. He’ll curl up on his partner’s chest, and at some point Yusaku always places his hand over Ignis’s solid vision body. His touch is feather light, and sometimes Ignis wishes he could ask Yusaku to press down harder, but he figures something like that’ll sound weirder out loud than it does in his head. 

One night, Yusaku has some sort of dream and ends up flipping over on his stomach, pinning Ignis to the mattress. He probably would’ve suffocated if he needed to breathe, and the crushing sensation excites Ignis in a way he doesn’t fully understand. The next morning Yusaku apologizes awkwardly, keeps apologizing at random intervals throughout the day, and refuses to look Ignis in the eye for a whole week. How disappointing~.

One day, Yusaku and Aoi (she looks so different in the ‘real’ world) go to the local orphanage to meet with Go so they can all discuss the next phase in their plans. They go to the play area to talk while the kids are inside eating lunch, and Yusaku lets Ignis out for just a moment so he can sit on the grass with them. 

The feeling of it surprises Ignis—it’s so soft. And bouncy! And the dirt, still moist from having rained earlier, is cool to the touch. An earthworm peaks it’s head out to say hello?? He picks it up and plays with it for a while, before catching Yusaku giving him A Look. So he throws the earthworm at Yusaku, who starts screaming. And then Aoi and Go are screaming?? And then the meeting is over and they’ve been banned from the orphanage.

But the best sensation happens once Playmaker rescues him from the Knights of Hanoi after having been kidnapped. Once the duel is over, Playmaker grabs him and immediately logs out, jumping through the Link Vrains portal. It’s a split second thing, something Ignis is sure Yusaku would’ve never done if he had taken a moment to think about it. But Yusaku kisses him along the bottom line connecting his eyes.

It’s the first time Ignis is mad that he doesn’t really have a ‘mouth’. It’s the first time that he hates that he’s an AI. Because maybe if he was human, he could actually be Yusaku’s everything.