Well they are certainly not wasting time! (And that’s a good thing, mind you!) I am quite glad both Aoi and Akira now knows of Playmaker’s true identity. The set up might have felt a little force and rushed to some extent, but it works, and that’s all that matters at this point. Additionally, it was good to see Kusanagi being recognized in public after having tagged along with the secret meeting Akira had arranged. After-all, his avatar can’t be considered a disguise whatsoever! By having Yuusaku being present when they showed up at the food truck also helped Akira connect the dots, having met him at the hospital when Aoi was in a coma from the Hanoi Knight’s virus.

I also thought their brief talk refreshing in a way of how Akira greeted Yuusaku. It was a bit awkward, but fittingly so, especially since he has been under their nose the entire time. It was also very nice to see them thank him in person for how much he had helped them out in the past. My favourite part was of course the conversation between Aoi and Yuusaku. I have been waiting for this kind of interaction since Season 1, ahaha! It took a long time to get to this point, but I say it was worth the wait since Aoi has undergone some dramatic character growth! And gosh darn it, who else was internally screaming when Aoi scooted over to shake his hand– I LITTERALLY CANNOT, ESPECIALLY WITH THE MUSIC! STOP IT RIGHT NOW, DON’T TEASE ME LIKE THIS! IT WAS SO CUTE MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS!

But what I especially appreciated was how Aoi had hoped to meet him so she could offer him some support. She wanted to tell him its okay for him not to participate in protecting her brother because she recognized it would be difficult for him to fight against Ai. Basically it was her way of saying let them help him this time so he doesn’t have to carry the brunt of the burden. And I don’t know about you, but I really appreciated the sentiment. I also thought it appeared Yuusaku was taken aback to some extent because he is so used to being the one to help/save others, and not the other way around. Yet despite the offer, Yuusaku knows he can’t sit back and watch, as his partner he feels responsible to prevent Ai from committing anymore crimes. Furthermore, there is a lot at stake with the threat of Ai hijacking SOL Technology, who contributes to over 30% of the social infrastructure and all of SOL Technology’s devices, and society were to descend into chaos, I don’t know how Yuusaku would be able to live with himself if he were to do nothing.

Then there is Takeru, who revealed he had been planning on returning home (saw that coming!). However with the new crisis at hand, that plan is being put on hold. That being said, I am curious to see what will become of his presence this season, especially since this episode seems to indicate they want to build upon Yuusaku’s and Aoi’s relationship (and it’s about bloody time!), while in the mean time, it looks like they want to focus on his tension and unfinished business with Ryoken. This means while everyone is temporarily reunited to help protect Akira and SOL Technology’s key, should Akira fall (and there’s a good chance he probably will in due time), as soon as he falls, the alliance will be dissolved it will be those who wish to stop Ai without killing him (Yuusaku, Takeru and Aoi) VS those who wish to purge him (Ryoken, Blood Shepherd and probably Onizuka). Where Emma stands will depend on how she feels about the current development.

The message Ai had left Akira and the others was well done. I definitely felt Ai’s mischievous personality was presented a lot better this time, which has helped me ease into his new appearance a lot better than I had last week. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, especially with Robopoppi’s signature quips, but at the same time it was terribly heartbreaking. Two of Yuusaku’s dear companions who had disappeared has turned their back on him, and he was shocked. It hurt him to see Ai betray their ideals of co-existence by attacking Queen, and now Akira. While Yuusaku needed time to let the reality sink in, we all knew that he wouldn’t bear to stand by the sidelines while his former partner puts everyone in danger. He wants to trust Ai, but at the same time, he is also deeply disturbed by how he was smiling like its a game. But in reality, I don’t think Ai is treating this like a game for the shits and giggles, but is acting that way to cover up his grief. And since he has chosen to pursue this path of revenge (or at least, to some extent since we have yet to learn of his ultimate objective), and knows Yuusaku will be there to stop him, he needs to appear strong and resolute to ensure he can follow through with his plans.

Finally last but not least, the Hanoi Knights.
I know a lot of us, including myself was disappointed with how Ryoken is still dead set on eliminating the Ignis, but we do have to remember, the previous battle was merely a temporary truce between them. And this week, we learned that there is a lot more to it than just eliminating the Ignis because they are a threat. The reason for doing so has to do with the risk of external parties, such as SOL Technology who has gone after the Ignis for their own gains. Knowing that, it makes a lot more sense why they would rather complete their objecting of purging the Ignis before they come forward about their crimes of the Lost Incident.

But damn it, RYOKEN! YOU CREATED AN A.I. TO HUNT IGNIS, AND YOU DON’T THINK THAT’S GONNA BACKFIRE?! Pandor has red flags all over her! He claims that she has a built-in program that limits the free-will, and ensure she will reset when there’s a risk she’ll become a threat, but COME ON! That’s just being naive! What happens if she outwits the reset system Ryoken had installed to prevent disobedience and becoming a threat on her own, or if Ai ends up hijacking her system as well? Goodness, this is bound to get messy.

We also know that Ryoken is assisting Akira in ensuring his physical body is being protected so Ai can’t go out and rob his consciousness, as he did with Queen. So it seems Akira won’t be home for a while until the crisis is over. I am a bit surprised though that they didn’t just put him somewhere completely off the, away from technology and stay offline, but then the plot probably wouldn’t be able to progress now would it, hahaha!

Last point I wanted to make: It was also good to see the Kings of SOL Technology being brought to the spotlight. It’s easy to forget they existed, since we can actually count with one hand how many times they have appeared over the course of the series. We have learned the Kings are the company’s stockholders, making them the top brass of executives. With Queen no longer around, the fate of the company rests on Akira’s shoulders— which ironically, he plans to take down anyways once the Hanoi Knights come forward about their crimes.

Next week, ROBOPOPPI OFF TO KICK EVERYONE’S ASS! (I hope!) 

Eva

Blogging Anime since Summer 2009, & Founder of AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog ...I may or may not be addicted to writing

This Post Has 25 Comments

  1. Vamoss

    How Zaizen REALLY Learned who attacked Queen…..
    Zaizen: Hey I got a Friend Request! And it comes with a video!
    Zaizen watches video
    Zaizen: Oh my god! Ai has Facebook! Oh. And he attacked Queen.

    Kings Of SOL (Yes we are calling them that): Zaizen. You are out number #1 Guy.
    Zaizen: So… Time to get sacrificed for the plot?
    Kings Of SOL: Yes. It is in your contract.
    Zaizen: Fine. But I get benefits.

    1. elior1

      in the footage AI left for akira he said right away it was him who attacked the queen and even said he is AI

  2. ecarg312

    I liked seeing the interaction between Yusaku and Aoi. It’s nice to see Yusaku bonding with someone and having a heartfelt moment with someone who isn’t Takeru. Hopefully, this moment solidified the importance that Aoi will have in the future? I do like Yusaku and Takeru’s heartfelt moments too since Yusaku shows his more emotional sides when he’s with Takeru. Hopefully, Yusaku and Aoi will bond to the point that he can be expressive around her since she isn’t tied to the Lost Incident.
    Geez, Revolver, you made an anti-Ignis AI named Pandor? Her name is based off of Pandora? There are four of them? Do you see me waving a red flag here? Yeah, Pandor’s gonna go rogue. Maybe losing to Ai and/or Roboppi will affect her psyche that she overwrites her reset system? Also, Ai needs more minions. 11 vs 2 is clearly unfair–probably the main problem with VRAINS season 2 was the lack of villains in numbers. Hopefully it’ll change if Pandor does go rogue?
    Regarding Revolver, I feel like future interactions with SB might help both SB and Revolver get the closure they need. Heck, SB might even be the factor for Revolver to stop feeling guilty over his crimes. SB is a good person at heart, so he would probably be sad to see Revolver get arrested despite his…animosity? towards him. They’ll probably become friends later on or just friendly enemies. I bet SB might even be the factor to help Ryoken accept Yusaku’s friendship.
    Akira has death flags. I can see him losing and Ai getting the other Code Key. I wonder what sort of reason Ai wants to take over SOL Tech? I had a crack theory that he probably wants to look up on data regarding the LIV just because he doesn’t know Windy’s Origin’s name or face XD
    Also, Akira’s strategy is kind of bad? Why would you let Revolver and/or SB be far away from you? YOU PLAY FLIP MONSTERS? HOW WILL THAT BE BENEFICIAL TO BM’S BURN DAMAGE DECK? (Judging that the Zaizens are gonna tag duel regarding the opening?)

    1. Eva

      It’s really good to see Yuusaku becoming more open to others, and vice versa. I’m just glad there’s more people supporting him, even Akira felt for him when Ai was revealed to be their enemy.
      As for Takeru, I am looking forward to him and Ryoken sorting out their feelings. Yuusaku was able to find closure in regards to the event to some degree, but Takeru and Ryoken are still being haunted by it. They are similar in a way of their stubbornness to stick to what they believe is right.
      And agree: Akira’s strategy is a questionable one.
      I’m also with you about the theory Ai might be trying to use SOL’s database to recreate his comrades since it’s highly probable they still have the Lost Incident records somewhere hidden in their achieves before the police could take it. Ai may be saying ‘revenge’ mainly as an intimidation factor, but also to get back at those who actually hurt him. I do wonder how he will treat Akira, since the guy is in the grey area despite working under SOL Technology. That’s actually something I am curious to see how it plays out.

      1. ecarg312

        Hopefully, Yusaku will be more expressive and warm up to the Zaizens. He’s still too stiff.
        Yeah, I feel like they need each other for closure–or more like, they’re the only ones who can fix each other. I want to see their dynamic further into the season.
        Ai’s going to break in and your only line of defense is BM? Akira, you play flip monsters. Ai plays special summons like PM. Who won against your duel with PM?
        Yeah, maybe Ignis resurrection is his ultimate goal because he doesn’t seem like he wants to be alone, which is why he keeps Roboppi around for company, but it’s not the same. He targeted Queen because of Earth. What if his next major duel before going to Akira is against Go to get Earth’s data back? Since it’s stated that SOL owns 30% of the Internet, I’m sure that Ai’s goal is to resurrect his friends and then build a Cyberse World far into the network to live in isolation with his friends.
        Seeing how everything is moving quickly, I won’t be surprised if the third season will be in 3 parts with the first being “Protect Akira” arc with Ai winning and accomplishing the first of his goals. The second portion would probably be diving into Ai’s motives for his change, whether it be the “truth” he discovered, or Ignis resurrection where he needs their base–their origins. Maybe he’ll gather dueling data from this part? I’m sure the writers will make it so that the dueling data doesn’t matter as long as each Ignis still have their origins as their base.

        1. Eva

          Yeah I think it will be divided into 3 parts too. Not to mention, if all Ai were trying to do was take over SOL so he could capitalize on their resources to bring back his friends and make their new home, it could very well be it’s going to be Pandor who plays as the next big bad, which I would find very ironic given Ryoken’s intentions. I am half expecting her to carry out that ominous part Akira mentioned, “….brings Calamity to Humanity”, because as soon as I heard that, I was like WELL SHIT. THIS ISN’T GOING TO END WELL! What could also be interesting, if there is a power struggle between Ai and Pandor’s fractions. We know she has intelligence and free will, and is specifically designed to destroy the Ignis, so that could potientially put Ai at a disadvantage at some point or another should it come to that.

          1. Kazanova

            In Greek myth, Pandora opened a jar that contains all humanity’s evils and released it into the world that brought chaos. Yep, Pandor is a bad news no matter how you look at it.
            In the OP, Akira and Blue Maiden are fighting together, Akira doesn’t plan to just stay silent and let Blue Maiden protect him, he’ll fight together with her. But yeah, still, I think Blue Maiden is not enough for last line of defense. Speaking of which, now that Aqua is gone, will Blue Maide return using Trickstar Deck or keep using Marincess Deck?

            1. Eva

              I litterally cannot fathom how Ryoken thinks this is going to end well and even went ahead and the fact named her after Pandora.
              I would think she’s back to Trickstar since Marincess was supposed to influenced by Aqua, but maybe she might surprise us with an entirely new deck altogether?

          2. ecarg312

            Pandor might be the unintended calamity. Also, if she develops free will, she might develop a curiosity towards the Ignis since Ai is so powerful. Maybe she’ll attack/capture the origins to show how roguish she has become? Maybe the second portion of the season will focus on the origins since they are the bases for the Ignises? Like, who will be the first to resurrect the remaining Ignises? Ai? Pandor?
            Watch her become the Divine Ignis. I am calling it. She will be the Divine Ignis. (Odd-numbered Yugioh series have final bosses starting with “Z” and the even-numbered had “D” named villains. VRAINS is #6, so…)

  3. Kah

    Finally Aoi and Akira found out the Playmaker’s identity. Yusaku needs to grow more and Aoi can help him. Apparently, the Ai’s plan will work, I don’t think this Arc will be long (15-20 episodes, I guess). And did you see the Arc-V’s easter egg? (Sorry for my bad english).

  4. Kazanova

    I’m glad the comedic dynamic between Ai and Roboppi is still there. Most of YGO villains don’t have/lost their comedic moments when they became villain like this, so this change feels refreshing.
    I’m really worried. I feel the way Ai said that they can’t start without Playmaker seems like he needs Playmaker as part of his plan. I hope that despite Ai having made up his resolve, deep down he still cares for Playmaker enough not to go overboard against him! Please Ai!
    And it’s very cute of Roboppi when she called Playmaker “Master” before quickly changing to “Playmaker-san”. That suffix proves that Roboppi still can’t completely forget that Playmaker is her master so she’s being polite to him. (^_^)
    Rpboppi feels even more like Sora. Not only in appearance, but her monsters also somewhat resembles Sora’s Furnimal monsters, with their cute animal forms. And we’ll finally see a Tag Duel at long last! And it’s against Blood Sheperd and Ghost Girl! Blood Sheperd has always been a lone wolf, so how he’s going to work together with Ghost Girl as a team? Even of they’re siblings, you know how stubborn Blood Sheperd can be.

    1. Eva

      Me too, a little bit of comedic flair is exactly what we need to balance out the angst after having two psychopaths villain for the previous arc. And it wouldn’t be the same if Ai and Robopopi didn’t have their usual hilarious antics. I do find it rather amusing how this whole situation is almost like what Ai and Roboppi had teased about waaaaayyyyyyy back about “WORLD DOMINATION!”
      Q___Q Ai, i know you got your grand plans and all, but don’t hurt Yuusaku damnit.
      Robopoppi can certainly pass off as Sora’s long lost sister! XD

      1. Kazanova

        I wonder how long until Ai reveal his ultimate goal. He could have just sneak in and challenge Akira offline like he did with Queen. But instead, he purposely made himself known and warned him that he’ll attack in three days. Despite his previous funny and goofiness, we know that Ai is not so stupid to pick a fight so carelessly, so I don’t think it’s just arrogance or overconfidence. The fact he seems to have expected everyone to be present protecting Akira indicates that all of them being present and defeating all of them at once is necessary for his plan. That’s why he left that message so that Akira can gather everyone. I don’t think it’s just to get rid of enemies in his way, there’s more to it. Or this may also be me thinking too much.

        1. Eva

          No I think you’re right. It seems he was counting on Yuusaku showing up, so we will have to see if it’s just him and Akira, (and potentially Takeru) who are the most important, or if EVERYONE going to have a role to play.

  5. TheShapeH31

    I thought this was a PHENOMENAL episode with the highlights of course being
    Yusaku’s reaction to seeing Ai is the new antagonist
    Akira creating an all-star team to protect him
    The Zaizen’s learning of Yusaku’s alter ego (A little disappointing that it was offscreen, but understandable)
    The reveal of Pandor (I agree, this has bad news written all over it).
    HOWEVER, I think it’s darn near universally agreed (from what I’ve seen) that the best moment of the episode was the Yusaku and Aoi moment. If felt so genuine, wholesome, and utterly beautiful. I had a feeling something was going to happen when Aoi didn’t get a moment in the dramatic reaction show to Ai revealing who he was, but instead got a shot for herself looking concerned, already knowing how Playmaker must feel, opposed to Soulburner who’s more focused on WHY Ai is doing what he’s doing. I loved Yusaku telling the Zaizen’s about his identity, mostly because it tells me, he trust them now, enough to let them know who he is and after Akira leaves, I LITERALLY shouted at my computer to give me some YusakuxAoi moments and I got just that.
    Seeing Aoi sympathize with Yusaku and tell him not to get involved with the upcoming battle because it would break her heart to have fight Aqua for her brother, and knew Yusaku would be feeling the same thing and wanted to tell him that most likely since they found out who Ai was, on top of thanking him for always being at her side and protected her from the bottom of her heart opposed to the beginning of S2 when she did so and he brushed her off.
    I’m not going to lie, when I saw Aoi scoot closer to him, I moved closer to the monitor of my desktop curious about what’s about to happen only to see she wanted to shake his hand, but AFTER she shook his hand and they zoomed in on her face with such an endearing/euphoric expression and cutting away to half of her face while still staring at her hand…I lost it!! I couldn’t focus on the episode for a few minutes, I was just fangirling, I wasn’t into the ship before in the beginning, but I’ve grown to love it and I went BONKERS for that scene!! The atmosphere, the MUSIC, it was just perfect!! Later at the end of the episode, she’s arguably the most happy to see him when he decides to join the fight with Ai.
    It was nice ship tease, development for Aoi, and some MUCH needed development for their relationship. The opening hinted at the development of their relationship and we’re getting that now. Overall, one of the better episodes of VRains. This is my first time commenting, but I’ve been a fan of your reviews since mid-late Arc-V! Keep it up!

    1. Eva

      Oh definitely, I was like AKSDHIAKL:HDIALKUSHDALKJDYGHALKDJHASDK. Their interaction was just PRECIOUS! So fingers crossed for some nice development, its so long overdue, yet it at the same time, it was so worth the wait!
      And I absolutely agree, in this moment, it was so good to have someone actually reach out to Yuusaku and support him. He is the type to keep his problems to himself, that’s why he looked so taken aback. He wasn’t expecting it, much less coming from her. But while he would probably be fine without someone saying that to him, it just makes it all the more important that someone, in this case, made the effort to make sure that they did.
      And thank you! <3

      1. Kazanova

        There are people in the YGO fandom saying the heroines becoming underwhelming because they fall for the protagonist. But considering Aoi’s character development so far, I beg to differ. In fact, this is the perfect opportunity for them to become closer while helping each other grow even better. (^w^)

        1. Eva

          A tease of romance by making the heroine fall for the main protagonist isn’t what makes her underwhelming, but it’s a matter of how they choose to execute her character. Are they setting her up for success, or setting her up for failure? That’s what it really comes down to. But I can understand the fandom’s concerns if they are worried about Aoi doing nothing more than say the protagonist’s name over and over again, it does tend to be a habit we see in almost every series, varying on the fate of the heroine.
          And some may disagree, but Aki’s and Yusei’s and Yuuya’s and Yuzu’s relationships are good examples of the falling in love with the protagonist/vice versa (of course these are my fav ships, so I’m definitely bias about that ahaha), and both of them shared a common theme of supporting one another. I would certainly like to see that play out with Aoi and Yuusaku, be it platonic or more since they certainly can help each other grow.

          1. TheShapeH31

            I agree, romance teasing has ALWAYS been a part of Yugioh, it’s pretty mandatory at this point for the female lead to have some romantic interested in the protagonist, but it’s never led to the derailment of a female character.
            Anzu – She had a whole love triangle on who she loved between Yugi and Yami Yugi, but I never found her to be that good of a character since she never really added much to the plot to begin with.
            Asuka – She had potential, but I think her derailment was more the fault of GX focusing solely on Judai and the side characters hence why she never got a big plot win after her duel with Titan in the first 40 – 45 episodes of the series.
            Akiza – The most infamous example of a strong female lead falling from grace as her series progressed. Akiza undoubtedly had the most ship tease with her protagonist of the first three female leads and probably got the closest to an actual relationship out of EVERY female lead, but her feelings for Yusei weren’t what caused her to be Demoted To Extra, but rather the popularity of Blackwings which lead to Crow taking her spot as one of the 3 main characters and Carly’s VA being a part of a cult and the Arcadia Movement WAS a cult basically. Akiza was a victim of Executive Meddling, had those things never occurred, she probably would’ve been a stronger character, not that she still isn’t strong, even after 5Ds ended 8 years ago, I still think she’s the best female lead.
            Kotori – She’s like Anzu, she was never a duelist, but rather support, but I think her feelings for Yuma allowed her to play her role of support better than Anzu did.
            Yuzu – She was in love with Yuya since the beginning, but that had no bearing on where her character went, Yuzu was the victim of a jumbled plot that didn’t know what it wanted to do and wound up running wild. Yuzu had a VERY strong start, but Arc-V’s writing turned her from strong female lead into sharing the position of female lead with Serena, to eventually being a damsel in distress in the final half of the series.
            Aoi – I think Yuzu had the strongest start, but Aoi has grown the most (arguably), she’s had her moments, she’s clearly changed since Ep.6 and while it’s not concrete that she has romantic feelings for Yusaku, one can interpret her interactions with him from S2 onward (being cold to most at school, but showing Yusaku warmness, looking sad when he didn’t want to talk to her, appearing at the hot dog stand because he was there, offering to bring her brother there, and the moment in this episode) one could probably assume Aoi has romantic feelings for Yusaku, but that hasn’t hurt her character in the slightest, infact I think that moment help her character quite a bit. Ultimately I feel Aoi has been a fantastic female lead and has gotten closer to eclipsing Akiza than the other female leads have imo.
            Overall, our female leads are victims to writing mistakes or outside interference rather their romantic feelings for the protagonist.

            1. Eva

              Well said!
              That’s how I felt about Anzu, she was just kind of…. there. And I couldn’t care less about the love triangle LOL because I didn’t ship her with anyone LMAOOOOO!
              [H5s] Aki also happens to be my #1 favourite female protagonist of all the YGO series! I absolutely loved how complicated of character she was, and how she grew stronger. <3 <3 <3 She is so cool.
              I also agree, Yuzu definitely had the strongest start. She had such a strong presence in the series and was such a badass until they turned her into a damsel in distress Q___Q She and her counterparts all deserved better really. It still pains me to this day what happened to ARC-V. She is still #2 in my rankings though, right behind Aki! They are both QUEENS!
              Aoi’s in a really interesting situation since unlike the previous heroines, she hasn’t exactly had a huge presence in the series, and is only now actively nurturing the relationship to go somewhere. For such a long time, she has been reserved and focused on her brother, until she started to spread her wings and start finding her own identity and forming her own opinions through her own experiences. And what also makes it rather unique is how while Yuusaku had saved her, it wasn’t like a direct interaction like Yusei had done to save Aki from being exploited by Arcadia. Instead it was more like Aoi initiated her own growth while Yuusaku served more as a motivation for her to do just that. Now that she has gone through that development, I really hope we actually get the chance to see them capitalize on that properly!

  6. Moonflower157

    Overall, this episode had no disappointing moments. I did crack up at one point in the episode this morning when I watched it raw. Trust me, it takes a lot for me to laugh at 4:30 am in the morning.
    Finally, after almost exactly two years with 99 episodes in total later, Yusaku decides to reveal his true identity to Aoi and Akira! It shows how much he trusts them. I seriously thought it would never happen. I do agree that it wasn’t well-executed. It did feel rushed. I guess the writers were running out of time to get Aoi to finally connect the dots. It’s the third season and it would be just a waste if she didn’t discover the secret now. Akira and Aoi aren’t dumb. They’ve had the clues right in front of them, but they usually ended up dismissing them. Akira is actually quite observant if he recognized Kusanagi right away as the same person who was blackmailed into dueling Playmaker.
    As for Yusaku and Aoi moments in this episode, it was so cute despite being slightly awkward like you said. They have both really changed a lot looking at how they interacted with each other back in episode 6 where both were cold and socially awkward. Now that they know each other’s secret identities mutually, I’m really looking forward to seeing how they interact with each other at school and in real life. They have no reservations about talking to each other about what happens online. Why do I have a bad feeling Ai knows that Yusaku decided to reveal his identity to Aoi and Akira? I really liked how Aoi just scooted herself closer to Yusaku and wanted to shake his hand. She looked almost as she was about to blush. Her confessions for saying that Yusaku was always protecting her sounded almost like a love confession. I guess her feelings for Yusaku are gonna transfer over to Playmaker too. She did a great job in helping him make the decision to fight against Ai. Talking to Takeru and comtemplating at Stardust Road didn’t really help, but I feel like Aoi’s empathy towards Yusaku’s conflicting emotion made him feel better. Yusaku was so polite to her too, using “kimi” instead of “omae” to her, which is a more polite way of saying “you” in Japanese.
    I do have to agree that Ai’s mischievous side was better in this episode. The reason I ended up laughing at 4:30 am this morning when watching the raw was because of how Ai greeted everyone in the message by saying hi in English. I couldn’t help but end up laughing and that woke me up rather quickly. The music that was playing initially didn’t help to make the greeting less funny. Despite the fact the message was a death threat, the way Ai and Roboppy said it was rather funny. I know, I shouldn’t have been laughing, but I did. Now everyone knows what happened to Ai. I was kinda sad the only one that mentioned Roboppy was Soulburner. But I guess the fact that Ai’s a villain just shocked everyone too much. I felt sorry for Yusaku too. He looked rather hurt that Ai would do something so cruel. But I can tell it’s not back to square one with trust in Ai. Yusaku clearly wants to reason with him the next time they encounter each other. Ai’s sadistic smile when he gloated that he defeated Queen and took her code key reminded me of what they did for hunting games at Duel Academy in ARC-V.
    By the way, did you notice the way Ai sat in that chair in the message? He really does look like a prince that way. He dresses like a prince and acts fairly sophisticated, although the tone he was using when talking in the message today kinda marred that. I’m really excited to see how his and Yusaku’s relationship is now on his end. I can tell Yusaku still holds some affection for Ai as a close partner/friend. I wonder if that feeling’s mutual. After all, Ai did keep the name Yusaku gave him rather than changing it. Even Roboppy felt some lingering affection for her former master/creator, calling Playmaker intitially “goshujin-sama” before correcting herself to say “Playmaker-san”. I’m gonna predict Ai will give Playmaker a chance to step aside because he doesn’t want to fight his Origin. What got me thinking that is because of how the preview said there were 10 enemies for Ai’s faction. Aren’t there supposed to be 11 enemies including Playmaker?
    Ever since I discovered Angry Anime Bitches back when VRAINS started, I’ve been such a big fan of your posts. They’re always so interesting to look at. Your comments towards other people’s posts is also something I like to look at.

    1. Eva

      Q v Q Aw thank you! It’s always fun to hear other’s thoughts and discuss about the episode, so I feel really lucky how we have such a great community here to shares ideas/theories with each other.
      Aoi scooting over to Yuusaku was the cutest damn thing. I am curious to see if she will potentially become Yuusaku’s emotional pillar of support. She gives me the impression she may be able to provide some stability when everything is seemingly crumbling down around him. But thinking of that makes me worried about Takeru’s condition, but I guess that’s where Ryoken might come into play, since they are both being shackled down by their past.
      And don’t worry I was laughing really hard too during that scene, I mean, how could you not? XD Seriously, they have been nailing the whole partner and sidekick relationships in this series, first with Yuusaku and Ai, Flame and Takeru and now Ai and Robopoppi. This is the kind of sidekick dynamics I live for. xD
      //I can tell Yusaku still holds some affection for Ai as a close partner/friend. I wonder if that feeling’s mutual. After all, Ai did keep the name Yusaku gave him rather than changing it. //
      Oooof, I sure hope his feelings for Yuusaku hasn’t changed. I can understand him cutting his feelings aside for the sake of his objective, but to not care for him at all, I don’t know if my heart or Yuusaku would be able to handle that kind of heartbreak! Q______Q

  7. Dave Aristide

    I can only assume Revolver is expecting Ai to try and hijack Pandore and left some kind of “trap program” inside her.

    1. Eva

      Now that was something the went over my head! It would make a lot of sense too, considering his is typically thorough with his plans.

  8. Firestorm

    It remind me when astral was the « bad guy » in zexal

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