Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Episode 16

I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but when Ghost Girl offered to help Aoi/Blue Angel be able to “redeem” herself, I was like, “omgomgomgomgomgomgomg tag team?!?! IS SHE GONNA END UP SAVING HIM?!”

And oh my heart, it actually happened. Blue Angel shows up to save the day when Kitamura attempts to play dirty by actively attempting to “disarm” Playmaker and rob his Duel Disk which is currently containing Ai. Playmaker was also in a situation where he could potentially be defeated due to the AI’s Deck Destruction. As much as I would LOVEEEEEEEE~ to see Blue Angel and Playmaker tag-team, it looks like they will be facing the AI Duelists individually. But I won’t be picky, I’ll take what I can get.

As many of us suspected, Aoi was indeed put under house-arrest. Her overprotective brother forbid her from leaving home, let alone go to school, and locked her out of VRAINS. However it seems Aoi was able to access it as a butterfly, which makes me wonder if perhaps she is familiar with some hacking techniques of her own, or there’s a mod in VRAINS that enables a “spectator” avatar. Either way, by doing so she was able to eavesdrop on the conversation in regards of the secrecy behind in the incident of ten years ago. Aoi was unconscious when this was all revealed, so this was a great way for her to get up to speed with the rest – despite having only heard a portion of the discussion. The only critical piece she is missing, is how Playmaker was involved in the incident and is trying to investigate it. I doubt it will be long before she does though, now that she’s helping him out.

It’s worth to point out this is probably going to be that critical turning point for Yuusaku. Early on, Kusanagi made the suggestion to find allies to work with, but Yuusaku rejected the idea because he doesn’t want more people to get involved due to how dangerous the missions are. But since Aoi thrown herself into this mission and saved him when he was in a pinch, it only further highlights the need for a team if he wants to make any progression whatsoever with the investigation. He and Kusanagi as a duo could only go so far, and it’s safe to say, the reached their limits.

Now while this is awesome and all, it should not be forgotten how Ghost Girl has now dragged Aoi/Blue Angel into the fray again (and that will surely set Akira off should he find out about it). Worse of all, throwing her into the “decoy” operation. However the only difference here is that Aoi (having overheard the discussion) is aware that Ghost Girl is using Playmaker as a distraction while she and Akira takes a safer route. So at the very least Aoi had an idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to take up on Ghost Girl’s offer – which was a bit naive on her part given that I doubt Ghost Girl cared to explain the sheer magnitude of this operation. While Blue Angel has already been dragged into this mess by the Hanoi Knights, once she was freed from the virus, she had the opportunity to steer clear from the chaos – which, at the end of the day, was likely Akira’s intention.

Actually now that I think of it, does Aoi even know that Playmaker saved her? How much does she remember of the Virus Incident? Does she have even any memory at all? Taking into consideration how we haven’t seen her think about it at all, this might mean she doesn’t remember much, and Akira intends to keep it that way. And if that ends up being the case, man this is going to get real interesting…

Of course it would suck if she has no memory of the incident, but it wouldn’t surprise me either, since they required a program to remove the virus- and by doing so, it could have potentially erased her memories along with it. It would also serve to protect the Hanoi Knights so that she can’t provide any sort of witness report on them.

Regardless, I am still excited to see how they would interact, especially since rather than meeting again at school, the two are teaming up together. (Though it appears it may not necessarily be tag-teaming, but dueling individually in order to separate the two AI Duelists (*actually, I’m just gonna label them as AID from now on), as it appears there are only two AID prototypes available at this time)

Due to meeting again in such in such a dire situation, I am already anticipating a spat between the two.
The reason why I suspect this might happen is because we know Yuusaku doesn’t want to get more people involved because of just how dangerous this mission is, and he literally just saved her from being trapped in a comatose for potentially the rest of her life. Not to mention, so as long as she helps Playmaker (and not turn on him, as she declares she must be the one to defeat him), SOL Technologies will affiliate her as Playmaker’s ally. And if that isn’t bad enough, they know her true identity and her relationship with Akira, which is bound to come back to bite him, again.

However, if Aoi has been in fact left in the dark about the Virus incident, perhaps her getting involved could have been avoided had Akira just told her the truth. Should that be the case, then there will probably be no spat because Yuusaku would be keen enough to recognize that she has no memory of their duel. But how he would respond to her memory loss pipes my curiosity. Would he be honest to her and tell her what actually happened, or will he too keep her in the dark? Perhaps, due to having lost his own memories, he will end up telling her the truth because he knows what it’s like to be left in the dark. That being said, Yuusaku does care enough about her to actively look for her at school (which was quite cute).

But let’s all bear in mind, if Aoi has no memories of the incident, that would mean her mindset has been reverted to the point where she must prove herself to her beloved onii-sama. Remember, it was why she was dead set on dueling Playmaker in the first place. So I wouldn’t be surprised if she acts a stupid and demands for a rematch as soon as the AID battle is done, or at least attempt to “stop” Playmaker from getting in further, and buys more time for Ghost Girl and Akira to complete their operation. Man that would be quite a headache for Yuusaku.

Also speaking of the other two: I must say: Akira, what are you doing!? At least disguise yourself, build an alias of a sort! To think he would actually infiltrate SOL Technologies data bank as himself – dude you’re just screaming to be fired or eliminated altogether!!!!!!!
…Unless the writers actually intend to do exactly that…
Frankly, with all the things considered, it’s starting to look like it.

It is absolutely careless and I would be shocked if it doesn’t come back to bite him. I hardly expect the mission to go smoothly. There’s still a Datatstorm that Ghost Girl and Akira must trek, its the one that forced her to abort the mission in the first place. The one Yuusaku has currently been thrown into is surely only one of many scattered about.

It’s also worth to point out how both Ai and Playmaker were both surprised to encounter a Data Storm. This sets off some alarm bells because:

1. One, this goes to show Sol Technologies, (like the Hanoi Knights), knows how to create/wield Datastorms and use them to their advantage (at least in terms of security),
2. Implies SOL Technologies have likely been using this as a security measure for some time
3. Raises more questions as to why Datastorms were removed removed from Link VRAINS in the first place? (As Speed Duels were once considered a Link VRAINS myth).
   

In regards to the AID, as mentioned, Playmaker found himself in a pinch due to the combination of the Deck Destruction strategy and Kitamura’s dirty tactics (HURRAY FOR VILLAINS PLAYING DIRTY!). I am curious to see whether or not all of AID are programed with the same strategy. Honestly, I hope not because once someone figures out how to counter it, then it’s way too easy for the hackers. Might as well have a variety of strategies used among the AID in order to make it more difficult.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT EPISODE!!!! 😀

Random Note of the Week: Ooh! Sphere Kuriboh, nice touch!