THE PLOT IS THICKENING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, this is crazy, so Faust’s and the others weren’t completely useless, or at least Baira! Some dude with white hair went to her place to retrieve a hidden camera in Baira’’s room and caught both Kusanagi and Yuusaku on camera, revealing Playmaker’s true identity. There’s no doubt in my mind not only now they know who Playmaker is, but also identify which victim from the Lost Incident. But is it Revolver? I get the feeling it just might be, especially since he has access to Baira’’s apartment, as well as her trust. I have a sneaking feeling he may have deliberately either let that security footage float around the web for Playmaker to find, or Baira’ may have cooperated with him to show up in the parking lot to deliberately lure Playmaker out.
But first let’s discuss the fact Yuusaku thought it was Faust who had stolen his card’s data to lure him out. At first, this shocked me, because I swore Yuusaku was onto Ai last week, or at least suspicious of him, but after I thought about it some more, I realized this only made misconception even more authentic as many of us (the audience) initially thought the same until we started connecting the dots of Ai’s shady behaviour, something Yuusaku doesn’t always get to see.
However, since Yuusaku didn’t spare Faust and cut him off short, he is now being haunted by his ominous warning of none other than the Ignis species being a threat to humanity’s future.
We know it’s one of the main reasons why the Hanoi Knights are hunting and are possibly looking to contain and destroy the Ignis species that they played a part in creating. However we still don’t know whether or not Dr. Kogami was merely Sol Technologies’ scapegoat by labeling him as the mastermind of the Lost Incident Project. All we know he was actively part of the project, and the victims from the Lost Incident were being used to provide data to create the Ignis Species. They tortured them, starved them, and pushed them to theirs limit to forcefully draw out their instincts of survival. Honestly, after seeing what Yuuskau had been put through, I would be surprised if some died during the process.
And this leads back to my growing suspicious and wariness of Ai. Thankfully by the end of the episode Yuusaku seems finally be suspicious of Ai, but is it already too late? What does the Ignis, let alone Ai (who is leading the charge right now by using Playmaker to his fullest to eliminate those who are threatening him), want to achieve? What is their goal? What makes them a threat to humanity? Do they plan world domination? There is an evil side to Ai, and it was in this episode where I felt we saw the more malicious and cunning side of him and frankly speaking it freaks me out. He may be hilarious to watch, but I absolutely do not trust him the slightest. The fact he is capable of making AI more intelligent and even manipulate them into following him (Robopoppi as our prime example), is a very, very scary thing.
Truth to be told, going into this episode I was hoping Faust wasn’t going to be another roll over and die captain like the other two were. In the end, he kind of did just that, but at least his did put up a convincing fight, one where I actually thought at times Playmaker might just lose this duel – of course due to the plot armou,r he still pulled through at 50LP after that clutch save with Urgent Link.
However, after seeing how everything played out in the end, his loss and Playmaker’s victory does not upset me as much as I thought it would. Instead I am excited to see what to come because now that their true identities have been exposed, Yuusaku has everything to lose. His enemy (potentially Revolver) is now going to be able to track him down in the real world, attack him when he least expects it. I know he wants to defeat him in a duel, but is he also willing to go to the extreme and outright rob Ai? I mean, what better time to do that than when he leaves him at home while he is elsewhere?
Next week, Kusanagi Report, does that mean recap? Ugh I hope not, but there is one thing for sure, you can see Yuusaku is definitely growing more and more unsettled about Ai. I wonder if he will go as far as installing hidden cameras in his home to find try and catch Ai’s behavior when he’s not around.
A/N: Thank you all for your patience everyone, I am in much better condition now than I was last weekend. ; v ;/ If I have time tonight, I will look into having Code: Realize Episode 7 out later this evening, if not – expect it to be out tomorrow along with Idolm@ster Side:M (though I have yet watched the episode, just a quick note: I feel I have too little to write about I will save it as a double-post with Episode 8).
Good fucking job Ignis for halting Faust to deliver important exposition before his demise… (Sasuga Sakurai Takahiro!)
Sighs… I’m now scratching my head thinking how underwhelming these “elites” of the Knights of Hanoi turned out: The whole Another incident SHOULD’VE lasted even longer and had direct impact to the future progression of the story, but nah, we had two unlikable characters (the pretentious Go wanting to rescue his irrelevant pal & NAOKI GODDAMMIT SOME PLEASE BUTCHER THIS LUMP OF LARD) hogging up two unimportant duels, one outstanding duel from Aoi/Blue Angel who actually underwent her own character development, and a predictable Playmaker’s Storm Access rescuing him from yet another pinch. Genome, Baira & Faust are all disappointing as heck, I really doubt how the latter two managed to round up the AI Duelists with their “infection”-based decks because they’re really not suited to take out swarms of enemy duelists at once (and keep in mind that A. B. Y. S. S. I! N! V! I! T! A! T! I! O! N! even gave Trickstars a torrid time); Genome & Baira lasted two episodes, Faust lasted only one(!) no seriously this is embarrassingly poor writing from the writers.
The only plus points taken from this episode was that Ignis is starting to become even shadier (and not in his usual amusing ways) and the fact that someone is finally on the tracks of Yusaku & Kusanagi IRL. Though based on the next episode’s preview title I guess it’ll just be another recap episode, no this isn’t even funny, neither GX nor Zexal had so many recaps in just within the 30-episode mark. GODDAMMIT VRAINS!
P.S. FAUST! Even when it comes to temporarily playing your “insect-infection” style to grant you a slender advantage, giving your opponent free tokens is absolutely suicidal in the current Link era!
It is utterly disappointing how they made it as though they set it up as though we were going to see an actual rift within the Hanoi Knights organization with Faust and Baira leading the charge. Genome was a true fodder, he literally contributed to nothing but solely for Onizuka to “evolve”. Frankly considering their mission was never going to happen anyways, (save Revolver), the writers shouldn’t have even bothered with the half-assed set up. :\ It probably would have been better to give both Faust and Baira a different motive altogether, or else replace their characters and have them contribute in a more meaningful way while still providing us the information we needed to know about (them as Researchers of the Lost Incident).
I was definitely shocked on how I was also beginning to connect the pieces of Ai’s somewhat suspicious behavior in the last two episodes. I mean, Ai’s never cut off someone abruptly in the middle of speaking like that before. Plus it seems like Ai was pretending to act dumb because he sounded all happy instead of contemplating what Faust said. Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if Yusaku installed hidden cameras around his house to make sure he could keep tabs on Ai the next time he leaves Ai alone in the house with Roboppy. I’m afraid Ai and Roboppy have really crossed the line this time by modifying the duel disk into a drone. Guess what they’ve been doing up till now has not always been for comic relief.
I could also tell Baira and Faust definitely felt uncomfortable when they saw Yusaku being tortured like that 10 years ago. And Dr. Kogami, that’s cruel how he didn’t look away like Baira or look upset like Faust. Why am I getting a feeling that Faust and Baira know Playmaker is Yusaku and one of the victims of the Lost Incident? I mean, he might have seemed sorry for Playmaker and how he and Baira were also partially responsible for making Yusaku who he is today. That also means that Dr. Kogami wasn’t alone in the experiment on Yusaku and the other children. And that person looking at the footage from Baira’s apartment is definitely Revolver like you said. If it wasn’t, then why would he be looking at footage like that? Oh boy, I wonder what Revolver is going to do now that we know he’s definitely found out Playmaker’s true identity. That sadistic smile really creeps me out.
Finally, I’m not too surprised Naoki didn’t really have a role in this episode other than spectating the duel. He does talk a lot like Ai said. But I’m glad Yusaku cares for him to a degree and came to rescue him both in the real world and in Link VRAINS. Plus as Playmaker, he gave Brave Max some encouragement to keep on being brave and dueling in Link VRAINS. Although I think Naoki might have taken the advice in a slightly wrong way.
Ai is definitely a scary one. If they really do intend on making him a villain, then I gotta commend the writers for their clever way of foreshadowing Ai’s evil side. At the surface it looks like comedy, but the truth is there is something far more dangerous taking place under that guise.
I wasn’t sure what to make out of Revolver, but if it’s him, omg that smile freaked me out. IS HE ACTUALLY A YANDERE TYPE OF CHARACTER?! Omfg that…. that would be terrifying.
I actually wonder if Baira and Faust knew what they were signing up for when they took part in that research project. I’m pretty sure neither one of them would have joined if they knew exactly what was going to take place.
Unfortunately the next episode is going to be a recap. Although, I heard the next episode will be the last time they’ll use frequent recap. I heard they often did this due to lack of animators and such. And, I’m surprised you didn’t mention it in your review or if you didn’t realize it, but the person at the end of the episode has the same red mark as Revolver on his hand, so he’s either Revolver himself, Specter, or at least connected to them. I have to agree that I’m not quite satisfied with how Duel ended, but the end of the episode sure made my day!
UGH! MORE RECAPS?! HOW MANY RECAPS HAVE IT BEEN NOW?! OH man, you know what, from now on I should make it clear: If ever a Recap, by default it will be saved for a double-post the following week, I’m not going to waste my time doing an entry on a recap unless major plot stuff happens that I need to talk about
Ah I didn’t mention? I thought I did LOL!!!! I was analyzing that screencaps like crazy, I even went back to compare the two screencaps to see the mark was at the same spot, and also adjusted the brightness because I wanted to get a better look at his hair style to confirm if it’s Revolver or not LMAO!!!!!!
I also truly hope the next episode is the last time they will ever use a recap. I just want to quickly know what’s going to happen next. I have enough of these recaps… If they gonna do recaps, at least they should do it like ARC-V’s Episode 76 and 100. I think that will make the recaps better, even if it’s just a little.
Are we fucking serious with the recaps!? That better just be the beginning of the episode because i will flip my shit otherwise. My gods, I have never seen so many recap episodes done so close to each other! Have they not worked out the whole plot yet? Cos they had the latter half of Arc-v when they clearly just gave up trying to make a decent story with a half-decent ending. I was CONVINCED that they were writing for vrains when they couldn’t be bothered to finish arc-v properly.
As for this episode, I actually really liked it. Yeah, the knight or heads or whatever were pretty much pushovers in the end. But the pacing was really good in this episode they didn’t drag it out like with the other two duels. I was actually scared Yusaku was going to lose a few times.
Also, so good to finally get some info that Baira and that were present during the lost incident… My gods, why did they agree to torture children!? And OMG Yes! Yusaku’s identity has been found out!! I know thats not necessarily the best thing. But it’s the best way to create tension and make you wonder what will happen next episode. Just YES SOME DRAMA!! I was hoping this would happen cos then the plot would get moving.
I think it is Revolver who knows his idenityt. It’s harder to tell because if it is his real-life body that is vastly different from his avatar then there is no way to know for sure until it’s revealed.
As for Ai… He really seems shady now. But I don’t know how this series will handle it when or if he turns fully evil. Considering previous series, they usually would try to convert Ai to being good by reminding him of the good times and all that… somehow I don’t see that happening with Yusaku.
Maybe, they’re going to be smarter and use Ai as a character building tool for Yusaku. He has to trust other people in order to help stop Ai for example and finally destroy him?
Yusaku doesn’t seem to have a very strong attachment to Ai, like Yuma to Astral, or Atem to Yugi. Yusaku seems to see Ai as an annoyance most of the time…
The only reason I cannot see them getting rid of Ai in the future is because… well consider this series track record for killing partners established at the beginning. They never die. It’s the ones that come in later that do.
Also, am i the only one who saw that the beds that Baira and that are in look like coffins? Baira’s arms are even crossed like a vampire
I mean, I don’t know… Recaps, it’s awful how many we’ve already had within 30 episodes, but you know what, if it’s what they need to produce better quality episodes or figure out whatever, I’ll take it – but still it’s not a good trend to set so early on…
Also I’m not entirely sure (I will need to check up on this) to figure how many and which writers are involved who have been involved in YGO ARC-V (later half of the series) are also involved with YGO VRAINS. There has been a lot of changes so who knows what’s up, or what else needed to be fixed otherwise start from scratch since the new director joined the team. But hey, AT LEAST PLOT AND DRAMA IS HAPPENING?!
It would be a really good twist to make Ai a true villain, but I’m not entirely sure which way they want to go with him just yet. At least this makes it hard to predict, so that’s a plus. And like you said, Yuusaku and Ai aren’t buddies, he is his hostage and I don’t think Yuusaku has any particular sentimental attachments to him like other YGO Protagonists would have.
LOL IKR? They really do look like coffins, makes you wonder if they are actually dead! O_o
With Ai being a villain it actually reminds me of Vector from Zexal II. I will defend the second half of Zexal because it was pretty damn good (ironically the opposite to what Arc-v became at the end) especially that betrayal of Vector using Yuma’s too trusting nature against him and turning out to be a true villain rather than his friend. And it was heartbreaking to witness because it was pulled off fantastically.
Hopefully they can pull off something similar with Ai if he does turn out to be a villain.
Also seen this weeks recap and the ONLY new thing we learnt was Kusanagi’s little brother’s name. Jin… and a picture! What a disappointment! That was a prime opportunity to say where he is now and go into more depth on what happened on Jin’s end. I mean it’s inferred that he’s alive but neither Yusaku or Kusanagi seem to visit him, it looks like they spend most of their spare time in the spy hot dog van. Maybe he’s in a care home because he never recovered from the trauma? I hope we get confirmation in the future.
Also! We never got to see how Kusanagi and Yusaku met!! That would have been perfect. To say “I met Yusaku in th hospital visiting Jin”. It would be as easy as that to explain!
so eva this means you will continue review vrains right? just skip the recap episodes in every arc end
Don’t worry I’m not dropping VRAINS. I always put up a notice on Twitter and Tumblr that I will skip Recap episodes unless there’s actually something I feel the need to discuss. I strongly recommend to follow either one. 🙂 The other best way to know the status of a series is to check the Who’s Covering What page, which is regularly updated.
Welp,turns out that Episode 29 is a full on recap episode.Only thing new is Kusanagi is writing a report about everything in so far in Vrains.
That’s why I skipped it. Whenever this happens, I always put up a notice on our Twitter and Tumblr page since it’s the fastest way for everyone to get the news. I strongly recommend to follow either one. 🙂 The other best way to know the status of a series is to check the Who’s Covering What page, which is regularly updated.