RIP Ghost Girl, you will be missed dearly…
We all knew it was coming, she really pushed her luck on this time, and when she needed it most, Lady of Luck has turned her back on her. I knew there was no way in hell she was going to win the duel, but I did at least hope she was going to somehow escape alive. Our Charismatic Queen is no longer with us, and it’s probably going to be a very long time if we are to ever see her again…. That is, varying on how the Tower of Hanoi plays out, and what happens to those who have been absorbed into it once it is destroyed.
It is hard to say whether or not the other Hanoi Knights we have seen fade away much like Ghost Girl had, experienced the same fate. One of the reasons why I question whether or not they have been attributed to the same thing is the color which they faded in, as well the location of their bodies. My guess is that they just hadn’t been consumed yet, and now that the Tower of Hanoi is active, it probably consumed them by now, each one of them “contributing” to the foundation of “saving the world”.
However there is one undeniable thing about the Tower of Hanoi, and its uncanny similarities to to the ARC-V project. People are being collected and sacrificed in order to achieve a greater goal, and ironically enough, both plans revolve around in some form of either “creating the new world” or “saving the world”, or both. This is probably the main reason why it left me feeling a bit sick to the stomach. I would be lying if I said it didn’t make me anxious, or how it brings back the memories of how badly we were burned in the last series. It bothers me a lot because I don’t want my feelings of doubts and the problems I had with ARC-V to resurface to the point I start drawing a lot of comparisons to the two series as I am doing right now.
But if there’s one thing that strikes me about the Tower of Hanoi, was when the moment I saw it, the first thing that crossed my mind was actually the Tartarus tower. I wouldn’t be surprised if this tower turns out to have been used as an inspiration. In the greek mythology, Tartarus is a dungeon deep within the abyss for the titans. In this series, the “wicked titans” could easily be Cyberse and the Ignis species, and the network could turn into the abyss. I also having a sneaking suspicion the Tower will be where the series’ “Tournament” phase will begin. Of course at this time, all of this is pure speculation, so we will have to wait and find out more about the tower’s true nature. Worth the food for the thought though!
I must commend the writers for making Revolver a clever villain. He isn’t the type of villain to open his mouth and boast about his evil plans, even when questioned about it. Instead he simply tells us to “wait and see”, but hints there will be a dramatic change to the landscape, and life as we know it. And although Ghost Girl was defeated, she was able to succeed passing on crucial information she has gathered to Playmaker so he can get out, and share it. I will say though it was kind of funny seeing how Revolver taunt Playmaker, yet never opened the gates for him to coming running in after him. It seems Revolver had no intention of duelling Playmaker at this time, and was focused on making sure the tower is properly activated.
Ironically, in the end, it’s Ai who ends up getting Yuusaku out of there. He has the ability to forcefully log them out to safety, which is a good thing considering Yuusaku was all riled up and was not thinking straight.
Overall the duel was fairly fun to watch despite the fact it was more or less predictable. I had a sneaking feeling Revolver was baiting Ghost Girl to attack him and pretend he didn’t have a trap card he could use it to his advantage. He took the hits so he could activate his skill, Storm Access and obtain an new ace monster. Needless to say, I am obsessed with Topologic Trisbaena’s design. Super sleek, mecha-like, sharp around the edges and badass, incredibly fitting for Revolver. I also found we saw another side to Revolver’s personality, a more obnoxious one considering he kept on insulting Ghost Girl, calling her a Third-Rate Treasure Hunter. I have a feeling we’re going to see more of this ugly side of him who likes to provoke his enemies when he and Playmaker face off again – this time, Revolver will be sure to poke at Yuusaku’s wounds, especially since he knows who he is now.
Next week, the preview is pretty vague and secretive for most part, but we know one thing for sure: The Tower of Hanoi is up, exploding and there’s a time limit of six hours. Good luck Playmaker!
I would think maybe VRAINS is trying to correct the mistakes made in ARC-V. Although the Hanoi Tower is somewhat uncreative in “Saving the World”. It does remind me of ARC-V a little bit, which makes uncomfortable too. I was saddened to see Ghost Girl disappear. I’ve actually grown to like her as a character. This episode definitely showed Emma/Ghost Girl’s more heroic side, the part of her that genuinely cares about other people and not just herself. I was really shocked when she lost, she called herself pathetic. That takes a lot to say that.
As for Yusaku/Playmaker, I was really surprised that he showed genuine care and concern towards Ghost Girl and wanted to save her if it weren’t for the bars. He actually showed emotion when he saw her fade away, even saddened. Too bad we won’t be seeing Ghost Girl for a while, but I’m sure the next time we see Yusaku duel, it will be to avenge her “death”. We’ve never seen Yusaku so worked up before and was definitely stubborn, which pretty much is traditional in the Yugioh protagonists in their own ways. I’m glad Ai was able to get Yusaku to safety by forcefully logging him out because staying there could have resulted in them dying.
I’m going to honest with you, but when Emma says her last words to Yusaku, it looked like she was going to tell him she loved him. I’m happy she gave the data to him to use as there was no way she could’ve used it now that she was about to “die”. Now that Yusaku does have the data entrusted to him, he definitely is going to need the help of others to survive the next few duels. So I’m glad he now has official alliances with the Charisma Duelists because I think Yusaku has come to realize that he can’t keep doing things with just Kusanagi as evidenced in the most recent episodes.
I also feel as though VRAINS is trying to correct the mistakes in ARC-V, but I also know it’s important it is that we don’t get too hung up on that.
It didn’t surprise me to see Yuusaku’s humanity come through when it comes down to another being in danger, he may appear cold, but he certainly isn’t that cold -especially to a victim of a Hanoi Knight. What is alarming however is how Yuusaku was in a fit a rage. It would have been very dangerous for him to go after Revolver in the emotional state he was in. When the two finally do have their fated rematch, it’s going to be an emotionally intense one to say the least.
I have to agree with the both of you about the comparison between Hanoi Tower and ARC-V Reactor. But I think it’s also quite similar with 5D’s during Dark Signer Arc when people are sacrificed. If comparing it between ARC-V in regards of motive, I think Revolver and Kogami are really trying to save the world, unlike Leo whose underlying motive was only plain selfishness to revive his daughter. And I certainly hope that if everyone who got absorbed into the Tower will be back, there will be plausible explanation instead of just like ARC-V.
5DS is also a great example to draw comparisons (dear lord, just goes to show the lack of new ideas when it comes down to the villain’s methods, but whatever, as long as its executed well, we’re good! XD).
As much as I love Ghost Girl to death, I think I would actually prefer if they make it so the outcome for the victims result a perma-death. It would enable to introduce new characters without overpopulating the cast (something we know they are definitely being careful about in this series) and would serve as an excellent shock factor + raising the stakes for real.
There are times that the creators are using the same idea without realizing it. They thought this would be good without realizing they actually already used it before, just in a different way.
Perma-death, huh… Vrains is the first series after a while to use exact words like dead, kill, and such, but I have doubt that will happen to Ghost Girl, especially if she is popular among fans. Popular characters often made to avoid death in any circumstances.
😉 True Enough.
I wouldn’t be too quick in calling RIP on Ghost Girl just yet. I don’t know your history in watching card game anime but assuming it’s “more than VRAINS and Arc-V,” you’ll notice that “death” rarely equals death. More often than not it means the character in question has to go away for a while only to be brought back at the end of an arc or the end of a series.
I say this because if we look closely, it appears that GG was absorbed into the big red thing used to make Hanoi Tower. Based on this and that one shot in the preview (where that one guy tried to log out, couldn’t, and got absorbed also) we can assume that should Playmaker beat Revolver, all these people will be released.
This is of course assuming nothing goes horribly, horribly, wrong but hey, I was one of the guys pulling for Revolver’s first win to be against Playmaker and look how that turned out.
I generally say “RIP” to any character that gets defeated or is going to be out of commission for a while. I am keenly aware “death” in YGO is almost never definite (YGO 5DS’ Dark Signers and their victims are one prime example), especially in ARC-V, with the exception of the alternative counter parters who more or less been killed off by being absorbed into Yuzu and Yuuya serving as their “true hosts”. That is why I say we don’t know how long Ghost Girl will be gone, but it will ultimately depend on what they make out of the Hanoi Tower and whether or not they are actually determined on killing off characters for real. Odds are Ghost Girl will return contrary to Revolver’s claims. (Though to be fair, it can still be considered a valid threat for new audience, veteran fans of the series get the sense it’s more less an empty threat LOL)
But yeah, it seems as though the victims are currently trapped as they always have been in the other series and are just bidding their times until they are saved LOL!
How about Sergey and Roget? I think they can be classified as definite deaths. Sergey being beaten by the rampaging Commons offscreen, and Roget got sucked into the wormhole that he said led to the VOID between dimensions and got stuck there without any food or water which pretty much means he stays there until he dies.
LOL I ACTUALLY FORGOT ABOUT THOSE TWO! 😂
Maybe the writers did, too.
Yes, Revolver just nuked Ghost Girl’s field with Mirror Force, that’s the valid explanation of that “unknown” Trap.
But damn they just “murdered” Ghost Girl like that (why, I’d rather see Go and NAOKI die that way), giving me 5D’s flashbacks of Zero Reverse or being sacrificed to an Earthbound God again… O_O (And as much as Heartland being laid to waste in an actual warfare and the incursions into Standard & Synchro Dimensions in Arc V were terrifying, the victims being “carded” was just a family-friendly version of murder.)
Finally, the long-awaited TENSION in VRAINS I’ve been hoping for was delivered (although it’s also a concern that the endgame was being set SO early at this stage they might run out of ideas to write future plots despite the VRAINS story actually has a solid foundation now). Ghost Girl already tried her best, but when Revolver also had the same Storm Access Skill to access new Links like Playmaker did, then he could just bullshit his way to victory when his Extra Deck is non-existent, so to counter that you just need another user of Storm Access to stand in his way; in other words, both Playmaker & Revolver are best described as a pair of “Card Promoters” to shill out new Link Monsters for Konami to sell, business priorities folks. >_> Besides, I’m actually digging into Revolver’s deck now given how I couldn’t (& didn’t want to) understand his playstyle before (as evident when he dueled against Playmaker twice but failed to win on both occasions).
With the Tower of Brahma- I mean, Hanoi (no really, that’s what it’s called IRL) set to bring forth “salvation” (and with Go & Aoi restless about the situation as well), let’s chill and monitor what will happen IN ZA VRAINS next episode.
I THOUGHT MIRROR FORCE AS WELL! He suddenly wipes out her monsters on her field with one trap card! It must’ve been mirror force, otherwise, why else are they not showing the trap card? I mean, all it was is a card that gets rid of her monsters.
RIP Ghost girl. To me you were not a third rate duelist, but a strong, wilful if cocky treasure hunter who worked hard.
Also is it just me or do all the females who get defeated in Vrains have their hair come loose in their loss? I mean it happened to Aoi and now to Ema. I’m guessing it’s symbolism… but for what?
With the tower… I get that there’s tension now but it feels… sudden. I mean we went from investigation to END OF LINK VRAINS AS WE KNOW IT!
This seems like something that should happen at the climax of an arc (which i’m guessing it is, but i hope not because it really doesnt feel earnt). But it feels like hardly anything has happened in order to gain this build up. We know more information about the past and thats kind of it.
“I THOUGHT MIRROR FORCE AS WELL!”
Y’know, it’ll be absolutely hilarious that Link VRAINS might crumble under the might that is Mirror Force LOL! XD
“END OF LINK VRAINS AS WE KNOW IT!”
Nah, such endgame hype was already a thing several times in the past, which highlights my concern for the progress of the show: It does have a solid foundation, but the writers don’t know how to make a convincing story so they used this endgame click-bait to hook in the audience for a short period, then roll back to the goddamn RECAPS, restart the endgame hype AGAIN, rinse & repeat; that’s why I really can’t bring myself to fully enjoy VRAINS so far.