Current Recap Episode Count: 4
Episode 38 ended being our fourth recap, but it appears there was a new scene following Spectre’s defeat. Dr. Kogami asked if Revolver uncovered Playmaker’s true identity yet, and much to my surprise: Revolver denied it. I am very curious as to why he decided to keep this information to himself. One possibility could be that he doesn’t want his father to know because he wants to defeat Yuusaku in a duel, where as his father might have a way to use it, preventing Yuusaku from being able to interfere with their plans
This week, in Episode 39 it was the duel we all knew was going to happen, but really didn’t want it to: Onizuka VS Revolver. But I really. REALLY. REALLY, would much rather watch Spectre duel Onizuka before falling to Yuusaku. (Actually, more than anything, I really wanted to see what kind of mind-games Spectre would play with Onizuka, especially since they are both orphans). Knowing how I feel about this, I knew I needed to rid of my negativity, and go into this episode with an open-mind. But much to my dismay, this episode was a complete snooze fest! I was dying from boredom. (Oh but visually, this episode was stunning, the animators did such a good job this week! Especially with the backgrounds, they were gorgeous with the particles effect!!!!!! So there’s that at least!)
As I was watching the episode, I found myself thinking and playing various scenarios in my head. I couldn’t help but wonder: Had it been anyone else but Onizuka in this situation, would this episode still be this boring? It is hard to say since it was considerably uneventful, but ultimately the conclusion I came up with was: Yes and No.
On one hand, the answer would be “Yes”. It was clear as night and day that something was missing in this episode, and that was just raw excitement and anticipation of not knowing what is going to happen next. With the matchup being against Revolver of all people, the guy who Yuusaku by default has to go up against, that alone just takes the wind right of the sails.
And on the other-hand, the answer is also “No”, because of all people chosen to be selected as his scapegoat, it’s Onizuka. This guy has no charisma whatsoever. He tries, but it only makes it worse- and don’t even get me started on his cringeworthy lines, “You can’t stop me, because you’re fired”. That was so corny, I couldn’t stand it.
However the root of the problem is the way Onizuka’s character is being delivered. It is unfortunate how bland he feels, and whenever he steps into the scene, rather than excitement, he brings about the feelings of dread in the worst way possible.
Truth to be told, a part of me is clinging to the possibility that we may finally dive into Onizuka’s backstory. The only reason why I think this might happen is because Aoi’s duel against Spectre covered how/why she became Blue Angel. But please if they do, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE IT UNIQUE TO THIS CHARACTER!!!! Give us something more than what is driving him in the present. Give us something juicy about his past, show us what made him into who he is today! Give us some form of depth to establish that there is something more to him under that big ego of his!
It has been a while since his duel against Dr. Genome, so I actually completely forgot about his ever “evolving” duelling style. Heck, I don’t even know if they are still rolling with it at this point. I guess we will have to find out next week. I just hope they stuck with the “evolution” theme and spice it up big time. You know it’s a serious problem when not even Revolver could save this episode.– unless he had defeated him and put an end to this misery.
And surprise! The “fearsome” card is Mirror Force!!!! (Well not really, most people already figured it out during his duel against Ghost Girl). I can’t help but laugh though because it’s a card that’s been around forever, (but surprisingly, according to the records, it has only been used once in ARC-V, so it has been a while since it made its appearance!) so in a way it is quite funny how all the characters are reacting as if it’s the card of the century (though to be fair it’s a totally badass one). It was even more hilarious with how smug Revolver was when he used it, especially since Onizuka was completely baited into his trap. It actually had me thinking he was going to finish him this episode.
But I am kind of surprised Revolver ended up using it for the duel, I would have thought he’d want to save it to surprise Yuusaku, unless he has more trick up his sleeves (and he probably does). I also suspect this is the primarily reason why the writers had Yuusaku be able to spectate the duel, so he doesn’t get caught off guard by the card.
Now Onizuka has been pushed into a corner, with the stakes so high, I am hopeful for the duel to liven up. Bring out that Dark!Onizuka again if you have to, although he said something troubling things, that side of him was pretty fun to watch, so I certainly would be all over seeing him go HAM again.
However there was one major thing that should not go unnoticed this episode, and that was the sudden emergence of the Data Storm. It ended up saving Yuusaku from that fall, and he can’t help but be suspicious that it must’ve been Ai who summoned it. Although Ai denies doing so, I too am suspicious of him because we know how badly he can’t afford to lose Yuusaku. But I can’t help but think it may be someone/something else entirely, especially since Yuusaku sensed it.
It might be Valentine’s Day AND Chinese New Year is on the horizon, but wow, this episode made my blood boil EVERYTIME Go Onizuka attempted to show us what a hot garbage he is. First he managed to reach Revolver first ahead of Playmaker which was a direct kick to the gut given all the time Playmaker had spent to duel & defeat Specter, then he was a TOTAL asshole by firing his manager simply because he refused to allow him to enter Link VRAINS, and here comes those ungrateful little shits cheering him on wishing for his victory & return where I got absolutely furious and WANT them all dead alongside the pretentious “entertainer” they supposedly ditched. (Glad I restrained myself and not tossing my monitor aside.) On the bright side, Revolver finally revealed the “dangerous” Trap card that Ghost Girl warned Playmaker about, and it’s none other than our good-old friend from the ancient days of DM: MIRROR FORCE! I laughed so hard at Go Onizuka assembling so many Gouki Links just to get nuked in one move HAHAHAHA!!!!! XDXD
Nonetheless, this duel was still a waste of time, so hopefully Revolver can grind Go’s corpse into the dirt next episode.
Somehow, I have a feeling that Mirror Force maybe is not the fearsome card they’re talking about. It’s possible that in the next episode, Go will seemingly make a comeback like Blue Angel seemingly did against Spectre, only for Revolver then reveal his true fearsome card and defeat Go. Something like that. The appearance of Data Storm that saved Playmaker…if it’s not Ai, then maybe it’s Revolver? Or perhaps there’s a third person involved with Ai or Ignis or Hanoi? Hopefully this will be answered soon…
Yeah I’m thinking the same, I mean it’s pretty underwhelming to make Mirror Force the “fearsome” card because it’s been around for so long. A new card that Revolver/Dr. Kogami created would certainly add the surprise factor.
I considered it to be Revolver, but I’m not sure what to think of it. On one hand, it would be purely selfish of him to save Playmaker just so they can have their rematch. Meanwhile, on the other-hand, it would be a lot more practical for him just to have Playmaker fall to his death, enabling him to follow through with the plans.
Usually old school cards are used as a cameo in yugioh, or as a backrow filler that will be destroyed quickly.
BUT, Mirror Force wasn’t just usefull, that card even gave to Revolver a victory against Ghost Girl.
I’ve flashbacks playing early yugioh duels where due to the paranoia that a face down card could be Mirror Force, the players sometimes the player sometimes needed to change some monsters to defense mode… because the attacking player could lose the whole duel because of that card.
We need the characters to start worrying about that kind of things again. It helps makes the duel more exciting since they can’t just recklessly charge ahead with the intention of steamrolling their opponents!!!
I thought this was recap #6. And I can’t help but wonder if the number of recaps we’ve had so far has led to the writers sacrificing go’s character development and backstory for something boring and generic.
I mean there’s gotta be a loss somewhere with all that recap content we’ve had so far. Everything has a price.
Episode 13 was the first recap, followed by Episode 21, 29, and now 38.
Yup that’s exactly my concern. It’s eating up precious air-time that could go towards plot and characters development. But perhaps this will force them to make sure they don’t waste any time with pointless/weak content in the future.
the reason we have so many recaps because unlike other seasons vrains have only 3 studios and short on animators which you can imagine how hard it is not to do recaps with this amount of staff. also at least the director is honest about it and aware viewers not like those recaps. here what he said in his third apology:To all the fans who look forward to seeing VRAINS every week, I’m very sorry that you had to see a recap again. It must have been very frustrating for some of you. I don’t enjoy seeing recaps in a show that I look forward to every week, either. Once again, I’m very sorry about this.
Some people will probably think that all my apologies won’t improve VRAINS’s production. That said, I think that the state of the show’s production will probably improve, thanks to those recaps we put out. As I’ll probably be reprimanded if I disclose too many details about the show’s production, let’s just say that we’re making progress, little by little.
Yes I have heard about the shortage on animators 🙁 It’s really too really sad it has turned out that way.
Regardless, I really do appreciate the transparency of the new Director. He is making the effort to keep the fanbase up-to-date as oppose to keeping quiet about it. It’s exactly what we need after after ARC-V’s fiasco.
And I said it before, I don’t have a problem with the recaps if/when they need more time to produce the episode. It’s not the end of the world to wait an extra week, and I am sure they are taking into consideration of what needs to be adapted to the ever-changing situation down the line.
All I can say is GO deserves to get nuked by Mirror Force.
Because all Link Monster are stuck in attack mode Mirror could be seen as a fearsome card. Im really hoping Go win against Revolver.