47 Episodes later, and it’s safe to say this has to be the best damn episode to date! What a superb way of kicking off the new season with shit hitting the fan right off the bat. Ai returns to his home world only to discover it has turned into a wasteland. The only surviving remnant is his buddy/pet Link Kuribioh (AND OH MY GOD IT’S SO ADORABLE!!!!! IT IS SO CUTE!). In turns out SOL Technologies are the ones behind it. But Ai isn’t the only one to suffer this episode, there is poor Jin, who is still being haunted by the past. Just as he is making progress in his recovery, he becomes a victim yet again, (this time: apparently his consciousness was taken from him). Why does it always happens to him? Who knows, but if there is one thing for certain: that guy has terrible luck. Maybe he just needs to stay away from technology altogether, go into the country side and live a traditional life off the grid…
There is a lot to discuss, so let’s start off with: SOL Technologies.
@#*&!(@*&#*(@# THOSE BASTARDS! I ALWAYS KNEW THEY WERE FREAKING TROUBLE!
They took advantage of the Hanoi Knights distracting Ai while they went ahead and sought out Cyberse World, and eventually were able to locate it on their own. However when they arrived, the Ignis species had already dispersed, meaning they had made the decision to evacuate in advance (smart thinking on their part). But the thing that gets to me the most, is that SOL Technologies stole all of the treasures of the Cyberse World, its landscape, it’s treasures, it’s cyberse monsters, they took it all and used it to create Link VRAINS 2.0.
And they aren’t done yet! Despite Playmaker having “saved the network”, SOL Technologies still place a bounty on his head in order to increase the chances of capturing him (believing the Ignis will be close by), and (instead of a tournament) straight up ordered Akira to hire a set of professional bounty hunters. (I WAS SO CLOSE!!!!)
Among them there is Blood Shepherd, (an acquaintance with Ghost Girl) a ruthless hunter who uses illegal programs that can “kill players” (though i think it’s really killing their avatar), and surprise surprise… Onizuka and his two henchmen. Since the battle of the Hanoi Knights, he got a new hair cut (better than the old one, I’ll give him that), and changed his character, again. (At this point, I think his character is better described as a chameleon...) That being said: I am so glad they are casting aside the “King of Entertainment” (because it was never believable to begin with), and rather than trying to push him to be buddies/allies with Yuusaku, they are sending him down a more stark and serious path. Perhaps this will finally help forge his own character… for real this time.
Instead, there is a new character who is expected to join the party! (PROPS TO THE CHARACTER DESIGNER, LIKE HOT DAMNNNNNNNN HE IS FINEEEEE!!!!!) He hasn’t even debuted yet, but I am already stoked! The ED Theme shows that he too is one of the children who was caught up in the Lost Incident, which means the Ignis he is paired up with, is likely the one that was developed off of him, just as Ai had with Yuusaku. He will be Yuusaku’s new buddy, and is also partnered with an Ignis. It had me rewatching the OP Theme a dozen times because I wanted to make sure i picked up every little detail in it.
Actually while we are on the subject, let’s discuss the New Opening a bit. There’s a lot of stuff going on!
Something is going to happen that is potentially going to cause a rift between Kusanagi and Yuusaku. I wonder if they are going to hold his brother’s conscious hostage to make him betray Yuusaku. But there is also the possibility it might be Ignis related, and Yuusaku who is more or less now allies with the Ignis Species, puts them at odds with each other.
Which brings us to the subject of the “Glowing Duelist”. There was a brief moment when I thought maybe the “Glowing Duelist” is actually an AIDuelist, but if it were, how would it slip out of the television, its body be visible, yet untouchable in physical world, and take possession or something of Jin?
I have a couple of theories in my head, but we will start with this one: It is a new Ignis Species of a sort. One SOL Technologies have specifically developed themselves, by working off of Dr. Kogami’s research. This would also explain why Ai wouldn’t be able to recognize it. The other thing that caught my attention, if it is an Ignis species: the Glowing Duelist’ Human partner may be that yellow shortie who is observing the duel overhead. But he isn’t simply observing, his posture looks as though he is holding a duel-disk himself, which is the glowing orange bracelet he has on. The way he talks also gives me the sense the two must be partners. But then when I go back to watch the opening after watching the show, we see the “true form” of the “Glowing Duelist” thanks to his board. The most bizarre part, is how he looks like Onizuka… Like seriously, the resemblance is uncanny. If he were going to be a new character, why make him look like him? Don’t tell me he is going to be his long lost brother?!
Well, that would certainly give Onizuka’s character an actually purpose…
Wait a minute, is it possible that SOL Technologies figured out a way to merge Humans and Ignis together?
…Okay that’s enough theories for today….
Yuusaku logged into Link VRAINs for the first time in 3 months to go after the culprit, only to discover he got a bounty on his head and a tricky opponent who too uses cyberse deck. However among the changes in Link VRAINS 2.0, are new rules encouraging duels. If you emerge victorious, you can make a trade for something you want. Yuusaku intends to use this in order to obtain information on his opponent to find out why Jin was targeted in the first place, but at the same time that puts a lot more at stake, since the grand prize is Ai himself.
And this is definitely one of my main concern for the new season: While the new rules sounds snazzy for the world of Link VRAINS, it can also further enforce the plot-armor around Yuusaku’s character, who has yet to lose. The guy has to lose at some point, it’s not fun with the protagonist wins all the time, there has to be a point when they too fall. The only time he could potentially “safely lose” is when Ai is not with him.
Among the highlights was the emergence of our favourite little guy Linkurioh joins the party (the best part is being Ai’s pet). There was also the priceless scene of Ai and his impeccable comedic timing, of returning to Yuusaku’s duel-disk just as Blood Shepherd attempted to lock him into a duel (and in the future, will likely resort to illegal means, I am sure is the type who’d play dirty to make sure he gets the job done). Fortunately Ai came back with an upgrade of his own, and was able to buzz him off, allowing Yuusaku to focus on his true target.
Overall this was an absolute fantastic episode. The pacing was on point, the animation was clean from start to finish. It was drop dead gorgeous, and it was so worth the wait, especially for this episode. It just looked so bloody good. The character designs are also amazing, though I a bit sad to see it is only Ghost Girl who got a (minor) wardrobe upgrade. Among the new characters, there is “Queen”, who works in the higher ups of SOL Technologies, and have re-appointed Akira to his former position (I am surprised they actually did that though, but one less character to create for the role I guess). We were also given a brief interaction between Aoi and Yuusaku, and it was utterly adorable. It appears Aoi hasn’t picked up on Yuusaku being Playmaker himself, or maybe she is just being coy about it. She thanked him for the time he had found her unconscious (the virus incident), and gave him advice to not look so “scary”, or else it will spook away the customers… not that there were any, as she pointed out (justifying her reason for purchase). KEKEKEKEKEKEKE! Although the new guy is set to be Yuusaku’s best friend, I do hope the two still form a friendship, especially since Aoi has come out of her shell a bit more. I would love the see the trio be friends, but alas I won’t hold my breath for it.
In all, with SOL Technologies actively in the mix, this season is brimming with potential and I absolutely cannot to see where it goes!
I’ll be honest here, the vocals of the new OP & ED were just meh, but it’s cool to see Yusaku having a new bro & comrade in the name of SOULBURNER (Homura Takeru) while AI having one of his fellow Ignis friends returning too (Flame), Kusanagi potentially turning his back on Yusaku & the affirmation of the inactive but still visible presence of the Knights of Hanoi. Need more time to get a grasp on what the new villains will serve, especially that bulky Bowman who looks like Go Onizuka’s twin brother.
The one thing I couldn’t help but chuckle though, was that the so-called “entertainer” had slumped to become a bounty hunter to hunt down Playmaker. (Not as Dark Onizuka, which was quite a pity, but HOPEFULLY this new role will finally give him a new air for actual character development.) Besides, it’s about time for JIN himself to have a proper presence in the show now instead of sitting behind the background all this time… and he immediately got victimized again, poor fella.
P.S. I’m instantly hooked into the so-called “Link Spells”. Are there gonna be Link Traps as well and will both be introduced to the IRL game, or they’ll be anime-exclusive like Speed Spells & Action Cards?
Yeah he does look like Onizuka’s twin doesn’t he? I wonder if they are lost long brothers since we never heard of him when Onizuka was at the orphanage. That could’ve been a great time to establish that, so I wonder if they decided to start his character from scratch this season. Perhaps this will finally help forge his own character… for real this time. Thank god they cast the entertainer concept out the window.
RIP Jin, looks like he might be benched for a while again. Besides SOL potentially targeting him because Kusanagi is allies with Playmaker, I wonder what other reasons would they target him for?
The one thing I’m feeling uneasy though, is the same “bromance” card they dare to shove down our throats again & again in any Yugioh series. Now Homura Takeru/Soulburner looks fine and he’ll have true spotlight in the new arc as a deuteragonist, but the previous “bromance” routes in Yugioh didn’t necessary end well. Look how Judai & Johann drastically changed the course of Judai’s life forever, Yusei & Bruno’s tearjerking separation after the duel near the back hole, and Yuma backstabbed by the magnificent bastard Vector who fooled him around as “Rei Shingetsu”.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh…. I thought about that. But then there was a voice in the back of my end that said, “SHHHHH, LET’S NOT THINK ABOUT IT!!!!” 😂 Nonetheless, I hope it doesn’t turn for the worse, Yuusaku already been rejected by Ryoken, he doesn’t need another one. I suppose I am more optimistic mainly because the guy is also partnered with an Ignis. But then again, YGO LOVESSSSS making their protagonists miserable.
(I’m still not over Bruno btw, that guy was PRECIOUSSSSSSSS)
Now that you mentioned them, Yugi also has quite a problem with Jonouchi during the Battle City tournament with the latter being brainwashed by Marik, which fortunately ended well in the end. Vector is the same, becoming true friends in the very end with Yuma at the very least. Johan is okay after being freed from Yubel’s control. That makes Yusei the only one who lost his “bromance” forever…(TT_TT)
Please, don’t let Homura/Soulburner become like that! Shin Yoshida, please have mercy on him!
And a small side note, this makes Yuya the only one who doesn’t have any sort of “bromance” problem out of all YGO protagonists so far.
It feels a lot like the opening episodes of the first season in some ways, with so many new unknown characters and stories waiting to be discovered and revealed- yet for some reason I have a higher level of faith this time. Maybe it was the high animation? Maybe it was seeing characters from the first season showing off their growth and interacting with new mysterious forces? I honestly can’t explain it, but I like it!
I originally wasn’t impressed by the new VRAINS design, but this episode definitely pulled me around to it! It really feels like a ‘virtual world’ now, not just some psuedo-Spirit World with nonexistent personality. I think it was actually the penguins of all things that sold it for me, lol! Not to mention these new Link Spells, which remind me of the Rank-Up-Magics from Zexal in a lot of ways (not helped by the almost Barian-esque appearance of some of the villains in the ED, lol XD). I wonder if we’ll get them in real life at some point?
Either way, I’m definitely stoked for whatever comes next. The reveal of the Chess Pieces who lead SOL Tech, the reasoning behind Go’s sudden departure from the frontlines of celebrity dueling, and the identities of the mysterious renegades who fly through the skies of this revamped virtual world! Next episode is gonna be awesome!
LMAO! THOSE GANGSTERS PENGUINS WERE HILARIOUS! The new world looks amazing, full of life, and as you said, an actual virtual world.
Your opinion is so on point, but if you’re sharp enough you can take a glimpse at Naoki’s deck where there’s a Evenly Matched there which ironically placed him above Ryoken as a true utilizer of an insanely powerful Trap… and since I just heaped some praise for this fat lump of lard I might as well shoot myself. -_-“
There were so many great things about season 2 that I’m very excited about coming up, such as Go joining the bounty hunters to hunt down Playmaker and Emma having a new outfit, which includes discarding her mask. I saw Cyberse Magician and Cyberse Witch in the opening and ending, which means they’re probably going to show up sooner or later and Yusaku will use Rituals. Plus when I first saw Linkuriboh, I thought it was extremely adorable too. It was touching for Ai and Linkuriboh to have a tearful reunion as it was the first time they saw each other in five years. I thought it was kinda funny that Ai popped out of Yusaku’s duel disk when Blood Shepard mentioned Ai was there. I’m glad Ai decided to come back to Yusaku and even brought Linkuriboh and some new cards with him. Let’s hope that the relationship between Yusaku and Ai has improved now that the captor-hostage situation is no longer there. I guess Roboppy’s going to have an uninvited house guest from now on. She looked like she was crying now that Ai’s gone and she was all alone again in the house, wondering where did he go off to. But if you saw the opening this morning, I laughed when I saw Roboppy and Linkuriboh looking like they had a rivalry with each other, most likely for Ai’s affections.
As for the interaction between Yusaku and Aoi, I thought Aoi truly has stepped out of her shell like you said. She smiled a lot more and their conversation wasn’t as awkward as last time. Her emotionless shell has definitely crumbled. Yusaku and Aoi have definitely improved over the 3 month timeskip. It really reminds me of myself when I was younger. I used to be quite withdrawn and didn’t talk much. Now, I’m quite cheerful and outgoing and some people don’t believe me when I mention I was the complete opposite of who I am now. It was nice to see Yusaku working at the food truck when Kusanagi was gone. However, he hasn’t really improved much in terms of his stoic personality. I wonder why though.
Finally, I’m really looking forward to Takeru Homura. He has a great design as Soulburner and it looks like he’ll be a smiling and cheerful friend to Yusaku as he was willing to put his arm around him in the opening. I can imagine Takeru Homura will be an easygoing person like Kusanagi and may become Yusaku’s first friend because he ends up joining the team. With that, I hope that the show will begin to show Yusaku at school more often interacting with other students and maybe studying too.
I’m really excited for the energy and dynamics Takeru is going to bring to the show. He not only has a great design, but a freaking epic name too. The new characters designs are lit this season!
I can’t wait for Roboppy and Ai reunion!!!! <3 Gonna be hilarious!
Am I the only one who noticed that Yusaku’s new best friend wears glasses and looks cool without giving the lonely nerd stereotype? He is so precious! And his design is AMAZING!! He’s actually the cool friend who will help Yusaku further from his shell. Aoi’s interaction with Yusaku is cute as well and I LOVE the new design of Link Vrains. There’s actually personality in it rather than this blank, boring dystopian copy of the real world like last time. it’s like the VR version of Second Life.
I think the opening and endings indicate that Yusaku may form a team of the Ignis children (What do you think of that as a name for them?) like we predicted.
But the songs of the opening and ending weren’t that great I felt but the animation, the foreshadowing and all that were amazing.
I honestly thought they were going to push Aoi, Naoki and Yusaku to be friends. But I’m glad that if they do become friends that it’ll be a gradual process. It seems like Aoi, Go and Akira are going to have their own separate character arcs outside of the main plot considering how they’re keeping them seperate from Yusaku.
While I agree that Go being a Bounty Hunter is way more interesting, what’s the reason for it? I mean, his new hairstyle is little too funny for me but at least it’s different and doesn’t look like a golden gourd planted on his head.
If he was a new character then I’d be thinking he looks cool but he’s just gone rogue from being an entertainer for almost no reason. I mean before his reason to entertain was being he wanted to encourage the orphaned children.
Honestly overall I agree! Best Vrains episode to date! I don’t think I’ve ever been invested so much into Vrains. The animation was brilliant aside from one frame where Ghost Girl’s hair had the wrong colour on her right side. But honestly fantastic episode. It felt lively and not dead like last time.
I am kind of a bit baffled why Ema has decided to use her real world appearance in Vrains. Did she reform after the Hanoi Knights incident? She didn’t say that she quit bounty hunting though so why isn’t she using a face covering and changing her hair colour?
RIGHT? He rocks those glasses!!!!!!!!! (ALSO HIS HAIR UP IN THE OP, LIKE OMG NOSEBLEED) I can’t wait to see his personality in action, he looks like he is going to be a really fun character that will add a lot of energy to the group.
Yeah the songs were a bit lacklustre, but I still like them. I am just so happy we finally get a new opening! I was so sick of the old one.
We’ll have to see what they plan to do with Onizuka’s character. It’s quite a dramatic shift within a span of 3 months….
And yeah, Ema going around as herself in VRAINS was weird… She is clearly still a treasure hunter, but she would be the first to roam around the virtual world looking more or less like her real world self. O-o;
I hope Yusaku’s new bro won’t be like Vector from ZEXAL, at first friendly only to later mercilessly stabbed him in the back and reveal sinister side (though he eventually repented after realising how much Yuma still considers him as his friend). Please! So far, even though he hasn’t made his debut, I’m liking Homura/Soulburner already! And I also can’t wait to see the interaction between Ai and Homura’s Ignis partner. And of course not forgetting the little rivalry between Roboppy and Linkuriboh! The little ones would be very cute!
With the lack of Revolver and the others, I guess this mean they won’t be appearing for a long time and for the time being would focus on Yusaku and Homura, from how they first meet and eventually become friends! Yusaku, you’ll finally get yourself a friend! No offence to Kusanagi, but the older man is more like a simply ally than a friend that Yusaku really needs.
The little kid and the guy who is together with him in the opening…I guess the little kid maybe would be like Sora, appearing cute but is actually can be a sadist and cruel. The other guy with him, on the other hand, no comment yet, but I don’t like his design. If I have to choose between his and Go’s design, I prefer Go.
So far the Ignis is partnered with their respective human models. Maybe Jin will recover if he meet the Ignis based on him later. Don’t know yet for the big Ignis and the female Ignis, but I’m wondering about the Ignis based on Specter. The chance of them partnering together is next to none considering Specter’s loyalty to Revolver/Ryoken, which means he will destroy the Ignis even if it was modelled after him as long as Revolver/Ryoken wishes it.
PROTECT YUUSAKU FROM POTENTIAL BACKSTABBERS AT ALL COST!!!!!!!!
It’s pretty sad this is a fear that has been instilled into us. 😂
Calling now, that kid is going to be straight up evil.
This is just gonna be a conjecture, but I think some other unknown threat forced the other five Ignis to flee the Cyberse world around the time Ai met up with Yusaku and before SOL Technologies raided the place. As the six of them are the creators, and thus guardians of the place, and modeled after someone, it looks like to me that the true power of the Ignis may be revealed only when they team up with the victims of the Lost Incident.
For them to flee and seek their human counterparts is the only explanation I can think of as to how Takeru and Flame together enter the scene.
It will be reaaaalllllly interesting if Spectre’s Ignis went to find him. But it would be in for hell of a surprise, throwing itself into yet another enemy’s arms, which could potentially mean a certain death. It would be also be fascinating if they were to pair up with different people outside of their original partners!
People really need to get over this “main character wins too much” thing. It’s Yu-Gi-Oh. The only way a protagonist loses is if they’re inexperienced or if there’s no stakes.There have been exceptions, of course, but those exceptions were under unique circumstances. Most of the time, Main characters in Game driven anime have to win in order to move the plot forward. Otherwise you get nightmares like Cardfight!! Vanguard: Asia Circuit, where the protagonist and his team lose multiple games – hell – multiple TOURNAMENTS only to waste a handful of episodes on a “training day” to “get stronger.”
(Because that’s how card games work, right?)
Playmaker doesn’t need to get stronger. He doesn’t need a loss to further his character. Y’know what he does need? Friends. Social skills. Things he could’ve attained naturally had he not gotten wrapped up in the Lost Incedent. If the OP and ED are any indication, that’s exactly the direction we’re going. So if you ask me (Which I know you haven’t but I’m telling you anyway), Yusaku not losing is absolutely fine.
Good point, as he can experience loss in other ways than the standard duel. I was too close-minded, thanks for saying it, I didn’t think of it that way until you said it! (One less thing to worry about!) 😀
; A ; Absolutely Yuusaku needs friends!!!! ; A ;