I am not going to lie. I thought this episode was a weird one. For most part, I was quite entertained me with seeing Blood Shepherd’s strategy of preventing Yuusaku from him from being able to use his Skill/Link Monsters. It was a clever tactic, bringing about an interesting interaction of trying to make sure he keeps Yuusaku’s LP just above the conditions for Skill Activation. His relentless attacks were also fun to watch, because for the first time in a while (besides a major opponent), we actually saw a rare glimpse of Yuusaku freak outing for a split second. However the second he got a window of opportunity, he made the most of it by dismantling Blood Shepherd’s strategy and throwing him a curveball by whipping out Fusion Summon!
That’s right! Fusion Summon is back baby! They made sequence look real pretty too!
Now I spoke about the possibility of this happening before when Ritual Summon was announced, so while I wasn’t surprised to see it, I was more taken aback by Fusions making their debut on the VRAINS stage sooner than I had anticipated. If you may recall, at the time I mentioned about being a little concerned about how it will be handled. This is of course nothing wrong with having multiple summons methods at the story’s disposal, but l just hope Ritual Summoning won’t get overshadowed…again.
But hey, at least we go ta cool new Dragon, right?
However the biggest problem I had with the episode was the way they brought up and delivered Blood Shepherd’s backstory. They litterally threw everything at us: His name, his face, and his reason for his hatred towards A.I. Now I don’t know about you, but I felt it was not only a bit soon, but also incredibly ludicrous. Frankly speaking, the way it was executed made it feel as though this was a lazy idea, and they didn’t put a lot of thought into it. Kengo and his mother gets in a car accident after an A.I taxi malfunctions (after he jinxs himself by saying it’s safe!) and his mother’s signal cord is damaged and she will never stand again, while he lost the use of his right arm and his eye got messed up a bit too. They didn’t do themselves any favour by rushing through it too.
That’s all I have to say about this week’s episode. The duel itself turned out to be a tad more underwhelming than expected, not that I was expecting anything amazing out of it, but it was still fun to watch. It was nice to see that Data Storm Skill sequence be simplified to be not as nearly as intense as we saw in the first season, which is a nice change to say the least. Speaking of which, I would also like to note both OP and ED features Aoi’s new design, so we’re in luck! Blue Girl is here to stay!
/CRINGE I really can’t get used to that name.
Next week, they are off into the new world, or at least trying to. A major Data Storm whipping up is going to cause some problems. It will be interesting to see whether or not our two pairs will bump into each other, or remain separated. Really I just can’t wait to see everyone bump into each other again. Seeing how star-struck Takeru was with Onizuka, I can’t help but anticipate how he’d respond to meeting Aoi and her new look!
Who else wants to bet that Takeru won’t recognize Aoi’s “Blue Girl” avatar at first glance? I wouldn’t be surprised, considering how Yuya and his counterparts from Arc-V we’re often mistaken for each other. But that does leave me wondering if we’ll see her use a different Skill when she Speed Duels, kinda like how Go has a new Skill.
Blood Shepherd’s backstory may have been rushed, but there may still be some hope for him. After the accident, we saw him right working in cyber crime, but not what pushed him into it or how he even got his mechanical arm. Plus, there’s still him knowing Ghost Girl’s real name, and given how he mentioned how his dad was out of the picture, it adds onto the theory of him and Ema being siblings. I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ll see of him, but if I had one compliant about this episode, it was that they unveiled his backstory too early on.
Definitely wasn’t expecting Yusaku to Fusion Summon, but hey, I’m not complaining. This brings hope that we’ll see the other summoning methods, especially Xyz and Pendulum Summoning. The one thing I’m hoping that doesn’t happen is that it becomes exclusive to only Yusaku and Takeru.
Another thing I’m hoping for is that we’ll finally see a tag duel take place. With all the pair ups so far, I’m going to be really disappointed if they don’t make use of them in a duel, especially with the Yusaku/Takeru and Aoi/Ema pair looking like they’ll meet up soon.
Hahaha, characters tend not to recognize a character’s “not-so-subtle” change of appearance! It would be cool to see if she updates her skill as well! 😀
Oh yes definitely hope for BS, but man they really shouldn’t have delivered it the way they did. Good to know I wasn’t the only one who thought it came out too early on. I don’t know why they felt the need to rush. Leaving his hatred towards A.I in the dark for a while would have a least kept that mysterious part about him. Now the question remains whether or not he and Emma or siblings, perhaps their parents are divorced.
Blood Shepherd’s revelation doesn’t give me a big impact. I wonder if they’re planning to ditch him for a while so they can focus on other characters. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Blood Shepherd is a nice addition to the character, and perhaps will play more role in exploring the relationship between the Ignis and humans, considering his resentment for A.I and thus he is dismissive of Ai’s claim about his bond with Yusaku/Playmaker. I guess he doesn’t know yet that Ignis is not just an A.I but has free will of their own which equals being alive like human beings.
Kengo’s name is actually already written in the ED credits, so at least his real name part is not exactly rushed.
I think Blood Shepherd was better left in mystery. It made him more intimidating and an actual threat. When they just broke down his whole backstory and reason for hating AIs in less than 5 minutes it ruins the tension from him. They should’ve kept that twist until later on when they find out by him saying or something… I’m not sure but definitely NOT in flashback so only the audience knows and from that we can tell Yusaku will win so all suspense is gone.
Also cheered so much that Fusion and Ritual summoning are dominating again! They are so cool!!