Well that turned out to be hell of a lacklustre fight, but at least Ai’s puns managed to keep me cracking up. I just wished they had pushed it further with the mind-games, and at least attempted to convince the audience that there might be a chance the Yuusaku we know, could actually be the digital replica of himself. But nah, it was pretty obvious from the get go that it was total bullshit, and Bohman’s memories were completely fabricated. And to top things off, it appears his “Boss” wants to collect data on “Playmaker”, leading me to believe there is a good possibility he is trying to create a perfect Ignis or A.I, by using the exact same methods as Dr. Kogami did to nurture the Ignis’ free-will. This makes me wonder if Bohman is actually an “A.I” who thinks he’s human who had lost his memories.
In the end, Yuusaku (being the intelligent boy his is) asked Bohman about his memory of when and how he was kidnapped. Bohman of course had an answer, but it only confirmed Yuusaku’s suspicions, that someone implanted fake memories. What’s more is that he followed up with saying if someone has the ability to do such a thing, then there’s a chance his memories were replaced too— which is a legitimate concern we should all keep in mind.
In the end, despite having holes in his memories Yuusaku never doubted he was the real one. In fact, they gave us a glimpse of one of his earlier childhood memories, of having met Ryoken as a child after bumping into him on the street. The two of them seemingly had become friends, and Ryoken had ended up becoming his beacon of hope by giving him something akin to a prayer to cling onto: Think of Three Things.
However the head scratcher about this of course, is that they never pointed this out even after Yuusaku discovered Ryoken was Revolver. They only focused on the fact he was the one who saved him. As result, this memory felt as though it came out of nowhere, when they have never bothered to share much of his life before he was kidnapped.
Oh well… at least Ryoken and the Hanoi Knights are coming back. It looks like he will be helping at least one of them escape prison, so they can end their hiatus and regroup. I wonder if Ryoken knows anything about the new enemy, or he has been out of touch with what’s going on in Link VRAINS, and only focused on the best way to efficiently eliminate the Ignis.
And since the Wind World ended up destabilizing, I wonder what ever happened to Windy. They said the world would vanish, soooooooooooo……. does that mean after all that work, Windy is going to have to pick up his things and move again? Whelp.
Even by pulling out a Data Storm out of his ass, Bowman still couldn’t shatter Playmaker’s plot armor, goddammit. At least Jin’s consciousness is still being held captive and the latest enemy is yet to show his true colors.
But you don’t know how excited am I to see Revolver, Specter and co. returning to the show. Now the long-awaited vengeance of Aoi against Specter has finally been given the green light, AND it’ll be satisfying to see Revolver hammer that attention-seeking SoulFucker.
Not many images in this week’s review. Well, can’t really blame you. I’m kinda glad that Yusaku/Playmaker won, but the way this Duel went on feels…how should I put it, dull? Not as powerful as I hoped it would? Anyway, it was along those lines. Regarding Yusaku and Ryoken’s earlier meeting, maybe Yusaku only remember about it recently after his battle against Ryoken? Despite the down form this episode, at least seeing the sweet and cute Ryoken again made my day after busy work. The two little boys together were so CUTE! And of course, Ai, you’re as funny as always.
And Ryoken’s return! I bet they’re going to do a prison break, freeing Baira and then reform Knights of Hanoi! If Knights of Hanoi is revived, Yusaku and co will have more enemies on their plates to deal with.
The images take up a lot of space in our storage, so if I don’t have a lot to say I try keep it minimal.
I was hoping they would come into this week swinging, but so much for that. It was SO BORING!
It’s good to see the Hanoi Knights again, I am glad we didn’t have to wait too long for it.
Yeah, this duel didn’t appeal to me either. Using Storm Access during the duel was basically cheating for Master Duels. After what Playmaker has shown in today’s episode, I don’t believe Yusaku is an AI after all. Just seeing the genuine expressions on his face convinced me. I couldn’t believe that Yusaku still had some memories before the Lost Incident, and the one that stood out most to him was meeting Ryoken as a child. It seems like those two could have become great friends if the Lost Incident hadn’t happened. They were such happy and cheerful children and that was back when Yusaku used to love dueling.
I’m excited to see the Knights of Hanoi again. When I saw the episode title, I was like “Oh my gosh. They’re back.” I have a feeling this time the Knights of Hanoi will not consist of more than a thousand members and instead just be a team consisting of only the higher ups. I’m not surprised Kyoko/Baira got arrested and thrown in jail with high security. Her creation of the Another virus caused a huge panic for everyone in the real world and Link VRAINS alike. And it was Yusaku and Kusanagi that exposed her real-life identity. I wonder whether she still has her reformed attitude after her duel with Blue Angel last season. I bet she has a soft spot for Aoi/Blue Girl kinda like how Emma does. Plus it was partially thanks to Baira’s advice about fighting for others that Blue Girl has discovered herself in that perspective. Although I’m not so sure how Yusaku is gonna be dealing with Hanoi this time, especially with the new threat on his hands. Even with Takeru on his side, it would sure be tough to be dealing with an extra party that he thought had disbanded 3 months ago. Yeah, I think the Knights of Hanoi are pretty much not up-to-date on what’s going on in Link VRAINS and the new threat that’s going on. They must have not gone online for so long in order to hide from the authorities. Yusaku no longer has time to be dealing with Hanoi and has put that part of his past aside now that he knows the truth and that Ryoken was the friend that saved him.
I was thinking the same thing as you when I saw the Wind World vanishing. I understand Windy doesn’t trust humanity, but without a place to go, he might have to be forced to go and find his Lost Incident partner. I mean, I understand Ai didn’t trust humans at first either, but being with Yusaku gave him a sanctuary and those two did eventually warm up to each to the point they now consider each other mutual partners. I hope we’ll see Windy again and maybe meet the other Ignis soon too. I really want to see whether the WATER Ignis becomes Aoi’s Ignis or another girl’s Ignis partner if the girl from the Lost Incident isn’t Aoi.
Pretty dull episode to be honest. the duel wasn’t really engaging enough. The only good bit was that memory of Yusaku meeting RYoken as a child! It was so cute!
Although, I half-wonder if part of Ryoken’s original guilt with Yusaku was because he essentially lured Yusaku into his father’s trap to be taken.
And I know everyone loves Revolver, but I just can’t bring myself to like him. Not even as a villain. In the beginning sure. But, now that we know his reasons… they’re really tragic yet also make him a little bit well… despicable in my eyes. He refuses to see that his father is a wrong, amoral and cruel person who willingly experimented on children and essentially fulfilled his own fearful prophecy by attacking the Ignis when they did NOTHING at all. He created them, but then attacked them when he got too fearful about them hating humanity and attacking it (Which wouldn’t have happened if you LEFT THEM ALONE YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!!!)… what a bloody idiot.
And his son, whilst it is tragic that his father died, refuses to see the damage his father has caused and justifies it by blaming it on the Ignis just because they are not human. I get he’s under emotion baggage. But it’s takes a special kind of idiocy and amorality to have it reiterated that his father caused psychological trauma to 12 kids and yet he STILL defends his fathers actions. Family or not, you don’t and CAN’T defend horrific actions like this.
Sorry, I had to say it.
I was thinking the same. “Hey kid you wanna see my cards at my place” LOL, sounds like trouble!
Revolver has yet to truly leave an impression on me, but I am excited to see how he and the Hanoi Knights will act in this stage of the story. I just hope they will be able to have a greater impact this time round, because last time, they disappeared as quickly as they came. :\