OH MY GOD EARTH IS SO ADORABLE I LOVE HIM TO DEATH ALREADY! It’s like icing on the cake to know he has feelings for Aqua, and they were possibly reciprocated (I SHIP IT!). He is socially awkward as he says, but that is exactly what makes him so endearing. Yuusaku was quick to realize Earth is most likely Spectre’s partner, but man, these two couldn’t more different in personalities, at least with what we have seen so far. The only thing that makes them alike though is how they were always alone, and there is one person they were particularly close to, and for Earth, it was Aqua (the Water Ignis).
Earth is exactly as Ai described him to be: A straight-shooter, nonsense, and focuses on the issue at hand. He is also a good duelist, something Ai had conveniently forgot for a time. I do find it rather hilarious how Ai brags about Playmaker only being good because he is his partner, when in reality Ai tends to be more of a distraction than any help at all. Today was one of those days when Yuusaku had to tell him to shut up because he wasn’t providing him any useful information. The only thing he did help him out with was through his own idiocy of spamming the message boards which Earth eventually used to reach out to him.
I am glad we have gone back to the central plotline, and are making grounds of introducing the remaining Ignis. With Earth as the latest to appear, we are left to wonder what happened to the Light and Water Ignis. Most noticeably, the first thing that stood out to me for the Light Ignis was its patterns. They seem to match Bohman’s, so I think those two are supposed to be partners, alongside their similar palette. This leaves Aqua and Windy as the two Ignis who have yet to be partnered up. And with Aqua’s unknown whereabouts, it makes you wonder what had become of her when disaster struck.
What makes Aqua unique to the rest of the Ignis is how she has the ability to not only identify truths and lies, but apparently she can also foresee future events. She was the one who warned Earth about the catastrophe they will face, and while doing so, she likely have given him G Golem Crystal Heart (which initially belonged to her) because she knew something was going to happen to her. As of right now, we have no idea of whereabouts and her fate.
If that’s the case, we may not actually see her for some time. In fact, for all we know, she may have already been destroyed, or else captured by one of the enemies (most likely the Judgement Arrows party) to make use of her clairvoyant abilities. With that in mind, let’s do a quick review of what we know so far!
Dark (Ai): Yuusaku
Fire (Flame): Takeru
Earth: Spectre
Water (Aqua): N/A
Wind (Windy): N/A
Light: N/A
The only remaining victim we actually know about is Jin. Bohman’s background is still a mystery, but there is a good chance that he was one of the victims as well. And based on the Light Ignis’ markings, I believe these two are supposed to be partners, which would also explain his unique body of light. Perhaps this means the Light Ignis may have also already been captured by the enemy who is controlling Bohman.
But the big question is: Which Ignis is Jin’s partner? In fact, now that I think of it, I am a bit surprised that Yuusaku and Kusanagi haven’t actually made the initiative to figure out who that might be. Since Ai had finally spoke about the Ignis’ personalities, maybe this will finally lead us to such conversation. As of right now, it’s really hard to make the call. Under the assumption Light is Bohman’s partner, and Earth is Spectre’s, that only leaves Aqua and Windy as the remaining two candidates. Unfortunately we don’t know a whole lot about Jin’s character besides the fact the Lost Incident has scarred him deeply, and he has been suffering from severe post-traumatic stress ever since.
…Actually, now that I think of it: Maybe Jin’s consciousness was stolen from him because the Light Ignis was Jin’s partner? What if Bohman is just a fodder being used as the Light Ignis’ host, or perhaps, what if the guy isn’t actually Human at all?! Okay maybe that might be a bit of a stretch…. BUT YOU NEVER KNOW RIGHT?!
Overall this was a fairly slow episode, but Earth’s awkward interactions really made it fun to watch. It was nice to see the brief return of Robopoppi and Ai up to their mischiefs again, hilariously so as always. As for SOL Technologies, while Queen has made a reappearance, she didn’t contribute much other than pull Akira away and shide him for his lack of progress, while his co-worker he left in charge overlooks the message shared between Ai and Earth despite one of the employees actually doing their job and pointing it out. Actually I do want to make a quick note: Although Ai claims only Ignis can understand their language, I wouldn’t put it past Revolver or Akira or anyone else who is familiar with coding/programming to be able to understand it. When there are coordinates involves, a smart coder would probably figure out how to use it for themselves.
Next week the duel continues! I’m looking forward to learning more about Earth’s and Aqua’s backstory! and their relationship fufufufufufufufufufufufu~
Bwahahahahaha, I laughed so hard upon learning how “Earth” named the water-attribute Ignis “Aqua”, what a reference to that certain partying & (more importantly) useless water goddess in Konosuba! XDXD But it certainly raised eyebrows when Playmaker was beginning to get a grip on who Earth’s supposed human partner is. That tree-loving maniac Specter? Uggh, here comes those uncomfortable memories of Sunavalon boards again… But SoulFucker is nowhere to be seen again, meh that’s why the director shouldn’t hire such an expansive VA in Kaji Yuki…
More past between Earth and Aqua’s relationship will be revealed next episode, but upon checking this episode’s cast list it’s a shame that she wasn’t voiced by Amamiya Sora, I just wanted that to be a thing as a homage to her excellent role as that useless water goddess in Konosuba.
I just simply lost it at the flashback with AI and the water ignis’s interaction. Its somewhat similar to Yuya and Yuzu’s interaction in season 1.
I was thinking the exact same thing! XD
This was an excellent episode overall. Lots of good things to say about this episode. I’m really happy they decided to get back on track with the plot. Really funny moments too. I totally lost it at some moments today.
Ai hugging Earth like that and Playmaker watching on with a surprised expression was so funny, especially since Ai didn’t notice it. And Earth had no reaction to it, which made it even funnier. I know you didn’t mention it in your blog post, but there’s a part where Ai is explaining each Ignis that hasn’t been found and what they’re like. Aqua got mad at Ai and Linkuriboh for goofing around again and actually hit them into the ground really hard. Looks like Ai fears Aqua. She seems to be more violent than I thought when she loses her temper. Seems like she was the complete opposite in terms of what Ai explained about their relationship. Another funny moment was with Ai and Roboppy up to their shenanigans again. Roboppy is now quite aware of how much Ai likes to brag about himself. It’s pretty much trolling on the internet considering he posted the same thing 212 times. I couldn’t believe it when Yusaku actually busted them! For the first time too! Ai looked so panicked, especially when Roboppy tattletaled on Ai to her master. Luckily, Yusaku didn’t mind too much.
Now on a more serious note, I was surprised Earth was actually in love with Aqua. The Crystal Heart Link monster is a symbol of how much he really loves her. I do hope she returns those feelings. The whole landscape changed too when the card was Link summoned. I do hope we will meet Aqua in person soon. I have a bad feeling after hearing Aqua say there may be a rift between the Ignis over whether humans are worth their trust or not. I wonder which side Earth will take if Playmaker wins. He doesn’t trust humans as much as Windy does, but is still willing to give a chance. I can definitely see why Earth is Spectre’s Ignis. He is socially awkward and keeps mentioning it.
I forgot to mention this, but when Aqua mentioned the rift between the Ignis about how to deal with the Humans, the first thing that crossed my mind was how Windy would betray them by having a role in destroying the Cyberse. If he wants the others to join his cause, what better way than to frame the Humans for it? I don’t think his ‘illusions’ and mean tricks were just for show.
I am really curious as to how Spectre and Earth would interact with each other. Earth could very well serve him as a partner that helps keeps him grounded, but Spectre’s chaotic personality and how closely aligned he is to Revolver, forming a partnership may prove to be difficult. And should Earth be unable to partner ship with Spectre because of that, this is how we can possibly see other characters (such as Aoi or even Kusanagi) to serve as a substitute partner to be paired off with.
I don’t want to be pessimistic, but Earth’s appearance and element, if someone other than Specter to be his partner, it seems to leaning more towards Go. Go is big and bulky and his monsters are EARTH element. Plus, G-Golem Deck somehow feels fitting for Go too. And also, since the studio doesn’t seem to have any intention to get rid of Go, it’s possible to happen. In fact, perhaps by partnering with Earth Go will grow as a character. Honestly, when seeing Earth, I have this vibe that Earth is meant for Go instead of Specter.
Aqua’s color palette also matches with both Blue Angel and Blue Girl. I won’t be surprised if she ‘somehow’ got partnered with Aoi instead of her original partner.
Windy is still the most suspicious so far, but I already have suspicion on Light too for a long time because of the symbol that Bohman and Haru have resembles his. I wonder if they’re on the side who views humans as enemies as opposed to Ai and Flame.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL You caught me ignoring OnizukaAh yes, I as much as I hate to admit it, I agree. Earth does strike me as someone who would match with Onizuka as well.
Yeah Light’s situation is super ambiguous at the moment, but the markings definitely match so he is involved one way or another, be it the victim or the assailant.
IF Windy truly betrayed the Ignis, then I’m guessing that Windy is Jin’s partner. Why? Windy might be feeling distrustful of humans if he’s aware of the mental state Jin’s been in.
Ooooooohhh that’s a really interesting perspective! I like it!
I fucking love the scene where Crystal Heart appeared, the music, the slow change on the background… damn… that was beautiful.
THE FEELLLLSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! It was a beautiful transition Q A Q
I think this is a good episode.
For now, I know for a fact that Ignis and their human counterparts do not physically resemble each other–they only share a mental connection. I’m not sure how tall Spectre is, but he’s probably the tallest of the victims if a physical connection were to be implemented. For all we can know, Aqua might actually be Jin’s Ignis due to their missing or incapacitated status in the plot. Perhaps, Bohman’s squad took Jin’s consciousness as leverage to lure out his Ignis partner, who could be Aqua or the Light Ignis. I don’t think it’s Windy due to his animosity towards humans–if his human partner was held hostage, he probably wouldn’t care. Aqua’s a mysterious case because she seems to be neutral.
I feel like one of the Ignis betrayed his brethren because Ai hid the Cyberse world–meaning that one of the Ignis must have found an escape route and/or used Ai’s concealment to destroy the Cyberse world. Why? I don’t know, but it seems like creating a new home seems to be an Ignis’ priority, so destroying it and trying to create an isolated world might be the enemies’ ultimate goal. Perhaps, they wanted to create a world where they don’t need Ai.
Also, remember that Ignis have free will, so they’re able to lie. The Ignis’ words have to be taken with a grain of salt because any one of them, minus Ai and Flame, could be lying. Earth could be lying. Aqua could be lying. Windy could be lying. Any one of them could be liars.
The boss of Bohman is probably the Light Ignis or a special Divine Ignis that Dr. Kogami created based on himself just in case his plans were to be foiled. Bohman is probably a special AI that the Light Ignis created. I just hope Bohman and Haru appear sometime in the future because there’s still so little we know about the enemies.
Also, I think Soulburner/Takeru isn’t in this episode because Flame really wants to turn Takeru’s Duel Disk into a car. I bet in episode 68, we’ll see Flame in his new Duel Disk mini car to rival Ai’s flying Duel Disk.
Based on what we know about them right now, my number one suspect as the traitor amongst the Ignis is Windy. We’ll see if anything changes once we get to know Light and Aqua better, Earth strikes me as the neutral type so as long as he doesn’t get screwed over/manipulated by the enemies.
Its funny that Earth is spectres ai when he acts so much like yusaku at least the way he talks and thinks really reminds me of him
I have a feeling that the one controlling Bohman could be the light ignis