AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WHAT KIND OF ENDING WAS THAT?! I didn’t expect that at all, and now I can’t stop laughing, it was so cheesy! But hey, at least Emma didn’t lose her account!
So Emma and Blood Shepherd (Kengo Dojun) are not twins as I mainly assumed them to be, but are actually siblings because their father was a dick. I find it rather ridiculous the man who had passed away from an illness last year asked Emma to look out for her half-brother, when he was the one who made the decision to leave them and neglect them. Like, what the hell? That’s not her responsibility! I think the biggest joke of all was how hearing that his father asked her to look out for him was enough to spare her. Honestly, with the kind of grudge personality Blood Shepherd has, I expected him to lash out from that and be (rightfully) pissed off how his father never actually tried to reach out to him. But whatever.
This is probably why I found myself a but disappointed to see Blood Shepherd actually spare Emma. Of course it has been somewhat established in the past he does have a soft spot of a sorts for her as her half-brother, having saved her from being killed during a co-op mission in the past. However, that kind of flimsy foundation is far too weak to justify his actions considering we now know the two of them have never actually interacted with each other in person. What’s even more, Blood Shepherd only learned today that Emma knew about him being her half-brother because she decided to investigate him. So Blood Shepherd choosing to spare her, honestly felt out of character, and a decision used for the sake of convenience.
However I’m going to be real here, the duel was an absolute snooze fest. I couldn’t care less what was going on, much less their backstory. It sorely lacked the sass and wit we love from Emma, while Blood Shepherd actually did what he does best, bluff his way through the duel and successfully outwitted her. I am surprised she took his words for granted. You would think she would have known better after having observed so many of his duels. In fact, it was so underwhelming, I actually didn’t care that she lost.
Meanwhile the duel was happening, Aoi and Aqua had a bit of alone time to discuss and formally establish their partnership. It was this moment that pulled my heartstrings, especially seeing Miyu suffer the same way Takeru and Yuusaku had. Everyone had a different resolve to push through, for Yuusaku it was think of three things, and for Miyu was to be courageous so she can get out and meet Aoi again. Also someone pointed it out last week, yes! Miyu started wearing Aoi’s pig-tails too! MY HEART!!!!!
But what shocked me the most was seeing Aoi undergo yet another transformation. I have to admit, I was a bit bummed out because I am a huge fan of her sporty design, but damn, her avatar as Blue Maiden is freaking drop dead gorgeous. There is definitely a bit of Miyu in the design, since we did see she has long hair. And goodness, Takeru looked starstruck! Just as you expect the guy. What a flashy way to join the team Aoi, haha!
And I must say, this has to be the cheesiest way to join the team. They see Aqua and Aoi had formed a partnership, and instead of asking questions of how the hell that happened, they were like, “OKAY ALL ABOARD TO SAVE THE WORLD!!!!!” I was in tears because I was laughing so hard. This was way too corny!
In all, while the duel was a boring one, at least this episode had other moments that made it worth watching. It was a lot cheesier than I anticipated it to be, but at least it managed to entertain enough me to laugh. Also the animation was super solid this week! I absolutely love they are continuing to add the personal touch to the Sychro Summon as they have done for Link Summons. This was definitely the best version of the Synchro Summon we have seen yet. It was very memorable!
Next week, it looks like Revolver is attempting to recruit Blood Shepherd to join his cause. Now this is an unexpected development, but it actually makes so much sense. SOL Technology’s ambitions doesn’t align with Blood Shepherd’s, so it would only make sense for him to leave the company and join an alliance who shares the same, or at least similar sentiments against A.I. And I think would be a great move considering we will officially have all these characters who weren’t part of any major team, choose the side of the war they want to be on. Onizuka chose to stick with SOL Technology, who wants to capture the Ignis to makes use of them for their own profitable gains, Aoi and Emma chose to join the cause to fight for co-existence, and now it looks like Blood Shepherd may join the Hanoi Knights (and he BETTER, because I don’t want to see an episode wasting time on him if he isn’t!)
Ah, I just hope we will be able to see Aoi, Takeru and Yuusaku all interact with each other next week…
Honestly, I think Blood Shepherd sparing Ghost Girl does show that there is a humane side underneath all that baggage. He still cares for his mother as he was by her bedside last episode, so there might be some lingering attachment towards his father despite hating him (human emotions/relationships are very complex). Seeing how his father still thought of him despite abandoning him and his mother does show that Blood Shepherd does care for humans, or what’s left of his blood relations (though his dad is still a dick). The only thing he truly hates are AI. Maybe I’m just over thinking his actions.
Blue Maiden’s design is gorgeous yet I feel like it’s a tad over-designed. Though, it does fit Aoi’s theme of escapism as Blue Maiden is most likely based off of a magical girl more than her other two avatars; she probably wanted to have a more heroic look and BM fits it to the bill. I love how she flips the hair color with the light blue being more dominate than the dark blue.
The duel was a bit boring, but I did like the Synchro monsters they revealed. I guess they shortened it to one episode since both BS and GG play very effect-heavy decks, so dragging the duel will only get boring as they have to keep explaining effects and negating damage…kind of like an endless game of ping-pong.
I do like how the number 3, the core number for VRAINS, applies to this episode a lot. BS defeated GG in three turns; BS/Kengo is revealed to be the third older brother character of this anime; there are three sibling dynamics now with blood siblings (Kusanagi brothers), step-siblings (Zaizens) and half-siblings (Kengo and Ema); Aoi having a third avatar; Aqua being the third Ignis joining the co-existence faction; three heroes on their way to saving Link VRAINS, and so forth. I hope that PM, SB, and BM all have satisfying duels in future episodes.
Also, I love how Ai just cuts off Flame as the latter tries to explain what his name means.
No I think you’re absolutely right. Blood Shepherd hates A.I not Humans. And it’s better that he has a humane side as you say, haha. At the very least they have established he has a soft side— at least towards though who are part of his family (since he didn’t give a damn about trying to exploit Takeru’s trauma).
I actually did not like Blood Shepherd at all, but this episode actually made me like him a bit. I guess I do like how he’s not all that one-dimensional as I assumed before.
I do admit Blood Shepherd was somewhat out of character, but I think he does hold a soft spot for Emma as she is the only member of his family left now that their father passed away and his mother knocked into a coma during the accident. I definitely enjoyed the animation this week. Plus Ghost Girl has a Synchro Monster for Altergeists. I was genuinely pleased by that. Although we didn’t get any sass this week from Ghost Girl, it shows how serious she can be in terms of her life being in danger in Link VRAINS. I think today’s episode shows that she has loved ones and does genuinely care for her family, even her half-brother Kengo.
For Aoi and Aqua, I’m so glad they finally teamed up with each other. They both want to save Miyu and the war has become personal for Aoi. I was happy to see her tie her hair up in pigtails to remind herself of Aoi and how much she wants to see her again. I guess Aoi is like the Ryoken for Miyu. I felt so sorry seeing Miyu being electrocuted like the young Yusaku and Takeru were. At least she was able to stay strong like Yusaku did. Looks like Aqua doesn’t reside in an older modeled Duel Disk like Ai and Flame. I’m perfectly fine with that.
Blue Maiden looked just about exactly as imagined her! I think Blue Maiden is now my favorite avatar for Aoi. I agree, she’s absolutely gorgeous and seems like the look was inspired by the ocean as Blue Maiden has a striking similarity to a mermaid. She looks so beautiful and elegant. I believe Blue Maiden is pretty much Aoi’s ultimate avatar. It’s basically a hybrid of characteristics from Blue Angel and Blue Girl. She has long hair again and wears a dress like Blue Angel, but the dress is still good enough for free movement and riding a D-Board like Blue Girl. I think the avatar change is a symbol of Aoi’s character evolving and becoming more mature over time. this case, I felt like Aoi becomes more beautiful as she matured. I just loved Soulburner’s reaction to Blue Maiden. It almost seemed like he had a crush on her. Even Flame was impressed. Playmaker didn’t have the same reaction as Soulburner, but he did express some surprise. I’m really happy that Playmaker, Soulburner, and Blue Maiden are now a team to stop Lightning. Soulburner has pretty much taken Go’s place this season as one of the main characters while Blue Maiden will hopefully get more screen time and a much more major role in the series.
Oh, and Takeru won’t be speaking in the next episode. Only Yusaku and Aoi will. I do hope when episode 79 comes along, the trio will encounter Lightning. I’m sure Lightning will be shocked to see Aqua has partnered with Blue Maiden even though she’s not an Ignis Origin. I really do want to see Aoi finally figure out Yusaku and Takeru are Playmaker and Soulburner respectively. I’m sure once she figures out, she’ll start hanging out with them more often at school.
It seems legit to me, it’s obvious that was not his sister’s fault.
However, Blood Sherped could not contain his anger after seeing how his father had a daughter with another woman. Instinctively hatred also fell on Enma.
Anyways, BS was facing Enma because she was protecting the IAs.
I see Yusaku in danger of keeping his identity secret from Aoi.
Aqua will be able to rat him and Takeru out easily. She could easily identify Aoi, so let’s see if her powers will also identify Takeru and Yusaku.
LMFAO! Yup, I can’t wait. Imagine Aoi just going to the food truck for a snack and Aqua is like, “Oh hey Playmaker!” LOL.
Man, I find it fascinating every duel I enjoy is one that puts you to sleep. I guess that has to do with my background of actually playing the game my self. One of my big hype moments was seeing GG open up with Infinite Impermanence – A powerful staple in meta Altergeist decks. It made me think that she’s not playing around this time.
While I’m a little sad to see Blue Girl go so soon after her inception, I gotta admit. She DID look a biiiiiit too similar to GG in terms of design (right down to the belt buckle). Now it feels like she finally come into her own.
Some people may view the NotPK duel to be a waste of time but I think it was important to show how A. BS hasn’t completely gone off the rails (yet) and B. it’s possible GG was using the information she got on Kenjo to worm her way out getting her account deleted.
Just saying. I wouldn’t put it past her.
Haha, indeed! Those who play the game will certainly have more appreciation and pick up the details of the duel, where as those like myself who don’t play the game won’t notice it and will unfortunately miss out on it.
Ah man I’m going to miss BG’s design too. It’s a shame it was so short-lived. But man Blue Maiden is GORGEOUSSSSSSSSS~
Good point about the writers showing BS’ merciful side as a sign he hasn’t lost his humanity, where as Onizuka is a total goner.
Also, excellent point about GG using that info as her hidden card. I wouldn’t wouldn’t past her either haha!
The most insulting part was how Emma would’ve completely curb-stomped her half-brother if Shin Yoshida didn’t pull the strings behind the scenes. Let me show you the full process (and HOW it should’ve turned out):
Turn 1 (Blood Shepherd): During his End Phase, Emma activates Impermanence on Drone Corporal, triggering her Multifaker and summoning Meluseek.
Turn 2 (Emma): Emma’s hand contains Marionetter, Fifinellag, and Kunquery. As she does in the episode, she Link Summons Hextia, searching another copy of Multifaker off of Meluseek. However, because she used Impermanence on Blood Shepherd’s turn, Multifaker is actually live now. She Normal Summons Marionetter, setting and activating Haunted Rock to discard Fifinellag. Multifaker triggers in hand, Special Summoning itself from hand and Silquitous from Deck. Multifaker and Hextia are used to Link Summon a second copy of Hextia , which searches a Protocol from Deck (yes, Manifestation would be better, but given the information she has, Protocol is the safer play). The rest of the turn proceeds as it does in the episode. Hextia sends Enchanted Rock to the GY to Special Summon not Fifinellag, but Meluseek in Attack Position. Battle Phase. Meluseek makes a direct attack, attempting to send Blood Shepherd’s Set card to the GY, but Blood Shepherd negates the attack with Drone Asteroid. Because he only has two remaining main monster zones, he only gains two tokens. Hextia attacks Drone Corporal, but Blood Shepherd activates his Set Capture Drone. Rather than negate with Hextia, Emma chains Silquitous’ effect, bouncing both Meluseek and Capture Drone. The attack continues (Blood Shepherd LP 4000 > 2500). Marionetter attacks and destroys one of the Drone Tokens. Emma sets Protocol and passes turn.
Turn 3 (Blood Shepherd): Blood Shepherd’s hand contains Drone Carrier, Capture Drone, and Drone Force Tuning. He still controls a single Drone Token. He considers his options. The only Link Monsters he is able to summon are Battledrone Sergeant and Medicdrone Dock, neither of which will help him on their own. Even if he did have a convenient Link-2 or Level 3 Synchro, Emma still has Silquitous and Protocol, so it would have to be hella broken to save him right now. His Skill won’t help much, either. His best bet is to set every card in his hand and pass turn. During his End Phase, Emma activates Silquitous’ effect, returning Marionetter and one of his set backrow to the hand.
Turn 4 (Emma): Emma Normal Summons Marionetter, setting Manifestation from Deck. She activates her Set Protocol, then activates Marionetter to send Protocol to the GY and summon back Fifinellag. She Synchro Summons Dragvirion, switches Silquitous to Attack Position, and enters her Battle Phase. If, at this point, Blood Shepherd still has his Capture Drone set, she can simply negate it with Hextia tributing Dragvirion. Silquitous kills the Token, Dragviron runs over his Drone Carrier, and Hextia swings for game (Blood Shepherd LP 2500 > 0).
…why do I feel like I’m the only one here who followed everything you just said? But yeah, konami really shot themselves in the foot making Altergeists as powerful as they are because now every loss Emma gets comes off as unjustified.
Opened up with Infinite Impermanence (didn’t see it coming) and could’ve just OTK’ed this pathetic excuse of a “ruthless” hunter but nah, a stupid handtrap to bail his ass and pulling an undeserved win…
Congratulations, this episode made me despise Blood Shepherd even more. His blind rage logic due to his father leaving him for another woman (a morally CORRECT thing to do and I definitely 100% approve of because a significantly MORE likable character in Bessho Emma was born) was absolutely stupid and pathetic. Also, nothing against Aoi, but her changing her avatar appearance AGAIN to resemble mature woman was a mixed bag for me.
(Besides, what’s up with everyone playing Synchros all of a sudden? Probably won’t be long for Xyzs and Pendulums to make their debuts.)
Nonetheless, next episode’s preview makes me relieved that REVOLVER is gonna put Blood Shepherd in his place.
You know what’s really stupid and pathetic: how you just said that Kengo’s dad leaving his family and having married another woman was a good thing. Do you realize how wrong that sounds? Kengo had every right to be mad. Hell, anyone would be if they learned their parent abandoned them, but later found out that they started another family. You have to be pretty messed up in the head to actually say that was a good thing.
And there you go harping on Yoshida again about how he writes the female characters. They may not be his strong suit, but how their protrayed in VRAINS is an improvement compared to how he wrote them in Zexal. Just look at how much development Aoi had in the first season for proof. It’s not perfect, but hey, it’s still progress.
As for the duel, did you ever stop to think that maybe Emma’s loss had more to do with how meta her deck has become than with Yoshida’s writing? Even if you had a male character take over Emma’s role using her deck, Kengo still would have won.
So how about toning down the hate a little on what YOU don’t like about the season because it’s playing out differently from how YOU want it to. And I’d really consider thinking over what your gonna say, because it your going to keep making comments like what you said about Kengo’s dad leaving him and his mother was a GOOD thing just because you don’t like his character, then don’t even bother commenting on here anymore.
Disappointed with the Duel, but at least Emma and Kengo’s backstory, another Miyu revelation, and Blue Maiden made up for it. I knew it! Miyu did to her hair to remember Aoi! It shows how strong their friendship is even after years apart!
I’m not so surprised that BS decided not to delete GG. Glad that he still has a bit of humanity. But we still didn’t get an explanation of what happened between them after Emma saved Soulburner from him. Oh, well.
Definitely loving Blue Maiden’s design! Truly fitting for Aqua’s partner as it shows more Water themes. I wonder if Aoi will add and start using Water based monsters from now on since Aqua has became her partner. And now that they have partnered up, I hope Yusaku and the others would consider revealing their identities to Aoi. Although, using Aqua’s ability, she could just flat out reveal them to Aoi.
I absolutely loving Playmaker-Soulburner-Blue Maiden three team more than Playmaker-Go Onizuka-Blue Angel three team in the previous season!
They better change the Opening now that Aoi changed her avatar for the third time! I doubt we’ll get a new Opening since it seems the studio now decides to stick with one Opening per season instead of two like series before, so at least change the Opening sequence a bit!
I have this burning feeling deep inside my soul that none of this was planned. I don’t feel like they ever intended for “Ghost Girl” and “Blood Shepherd” to be siblings. That kind of reveal isn’t something any decent writer would be able to resist hinting at. The “half-sibling” excuse is to probably justify why their designs are so different.
But I really don’t care. These two are the most pointless characters in the show.