Episode 83
Episode 83 was another hybrid recap, but I have to say I am glad they were able to make it entertaining to watch, so I appreciate the effort they put into it to make it so. The highlight of course, was seeing them acknowledged the fact everyone nobody can stand Naoki’s character. Maybe this means they will cut down his air time in the future, because good lord, the guy is annoying and creepy.
But like their past hybrid episodes, a little bit of new details were trickled through. We got to see how Yuusaku was still upset about what has happened to Onizuka. He is upset about what SOL has done, and is angry how corporation treats both Humans and Ignis like tools. This is why he told Ai once the battle against Lightning is over, they must part ways so Ai and the others can hide away and live their lives in peace. He even went as far as promising he and Kusanagi would do something to help them build a new home, somewhere where they be safe and sound. Although the day they must part ways is still a long way ahead of us, just the thought of it actually made me tear up. I absolutely love the bond that was developed between Ai and Yuusaku, and it’s going to be heart-wrenching to see them go their separate ways.
Then there is the new alliance agreement with Ryoken. Having met him in person, and received the program to be protected from Lightning’s attacks, Ai and Yuusaku are pretty much the only ones of the gang who are giving him the benefit of the doubt. The girls were skeptical, including Aqua who is wary of his intentions, but Takeru of all people, is the one who absolutely won’t have it. When I think about it, until now, Takeru and Ryoken haven’t really had time to have a proper confrontation. But now that it’s happening, we’re seeing the bottled up anger and grudge Takeru has towards the Hanoi Knights, especially Ryoken as their leader for having ruined his life, and blames the death of his parents on him. It just goes to show, even though Takeru appears bubbly on the surface, internally, he is still broken and left to pick up the pieces. He hasn’t had the opportunity to get the kind of closure Yuusaku had, and maybe he can get a bit of it through his duel against Ryoken. It’s hard to say who should win in this position, personally I think it should be Ryoken should be given the edge.
That being said, while it makes sense for the two of them to duel before they are to establish their temporary alliance, it does disappoint me a bit we have to wait another episode or so before the big fight finally begins.
On the side note, it doesn’t look like Ryoken intends to make any formal announcements to Link VRAINS at this time, and perhaps, it’s for the best.
Episode 84
Wow, I am so pleasantly surprised to see the duel between Takeru and Ryoken didn’t actually play out, especially with Takeru was in a fit of rage and was not thinking rationally whatsoever. He recklessly put Flame’s life on the line, but luckily for him, even though Ryoken agreed to the conditions, in the end he had no intention to duel. Instead, he was willing to be a punching bag for Takeru to vent his anger on. But that only frustrated Takeru further because that’s not how he wants to win, so he quickly called it off. This whole outburst just goes to show even though he appears to be pretty stable on the outside, on the inside, he still broken and has a lot of healing to do. It was a heavy moment, especially when we see Yuusaku watching him spill out his emotions. He understands how much pain Takeru is in.
Since Takeru was so upset, Ryoken made the decision to reveal his identity. Yuusaku stepped in to explain how he’s the same age as them, and was the whistle-blower that saved them. It’s going to take a lot of time for Takeru to get used to Ryoken, but perhaps rather than a duel between them, what may grant Takeru the closure he so desperately needs is simply Ryoken being there for him in time of need. In fact, I think it would be great for the two of them to work together, a tag-duel would be fun to see.
And so with that a temporary alliance is formed between them, he takes them to the original Link VRAINS server. There Ryoken reveals the reason why he was searching for talented programmers like Kengo. It turns out, he intends to make use of the Tower of Hanoi by modding it so they can create a powerful scan to pin-point Lightning’s location. To ensure he doesn’t betray them, he gives them the security of being able to have control over the tower. Through their efforts, they discovered Lightning is hidden in a mirror world of LINK VRAINS, which takes us to the next stage of the battle.
Those who are traveling to the mirror world are Yuusaku, Aoi and Takeru, alongside Ryoken and Spectre, and surprisingly, the Pigeon and the Frog (which I can see them making use of for anymore recap episodes in the future). Meanwhile, Emma will be monitoring the status of LINK VRAINS’s active server. The scan process is so powerful that it does have side-effects in the network, which means players who are in the server can actually see the distortion. It seems Akira didn’t get the memo this was going to happen, because even though he is overriding orders by doing his own thing (hell, I’m surprised he’s even still there! How the hell is he not fired yet? Much less, why are they letting him do whatever he wants?).
In all, not a lot happened this episode, but it did what it had to do to apply the final touches to kicking off the next stage. Besides the duel being called off, another thing I really enjoyed was seeing Flame act as Takeru’s guardian of a sorts. In fact he kind of reminded me of a parent. He understood Takeru was struggling with his emotions, and didn’t get upset at him for his rash behaviour. Instead, he pulled him aside and the two of them had a conversation where Flame helped calm him down by explaining how Ryoken didn’t have to approach him, but he did. He didn’t tell him to forgive him, but at least the very least Flame’s assurance will help him have a bit more of a peace of mind when it comes to their temporary alliance.
As for the Mirror World, I am curious to see how long they will be there for. Obviously they will have to log out at some point because they can’t just leave their bodies in the real world for too long. There is also the major hint dropped in this episode, of how Ai was able to give Robopoppi an upgrade to make her smarter. I am curious to see if this will actually be something that will protect her in the long run from Lightning’s interference when he and Windy will surely look to hijack the A.I. in the real world. Regardless Ai’s instinct that something terrible is going to happen certainly isn’t far off, and perhaps enhancing Robopoppi was actually him subconsciously applying precautionary measures.
Anyhow, I am really excited for next week’s duel, especially since Haru is finally stepping into the spotlight. All this time, he has been one of the most mysterious characters. The conversation held between him and Bohman today was quite fascinating in the way we’re seeing how Bohman feels so strongly for Haru, despite knowing Haru’s role, he still considers and cherishes him as his little brother. What’s more interesting is that we learned the two of them are due to merge together in the future, a piece of detail that hasn’t been mentioned until now. So it goes to show Haru does have larger role than just being Bohman’s retainer, and is perhaps serves as the key to unlock his complete form.
First off, I actually kinda liked the recap in episode 83. Of course Team Playmaker is incredibly apprehensive of Revolver and why he wants to recruit them to the Knights of Hanoi. I mean, each of them has a personal grudge against Hanoi and Ghost Girl seemed the most suspicious especially after what happened to her before the Tower of Hanoi incident. I was kinda glad Blue Maiden remembered Aqua’s ability to differentiate between the truth and the lies. Aqua is an excellent lie detector for Team Playmaker if they feel somewhat doubtful about someone. And Brave Max. Uggh. Don’t even remind me. He took things way too far this time with Frog and Pigeon hiring him to get a big scoop on Playmaker. I mean, he told them Playmaker was his soulmate. That still disgusts me way too much.
Now for this week’s episode, I thought it was amazing! I’m quite surprised the duel ended up being no result. Revolver’s hand was really good, but he chose to hold back anyway. I didn’t expect that from him. I guess he must have felt sorry for Soulburner and felt that he deserved to be a punching bag for Soulburner’s anger. That’s why he took those blows without resistance. I have to say, seeing Soulburner so angry was extremely surprising. Then again, he hasn’t been able to move on from the Lost Incident like Playmaker did only fairly recently. I mean, if he actually disregarded Flame when he was trying to calm him down, that’s how bad it is. I’m glad Playmaker stepped in before things got uglier. For once, he actually defended Revolver by saying that the Lost Incident was not Revolver’s fault and that he rescued them and the other victims. Plus Revolver deciding to reveal he was Ryoken was actually quite surprising too. Now the other members of Team Playmaker know his true identity.
I couldn’t believe the Tower of Hanoi still existed within the old Link VRAINS. How ironic that Team Playmaker would be the ones to help reactivate the tower, especially since the Tower almost killed everyone back in season 1. Ghost Girl certainly hasn’t forgotten what Revolver did to her after she lost to him. That moment was extremely painful for me to watch, but that event was what lead me to eventually feel more sympathetic towards Emma. And I’m sure Blue Maiden remembers what happened to her personally when Revolver brainwashed her during her duel against Playmaker. I had a feeling Blue Maiden would be the one to ask about Revolver possibly double-crossing them and trying to kill their Ignis partners if they were to accept this alliance and I was right.
All in all, episode 84 was an excellent overview on how Takeru actually feels about the Lost Incident. Until now, we hadn’t really gotten any overview whether Takeru was able to move on from the Lost Incident or not. Flame calming down Takeru was good. Flame actually made him see sense that Revolver genuinely was sorry and asked him to join despite not being an excellent programmer like Yusaku to show that. I think Takeru gained some newfound confidence as a result. I could tell because his voice seemed stronger and not as soft-spoken before heading into Link VRAINS to begin the mission.
I think Ai left a good parting gift for Roboppy and that he did truly fulfill his end of the bargain by making her smarter. Ai must know this might be the last time he might see Roboppy as he wasn’t able to make her AI smarter before he left the first time after the end of season 1. Roboppy’s getting better at sarcasm and definitely has gotten a lot smarter by being around Ai, even if he didn’t upgrade her AI until now.
Well, I’m actually excited to see Team Playmaker and the Knights of Hanoi work together for once. They each have their own role to fulfill, and doing their individual roles well is what will increase the success of the mission. The Hanoi lieutenants and Kusanagi are serving as mission control in case something happens and I was surprised Kusanagi was actually being brave enough to even offer to go with Yusaku and Takeru on this mission. I’m glad the Tower was reactivated and Lightning’s faction has been found. So Windy decided to wear an eye patch and a torn cape to cover his injuries. He looks he’s recovering more, but still doesn’t look great.
Anyway, super excited for next week’s episode too. Blue Maiden vs. Haru after all! I mean, it’s Blue Maiden and Aqua’s first duel together. I wonder what kind of deck she’ll use. If it’s Trickstar, then the public’s gonna find out she’s Blue Angel as the final battles will be televised by Frog and Pigeon. Although I do think Aqua might give her her own Water Cyberse deck. That would be cool to see.
For episode 83, I quite like the heart-to-heart Yusaku, Ai, Takeru and Flame had. It shows a lot of progression in Yusaku’s character. I also love how he’s smiling more often now–though, only towards Ai and Takeru. I feel like Yusaku has a soft spot towards Takeru.
Episode 84, I did feel like the duel having no result was the best since it wouldn’t be fair for both of them. The Takeru development was very nice to see. I’m gonna miss Takeru and Flame’s interaction once they separate–they’re opposites but they compliment each other so well since.
I wonder if Haru’s role is going to be him contemplating his newfound feelings for Bohman. Maybe, what he really wants is to be family with Bohman but since AI cannot grasp such a concept, he probably will try to learn from another fellow younger sibling, Blue Maiden.
The one thing I miss about Arc V was their huge cast of interesting characters.
But Vrains’ plot and execution…..THIS WAS SOMETHING I HONESTLY WANTED TO SEE IN ARC V, AND IN OTHER SERIES- the logic and flow throughout the story. Who expected the Tower of Hanoi from Year 1 to make a comeback to serve as a different purpose in Year 2? Previous series shelved plot devices after they were used and never thought of reusing them. I don’t recall older Yu-Gi-Ohs doing something like the Tower of Hanoi.
Vrains ended up dragging out the plot and world-building a bit too long (and it looks like Year 1’s recaps are starting to affect the story even more) but the way I see it based on recent spoilers, is that no matter how short on time they are, the staff are sticking with the original plan and NOT plan on giving a simplified, out-of-nowhere solution that leaves a lot to be desired (cough, cough, Arc V). The intricate level doesn’t disappoint. Go strong, Vrains!
I feel the exact same way. I also agree, the first year of recap hell is definitely starting to have its effects. But as long as they choose to stick to the original plan and make the best of it, I’m right behind them. More than anything, it forces them to plan carefully and make the most of the episodes since they can’t afford to waste anytime. I am extremely optimistic for the upcoming stage of the series. As you said, it’s great to see them make use of the Tower of Hanoi again!
What happened to ARC-V was simply a tragedy. It was very apparent due to the internal conflicts behind the scenes, and it’s easy to pin-point when they gave up on the series. 🙁
The moment I saw Naoki, I immediately skip the first and later part that showed him in Episode 83. Seriously, why are there even people who’re still watching his stupidity? Fortunately that the interaction between Yusaku and his friends are saving this episode. And Yusaku’s smile is a huge plus! This is one of the most heart-warming moments I have ever watched in Vrains!
I was excited to watch the Duel between Revolver and Soulburner, so episode 84 was honestly a let down for me. I understand the reason, but I still want to see a true Duel between them. Although, when Takeru is like that, I won’t be happy if he wins, especially when he just rashly betting Flame like that. Good thing that Flame is being mature and understanding here. I gotta agree with Takeru that Flame understands humans more than Takeru himself there.
They’re finally working together. I’m a bit sad that Ghost Girl is not joining them, which possibly means her chances for action again would be low and gotta wait for longer time in the future. And then Yusaku and Ryoken, Yusaku has admitted that both of them have different goals in mind, but Yusaku hasn’t given up hope that they can find another path for the future together. Ryoken said he’ll remember that, but I’m still doubting that will happen because Revolver still sees all Ignis as threat.
The next episode, to my happpiness, will finally show Haru dueling! I’ve been waiting g for him to get an action! And from the preview, looks like Haru will develop feelings more than Lightning has ordered him to, making him and Bohman another AIs will free will. I wonder how Yusaku and the others will take it if they see Bohman and Haru act like real brothers caring for each other. Kusanagi’s, especially, will be able to relate. Speaking of which, when are we gonna see Kusanagi ”betraying” (?) Yusaku? The dread of waiting is too much!
After watching this episode, it makes me thinking…compared to the other series spin-offs, Vrains has shorter cast. It makes me a bit sad remembering Arc-V has a large wonderful cast, but unable to get a grip on their focus on the characters and the story that it ended not so satisfyingly. Vrains was quite a mess with the constant recap in Season 1, but it’s shorter cast allows the series proper focus on each of the characters and their stories instead of piling them up. I hope they’ll continue this way with Vrains so it won’t end with a tragedy…!
With the way the series has been going so far, I am truly believe the change of the directors was probably one of the best thing to happen to this series, especially considering he hasn’t worked on previous titles before.
I am also very intrigued by the fact both Bohman and Haru are rapidly developing feelings unlike Windy and Lightning. It would be quite poetic to see Lightning’s own creation be his own downfall. As someone who wasn’t initially excited about Bohman’s character, i am really looking forward to seeing how his and Haru’s characters will flesh out/evolve in the future.
It seems this week’s episode really made a lot us look back at ARC-V thinking of all the things it could have been.. ; v ;
RIP ARC-V, it will always have a special place in our hearts.
I did watch episode 83 before in a Chinese website, and goddamn they did conclude 2018 with another bloody recap… Worse, New Year didn’t start in a good mood either as they set everything up to disappointment- Ryoken VS Takeru, building up from the previous year and then they tossed it aside which killed the mood. Also felt awkward at how this alliance went where they kept forgetting another true threat behinds the shadows- SOL Tech itself. Heck the conversation could’ve gone another way:
Soulburner: Revolver! It’s been 10 years since that incident! 10 years since my parents died looking for me! All because of you! And today, I avenge them… by beating you in a Children’s Trading Card Game!
Playmaker: “Hold up! Didn’t you tell me a car killed your parents? Revolver was 8, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t behind the wheel.”
Blue Maiden: “Wait! A car killed your parents too? Same as mine”
Ghost Girl: “Oh great, my older (half) brother was also in a car accident.”
Playmaker: “Y’know what guys, screw this whole Lightning & SOL Tech bullshit, these homicidal cars are the true threat we must face.”
The next episode’s preview also sickened me because of the sudden rush of characterization of Haru when we all know he did jackshit this entire time. I swear if they use it as a justification of stomping Aoi to the ground again (with Aqua on her side this time), it’s going to be another dark chapter written for Yugioh females being treated as shit.
There are shounen mangas with really well-written female character…. which puzzles me since Yu-Gi-Oh! Is well known they could have simply enlisted the help of one such writer from the outside (if they truly care about the backlash against lack of good female duelists).
In fact they’re doing nothing in the face of complaints about good female characters- the same type of mistakes over and over again. If they can’t have a good one, then just don’t even bother putting one- honesty is better than damaging the series with a main female who makes no contribution at all.
I share the exact same sentiments.
Don’t half-ass it, do it properly, or don’t do it at all.