DAMNNNNNN Aoi was on fire today, and Bohman is impressed by her convictions. He’s certainly mad about what has become of Haru, but he isn’t necessarily blinded by revenge. In fact Bohman is playing pretty cool under fire right now. He even went as far to flex his power to show why Lightning has entrusted the Ignis future to him. In fact I am really enjoying the dynamic between the two, because we have Bohman who is confident and flexing his powers, and Aoi being the sassy girl we love, all while keeping herself grounded and expressing her resolve. My favourite part had to be the final bit of the episode, when she corrected Aqua, telling her “Not two ‘more’. ‘Only’ twice.” I loved it to bits because it was such a strong statement. Aoi’s a fighter, she’s not about to roll over and let him dictate the duel.
This episode also made me realize how much I have come to like Bohman’s character. He is an interesting A.I., he has what Lightning lacks, and he certainly a lot closer to the likes of Aqua, Flame and Ai, if not more Human than meets the eye. And we saw exactly that when Bohman agreed that if she beats him, he will provide her the cure to restore Miyu’s consciousness. It goes to show he is already deviating away from Lighnting’s vision (one which involves enslaving Humanity), but offering a chance to set a Human free. However, I am curious to see whether or not Lightning would try to interfere with that. I can’t imagine he would readily accept Bohman doing such a thing.
And with that thought in mind, it really got me thinking about how Bohman explained to Aoi that he is not Lightning’s puppet. Although Lightning is his creator, Bohman was made with the intention of uniting all the AI. However, does Bohman truly agree with waging in a war against Humanity? And if he decides that he disagrees with Lightning’s approach, would he really be able to go against him? This makes me wonder if Lightning really trust him enough to not have any way of keeping him in check should he choose a different path. Heck, it’s totally possible everything he has told Bohman could be bullshit to convince him otherwise. Lightning doesn’t strike me as the type who would readily accept Bohman shifting away from his own ambitions regardless of the purpose he had created him for, or even become his own enemy. Would Lightning really declare war on Humanity if he didn’t have a few cards up his sleeve?
In all, I am quite pleased to see how this match-up is turning out, especially since this is only the first half. It’s exciting and fun to watch. I think it really helped with Bohman introducing a new Hydradrive monster, since is refreshes his pattern a bit. Truth to be told, I didn’t think much about Aqua having her own unique Crystal Heart after she had given one to Earth, but I am happy to see it back, and have it contribute to Aoi switching up her strategy to use effect damage, enabling her to tap into her usual play-style. I also love how the design of Mariness Crystal Heart aligns with Aoi’s convictions. When I look at it, I can see how it can be used as symbolism, with Miyu as the Heart, and Aqua/Aoi as watery body around it.
But I must say, it was a pretty harsh moment when Aqua told Bohman that Lightning created him against their wishes. I was like, “DAMNNN AQUA, THAT’S COLD GIRL!”. It’s as he says, she is denying his existence. Of course she followed it up with telling him to cut ties with Lightning, don’t hear people and be free, but that really doesn’t soften the blow the slightest.
And lastly, SOL Technology is such a joke. First off, as soon as the mirror world was being revealed, if it was possible at the time (which I am assuming, probably was at the time given Akira was even able to log in), they should have told people to log out, not “Please wait while we investigate the cause of instability.” They are certainly in deep trouble now with players now acutely aware they cannot log out, all while Bohman is demonstrating his power of how LINK VRAINS entirety has become one with him.
Looking forward for next week! GO AOI GO!
For once, I actually have a strong hope that Aoi can win in the next episode. I have to admit that I was sure she would lose right after hearing that Bohman would be her opponent, but this episode totally blew my mind that I found a new hope in Aoi. If she does win, I gotta apologize a big time!
However, considering Bohman’s huge role in Lightning’s plan, I don’t think he’ll lose and deleted like Haru did at this crucial moment. Usually, things will either be the duel end with a Draw or the duel got interrupted or after losing Lightning will interfere to ensure Bohman’s survival. I prefer the third possibility because Aoi truly needs a worthy big win, not just a win only for the sake of giving her better dueling record.
Had kinda expected the duel would have been further along before the episode ending but the dialouge in this episode from Bowman and Aoi and the rest of “Team Playmaker” about Aoi as well as Akira and Emma only added more quality to the episode.
Just as I had predicted it´s gonna be the Overwhelming power vs the Resourcing genius and both are obviously not gonna pull punches.
Aqua and Aoi deserve special points as well for that new Crystal Heart card though I am happy they changed it´s role else the Marincess archtype would need alot more Link-3 and 1 or 2 Link-4 monsters to justify that kind of insane replenishing. Also I don´t know if it´s the archtype or skill that determine it but it certanly is impresive as Yusaku point out to summon a Link-3 without diminshing your hand.
The result is still anyones guess if you ask me though I lean about 65% towards Aoi winning this, one thing I can say for certain is that this duel is allready better than Soulburner Structure deck Commercial.
Lastly what just happened with that insane soundtrack during Bowmans first turn? give us more of that please.
I always did like how Aoi had her optimistic personality prevalent. She never gives up and never falters when situations aren’t in her favor. She just keeps going on. She’s growing into one of my favorite female characters in Yugioh.
Seeing how Blue Maiden said “Only twice” made me realize that the next part will be INSANE. She may not have a lot of dueling screen time, but she’s no pushover in duels especially with her Marincess deck new and improved. Now that she has burn damage alongside hand traps, I can actually see BM winning if she finds a way to counter Bohman’s strategies (sadly, I also have this gut feeling that they’re going to end in a draw).
Also, Miyu’s full name is revealed to be Miyu Sugisaki. I also love how Aqua may be proper and lady-like, but she is so sassy and cold. She kind of reminds me of Rio from Zexal.
Seeing the preview makes me think that Akira will be the type to do something surprising behind the scenes once again. I think that he will find a way to prevent LINK VRAINS from being destroyed IF Bohman were to lose.
I’m holding out for a victory for Aoi, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t see the last of Bohman. My best guess is that if he’ll lose, Lightning would interfere somehow to keep him from being deleted because I’m thinking he’ll be the last opponent Yusaku faces at the end of the season. If not a win, then a draw or the duel gets interrupted, anything just to keep Aoi around. But if that does happen, then I can probably see Bohman absorbing Lightning after he’s been defeated, then going after Ryoken before facing Yusaku. Here’s hoping.
This episode was just so exciting! I’m super excited to see more Marincess monsters from Blue Maiden. The Marincess deck has really grown on me and I believe it serves as an upgraded version of the Trickstars with more card effects that add cards back to your hand. The Trickstars do have a weakness in that, as it’s not easy to retrieve Trickstar spells or traps. With the Marincess deck, it’s easy to retrieve cards from the graveyard so your hand stays full and Playmaker and Ai praised Blue Maiden for her deck’s strength. Not only that, that Marincess Crystal Heart is so beautiful too! So Earth can still fight alongside Team Playmaker in his own way. I’m so glad Blue Maiden figured out a way to incorporate G Golem Crystal Heart into her deck by evolving it into Marincess Crystal Heart!
Yeah, I was also surprised by how Aqua was so cold towards Bohman. But I definitely don’t blame her. Lightning imprisoning her before destroying the Cyberse World and then infecting Miyu with a virus is totally unforgivable! Underneath Aqua’s elegant lady-like disposition is also someone quite cold and fairly sharp-tongued towards her enemies. What Aqua said about no one asking Lightning to create Bohman reminded me of what Revolver said to Ai about him not being asked to help save Link VRAINS along with Playmaker. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who sensed Aqua’s change in character towards Bohman while still retaining her ladylike politeness and composure.
I’m definitely cheering on Blue Maiden in this duel, but I’m also quite afraid that she isn’t going to win as Bohman isn’t gonna be easy to defeat. However, it does seem too soon for Blue Maiden and Aqua to be separated. She is putting up a good fight though. I will say this though. I do admire Blue Maiden’s courage and determination and how she was still unfazed even after Bohman showed off his power as he claimed to be Link VRAINS and Link VRAINS is him. When it comes to Miyu, she’s very quick on the defensive and seems quite protective of Miyu and that also extends to Aqua too as Miyu’s Ignis partner. Blue Maiden was definitely quite sassy when she was retelling the story of how Lightning and his team were trying to conquer humanity and Miyu was infected with Lightning’s computer virus. She did say “Once upon a time…”. I was thinking, “Ooh, you’re getting quite sassy, Aoi!”. Other than that, Blue Maiden is definitely not arrogant as she used to be as Blue Angel now that I’m looking back at it. She doesn’t count her chickens before they hatch now, which is good as I remembered she did that during her duels against Spectre and Soulburner.
It seems that Playmaker and Soulburner recognize Blue Maiden as their equal, even more so with this episode. They realized that she’s just like them, the Lost Incident victims, fighting to regain something they’ve lost, which is Miyu in her case. Revolver even noted that indirectly, Blue Maiden is also a victim of the Lost Incident with her connection to Miyu. How ironic fate works that way like Akira said. Aoi was part of the Lost Incident even before it began and ended up taking Aqua in as an Ignis partner in place of Aqua’s true Origin, Miyu. I just hope Akira isn’t gonna interfere with the duel. He trusts his sister more than before, but is still prone to worrying about her, which is just brotherly instinct and being worried about her safety. I couldn’t believe it when Ghost Girl filled Akira in on all the details about what happened after Blue Maiden partnered with Aqua. Looks like he was unaware of the fact Aoi has an Ignis partner until now. Overall, Blue Maiden has definitely earned her rank as a member of the Ignis holder trio, with not only her goals and mental strength, but also with Marincess Marbled Rock. Marbled Rock has 2500 attack, which is the same as most of Playmaker’s ace monsters.