F@*! this episode. It was not good for my heart, I thought I was going to be sick because of how stressed out I was watching it. It’s frustrating that Aoi fell here, but frankly, given Yu-Gi-Oh’s track record with female characters and after the shit they pulled in ARC-V, I litterally had no expectations whatsoever, much less any hope when it comes to fantastic characters like Aoi. But regardless of that, even though I expected nothing, I am still disappointed to the point I actually shouted, “OH COME ON!” when Bohman said he’ll be compassionate enough to let her say goodbye to her brother. Frankly speaking, the moment Bohman took notice of Akira and made him watch the duel, I knew that Aoi was going to lose for the sake of making Akira suffer losing his sister for the second time. The outcome of the duel is especially annoying, because I thought even though it was stuck in a loop of rinse and repeat of effects, I thought it was still quite exciting thanks to Aoi’s determination to push through. Aside from the bullshit results, I liked how Aoi had a moment where fear almost got the better of her, but was able to overcome it. I also liked that Akira put so much faith in her that she could pull this off. But with her having been taken away from him, I don’t know if Akira will be on the side of team co-existence any longer.

And man, this episode hurts like a bitch. It’s sad that for a series like Yu-Gi-Oh where although I don’t play the game, I enjoy its story and characters, female characters continue to be used as scapegoats. I said it in ARC-V and I’ll say it here again: If you’re going to make female characters, don’t neglect them! But if you’re just going to use them as fodder material to sacrifice to help the villains net some wins, then why even bother making them in the first place? Worse of all, Aoi and Aqua just became partners, like what the f—? They barely just started and you kick them to the curb?! What was the point of establishing their partnership then? I could rant on, but whatever. We’ve been down this road countless times before, it’s not worth the energy of being worked up about it.

Still even though I already knew it was bound to happen, and I told myself not to care, it’s really hard not to.
RIP Aoi and Aqua. You guys deserved better, especially after putting up a hell of a fight!

Anyhow, surprisingly it looks like Yuusaku will be facing Kusanagi next week no thanks to Lightning. God, what a dick. Pitting two allies against each other, perhaps this might actually be the tipping point of that will cause Kusanagi to part ways with Yuusaku. After-all, only one can survive, and it’s not going to be him. It’s  going to be a heart-wrenching duel to say the least. As for the remaining three, I really do wonder if they are going to keep this up until Yuusaku has to face Lightning and/or Bohamn…  Actually, I’m starting to wonder if the situation might actually end with Lightning and Bohman winning the whole damn thing, and we have to see the team somehow claw themselves out of their clutches. Perhaps this is where Ai, Flame and the others could play a far more instrumental role.

[Nods] Yeah I would totally be down for that. That would definitely make this loss a lot more bearable.

Eva

Blogging Anime since Summer 2009, & Founder of AngryAnimeBitches Anime Blog ...I may or may not be addicted to writing

This Post Has 23 Comments

  1. Wilfredo Sifr Starduster

    I know it’s a long broken record at this point, but it’s still infuriating that everytime Aoi ran into a “plot relevant” character she’s guaranteed an instant loss and with bad consequences. Against Playmaker (forced to shriek in pain by the virus and was rendered comatose), Specter (got her face smacked onto the ground), Soulburner (bashed against the mountains) and now Bowman, who officially earned and confirmed his status as among my most hated Yugioh characters ever. With NO merit or threat levels beforehand, thanks to the blasted duel writing he made Hydradrives look childishly “formidable”, pulling out one asspull card after another just to kill off Aoi; so no different from those terrible Armatos Legios that Lightning used (but he still got rid of that Bloody “Jobber” Shepherd so credits to him). Worse, her last two defeats were against some of my most despised characters of VRAINS (check back my long comment in episode 70, that perception will NEVER be rebuked), first to promote that accursed “Fusion of Fire + Violet Chimera” combo (both cards who stained the already negative reception of Salaman”grates” and should be ripped to shreds; could someone call Kaiba to do the job please), and Bowman who’s nothing but a laughable punchbag but suddenly elevating his “prowess” because he’s against a female.
    So after FOUR consecutive blood-boiling episodes with Soulburner and Bowman still in the picture, NOW is the best opportunity for Playmaker to finally be beaten fair and square & in a duel supposedly packed with plot relevance. This one has the best potential to alter the course of the story for good measure, but I’ll (mostly) probably ended up being disappointed again in 2 episodes when plot armor is ALWAYS shielding Playmaker to impress the Japanese children with their “hero”…

    1. Eva

      This is definitely a situation where it can definitely benefit the story and characters where Lightning and Bohman defeats them, and they need to pull a reversal after their failure. I’m not sure if they are willing to go in that direction, but I would love it if they do.

  2. elior1

    eva I don’t think it going to be jin who is going to face playmaker since he is with lightning in the castle in the preview and. also it just what I think but ninjas deck fit more for kusanagi

    1. Eva

      Thanks, i’ll make the quick edit!
      Either way, THAT’S going to be even more brutal so god help us all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Yuusaku is broken after this.

      1. elior1

        also i think even if yusako will win it will break him see kusunagi lose and have his data taken

  3. Casper Juel Jensen

    As a matter of fact it ain´t Jin Yusaku is facing next week it´s Schoichi and it´s atleast a 2 parter, whitch actually is starting to make me afraid of how they are gonna finish this season cause Revolver need atleast 1 duel in this season then there is Lightning and Bowman aswell and we are scheaudled to get ending 5 in April.
    What truly hurt if you ask me is more than the writters hate for female characthers (yes I know they say it ain´t intentional but they got a track record) but the lazyness in this duel. The second she began dealing effect damage it dawned on me that these is the same way they build the duel with Spectre:
    – Have Aoi deel alot of damage
    – Have the opponent bust out huge means of damage
    – She barely survives
    – Bust out something that should have won her the duel
    – Opponent somehow survives
    – finishes her off in some bs way
    And Bowmans cards was busted and lazy in this episode both the Link 4 but also that Hydradrive Mutation.
    Aoi lost with grace this time and she didn´t go out without showing some good play (That Link 4 Marincess :D) but as much as it dosen´t mean anything to the writters if they pull this stunt for the 4th time with building her up only to knock her down again then I am truly done with this show, not cause of bias or cause I wan´t a good female duelist but because I consider it poor and bad writing.

    1. Eva

      XD I stand corrected then, but man that’s even more messed up!
      Yeah I completely understand your feelings.

      1. Kazanova

        If the writer thinks that her winning against Haru would justify her lost against Bohman, they are absolutely wrong. If they’re thinking something like “it’s okay, she at least already has one win against Haru” or “let’s give her a win before losing against Bohman” while writing the story, I’m furious, it doesn’t make feel better at all.
        The anime is partially also for the sake of promoting the OCG/TCG so they would sells well, right? Maybe if they give the female characters archetypes that definitely would be popular for both boys and girls and boost the sales, the chances for them to shine will be higher.

  4. ecarg312

    Although I’m sad Blue Maiden didn’t win, I’m still glad she didn’t give up and did her best. Though, someone should lock Crystal Heart up in the depths of the digital ocean or space, that thing is cursed.
    With three Ignis gone, we’re down to Playmaker, Soulburner and Revolver. I honestly don’t want a fourth PM vs Bohman duel, but if the writers are willing to make it a 2-vs-1 with PM teaming up with someone else, I’d be fine with that. With Akira back into the picture, I feel like he’s going to play a role in Bohman’s defeat with him showcasing his hacking abilities from his youth (he had to hack illegally when Akira and Aoi were younger for money).
    With the way things are going, I feel like Revolver vs Lightning is going to happen with a loss for Lightning. He then will go inside Bohman and he’ll be the final boss. Once Bohman is defeated, I feel like someone from SOL TECH will swoop in and capture Bohman since their goal is the same as Lightning’s.

    1. elior1

      it just my opinion but i think bohman will not be defeated at the end of this season lightning might be but bohman not. i think he will be villain along with sol tech

  5. 75ChaosFlare

    All I’m going to say is Literally nothing can ever convince me that the show doesn’t downright hate Aoi.

    1. ecarg312

      They probably hate Jin even more. Poor boy doesn’t even speak one sentence.

      1. 75chaosflare

        More like they don’t care in Jin’s case. Like many he’s basically a plot device that’s a characters sibling that’s been done a bunch of time in the franchise. It’s worse regarding Jin since he’s never said a thing even in recently or flashback.

  6. firestorm

    What the hell with that Monarch monster ? Multiple attack, force player to send monster to the graveyard (and because it affect the player and not the monster you have no way to deal with that ), auto revival with double atk power, negation effect ?? I wasn’t so shocked about a mnster effect since the “When I detach 1 xyz material to this monster, I win the duel” from Zexal.

    1. Vamoss

      What monster from Zexal are you talking about? Number IC1000: Numerionius Numerellia?

  7. Joel Coppadge II

    Just want to say I’ve been following your reviews since late Arc-V (they helped me push through the pain of that terrible ending). With that said, it’s painful to watch Aoi get treated like this for a couple reasons:
    1. We barely had any time for the partnership between Aoi and Aqua to grow.
    2. This is borderline a rehash of last season’s Hanoi Tower Arc where she showed up just to get axed off after one duel.
    However I still will hold onto hope that Aoi will get the justice she deserves in season 3, because so far I still consider her a better female protagonist than Yuzu from Arc-V.
    But this also shows a potential problem Vrains as whole faces, as the mirror link vrains is pretty dang similar to the Hanoi Tower Arc:
    1. Villain creates structure that threatens Link Vrains
    2. Team of heroes enter it to stop bad guys.
    3. Casualties on both sides (getting deleted).
    So if we go through this again in season 3, i’ll Be really disappointed.

    1. 75chaosflare

      Honestly this is better off just with two seasons in my opinion. I’ve dropped this back in season 1 because I knew it would be basically the Yusaku show and it still is.
      “Nice rinse and repeat having Akira constantly watch his sister get killed/commatose off prompting more of him being overprotective and crap”(not like that hasn’t been down to death).
      A depressed character(honestly could relate with Yusaku but nah), constantly given motivation to do something and character development and an Ignis(also nice word of having SB saying you can’t win without an ignis and still this crap happens). Yet all of that just so she get beat by the one guy that Yusaku beat twice(would have beaten a third time if not a draw). Would have been better with they had SB & Aoi team up against Bowman but nah that be far too interesting. Instead have her beat the one AI(I think never dueled before) and lose to the one that’s lost many times and will lose again by Yusaku again after beating Kusanagi or SB/Revolver or lose against Lightning if he stands up to him which most unlikely all for the sake of making them threatening to which I state maybe they should have done that much sooner than later.
      If they literally make a third season, I doubt anyone would buy into it(basically this “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times and more there’s nothing waiting for but expected disappointment.)
      I definitely like the VA for Aoi but really hate what they constantly do to her.

      1. elior1

        if bohman will survive this season like I predict then he will be the villain along with SOL tech

      2. GoingDigital

        All Yugioh Series have a bar minimum of 140 episodes, with every series from 5Ds to Arc-V having about 148 episodes. We’re reaching the 2/3rd mark, so there is gonna be a “Third Season”, namely because SOL Tech has to be dealt with.

        1. elior1

          and if you think about it both SOL and bohman have the same goal. SOL want to create perfect AI and bohman want to become one so maybe they will join forces

          1. Eva

            Oh shit, you think SOL might actually try to trick him through that? I wonder if they can actually dupe Bohman though…. It would certainly a dramatic change of alliance.

  8. V.

    Meanwhile when will everyone know Yusaku’s identity? No secret stays as is forever.
    For the ceremonial duel against Ai, I’m pretty it’ll involve Ai calling by his full name instead of Playmaker. They can’t just be like “Wh~~~at!!!! It’s Yusaku!” And have ending credit roll 2 minutes later.
    This is the downside of having already OP hero from the start… like Yusei.

  9. Vamoss

    I know I’m late to the party but I might as well say something: With the way things were going (Soulburner beating Windy, Aoi beating Haru,) I figured Aoi would beat Bohman leaving Lightning to Revolver and Kusanagi to Playmaker and that would round up pretty much everyone. But no. They had to have Aoi lose so Lightning could enact his plan and get all the Ignis absorbed by Bohman. (That IS his plan right? I mean from what I understand it is). Anyway… I was hoping Aoi would win but…

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