Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=Thoughts on VRAINS 53]

- Not even a sudden data storm summoned by Ai could stop Blood Shepherd and his shooty-hands (That's what I'm gonna call them now, sue me). BS gave Playmaker to the count of 3 to surrender or duel, of course I'm not too surprised he attacked after 2, just to be a dick/get Playmaker to let his guard down.

- Kusanagi warns Playmaker not to stray too far otherwise he could drown in data.

- Meanwhile, Ghost Girl and Blue Angel are also heading into the restricted area using her stealth program, and Aoi changes her look on the grounds that she can't use her usual look for a secret mission; gaining the name Blue Girl.

- Akira wants Emma to find the other Ignis (She thought that's what the Bounty Hunters were for), and mentions things that he wants to keep secret from SOL; ie a gate in the restricted section that probs connects to another world. Akira also sent a research team there, to no avail and assumes the Ignis might be there in addition to reminding her of the risks involved. (and Emma wants three times the pay to equal said risks) During this convo, we are also reminded of what Kogami said last arc; about Ignis being a threat to humanity whether they see humans as the enemy.

- So the the program that Kusanagi got from Ghost Girl originally came from Akira

- When Aoi says that she wants to go, Akira reminds her that humanity's future depends on this mission... and to return safely.

- Ghost Girl tells Aoi that she gave Playmaker the info about the restricted area and the gate to draw the bounty hunters away from them (essentially using him)

- Kek, Ai got told to shut up by both Playmaker and Blood Shepherd. You know you're getting annoying when...

- Ghost Girl recounts a story from 3 years ago when she, Akira and Blood Shepherd were on a job in a place that wasn't Link Vrains chasing a hacker who has a bomb capable to doing real world damage and how BS planned to use the two as decoys, hence why she says that BS is dangerous.

- During the duel, BS got his AI to lie on purpose and calls Ai dumb for believing an AI's info, also reminding him/Playmaker that AIs are never to be trusted, a call back to what Kogami said last arc following 20 billion simulations. Though, I'd say Ai is a hypocrite about getting pissy over a lying AI considering it was proven that he lied about losing his memories in the last arc.

- He was able to seal off Shootingcode with Capture Drone to avoid losing (through his lying AI ofc)  

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=Thoughts on VRAINS 54]

- It was amusing when AI tried the "who decided that an AI is accurate" after miscounting the Links, but was told to shut up anyway

- So the Drones are about making multiple chip damage attacks and following it up with a burn via the General. It was effective in nearly OTK'ing Playmaker, but Playmaker was able to save himself and gain LP which prevented him from using Storm Access, something that Blood Shepherd picked up on.

- You could tell BS studied Playmaker as he was able to stop Playmaker from using his skill twice, and he seemed confident in thinking when the duel would be over.

- Cyberse Magician certainly saved Playmaker's ass the following turn with its effect to halve damage

- We learn that in the past, BS (Kengo)'s mum was injured in an accident in a AI controlled taxi, and that he became famous for making AI surrender using a prosthetic right arm.

- Playmaker just happened to draw into a card that drops his LP to below 1000 so he can use his skill (and get rid of that pesky trap)

- Damn son, Playmaker fusion summoned, and it's the silhouetted dragon from the opening (it won't be next week). Guess we found the cover card for the next core booster that was announced 2 months ago; Soul FUSION. I think the materials is "1 cyberse + 1 or more Link monsters". And since it's not a Link, BS's trap didn't work on it. I suppose given what Capture Drone did, I should've realised that it was probs gonna carve the way for a fusion summon, that said, it certainly surprised me.

 

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 54]

• Yusaku finally summons another ED type that isn't a Link Monster. So...what's next; Synchro Summoning?
  • On that note, mill 5 and get 5000 ATK straight off. (Just wow)
• We get a look at what Blood Shepherd's face looks like without the scarf and stuff (he liked AI, but after the thing malfunctioned in the taxi, he hated it)
  • Then again, computers are bound to fail at some point (and honestly, there should've been a driver nonetheless as a backup). Now you see why some municipalities don't want them.
• Shut up, Ai. 
• Playmaker has a card that conveniently halves his LP to remove stuff on the field (i.e. Capture Drone), but...B/S has another card that stops Links from attacking. 

Also would comment on effects, but nowadays the Wikia is slow as sheet to update them. Maybe Yugipedia is faster.

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=VRAINS 54]

• Yusaku finally summons another ED type that isn't a Link Monster. So...what's next; Synchro Summoning?

 

 

[spoiler=Response]

Maybe. Although Revolver also has Storm Access, so he could end up with non-Link ED monsters in the future as well.

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=Thoughts on VRAINS 55]
- As soon as Playmaker and Soulburner arrive at the other side of the gate, they're met with a dangerous wind, with the intention of stopping intruders from getting near to the source. Meanwhile, Ghost Girl and Blue Girl follow on, but Blue Girl crashes and has to be saved by the quick thinking Ghost Girl.
- Kusanagi chats about the Ignis program and its unique algorithms and if he can't solve it, he can't be of any help.
- Tracking the emergency signal, Blue Girl and Ghost Girl find the research team and whilst Ghost Girl says that their mission isn't to rescue the researchers, Blue Girl says that saving their lives is a priority as she realises that recent events taught her that she's still a child, and she wants to save people because the world is connected. I do appreciate the development here as she's learnt to take responsibility not just for herself, but others that need help which is why she willingly gave up the exit program, persuading Ghost Girl to do the same.
- Meanwhile, the Ignis had the idea of using a data storm to negate the wind, but just as they are unable to stop it any longer, the wind stops moments later anyway and the two reach a monument. However it is guarded by the same creature that destroyed Cyberse World (At this point I'm thinking maybe we'll learn more, but, nope), but it turns out the monster here was a trick set up by... the Wind Ignis, who wants to be known as Windy. Flame asks why he isn't looking for his Lost Incident partner, but Windy says he can't trust humans (Again, reinforcing what Kogami said) as he doesn't want to be captured.
- Windy says that he created the world of wind so he can wait for the other Ignis to show up and rebuild Cyberse world, but he's also aware that if Playmaker/Soulburner were able to come then the enemy would sniff it out too and he intends on fighting them. Windy says that he controls data material better than anyone, but also said that it took time to gather as well (It wasn't going to be instantaneous), and that is why the world only appeared at this moment.
- Ai/Flame tell Windy about Bohman and him using the same card that was used in Cyberse World's destruction. Though Windy mentions that many people come here, and most self-destructs to his trap, but remembers sensing a strange presence at the edge of the world.
- Flame wonders if someone had created a new world by going through this one and uses Windy's trap as cover (I agree that it's smart as the trap deters anyone from finding that world)
- Windy refuses Playmaker's request of help, stating that what Ai/Flame said is speculation and demands evidence. He then says that they should forget that and live here so they can rebuild Cyberse World quicker, though Flame wants to pursue the culprit and learn the truth and Ai feels the same. Windy agrees to weaken the data storm, but on the condition that Playmaker/Soulburner do something about Blue Girl/Ghost Girl. (Though Playmaker didn't know who was with Ghost Girl until she talks about the Hanoi thing)
- Upon seeing Blue Angel's new avatar, Soulburner says he wants to change his avatar, though Flame asks what the point in that is. (Though if he changed his avatar, it'd be somewhat harder for the enemy to track him, but not impossible)
- Ghost Girl wonders why two people with Ignis are teaming up seeing as the Hanoi are gone. Though Playmaker asks why she/Blue Girl are here after stating his reasons for being there, which Ghost Girl obliges, saying she has no reason to hide.
- Blue Girl says that Akira can help them, but Soulburner refuses after SOL's connection with the Lost Incident. She later demands the Ignis saying that they were under SOL's control, saying that if they capture them they can get the location of other Ignis (Sneaky) and if they won't accept their help, she'll settle this in a duel, promising to show the power of her new Trickstars (Hopefully they take the deck in a somewhat different direction/not suck).

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 55]

• Playmaker/Soulburner find the 3rd Ignis, who's WIND and named himself "Windy".
• Said Ignis has the most skepticism of humans so far. 
• Blue Angel/Girl finds the research team from SOL and uses her escape program to send them back, so yeah, she and Ghost Girl are stuck in there now. 
• Character development for Blue Girl that she wants to actually protect people now, after Series 1.
• Soulburner vs Blue Girl

So look at it this way; Aoi gets her dueling screentime this season, but what she plans on doing remains to be seen.

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=VRAINS 55]

So look at it this way; Aoi gets her dueling screentime this season, but what she plans on doing remains to be seen.

 

 

[spoiler=Response]

Like I was saying, it'd be interesting to see what they're going to do with Trickstars moving forward. I know that an unconfirmed list in the OCG that depicts Lycoris going to 0 in July.

 

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=Response]

Like I was saying, it'd be interesting to see what they're going to do with Trickstars moving forward. I know that an unconfirmed list in the OCG that depicts Lycoris going to 0 in July.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Response]

At the time of writing, I didn't read your thoughts but yeah, assuming that the list that got posted really is official, they'll have to focus on other things besides Lycoris Turbo or whatever. Can still keep the burn strategy, but will have to figure out something else instead of 200 x whatever card that gets added.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if she learned the other ED mechanics as well, but that remains to be seen for now. I think the monster in preview for her is a new one, so...

 

But then again, if the list is proven false to an extent and Lycoris doesn't get hit, then might be same thing. Depends on how fast information can be obtained to verify it, but that's saved for the TCG area.

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=Response]

At the time of writing, I didn't read your thoughts but yeah, assuming that the list that got posted really is official, they'll have to focus on other things besides Lycoris Turbo or whatever. Can still keep the burn strategy, but will have to figure out something else instead of 200 x whatever card that gets added.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if she learned the other ED mechanics as well, but that remains to be seen for now. I think the monster in preview for her is a new one, so...

 

But then again, if the list is proven false to an extent and Lycoris doesn't get hit, then might be same thing. Depends on how fast information can be obtained to verify it, but that's saved for the TCG area.

 

 

[spoiler=Response]

Yeah, if Lycoris does get hit OCG-side, Trickstars will likely have to try a somewhat different approach to go about their main strategy, but decks need to evolve and adapt, they cannot remain the same forever.

As for the ED thing, it's likely she'll stick to just Links for now. If anything, I expect Revolver ('cuz Storm Access) and maybe Soulburner to use other ED-types, however we don't know when the former will show up.

 

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 56]

• Aoi did pretty good this time, but Soulburner only won because he so happened to topdeck a Fusion card that lets him use Links on the OPPONENT'S field as material.
  • Remind me if Super Poly is still legal in OCG, because I know for certain it is not on TCG's side. But you get the point; it's basically Super Poly for Salamangreats, even if only 1 member exists for them at the moment that is a valid monster.
• Fusion Monster stuff, so...Aoi did get a new summon mechanic (and new Skill). Let's just assume this part of Season 2 focuses a bit more on Fusion Summoning (and Ritual), and I guess later, we deal with Synchro/Xyz. 
• New Trickstar Link punishes Special Summoning, so...good luck combo Decks trying to survive. 
• Realizes her Deck has low ATK most of the time, so...Carolbein exists for boosting. 
• So...other than Soulburner topdecking sheet to negate damage, Aoi/Blue Girl probably would've won this. 

 

 

[Astro Dude]

[spoiler=VRAINS 56]

• Aoi did pretty good this time, but Soulburner only won because he so happened to topdeck a Fusion card that lets him use Links on the OPPONENT'S field as material.
  • Remind me if Super Poly is still legal in OCG, because I know for certain it is not on TCG's side. But you get the point; it's basically Super Poly for Salamangreats, even if only 1 member exists for them at the moment that is a valid monster.
• Fusion Monster stuff, so...Aoi did get a new summon mechanic (and new Skill). Let's just assume this part of Season 2 focuses a bit more on Fusion Summoning (and Ritual), and I guess later, we deal with Synchro/Xyz. 
• New Trickstar Link punishes Special Summoning, so...good luck combo Decks trying to survive. 
• Realizes her Deck has low ATK most of the time, so...Carolbein exists for boosting. 
• So...other than Soulburner topdecking sheet to negate damage, Aoi/Blue Girl probably would've won this. 

 

 

Didn't Kaiba do the same thing in his duel with Pegasus wayyyyyyyyy back at Duelist Kingdom?

[Atypical-Abbie]

[spoiler=EP56]

Well, Salamangreat got Fusion Monsters now, while it's neat to have an Archetype of Link, Ritual and Fusions, something I never thought would happen, isn't this feeling strangely familiar to Yusaku now? I get that they are suppose to be similar, but this similar? Seems either lazy, or there's a point to it being like this. Is kind of makes me sad, because this probably means that Salamangreat are not suppose to be Link and Ritual focused at all, just all kinds of things, I wish they focused on those two combining instead, would be more fun to me. Trickstar also got Fusion Monsters now, but this feels a bit more obvious and I don't mind this too much either, while Link Summons are clearly their bread and butter, Fusion Monsters can be used to round out their lower stats in case their burning strategy gets nerfed. Not much else to say here, the episode was mostly duel focused, a line about first turn attacking was cute, and how Flame was helping by basically just being there to observe.

 

 

[~British Soul~]

[spoiler=Thoughts on VRAINS 56]

- Analysing her past duels, Soulburner knew he needed to go first to stop Blue Girl from doing the usual Trickstar shenanigans, but the environment around them threw a spanner in the works and Blue Girl was able to go first which goes to show that not everything goes according to plan.

- Early on we see the usual Trickstar shenanigans and with Lycoris, Blue Girl could shut down Soulburner's skill but we see new toys that capitalise on some of the shortcomings Trickstars had, like Calobane who boosts ATK. Blue Girl had learned from her defeat to Spectre and developed her deck accordingly

- it was cute that Flame mentioned that he can help by merely being an observer

- Blue Girl has a new skill that mills equal to the number of Trickstars she has and adds one from the GY to her hand. Though it's somewhat of a surprise that Trickstars can fusion summon as well which can increase the burn damage. I suppose it was a matter of time before Trickstars were capable pf increasing the burn damage.

- Blue Girl failed to beat Soulburner and was pretty much forced to add Calobane since Soulburner's trap would prevent the burn from Lycoris, of course Soulburner figured this out during his battle phase.

- Like Playmaker did in the previous episode, Soulburner summons a Salamangreat fusion using a Super Poly-esque card. He was able to win by essentially being one step ahead of Blue Girl. (in this case, his fusion has an effect that doubles its ATK when it battles a monster whose ATK changes)

- Flame is revealed to have copied the program that Ghost Girl had and as she withdraws, mentions that Flame might be cuter than Ai

- Playmaker reaches the edge of the wind field where Bohman is.

On a side note, I've started to notice booty shots in the series

 

 

 

[spoiler=VRAINS 56]

• Remind me if Super Poly is still legal in OCG, because I know for certain it is not on TCG's side.

 

 

[spoiler=Answer]

It was @3 from its release in 2007 until January 2015 when it got hit to @1 which is where it has stayed since. (And yes I did look at all the banlists since its release OCG-side) 

 

 

[Atypical-Abbie]

[spoiler=EP57]

Ah, a Master Duel, so that means it'll be long. Well, longer than normal, despite them being Speed Duels, they still take more than one episode for the most part. Oh neat, a WATER and FIRE monster, we haven't really seen that before, normally it's only DARK and LIGHT that get to share Attributes, with exceptions of those that have all of them of course, that makes me a bit more interested in the Hydradrivers. I was excited for a second that there was a new LV theme, but it says L2, not LV2, which is a bummer. So, Bohman claims to be the real Playmaker, and somehow Yusaku is a fake one. Seems a bit farfetched. What a weird, but interesting plotline at the same time. I wonder if there's anything to this, or if he's just crazy due to the Lost Incident.

 

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 57]

• Bowman gets new memories and actually wants to fight Playmaker. 
• Least it's Master Duel so we get to see how stuff actually works for us IRL. 
• Playmaker anticipates Property Spray, but Bohman is another step ahead of him and conveniently has a card to trigger if it happens and result in more Links. 
• Speaking of which, Bohman's Link 2 conveniently is anti-Attribute, though it does rely on using certain Attributes and anticipating what the opponent will summon.
• More stuff from Yusaku, including Link 2 that negates stuff and I guess somewhat easier to summon than Elphase (not that it says much otherwise). 
• Bohman claims to be Lost Incident victim and that he is actually the real Yusaku, and the one we know is technically a corrupted backup copy. I doubt this is true, but we shall see how it turns out in the end. 

 

 

 

Later than usual, but I had other things to take care of.  

[Expelsword]

Pretty sure the Bohman drama is all faked.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 58]

• Yusaku wins again; yay. (Please note that I'm being sarcastic because we all know he's never lost a duel on-screen)
• Bohman apparently can pull off Storm Access in a Master Duel. OK, does this mean we're going to see Skills used like this now? I honestly wouldn't mind. 
• New Hydradrive monster is Link 3, requires laddering and negates stuff.
• I probably have to ask "why did Yusaku even bother going into Flame Administrator if Spartoi just needed 2 Cyberses to summon it". Need to look at the field setup again.
  • But he does have another Link 3 that isn't named "(x) Talker", so yeah. Now I just wish all of them didn't require Cyberses to make.
• Yusaku apparently has no memory about what happened, and thus used it to declare Bohman is lying about being him.
• Wind World is destabilizing.

 

 

 

Also I'm probably guessing they canceled the episode last week for the World Cup or something; idk.

[Astro Dude]

[spoiler=VRAINS 58]

• Yusaku wins again; yay. (Please note that I'm being sarcastic because we all know he's never lost a duel on-screen)
• Bohman apparently can pull off Storm Access in a Master Duel. OK, does this mean we're going to see Skills used like this now? I honestly wouldn't mind. 
• New Hydradrive monster is Link 3, requires laddering and negates stuff.
• I probably have to ask "why did Yusaku even bother going into Flame Administrator if Spartoi just needed 2 Cyberses to summon it". Need to look at the field setup again.
  • But he does have another Link 3 that isn't named "(x) Talker", so yeah. Now I just wish all of them didn't require Cyberses to make.
• Yusaku apparently has no memory about what happened, and thus used it to declare Bohman is lying about being him.
• Wind World is destabilizing.

 

 

 

Also I'm probably guessing they canceled the episode last week for the World Cup or something; idk.

I think Bohman is the Yugioh equivalent of the Digitally Advanced Villain Emulator. He has no memories of his own so he steals data from other people and uses that as a basis for his own memories.

[spoiler Bohman is actually...]

The Earth Ignis.

 

 

[Astro Dude]

bump: And apparently in dub news, to go with Aoi's Blue Angel/Blue Girl theme, the dubbers decided to call her... Skye Zaizen.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 59]

• Half of it was clip shows from previous episode, but general idea is that KoH has returned. 
• Revolver tells his group "whatever happens in the Network stays in the network".
• KoH concerned about the Cyberse, Bohman/Haru and Link Spells as another threat to them; also with Yusaku/Soulburner being more threats because they can do other summon mechanics.
• They broke Baira out of prison by hacking the system.

 

 

[Astro Dude]

bump: And apparently in dub news, to go with Aoi's Blue Angel/Blue Girl theme, the dubbers decided to call her... Skye Zaizen.

And nobody cares.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

By now, you've probably realized that very few people here really care for the dubs after what 4Kids Media did to the previous series and other franchises. 

 

Aoi's name change makes some sense in the dub because sky blue is an actual color (and somewhat correlates to her JP name), but that's about it. 

[~British Soul~]

By now, you've probably realized that very few people here really care for the dubs after what 4Kids Media did to the previous series and other franchises.

I stopped watching the English version since post-5ds (and even then I watched the skipped episodes subbed)

 

As for Aoi, I suppose you can shorthand it as Skyzen, but that sounds dumb.

[Astro Dude]

By now, you've probably realized that very few people here really care for the dubs after what 4Kids Media did to the previous series and other franchises. 

 

Aoi's name change makes some sense in the dub because sky blue is an actual color (and somewhat correlates to her JP name), but that's about it. 

Actually it's 4K Media, and I think that happened during the second season of Zexal around the start of the Barian Onslaught arc, when Vortexx, and CW4kids, came to an end.

 

I stopped watching the English version since post-5ds (and even then I watched the skipped episodes subbed)

 

As for Aoi, I suppose you can shorthand it as Skyzen, but that sounds dumb.

Skyzen sounding dumb, we can agree on that much.

 

But aside from clips I never watched a single episode of Arc-V.

[~British Soul~]

Actually it's 4K Media, and I think that happened during the second season of Zexal around the start of the Barian Onslaught arc, when Vortexx, and CW4kids, came to an end.

Konami acquired 4K Media in 2012 which was before the World Duel Carnival even started in the English version.

 

But aside from clips I never watched a single episode of Arc-V.

I can say the same about the English version of Arc-V.