Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

[Astro Dude]

saw it on dailymotion

I'll wait for the dub.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 1]

• We now know the name of the AI to be Ignis; k.
  • Also said AI got eaten by Cracking Dragon at the start of the episode; ouch.
• Yusaku grilled that guy at the start; you're a bad duelist because [x] and then you're somewhat competent because of [x]. Guy didn't like it, but hey.
• We just see Yusaku using Link Slayer to destroy stuff and that's it; nothing on Link Summoning yet (or even a real duel).
• First one is a Speed Duel; let's see how this turns out. 

 

 

 

Subbing wasn't bad though, albeit for a few errors. I don't think it's Pot of Subs doing this one, but meh.

 

====

Also, as traditional, I'll go ahead and sticky this now that the series has officially started (and take down the ARC-V one).

[Just Crouton]

[spoiler=ep1]

meh, first episode, so most of the dialogue is structured to exposite stuff and whatever

 

put off by yusaku listing the reasons he won't duel the guy. the attempt to establish him as the smart guy made him sound like a jackass

 

 

[Dokutah]

[spoiler=Ep 01]

Yuusaku is a more sarcastic Yusei. somehow i like it for now

• at least personally i think Yuusaku is being more edged due to the tragedy (his friend lost bro, and amnesia?) is happen not that long ago
• i do wonder the detail about him using an old type duel disk while everybody has a Google Watch with YGOPro installed. inb4 using his card to hide imprinted binary code for any of its hacking utilities

the animation quality is quite nice. i don't really expecting it but is easing the eye nonetheless (well i also have bias after my friend somehow set me up to watch Kemono Frien...ugh)

• if im going to nitpick.... depending on the angle Yuusaku hair seems annoyingly large

so Speed Duel is not a new type of duel, its actually embedded in the system but for some reason gone for along time and apparent some monster actually use it (maybe legendary monster to be catch using a Blank ace ala Paradox or Misael?)

 

the music though. i can jam with this

 

 

 

[Atypical-Abbie]

[spoiler=ep1]

meh, first episode, so most of the dialogue is structured to exposite stuff and whatever

 

put off by yusaku listing the reasons he won't duel the guy. the attempt to establish him as the smart guy made him sound like a jackass

 

 

Maybe he is just a jackass, would make him seem more realistic, since most of YGO players are...

 

[spoiler=EP1]

Surprise surprise, exposition everywhere, I get it, you want us to know what's going on, but there's a better way to do this, and so much is happening at once that I can barely follow along anyway, the pacing really should be better. The guy who lost his sibling doesn't seem super concerned about it all things considering, but it's going to be a big plot point I'm sure. I figured that the Go and Blue Angel would at the school rather than be Charisma Duelists and it doesn't even seem like Yusaku is all that put off by dueling, I am not sure what that meant in the preview descriptions, I guess we'll find out. There seem to be more more AIs than just the main one, and I like how Yusaku doesn't give a crap about capturing him, he's just like "hi, you're mine now."

 

 

[Arimetal]

[spoiler=ep1]

meh, first episode, so most of the dialogue is structured to exposite stuff and whatever

 

put off by yusaku listing the reasons he won't duel the guy. the attempt to establish him as the smart guy made him sound like a jackass

 

 

About him being a Jackass...

 

[spoiler=EP1]

He might be autistic, not in the childish name calling way, actually autistic. He didn't seem to have bad intentions towards Shima he just came off badly, like he has bad social skills, which is common with autistic individuals. I mean, he did list off three good things about him. His counting thing might just be a tic of his, something we might even see in his dueling. Idk, just a theory.

 

 

[Atypical-Abbie]

About him being a Jackass...

 

[spoiler=EP1]

He might be autistic, not in the childish name calling way, actually autistic. He didn't seem to have bad intentions towards Shima he just came off badly, like he has bad social skills, which is common with autistic individuals. I mean, he did list off three good things about him. His counting thing might just be a tic of his, something we might even see in his dueling. Idk, just a theory.

 

 

About that:

 

[spoiler=Response]

There is not enough to say that based on the small amount of time we had with him this episode, and the whole counting thing is not something I have seen anyone autistic ever do. The evaluation could be an indicating, but again, it's too early to tell, and it's not something I think most would do in front of someone like that, they would most likely keep it to themselves instead. I don't think Japan has as much understanding when it comes to autism and making autistic characters as the west does, and anime tends to fall into archetypes a lot when it comes to their characters, and he seems to be falling into an archetype already of the standoffish guy who is "edgy" and "cool".

 

 

[Dr. Cakey]

[spoiler=Episode 1]This episode was f***ing swamped with exposition. You might say that this was the first episode so they needed to get all that out of the way, and I guess that's kind of true, but I mostly disagree. First of all, a lot of this exposition-ish material didn't even need to be there. I don't know exactly what did and didn't need to be there and/or how different characters should have been introduced, because I have no idea what the story is yet, but I'm very confident a lot of could have been cut. For example, I'm very certain that awkward, 'action-filled' first scene could have been dropped without losing anything of value, and possibly improving the episode. And, uh, maybe that super-long conversation between Yusaku and...the other guy...(Naoki? was that his name?) could have been made not-terrible. It's ultra-bizarre because the conversation is structured like it's there to advertise products that you, small child, can purchase with your parents' money, but it's not. It's about in-universe VR tech.
 
Even though Link VRAINS is the primary setting for the show, the episode didn't give a very strong feel for what Link VRAINS/VR (is there a difference?) is actually like. Like, Go and Blue Angel are both dueling in Link VRAINS, but they just seem to be in like...a regular city. The possibilities of virtual reality truly are infinite >_>. In general, the episode's efforts to tell me as much as possible about the setting really made it difficult to...learn anything about the setting. I'd get a much better feel for things if the episode just took a few minutes to show what a Charisma Duel is like, with the viewcounts and likes and social-media-sharing or whatever, instead of just having a bunch of people watching their duels on TV screens in...virtual reality Paris?
 
My biggest problem with the episode is that it's very...I dunno, shallow? That's a really poor descriptor, but I mean that there's no opportunity to get a feel for any of the characters. The only time where I felt, "oh yeah, that's nice, I like that," was when Yusaku did his 'three reasons' thing early on in the episode. It was amusing, and it was something specific to him. Almost all the lines and actions in the episode besides that were either purely expositional (and mostly contextless) or generic and interchangeable.
 
I have to admit - and I feel really old saying this - what I was most looking forward to was seeing Yusaku in school, seeing The Mysterious Hacker, PLAYMAKER being a standoffish, slightly shy high school student. I was also hoping Go and/or Blue Angel would say more than...like...two words total. I assume both of those things will happen in upcoming episodes, probably very soon, but I'd have liked to see it sooner rather than later.
 
Oh, and the episode doesn't look very good, animation-wise. I know this may be shocking for a show that didn't even have a name until a couple months ago and had to delayed for a month, but it's true. Also, "With the Wind" has the show's name in the lyrics, which automatically means it's a bad show. All shows that have their names in the OP lyrics are bad. Look it up.

tl;dr not very good start 4/10 needs more budget
 

put off by yusaku listing the reasons he won't duel the guy. the attempt to establish him as the smart guy made him sound like a jackass

I think it establishes him as smart but also socially awkward. Honestly it was probably my favorite part of the episode.

[Expelsword]

I feel like, especially since the rules are changing, we should have seen an actual duel take place.

All this exposition made me feel like I started watching some other anime from the middle, not a new YGO series.

[~British Soul~]

Finally got around to watching the first episode, though I had to a bit of searching to watch it

 

[spoiler=Thoughts on VRAINS 1]
- So the purple AI, who we now know is named Ignis hid Cyverse (Not surprised it's a place) and went on the run from Hanoi and SOL, k
- I'm sure what happened regarding Yusaku and the other guy's sibling will be important later on
- Yusaku listing reasons why he won't duel Naoki was amusing, though I did get the feeling Yusaku is socially awkward, but edgy at the same time

- We didn't get much about what Link VRAINS is really like which is somewhat disappointing, but not the end of the world
- I will say this though, I do wonder why Yusaku has an older duel disk that needs cards whereas everyone else has new style ones
- A bit disappointed we didn't get a proper duel, but I guess they were establishing the setting 'n junk though I do think there was a bit too much exposition

 

[Dokutah]

As to who is writing for this series, for those curious.

 

Besides our writer in charge of Series Direction 吉田 伸 (Yoshida, Shin), the following writers have been confirmed to be regularly scripting VRAINS:

武上純希 Takegami, Junki

To his credits he’s been charge of:

The Super Sentai series of “Megaranger”, “Go Go Five”, “Gaoranger” and “Go’onger”.

He was also Series Direction for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters up until Episode 122, and was in charge of Series Direction for the first 150 or so episodes of “Yu-Gi-Oh! GX”.

As well he was in charge of general Series Direction for the Naruto anime adaptation.

Essentially this man has a long long history with anime to say the least, and definitely a lot of toyetic series.

前川淳 Maekawa, Atushi

Another long runner, he’s been in charge of “Digimon Adventure Zero Two” and has scripted for at least the first 3 seasons of Digimon.

He was also Takegami’s replacement for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters until Episode 145 and wrote for episodes of “Yu-Gi-Oh! GX”. He also worked on “Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V”

So again, long runner.

米村正二 Yonemura, Shouji

Series Direction for the Monster Farm (Monster Rancher) anime.

Has written for Digimon Xros Wars (Fusion Battles), and has basically been writing for Pokemon since 1997.

広田光毅 Hirota, Mitsutaka

Basically has scripted for Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL II (the second half) as well as Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, he’s also worked on a long and varied amount of series since 2000, and has been in charge of most of the screeplays for Digimon Adventure tri.”.

 

sauce: https://ygorganization.com/vrainswriters/

[Hallohallo]

[spoiler=Script 2]

Yusaku: Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS:

Revolver: Be gone! Cyberse!

Ignis: AAAAAHHHHHHH!

Revolver: Search for his remnants!
Only Ignis knows where the Cyberse World is!

Bishop: SOL Technologies Corporation has been the leading force behind the network world for many years.
That is all thanks to the Data Material generated by the Cyberse World.
However, 5 years ago,
Due to Hanoi’s attack, a certain AI, Ignis, hid Cyberse World somewhere in the network.

Shoichi: Seems like SOL Technologies is searching for something.

Yusaku: It’s not just SOL Technologies. The Knights of Hanoi are after it as well.
If we catch that AI, we might be able to use it as leverage against Hanoi.

Shoichi: This program is…the Knights of Hanoi?!

Go: What!?

KoH: Those who get in my way will be crushed!

Yusaku: Come to me!

Yusaku: You’re finally here.
You shall be a savior.

Ignis: EH?! I’ve been captured?!

Yusaku: Deck! Set!
Into the VRAINS!

KoH: Who are you?!

Playmaker: My name is Playmaker.
The thing you’re looking for is here.

Playmaker: If you want to get it, you have to beat me in a Duel!

Ignis: Catch the wind! Playmaker!
Let’s do this!
Speed Duel!

(Opening Sequence)

Revolver: He has Ignis…

Akira: He captured it?

Playmaker: This wind…
So this is a Speed Duel?

Ignis: By the way, Great Sir Playmaker.
Do you know the difference between a Speed Duel and a Master Duel?

Playmaker: Make it quick.

Ignis: I’ll tell you. No need to be haughty about it.

Playmaker: Right back at you. Don’t forget that you’re a hostage.

Ignis: Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it quick.

Ignis: The first difference is that you only have three Main Monster Zones and three Magic & Trap Zones.

Playmaker: Three…

Yusaku: Was there a rule about three Main Monster Zones or something?

Playmaker: Do I know how to Speed Duel?

Ignis: And you only have 4 cards in the starting hand.
There’s no Main Phase 2, either.

Playmaker: So, it’s simpler than a Master Duel.

Ignis: Exactly.

KoH: Speed Duel, huh?
Interesting.

Ignis: Seems like that guy knows how to Speed Duel.
Want me to give you a hand?

Playmaker: Don’t bother.

Ignis: I want to survive, too, ya know.
I don’t feel comfortable leaving this completely up to you.

Playmaker: Shut up. I’m trying to concentrate here.

Ignis: Sure, whatever.

KoH: Let’s do this!

SPEED DUEL!

GO: That bastard…
He’s taking the spotlight from me…

Shima: What is this Duel?

Shoichi: It’s a Speed Duel.

Shima: Speed Duel?

Spectator 1: That reminds me. I’ve heard rumors about it.

Spectator 2: Yeah. There’s a kind of Dueling where you ride the wind…

Shima: Heh… Speed Duel, huh?

Shoichi: I’m counting on you, Yusaku.

KoH: I shall go first!
It’s my turn!
Now, this is a perfect hand.
I can go all-out right off the bat.
I Special Summon Hack Worm!
When there’s no monsters on my opponent’s Field, I can Special Summon it from my hand.

Playmaker: He Special Summoned a 400 ATK monster…
Is he planning to summon a higher-level monster?

KoH: Exactly!
I’m Special Summoning another Hack Worm!

Ignis: This is bad.
Could it be that he’s going to summon…

KoH: Watch this.
The ultimate monster Master Revolver bestowed upon me!

KoH: Playmaker!
Your career as a wannabe hero ends here!
I release the two Hack Worms to Advance Summon!
Show yourself! Cracking Dragon!
I end my turn with this.

Ignis: Oh boy. It’s out already.

Playmaker: A 3000 ATK monster on the first turn…
What do I do in this situation?

Ignis: Hey. Great Sir Playmaker.

Playmaker: Shut up.

Ignis: Up ahead! Watch out!

Playmaker: !!!

Ignis: Don’t let your guard down.
In a Speed Duel, there’s other obstacles besides Dueling.
Whatever happens, if you take too much damage,
When you get out of Link VRAINS,
You’ll get flashbacks, and receive mental damage.

Playmaker: You said that I can’t win with my deck.
It’s because of that monster, right?

Ignis: Seems like you’ve finally caught on.

Playmaker: In order to get out of this situation…
I have no choice but to bet on this draw!
It’s my turn!
DRAW!
All right! With this…

Ignis: Be careful.

Playmaker: I know.
I set two cards face-down!
Then, I summon Cyberse Wizard!

Akira: This is Cyberse-Type?
Why does Playmaker have it?

Revolver: So there’s still people who have the Cyberse-Type cards we exterminated a long time ago…

Spectator 1: Cyberse-Type?

Spectator 2: What is that?

Spectator 3: I’ve never seen that Type of monster before!

KoH: He’s using Cyberse-Type…
I didn’t see this coming.
However, they are powerless before Cracking Dragon!

KoH: I activate its Monster Effect!
During this turn, the ATKs of monsters summoned or Special Summoned by my opponent will be reduced by its Level times 200.
And they’ll also receive damage equal to the same amount!
Crack Fall!

Playmaker: AAAAHHHH!
He lowered Cyberse Wizard’s ATK…
But I can still activate its effect!
Once per turn, I can switch an opposing monster to Defense Position!
Cyberse Algorithm!

KoH: Oh?

Playmaker: On the turn Cyberse Wizard activates its effect,
When Cyberse-Type monsters attack, they can inflict piercing damage!

Playmaker: Battle!
Illusion Spike!

Shima: He did it!
Playmaker took out Hanoi’s dragon!

KoH: HAHAHAHA!
Unfortunate for you, Cracking Dragon cannot be destroyed in battle by monsters whose Levels are lower than its Level.

Ignis: Whoa! It has that kind of effect?
Our enemy has evolved…

Playmaker: So that’s how it is…

Ignis: That didn’t surprise you at all, Great Sir Playmaker?

Playmaker: He didn’t seem that shocked either when he heard about Cyberse Wizard’s effect…
So I figured he’d have something up his sleeve…

Ignis: Oh?
Not even the enemy’s tiniest movements can escape your eyes, huh?

Playmaker: I end my turn!
Cracking Dragon’s effect also ends.

Shima: It has 3000 ATK, and you can’t destroy it with Level-8 or below monsters…
That guy’s bad news!

Shoichi: Please make it somehow, Yusaku.

KoH: It’s my turn!
This is as far as you can go.
I shall now activate a Skill!

Playmaker: Skill?

Ignis: Well, you told me to make it quick.
So, I left that part out.

Playmaker: You should think about your future more seriously.

Ignis: Well, I’m thinking about it right now.
In a Speed Duel, there is a special rule that can only be used once during the Duel.
That’s what a Skill is.

Ignis: For example, you can increase your draws, gain Life, or increase your monster’s ATK…And stuff like that.

KoH: I activate the Skill, Double Draw!

Playmaker: Impossible!

Ignis: I had no idea about that Skill!
Is it because of a program Hanoi created?

KoH: Amazing!
With this, I can maximize the effectiveness of my tactics!
I activate the Magic Card, DDoS Attack!
Due to its effect, I’ll send two copies of DDoS Attack from my deck to the Graveyard!
And for every copy I sent,
I can inflict damage equal to the Level of a Machine-Type monster on my Field, multiplied by 100!

Blue Angel: Playmaker. I’ve repaid my debt.

Shima: Good job! Playmaker! Don’t lose to that Hanoi guy!
Protect Link VRAINS!

Ignis: Stay on your toes, man.
If you fall to the ground,
Your real body will die.

KoH: You narrowly escaped death, it seems. How lucky you are.

Playmaker: What is that?

(Commercial Break: Buy TIMELORDS)

Ignis: Looks like the stream of Data Storm has become unstable.

Playmaker: So it’s not somewhere you want to be near…

Ignis: But if we go in there…

KoH: I set one card face-down,
And switch Cracking Dragon to Attack Position.
Then, I equip the Equip Magic, Aircrack Storm, to Cracking Dragon!
When a monster equipped with this card destroys a monster through battle, it can attack again.

Ignis: He’s coming at us at full force.
If you lose Cyberse Wizard, you’ll lose the match.

Playmaker: I know!

KoH: The Duelist who has Cracking Dragon is the strongest Duelist!
Battle!
Traffic Blast!

Playmaker: Trap, activate!
Three-Strike Barrier!
I’ll pick the option to negate destruction through battle during this turn!

KoH: BUT YOU STILL TAKE DAMAGE! (Damage Count: 1)

Ignis: To the right! Playmaker!

KoH: This is the end of the line for you.

Playmaker: No! I still have Life!

KoH: Hahahaha!
You didn’t understand what I said, did you?

Playmaker: !!!
AAAAHHHH!

KoH: You’ll be swallowed by the Data Storm, and meet your end!
Hehehehe!
HAHAHAHAHA!

Shima: Playmaker is…!

Playmaker: AAAAHHHHH!

Shoichi: Yusaku!

Playmaker: You’ve led me here on purpose?

Ignis: Whoops. I’ve been exposed.

Playmaker: Is not telling me about Skills part of your calculation as well?!

Ignis: Yup, yup. This Data Storm as well.
This is your one and only chance to win against him.

Playmaker: What do you mean?

Ignis: Never-before-seen monsters live inside this Data Storm.

Playmaker: Never-before-seen monsters?

Ignis: The more intense a Data Storm, the stronger the monsters are!

Ignis: Now, use your Skill, Storm Access!
That’s the only way we’ll get out of this alive!

Ignis: Storm Access is a Skill that allows you to randomly access a card in the Data Storm when your Life Point is 1000 or lower.
Seize the wind! Playmaker!

Ignis: Endure it! Playmaker!

Playmaker: There’s three reasons why I must win this Duel…
Number 1:
So that I can reclaim my lost time.
Number 2:
So that I can rescue Kusanagi-san’s brother from the darkness!
Number 3:
So that I can meet the person who gave me courage!

???: Hey, you…

Playmaker: AAAHHHHHHHHH!

Ignis: Now!

Playmaker: STORM ACCESS!

KoH: What?! You should have been swallowed by the Data Storm!

Playmaker: I’m not done yet.
This match isn’t over yet!
It’s my turn!
Draw!
I activate Cyberse Wizard’s effect!
Cyberse Algorithm!

KoH: Why won’t you just die?!
But it’s no use!
Trap, activate!
Pulse Bomb!
It switches all of my opponent’s monsters to Defense Position!

Playmaker: No need to rush yourself.
I summon Stack Reviver!

KoH: No matter what monster you summon,
They’ll be switched to Defense Position due to Pulse Bomb!

KoH: Pitiful fool… Did you forget Cracking Dragon’s power?
Your Life is 400.
And you’ll also receive 400 damage!
Crack Fall!
This is the end!

KoH: YOU STILL HAVE LIFE?!
Impossible!

Playmaker: What’s the matter?
Maybe you’re the one who forgot about Cracking Dragon’s power?

Playmaker: Its effect is inflicting damage equal to the amount of ATK it decreased.
However, Stack Revival’s original ATK is 100.
Since it lost only 100 ATK, I only lost 100 Life.

KoH: Guh! So, you’ve strengthened your defenses, fully prepared to take damage?

Playmaker: I’m not that naïve of a Duelist!
From my hand, I activate the Magic Card, Effect Cowl!
When there are Cyberse-Type monsters on my Field,
I won’t receive effect damage during this turn!

Playmaker: Then, I activate the Trap!
Cyberse Beacon!
On the turn I take damage, I can add a Level-4 or below Cyberse-Type monster from the deck to my hand!
I Special Summon Backup Secretary!
I can Special Summon this card from my hand when there are Cyberse-Type monsters on my Field.

KoH: Keep summoning your fodder, but no matter how many there are, you won’t be able to beat Cracking Dragon!

Playmaker: We’ll see about that.
I’m going to call forth my trump card.

KoH: Trump card? Don’t make me laugh.
No matter what you summon, as long as I have Cracking Dragon and Pulse Bomb…
Don’t tell me…!

Playmaker: Reveal yourself!
The circuit that guides the way to the future!
Arrowheads confirmed!
The summoning condition is 2 or more Effect Monsters!
I use Stack Reviver, Cyberse Wizard, and Backup Secretary to set three Link Markers!
Circuit Combine!
Link Summon!
Show yourself!
Link-3! Decode Talker!

Playmaker: A monster from the Extra Deck is Special Summoned to the Extra Monster Zone.

KoH: Your trump card is a Link Monster?!

Ignis: You’re using the monster you just pulled through Storm Access right away, huh?
As expected of the Great Playmaker.

Playmaker: Link Monsters do not have Levels!
And they can’t be switched to Defense Position!
Meaning that the effects of your Cracking Dragon and Pulse Bomb won’t work on Decode Talker!

KoH: Tch!

Playmaker: I activate the effect of the Stack Reviver in my Graveyard!
I can Special Summon Cyberse Wizard in Defense Position!
Decode Talker’s ATK is increased by 500 for every monster in its Link Points!
Power Integration!

KoH: 3300 ATK?!

Playmaker: Go! Decode Talker!
Cyberse Wizard’s effect!
Now, the Cyberse-Type Decode Talker can inflict piercing damage!
Decode End!

KoH: But Cracking Dragon can’t be destroyed by monsters with lower Levels…
Ah!
Link Monsters don’t have Levels!

KoH: AAAAAHHHHHHH!

Playmaker: You have no right to call yourself a Duelist!

(Preview for Episode 3)

Shoichi: The identities of the Knights of Hanoi, and the Data Storm…
It’s just one mystery after another.
The only clue we have is that mysterious AI.
However, as Yusaku analyzes the program,
The roar of a dragon thunders across Link VRAINS…

Yusaku: Is he the leader of the Knights of Hanoi?!

 

 

[-kyo-]

Speed Duel Skill's are nonsense

[Sleepy]

[spoiler=Thoughts so far]

 

Skills are actually nerfed from Duel Links.

An effect throughout the game > A once per duel effect.

The knights only happened to hack Pot of Greed into their skill so yeah.

 

I get why Ignis made it a Speed Duel. Lower number of Zones means higher probability of ending up in a Linked Zone for Decode Talker, or any other Link he might have drawn into since it was random.

 

It also seems Yusaku doesn't have an Ace of his own seeing how he pulled this out at random. I don't like the capacity of ass-pulls this will provide, but I guess I'll take it over other main character powers I've seen in Yugioh. Links aren't Yusaku's/Ignis's thing because the opponent knew what they were, and being a digital setting rather than a magical one means so far others should have access to keep the pace.

 

His being rescued by Aoi. I think they calculated there'd be some sort of backlash if she didn't make up for it, seeing how female leads in Yugioh (and most shonen actually) aren't treated particularly well....  Let's see how this turns out. Yuzu starting up well in Arc V and then screwing up so badly by the end made me about lose all faith that they'll make a good work any time soon, but I hope my expectations are wrong.

- - - - - -

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=VRAINS 2]

• Yeah, Skills are "what the hell". KoH gets an extra card draw (okay, whatever) and Yusaku gets to use a random card from the Data Storm (so Destiny Draw under very specific circumstances?).
  • Speaking about Skills from what I've seen during episode, because I have not played Duel Links / Generations. 
  • 2 card one was apparently hacked.
• We still have the "oh the monster is weak" mentality; this time, out of Yusaku. 
• If you get hurt in VRAINS, you die in reality. Well, I guess the series did get darker.
  • Also Yusaku had to get Aoi / Blue Angel to save him (but was a return favor)

I don't know; hopefully Yusaku gets his own ace eventually. Well, scratch that, he should have Firewall eventually.

 

 

[Sleepy]

[spoiler=Data Storm Lottery]

Looking at how a card named "Encode Talker" exists, I can only guess Decode Talker will soon stop appearing in favor of other randoms whenever Konami feels like promoting a new card.

Somehow it feels a tad.... blatant. Like, much more than "There are 100 Number Cards". I hope they don't scrap it completely. Kind of like how Yuri randomly used a never beaten Ancient Gear deck to promote the IRL Structure Deck for a couple episodes and then he scrapped it because he felt like using his Predaplants again.

 

 

 

[Dokutah]

[spoiler=Ep 2]

oh come on....Speed Duel? really konami? if you really want to show case how smart Yuusaku was as the character selling point Master Duel with all its freedom and  is a far better format for showing that (well to be fair some others will consider that Yuusaku will show the best of its wit using this setting). in the same line of showcasing Link Monster that they suppose to be promoted is also get shafted a bit by it (yeah Konami wants to kill pendulums now)

• while i assume they did considering the original feel of super-advantage that we used to in Master Duel implemented in form of additional rule of Skill.but i can't help to see that the said Skill is no more than brain-dead copy of already classic brain-dead that is Destiny Draw

 

the visual design of digital geometry and circuit pattern is actually good consistencies-wise. it unified the VRAIN as a world.

• personaly liking the UI of the selection window for Three Strike Barrier effect
• that being said. the Link Summon sequence is kinda alright...although i can't help to see it like a mixture of Accel Synchro (the initial entry using ring) and Chaos Xyz (the forming of monster). but i do like the part when yuusaku assign each material to the link marker (more over i imagine that part using 5d's Bruno synchro chant....real good match)

so they did take "Real Death" as its trope. which will accumulated as per more mental damage you take when you take all sort of possible injury in the VR world (via Dueling or accident involving surrounding) my 2 cent here that this Real Death only occur on specific situation like only when Dueling against Hanoi or in Speed Duel only since the other incident on the 1st episode only implying that players only have their account erased

 

so Cyberse monster is not new but due to Hanoi exterminate them and supposedly erasing any information about them (including possible mass-memory wipe) now only Yuusaku posses it 

 

 

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

[spoiler=stuff about Aoi]

When Aoi / Blue Angel gets her turn to have a duel on-screen, hopefully the writers are aware of what her Deck has been doing lately and adjust it accordingly (or try to make them appealing to viewers). They'll probably push the Link variant and not the FTK version; despite it being more convoluted than it's worth.

 

Those of you who don't know what said version looks like (think most of us do, unless someone isn't keeping tabs on the new content), go look it up.

 

====

 

 

 

Hopefully the series better fleshes out over time, but yeah, doesn't appear to be worth the added month we had to wait for this. 

[Atypical-Abbie]

[spoiler=EP2]For once, they won't just be pulling the cards out of their ass, even though there would be no time to even get those cards, now they just get them from the Data Storm, so that's fun. I like the design of the UI, so to speak, probably the cleanest we have had so far, and the animation was quite good at times too, they are stepping up their game in that regard, the duel was fun enough for a first duel, while I hate it when the enemy just decides to sit on one monster and call it a day instead of trying to protect their ass, I get that you don't want to show all his monsters just yet. Lastly, yo where are those support cards at? I want the searcher thank you very much.

 

[Sleepy]

Just noticed Yusaku's struggle inside the data storm is probably meant to be a call out to the struggle moments of Yusei right before achieving Clear Mind for the first time. Not that the scene had half as much weight as Shooting Star's debut did, but it is a nice touch I suppose.

[Dokutah]

And it’s another prominent one who’s been in many other anime.

関 智一 Seki, Tomokazu has stated he’ll be appearing in Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS in an upcoming episode as the character(s) カエル and 鳩. Kaeru (Frog/Tod) and Hato (Pigeon/Dove).

Who these characters are are unknown.

But what is noteworthy is Seki Tomokazu is one of the bigger names in the industry, known for roles such as:

• Gilgamesh for the Fate franchise
• Domon Kasshu  of G Gundam
• Suzuhara, Toji of Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Haru Glory of Rave Master
• The modern voice of Honekawa Sueno of Doraemon
• Tatsumi, Kanji of the Persona franchise

i.e. If you’ve watched a major anime, you’ve heard this guy in some way shape or form, at the end of the day.

 

sauce: https://ygorganization.com/vrains-new-actor-appears/

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

Saw the first couple episodes and really like what I see so far.

 

3 positive things:

1) Started in the middle of a conflict unlike most other series which just chummed it up until x tournament until x villain decides to break in. 

2) The protagonist being socially inept and without a gaggle of cheerleaders was refreshing.

3) Link Monsters!

 

3 negative things:

1) Speed duels, pretty much everything about them from "riding the wind" to "unique ass-pull duel skills!" to reduced fields and hand sizes. 

2) Unclear on what's real and what isn't, the Knights of Hanoi appear to have some implied kills of civilians using their hologram monsters. 

3) Gilgamesh from Fate was an awful character in every aspect so hopefully that doesn't get channelled too much. 

[Expelsword]

[spoiler=What the hell are they thinking?]

Ignis says that you can sustain real and permanent damage inside of VRAINS.

This would be alright if this was only a property of the Cyberverse section of VRAINS, and it would thus make sense why it was hidden, and why people want to find it.

But VRAINS is used by tons of people!

Why would they build something so outwardly dangerous when there's clearly the potential to have VR without danger?

How is this even legal to let children play with?

 

 

[Astro Dude]

[spoiler=What the hell are they thinking?]

Ignis says that you can sustain real and permanent damage inside of VRAINS.

This would be alright if this was only a property of the Cyberverse section of VRAINS, and it would thus make sense why it was hidden, and why people want to find it.

But VRAINS is used by tons of people!

Why would they build something so outwardly dangerous when there's clearly the potential to have VR without danger?

How is this even legal to let children play with?

 

 

WORLDWIDE GENOCIDE!

[Dr. Cakey]

[spoiler=Episode 2]
I did enjoy this episode a lot more, because watching duels just gives me a warm, bubbly feeling inside. But it's really stunning to see how many talented writers are working on VRAINS, because the script is terrible. There are, I think, three lines in the whole episode that aren't directly about the duel (Go's "this guy's standing out more than me", Blue Angel's "I'm returning the favor", and Yusaku's "there are 3 reasons I have to win this duel") and only one of those (the first) gives us new information - Blue Angel's is basically just a statement of fact, and Yusaku's three things aren't really new (arguably the third one is). The duel is only four turns long - you have to time to do other things, like introducing your major characters, which you still haven't done.
 
Wow I used way too many parentheses.
 
The show still looks like garbage, of course. Blue Angel's character design must be awkward to draw, because I don't think she's been on-model once so far. The CGI Cracking Dragon looks nice, much nicer than the hand-drawn one from episode one. But if you don't have the resources to do a lot of animation, stop creating ideas for duels that involve the players moving around a lot! Action Duels had the same problem.
 
I did like Blue Angel saving Yusaku, although he doesn't seem like the kind of protagonist who ought to have to be saved during the very first duel. And it's not really well integrated: she saves him when he gets knocked off by a small impact, before Cracking Dragon even attacks, when she could have pulled him out of the Data Storm. I'm not saying that's what definitely should have happened, that's just an example.
 
After Dark Side of Dimensions, I was sorta hoping the anime was going to switch to 8000 LP, but I guess not. Though I guess it's possible 4000 LP is only for Speed Duels, which is apparently how they work in Duel Links (I wouldn't know).
 
I really don't like the Storm Access concept. I don't have a problem with the protagonist magically creating cards in certain situations (the shot of Yusei flipping over that blank card and it turning into Shooting Star Dragon will always be awesome), but doing it against an opponent who doesn't have magical magic of their own is just rude (Arc-V's first episode is the absolute worst offender in this regard, ruining what would otherwise be a really good episode). You could at least pretend to have a fair fight.

 

tl;dr 5/10 humorous statement

 

Looking at how a card named "Encode Talker" exists, I can only guess Decode Talker will soon stop appearing in favor of other randoms whenever Konami feels like promoting a new card.

That seems like a strange assumption to make, considering the name implies they're a pair. Though I definitely agree the pressures to make the anime an even bigger promotion vehicle for the card game have been increasingly intrusive.
 

Hopefully the series better fleshes out over time, but yeah, doesn't appear to be worth the added month we had to wait for this.

Well, delays usually don't happen to make good projects polished, they happen to make unfinished ones functional. That definitely seems to be the case with VRAINS.