#'akira zaizen'

[pico-farad]

I finished season 1 of Vrains and it was cool but I thought it needed about 2 billion more secret identity shenanigans

extended thoughts below

So I went into a deep dive in my last two posts (1, 2) about all the problems I had with Vrains, and you'd think I didn't enjoy it, but in fact as I was watching, there was a separate, parallel version of Vrains that was playing in my head, a Yugioh I think we were robbed of and which fixes every problem I had with the first season, and that is Secret Identities AU.

Yusaku needs FRIENDS

This is YUGIOH.

This dynamic is everything I wanted from Vrains. Yusaku developing unexpected fondness for these bozos who think he needs a defense squad. I want Miraculous Ladybug levels of secret identity shenanigans. I want Yusaku slapping his duel disk every time Ai tries to blow their cover.

This AU sprung forth from the scene in the duel club where he shows Naoki his decoy deck. Having Yusaku passing as a bad duelist is 1) so funny, but 2) Yusaku needing to maintain his low profile is a useful contrivance for other characters to get more duels, and 3) I think it would be a really fun one-off episode where Yusaku has to duel using his bad deck. When he wins, Naoki is so proud he cries.

Having Yusaku actually have to interact with the other characters in the real world opens up Greek play levels of dramatic irony. The crux of a secret identity story is that every single interaction builds up anticipation, because you the viewer know that the other party is being deceived, and that the tension will snap when the secret is revealed.

I have zero anticipation about Playmaker's identity being revealed, because Aoi would be like "oh.... I guess he goes to my school" and Go would be like "have I seen that guy before?" But SIAU Playmaker? My guy is making friends just so he can betray them. Insane.

Go needs A ROLE IN THE STORY.

I said in my first post that Go isn't a rival or a best friend character. SIAU fixes this by making him both simultaneously.

Having him be the ace of the duel club is a natural replacement for his whole hero of the orphans schtick, while placing him directly the circle of relevance with the other characters. Instead of being disgruntled that the orphans suddenly like Playmaker more than him, he's disgruntled that Naoki and the duel club mooks are fawning over Playmaker -- which is actually just Naoki's character anyway.

I would kill for a big dramatic moment where Go learns that Playmaker and Yusaku are the same person, and even though Go feels betrayed that Yusaku has been deceiving him, he stands by Yusaku anyway because they're friends.

With a secret identity story, every conversation is working on multiple levels because each character is working with asymmetric information. You get these fascinating, layered scenes of two characters talking past each other because they cannot give up their secret.

Which would go especially hard with Go and Yusaku, because Go has legitimate criticisms of Playmaker in canon and Yusaku has legitimate reasoning behind the things he does, and as Go Onizuka and Playmaker they could never come to an understanding on them, but as Go and Yusaku, two friends in duel club, that door becomes open to them.

Aoi needs WRITING THAT ISN'T A TRAINWRECK

I made a whole post on this. Basically every problem would be solved if Akira doesn't know that she's Blue Angel. There's no reason for her to lose grotesquely against Yusaku, or have her basic autonomy called into question constantly. 

Having her actively deceive her brother is delicious. Like I said in my last post, it's so obvious how Akira's overprotectiveness has taken its toll on Aoi, and pushed her into developing this other persona, Blue Angel. I want this absolutely dysfunctional sibling relationship so badly. The Blue Angel vs. Zaizen duel would make me lose my mind.

And a secret identities setting works so well with the potential themes of VRAINS as a stand-in for the internet and Blue Angel as an idol. Give me that Perfect Blue Satoshi Kon good stuff. Give me those themes about identity, and the different lives we live, outward and inward, online and offline.

This also helps Akira's character, because I think he would be much more interesting and relevantly positioned in the story if he stayed a SOL Technologies baddie. SOL Technologies has very little presence in season 1 despite being critical to the story. After Zaizen is replaced by an irrelevant clown, they don't do anything but send out mook AIs to get destroyed. By having a three-way standoff between Yusaku's squad, the Knights of Hanoi, and SOL Technologies, both Hanoi and SOL Technologies become more compelling. They've both got all the reason in the world to want to take down the other. Zaizen vs. Revolver or Spectre? That's good shit.

And don't get me started on how I would turn Revolver into a Secret Identities character.

[onegroovyrose]

Akira if you don’t hold on you’re going to fall off!! 😋

[shitpostingkats]

I love how Revolver has like, zero regard for any human life.

[ygo-colors]

Akira Zaizen and Ghost Girl/Ghost Gal - Vrains

[lia404]

"Ai, living has no answer."

"When we're in pain, we search for an answer to feel better. A concise, absolute answer. But if you really want an answer… it's that there is no answer. There are no absolute in this world. Even if we think there is, in the end, it'll only make us feel better for a moment.

If there are no absolute, then what's left?

Bonds. Bonds between individuals. Bonds between one another. That's all there is.

That also changes with time. A huge trigger can cause a huge change. Bonds may be severed. But new bonds can also be formed. So living is a series of bonds.

That's what life is.

I have to do that forever?

Yes.

That's a lot of work.

Yeah.

I'd need to be so strong.

That's why people become stronger. That occasionally leads to conflicts. But even if that happens, we have to keep fighting. Keep searching for bonds, even if there's no answer.

You can't rush living."

So I saw on MyFigureCollection that October 13 was maybe possibly Yusaku's birthday, although I couldn't find any reliable source for this. I'd have loved to do something nice and light-hearted for the occasion, but I'm still feeling too strongly about it all. So here you are instead: Happy (maybe) Birthday, Yusaku! Please have some trauma to go with your trauma. Here's to another year of fending off expectations and looking for your own life and its non-answers with eyes wide open and always filled with hope.

[thewittyphantom]

In Duel Links, Ghost Gal has left for now...but the VRAINS characters are seeing how Duel Links connects to other dimensions and trying to figure out Kaiba's plan! That includes the SEVENS world, but the DSOD world was not featured. Guess Kaiba encrypted that one too well. XD

Playmaker: That's... [he sees Yami Yugi and Jaden] Soulburner: They're Duelists we've never met... [he sees Yusei and Yuma] Blue Angel: From worlds we've never known... [she sees Yuya and Yuga] Playmaker: Dueling in ways we've never Dueled... Varis: ..........A network we can't decode...Read our memories...Recreate them...Take humanity's subconscious...Link their minds together...It's a Neuron Network! Ghost Gal: Link minds together? Neuron Network? You're saying that this huge network connects everyone's thoughts and emotions? Varis: LINK VRAINS converts our five senses into electric impulses to access the digital world. We can talk and communicate within the digital world of LINK VRAINS. But this is different. Playmaker: Our neurons themselves are connecting and interacting... Varis: Duel Links reads our memories and recreates them, but that's only a side effect. The network is actually sharing and linking us together. What will happen when every mind is united? If we find out, we'll know why Duel Links was created. Ghost Gal: After all consciousness is united as one...what happens next... Soulburner: Does it have something to do with what we just saw? Blue Angel: Unknown worlds...linked together... Ai: ...... Playmaker: Let's go home. There's nothing more we can do here. Ghost Gal: ...And that's what happened. There's nothing more to tell. This is so big that even I can't see the whole picture. I give up. Akira: Instead of finding answers, we only found more questions. Ghost Gal: Since I didn't technically fulfill my side of the deal, I'll settle for half pay. Akira: No, I'll pay you in full. But in exchange, I want you to keep gathering information for me. Ghost Gal: Are you serious? Don't you know when to raise the white flag? Akira: ....... Ghost Gal: ...Why are you staring at me like that? I know I'm gorgeous, but you're weirding me out. Akira: It's just that for someone who said they were giving up, you seem happy not to. Ghost Gal: ...Heh! Well, you are giving me a chance to find another treasure or two. And that's one bounty I love to hunt!

[lavenderr-starrs]

If I wrote vrains I would have made akira and spectre half brothers because of a cheating scandal between akiras bio parents

Which I think would have been a better motive for spectre imo between him and blue angel instead of just “I’m fucking with you cause I can fuck with you>:)” but a “I’m fucking with you cause you took what I could of had”

[baddyzarc]

Duel Links: Akira Basic Sprites

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

The Pandor scene in season 3 be like

Sub Revolver:

Dub Revolver:

[kcuf-ad]

The Five Best Yugioh Older Brothers In No Order

Akira Zaizen.

Kite Tenjo/Kaito Tenjo

Seto Kaiba

Shay Obsidian/Shun Kurosaki

Reginald Kastle/ Ryouga Kamishiro/ Shark / Nash

[dailybigbro]

Today’s Big Bro is Akira Zaizen from Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains! He loves his little sister!

[kannakakimari]

Halloween episode of Yugioh Legends and You Show Yugioh

Kanna: Akira!

Akira: Kanna take care of my sister for me

Cendrillon: Excellent work

Maleficent: This will more enough to revive Nightshroud

Flamdra: I'm very flamed up for the resurrection of Nightshroud

Thank you creators of You Show Yugioh, in memory of Kazuki Takahashi, may your legend live forever

[shitpostingkats]

Vrains was iconic for including two sibling characters, each of whom's character arcs revolved around protecting the other, who we get shown numerous childhood flashbacks of and basically their entire story of growing up together, only for one minor villain near the end of the show to reveal they're adoptive siblings and try to use that information to pit them against each other. And the sister just goes "Yeah, so?" and does a kickflip on his face and it never comes up again.

[ygo-colors]

Akira Zaizen and Aoi Zaizen/Skye Zaizen - Vrains

[wayfinderrinku]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sugisaki Miyu/Zaizen Aoi, Zaizen Akira & Zaizen Aoi, Zaizen Akira & Sugisaki Miyu, Zaizen Akira & Zaizen Aoi & Sugisaki Miyu Characters: Zaizen Aoi, Sugisaki Miyu, Zaizen Akira, Sugisaki Miyu's Mother Additional Tags: Miyu’s mother is only mentioned, Akira ended up playing a bigger role than initially thought, good brother Zaizen Akira, no beta we die like the ignis, Post-Canon, Not Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links Compliant, I wrote this while listening to (G)I-dle’s music, Song: Doll ((G)I-dle), Year of the OTP Prompt Event 2023, I wrote most of this on my new computer!, Author Is Sleep Deprived Series: Part 5 of Year of the OTP 2024 Summary:

Miyu and Aoi sit out in the rain and Akira brings them inside.