#I'm still into VRAINS just...not as much as I was

[omarwolaeth]

It's such a tiny innocuous thing that really doesn't matter, but I feel like calling duel monsters a children's card game (when it's fundamentally baked into everyday life, and your social existence is judged by what you play and how you play it so very intensely, for everyone in-universe) is an absolute injustice to what it is for that universe of people.

[dawningwinds-s]

Oh right, GX is bad actually. Good to know I wasn't misremembering.

[shitpostingkats]

I've not watched Vrains but seeing you post about it makes my day every time. Every new Yusaku autism-core post I see I grin and say "yeeeeees"

Every time I think yugioh can't make a more autism protagonist, they delight in proving me wrong.

I know technically Yusaku's obsession with calming himself down by listing things in threes is because of his backstory, but also. Come on. No neurotypical would talk like this while trying to call an ambulance. When he first did it, I started happy stimming so hard. A MAIN CHARACTER! WITH ARITHMOMANIA!!!

His facial animation is stunning. I was so impressed by how far 5Ds got with having a character with limited expressiveness, and VRAINS just keeps raising the bar for me. Animated characters who don't smile/emote very much but still have unique facial animation while still having a Resting B#$% Face my BELOVED

Look at him! I'm obsessed!

He canonically has insomnia related to his ptsd. His best friends drag him for having zero social skills. AI REFERS TO HIM AS HAVING "THE EMPATHY OF A MOLLUSK."

He will just nope out on conversations midway through and I will never stop cheering about it.

All the yugioh protagonists are extremely autism, but Yusaku is a canonically compulsive, unemotive, low-empathy, zero social skills autistic and STILL THE HEROIC MAIN CHARACTER and I am LIVING FOR IT.

[kaiowut99]

Duel Links Re-Translation Mod Project (Announcement post I guess?) - Dark Yugi In-Duel Line Re-Translation Test (WIP)

(Alternate project tagline: #LetYubelSayLove)

(Forgive some video stuttering, my Nvidia game recording thing was a bit buggy 😩)

~~~~~~~~

So. For the longest, I've been hella curious to figure out where the text for Duel Links is in the file assets, the in-duel lines in particular--as I'm sure most folks know, the English dubtitle text applied for the English dialogue is, nine times out of ten, inaccurate or decently simplified vs the Japanese audio played on the same line, and it's a bit wild that we still don't have a second English option for a more faithful take this long after Konami gave us the Japanese voices natively on Steam and made modding the game to get them a thing of the past. But for all my occasional searching through the files, I had little luck due to encryption and junk; at some point in September, I got curious and did more digging and was able to find some card text, at least, but nowhere near as much as is in the game now, and still no dialogue lines.

And then, 2-3 weeks ago, I saw that Aura (Octomaidly over on Twitter, part of @entamesubs handling Studio Bridge-era YGO fansubs for SEVENS+) had been working with a couple of folks to decrypt and re-translate the in-duel lines for SEVENS characters and came across her video on Twitter sharing her progress; I immediately reached out to find out how they're doing it and mentioned how I'd like to try and re-translate pre-SEVENS stuff, lol. (You can watch her latest video demoing her re-translation for GO RUSH world here; find her work as it develops on the NexusMods page for it.)

After connecting with Aura and the folks helping her and getting set up to work on things, I set up a quick re-translation for Dark Yugi's lines, had it all imported for a test-run, and recorded this demo test vs Kaiba to see 'em in action; I did fix a few things since recording this, like some line breaks here/there, but also fixed the one mention of "Dark Magician" in the cut-in shot since this was a test of my OCG-name translation (more on that below) and thus "Black Magician" should've been there--but all told, it looks pretty good overall!

All that to say that this is now another lil' project on my list 😅 It's very cool that this is finally doable and I'm looking forward to working with Aura and co to make it happen--though do note that it'll be at a bit of a slower pace since work on my finalized GX subs (currently revision work on 117-119 is underway) and Tag Force Special is a bit higher priority. That said, the nice thing is that working on in-duel lines in TFSP kinda does half my work for me here, lol; maybe half of Dark Yugi's lines, for example, are recycled verbatim from TFSP--the only difference being that Shunsuke Kazama is actually voicing him--with the rest being lines newly added for him in DL, from lines for dueling other characters to cards he didn't have lines for in TFSP, and this should be the case across the board for anyone who showed up in TF[SP].

My intention is also to work on two translations: one with OCG card names and one with the TCG names, as we're doing with TFSP, and I'll be starting this off by working on the first five characters from each series that appeared in TFSP, since that's how I'm working on the story events there (so for DM, working on Dark Yugi, Kaiba, Jounouchi, Ishizu, and Mai first), and then once done through VRAINS, that might probably be the first version of the mod I'd release. Or maybe I'll release a version as I get each set of five done; we'll see lol. I do plan to contribute my translations to Aura's project, as well. (Also we just recently dug up event dialogue text so those will be re-translatable, too; doing this for the older series' events that likely won't get reruns will at least be worth it since you can spend Gems to get those event scenes)

But overall, it's pretty encouraging--stay tuned!

[pico-farad]

This Time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

Got sidetracked by GX Week, but I'm back to talk about Aoi again, because oh boy...

So for season 1, I'd heard the rumors of how they screwed her over, and they were mostly in line with the ways I expect Yugioh female characters to be failed by the writers. Overall I still liked Aoi and, while I found some decisions distasteful, I didn't think the actual quality of her writing was worse than other characters'.

Aoi's writing in season 2 is several times worse than it was in season 1. It's truly a disaster, amateurish and baffling, in a way that I think most viewers don't even consciously realize. And while it may not be the worst moment in Yugioh -- it is, in my opinion, the worst writing I've ever seen in Yugioh.

Anyway, that's how I wrote 4k words descending into Aoi madness. Enjoy!

---

Before I begin, a fair warning: I'm gonna say some harsh things in this post. Because being mean is funny, and I deserve it after what I just watched.

But I also want say up front that I don't think the Vrains writers are bad writers, and I still have respect for them. Writing for children's television is grueling work that I could never do, and there are many reasons why bad art is released into the world besides simple writing skill. Vrains clearly had a troubled production, and I have other suspicions about why it turned out the way it did. If there's interest, I think that could be its own post, too.

Also, I refer to the "writers" in this post when I criticize Vrains's storytelling, but to be clear, directors, producers, storyboarders, and others can have just as much influence over the show's story as writers, or even more so. I use the term writers for convenience's sake.

Without further ado...

⇀ Losing My Mind Immediately

Akira lets Aoi go into the restricted area, which nobody has ever returned from.

Ahem... WHO ARE YOU??? Why is Akira, overprotective onii-san numero uno, extremely willing to put his sister on house arrest for her own safety, has never given Aoi his permission to fight, suddenly letting her go off into a danger zone with a 0% survival rate, right after she lost to Spectre immediately in the Tower of Hanoi conflict.

Oh, so now you think she's capable? Why???

Not only that, they make Ghost Girl be the one to say it's too dangerous for her. What?? Ghost Girl is the one who encouraged Aoi to sneak out and into the danger zone in season 1. These are literally the last two characters who would say these things to Aoi.

Then, when they enter the restricted area, Aoi immediately gives up her emergency logout program to an NPC. Normally I'd brush this off. Naivety being used to emphasize female characters' moral virtuosity is passé, but it's not a big deal. It wouldn't be, if the next 30 seconds didn't make me completely go off the rails. This is the speech that is possibly the worst writing, line by line, that I have ever seen in Yugioh.

Roll the tape...

Aoi: Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child. I took on Hanoi for my brother, but look how that turned out. I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me. I was full of myself, thinking I can do anything on my own, but in truth, the world is full of people and we're all connected. Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone. I'll become stronger, so this time, I'll do everything I can!

Literally none of these sentences make sense... Half of them aren't even true. It reads like ChatGPT asked to write a shonen speech -- the facade of being inspiring, but ultimately empty and nonsensical.

"I took on Hanoi for my brother," This is blatantly false. She had a whole goddamn episode focused on why she decides to fight Hanoi, it's her duel with Baira, and it's specifically about how she's not doing this for her brother, she's not doing this for herself, she's doing this for everyone. If anything, she disregards her brother in order to fight Hanoi.

Blue Angel: I learned something from my duels. When people believe in you, you're fighting for everyone. So I will fight for everyone from now on!

Sound familiar? It's the same goddamn thing she's saying right now, "this time, I want to save everyone." Why are they framing this as Aoi having a new realization, having learned her lesson? What they demonstrate with this is that Aoi hasn't learned her lesson. The reason she lost to Spectre is because trying to save everyone includes trying to save him, and he takes advantage of her naivety.

Blue Angel: You're the same as me... When you were alone, you sought love, and Blue Angel's blue is the ultimate love! Blue Angel will descend into your heart, and save your soul! Spectre: Really? *bows mockingly* Please, then, save my soul!

Naively trying to save others is exactly what she's doing right now, by thoughtlessly giving away her emergency logout in a place that nobody has ever returned from. Her character has gone completely backwards. I said in my last post that losses are good because we get to see characters grow -- I stand by the opinion that they could have made the Spectre loss work -- but they've bungled it on three different levels. She loses horribly, then they retcon her reason for losing, in order to make her character regress.

Apparently, the real reason Aoi lost to Spectre, is because "she was full of herself, thinking she could do anything on her own." I'm so mad. First of all, Aoi clearly wasn't acting on her own and never thought she was, Go and Yusaku were both fighting Hanoi too. Why are they acting like Aoi lost because of hubris?

You know who thought he could do everything on his own? Yusaku. But clearly he didn't need to learn that "the world is full of people and we're all connected." He clearly believed the opposite, because he did everything by himself and tried to reject allyship at every turn and yet lo and behold, he hasn't lost a single duel.

"Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone." NO, LITERALLY ONE PERSON SOLO'D HANOI, AND EVERYONE ELSE DID JACK SHIT. This resolution that Aoi comes to not only regresses her character, but it makes no goddamn sense. Who is the everyone you're talking about, Aoi? Are they in the room with us right now?

Who am I kidding, it's obvious who the "everyone" is, because as she says it, the clip that plays is Akira's manpain as Aoi gets turned into data. Because even in this moment that has nothing to do with Akira, the writers cannot resist bending Aoi's character to revolve around how much she loves her beloved onii-san, even though it makes no sense in this context of trying to save a random NPC. 

Frankly, the whole "everyone saved me" also makes no sense in the context of trying to save a random NPC. But like, even less sense than that, because the actual context of this "heartfelt" shonen speech is that she's trying to get Ghost Girl to give up her emergency logout button. Ghost Girl, established to be self-serving and willing to throw others under the bus to advance herself. Why does this speech convince her? It doesn't even have anything to do with her.

Great, so now not only have they botched Aoi's character, but for the rest of the show, Ghost Girl is stripped of the characteristics that actually made her engaging.

If they wanted Aoi to convince Ghost Girl to give up her escape program and become more selfless, it's simple. Have her say, "We saved you." Ghost Girl wouldn't be standing here right now, if Aoi and the others hadn't risked everything to save everyone.

There's more I could pick on about these 30 seconds, like how the writers aren't content with handing Aoi a humiliating loss, but they also make her act like she deserved to be "humbled" by that experience: "Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child," "I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me." It's like they're not content with infantilizing her in the narrative, they need to make sure she infantilizes herself.

Which brings me back to the point about Aoi's "hubris." Because what is implied by saying that Aoi lost because of hubris when nothing she said or did suggested that, is that it was hubris for Aoi to fight at all. It was hubris for Aoi, and the audience, to believe she could do anything. Which is just maddening.

And to top it all off, to add insult to indignity to injury to insanity, she finishes her speech by saying, "I'll become stronger! This time, I'll do everything I can!"

AND THEN. SHE LOSES. IN THE NEXT EPISODE.

This speech reads like a bad influencer apology. First they "admit" their mistake (that Blue Angel didn't do anything in the Hanoi fight), then they deflect and change the story about what actually happened (it's because she was being full of herself! That's definitely why she lost), and finally they promise to do better (don't worry, this season, Aoi will get stronger and get some wins!), but they don't.

I can talk more about how the writers give Aoi shallow girlboss speeches instead of actually demonstrating her strength in duels, but that will come when I talk about Blue Maiden. 

Right now... it's time to talk about Blue Girl vs. Soulburner.

⇀ What's in a re-introductory duel?

Something that's pretty standard in Yugioh is the concept of the season 2 "re-introductory duel." Think Shou's promotion duel in GX, the filter episodes that came before the World Grand Prix arc started, the Sector Security battle royale in Arc-V. They can be story-relevant, or completely filler, but the point is to re-familiarize you with the main supporting characters. If you look at the first 10 episodes of a Yugioh season 2, you'll generally see all the main supporting characters represented in a duel. And if they aren't, it may reveal something about how relevant they are to the writers (Misawa GX, Ruka 5D's, Yuzu Arc-V...)

Go gets his re-introductory duel against Soulburner, and though I have my issues with how they handled Go in Season 2, which I went into in my previous post, it succeeds in every way a re-introductory duel should. It addresses the transition of his character between seasons, sets up his conflict for this season, introduces his new cards, adds character to Soulburner, and establishes a dynamic between the two. Their opposition is natural, and if anything, the season fails to capitalize on how well this duel set things up.

Aoi's re-introductory duel... is also against Soulburner. And their opposition... uh...

Look, I'll be frank, there is only one reason for Soulburner to duel Aoi, his third duel already in 10 episodes: they are fast-tracking him into main character slot #2. I talked about this in the Soulburner analysis. 

Aoi and Soulburner have no reason to be fighting, this match-up is completely artificial. They went "well Aoi needs to get a re-introductory duel because that's the Yugioh formula, and Soulburner needs more screentime, so let's shove them together," regardless of how it doesn't make narrative sense. How do they do that?

Blue Girl: We came to find the Ignis. SOL-- I mean, my brother can help you. Soulburner: You don't understand. The Lost Incident made us suffer for a long time. SOL Technologies was partly responsible for that. Entrust our future to them? Thanks, but we'll solve our own problems. Blue Girl: *frowning* In that case, those Ignis originally belonged to SOL Technologies. Give them back. Soulburner: What?

This is completely out of character for her. She knows that they're victims of the Lost Incident, she knows what they've been through, and they've just told her they're trying to save someone whose consciousness was stolen. She just said that her motivation is saving people, specifically to pay back the people who saved her. Guess who the only person who saved you was, Aoi? It wasn't your onii-san.

It would've made more sense for Ghost Girl to duel Soulburner. She's the one who was established to be a self-serving bounty hunter in Season 1. Oh, but if you gave Ghost Girl a re-introductory duel, it might give off the wrong impression that she's relevant?

This duel doesn't even add anything to Soulburner's character either, the way that Soulburner vs. Go did.

What could they have done if they were actually thinking about Aoi?

How about Aoi vs. Akira? Akira tells her that if she can beat him in a duel, he'll believe that she's strong enough to go into the restricted zone. Or they could do Aoi vs. Ghost Girl -- same thing, Ghost Girl tells Akira that if Aoi wins, it proves she's equally capable of going on this mission.

Either of these would check all the boxes for a re-introductory duel. It's a memorable matchup, it re-establishes the personalities and (IN-CHARACTER) relationships of these three, and it addresses the transition between seasons -- we left off from Aoi's devastating loss, and this duel would bridge her into an upwards character arc in Season 2.

Of course, if they did that, they would have to make an upwards character arc for Aoi.

These two episodes have succeeded in the exact opposite of what a re-introductory episode is supposed to do. It's a garbage fire of bad writing. They regress her character, and call it progress. She's out of character, in order to be unsympathetic. They don't set up an arc for Aoi this season, because they haven't thought of one. They introduce new cards that never come back. But none of it matters anyway, because Aoi isn't actually important! We'll just make up something new the next time we're contractually obligated to give her a few episodes (but not too many, god forbid!)

I guess there's one part of her character they make consistent, which is making her lose in the worst ways possible.

⇀ Blue Girl vs. Soulburner

You know how in my last Aoi post, I said that it's good when characters lose duels, and that "X should have won that duel" is a comment that often misunderstands how outcomes are about narrative purpose rather than deck matchups?

Forget everything I said. Aoi ABSOLUTELY should have won that duel holy shit. I just witnessed a goddamn crime.

So there is actually one more reason that Soulburner duels Aoi. It's that it's a good concept for a duel. Aoi should annihilate Soulburner. Go ahead with your 72 step Salamangreat combo I dare you. Go ahead and use Burning Draw I dare you. Everyone likes seeing how the underdog comes out of a pinch, and if I came out of the duel thinking, "Wow, I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off!" I could have forgiven it.

Ha ha... wow..... I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off......

I'm not usually that bothered by hyper specific made up anime cards, but what the fuck is that trap that negates effect damage under 300. Countering exactly 1) Skull Invitation 2) Ojama Trio 3) Every one of Aoi's cards. Yeah okay, fuck you Aoi.

And Aoi still should have won, if Soulburner didn't one-up Aoi's own Fusion Summon by Burning Draw YOLO topdecking a fucking Salamangreat Super Poly out of nowhere. Why??? Because the scripter couldn't think of a way out of the situation other than copying one of the strongest cards ever designed?? Fuck you Aoi.

Even Ghost Girl knows how robbed she was.

It's salt on the wound to cap off her "I'll get stronger speech" by having her lose a duel that was 99-1 in her favor. Soulburner deletes her life points in one attack, she screams and gets slammed into a cliff, and Soulburner stands over her and says, "Blue Girl, you're stronger than before."

Jesus, just look at that condescending framing.

Aoi doesn't show up again in a relevant capacity for 20 episodes, and doesn't have another duel for 30 -- that's a quarter of Vrains. Her last words as Soulburner stands over her are "You won because of the bond between a duelist and an AI?" before she passes out.

This, I suppose, is their weak attempt at introducing a plot for Aoi this season. It's... well... 

⇀ Aqua and Miyu

The Miyu backstory is lazy as hell.

I'm sorry to all the fans rooting for female characters and wlw ships, but this writing was unbelievably sloppy. Someone put "Aoi's childhood friend was a victim of the Lost Incident and that's how she gets the Water Ignis" into the show notes and then didn't think about it until it was time to write the episode.

Miyu is not a cardboard cutout. She's not cut from cardstock, both of those at least have structural integrity. Miyu has the character solidness of wet tissue. She's an NPC, a parody of a generic little girl. The only reason to care about her is if you buy into the cheap writing shortcut of damselling little girls, or you're a desperate lesbian. I'm sorry, lesbians.

They could have done anything to give Miyu an actual character, I'm not asking for a lot. Give her any kind of trait or interest -- maybe she loves the ocean and shows Aoi her collection of seashells, and she says they should go to the beach together one day but they never do. They could talk about idols, and maybe that's what inspires Aoi to later become one. They could talk about Duel Monsters, it's Yugioh for christsake. A playground duel would be adorable.

There's a million things they could have done that are more compelling than playing on the slide, but there's one that's so obvious it pains me.

The Blue Angel picture book. The one that Aoi said was her childhood treasure in the duel with Spectre, the one that motivated her to try and save him, a victim of the Lost Incident. The book that's an established part of her backstory, which made her take on the Blue Angel moniker. The book that's about a girl who is all alone until she makes friends and no longer has to cry blue tears.

Could it be more obvious? Have Miyu be the one who gave the book to Aoi. It's a backstory on a silver platter. If the writers cared about Aoi at all, if they didn't immediately forget every single thing about her the second they turn in the script for the contractually obligated Aoi episodes, they would know this. But they don't. Because even the Blue Angel picture book was clearly something they made up on the spot.

Imagine if Aoi's season 2 climax duel was vs. a controlled Miyu (à la Jin), the themes from the Spectre duel returned. Aoi questions if she really can save someone from the Lost Incident, or if it's just her own naivety, destined to be crushed over and over. But she breaks through, because this time it's her turn to save someone who's all alone. This is how you connect seasons 1 and 2, this is how you take a loss and turn it into a payoff. We can even get Spectre's perspective, he's there in the final fight.

But that's not what we get. Instead, they play on the slide, and then Miyu drops a ring down a drain, which I guess is what they think is a relatable cause of conflict for little girls. I can guarantee they would have come up with something more substantive if these were two male characters. And the pacing is just comically clunky. "Aoi-chan, look, it's my mother's ring! Isn't it pretty? Oh no, I dropped it! Wahhhhh!"

Aoi lies to Miyu's mom and says she's the one who dropped the ring, even though Miyu denies it vehemently, clearly crying and in great distress as her mother drags her away and never lets her see Aoi again.

This, we're told, is how Aoi "saved" Miyu.

Aqua: While she was imprisoned, you kept her strong, Aoi. No matter how many duels she lost, no matter how much pain she endured, even after her meals were reduced, she never broke and promised to escape. So she could see you again and apologize for that day.

.........APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT???

What the fuck kind of message is this supposed to be? Aqua is supposed to be the Ignis of TRUTH, why are she and Miyu glorifying Aoi's lie as some courageous, inspirational action, when clearly it did nothing but harm? I'm not crazy, am I? The obvious takeaway from this flashback is that even if you had good intentions lying to protect your friend, it caused miscommunication, distress, and led to their friendship breaking apart? Like, their lives would have been just fine if Aoi didn't lie, and Miyu learned a reasonable lesson about not being careless with other people's expensive objects?

This backstory is comically bad. Just imagine Miyu, going through kidnapping, starvation, and torture, sustained only by the thought that one day... she can tell the girl that she played on the slide with years ago... that she's so sorry... that her hand slipped when taking off a ring and it rolled into a drain 5 feet away.

The story would make more sense if it was me in the Lost Incident, and I was plagued by guilt over dumping Cheeto crumbs on Rachel from Pre-K, because at least I actually did something bad.

It's difficult to even articulate how much all these sloppy writing decisions compound on each other. Because they wasted Aoi's introductory episodes and didn't set up anything for her, she has no role in the story for 30 episodes. Because she was given nothing for 30 episodes, they have to shove an entire backstory for Aoi into one episode. Because they shoved the backstory into one episode, Miyu and Aoi's relationship with her are painfully rushed, generic, and flimsy. Because their relationship is so flimsy, this whole backstory, Aoi's motivation to fight, her entire season 2 plotline, is soulless garbage.

Aoi didn't remember Miyu until this episode. The writers didn't create Miyu until this episode. You cannot ask the audience to be invested in Aoi rescuing Miyu, when you don't even care enough to conceptualize her.

And this is the most damning conclusion of this post. The writers don't care about Miyu. And they don't care about Aoi. And they don't care if you care about them. You weren't meant to care about them.

Again, I'm not saying that the Vrains writers are bad writers, or they hate women. There are other factors to consider, like the specifics of gender relations in Japan, how Yugioh animes primarily exist to advertise trading cards to young boys, the fact that there has not been a single female writer on Yugioh since season 2 of GX. And obviously, Vrains had production issues, and every character suffered from flawed writing.

But my point is, Aoi suffered the most for it. 

⇀ Final Thoughts

There's a lot more that I could say about Aoi for the rest of the show. Like how she gets a magical girl transformation sequence, only to be irrelevant for 10 episodes again, and we have to wait that entire time to see her new deck. Then the duel, which really needed to be a two-episoder, is about Haru instead. The pointlessness of the Bohman duel. The pointlessness of Yusaku's "identity reveal" to Aoi. How they needed to have a third and fourth Akira manpain scene as Aoi is "taken away" from him, though I guess in that last one Aoi gets to have some girlpain too.

I did plan to talk about each of these duels, and more about how I would do an Aoi vs. Miyu conflict, but this post has gotten way out of hand already, and I've made the points I wanted to make.

I hope it was cathartic for everyone who was disappointed with Aoi, and perhaps gave language to people who were frustrated but unable to articulate why. I did some research into what other people have said about Aoi's character, such as this video by YugiohEverything, but I find that a lot of discourse in Yugioh is not very good at pinpointing why something works or doesn't work, and the actual skill of writing is oversimplified. This is especially true when it comes to Yugioh girls, and criticisms tend to fall back on losing duels or getting put in a coma, and while those can suck, they aren't the real problem.

In my last Aoi post I said "I'll just have to hope that they don't fumble whatever new thing they give her... but things tend to get bleaker for female Yugioh characters as the show goes on and whatever initial involvement they had in the story fizzles out," and this, I think, has been the real problem persistently for Yugioh girls. The writers are contractually obligated to come up with something when a series is first pitched, but when that period is up, or when concessions have to be made, the female characters are the first to be forgotten.

I just didn't think it would be this bad for Aoi.

Well. Expectations lowered.

---

First Aoi analysis

All Vrains season analysis

[kuriboo]

Yusaku for the character ask meme?

I watched Vrains as it aired, and I hooked onto Yusaku very quickly. It did not take long for me at all to look at Yusaku and see myself in him. Quickly my favorite character in Vrains, and remains so to this day. Before I was brainrotting about Yuga Ohdo, I was brainrotting about Yusaku Fujiki. I can still brainrot about Yusaku Fujiki like muscle memory if I put my mind to it; it's not that I'm brainrotting over him any less, I'm just very hyperfixated on the rush era rn.

Why I like them/why I don’t

What don't i like about Yusaku?

I love that he's a very...different yugioh hero. Sort of like how Yusei is, but with less racism and more cyberterrorism. Someone who the powers that be see as a threat, but the common guy comes to see as good. Someone who isn't doing this for fame, status, an image. He does what he does for himself and the people he cares about; he goes after Hanoi for revenge, goes after Lightning for Kusanagi (at least, initially, he does jump on the humans and AI can coexist train very quickly though), goes after Ai for, well, Ai. He's selfish, he's allowed to be, the narrative doesn't villainize him for it.

He also comes preloaded with trauma that we learn about very quickly, learn more about how it's even worse as time goes on, and then we get to watch him go through more trauma. We get to watch him give up because he feels he has nothing left and doesn't want to fight anymore. I love a guy in agony.

What I like about their appearance

His IRL appearance is everything to me. Look at his fucking hair. He's so Yugioh and I love it. Blue is my favorite color and he has so much blue going on. The pink is such a nice contrast and helped me appreciate pink and stop hating pink. He's got beautiful green eyes. His outfits are his school uniform, the uniform for Cafe Nagi, and a black hoodie (and pants, I don't remember what the pants for that looked like).

The outfit in Vrains? I really like it when the lines glow different colors based on what kind of monster he's summoning from his Extra Deck. That's a neat touch. Obviously I still like his eyes, same eyes. The rest of it? It's not a bad design, but doesn't appeal to me personally. I prefer IRL Yusaku.

OTP

Yusaku/Takeru. I am firestormshipping's strongest soldier (or at least, I used to be, back when it qualified as a rarepair...) Holds these two boys in my hands. It's about living through the same trauma but learning that not everything that came of it is bad and learning to heal together. Also the contrast between fire, something that creates light, and darkness, something that snuffs it out.

NOTP Datastormshipping unless it's done a specific way. Tala reminded me that when it's done a specific way, I do actually like it quite a bit, though.

OT3

Disastershipping (Yusaku/Takeru/Ryoken) leads to some really funny interactions.

Favourite card they use

Oh, he has so many good ones....

Firewall Dragon (sweet prince banned shortly after his debut), Linkuriboh, Cyberse Magician, and Update Jammer are all up there, though. If I had to pick one, I think Cyberse Magician is an unsung hero who deserves more praise. I cheered when Yusaku ritual summoned. I love ritual summons.

Linkuriboh did get this screenshot though lol

ANYWAY, if you haven't watched yugioh vrains yet, you're missing out.

[autismgirl4998]

Murder Drones Week Day 3: Favorite Ship

It's no surprise to everyone that I am Nuzi trash, meaning I ship it so much and love every single thing about them. From the moment I said that I think N might get out of his crush on V and fall in love with Uzi when the clip for the pilot episode came out, I never been more right about them! I hope they can make it through in the finale without either one of them dying cause I don't want them to be the next Yusaku and Ai from VRAINS...

I'm also putting an honorable mention for one favorite ship and one favorite platonic pair.

For the one honorable mention ship, it's Khan and Nori since they are married prior to the Murder Drones coming and killing everyone, and maybe prior to the Cabin Fever Labs? If Nori's parasite heart thingy is still alive, then I hope those two would reunite again.

As for the honorable mention platonic pair, it has to be V and Lizzy (Sorry Vizzy shippers, I just don't ship them) since they do have one thing in common, and that is basically bullying people. I would put Uzi and Thad in there, but Thad just got sidelined by the end of episode 2 after that only coming back in episode 7 with Lizzy and Khan going to fight J. And Doll and Lizzy is also a good platonic pair, if Doll didn't went psycho in episode 3 and then left to find the cure, only for episode 7 to kill her off. So V and Lizzy is basically the only good platonic pair I can think of.

This event is done by @space-dem0n

[trixiegalaxy]

I just had a fun Miraculous AU idea (got inspired by a book i saw in Wattpad);

Yu-Gi-Oh Miraculous Vrians!

I don't mind if people make artwork or write their own fan fiction of this. As long I'm credited for the original AU idea. I also posted this on DeviantArt.

In this AU, the kwamis are a special type of AI programming that is also called the "Miraculous Ignis". These AIs were secretly created by a third party during the Lost Incident. But when Professor Wang Fu (aka Master Fu) learns that these AIs were going to be used for evil purposes, he stole them from their creators and went into hiding. Fu managed to steal all the Miraculous Ignis', except for the Butterfly and the unfinished Peacock Ignis', which went missing during the theft.

10 years later, Gabriel Agreste uses the Butterfly Ignis to become the hacker terrorist known as Hawk Moth, who hopes to use the rest of the Miraculous Ignis' to waken his comatose wife, who used the Peacock Ignis too much without knowing it was incomplete. To lure out the Miraculous Ignis, Hawk Moth would hijack people's avatars in LINK VRAINS and turn them into his own mind controlled super villians. Also, to accomplish his goals, both Gabriel and his assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur, secretly infiltrate the hacker terrorist group called "The Knights Of Hanoi" under the codenames "The Collector" and "Catalyst". In hopes of not only finding the Miraculous Ignis, but to capture the original six Ignis' as well.

Meanwhile, Professor Fu decides to give the two most powerful Miraculous Ignis', the Ladybug and Cat, to Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste. They become LINK VRAINS' newest heroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, who help the hero, Playmaker, fight against both both Hawk Moth and the Knights Of Hanoi.

Other details of the AU (with spoilers of Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains);

The Kwamis Ignis have the same type of body design as the original Ignis', but they still have their animal fixtures. For example, the Cat Ignis would still have his cat ears, tail, and green cat eyes. While the Ladybug Ignis have her red body with black spots (and maybe ladybug wings on her back). They also have the same personalities as in the Miraculous Ladybug series canon.

Similar to the Miraculous Ladybug series canon, every Kwami Ignis are kept in their own jewelry shaped electronics, which connect to the holder's duel disk by Bluetooth. The holder's duel disk also changes form when they log into LINK VRAINS (which helps hide their identities).

The Miraculous Ignis have their own separate animal theme Cyberse cards. For example, the Ladybug Ignis has a ladybug theme Cyberse monster cards, and the Cat Ignis has a cat theme Cyberse monster cards.

The Miraculous Ignis gives their holders the same powers/abilities as in the Miraculous Ladybug series canon. These powers can also be used as skills in a LINK VRAINS speed duel.

Also, like in the Miraculous Ladybug series canon, Hawk Moth can only akumatize people who are filled with negative emotions/thoughts. Plus, they have to have their own duel disk and deck.

People who are not logged into or even don't have an account in LINK VRAINS can still be akumatized.

In this AU, the akuma enters a person's duel disk as a virus and always goes into a person's ace monster card. While their super villain avatar takes form similar to their ace monster. That person's deck is also transformed when they become akumatized.

Marinette still dreams of becoming a fashion designer. While as a duelist, she doesn't have too much confidence in her skills. Marinette is the only one of her friends who doesn't have a LINK VRAINS account (not until she became Ladybug, but no one else knows that). When she's not using the Ladybug Cyberse deck, she owns a fairy type desk.

Adrian is still a fashion model for his father famous fashion brand in both Den City and sometimes in LINK VRAINS. Adrian enjoys dueling but doesn't have much time to do it for fun because of his career. When he's not using the Cat Cyberse deck, he owns a warrior type deck.

Marinette and Adrien (plus their friends/classmates in the Miraculous Ladybug series canon) go to Den City High School. And are in the same class as Yusaku Fujiki (aka Playmaker). Their class teacher is Miss Bustier from Miraculous Ladybug.

Ladybug and Cat Noir doesn't know the true identity of Playmaker. And Playmaker doesn't know their true identities either.

Yusaku/Playmaker didn't really trust Ladybug and Cat Noir at first. And didn't want them to become part of his fight against the Hanoi. But Playmaker later began working with them when he realized he wouldn't be able to fight both the Hanoi and Hawk Moth's akumatized villains.

The Knights Of Hanoi had no knowledge of the existence of the Miraculous Ignis until Hawk Moth started to attack LINK VRAINS with his akumatized villains.

The Hanoi also wasn't aware of The Collector actually being Hawk Moth, not until in episode 38 and 39 when Hawk Moth tried to take control of the Tower of Hanoi by akumatizing Revolver (the leader of the Hanoi).

Ryoken Kogami/Revolver managed to learn the true identities of Ladybug and Cat Noir but agrees to keep the secret after meeting Professor Fu.

[ac-liveblogs]

Ur right in that Scara-Irmin has more consequences. The reason I say Olorun is better tho is because, A. unlike Scara, we're actually there for his Very Long Suicide Plot. He doesn't vanish offscreen and get replaced by an amnesiac substitute. We meet Olorun, walk with Olorun, complete his evil puzzles, his sui attempt is the climax. B. His onscreen characterisation works with his struggle vs Scara who has half his characterisation stuck in artifact lore.

(2.)Olorun nicknames his veggies, he likes bugs, he doesn’t distinguish between humans and nature. He can run to the wild but, when the Abyss strikes, he cant escape the sight of his ‘failures’. C. Olorun was raised with love, Scara thought he was raised with hate. This makes Scara a standard revenge->sui. But Olorun can’t hate his family. They love each other. He's scared of them dying. He wants approval and control and he gains both my sacrificing himself. I find this much more fresh. (3) D.I find his gap-moe funny. Ifa calls him ‘weird’ bc of his gardening but THAT"s not why he's weird. He seems normy compared to Fish and Razor. At first. Then you realise this idiot has tricked himself into thinking he’s in a pitched sibling rivalry battle with Himself From Another Universe Who Died As A Baby. AND he’s losing! Dead Baby Olorun saved the world, but this Olorun can't even go to war! His shattered soul made him good for 1 thing and bad for everything else. He's doomed. (4) To me, “Vengeance -> Vengeance!" is less fresh than “I want to die so I can finally surpass dead baby me as a person -> maybe I can surpass dead baby me in other ways. That said, my big gripe with Olorun is that his eureka moment is SUPER rushed. Theres no clear point where his martyr-complex-imposter-syndrome-low-self-esteem-survivors-guilt clusterfuck transitions to "Life Good." He's just refuting Citlali's affirmations one second and accepting them the next. Hoyo Y As a reward for wading through my Olorun nonsense, I simply must hear your thoughts on VRAINS's VISIONARY depiction of hacking.

I can't argue with personal opinion! I do agree that Ororon is the easier character to like and sympathise with, and unlike Scaramouche isn't actually frustrating to engage with. I liked his scenes with Citlali. It's just that - exactly as you say - the resolution to his character is WAY too rushed. Personally, if this arc had been spread out over multiple acts and the plan with Capitano had actually gone somewhere, I'd be a lot more on board than I am.

Really feels like Scara and Ororon each got one half of a half-decent plotline, huh? Ororon got the character groundwork, Scara got the… actual stuff happening (lazy stuff, but still stuff, LMAO)

What gets me is that the concept of Ororon - someone that can be possessed by the spirits of the dead in Natlan, where they're uhhhh around in some capacity, someone who feels like he can save Natlan all by himself… this should really work.

Thinking on it, I'd rather he was the one we raced into the Night Kingdom to save rather than Kachina (partially bc Kachina's storyline uhhh lol she's not even the hero rep for her tribe, disrespectful - if they have the guts to kill Xilonen, which I doubt, Kachina better replace her), because man, that last minute "don't sacrifice yourself" mere moments away from someone actually doing it is always a heartwarming classic, right? Despite all my "this lazy emotional beat did not make my heart stir", I'm really not a hard sell…

Ororon has all the pieces to WORK for me, but it doesn't, because Genshin half-assed it as usual… very depressing. But on his gap moe - man, that is NOT the personality I expected for him. Or Citlali! I appreciated that a lot.

On VRAINS…. hahahaha okay oh boy this is where I make an embarrassing admission. I did not watch VRAINS for the plot. I bounced around VRAINS to watch certain duels so I could learn how to Link Summon.

A CERTAIN online Yu-Gi-Oh Video Game has cruelly and brutally nerfed both of the decks I run, and clearly my attempts at valor (not running a deck that requires me to waste approximately two minutes of my opponent's time to set up my field on the first turn) have been rejected, so I figured if I couldn't beat 'em, join 'em. And learn Link seven years late. But also, I hate reading big technical paragraphs of duel strategy so I figured "whatever, that's what the anime's there for…"

I tried with Vrains! I really did! But the pacing of the first few episodes really turned me off, and the way the duels are structured isn't much better… honestly, I get why they had to simplify the duels for Sevens and Go-Rush, bc oh boy they were really struggling with the way the card game's evolved in this one (no wonder they made them do parkour in Arc-V. And also, I do not envy whoever had to write the duels around Salamangreat LMAO). I'm a fake fan and Ai's tomfoolery was my saving grace, I swear (I love Ai. It's a shame @ Ignister is such an incomplete archetype, seriously)

I need to go back and watch it properly at some point, because what I DID pick up from jumping around the later seasons seemed pretty cool in concept. So uhhhh raincheck?

[inkblackorchid]

Finished reading your Crow meta and was curious if you had any general thoughts on how he and Jack were handled in arc-v?

Anon, I'll be frank with you, I still haven't watched Arc-V. I know it seems to be the norm that people who get into yugioh eventually end up watching at least a little bit of every spin-off, but I'm kind of weird when it comes to shows. See, I have this thing where my interest in almost any piece of media is 100% dependent on whether the cast of characters grips me. And for the record, it doesn't necessarily need to be the protagonists who grip me. I have watched a show solely because one of the antagonists was a delight to see on screen before (even though he only showed up every 30 episodes, give or take). And unfortunately, some of the yugioh spin-offs haven't really... hooked me in any way, thus far. The only one besides 5Ds (which I will re-watch until the sun burns out probably) that I'm currently interested in is Vrains, and I have no reason for that other than that the characters look neat in terms of design and characterisation.

So yeah, not much to say on Jack and Crow's Arc-V versions. And frankly, what little I have seen of them just makes it feel like they're not really the same characters they were in 5Ds and can't be treated as analogous. So while I find it nice that they got to appear in a different spin-off, too, they'll always be cursed with standing in the shadow of their original portrayals to me, you know?

[merryfortune]

he felt his tongue tie as he finished his well rehearsed speech

Written using the Sweet and Spicy sweetheart Bingo [I'm aware it is ineligible for bingo]

Prompt: I’m Yours

Title: he felt his tongue tie as he finished his well rehearsed speech

Ship: Motherearthshipping | Earth/Spectre 

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains 

Rating: T 

Word Count: 1,548

Warnings: None 

Tags: Reunions, Post-Canon, Fluff, First Meeting

   Spectre faced himself in the mirror and repeated to himself an introduction which had become like a mantra for him, big breath then, “Hello, I am Spectre and I am your Origin.”

   He felt giddy. Wrong and excited. It was amazing. He felt like a young man looking to propose, a long lost sibling looking to make amends. It was all of these things and more as he looked into the mirror, readjusted his jacket and forced a smile.

   It was wrong. He wasn’t a smiley person, he wasn’t someone who ought to talk through gritted teeth and yet, he could not help himself. He had been waiting for this day to come for the past ten years if he was being honest.

   He recalled when he had first been taken under Ryoken’s wing, ushered into the back stage of the glorious theatre of pain which had been the Hanoi Project, explained the on-goings and happenings, the number one thing Spectre wanted was to meet his Ignis. His reason for his kidnapping and consequent torture. But alas. The very creature whose importance had necessitated the crime against him and his captivity was to be eliminated.

   By him no less.

   As a member of the Knights of Hanoi’s upper echelon. It was only right.

   That is what Spectre came to believe despite his initial disappointment.

   However that murder never came to fruition. Though Earth did die. Just not by their weapon.

   Ten long years had passed by that point and Spectre thought he had done well to calcify the resolve that was asked of him. He had performed so well for the Lost Incident, he could do this, too, but instead the psychic scream of his Ignis was too much to bear and so, past his defences, Spectre had shed one single tear.

   A hole had opened in his heart.

   And inside that hole, many things - many emotions, imaginings, and more - festered. Spectre began to explore more of the envy that he felt towards Playmaker and his Ignis, towards Soulburner and his Ignis. He began to wonder: what if?

   Earth had never sought him out. Spectre had been told it was because his reputation preceded him. That made sense. Thus, it became his assumption. 

   Now he would know for certain, however. If Earth had never looked for him because he had heard or realised or just somehow miraculously known that his Origin was now with one of the factions would seek to end him and his kin. Because now, Earth was back.

   He had died but now he had been resurrected.

   Playmaker was a disgustingly determined person. He was self-important and arrogant with how he proclaimed his justice and executed it without flaw. Spectre couldn’t stand him and yet, he was entirely enamoured with him because they were so opposite. 

   He couldn’t wait to thank Fujiki Yusaku in person for being exactly who he was. Weird as he was - and weird as it may be - because he had done the impossible in the name of love. He had brought not just his own Ignis back from death but all six of them.

   Then, he released those which did not belong to him.

   Ai was content - no, overjoyed - to stay by Playmaker’s side. The other Ignis on good terms with their Origins - so Aqua and Flame - made their way back to their own loved ones. Aqua reunited with Aoi and was finally able to meet Miyu, face to face and wide awake. Flame made the journey to Takeru’s hometown and was met with warm, open arms.

   Windy and Lightning… held back. They were rightfully reserved, remorseful, for what happened. Windy had only the cold grave of his Origin to visit and so, remained at Lightning’s heel, guilty, but together, as a pair, they made amends with the one who was still alive and bearing the brunt of their misdeeds. Jin accepted them, though he did heed the warnings all around him regarding what he didn’t remember but so far, the relationship though burdened was moving past that history.

   Then.

   Finally.

   The Earth Ignis.

   He was free to do as he pleased. What he was pleased to do was wander, much the same as he had been looking for Aqua, now it was a question of if he was trying to look away from Spectre, however. He simply tramped through the Link VRAINS without a seeming care in the world for concealing his presence. 

   But his brethren encouraged him to find Spectre. 

   Even Spectre was encouraged by his own organisation to find Earth.

   In the months that Earth had been absent from his psyche, Spectre had changed. He had never realised before but Earth had been important to him. He had wanted to be fine with them never meeting, their paths remaining ever parallel, if only the Ignis had stayed inside their halcyon Cyberse World, had never interacted with humanity, for better or for worse. So when Earth was gone from this world, Spectre had never felt such frailty until then. 

   But now he was greedy. He wanted to meet Earth, he wanted the Ignis in the human world. It would never be beautiful or idyllic but it was as the cliche wrote. It was better to love and lose than to never love at all.

   So when Playmaker gave Spectre a tip - the coordinates of where Earth was likely to be at a certain time - he immediately made plans. He began to rehearse, in life and online, how he would introduce himself, how he would show he had turned over another leaf if Earth hated him or was certain he was still a threat.

   Spectre counted down the days, hours, minutes until he could finally bisect paths with Earth. Even if he had to force it. He would go to him if Earth wasn’t going to come to him. If that was how it would be, then Spectre wouldn’t just lay down and die like his namesake would imply.

   He would forge out a new future, a new happy time, with his own two hands for the… for the first time in a long time. Since he had run away from the orphanage, really. Even if the idea of it made his head spin and made him sick to the stomach, he would do it.

   He did do it.

   Just as Playmaker had said, Spectre found Earth in the vastness of the Link VRAINS. In some place no regular player would ever think to venture but it was a place which was fitting.

   A forest.

   Tall trees surrounded them, mossy rocks jutted out from the ground underfoot. The grass was lush and made satisfying noises when walked upon. The sky overhead was the purest blue. It was lonesome and beautiful here. Even if it was a fake forest.

   They found each other in the middle of it and Earth was… visibly surprised to see him, Spectre could tell. Though, he very well may have been surprised to see any human. Let alone him, wearing his stark white uniform of the Knights of Hanoi.

   Earth sized him and for a moment, Spectre thought he might flee. He had been warned that Earth was capable of making portals and disappearing through them but no such thing happened. Though Earth, floating at eye level, steeled himself, he didn’t run away.

   Relief flooded Spectre’s veins as he met Earth’s hard, discerning gaze. Thick silence ensued as they waited for the other to make the first move. Spectre willed that it would be him but his mouth dried as his rehearsed introduction momentarily failed him.

   In this pause, this stare down, Spectre faced Earth and briefly, he felt as though he were facing a mirror of himself. It was a stranger flicker but it was an intuition nonetheless. Of course Earth was going to be a reflection of him, he was the product of Spectre’s Hanoi Project.

   He had duelled well. He had channelled his love of the natural world and his despising of humans. He held on tight to a sense of importance: that for the first time in all the years he had walked the Earth, at the grand age of six, he had reason to be. That he was important. That his boredom was alleviated and that a happy time had been delivered unto him, one that he had been chosen specifically for.

   Earth was the culmination of all of that and more. All whilst he was his own being, with his own values and morals, history and memories, wants and needs, character and personality.

   Spectre took a deep breath as he felt his eyes well up with tears. Why was he trying to cry? He was stopping himself as he sputtered out.

   “Hello, my name is Spectre and,” he felt his tongue tie as he finished his well rehearsed speech with a fumble, “I’m yours.”

   Earth bowed his head. He took it in stride, not knowing there was a mistake at all. He put his hands in front of him in a manner Spectre knew well: the fist to palm salute, it made his heart tremble.

   “My name is Earth and it is good to finally meet you, I am yours as well.” Earth replied.

[thatoneredditto13]

Okay, so I've had this account for 2 years and still haven't posted an Introduction 🙃

Well, better late than never.

General

Name: Kaori is my preferred name but nicknames related to my username is alright too.

Previous Username: charizardgirl13

Pronouns: She/Her (cisgender)

Age: N/A (I AM A MINOR THO SO DON'T BE WEIRD)

Sexuality: Bi and Asexual (still semi questioning [mainly about my asexuality])

Interest Dump!

Yu-Gi-Oh! (Mainly Arc-V and Vrains, but I like a little of everything)

Green Day

AJR (I like their music pls don't be mad qwq)

Pokemon (not as much into the anime and TGC as I used to, but I do still play the games n stuff)

Kirby

Weezer

Now You See Me (I'm a sucker for magicians)

Jack Stauber (can't believe I forgot this when I made this)

Hobbies/Stuff I Do Sometimes

Make AMVs/Edits (I'm slowly getting kinda better)

Draw (I still suck and have no confidence to post anything I draw)

Play the Trumpet (I'm really not that good tho [stupid high notes I tell ya])

Things I Post

Random Thoughts I have

Yapping about my interests

Pro-Palestine stuff

Socials

YouTube: That One Red Ditto - https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCuEdmfUl8ZWznkkDQDoMfFA

Instagram: yourlocalfusionfollower13 - https://www.instagram.com/yourlocalfusionfollower/profilecard/?igsh=MXBydGhhYXZ1NTEzNg==

Discord: DM for user (I just don't want to be spammed by trolls or anything)

Pinterest (I usually just save a bunch of stuff): CharizardGirl13 - https://pin.it/5VGezXdzV

Wattpad (I barely update any of my stuff anymore but I am trying to work on things): ChariGirl13 - https://www.wattpad.com/user/ChariGirl13

I definitely missed some, but, if I make an account, it's user is most likely one of these names:

CharizardGirl13 (or ChariGirl13)

That One Red Ditto

Your Local Fusion Follower

Random Things

I used have two cats, Jack and Jackie (Jackie was technically owned by my mom's ex-boyfriend but we both took care of both cats) but they went to a different home when my mom broke up with him.

I'm pro-Palestine. If you don't like that then...I don't care go follow someone else.

I'm trying to branch out into different animes (it's just that a lot of them have blood and that makes me feel a little sick)

Speaking of anime, I mainly watch dubbed, but I do still watch subbed sometimes. Wait why are you booing me-?

I don't post very often soooo...

Yeah that's it. Might add to this eventually. Idk

Update on Oct 4, 2024 to add Socials and my old user

[tubbytarchia]

I've been in a little Vrains phase recently. Vrains my love... Vrains my love thoughts...

if you asked me what my favorite episode was then I'd say the one where Kusanagi and Yusaku fuck around doing that one puzzle in Vrains. I love them as a duo so much, Kusanagi being such a cute father/older bro figure to Yusaku yet Playmaker dragging his ass along in Vrains, only made better given what Kusanagi's Vrains sona looks like. Vrains Kusanagi is a stupid nerd (I love him) while irl Yusaku is a stupid edgy little hoodie guy (I love him also). They are soooo cute I will give my life for them

Also the way that, despite being arguably the most botched Yugioh in production, and despite the very obvious quality drops depending on who (I'm guessing) animated the keyframes from episode to episode, I swear to god Yusaku gets the most pretty shots. The amount of screenshots I had to take of his pretty face as I skimmed through every single episode for AMV purposes, is significantly larger than my collection for any other protag. I need to make a compilation of just him looking pretty, but also I'm so excited to work on an AMV again. Finally, I get to almost remember what it's like to be happy. That said, I do wanna draw him too... even though I'm trying to force myself away from fandom fanart to some degree, seeing how unhappy it tends to make me

Ryoken still fave though even though Kusanagi has risen up in my fave ranks so much. You cant beat bullet jewelry gun dude. I hope Yusaku gets a kiss from him (and everyone else too)

Also wow someone read all of my Vrains thoughts wowza. Here's a short preview for the currently very unfinished and unpolished AMV (this is minor spoilers at most) (fast switching lights warning)

[shitpostingkats]

Hi yes I need you to know that your analysis on Jaden and Yusei (June 16, 2022, idk if you’ve done multiple on them but that’s the one I’m talking about) is the realest thing I have EVER read and you’re so right and you should say it MUCH louder that is the greatest take op it’s amazing and I’m screaming /pos

Jaden is my favorite character like,,,, ever, and you have nailed him I’m going bonkers

Another thing, I love your Groupchat AU but you have made me become aware that there is???? Another???? YGO show????? I was like who on God’s Green Earth is Yudias and then Google attacked me with information. I still remember. When Vrains was new. To me Vrains is still new. It came out 6 years ago. I feel old. I am not okay. I have yet to acknowledge the existence of Sevens and will continue to do so with Go Rush. Oh I got off-topic, whoops-

Anyways, love your Groupchat AU but I saw the one part with the Eldritch language that Jaden and Yuya are both fluent in and I humbly request more of their dynamic???

I had an epiphany last night, they’re so similar I’m actually losing my mind. All I can think about is that one audio of Batman and that girl on the swings and it’s like “They got their weapon, I got cheated out of my childhood” “I know what that’s like.” “You do don’t you?” Tell me that’s not them I am dying /pos

Much love <3

Oh my gosh, thank you! <3

Jaden and Yusei, my beloved blorbit. The painfully monstrous and the painfully human. The narrative foils of all time. Jaden Yuki, the creatchur autism boi of all time. <3 I need to write about them more.

I know what you mean about the new shows. I'm still a ways off from watching them, but I still want to remember they exist but keep forgetting. What do you means vrains is six years old??? (<- was not even a yugioh fan when vrains was airing) You're telling me there's probably going to be new one after that??? That the days start coming and they don't stop coming?????

Shoutouts to the sevens and go rush fans. They are the mightiest of soldiers. I know nothing about their shows but I'm hesitantly penciling them into the groupchat au anyways because I have seen maybe three clips but I know this funny little alien guy is near and dear to my heart.

Obviously there's a bit of a shift between Vrains and the Sevens era, being made for new audiences, a little tone shifting (which we LOVE, because any franchise that stays the same forever is no bueno.) and that makes it easy to group the first six shows into one group. But I also think there's a fascinating dialogue between shows 1-3 and shows 4-6. I didn't realize it until I was a good way into Arc-V, but each of the second trilogy protagonists sorta reflects the first three.

With Yuma and Yugi, it's very purposeful, a stated "return to form" with the chipper kid and his ghost companion who lives in his special necklace. And when I was gushing over Yusei in 5Ds, I got a lot of people saying "Man, you're going to love Yusaku." They're both the rbf hacker protags who fight the government. Lots to love.

But Jaden and Yuya????? Did not imagine I would come out of Arc-V going "omg they're foils. They're the same story through a different lens. They need to TALK to eachother and bond over their shared experiences."

Even leaving out my pet theory of "Zarc Was An Incarnation Of Jaden In The Original Timeline", they're just so. *clenches fist* The childhood trauma of being a weird kids and masking with an overly bubbly personality only to learn the great anger they've been trying to hide is powerful enough to rip apart reality and they're secretly harbingers of destruction.

By the end of GX, I think Jaden has wonderfully come to term with that. By the end of Arc-V, I think Yuya hasn't.

Their dynamic in the gc AU is very much to me Yuya is still struggling with Z-arc stuff, but not saying anything about it because that'd be weird, so he just kinda frets about it until he hits a breaking point and Jaden gets to offer his advice on dealing with all this.

I am so interested in exploring this that it actually got me started writing fic again,,, which I haven't done in like a year, so wish me luck. I'll keep y'all updated :)

Angst aside, they're also just. One braincell between them. Theatre kid and guy who has never once acted natural in his entire life. Kid making a scene at a Waffle House while his friend slowly eats the entire menu and offers suggestions. Jaden is a pokemon fan and Yuya is a kingdom hearts girlie, I've decided this, and they takes turns infodumping to each other. Jaden summons duel spirits so Yuya can ride around on Hiphippo even when he's not dueling. They trade funny things they've heard their dragons say. They're eldritch and inhuman and best friends, your honor.

[number-1-kuaidul-fanboy]

I am not exaggerating when I say that every character, every single solitary one in Arc V and VRAINS are the wrong fucking age.

The other series I can make some concessions for or they at least look their age but these two? There is no excuse.

Yuya, Yuzu, Yugo, Shun, everyone in the lancers really should have been at least 18 if you wanted them to be drafted into war and ride fucking motorcycles in a major tournament, both of which you need to be 18 to do. Even going by YGO logic, everyone in 5Ds that rode motorcycles in tournaments were at least 18.

And Declan? He's a fucking CEO of a company, principal of a school, and general in a war yet the Wiki is trying to convince me he's 16. If he's not at least 18, he shouldn't be running a company like some seasoned adult when his mother is alive and perfectly capable of running the fucking company and s chool herself. Declan should still be in school studying if you want me to believe he's that young. 16 isn't old enough to drop out dammit. Declan should be in his twenties considering how much taller and just older looking he is than the main cast.

And Riley's age is never said but she's said to be in the youngest duelling league, so potentially as young as 8. The fact that anyone ever considered making Riley ride a fucking motorcycle is psychotic.

And if that sounded bad well.

VRAINS might just be even worse.

You're telling me Yusaku, who only occasionally goes to school and even more occasionally works at a hot dog truck, and has been defending the VR world from hackers vigilante superhero style for years and lives alone in his own apartment (so paying all the rent himself) is a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD IN HIGH SCHOOL?! HOW MUCH WERE THESE WRITERS SMOKING TO COME UP WITH THIS SHIT?!

And this problem persists for every Lost Incident and Lost Incident adjacent kid, many of which are key players in the plot, since they're all supposed to be the same age even though the narrative wants us to side with Aoi when she says "No, big brother. I'm not a child, I'm an adult and can take care of myself" even though she's A MINOR WHO'S FINANCIALLY DEPENDENT ON HIM! Or Takeru fucking off from his grandparents with no say of when or if he'll come back and not being reported a missing child to the police?! Or Spectre's pre Lost Incident memories being so young that it sounds like he's lying out of his ass about remembering anything from that age when he gives his tragic backstory that we're supposed to take seriously?!

And don't even get me started on Revolver. You mean to tell me this clearly very experienced programmer and hacker leading a massive cyberterrorist organization is only EIGHTEEN?! And thus looked exactly the same as he did five years ago when he was THIRTEEN AND ATTACKED AN ENTIRE NATION'S PEOPLE?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

[pico-farad]

I hit episode 90 of Vrains! Season 2 is long, so I'm stopping here to put down some thoughts.

But before that, I wanted say that I was blown away by the response to Secret Identities AU! I didn't even know the Vrains fandom was still alive, but clearly I was mistaken. I plan to make a part 2 going over more characters and changes I'd make, but I'm going to hold off until I've finished the series, so that I can factor in the larger arc of the story.

For now though, here's my thoughts on the second third of Vrains (up to Aoi vs. Bohman). I had too much to say again, so this part will cover Soulburner and Flame.

Critique is meant in good taste. I don't think the Vrains writers will be offended.

All Vrains season analysis posts

⇀ Soulburner

Well, I saw this coming. With a protagonist like Yusaku, the writers need a character who can engage him and generally fill up that "Yugioh friend" role, which was sorely missing in Season 1. Naoki, Go, or Ai? Not marketable enough. They needed to make an anime boy, and they sure did.

That said, I was expecting more from Yusaku and Soulburner's relationship, it's a little... nondescript. They had the same problem in season 1, where the writers don't leave room for the characters to just be characters and bounce off each other, it's all just plot and duels and exposition. At least season 1 had the excuse of Yusaku's trauma alienating him from others, but not only has Yusaku already resolved to overcoming that barrier, but Soulburner is one of the only people who can connect with him because of that experience.

I really would have liked to see them connect more on both being victims of the Lost Incident. Season 1's emotional conflict resolved with Yusaku putting his trauma behind him, so Season 2 needs a new emotional conflict. This would be an excellent use of Soulburner's character, except they've made the strange decision that Soulburner has also already overcome his trauma... offscreen.

Don't get me wrong, the Soulburner vs. Blood Shepherd episodes are good. Having Soulburner and Flame trick Blood Shepherd with their acting is a fine gotcha, but think about what we could have gotten if Takeru was allowed to grow through the story itself -- Yusaku and Flame both encouraging him, Takeru finding strength in Yusaku, the only person he knows who has been though the same trauma as him, but was able to stand up to Hanoi nonetheless. Instead, we don't even get to see Yusaku's reaction to Soulburner's backstory, he's stuck outside the bubble.

I can see why people like him though. Both his designs are good, he gets some funny lines, some good duels. I like his trait of fanboying over the heroes who saved Vrains, EXCEPT that the duels vs. Go and Blue Girl were unforgivable and I WILL go deep into that in their sections, mark my words anime boy.

Most of all though, I like his relationship with Flame.

⇀ Flame

He's funny. Like if Jack was five inches tall. I like how he just casually puts words in Soulburner's mouth. ("Prepare yourself! Soulburner never shows mercy!" "What? I didn't say that." "You didn't?") Flame thinks he's the Ratatouille rat in this relationship, both of them think they're the one calling the shots, and that's great.

I wish that element of their relationship had come back in the Soulburner vs. Windy duel, which is another case of introducing an interesting challenge for the characters -- in this case, the idea that Flame should want to be independent of Soulburner -- only to once again go Psych! Bamboozled! They were just acting the whole time!

Ah yeah, they sure tricked me into thinking we would get some good character development...

It's a shame, because I think Windy actually does raise an interesting point. The audience is biased towards thinking of Soulburner as the one who calls the shots -- he's the one who plays the cards, who declares attacks and announces effects, while Flame is the one who looks like a mascot and provides standard Yugioh audience commentary. It makes complete sense for Windy to instill doubt in Flame this way, because the conflict between the Ignis and humans is that humans think AI should only serve humans, and Ignis believe in their own free will.

For reference, here is the exchange that happens (paraphrased) after Soulburner refuses to listen to Flame's advice not to set a card (though this is just part of the act)

Windy: Don't you want to fight using your own will, Flame? Partners are just a nuisance. That's why I got rid of mine. Soulburner: Nuisance? During the Lost Incident, the captured spent every day in an unimaginable situation. Despair, day after day... When we were freed, we were so happy that our hope became reality! But you stole that away from your partner because you thought he was a nuisance? Flame: Windy, we were able to be created because they spent day after day enduring despair. We should be thanking them. We have no right to steal their hope!

Flame's rebuttal to Windy is so bizarrely essentialist. The Ignis don't owe anything to the Lost Incident victims, much less gratitude. They didn't ask to be created, and they are not responsible for the crimes of SOL. The message should have been something like "I chose Soulburner with my own free will."

Flame does not owe Takeru anything, but he chooses to be his partner, because the whole point of the Ignis is that they have free will. That is the proper resolution to Windy asking "Don't you want to fight using your own will?" The answer is no, they choose to fight together. Even if Soulburner appears to be the one calling the shots because he wears the duel disk, they are equals, and the reason Soulburner takes the lead is because Flame trusts him. 5D telepathy chess undercuts that.

⇀ Lost Incident Victims, and Alternate Season 2 thoughts

The more I think about it, the more I wish they used the different Lost Incident victims to explore different reactions to trauma. Yusaku used it to fuel him and his revenge, Takeru went down a route of self-sabotage and lashing out, Jin shut himself down, and Spectre, uh, decided to be Like That lmao.

Here's the set-up that I would have done for Season 2: after Jin is kidnapped, Yusaku decides to seek out the other Lost Incident victims to see if any of them have been targeted too, which could give them a clue on how to get Jin back. This is how he meets Takeru. 

Yusaku has to learn how to connect with people, which follows up on the season 1 finale, where he resolves to open himself up to others and tells Revolver that he wants to be friends. By befriending Takeru and helping him overcome his trauma, and eventually the other Lost Incident victims too, it builds up to the reprise of Yusaku vs. Revolver, where Yusaku finally succeeds in connecting with Revolver, who he realizes is another victim of the Lost Incident.

Jin and Miyu get to be actual characters this way, too, rather than just damsel devices. I'd also pay to see the deranged interactions Spectre would have with Yusaku.