#Kusanagi is super suspicious to me rn

[shidoukanae]

Who are the People of the Data Storm? (theory)

Okay going over episode one again because there’s so much information packed full into there and since everyone’s combed through the obvious information I’m gonna comb through the “doesn’t-seem-too-important-but-I’m-gonna-scream-over-it-anyways” information. Namely, about the special group of people Kusanagi talks about when bringing up the infamous Data Storm of the VRAINS.

Alright, so, Kusanagi mentions that a “certain” group of people did Speed Duels, introducing to us the fact that Speed Duels (and therefore probably Data Storms too, since he’s on the topic of it) are not new to VRAINS. Alright, okay, cool. On one hand, this is an obvious in-show explanation to familiarize the audience with the concept of Data Storms and their importance to the show (namely, Playmaker’s skill and his ability to draw new cards to help him in battle). On the other hand though, it’s also a means to bring up some questions.

For example, this special group of people...do they still exist? Who are they and where are they now? Supposedly, they were well-known and (possibly) well-liked as Kusanagi seems to imply. I mean, if they were notorious for the concept and perhaps the creation of Speed Duels, now that Speed Duels have been reinvented, where are they? Past this point, there has been nothing mentioned about them or even referenced about them. Yet, obviously, they had some huge impact on the VRAINS world. 

In the current day of the show, we see that the re-emergence of Speed Duels and Data Storms had created quite a stir with the real world. People are fascinated by it, trying it out for themselves and overall making a huge fuss about it. Kusanagi is the only one who seems to have a decent recollection of what a Data Storm (and what Speed Duels) are while Akira is hinted to at least recognize them in some vague fashion. Other than that, it seems like both Speed Duels and Data Storms have become a sort of “myth”. 

In episode two, the audience watching Playmaker’s duel seems to have heard of it but none of them actually seem to recognize the Data Stream that has appeared before them. And, what’s more, in episode 3, people seemed initially unaware of the dangers of riding the Data Stream, with two surfers tackling the mysterious ‘wind’ head-on with the intention of looking cool in front of the cameras. They were more fascinated with internet fame than wary about the potential harm that could occur from surfing on such a strange thing. It’s unknown whether anyone has actually died in the past from a Speed Duel but it’s been implied that, yes, it has, because Akira himself was well aware of the consequences enough to be certain about it in front of his sister. 

...But, back to the point. I feel like this “certain group” of duelists holds high importance to the plot. They may be the “true” antagonists we’ve been thinking of, the so-called “Dark Signers” or “Barians” of this series. Their evident lack of existence so far in the series is suspicious. 

Despite only ever being mentioned once, the show wouldn’t have reason to talk about them if they didn’t have a place in the plot. We already know episode one is chock full of “gonna be important later” facts (we have yet to see the other five AI’s, SOL’s desperation to find Ignis, Cyverse, Yusaku’s seeming connection to Ignis/the VRAINS) so it’s not out of the question that this “certain group of people” will have relevance too. 

Another possibility is that we already know these special people. Or, at least, some of them. From what little we know, it was likely they were active five years prior to current day. Likely, they were kids or young adults as those two groups are the only ones who seem interested (as of now) in Speed Duels. But, if it’s five years later, those “certain people” of the Data Storm are likely adults.

Like...Kusanagi. Or Ema. Or Akira. Or, even, Revolver’s dad. 

Consider this. All the adults we’ve been shown so far seem to be hiding something. Kusanagi, though more a background and supporting character to Yusaku than anything else, seems to know a lot more than he’s tell us. The mere fact that he seems brings up Speed Duels randomly to Yusaku hints of both plot explanation AND of plot importance. Kusanagi doesn’t only mention Data Storms and groups of people we’ve yet to know, but of “monsters in the wind” and a “paradise” that sounds eerily significant for something to occur down the road. 

Kusanagi seems to be more knowledgeable than he lets on and, perhaps, the reason why he is the only one (so far) who has referenced this notorious ‘group’ is because he was one of them. He’s aware of Speed Duels when most of the public has forgotten about them, speaking that Speed Duels (and, by extension, Data Storms, which are needed for Speed Duelst to exist) must have had some sort of relevance with him for him to have not only remembered what they were but what they looked like as well. 

I definitely feel like it’s suspicious that he’s able to recognize them while Naoki, someone who is a fan of the VRAINS enough to keep up-to-date with the latest in technology and the trendy idols, seems clueless as hell about what Data Storms are aside from basic rumors (which means we can infer that images of Speed Duels are apparently unavailable as otherwise how can you NOT recognize such a weird and obviously Speed Duel-related phenomenon if you’re such a fan of the VRAINS??? This makes it even more suspicious that Kusanagi is able to recognize just exactly what a Data Storm looks like) which is just plain odd.

It’s possible that Ema (and yes, I AM bring her up again because, like I’ve mentioned before, her potential can go in so MANY directions that it’s hard just to place in one certain direction and automatically assume I’m right) was once a part of this "people of the Data Storm” group too. There’s nothing to point her in this direction necessarily but her baring some similarities to Kusanagi makes me wonder. Both seem to keep to themselves, seem to be loners (aside from Yusaku, in the latter’s case) and, if Kusanagi is suspicious of knowing more than we know than so is Ema. She’s just as secretive as Kusanagi is, with few connections and just as lacking in motivation as the hot dog man is. 

Well, anyways, episode 8 will hopefully be more indicative of whether or not she has more major influence than we realize. Personally, I wonder if she has some history with Kusanagi. The fact that the writers are keeping her from interacting with anyone but Akira (who seems to be, as of now, a business-related contact only) makes me a bit suspicious. Every other character introduced has had their time to shine so far in almost every episode (and I’m including the times whenever Aoi appears as her Blue Angel persona) and yet Ema is the only character to have shown up for a grand total of like maybe a minute throughout the duration of 7 episodes. I realize she’s been off-screen investigating into Playmaker but with all the on-screen appearances other characters have made (even Specter, of all people, has had more screen-time than her) you’d think she’d be shining a little more brighter. Yet, the fact that they tuck her away makes me think they do so for a reason (And hopefully not just because she’s a YGO female). If she knows other members of the cast like Kusanagi, it is better to keep her from interacting with them so as to maintain her mystery and as well as to hide from us just how much she really knows. The less we see her the less we know about her and her connections and how she plays into anything at all like being in this ‘special group of people’.

Now, Revolver’s “father” and Akira Zaizen can also potential members of this perplexing band of hidden individuals but I actually believe they don’t really have any relevance. This is merely because Revolver’s dad looks a bit too old to have partaken in such shenanigans (and how would being the ~potential~ leader of the Knights of Hanoi have tied in with him being a member of this group, anyways? It doesn’t seem like the two factions are in any way related to one another from what he know so far) and, had Akira been a member, his sister would have known and used that against him. Akira being a notorious duelist (unless he kept his identity a definite secret from even her, I guess) of the Data Storm would have given Blue Angel fuel to fight against her brother when he chided her for partaking in such dangerous duels. Not only that, but if he knew of the consequences of the Data Storm firsthand (as I’m sure this group of people were super attuned to that fact) then he would’ve been more pushy and insistent to the point of probably locking her out of her account instead of just letting it slide when she went against his wishes. It might also explain why Ema and Akira are on familiar-ish terms to each other and why Akira seems to trust her when we’ve learned beforehand that she’s just as likely to help someone as she is to harm them (apparently. Again, waiting for episode 8 before anything concrete can be assumed about her).

Tl;dr: Kusanagi mentions a certain group of people in episode one and I believe they hold a lot of importance to the plot and what little we know about it so far. I also believe that Kusanagi might have been one of their members (due to recognizing the Data Storm immediately in episode 2 while others in the audience only knew it by name and rumors) and that it’s possible the other relevant adults - namely, Ema, Akira, and Revolver’s father - were also members of this special Speed-Dueling team. Whoever this certain organization was could also be villains or could be relevant to the plot in some other way.