#shoichi kusanahi

[pendulumprince]

You know how some kid shows have episodes that discuss sensitive topics? If Vrains were to do that, what subjects do you think they would cover, and how would they be presented?

Very, very interesting question.

I know you said only what I think Vrains will cover, but I decided to also include elements it isn’t likely to cover. In part for the hell of it, and in part because I think anything is technically possible—the less-likely elements would just appear in coded language.

Sexual Assault - Extremely, extremely unlikely that this would ever be tackled head-on. The only way I could possibly see this being discussed is in veiled language. So for example, someone from the main cast is kidnapped, and when they’re recovered they display signs of PTSD, Rape Trauma Syndrome, can no longer tolerate being touched, don’t want to be left alone, ect. The other characters also display an unusual amount of vitriol towards the person responsible, with even non-vengeful characters wanting retribution.

These elements could, in theory, come up. But they would likely be explained as ‘torture’; the word ‘rape’ would never be used.

Incest - I’ve brought this up in my Aoi and Akira posts, but this is also extremely unlikely to ever come up. Whether it’s Aoi and Akira, or Shoichi and his brother, or another sibling duo: if it by some chance came up, it would be presented in veiled, coded language. For example, if consensual, the siblings in question would be quite possessive over one another, keeping tabs on each other, and warding off any outside romantic interests. It would be a very enmeshed relationship.

If not consensual, that intense jealousy would still be there, but on the part of the coercive sibling. The other sibling could be presented as either deliberately rebelling against this, or as beaten down and unwilling to reach out for fear their sibling’s reaction. But in either case, the relationship would never be explicitly labeled as sexual, or even psychosexual.

Divorce - Arson, murder, and jaywalking at it’s finest. This mainly has to do with precedent. I can’t recall not one divorced couple in YGO, even in cases where it would have been justified on even the strictest of moral grounds. Yoko didn’t divorce Yusho even after the latter disappeared (read: abandoned her) for three years without a word, and it’s implied that Himika goes back to Leo the War Criminal in the finale. So I just don’t think Vrains is going to have it, either.

And to be clear, I’m not saying that silence on these issues is a good thing. I’m just analyzing precedent.

Now, onto things that are more likely to show up:

Suicide - I think this element has a shot—not a particularly good one, but it’s not a near-impossibility like the others. I put suicide in this category because if it is brought up, I think it would either be explicitly mentioned, and/or be accompanied by explicit imagery. For example, someone throwing themselves off the roof of a tall building in the real world. A character in the troughs of despair saying that they don’t want to live anymore, or don’t deserve to live. Or, if we’re looking to symbolism, perhaps someone throwing a serious duel by directing an attack against themselves (bonus points if the penalty for losing is death, in which case it wouldn’t be so symbolic anymore).

Pandemic/Plague - YGO has never really explored this, but it’s neutral enough that I can’t see any reason why it would be avoided. In a futuristic settling like Vrains, it would seem almost archaic—but that’s the beauty of it, no? That no matter how safe you feel, something can still come and turn your world upside down?

And I count this as a sensitive topic because it explicitly deals with disease, just on a mass scale. This would entail things like constant fear of being infected, the death of loved ones (or the main characters themselves), and the breakdown of society. For example, there’s an outbreak of some illness that proves to have a high mortality rate. Several people in the supporting cast die what are depicted to be terrible deaths. The characters have to race against the clock and duel some antagonistic organization into submission in order to get the cure.

Exploitation - This one, I actually count as pretty likely. The whole Charisma Duelist element is practically begging for it. So for example, we could have a popular Charisma Duelist being forced to dress, behave, and act in a certain way by a controlling manager and/or family members, both in Link Vrains and in the real world. They see this character as nothing but a means to an end.

Abandonment - This one is very likely. We already have Aoi’s feelings towards Akira, which seems to have shades of emotional abandonment. If Yusaku truly doesn’t have a family, he may have been abandoned by them. There’s also the potential that Ignis may have been abandoned by the other AIs at some point by virtue of being hated (before the Cyverse was attacked ofc).

And this can be taken further. For example, maybe the Zaizen parents aren’t dead, maybe they just up and left one day. Maybe Shoichi’s younger brother wasn’t taken by the KoH, and he actually he ran away. Maybe Yusaku was the one who ran away from his family in order to find out what happened in his past. Whatever the case may be.

Death - Okay, this is a near certainty. Every YGO series has death, even Arc V had Sergey. But here, I’m talking an explicit, permanent death among someone either neutral or allied with the main characters. Just one would suffice, because one is enough.

I thiiiiink the last time this happened was with Bruno, all the way in the 5Ds era? It’s high time we had another. For example, Shoichi dies trying to bring his brother home. Akira dies trying to protect Aoi from SOL. Revolver is killed by Specter not long after he defects. Ema crashes her D-Wheel. Naoki finally becomes a duelist who fights for justice, and dies fighting the good fight.

And if they wanted to be especially dark and edgy? Kill off Aoi or Go. Delete Ignis. I would say even Yusaku’s up for grabs, but I really can’t see things going that far. Even so, permanently killing off one of the protags besties or partner would be more than enough.