#vrains ai

[ladyyatexel]

Ai Ai Ai Ai Ai Ai Ai

--

fun fact, i actually really hate heart motifs, but his name is love, he gets a pass

[mineral-vulture]

Ya'll may remember this piece I did awhile ago? Since Sae Itsoshi and Ai share the same Japanese VA that also means both share the voice of the one and only, Reigan from Mob Psycho 100. I could have drawn Sae dressed as Reigan but the problem with that is that it really isn't that funny because he would just look like some guy in a suit (that and I think Sae would prefer to wear a suit over Ai's humansona's outfit if forced to wear which one for the day). @siromany then suggested I draw Ai in Reigan's suit and I just went in on it. Ai's humansona is already tumblr sexyman coded so him wearing Reigan's suit really pushes it. This in turn made me draw Reigan in an Ai bodysuit. "Pierce, why didn't you draw Reigan dressed in Ai's humansona outfit?" because I didn't want to draw that whole getup again. Also, yes, I did finish all of Mob Psycho 100 and loved it. Also also, Oz and I both realized Ai is a lot like Reigan.

[zeravmeta]

iconic of Ai vrains still to make his own humansona based off the two humans who were his closest friends but also to slightly shift up the design to be a handsome guy because whats the point of being a human if he cant also make himself hot

[kitsuneoftheorganization]

out of all the ignis, i like to think that flame and ai are the cuddliest, with ai being the most cuddly and also the most absolutely inconvenient about it

i feel like he would just go full six limbed eldritch gremlin mode whenever he decides it's appropriate and wrap around like a clingy snake. Trying to do chores? Trying to go somewhere? Trying to speak to someone he decides is getting too much attention? You're losing your mobility privileges for the next hour and getting a head hanging over your shoulder either making snarky comments or cutting filthy one-eye-jagged-jaw looks (definitely not showing off) to anyone who looks in the general direction.

trying to stay focused? gonna have to learn to deal with 30 (hmm. i wonder what an ignis would weigh?) pounds of pure snark and nosiness hanging around you like a backpack and asking about every single move you make.

Trying to rest? look out for the giant purple shadow about to envolope you like a sentient heating blanket.

even worse if you're ticklish, because we all know he's a little shit (affectionate)

even in his soltis form i feel like he'd be the type to just sneak up unannounced behind and wrap his arms around you with half of his weight bearing down to scare you on purpose

although I think you'd end up with a stunned silence and a blush if you pat his head because deep down past the jokes and sarcasm he really actually does want that hug and just won't admit it.

[kamenriderhamo]

bit obsessed with this freak

[judgedarts]

ai and yusaku watercolor for my friend rei!

[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.

[angeat]

[t4tieflings]

Had a conversation with a friend about the levels of Co-dependency of each Yu-Gi-Oh Partner Duos and these are the rankings we landed on. 

[offlineblues]

Yusaku and Ai go out to pick up lunch

[bradbradleyart]

aiyusa for rei :)

[rosefinnapple]

A pile of new Yugioh mini charms just landed in the shop! ^_^ ✨

arc-v mini charms / vrains mini charms

[cyberdragoninfinity]

started watching yugioh garry's mod

[sw33theartnick]

gx has provided me with more idiots that love one another I love idiots and I love yugioh mwahahaha

[justanotherotakuandartist]

Throwback to all the times I drew these three as a family 👍

Actual canon:

[judgedarts]

yusaku and ai for my friend rei!