#pico commentary

⇀ Doble Passe, the Dance

To understand, we must look at what Doble Passe does as a card. It cannot be activated until your opponent attacks your monster. It redirects their attack into a direct one, and then your monster gets to attack your opponent directly in return.

It's reactive, only being activateable if your opponent makes the first move. It's reciprocal, consisting of two mirrored actions, one leading and one responding.

It's a dance with your opponent.

Unlike ballet, the paso doble is a ballroom dance. That means it's performed with a partner. It's the most difficult of the five competition ballroom dances, with origins as a military march.

And famously, it's meant to evoke Spanish bullfighting.

(The passe in ballet vs. paso doble, the Latin dance)

Doble Passe is used to redirect your opponent's attack, just like a matador using a red cape to manipulate a bull. Both involve luring in your opponent to perform a reversal, and that's exactly how Asuka uses it.

"idk if it were based on the paso doble wouldn't they have named it that instead of doble passe. i think you're just pulling this out of your ass"

Well, what if I told you the card was named Paso Doble -- in French and Portuguese. It's not likely that the French/Portuguese localizers got insider knowledge from the Japanese writers, but I do think it's telling that they looked at the card and thought it should be named Paso Doble (because, again, Doble Passe is nonsensical).

You are right though that it would be a stretch to say "I guess they just mixed it up and wrote Doble Passe when they actually meant Paso Doble oops!" just based on two localizations and a dueling metaphor.

No, my actual evidence is the Asuka vs. Titan duel, where she duels Titan for his Spirit Key, and he's using a matator-themed deck.

The three monsters he uses, Matador Fiend, Picador Fiend, and Banderillero Fiend refer to the three types of toreros in a bullfight, and his field spell Dark Arena forces Asuka to attack while he chooses the target of her attacks, forcing her into the role of the cornered bull. Throughout the duel, he taunts and goads her, using her brother's memories and role as Darkness to psychologically exploit her. Her victory over Titan in the end represents the triumph of the bull; or rather, her triumph as the more skilled matador.

There is more to the paso doble as it relates to Asuka, though. The paso doble, like all ballroom dances, is a dance with strict gender roles.

One view of ballroom: The man is strong and powerful. He decides what steps the couple will take at what time, dictating direction and timing. The woman responds to the man and does whatever he leads, and her job is to be beautiful and expressive. (Source: Gender Roles and Ballroom Dance, ballroommind) Strong boundaries are implicitly (and at times explicitly) constructed around what is normal behavior for men and women. (Source: Sexism in Ballroom Dancing, Joel Torgeson)

In the paso doble, the man plays the "active" role as the matador. But the woman is not actually the bull. The woman is supposed to play the part of the matador's cape; she's a passive object, and to do the dance well, it's supposed to look like the man is "in control of" the woman. If you watch the paso doble in action here, you can see how the woman's movements flow as an extension of the man's.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the context of sexism in Duel Monsters and in the GX world at large is essential to Asuka's character. In that post, some people assumed I was criticizing GX for its "bad female writing." No, there are definitely things to criticize about Yugioh writers writing women, but depicting the GX world as one where women are only seen as objects of desire isn't one of them. That's just the world we actually live in. That's what Asuka has to deal with, too. It doesn't have to be to your taste, but there is value in showing how she defies what that world expects of her.

This is why the paso doble is doubly significant for Asuka, because when she uses Doble Passe, she gets to "reclaim" the active role in the dance. She gets to be the one asserting control, the one who manipulates her opponent. She gets to be the matador, traditionally a deeply masculine role, using her monster and life points as the cape.

⇀ Doble Passe, the Art

I'd also like to take the time now to talk about Doble Passe's card art. It doesn't show a passe, or a paso doble either, but I still find the art striking. A woman dances alone on a stage, isolated in a spotlight. Despite the only light source coming directly from above, her shadow is split into three.

I think this art strongly represents how Asuka is trapped within the cage of society's expectations for women. Something I didn't notice until looking closely at the card art is that the woman wears a mask with a smile painted on it. Throughout the series, Asuka is shown to be self-conscious of how she is perceived and emotionally guarded as a result, likely due to being held up on a pedestal as the "Queen of Obelisk Blue." Other characters repeatedly comment on her femininity and lack of romantic interests.

This is what means to be a woman in the world of GX, in the world of dueling. You can't get away from the gaze of other people, whether it's fellow women who idolize you, or the men who only view you as a potential girlfriend. So you have to put on a show for them, and hide your true feelings under a mask.

I'd also like to bring back the duel with Titan as an example of how light is often associated with Asuka (see also Prima Light, which she uses to evolve Cyber Tutu).

Asuka: Cyber Blader is not a monster who'd lose her light to a mere dark duel. A true prima donna brings her own light to the stage when she dances.

This is a cool shonen moment in the context of that duel (which I think is really good and nobody talks about), but if you're certified insane about Asuka like me, I think you can interpret it as how she wants to be seen as a duelist instead of just a woman. To be seen not because of a spotlight that she didn't ask for, but because of her own light that she created.

⇀ Doble Passe, the Card

I'm not done because I will talk about Tenjoin Asuka into eternity. Now we can talk about how Doble Passe is used by Asuka as a duelist.

GX is very conscious about how it uses cards to embody the characters who use them. Manjoume's Ojamas are a parallel to him -- cards that everyone looks down on, but become strong in defiance of expectations. Power Bond is a card that carries a great risk, requiring the user to respect the opponent's skills; it's used to illustrate both Shou and Ryou's opposite character arcs (I could also write a whole analysis about this).

Doble Passe is card which requires you to sacrifice your own life points for a chance to launch a direct attack against your opponent. It's a card that requires you to stare down your opponent's attack and deliberately put yourself in front of it, just for a chance to reverse the situation. It's an aggressive, risky card that you have to have the guts to activate.

(Unique dialogue in Duel Links for activating Doble Passe)

Something else notable about this card is that it sucks ass.

Functionally, it's kind of just a much worse version of Magic Cylinder. 90% of the time you'd expect it to be a bad tradeoff; typically you attack a monster which has less attack points than your monster, so by turning both into direct attacks, you're taking more damage than your opponent.

But what Yuginerds fail to realize is that everyone's deck in GX fucking sucks and the point of Yugioh is using cards to deliver a story. Narratively, Doble Passe is not a bad card but an unwieldy one. Asuka is shown as incredibly skilled because she manages to use Doble Passe and always walk away in a winning position, and each time she does, it makes a lasting impression on every person watching. It's hard to capture via screenshot, but trust me when I say that every time she uses it there's a pan to the audience making one/all of these faces: 😰😳😱

Here you can see what I'm talking about in the manga as well, even though manga Asuka uses a completely different deck.

Here are all the ways Asuka uses Doble Passe to swing the advantage to her side:

Activating it when Etoile Cyber is attacked, which becomes stronger when attacking directly

Activating it when a monster like Grand Mole attacks, which is usually attacking monsters stronger than itself due to its effect

Activating it to preserve her monster so that it can be used next turn

Activating it to force a tie when winning is out of reach

Activating it when her opponent's life is already low, so that she can end the duel there and then

What GX communicates is that in Asuka's hands, Doble Passe is not only an aggressively gutsy card, but also a deeply skillful and calculating one.

Asuka is the character in GX who loves dueling the most, aside from Judai, and I will die on this hill. While other characters' relationships to Duel Monsters stem from their need to prove themselves (Manjoume, Shou, Misawa) or their connection to their cards (Edo, Johan, Kenzan), Asuka has a love of the game that matches Judai's, to the point that during her duel with Manjoume she tells him that she's in love with dueling itself. I only see this coming up during shipping arguments, and few people actually engaging with it.

I cannot understate that in almost every single one of Asuka's duels, the writers go out of their way to demonstrate how Asuka not only uses, but values strategy. To Asuka, the beauty of Duel Monsters is in the battle of minds. GX repeatedly shows how it bothers her when duelists don't respect the depth, strategy, and sanctity of Duel Monsters.

She's repeatedly bothered by characters like Judai or Taizan (the drawbread guy) who duel using luck or instinct instead of strategy. She criticizes characters who duel using the strength of others instead of their own minds (which is relevant to her arc in Season 2). And she's annoyed when characters like Manjoume or the other guys who want to date her use dueling in a way that betrays the spirit of dueling, such as how Manjoume in both his duels with Asuka makes plays that symbolize how he loves her, but which make no sense from a gameplay perspective, such as playing a card that gives her a card.

This is heavily emphasized in her duel with Mitsuo, who is not even a duelist but a poker player, and shows a complete disregard for the point of the game even as he believes he'll easily beat the top students at the school.

Asuka: You still don't understand? Back then, I wanted to show you how much fun a duel could be, how much depth it could have, how important it was to plan tactics and probabilities from start to end. […] Asuka: You have no skill at gambling. Mitsuo: You risked all or nothing too! You're just like me! Asuka: No, I'm not. I used strategy to reduce your probability of getting it right. Don't lump me in with some phony gambler who never thinks of anything, leaving things up to chance, until he eventually wins.

This ties in quite well to her Darkness nightmare in season 4, where she is a teacher who's unable to connect to her students and teach them how fun dueling can be. I know there are people who dislike Asuka becoming a teacher, and I will write another meta post one day about the controversy of Asuka's Darkness nightmare and what it actually means, but just for this post I wanted to say that it's already been shown in GX how Asuka loves dueling and wants to share that with others.

And what reminds her of that is hearing Judai's voice, who loves dueling as much as her, and drawing her signature card, which represents what dueling means to her: Doble Passe.

⇀ Doble Passe, after Word of God

I've been working on this post for a few months now, most of it was written a while ago, but what got me to finish it is new information that came out with the GX Duel Memorial Album, an infobook that released recently that contains new commentary directly from the GX writers. I haven't been able to read the whole thing yet, but you bet when I saw this translation of Asuka's section I clicked on it immediately. Paraphrased:

Q. Can you tell us how you came up with Asuka’s Deck? Also, was there anything you were conscious of when composing Asuka’s Duels? Q. I would like to hear any stories you have to share about the Duel Composition for Turn-41 (Asuka VS Titan). Also, the effect of “Cyber Blader” which changes on the number of monsters your opponent controls, remains rare and impressive even today. A: Asuka is the lone girl in the regular cast who is an Obelisk Blue Honor student, so I tried to give her a Deck that gave the impression of her being a strong female character. That led me to giving her a motif based around female athletes. I tried to think of how to reflect the strength of hard-working female athletes in sports with her Deck. Technically ballet dancers aren’t athletes, but due to a certain movie I saw when I was in school, I always saw them as more like fighters (ahaha). When thinking of new motifs, I research various materials. When doing this, I come across a lot of words I don’t know. That’s one of the joys of this job. The research I do reflects not only in the cards and Decks, but in the names of attacks and effects. “Cyber Blader”‘s effect names are derived from ballet terms: “Pas de Deux”, “Pas de Trois” and “Pas de Quatre”, which mean “Two people dancing”, “Three people dancing” and “Four people dancing” respectively. This terminology lead me to the idea of “Could ballet dancing could be recreated through monsters battling?”, and resulted in a tricky monster whose effects change depending on the number of monsters. As a result of coming up with this effect, I feel like the direction of Asuka’s personality and character and the structure of her Duels ended up being decided. I think I was able to differentiate her from other students by having her use tricky effects, and use her Duels to show not only her fierceness and strength but her intellectual nature.

This has a lot of W's for Asuka-heads like me, and shows clearly the thought and intention behind Asuka's character.

I love how it confirms that Asuka's deck is based off female athletes. Yugioh is certainly guilty of giving its female characters the Girl Deck, and I won't say Asuka's doesn't fit the bill. But while before, it may have been ambiguous as to whether Asuka's deck was based on athletes, or """girly""" more traditionally feminine ballerinas and dancers, this shows that from the start, the intention was to represent Asuka with strong female athletes, showing her hard-working and competitive nature, and ballerinas happened to be included just because the writer thinks of ballet dancers as fighters and athletes.

And I cannot emphasize enough that ballerinas and dancers are athletes, even if they aren't in the Olympics. The line between competitive dance and performance sport like gymnastics and ice skating is thin. Ballet is more competitive and physically taxing than many sports in the Olympics.

This also can be clearly related to Asuka's love of dueling, which is not only a sport, but THE sport in GX. And this article also confirms the intentionality behind Asuka's characterization as an intellectual fighter, who specifically uses tricky effects to get the upper hand. Another W for me.

This article does not, however, confirm that Doble Passe is based on the paso doble. I know what you're thinking: OWNED. TYPICAL TUMBLR OVERTHINKER.

Yes, I think it's likely that if Doble Passe was based on the paso doble they would have mentioned it here. The second asker does specifically mention Asuka vs. Titan so if the matador connection was intentional, they probably would have brought it up there (tho that second asker is so real and we are on the same wavelength… thank u for asking the real questions)

But I understood that it was something of a long shot in the first place. I've always had a pretty cynical outlook on how GX came together, by which I mean I think that the writers were flying by the seats of their pants and made things up as they went.

Personally though, I dislike the fandom mentality that media analysis means peeling something apart and going "THIS is what the writers meant," "THIS is why the writers included this part," "THIS is why the writers are actually geniuses for foreshadowing this or making this elaborate connection." As if the only way your interpretation can have meaning is if it was intended by the writer.

Not that I don't understand the urge to defend your ideas by citing the source material. I just wish people would take credit for their own creativity.

If it is just a coincidence that Asuka happens to duel someone with a matador-themed deck, it doesn't mean that the duel didn't actually mean anything. It means that rather than the writers being the one who created that meaning, I'm the one who created it, and I will take credit for it. Yes, I am just making stuff up, because making things is the definition of creativity.

Interpreting a piece of media is an act of creation. Through analysis, you and the original writers become co-creators. That's what media theory is.

Of course, there's value in citing the source material and in analyzing the writers' intention. But I wish people would understand that this shouldn't be in pursuit of the Absolute One Correct Interpretation, but because like any piece of art, making elaborate connections makes your art more beautiful. What you think the writers are doing: you're doing it.

Anyway, if you made it all the way through: I LOVE YOU TENJOIN ASUKA!!!!!!!!!!! This will not be the last time I talk about her.

Let's get some things straight. Judai is not good at fishing.

In fact, Judai has never caught a fish in GX, despite the 6 or 7 times we see him fishing (depending on how you do the fish math). We only ever see him hook two things:

A tiny-ass crab

Edo's steak

And he still fails to catch either of them.

That's right, if you draw or write Judai catching a fish, you are CONTRADICTING CANON. This boy could not catch anything if his life depended on it (and it did, need I remind you our hero almost starved in the wilderness).

GX's portrayal of Judai being bad at fishing is just as indicative of his character as when it portrays him being bad at schoolwork, or being socially oblivious. It's crucial to Judai's character that he's not good at things outside of dueling.

Shou: I know Aniki is on the island! Because dueling and good health are his only redeeming features. He's helpless at everything else. Kenzan: Are you mocking my Aniki, saurus? Misawa: No, I think he's right. Asuka: I can't really deny it.

We will return to this, but first I must address the obvious counterargument. You're thinking: "Well, you don't need to be good at something to enjoy it. Judai could absolutely suck at fishing but have fun doing it because he's just a fun-loving guy!"

Wrong. Remember that misinterpreting media is a sin and you will burn in hell.

Here is my second argument: Judai does not enjoy fishing. Let us actually look at Judai's attitude when fishing:

Anyone who has gone fishing or played a JRPG could have told you this. It's an activity that rewards patience, that appeals to people who can enjoy long periods of ennui and waiting. Of course Judai would think it's boring.

A common mistake I see when people characterize Judai is that he's an endless ray of positivity who loves and finds joy in everything. It reduces him to only his most conspicuous qualities, and he ends up feeling much flatter as a result. If you pay attention to Judai in canon, he actually has many instances of being annoyed or put off by something or someone, or being serious or nervous or pensive, or just generally experiencing the full range of human emotions.

Judai spends a lot of time in seasons 1-2 being upbeat and joyful not because he loves everything, but because he loves dueling, and because GX is a show made to sell children's card games, most of its runtime centers around dueling. When it comes to other things, he tends to actually be pretty disinterested and complain that he'd rather be dueling, such as being forced to play tennis or, as seen above, fishing.

I know most of this fandom don't give a fuck about card games but I can't stress enough that Judai's love of dueling is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of his character. Try me. Nothing else has the encompassing impact that his relationship with dueling does. From start to end, in both plot episodes and filler, it's the throughline that ties together all of GX. All of the other aspects of his character, the themes of heroism and responsibility, his childishness and traumatic awakening into adulthood, the way he connects with and inspires other characters, all of it exists through the lens of his relationship with dueling. His literal catchphrase is "(Gotcha!) That was a fun duel!"

"Ummmm what does this have to do with fishing--" IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH FISHING

You think you are expanding on Judai's character with your WHIMSICAL fishing headcanons, fun hobbies to show he has a rounded life outside of dueling. But you are missing the crucial information that Judai DOES NOT have a rounded life outside of dueling. That's why Shou says Judai couldn't have left the island; because nobody can conceive of a Judai who isn't a duelist.

The same thing happens when Judai loses dueling for the second time, when dueling becomes inextricable from the feeling of being in life-or-death situations. Without dueling, without the core that makes him who he is, Judai is lost. He doesn't know what to do. He has nothing to do.

That's why we see him fishing: because he has nothing else.

Tell me, is this the face of a guy who is enjoying himself? Checkmate, pro-fishers.

"I don't think this proves anything about what Judai thinks about fishing.🙄Maybe he would be having a better time fishing if he wasn't being plagued by the war trauma." <-- the words of a fool... a CLOWN

Yes, Judai's aloof behavior is also explained by the insane trauma he went through in season 3. But it's interesting that Judai's actual thoughts and feelings about what happened to him are kept deliberately opaque to us. We see him alone, staring into space, but we don't hear his internal thoughts. We can only theorize what's going through Judai's head -- and it's interesting how people will arrive at different interpretations.

But crucially, when the writers do pull back the curtain on Judai's internal state, the lens is always his relationship with dueling. We do not see Judai talk or think about the things he did or that happened to him, other than to say how dueling has changed him and changed for him. And ultimately, the series culminates in a deus ex machina that transports Judai across time and space to reclaim dueling and thus reclaim himself.

Judai: Back then, every duel I fought set my heart racing. Like you said... At some point, I forgot that excitement. Judai: Since then, I've been through a lot of stuff. I've learned that life isn't always fun and games. Things can be hard and painful, too... Dueling taught me that.

Judai: Yugi, I won't forget the greatest present you've given to me ... The thing you're giving back to me. The thing I lost without realizing. The thing I mustn't forget, no matter how much I grow up. No matter what happens, I'll never forget... Judai: This feeling of enjoying a duel with all my heart!

There is still more to dive into about themes of season 4 though.

There are several times in season 4 where we see Judai lying in bed or lying down on some grass or generally just in a state of listlessness. These scenes are equivalent to the scenes of him fishing by himself. They are meant to highlight his isolation, his aimlessness, his lack of joy or liveliness.

The real villain of season 4 is not Darkness -- it's stagnation.

Asuka, Shou, Ryou, Manjoume, and Chronos all have their episodes that deal with being stuck in place, before taking a step forward to chase after their futures. Fear of the future, inaction, and stagnation are what Darkness represents, as his victims give up and resign themselves to a nightmare that never changes.

Darkness: Humanity has grown tired... Tired of searching for potential in a future they cannot see. The students of this school are no exception. Deep in their hearts, they fear to enter this dangerous world. Darkness: They do not wish to believe in their own power, nor to face the outside world's dangers. Their feelings stained their cards black, giving me power. All thou art doing is leading humans toward this ruinous world.

Ultimately, Judai is trapped in the deepest stagnation. He sits around, lacks the motivation to do things, lacks the ability or imagination to create a better future for himself.

And you know what symbolizes that stagnation?

That's right: FISHING.

FISHING IS THE VILLAIN OF SEASON 4.

Fishing in GX symbolizes boredom, stagnation, and often isolation. The opposite of that -- and what has always pulled Judai out of it -- is dueling, duel spirits, and people. This is what defeats Darkness.

Judai: As long as we have faith in our cards, we'll never be alone. The allies we've fought with, those who cheered us on... We're connected by a bond that can never be severed. Because that's the power hidden inside just one card! It must be there! You must remember all those people you fought, using that card! Judai: Maybe at the start, it was just some ordinary card... But it's become infused with memories of the joy and sorrow, anger and frustration, you felt every time you fought. It's the reminder of how hard you've worked! That's what it means to have a bond. So believe in your card... Remember the faces of those you used that card to fight! ... Judai: Thank you, my deck. You are the sum of all the bonds I've built.

That's right... the real dueling was the friends we made along the way.

The evolution of Judai's relationship with dueling is that he goes from thinking dueling is fun, to thinking dueling is a means of exerting power (and therefore also taking responsibility), to finally synthesizing the understanding that dueling is passion, emotion, and human connection. Judai wasn't just having fun through season 1-2, he was communicating with people. You cannot take responsibility for others if you don't care for them. In season 3, his descent into becoming the Supreme King is because he keeps trying to duel on his own, which ultimately leads to his friends being taken from him, leaving him truly alone. But you can never duel on your own, because fundamentally, dueling connects people.

This is why Darkness must infect the cards in order to exert its control. Infecting cards severs people from each other and turns them toward apathy and nihilism. What awakens Manjoume, Shou, and Asuka from their nightmare is their cards and their relationships. Manjoume chooses to keep dueling even if he loses. Shou challenges his opponent to a duel with a smile on his face. And Asuka confronts her students, and encourages them to love dueling.

This is the CARD GAME ANIME. Not the FISHING ANIME.

Dueling is the antithesis of fishing. FISHING IS DARKNESS. DUELING IS FRIENDSHIP.

I hope I have proven once and for all these three key arguments: Judai is not good at fishing. He doesn't like fishing. And for Judai to like fishing, it would go against the entire foundation of GX, for all of its themes and symbols to crumple to dust and become meaningless.

Join me in a better place, with better media analysis... join the side of Anti-Fish Judai.

But Pico, you may be asking. There's one crucial thing you have failed to answer:

Why? Why fishing, out of anything else? Why would they show Judai fishing multiple times if he didn't have some sentiment for it?

The answer is simple:

Judai does not ever fish in season 1. We only start seeing him fish in season 2. Why?

It's because of Kenzan.

Everything falls into place when you realize Kenzan is the one who likes fishing. Kenzan is the only character we see catch a fish.

Kenzan knows how to cook fish and prepare fish. He even came to Duel Academy packing equipment for cooking.

Never mind Kenzan's insane fish cleaning methods.

Kenzan is the one who likes fishing, and when he moves into the Red Dorm, he's the one who instigates Judai and Shou to start fishing. Most of the when we see Judai fishing, it's actually because he's with Kenzan and Shou, and it's because they want to catch fish to EAT, because they're tired of the food served at the red dorm. Judai fishes not because he likes FISHING, but because he likes HIS FRIENDS (and food). The ONLY CONTEXT in which it is permissible for Judai to be fishing and not depressed is with Kenzan.

And if you need further proof, look no further than Kenzan's Tag Force bio:

Do you see, now? Do you see what the Fisher Judai headcanon has led to? They are taking Kenzan's character traits and giving them to Judai, who does not need more character traits he has a whole show's worth of them.

WELL??? DO YOU HATE KENZAN???? DO YOU SUPPORT KENZAN ERASURE????

I rest my case. If you love Tyranno Kenzan, join me on the side of Anti-Fish Yuki Judai. Spread the word. Tag it in your fics. In fact, I hope we can gather every year to reflect on error of our ways, on this very special day.

Yes, I hereby declare April 1st to be Anti-Fish Judai Day

It's even more impactful because before the duel, Judai says he doesn't care what the outcome is, and the duel with Edo is ultimately about the difference between them and why they duel.

This continues a thread that carries over every season, from Kaibaman to Edo to Yubel to Yugi, of a kid who just wants to have fun running into the reality of responsibility and consequences.

(also, that duel is so juicy, because even though Judai is supposed to be able to choose his own destiny... he does become the hero with no choice but to fight. And Edo's right, it isn't fun)

You could also conclude that part of the reason Judai cares so much about dueling is because he wasn't able to as a kid -- people avoided dueling with him after Yubel put his opponents in the hospital. And I wonder if having his ability to talk to spirits taken away from him also subconsciously reminds him of losing Yubel, since it's implied that after the memory removal, he wasn't able to see spirits anymore.

Anyway, I wish the show dwelled on this aftermath longer than like... one episode... because it's really interesting to see this other side of Judai, who avoids his friends and compartmentalizes his feelings. It's also similar to why the Haou arc in S3 is striking, because with Judai out of the picture, other characters get their chance in the spotlight.

Also look at how sad he is. poor baby lmao

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.

⇀ manjoume jun (万丈目 準)

« man (万) - ten-thousand » « jou (丈) - height, strong » « me (目) - eye, seeing »

This is where the 1, 10, 100, 1000 chant comes from. Combined with the second character, it feels grandiose and ego-inflated, then when you add on the final character, me (目), associated with seeing, the vibe you get is something like "looking down on (from a height of 10,000)." All of which makes his insistence on being called Manjoume-san even more conceited, but also gives you an idea of how the Manjoume family name looms over Manjoume himself.

« jun (準) - semi, secondary »

In contrast to his family name, his given name shows us the other side of Manjoume's character. jun has several kanji spellings with positive and auspicious meanings. One of them, 潤 (to profit, to become wealthy), would have been an obvious choice for our rich boy. 

But no, instead they chose 準, a kanji with a meaning that can be difficult to pin down. It's associated with preparation and reserves, such as reserve funds (準備金) -- in other words, being the back-up, extraneous. In the workforce, it indicates assistants, associates, juniors (準会員, 準社員). It's part of the words for semi-finals (準決勝) and runner-up (準優勝). Ultimately, it's a character that carries a meaning of being secondary.

Underneath all that snobby pomp, Manjoume feels inferior to his brothers, and can also never win against Judai, and this drives his character arc. The tension between his last and first names, of "looking down on" and "being secondary," is emblematic of Manjoume's internal conflict.

This is driven in even further by the fact that his brothers have first names that complement their last name. The first character of his oldest brother's name, Chosaku (長作), means leader, senior, or superiority (which directly parallels the meaning of associate for Jun, and also fits with Chosaku being a businessman), but it's also phonetically the same as 兆 which means one trillion, basically exaggerating upon the 10,000 of his last name.

Meanwhile his middle brother Shoji's name (正司) starts with the character associated with truth and lawfulness (ironic considering he's a slimy politician), was archaically used to mean of higher rank in court (again paralleling Jun), and also has a niche meaning of 10 to the 40th power, or... 10,000 trillion trillion.

⇀ marufuji shou (丸藤 翔) and marufuji ryou (丸藤 亮)

« maru (丸) - circle, entirety, perfection » « fuji (藤) - wisteria »

Circles are significant symbols in Japanese culture, used in divination to represent completeness and perfection, and the kanji 丸 also carries this meaning. Wisteria is a cultural symbol too, representing love and longetivity, with a tie to royalty and nobility.

All together, the name rings as elegant and dignified. In season 1, we see how Shou feels pressured and unable to live up to the name he shares with his brother, who embodies it. Perfection is a key part of Ryou's character -- in the graduation duel, he even acknowledges that he has reached perfection, but also that it is a limit, setting up for the deconstruction of the theme.

« shou (翔) - to soar »

Shou's name simply represents his character arc, starting from Osiris Red with no confidence in himself, and ending in Obelisk Blue, surpassing his brother who has an opposite arc of "falling." It's also a homophone of 小 meaning small or younger.

« ryou (亮) - clear, brightness »

The kanji used for Ryou's name is part of words like moonlight (亮月), rightfulness (亮直), as well as words associated with royalty, like mourning the emperor (亮闇). All of which vaguely match the tone of Ryou's character as "the Kaiser." The Cyber Dragons are also light attribute, and he is introduced with "light" theming which is all reversed after his turn to the dark side in season 2.

The kanji can also be part of the word ryousatsu (亮察) which can mean to take into account, to consider, and to sympathize. A core theme of Ryou's character is having respect for his opponent and not underestimating them -- this is why you'll often hear Shou referring to "respectful dueling," and also why Power Bond is their signature card, because without respecting your opponent's capabilities and taking their field into account, the card will backfire on you.

Oh, and as an aside, Ryou does not use the same kanji as Bakura Ryou from the original Yu-Gi-Oh, who uses 了 -- completion or ending.

⇀ tenjoin asuka (天上院 明日香) and tenjoin fubuki (天上院 吹雪)

« tenjo (天上) - heavens » « in (院) - institution »

The first part ties into the Cyber Angels that Asuka uses, as well as the Atmosphere cards that Fubuki uses in the manga. It's also referenced by Fubuki in his embarrassing pickup line ("What do you see above?" "Ten... join!" This is the guy that Manjoume thinks is the love magician)

The second part is a particle used for institutions, particularly stately ones in government or higher education, which makes sense if you believe Asuka becomes a teacher. Overall, it's a refined name which perfectly suits Asuka, and not Fubuki.

« asu (明日) - tomorrow » « ka (香) - fragrance »

The first part of her name is why Jim calls her Tomorrow Girl, which spawned the Asuka/Jim ship by itself, but it also suits Asuka really well, because her character arc in season 4 is ultimately about moving on and embracing the future. She leaves behind the safety of Duel Academy and takes a step into the unknown by going to America.

« fubuki (吹雪) - blizzard »

This is why he's nicknamed the Blizzard Prince. Otherwise, he doesn't have any connection to blizzards, but Asuka uses ice decks in the Society of Light and in the manga, so the Tenjoins both have some ice theming.

⇀ misawa daichi (三沢 大地)

« mi (三) - three » « sawa (沢) - marsh, brilliance »

Another number-themed name alongside Judai's 10 and Manjoume's 10,000. sawa is a common kanji in names, but you could argue it ties into his signature monster, Water Dragon.

« dai (大) - great, vast » « chi (地) - earth »

Of his six decks, we see two of them, his water deck and his earth deck. The latter of which he uses against Tania, who in turn uses her wisdom deck -- which is perfect because daichi can also be a homophone of 大知, which means great wisdom. Nerd.

⇀ tyranno kenzan (ティラノ 剣山)

« tyranno (ティラノ) »

This name is derived from tyrannosaurus rex. Because he's got dino fucking DNA.

« ken (剣) - sword » « zan (山) - mountain »

The literal characters are fitting for Kenzan, who has an offense-focused deck of mostly earth attribute monsters, and a personality to match. But as a whole, 剣山 refers to a tool in traditional flower arrangement. The kenzan is the base in which the arrangement is stuck into, a foundation which keeps the structure secure. Kenzan ultimately looks up to Judai (and calls him aniki) because he wants to be a leader like him, one who can bear the weight of his followers' expectations. We don't get much of this after his introductory episode, but I still think it's a fitting name for a dependable guy.

⇀ saotome rei (早乙女 レイ)

« sa (早) - early, quickly » « otome (乙女) - maiden »

This one is pretty on the nose. The first character refers to how she came to Duel Academy early, being younger than all the other characters, and not joining the cast until much later. The otome is the same used in her signature card Koisuru Otome, or Maiden in Love, and also refers to a romance genre for girls. As a whole, saotome is also a term for a girl who plants rice paddies.

The name may also be a reference to Saotome Ranma, the protagonist of Ranma ½, which is about a boy who changes into a girl when splashed with water.

« rei (レイ) »

Rei is a unisex name with many different kanji spellings and meanings, but instead, Rei's name is spelled with katakana. Given that she dresses as a boy twice and uses masculine pronouns in Japanese, this may be to make the gender more ambiguous than if kanji with more gendered connotations were used, such as 麗 (graceful) or 鈴 (bell sound) which are more feminine, or 零 (zero), or 令 (authority) which are more masculine.

If you ever wondered, Ray from Arc-V also uses the same katakana spelling, though this may be because most of the Arc-V characters from other dimensions use katakana, which sounds more foreign or ambiguous in origin. Meanwhile, Rei from Zexal uses 零 (zero).

---

---

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 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.