-Spoilers Ahead-

So now Baira is being translated as Vyra? All right.

While duels in this series are always going to have really situational twists, I’ve always felt Yusaku’s bordered the most on just ridiculous disbelief. This time around, though, it’s Blue Angel’s turn to go deep in that direction. In order to have a shot at winning, she activates her Skill, Trickstar Fraud, but if Vyra draws even 1 Trap card, it’s over for her due to Surgical Forceps’ effect. Keep in mind, Vyra uses a Virus deck, which obviously uses a bunch of trap cards. Vyra is forced to draw 3 cards due to Blue Angel’s skill, and none of them are trap cards. There’s no shock because it’s expected. I don’t have an issue with Blue Angel pulling a win out of her butt, but there are other ways to do it that are far less eyeroll-inducing.

That aside, this is an okay episode. Long story short, Blue Angel wins, her faith in herself and her cause moves Vyra’s heart, and Vyra decides to release the  program for reversing the Another virus, knowing that she’ll be terminated for doing so. It’s kind of ironic, as she does everything to help Revolver, but in the end Revolver is the one who terminates her for undoing all their work. I really wish we had more time to get to know her as a character before her 180-turn, because it just feels hollow as is. It was supposed to be a big character moment for her, but her actions carry no real weight behind them and just feel like contrived writing. We only had two episodes to get to know her, so for her to have a change of heart so easily only further muddies her character — we still don’t know what kind of person she truly is.

As far as the rest of the episode goes, there’s not much to say. It’s not a sleek-looking episode, but the visuals get the job done. In particular, there’s a point where Blue Angel gets sent flying through the wall of a building (from only 500 points of damage), which just came out of nowhere. It’s an action that really relies on its shock factor to work, as Blue Angel running to get back on her board is overall kind of dumb. But it’s the way the scene breaks the pace of the duel that makes it exciting — and the fact that the show is remembering to utilize the setting.

Naoki Shima seems like he’s up next episode, and I, for one, am really happy to see him finally getting a chance to shine. Time to see if he’s all bark and no bite.

(Sorry that this review is kind of rushed. I’m strapped for time, so just kind of typing out thoughts here as they come up. Hopefully my next article will be a little more detailed and cohesive.)

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - Episode 26

7

Writing

6.5/10

Visuals

7.5/10

Enjoyability

7.0/10

Pros

• Cheap shock factor works in show's favor

Cons

• Vyra's 180-turn feels hollow
• Win feels contrived

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DaCrowz

Founder of Cards on the Table, DaCrowz continues to profess that his opinions on manga, movies, and shows are somehow in good taste despite the fact that he would likely give an "A" rating to the Prison School anime. When he is not being mistaken for Nicholas Hoult in public, he puts most of his energy into convincing the Yu-Gi-Oh! community that Volcanic Scattershot is staple for any deck.