Toppa Bashin – Episode 9

No introduction for today guys! It’s your usual everyday BlackAce.

I’m just gonna hop right into this one, the faster it gets done, the faster we can all enjoy me ranting about plot rather than the life and times of Bashdumb Toppa.

Anyway, Okyou’s Labyrinth probably means J is going to be in this episode, and it’s going to be another weird occurrence that has no direct impact on the plot.

A quick google search indicates to me that a significant plot character will appear around episode 13, so we just need to get through 4 more (hopefully I’m wrong and it will be less than that)

That is a Helicopter.

Okay, so the sliding animation doesn’t help the blog so much since it’s moving to show the whole thing but the name on that Helicopter says “Sawaragi”

Which conveniently is J’s last name, making it J’s private helicopter.

WE GET IT, YOU’RE RICH!

Here we have J and Kyouka, chilling on their Private Helicopter.

Lucky bastards.

So my guess is they’re travelling to Kyoto, where they haven’t been for a while, since Kyoto was J’s “hometown” it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s his place of residence…

That adds even less credence to Bashin’s hopefulness in the last episode that there are strong fighters in Kyoto.

The Sawaragis are having an “Open party”?

I take it that means anyone (and not just the filthy stinkin’ richboys) can join in?

Is something wrong with their Mother?

Something tells me either they don’t have a good relationship with her, or their Dad doesn’t have a good relationship with her.

Either way that sounds like family troubles.

Sawaragi Art Gallery’s opening party? Oh so they’re opening a gallery.

Likely filled with artworks that they’ve bought as opposed to artworks that they themselves have made.

Or paid other artists to do for them.

“Surprise”?

It better be Battle Spirits related or I’m not going to give a shit.

I suppose the students are still on the field trip, which means they’ll get to go to the opening party as well. It was a 2 day trip after all.

Also I see adorable little Okyou has woken up from her nap.

As J now looks out of the window to think about his long lost love, Bashin Toppa.

And… Okyou is talking to Kyouka. But Kyouka isn’t a chosen card battler!

Are you breaking the rules because you’re rich J? Or is Kyouka a chosen card battler and we don’t know about it?

I bet Kyouka is far too close to J for her to not find out about any secrets he was hiding. So there was no way to keep a lid on that.

What does Bashin have to do with the relationship between J and his Mother?

Also it seems that the strain in relationship seems to be between J and his Mother, and not their Father being a crappy husband.

Please Strap in and try not to be too obnoxiously rich.

Meganeko asking randoms to take pictures for them, surprisingly not as uncommon as you might think, a lot of tourists do this and I’m legitimately surprised that there aren’t more camera thefts as a result of it.

Meganeko trying to look composed while Bashin and Striker make fools of themselves on camera.

Sounds about right.

Meganeko being in the same pose in every picture just unnerves me.

Also Striker’s face is some memeable shit.

If anyone finds some good memeable faces out of this blog post then I encourage you to make some and pm them to me, I might feature the best ones on the following episode’s blog post as my introduction.

What are they even doing in that picture? I have absolutely no clue.

That Ice cream has NOT been drawn brightly enough, jesus.

I can’t even imagine what flavor that would be. Mint?

When your life revolves around a set of hobbies you love, being taken away from those hobbies can often result in boredom.

You learn to appreciate more as you grow older though, these kids are 12, try not to grow up too fast Meganeko.

There’s never enough to do in a place you don’t live in.

Did Meganeko just diss Kyoto by saying that there’s not much to do?

Come on now Meganeko, don’t diss Kyoto like that.

The best time to play Battle Spirits was the last time you played.

The second best time, is always now!

Well maybe if you learned to play, Meganeko, you would understand what they’re so fascinated in, you know?

Didn’t take long for J to find them.

NEVERMIND, THE NEWS JUST WON’T DISLODGE ITSELF FROM HIS GROIN AREA

EVEN IN KYOTO APPARENTLY!

It seems J is going to be the HOST of the Art gallery opening party.

I don’t feel comfortable leaving the party arrangements in the hands of a 12 year old. The poor dude has to select wines for the adults and he can’t even drink.

Oh, so BOTH his parents are confirmed to be arriving? Alright. That will be interesting to watch.

I’d like to see how god awful this family is, personally.

I don’t even think they EVER specified that the Art Gallery would be at J’s house.

Just because you’re the host of the event doesn’t mean you necessarily need to own the venue the event is at.

I expect Battle Spirits.

Anything less is blasphemy.

“It’s possible”?

It better be bloody certain! I will be all of the disappointed if it isn’t.

Bashin of course, hears the word “Batosupi” and immediately wants to see what it is, especially because it’s J hosting it.

While Striker seemingly looks at him longingly.

These love triangles are starting to get weird.

You yourself said it was at J’s house, but I suppose you don’t know where J’s house is.

Also Striker has been holding that gaze for a while now I’m getting a bit concerned.

Meganeko being the awesome one where, has taken it upon herself to get the map for them like the sweet girl she is.

Meganeko you deserve better friends.

Meganeko wasn’t even looking at them and provided a map, holy crap.

Though I wonder if it’s because she’s fed up with Battle Spirits being the main interest of her love interest.

At least take her with you to admire the art, she might like art…

Did you ever consider that Bashin?

Don’t just dust her off without asking if she wants to come, jesus.

Well now they get double the time to check out the Battle Spirits event.

You’re missing out Meganeko.

Imagine trying to be rich and going to a really fancy party, all dressed up in a suit and enjoying your wine.

And some dude just pulls up in full football gear with his equally casually dressed friend with a deck box tied to his left leg.

I’d be confused to say the least.

Probably the ones with unusually white hair, given how their kids turned out.

Aren’t you specifically looking for a Battle Spirits related event? Forget the rich people, you’re in the wrong bloody place!

Do you see cards? No? Then keep searching.

As a man who used to hate Mushrooms before my lovely Polish Significant other converted me.

Polish Mushrooms are the best mushrooms.

If such a “fine establishment” turned out to have a random rodent in it. It would probably be a massively bad look for J for not having the place well sweeped.

There are so many issues with having a Pet mouse, just get a bloody Cat or Dog.

And now they’re going to look weird infront of all the rich people.

And that dude in the dark blue suit was holding a wine Striker, be more careful.

That shit’s expensive.

Not to mention getting your dirty football clothes all over their suits.

Someone focused really hard on the curves surrounding the butt area on that dress.

Ah yes, classic rich people and being afraid of anything that isn’t strictly human.

“Who the hell is this peasant, and why is he talking to me, telling me that I didn’t see a mouse when I OH SO VERY CLEARLY Did! My Father paid for the most expensive of eye operations so I know my eyes are work-“

That’s not what’s happening is it?

Who in the hell is this lady?

Is she a staff member?

Also I’ve only JUST noticed how unusually long everyone’s god damn necks are. Like jesus christ.

Everyone at this party is partially descended from some form of Giraffe.

Bashin for the love of god have some class…

In no way, shape, or form, is it ever appropriate to call any form of lady “old” especially at an venue where they are clearly having a party…

I wonder if that’s grounds to kick him out of the entire party for being rude to a guest?

Because he clearly does not look like he’s within the same class as the people attending the party.

Aibou spotted.

I suppose they could have narrowed down where he was by just looking at all the dishes containing mushrooms.

I dunno, do you?

You don’t seem to be running on a registration or invitation system woman.

….And for that I have no counter.

I’ve been to classy parties like this, appearance is CRUCIAL.

Otherwise you stand out, massively, and not in the good way.

How does someone just not notice a whole fucking MOUSE when placing a glass down, like come on!

And Bashin yells to cover for Aibou.

Admirable Bashin, but you should probably have trained your bloody mouse to know better.

Also how did Hayami even let you have Aibou on this trip to begin with? She should have taken him back home.

Oh yes…

Bashin’s about to get what he deserves.

I am licking my lips in anticipation-

…Weird thing to focus on but this is clearly just the build up to the amount of discipline you’re about to rain down on him right?

Bashin your choices are grab Aibou and run, or stay and face the punishment about to be laid down upon you.

Nothing is going to save you from the terror of the high class-

God… Dammit… Kyouka…

“Well if he’s a friend of J’s Sister then there is nothing I can do to interfere”

THAT’S THEIR MOTHER!?

I’m Shocked, SHOCKED!…

Well, not that shocked.

Her being able to speak on behalf of the Sawaragi Art Gallery meant that she was affiliated in some way, but also.

She doesn’t have White god damn hair, her hair is black as the night she was born on.

Which means we need to wait until we see their father to see where the odd lack of a natural hair colour comes from.

And yes I know this is a card game anime, hair isn’t meant to make sense, but even Solomon Muto had Yugi’s hair.

And here’s my proof. So they know how biology works at the very least at whatever studio created Yugioh.

This show has no excuse.

Yes Bashin, that is how siblings are made…

They are often made by the same parents…

If anyone reading this has my Discord contact details, PLEASE research what the hell that -han honorific is about because it’s bothering me.

So does being a friend of J’s just immediately absolve Bashin of all the crap he was messing up earlier? He’s still informally dressed.

It’s an honorific, are you not that acquainted with them Bashin?

This is how you know Kyouka ships J and Bashin together, she wants Bashin to make J blush by calling him “J-chan”

It’s not a good day when your own sister thinks you’re gay.

I assume the Mother is either going to assume he’s spouting nonsense, or question what he exactly is rivalling J at.

I’d use the Randy image again to say I “Fuckin’ Nailed it!” but then you’d get sick of Randy.

Not depicted cuz I missed it, Kyouka actually tried to interject before Bashin answered.

Now I’m getting a clue as to what the problem in the relationship between J and his mother is.

Now this is the part where we all get angry at the woman for not understanding the joy of Battle Spirits.

Say it with me now!

BLASPHEMY!

A “Surprise” guest just interrupted the juicy (and private) details of J’s family relationships!

How dare!

And given that the last surprise guest was “My Sunshine”, one would wonder…

ITS NOT A SURPRISE

IF EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU DO A “SURPRISE GUEST”

IT’S THE SAME GOD DAMN PERSON!

Nah Sherlock, it’s the Beatles.

Backstage we get to see Aibou tending to his poor poor tail.

As for his tail being his pride, I suppose he doesn’t really care if he ruins a party through no other fact other than him being a mouse.

We interrupt this program to bring you the next season of Tom and Jerry, starring Aibou and Okyou.

Okyou seriously needs to stop chasing Aibou, the last time she did that she contributed to Striker messing up his foot.

Who are we going to horribly disfigure to the point of being forced to play Battle Spirits this time around?

You can, but I certainly won’t. She doesn’t deserve my applause until she becomes Suiren.

And it’s My Sunshine, again, because she’s the only special guest here.

Oh, it’s J.

I thought he was the host, not the guest?

Or is the Curator there the host?

There he is.

Complete with the vacant expression on his featureless face.

HAH!

Bashin’s too short to see what’s going on.

Too bad ya midget! Should have been closer to the front!

Was the challenge from J or was the challenge from the Curator?

Also the Curator plays Battle Spirits? Or is he just doing so for the sake of the party?

It would be hilarious if the Curator was a legitimate Battle Spirits player.

Another Jab at J’s mother for having issues with the game.

“Long awaiting”?

Don’t you have better things to do? Like Sell Art? And advertise it?

So the challenge was one from the Curator!

Oh boy, that’s a weird coincidence! You’d think he was a Nazo-Otona for taking part in such a thing!

Nothing like a fresh skip to turn 9 to get things going on their limited animation budget.

And J has a Level 1 set of Berserker-Gun, Icemaiden and Baby-Loki.

Also the Curator is curiously playing Red, for an Arty type of guy you’d think he’d play something like Green for the realism, or Purple for Surrealism.

“What will you do? J?”

He’s going to play an Anti-Red Nexus of course, because J only ever fights Red Decks.

And J levels it up to Level 2, meaning the Curator can’t carelessly act without his Red Spirits being destroyed.

Also they improved the look of the core this episode, instead of being overly bright, they’ve become more blue.

As will be the standard of core in all of the later series, I hope they maintain this, because it definitely looks better.

A Quick re-review for those who’ve forgotten what the Diamond Moon does, it only matters if a Red Spirit Battles, not whether it’s attacked or blocked.

Meaning J is well within his ability to swing with weak spirits, and if the Curator even blocks a White Spirit with a Red Spirit, his Spirits will lose out regardless.

Pretty nasty hate card.

And it’s perfect for trivialising Red’s ability to boost their BP.

Let’s see if Red is the only thing the Curator has packed in that deck of his.

Given that he’s just summoned Lizardman, I’m going to go with a loud resounding “No”

Ungh, those cores are so pretty now.

They were really trying to look for ways of improving the look of the show as they were going about this at the very least. So even though it had a rough start it’s getting more and more easy on the eyes as it goes on.

Summoning Lizardman, Levelling him up, and then passing seems like a really odd move. If your goal is to protect your life, then levelling up Lizardman should be the LAST thing you’d want to do.

Lizardman can’t block any Spirits that have less BP than himself.

And J JUST DROPS A FUCKING X-RARE ON US.

WHOA GIVE US TIME TO ADJUST!

It’s time for a god damn Card review!

With every update J makes to his deck it becomes harder and harder for Bashin to find a break in J’s strategy.

The Impregnable Fortress Odin not only gives himself +1000 BP for every Nexus on the board, but at the levels of 2 and 3, Odin protects all Nexuses from being destroyed.

His effect applies on Both ends of the field as well. So your opponent’s Nexuses will just add to his power.

This means if Bashin fights J, he can’t Dragsaurus his way out of the problem, and EVEN if Bashin uses The Ruby Sun, it will only serve to give Odin more power, even with the limitations it places on White Spirits.

This card for the time is good, since at the moment a lot of the players were relying very heavily on Nexuses as their main gameplan, so the typical strategy against that was to simply destroy them, but this X-Rare lets you not have to worry about opposing destruction.

The attention this anime has to it’s own game is one of the things I love an absolute ton about it.

J levels up his big boi and now his iron wall is set up.

The Curator can’t destroy the Diamond moon, and any card he uses to take out Odin will fall as a result of it.

He needs to destroy Odin using an effect. And so far we haven’t seen any cards that can hit a 6000 BP spirit.

J’s inherent smugness here is warranted, there isn’t a lot the Curator can do.

Hilariously though, there is a Red card in BS01 (the set they’ve been playing out of) that can take out Odin with it’s effect, but it has yet to be shown, so it’s doubtful the Curator would use it.

I’ll take a “Too little too late” for £500.

Destroying a Nexus while Odin is on the board be like:

Really puts a dent into your Battle plan for J, huh Bashin?

J adds a Core to Icemaiden and Baby-Loki to level them both up.

And Odin swings!…

Well to call that a “swing” would be highly inaccurate, look at that bullet hell!

Metalburn gets turned into swiss cheese by the hail of bullets.

Icemaiden takes out the unfortunate Goradon.

Baby-Loki then attacks, blocked by Dragsaurus.

Dragsaurus didn’t stand a chance, of course.

J you have yet to be displayed playing chess in any way, shape or form whatsoever.

I suppose it’s because you’re playing a “White” deck but come on.

Well, you didn’t exactly put up much of a fight, J set up his unbreakable Nexus Combo and you’re playing with Strategies from 2 episodes ago.

The Curator doesn’t typically use Red?

Come on now, not using a Red deck would have been the greatest decision you’d have made that entire match.

The Diamond Moon with Odin is a Red Killer.

“Well, you see, the script needed to make your Odin look as powerful as possible, so I used a Deck that would put me in the worst position possible against The Diamond Moon!”

Bashin finally makes it to the front of the crowd, but notices that “J-chan” isn’t noticing him.

J’s mother is disappointed that her son is playing card games.

With a fully grown CURATOR with which they CHOSE TO HOST HIS ART GALLERY.

And who CHALLENGED J TO A MATCH.

J got to play Battle Spirits with no self-intervention required, I have no clue why his mother is so disappointed in him.

I see Okyou and Kyouka are hoping that Bashin is too stupid to sit out of what is evidently a private family matter and do something about J’s mother.

Not gonna lie a lot of “matters” that people tend to keep private can be absolutely stupid, the only people who want to keep the matter “private” are the people who know that they’re wrong but don’t want to be told that’s the case.

I’m expecting to get cries of “But it’s none of your business!”

If one of the people being affected is friend or family, it’s very much my business, whether they like it or not, the only thing that I am not is “involved”.

And the only time I’ll accept a request to not be involved is if the person has a legitimate way of resolving the issue themselves. In which case there is very little need to involve myself.

It’s for this exact reason I try to keep as little secrets as possible.

It seems Bashin has picked up on the problem.

…Nevermind.

Apparently Bashin’s ability to read the atmosphere is about as consistent as his win record against J.

Join the club Kyouka…

Cuz you’re late…

The dude looked like he was about to collapse the minute you tapped his back.

That doesn’t sound like “Okay” to me, that screams either “Nervous” or “Don’t fucking touch me you filthy lower class-“

J seems to be nervous about playing Battle Spirits infront of his mother, probably because he knows her disdain for it.

My Sunshine is bored and wants to play Card games.

Welp! Drop what you’re doing guys and head to Kyoto! The Idol wants to play Battle Spirits!

“Patient”

Like waiting for the right time to exit the premises as Suiren and give her Manager a heart attack for the best part of an hour?

Its really hard to get a lock on her personality, she’s not got her Suiren personality but she also isn’t acting like My Sunshine.

It’s hard acting as an Idol as well as acting as a Pro Card Battler.

That’s the secret Aibou.

You’re never allowed to breathe.

Also for god sake would the other Cornerstone animals stop trying to eat Aibou?! He’s needed!

I can’t tell if Pink is just being ironic about being a Chameleon that eats mice or if he genuinely wants to eat Aibou?

An Alarm goes off in the party for some strange reason and everyone is suddenly attentive.

A fire alarm?

Unless there’s an arsonist on site, how would a fire even occur!?

This is the most random fire emergency I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching

So it seems the guests can’t decide if it’s a fire alarm or a buglar alarm.

a Burglar would be significantly more plausible. And it would be easier to pull off when people like Bashin and Striker can just waltz in and enjoy the party for no reason.

So it’s a burglar situation.

Time for some Detective work! Detective J!

I’d like to think he’s doing his god damn job as the host of this party.

How much you want to bet the Curator did it?

THESE NAZO-OTONA CONCLUSIONS GET STUPIDER AND STUPIDER EVERYTIME THEY COME UP.

HOW IN THE NAME OF SWEET BABY-LOKI DID HE FIGURE OUT THERE WAS A NAZO-OTONA AT THE PARTY!?

WHY WOULD A NAZO-OTONA EVEN BE HERE, AND WHY WOULD IT BE NECESSARY TO LOCK THEM INSIDE IF THEY HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING!?

You better hope there’s a bloody Nazo-Otona to expose!

Or you’re going to look like a right lemon, J.

EVERYONE

IN THIS ROOM

WILL NOW BE PLAYING BATTLE SPIRITS

SO THEY CAN WEED OUT THE NAZO-OTONA

God why didn’t I think of doing this to my own Discord Server? Forcing everyone in a room to play Battle Spirits sounds hella fun.

So he’s just going to force a number of rich people, who probably have 0 clue how to play Battle Spirits, to participate in his tournament?

J just fought the Curator not 5 minutes ago.

There was Batosupi literally before this, don’t be a smartass Bashin.

It’s just occurred to me that Okyou goes from Chasing Aibou to suddenly being on Kyouka’s Shoulder, and this was BEFORE Aibou stopped to rest, meaning he was running from… No one.

The floor of the building is now rumbling.

So first they’ve sealed off the exits, now they’re causing earthquakes.

This party is a disaster.

I guess that’s why they called it “Okyou’s Labyrinth”

…So did everyone else Commentator-san…

That’s what a Surprise generally is you muffin.

I feel bad for the people who don’t carry Battle Spirits Decks on them at all times.

Because they’re going to be unable to fight.

A Nazo-Otona could just get away that way.

For once, I don’t either.

This time you’re not alone.

Well, when you’re put in a maze, often finding a dead end is a good way to set a starting point. Its when you find the 2nd Dead end that you start having problems.

And Bashin attacks his first unfortunate victim.

This poor bastard didn’t even know this was happening today, I hope SOMEONE protests that they don’t have a deck.

That is the smile of “Bingo, we found him boys!”

So just because the guy just so happened to be willing to battle, did Bashin assume that he was the Nazo-Otona.

I mean given the chances that any of these rich people with lots of money would have the time for Battle Spirits, it could be reasonable to assume any of them who do could be the Nazo-Otona.

Or J’s a genius and everyone at this party is a player.

I see even a greenhorn (hehe, geddit?) like Striker knows who Suiren is.

She’s that famous.

I was actually interested in hearing the answer to the previous question, slow down Suiren, these are questions that need answers.

So Tables just spring out of the ground conveniently when a fight is about to start?

How much money did J blow on this room alone!?

Make like that orange juice and bottle it Manager, your Idol needs a god damn break.

Turn 14

Hoo boy, let’s hope this is just covering the finishing moves then.

Striker’s going ham on the Nexus play this time around, with TWO of The Fruit of Life at level 2.

This means for every life he loses, he’ll draw 2 cards, and gain 2 core.

If he’s at 5 life and loses 4, he draws a total of 8 cards, and gains a total of 8 core, plus the 4 he lost on his life, for a total of 12.

So does Striker not have any spirits at all?

It’s turn 14, Suiren could just win if he’s unprotected.

It’s safe to say there’s a Nexus Meta-

This is assuming that Nexuses are non-essential, but in truth, there are more decks that can be helped by the use of a nexus than there are decks that can do without them.

Oh, we haven’t seen a purple nexus yet, gotta examine what these here Shackles of Doom do.

A Cost 6 Nexus! Ouchie.

Normally 4 or less is the magic number for Nexuses, as they can be deployed on the first turn, where it’s safest.

And they’ll provide reduction for mostly the whole game, so this Nexus being cost 6 makes it more of a midgame Nexus, not an early game one.

It prevents spirits with a single core from attacking, meaning your opponent won’t be able to suddenly butt rush you without at least 2 core per spirit. But it also means you can’t attack without more core either.

Note: The English printed effect is wrong, as the actual Japanese text states that Spirits with only a single core cannot attack OR block. Meaning you can’t defend with 1 core spirits either.

And the Level 2 effect requiring 3 core (hefty amount) forces attacking spirits to drop a core to the Trash.

The first and second effects don’t synergize really, once a spirit has begun attacking you can’t stop it by dropping it to 1 core.

And again, this applies to both players. Meaning you’re not safe from it either.

I don’t particularly like this Nexus very much, but I assume Suiren is going to use this to put a dent in Striker’s rush strategy.

So this is Suiren’s current field, a bunch of Spirits with 2 Core on them, and we know she’s swung with a Skulldevil.

To make a short story even shorter, Suiren made a full attack, granting Striker 8 cards and 12 core.

Now Striker’s ready to make a full attack for game. He needs to provide 2 core per spirit though to let them attack.

He plays 3 Level 1 Flyingmirages, and 2 Level 2 Shockeaters.

Unfortunately, those Flyingmirages won’t be able to damage Suiren’s life.

Oh, nevermind, seems like Striker realizes he can’t finish off Suiren like this so he needs to hold out for a turn.

Suiren just needs to summon 2 more spirits of course.

See?

Screw English translations sometimes I swear

Suiren takes a core from Skulldevil and summons her Purple X-Rare

Its certainly safe to say it’s over for Striker, with only 2 blockers and 1 life, he’s not going to get through this.

Also Desperado gains 4 core for depleting 4 Spirits.

Time for the finishing move once Suiren’s Spirits get levelled up.

Also thanks to her Nexus, the Shockeaters aren’t able to block either.

And with an attack from Desperado, Striker loses.

That fight was pretty short lived, Striker even doubled up on his Fruit of Life strategy. Sucks to be him.

Filthy Purple players and their mean tactics and their stupid apologies.

I love the game but Purple rubs me the wrong way sometimes, and it’s by no means any stronger than the other 3 colours.

We cut back to rich boy Jenkins having lost to Bashin.

He seemed so confident earlier at being able to beat Bashin, but this definitely isn’t the Nazo-Otona in that case.

So quite a few people in this room conveniently play the game? Was J just such a role model for rich people that every rich associate just picked it up?

Holy moly that face.

That’s not quite Soul Eater Excalibur level but jesus.

But like seriously, Google “Soul Eater Excalibur Face” to see what I mean

Well there’s only one Nazo-Otona in this group of Rich people, just so happens they ALL play Battle Spirits to some degree.

And have conveniently all brought their decks along too.

“Think” being the keyword here since there is absolutely no evidence that a Nazo-Otona is even there.

Screw your Tournament Arcs boys.

This is a Tournament Episode.

That’s right, one full Tournament in a single Episode of the show!

So Suiren and Bashin were the finalists?

Was the Nazo-Otona not weeded out whatsoever?

And secondly, how did Bashin manage to make his way out of a Labyrinth on his own? The kid barely understands how directions work if Episode 7 is any proof.

HAH.

The Announcer doesn’t know who he is because Bashin got knocked out in the prelims of that tournament!

Oh how jealous I am of this announcer, being ignorant of Bashin’s existence sounds like a dream.

And now the Announcer can learn my pain by being introduced to the little bugger.

Again! Ix-nay on the Ekai-isay! (Nix on the Isekai in Pig Latin)

Another Battle, another absurd turn jump, this time it’s 17.

On Suiren’s field is a Set of Level 1s, a Skulldevil, Death-Haides and Bone-Gladiator.

Since Bashin isn’t playing a Green deck, there’s little need to fear Bone-Gladiator’s unblockable effect.

Suiren deploys her new Nexus, The Shackles of Doom, this helped beat Striker but let’s see how well it works against Bashin, she hasn’t used it’s Level 2 effect yet to remove core from attacking Spirits.

I’m guessing Bashin will try to Awaken his way out of the problem of course.

A simple courtesy, a Spirit with 1 Core might as well not be there while Shackles is about.

Since the Goradons only have a single core, Bashin’s a sitting duck right about now.

Timing that Nexus must be the key to its usefulness.

Skulldevil and Bone-Gladiator snatch 2 of Bashin’s 4 lives, leaving him with 2.

Then Suiren ends her turn, leaving Death-Haides to defend.

Bashin’s about to draw his way out of the problem.

More cards are never bad, unless you’re about to deck out of course.

Classic, Bashin’s going to Dragsaurus his way out of the negative effects of that Nexus.

This is a bittersweet play, while it will work here against Suiren, it won’t work against J while he’s using The ImpregnableFortress Odin.

Well I didn’t nail this one apparently. Seems Bashin wasn’t going to Awaken his way out of the problem.

And why should he? Better to go for the simple out rather than pushing through it using a complicated method.

Bashin getting The DragonEmperor Siegfried off of Double Draw is going to become a regular meme isn’t it?

I actually can’t remember, I think this is the 2nd time he’s pulled Siegfried off of Double Draw.

Though he might have done it against J was well, I’ll have to check through that Blog post and update you guys next Episode.

EDIT: Checked the Episode log for Episode 5, no Bashin didn’t drew into Siegfried using Double Draw that time around.

Oh shut up Suiren, you’ve got one as well.

You’re just surprised because he didn’t need it to beat you last time.

That is a heavy investment good sir, 4 freaking core.

Bashin levels up Siegfried as well, for good measure.

Strangely enough all that core on Eyeburn will be bloody useful for swinging with Eyeburn first, and using Siegfried’s Awaken afterward.

Bashin says no to the commentator, saying that he can’t finish this while Suiren’s spirits have their level raised…

But they’re exhausted, there’s little need to worry about what they can do right now.

Bashin is being wary so he’s only going to attack when Suiren is able to block it so he can improve his position rather than going for a straight win.

Aaaaand then name drops a card he has yet to use.

Here’s Buster Phalanx, it clears the board of Nexuses when used in the Main phase.

But during Flash timing, you can use it to give a spirit a whopping +4000 BP.

It’s a multipurpose magic, those reductions are shameful though.

Bashin passes and Suiren immediately follows up with another “The Shackles of Doom!”

Seems he might need to keep hold of Buster Phalanx’s Main effect after all.

…If he even gets that far.

The SevenShogun Desperado just wreaks Havoc when it comes into play, that combo with the Nexus basically means that most of the Spirits Desperado doesn’t deplete will just be unable to block anyway.

Purple needs to get over it’s weird facemask horror gimmick soon, it’s creeping me the hell out.

Desperado depletes 3 of Bashin’s Spirits, so that is a free Level up for The SevenShogun.

And with The Shackles of Doom, The DragonEmperor Siegfried can’t block.

I’d bring up Skeleton-Jaw but he just can’t block to begin with so not much lost there.

All of Suiren’s Spirits get an Extra core so they aren’t Shackled by the Nexus.

Intriguingly the first of it’s kind in this show.

This is infact the first time 2 X-Rares have faced off since the show started.

Hopefully we get more of these, now it’s going to be a battle of wits to see how Bashin is going to get his X-Rare out on top.

But at the moment Suiren’s in a position to just win right here.

Siegfried depletes Skeleton-Jaw and Eyeburn to bring it up to Level 3 so it’s strong enough to block Desperado and win.

Interesting strategy there Bashin.

Now that Siegfried has 5 core, he can successfully block despite Suiren’s Nexus, and he’s stronger than Desperado.

Desperado is beaten in the clash of X-Rares!

Unfortunately… Suiren has a point.

Bashin’s Awaken left him with no other spirits to block with, and Suiren’s still got 3 raring to go.

Bashin only has 2 lives, he’ll need a Flame Tempest to get through it all.

It would have been smarter to block with Eyeburn first, then use Siegfried’s awaken to take Skeleton-Jaw’s core so that he’d be able to block.

He might not have beaten Desperado, nor would he be in any better a situation (Suiren would still have 2 Spirits remaining and Bashin has 2 lives) but at least he would have 1 less attack to contend with.

Bashin loses his last lives to Death-Haides and Bone-Gladiator.

This time, Suiren has gotten her revenge! Their win ratio is equal now.

I think I hate purple players being apologetic for winning about as much as I hate Bashin.

I think about 6 seasons from now we get a player with the exact opposite problem, was too focused on winning but couldn’t defeat his opponent’s Key Spirit.

That being said, even if you lost Bashin, beating an opponent’s X-Rare with your own is WAY cool.

Yes, you’re not insane, I’m praising Bashin for doing something cool.

Hopefully if I let him have his moments he might actually impress me later. Wishful thinking but Karma has done stranger things.

This is correct, whether or not Bashin defeated Desperado wouldn’t have changed the dire situation he was in, because he was too cautious to attack due to Suiren’s levelled up Spirits.

Again however, they were exhausted, there was little need to worry about them right then and there.

Bashin might have been able to win before Desperado even appeared.

And we get to one of the sadder realities with Battle Spirits.

The unfortunate thing about the simple act of attacking is that it puts you at a hell of a risk due to what could possibly be in your opponent’s hand, often times its safer to just not attack so that you never give them the opportunity to respond.

Unfortunately, in Battle Spirits, it’s extremely difficult to win by not attacking, and if you only wait until you can take all the opposing lives in one go, then firstly that may not even happen.

And secondly, the opponent will simply counter then as opposed to the moment you were too worried to attack.

You occasionally need to throw caution to the wind, yes if you can only JUST win, but barely, and your opponent has a sizeable hand, then perhaps you can hold off for a little bit to better your position, but assuming your opponent has a counter for everything is a tad unreasonable.

…

My Sunshine is going to award the trophy to Suiren?

Why don’t I see that happening?…

Poor Suiren, this is an extremely difficult situation.

You were pulling your hair out over this earlier Bashin, how did you forget the point of that Labyrinth!?

Don’t tell me it was the Curator…

I was right wasn’t I?

Meanwhile in Planet Zoo, we’ve got a Stand-off between a Cat and a Chameleon feeling a little bit peckish.

I get that it’s “their food” and all? But does food “belong” to you after it’s been eaten?

Kitten to the left of me.

Chameeeeleon to the right!

Here I am!

Stuck in the middle with you~

D’AWWWWW AND IT’S A CLIFFHANGER!

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed that episode, it was significantly better than the last few we’ve had that’s for sure.

A few things coming a bit out of left field, like a Nazo-Otona just happening to show up, and everyone at the party being a Battle Spirits player.

But J actively hunting for Nazo-Otonas seems a tad odd, he’s already gotten himself an X-Rare so it’s likely he’s already defeated one.

We can assume he has a reason other than High Ranker Passes or X-Rares to be hunting Nazo-Otonas in general.

And we still don’t know who the identity of High Ranker Pass No. 001 is, but given that J has an X-Rare we hadn’t seen til now, it’s likely to be him.

And it seems that the Nazo-Otona in question might be the Curator, given that the Curator was using a deck he was evidently “uncomfortable” with and couldn’t cite a reason as to why.

Suiren unveiled a new Nexus and in the same episode Bashin tore that strategy apart, plus we got to see a clash between 2 X-Rares for the first time today!

Needless to say, for the first time the ending of this episode made up for the slow start! I’m looking forward to the next one.

So our card of the day today is The SevenShogun Desperado! A Cost 8 Purple X-Rare.

Despite being equal to most Cost 6 Max Levels in terms of BP, it’s main sell is the ability to sweep a core off of the entire board, and given that you’ll be using it on your turn you can adequately prep your field for it’s summon while your opponent is left relatively in the dark about it.

Beat at least 3 Spirits using it’s ability and Desperado will automatically level itself up using the core it gains from the void, where it can reduce an opposing spirit to Level 1 when it attacks through it’s core removal.

By reducing a Spirit to exactly 1 core, it makes that Spirit susceptible to flashes like Poison Shoot, or the effect of The Shackles of Doom, rendering it unable to block.

It’s a versatile X-Rare and there are a lot of purple cards at the moment that can synergize supremely well with it.

It’s also of the prominent Ogre Wizard family, a popularly supported family of not quite wizards but also not quite ogres… generally anything that doesn’t fall under another classification gets slapped with the Ogre Wizard family.

So if you’re following along with me, I’ll try to do something special for Episode 10. Feel free to contact me to give me advice on what I should do!

Til then! I’ll see you next Episode!