“Arrival of the Gunslinger’s Apparation”
Well if that isn’t completely and utterly ominous I don’t know what is.
Going from the preview, we’re finally getting some tournament play, so this should be fun.
Here we have a snoozing Bashin, clutching his High Ranker pass in his hand like his life depends on it.
Oh and Aibou looks absolutely adorable snoozing in the corner as well, also wtf happened to the animation, it just got a crapton better.
We actually get a look at Bashin’s Deck here, and from what I can see.
It looks like he’s included some new cards, there are quite a few in there that I don’t recognise.
And after a quick scan of Vassal I can assert that they are from BS02, meaning the new set is being introduced to the show!
Nice, new cards is always good, keeps me invested and gives me more stuff to review.
Did they hire a new studio? Or did the animators just take an entire course in awesome looking anime?
Why doesn’t the rest of the series look this good?
Aww man, I’m on Holiday, so I’m sleeping in ALL the places other than my bed.
Because “My” bed is in a different country.
Screw Hayami’s rules.
Hayami puts Bashin in bed and wonders how long he’s going to keep sleeping.
I suppose it’s either not school time right now, or it’s not a school day thanks to the Tournament.
Seems we’ve got a bit of My Sunshine heading to the Championship she’s booked at.
That’ll be convenient for getting Suiren there, of course.
Well it didn’t take Hayami very long to meet up with My Sunshine again.
This is one small ass city.
So the venue is called the “Isekai World Dome”
Isn’t that a bit redundant? Isekai’s translation already has “World” in it. Correct me if I’m wrong of course.
Lots of people are going to need transport to the Tournament venue of course, and then back, so yes, lots of people are in need of the Speed Star.
So My Sunshine asks a very clear question but doesn’t wait for Hayami to answer to turn the TV on anyway.
Talk about rude.
Yes, Striker.
No one else is worthy.
So they know that Bashin and Striker are High Ranker Pass holders then?
Striker getting the rep he absolutely DESERVES
Apparently they already knew about Bashin?
Strange, they didn’t even give him the time of day when he came in 2nd at J’s Labyrinth Tournament.
I wish they’d kept that up, would be funny watching Bashin tear his hair out because no one knows him.
Meanwhile J and Kyouka enter by Sawaragi HELICOPTER.
Who even needs Taxis when you have a freaking Helicopter to avoid all the traffic.
I’m confused as to what Commentator-chan is stating that there’s an error about? Considering Commentator-san seems relatively sure of himself that My Sunshine is meant to be performing.
Striker being the good noodle he is, checks with Bashin’s mother about his attendance, because Bashin is still sleeping at home, on a big day like this no less.
Hayami makes a very important phone call, and wakes up Aibou from his very adorable sleep…
Doesn’t take long for Aibou to give up and go back to sleep.
Look at that mouse, how can you not love it when it’s sleeping?
While Bashin makes a massive waste of his High Ranker! The Gunslinger has begun!
Though I wonder how they’ll attempt to entertain us with a bunch of matches that the main characters aren’t even participating in.
A Time limit is a VERY good way to not only drive up enthusiasm, but with the way the Gunslinger is set up, means that there’s no need for matches to go into “Time” like in Yugioh or Vanguard, where they add very arbitrary rules for the end of the match because they need results.
This time you’re punished time-wise through losing. And if your Deck doesn’t win fast enough, it’s your own fault, given that speed is an important aspect in Gunslingers.
Only the top 8?
And we know of 6 High Rankers, so that makes 14, we’d need another 2 players to get to finals somehow.
I don’t think 3 hours is very “Soon” to me.
Don’t lie to your viewers Commentator-san, they’re not idiots.
…I hope.
Wait so the 6 High Rankers have their spots in the Top 8 reserved?
So only 2 players in the Gunslinger will actually be able to go to the finals?
I’m sorry but it’s NOT good tournament planning if more players get invited to the Top cut than the actual players qualifying to get in. You’re removing a large number of possible players earning their spot because you think these 6 out of 8 people shouldn’t have to bother participating in the Gunslinger like everyone else?
Out of these 8 people, only 2 of them earned their way in, the other 6 got invites effectively.
That’s not a good look! Not at all!
If they’re so good to get invited then they can prove it in a Gunslinger, Bashin above all others hasn’t won a Gunslinger since he lost the last Primary tournament he was in, he admitted so himself.
And Striker’s a NEW PLAYER, he didn’t know what a Gunslinger WAS until the day before.
Those 2, above all else, should definitely have to participate in the Gunslinger and prove they’re worthy of the High Rankers that they were due because they were lucky enough to find a Nazo-Otona.
And I say “Find” and not “Beat” because the only Nazo-Otona that has won on-screen fought a complete newbie (Striker) and lost the subsequent match to Bashin.
I don’t trust that the Nazo-Otonas are very good representations of skill.
Striker and J have never fought, I’d pay to see that match.
Better than an absurd rematch that ends the same way again.
And now Suiren has arrived to tell J she wants to beat his ass.
All we need is Bashin and we’ve got a full set.
J lost his championship to Bashin when Bashin beat the bumbling buffoon because he was too angry at his mother.
I’m getting the recognition I deserve in this show.
I’m being heard, I know it.
WHO
THE FUCK
IS UCHUUCHOUTEN!?
WHO THE FUCK IS NUMBER EIGHT!?
CAN WE START NAMING PEOPLE AS THEY APPEAR INSTEAD OF ASSUMING WE KNOW WHO THEY ARE?
Fuck this I’m googling who the in the hell Number Eight is.
Okay no one google it yourself because possible spoilers but apparently this woman is Number Eight.
Why did I need to look this up to figure out who that is?
You can’t namedrop people and expect us to just assume we know who that is, I don’t give a horse’s ass who your audience is, that’s super bad writing.
Uchuuchouten is bad because we haven’t had a scene foreshadowing who that is, not even a scene with a dark figure with no recognizeable features, just show us that a person EXISTS called Uchuuchouten and leave out all the details.
At least then I’d know who in the god damn flaming hell that is this show, who that is.
But NUMBER EIGHT is apparently someone the main characters that WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING know about!
So why did I need to look it up just to figure out what our MC’s who we’ve been with the entire show, consider common knowledge!
Jesus christ I was not expecting a rant on writing this far in.
Moving on, Striker’s stressing about the finals and wants to battle.
Striker can’t seem to sit still and is hopping in circles, despite being told to by everyone else, Striker wants to participate in the Gunslinger, even if it has no bearing on whether or not he places.
Striker’s got a winner’s outlook on this.
He’s itching to fight, so he’s found a legitimate reason as to why he should, other than simple impatience.
Of course one could argue that it allows the others in the Gunslinger to preview their decks but having a High Ranker Pass AND being able to watch the Gunslinger also gives you that preview of whatever the winner’s decks were.
You change your mind like you change personalities Suiren.
She freaking advised Striker to stay here and then immediately changed her tune as soon as he came up with a reason to actually go.
He’s not gonna…?
Because of COURSE he is.
Good job Striker, you’ve got the charisma of a King.
Well this particular set of seconds as a rollercoaster from start to finish.
So there’s a Conference they’re going to miss because Gunslinger.
My Sunshine is missing, because Gunslinger, and poor Kyouka has been left on her own.
Again, because Gunslinger.
Meanwhile, Meganeko the Precious is feeding Nanarin the Dog.
Definitely not a school day then, since Meganeko is VERY far away from School right now while the tournament is going on.
And some car just pulls up next to her.
As a paranoid person, that is a moment that calls for panic.
And again! The shading quality is on point here!
Visuals aside, It’s apparently Card Sensei driving the very blue car.
Damn the blue doesn’t even match the colour of his sporty looking suit, you ain’t getting many girls like that Card Sensei.
It seems he’s hunting for Hayami.
I see he’s decided that he’s tired of waiting for life to give him opportunities to go after Hayami and he’s just gonna go have a damn good try himself is that it?
“Report to Mama-san about Bashin”?
What, that Bashin is missing from the tournament?
Hayami already knows about that though. I suppose there’s no way they can just go to his house though considering they don’t really have the keys to the apartment.
So Card Sensei wasn’t actually wanting to report to Hayami about Bashin’s absence, just wanted to check on Meganeko to 1. Find the whereabouts of Hayami, and 2. Possibly get a reason to tattle to Hayami about Bashin’s mistreating of Meganeko as an excuse to talk to Hayami.
That’s a really awful way to abuse the fact that Meganeko is often not treated particularly well by Bashin, Card Sensei, even worse when you consider that you’re a teacher and you’re supposed to discipline the little schmuck IN SCHOOL.
Lastly, isn’t contacting a parent over matters that aren’t school related kind of unprofessional?
All these point to the fact that Card Sensei is worthy of his nickname, “Quack Sensei”
She is a precious soul, isn’t she?
It would be terribly difficult for her to follow along with the games being played but she wants to watch him do well anyway.
No time wasted for Meganeko when it comes to Bashin it seems.
Why would Hayami need to call Meganeko?
If your son is being a pain in the ass just go home and wake him.
Then again I have no clue how Taxi shifts work, I assume she can’t ignore Taxi calls until she gets off shift.
What is she actually going to wake up Bashin herself?
But you don’t have any keys to the apartment? How will you get in?
And she just gets in Sensei’s car and he drives off with her to Bashin’s house.
I’d say this is also suspect, but then again Card Sensei has a very good relationship with Bashin and Meganeko’s families.
It’s a good thing they do, I don’t think it’s very normal for students to be getting into the back of Teacher’s cars.
While Hayami ponders about Bashin, she gets a customer.
“Keke”?
…What? I’m assuming this is just one of those types of characters with a word-tick.
Like how Moogles say “Kupo” at the end of every sentence.
But usually anime doesn’t add word-ticks unless the character is in some way important.
Oh! It’s one of the depicted High Rankers on the Grid last episode!
This one was marked with the name of “Smile”
His suit doesn’t really match any of the 4 colours shown so far, so it’s going to be interesting to see what deck he uses.
The Shot cuts to the armband he has with a number of Stars and a big black “X” on it.
I assume this is significant in some way, but I don’t know which bit, the stars or the X?
The armband is Red though, perhaps he’s a Red user?
They didn’t cut from the fact that he just entered the car and wanted to go to the Tournament stage.
And given this guy’s shit-eating grin, I assume they’re going to try divulge his personality through this.
“Nothing that’s a big deal…”
Isn’t this a Tournament to determine the current Battle Spirits champion? I’d say that’s a pretty big deal.
So either he’s dismissive of the event’s purpose, or he’s dismissive of it’s participants.
Either way, he’s a condescending character.
That’s not something you should be telling him, divulging info to an enemy card battler might hurt your boy’s chances Hayami.
The more you tell him, the more he’ll know.
First of all, God dammit Hayami stop divulging info the opposition can use to identify him!
Secondly, OMINOUS!
His Rotten Banana looking hair aside, this guy’s appearance SCREAMS evil. And all that behind the creepy name of “Smile”
Once again, OMINOUS!
I’m loving the aura of mystery this guy is giving off as well, he’s reminding me a lot of Nine.
I did mention before my Profile pic on Discord may change with this episode, this guy is why.
I’m surprised there aren’t specific rules concerning High Rankers participating in the Gunslinger.
As it stands their positions are reserved for them, meaning regardless of how badly they lose here, they can make updates to their decks for the final round after gauging the competition.
While they could probably have gauged that from the footage they were receiving anyway, High Rankers participating in the Gunslinger means that the High Rankers can actually influence what players reach Top 8 based on who wins and who loses, and since losing isn’t an issue for them they can artificially boost wins for some players and prevent others from getting any.
If I were running a system like this I would certainly bar High Rankers from participating in the Gunslinger, perhaps even bar them from watching it (as mentioned before, the High Rankers don’t have to Battle, so their decks are relatively unknown while the High Rankers are free to watch the games of any potential players who can get to the Top 8)
This is of course assuming I would even use such an obviously abusable system like the High Ranker Passes.
Again, this is awfully assertive of the skill of those with a High Ranker pass.
Because it’s very clear you don’t need to be playing very long, or have a good track record to obtain one.
Striker has the best mindset to this game among ALL of the chosen card battlers, and he’s got the WORST win to loss ratio!
The poor dude has 2 wins under his belt and loses a game every other episode! And HE got one.
“Participants of all levels” my freaking ass. Especially since the Gunslinger is designed to weed out the High level participants from the low level ones anyway, that’s how qualifying for the finals bloody works!
That little rant aside, Meganeko and Card Sensei have finally arrived at Bashin’s house.
Absolutely no clue how they got in but okay, maybe Hayami gave them a code for the doors or something… If the doors run on code locks and not key locks, which is unlikely.
Since it’s an Apartment in a Flat, perhaps they have a Concierge to let them in with permission?
Who knows.
This guy could sleep through being hit by a Nuclear Warhead I swear.
Not gonna lie the animation got SUPER good right there.
And this scene looks so good since it’s using 3 shades instead of 2, as well as a lovely colour scheme.
This scene is doing it for me I tell you.
Man I wish I was so eccentric as to wake up with a battle cry.
Except that trying to have something like catchphrases in real life can work really badly if you’re intentionally trying to be quirky.
This is a very in-depth conversation I tell you.
Nothing like one-word responses from the pair of them to really fill the conversation with a large amount of vocabulary.
First of all that’s creepy as fuck Sensei. Just look at his FACE.
Second of all, that line right there makes me curious as to Card Sensei’s Voice actor, he reminds me of another character.
Well, his voice actor, Riki Kitazawa doesn’t play any other roles that I can recall right about now, really digging his performance here though.
Back at the Gunslinger, Nine and Eight are watching.
Also what in the name of god is Nine wearing?…
Why is there a diamond shape SPECIFICALLY to reveal her belly button?
I can’t really call it skimpy since the only skin it’s showing is her shoulders and chest area but it certainly is trying to outline the shape of her body as opposed to trying to make her look pretty in any sense of the word.
I can’t think of any other purpose for that outfit other than sex appeal, and that’s a tad weird given that she’s at a Children’s card game tournament.
Also apparently one of the others, called “Number Two” is meant to observe.
The Nazo-Otonas seem to go by a Numbering system apparently, interesting codenaming.
But apparently the codename isn’t secret since Cap apparently knows that Eight is well, Number Eight.
I wonder what the ordering is.
“New System” he’s “Funding”
So Number Two is both super rich, and he’s building a system.
Remember back a few episodes ago where J said that his father was designing a new Battle System?
Also J is filthy stinkin’ rich… Meaning it’s likely his father is too.
I’m getting the suspicion that J’s father is a Nazo-Otona.
Apparently Nine says it’s not lost, given that there’s still a bit of time.
Eight complains apparently that Two isn’t here already though.
God woman, what is your interest with Two? And also christ that pose.
You can tell the animators had fun drawing that shot.
…Now I can’t tell if Eight was referring to Bashin or Two.
Though Nine seems to have particular interest in Bashin for some odd reason. I’m curious as to why.
Might be a Teacher-like mentality, he might feel obligated to root for Bashin given that Bashin is using Nine’s X-Rare.
We got that the last time Striker.
Very little need to repeat it, plus he’s on his way, how far is the Isekai World Dome from Bashin’s place?
Suiren accompanies Striker on the premise that she also can’t be bothered with the Gunslinger as well?
Also isn’t that grounds for Gunslinger disqualification if you don’t turn up for your match?
Or do the High Ranker Passes also circumvent that as well? These are some overpowered passes if they basically keep your reserved spot through a disqualification.
First of all, what’s with Suiren’s reaction? There’s very little need to be Tsundere about being worried about one of your friends.
Secondly, was the Blush necessary? You’re setting off the red flags of a romantic interest.
Lastly, what is with STRIKER’S REACTION!? He seems kind of miffed at the fact that Suiren would be worried about Bashin… Is he jealous?
“Perfect Battle?”
Don’t tell me J’s going to win a Gunslinger he wasn’t even supposed to be a part of.
I certainly hope the organisers are prepared for this situation and use the top 2 that aren’t bloody J to decide the Top 8.
And the Gunslinger is OVER.
The fastest 3 hours of my life, I tell ya.
It’s almost like only 12 minutes went by…
(Realistically these blog posts take hours to make, those 3 hours were EXTENDED, not shortened)
You had an automatic leaderboard in the shot before Eight decided to distract everyone watching with her odd choice of suit.
Just use that, what results are there to “Organise”?
WE GET IT.
BASHIN IS LATE. STOP REMINDING US OF STUFF WE ALREADY KNOW!
That is typically what happens when you are late, yes, but I’m pretty sure most Tournaments operate normally up until the match you’re meant to be playing, and even then they give a pretty reasonable time to show up, like a couple minutes or so.
If it involves Bashin I’m going to tear my hair out.
I’m tired of hearing the constant repetition of the fact that Bashin is late.
…Come again?
Two Number ones? So there are 2 people with the same number of points, and they are at the highest.
So what? Just take them both into Top 8.
Should be pretty darn simple.
Apparently, that Smile guy managed to arrive halfway through the Gunslinger, and STILL get enough wins to match J?
Also I’m happy that they ordered it correctly by placing Suiren 3rd, I hate when people say “Joint-first” and then call the other as “Second”
Just a pet peeve really. And they didn’t commit it here.
Well maybe if you lifted your head up from J’s groin area, you might have had some better judgement there, Commentator-san.
J ponders, given that the person who has tied with him for 1st place is a complete nobody.
Upsets happen all the time, but given that this is a Gunslinger, a single upset means absolutely nothing.
So the fact that a no-name reached the top of the board in half the time than everyone else is a bit crazy, and warrants some intrigue.
Smile walks with the grace of a god damn Zombie.
The last living character I saw to have such a zombie-like style of movement was…
Well it was Dan Kuroto from Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.
I doubt Smile will turn into the Screaming Meme factor that Genm is.
He says “Rumored” like he might not even exist. “Famed” would be a better word to use here.
J moves a hand out to shield Kyouka for some strange reason, but I realise it’s because Kyouka is actually scared of Smile.
It seems that Smile is giving off enough of a creepy vibe to put the Sawaragi twins on edge.
There is literally 0 purpose to this battle, you’re both number 1, but guess what, you’re also RESERVED A SPOT ANYWAY!
Smile’s proposition seems more like a taunt to get J to unveil the details of his deck to Smile so that Smile can counter it, final-wise.
Also Smile is giving off this weird vibe, the eye drawn on him, ignoring his mouth, can be really perceived as a hateful eye, but the smile (hehe) throws me off completely.
I’m loving it.
And then he occasionally shifts to this crazed look when saying his signature “Kekeke” which tells me that he’s not quite “stable”
To be able to seem Unhinged and Unstable while still carrying a massive aura of mystery behind a hateful eye and a smile is just begging for my curiosity.
As J says this smile is bobbing back and forth, he’s a VERY well animated character.
Hey look this Bitch-ass finally arrived.
It’s a good thing Smile and J decided to have a match or you might have been disqualified.
Meganeko, I thought you wanted to watch him?
Why aren’t you going with him you silly goose?
The Final Tournament’s first round? Wait.
Is Smile and J going to have their bout first? So they’re treating it as an official match rather than wasting time deciding a victor that doesn’t ultimately matter.
…Who the fuck?
This creepy smiley face lookin’ ass just popped on screen out of nowhere.
I was expecting a bracket, not a clown.
The hell is the Thousand Spirits Group?
Sounds like a company that would make a game like Battle Spirits, especially considering it has the word “Spirits” in it’s name.
…
…
. . .
YOU’RE KING UCHUUCHOUTEN!?
Wow it only took us THIRTEEN FUCKING EPISODES TO GET A GOD DAMN LOOK AT THIS FUCKER WHO LOOKS LIKE A GRAYSCALED EMOJI WITH KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA ON HIS HEAD.
At least we know who this name dropped piece of shit is now, cuz apparently he couldn’t grace us with his presence any of the previous 12 episodes whatsoever except by being namedropped by J, the Commentators, and the god damn Narrator.
And then they throw him at us now right as the first round starts like “Oh by the way here’s the person we’ve been talking about since Episode 2!”
On the upside this tells us that Nazo-Otonas are members of the Thousand Spirits Group at the very least.
Some points, first off. No one knows what the fuck Isekai World even is. If they do then why in the god damn hell does Bashin need to keep it secret.
If Isekai is a “concept” specifically for Battle Spirits like Planet Cray is for Vanguard, then that explains why Bashin gets away with his stupid fucking catchphrase all the damn time.
Secondly, “Challenge us of the Thousand Spirits Group”
Bro I didn’t even know who in the name of Odin you were until this moment, everyone, including Smile, seemed far more intrigued at either beating J or beating him off.
I’d argue it’s significantly less but whatever you say, Mr. Uchuuchouten.
You just said “it’s more than that” and then failed to elaborate what you meant, just suddenly deciding now to start the finals.
So not only is this guy a walking Sonic fancharacter with an Emoji mask, but he also apparently can’t follow his own train of speech.
Wow… Just gonna come right out and call her a “Sexy Queen”
Well if they ain’t filtering themselves then neither will I.
But… She wasn’t in the Gunslinger.
So who’s our Eighth player? Did they only take the Top 1 out of the Gunslinger?
“Selected first?”
You mean that Bashin was actually the FIRST person who was supposed to receive a High Ranker?
He was the last to receive it, his pass doesn’t even refer to him as 001, it’s 018.
This guy is protesting the use of Aibou?
Come on now, it’s a (reasonably) well-behaved mouse.
Your rules covered “animals at the finals” but not High Rankers in the Gunslinger, apparently.
Aibou apparently supports the decision.
This isn’t going to end well is it? There’s very little reason to actively specify Aibou’s removal during the match.
Well I suppose it also tells the Audience that Bashin isn’t going to receive any help then sure, but it’s not like Aibou was helping Bashin mid-battle.
Also did Bashin ever get his Siegfried back on screen? If not then he’s playing without his X-Rare.
Oh, so Meganeko and Card Sensei DID stay to watch, I suppose the Competitor entrance was different to the spectator one.
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.
You can tell the animators enjoyed drawing this shot.
Seems Bashin remembers her, not as “Number Eight” but as the “High Ranker Pass delivery girl”
At the moment, anyone who doesn’t know her as “Number Eight” will probably just call her “The Boob Lady” right about now.
Apparently that doesn’t extend to the Male (and some Female) audience’s eyes. You’ve been going easy on them until this shot.
Only turn 11? That’s rather tame given the past few episodes throwing us near 20 a few times.
So Bashin has a board of 4 spirits, those being Goradon, Eyeburn, Metalburn and Rokceratops.
And Eight has Flyingmirage and Shockeater.
All of which appear to be at Level 1 of course, no new spirits yet.
And it’s currently Bashin’s Attack Step.
Bashin attacks with Eyeburn which is then blocked by Shockeater, since both are at Level 1, they have equal BP of 3000, and destroy each other.
I like how the repelled attack from Shockeater is just Eyeburn’s flames but Green.
Also nice to see Eight is sticking to her Green deck rather than her initial purple one.
Eyeburn attacks now and is blocked by Flyingmirage, now apparently this results in another draw, which is curious since Flyingmirage’s Level 1 BP is only 1000 which Eyeburn has higher, at 2000.
So the Flyingmirage must have been at Level 2 then to compete with Eyeburn.
Bashin goes full muppet and does a full attack, Goradon and Rokceratops take Eight’s lives down to 1.
Eight spends her turn summoning Beatbeetle, Flyingmirage and Hercules-Geo.
And she then proceeds to level up Hercules-Geo to Level 3.
Someone’s planning to make a Big attack.
And then Eight plays The Anthill.
Which is a new Nexus, you know the drill!
Still a card from the first set, so nothing that couldn’t have shown up before.
This one’s Cost 5, and with only 2 reductions I’m expecting it to be a little stronger than Striker’s Nexuses.
And reading it’s effects, I can see why, at Level 1, your blocking Spirits refresh when they win a Battle, and at Level 2, that same effect applies when you’re the one attacking.
Well it explains why Eight Levelled up Hercules-Geo, as long as Bashin can’t outpower it, Bashin can’t damage Eight’s life.
Bashin apparently responds with Flame Tempest, to what I attack I do not know but I’d guess she swung with a spirit that wasn’t Hercules-Geo to prompt the Flash.
All Spirits besides Hercules-Geo are destroyed, including Bashin’s, leaving him with an empty board.
Eight notes Flame Tempest was Bashin’s way of avoiding damage this turn, so she must have swung with something.
What it was no longer matters as long as it wasn’t Hercules-Geo.
Bashin summons Goradon and Eyeburn!
With 2 Spirits Bashin could typically win the game here, but it’s not going to be that easy given that The Anthill is out and about.
Hercules-Geo blocks an attack from Goradon and destroys Goradon.
Bit of a stupid attack there Bashin.
If you can’t beat Geo, you’re not getting to the life.
It’s as simple as that really.
BASHIN.
YOU JUST WATCHED HERCULES-GEO REFRESH IN YOUR FACE!
WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING WITH EYEBURN NOW!? IT CAN’T BREAK THROUGH HERCULES-GEO!
Eyeburn chokes on it’s own Fire and gets destroyed along with Goradon.
It’s a “Nexus”, you know that thing that remains in effect for as long as it’s fucking THERE!?
Why would there be a Limit!?
You have several cards in your deck specifically to deal with problematic Nexuses.
Use them you moron.
Eight-out-of-Ten plays a Flyingmirage and 2 Shockeaters at Level 1.
I’m assuming at this point, Bashin doesn’t have full life, and the card in his hand is a counter, if not.
Then he has 5 lives. And if Eight full attacks him without enough spirits, she’s going to look like a right muffin.
Eight attacks with Flyingmirage and her 2 Shockeaters.
Bashin apparently WAS at 5 lives, and is now down to 2.
Eight then ends her turn, leaving her big Hercules-Geo as a blocker.
Eight taunts Bashin with the reality of the situation, Bashin needs to come back with 2 Spirits, and one needs to have at least 8000 BP to take out Hercules-Geo.
I can think of several spirits Bashin can use here, so it’s not like he’s without them.
It is indeed Bashin’s turn, and from a previous shot, after his Draw step, he should only really have 2 cards in his hand.
With no Spirits, and 2 lives, Bashin should have around 14 Core to use. 7 from all the turns he’d have played beyond the first turn, and 3 from the lives he lost. As well as 4 from the beginning of the game.
Red doesn’t have a lot of Core boost, It’s unlikely Bashin would have gained Core another way.
“You gonna make another Guess?”
“Nah, did you see the first one? FUCKIN’ NAILED IT!”
Bashin drops a Double Draw.
There goes 4 of his Core, now he’s only got 10 to use, but on the upside, he can draw 2 cards.
That gives him 3 cards to use, not 2.
Draw Siegfried, he’s done it enough times already.
He need 2 spirits Eight… One with at least equal power to Hercules-Geo.
It’s not that big of a milestone when he’s got 3 cards in hand as opposed to 2.
Bashin plays Goradon, that leaves him with 9 core left to use.
Then Bashin summons Siegfried.
That’s a Core Cost reduction of 1, plus the Core to maintain, so Bashin has about 3 core left to use.
…I was a little confused why he’d attack first with Goradon but I get what Bashin’s going to do.
And it’s a SUPER clever way of doing it as well.
Nevermind? Apparently Bashin isn’t going to do what I thought he would. Goradon is blocked by Hercules-Geo and is defeated.
However in a weird ordering, Bashin decides to use Buster Spear during Flash timing (which with 2 Spirits is only 1 cost) to destroy Eight’s Anthill.
I love the animation for cards entering the Trash, I’m just unsure how the players can remember what’s in them if there’s no visible Trash.
Was it so hard to just put the most recent card there? No?
They had to invest more budget into making them disappear so the Trash always looks empty.
Unless you’re J, you can’t reliably rely on a Nexus to win the game for you.
Especially against Red decks that tend to have the unique feature of Nexus destruction.
Bashin attacks with Siegfried, Taking Eight’s last life for the game.
Eight, watch your… suit or whatever, it’s falling off.
This ain’t strip poker, you don’t take off your clothes when you lose.
Bashin seems mildly confused as to why no one is cheering despite the fact that he just won the first round of Finals.
Are you fucking kidding me!?
The Audience are far more interested in an unofficial match between J and Smile than they are about Bashin’s OFFICIAL finals first round?
…Sure whatever, fine, show me what’s going on that’s got the audience so silent.
Anyone else getting a “Sans from Undertale” kind of Vibe?
Because by the looks of that smile (hehe), J’s having a bad time.
Again, confirming my suspicions that it’s an unofficial match, and J had no reason to actually play it other than Smile being a creep and scaring the pants off of Kyouka.
“Some kind of Tie breaker that didn’t actually need to be settled” you mean?
Yes, again, thank you for confirming my suspicions.
Also from this angle it seems like Smile has both a Red AND a White card on his board.
I’m just saying, Smile’s design is god damn impeccable, I love it.
Maybe not a Sans vibe, but he reminds me definitely of another character, and I can’t put my finger on it.
Wait, Card Sensei knows who Smile is? That’s pretty damn interesting.
SMILE IS NUMBER FOUR!?
SMILE IS A NAZO-OTONA!? But he’s the same age as J is! Relatively!
And given that he’s “Number Four”, that must mean he’s stronger than Eight and Nine right?
Meganeko has picked up on Card Sensei’s odd behaviour all of a sudden.
The fact that she has probably means she’s going to be more involved in this than before I hope, given she’s now the only person besides Card Sensei and Smile who knows about whatever their relationship is.
J plays his X-Rare, The ImpregnableFortress Odin!
That was a super animated declaration there J.
Good on the animators, they look far less static this episode.
After asserting J’s strength, Smile BREAKS THE GOD DAMN MOLD and plays not only a new card!
But a WHOLE NEW COLOUR!
I guess I’ll stop playing dumb now, anyone who’s invested any time in Battle Spirits knows that there are more than 4 colour attributes than the show has displayed to us from Base Set.
Base Set only contained 4 Colours, but as the start of this episode confirmed, BS02 is currently in use, meaning a new Colour has been added into the mix.
That Colour, is Yellow. The Colour of Magic. Yellow is a Colour with a number of super quirky effects that mess with the way the game is typically played.
I’ll often explain what each colour does in one word, Red being “Aggression”, White being “Retaliation”, Purple is “Oppression”, and Green is “Proliferation”
The word I attribute to Yellow is “Confusion”, and you’re about to see why.
Oh, on a sidenote, they’re typically adorable and cute, making them a very good Colour for those who have a weakness to cute things.
J questions what the Spirit is, as he doesn’t recognise it.
Oh, well crap. They’re concluding that fight in the next episode it seems.
In that case, since there isn’t a Card of the Day, I’ll select the one that Smile JUST played to be our Card of the Day.
The HellDog Cerru-Berus.
A Cost 4 Yellow Spirit from the Imaginary Beast family.
Cerru-Berus is an odd card, as he’s got an ability at Levels 1 and 2 but not at Level 3, That being that he cannot attack or block during any Attack Steps, you can circumvent this of course by bringing him up to Level 3.
But at levels 2 and 3, during your start step. You can snatch a spirit with a Cost of exactly 6 from your opponent’s field to yours, you gain control of that spirit but Cores can’t be moved off of it or onto it. (Which is to stop you from just taking it to deplete it), But at the end of the turn if you still have the Spirit, it returns to your opponent exhausted.
See what I meant by wacky abilities? There isn’t a lot of cards in Battle Spirits that can outright TAKE CONTROL of an opposing Spirit NOWADAYS, let alone at the time the anime was made!
This card’s ability is so off the rails it’s ridiculous, and that’s just ONE of the many things Yellow can mess around with. You’ll see later that some cards will just change the way Battles work, or interfere with your ability to block with Spirits that meet a certain criteria.
It’s crazy.
Anyway, Episode Review, I clearly enjoyed it! I was a tad miffed that Bashin’s battle with Eight didn’t unveil any cards from BS02, and it took Smile to use one. But the tournament system was rather interesting given how they explained it.
I felt that a lot of the start of that episode was just a massive amount of padding though, I think there’s an entire quarter of that episode’s runtime with just characters going on about how late Bashin is and not doing anything about it.
And then after they’d woke Bashin up we had like 2 or 3 MORE characters not shut up about Bashin’s tardiness.
Only for him to show up on-time anyway and no one apparently gave a shit, no applause, nothing.
I feel like they may have lost track on that little detail.
We got a lot of insight into how the Nazo-Otonas work though, they’re members of the “Thousand Spirits Group” or “Thousupi Group” and work for Uchuuchouten, (Now we know who that is at least)
And a lot of them seem to be Numbered, And those Numbers are pretty common knowledge apparently, given how Cap knows that Number Eight was… Well, Number Eight.
But given that Nine was referring to the Curator as simply “Curator”, either the system was just employed now, or not all Nazo-Otonas go by a Number.
And apparently Card Sensei is aware that Smile is Number Four, and no one else seems to, that makes me think that Card Sensei is in some way affiliated with the Nazo-Otonas.
All in all, the plot is moving at a good pace now, only took 13 Episodes for us to figure out who King Uchuuchouten was.
And to be fair given that they kind of just dropped him on us and said that was who he was, I guess we still don’t really know who the fuck he is or why he’s important.
But he seems to be some kind of “target” for Card Battlers and they promote the game, so hey, it might be a little more innocent than it seems.
As for worthy Profile Pictures, You can be certain mine is changing after that monster of an Episode, Smile is just way too cool to not take over Nine’s Spot as one of my favourite characters.
That aside! I’ll see you guys next Episode!
The Battle Spirits Commentary Archive 