Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS is the sixth Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series and the fifth main spin-off series in Kazuki Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh! frachise that succeds Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, which began airing in Japan on May 10, 2017. Unlike the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS stars Yusaku Fujiki as the main protagonist and takes place in a high-school setting, featuring Virtual Reality Duels in a cyberspace constructed with LINK VRAINS or Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Network System.
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS was first announced on December 16, 2016 and being directed by Masahiro Hosoda with screenplay by Shin Yoshida. Masahiro directed the series up to the 13th episode and is taken over by Katsuya Asano until present.
In a place known as Den City, thousands of duelists take part in a virtual reality space known as LINK VRAINS, created by SOL Technologies, where users can create unique avatars and participate in games of Duel Monsters with each other. The series utilizes various summoning methods introduced in the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, include Ritual summoning, Fusion summoning, Synchro summoning and Xyz summoning.
We have learn a new Pendulum summoning method in Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, and VRAINS seems to have introduce another - Link summoning. During their Main Phase, if the game state is open, the turn player can Link Summon a Link Monster from their Extra Deck by sending face-up monsters they control equal to the Link Monster's Link Rating to the Graveyard as Link Materials. After that, the Link Monster is Summoned in either an Extra Monster Zone or a Main Monster Zone that a Link Monster on the field points to, in face-up Attack Position.
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS has entered its third season with another new story arc. We are not sure what will happen in the series third season, but fans are already looking forward to see the Dark Ignis (Ai) battle his former partner - Playmaker. In the latest episode 105, we get to see all characters are teaming up in order to protect Akira Zaizen, the top executive of SOL Technologies after the fallen of the Queen, from Ai's attack. It also seems that Playmaker's identity is finally revealed to Akira Zaizen and Aoi Zaizen (Blue Maiden).
Are we going to see romance between Blue Maiden and Playmaker in the near future? I hope so. Some fans might have already been waiting for this moment since the first season aired.
New episode airs on Wednesdays.