History YMMV / YuGiOhVRAINS

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Yusaku continues the trend of the main protagonists being this. He has already been shipped with [[RescueRomance Aoi]], [[MissFanservice Emma]], [[RudeHeroNiceSidekick Shoichi]], [[BirdsOfAFeather Jin]] and [[ScrewYourself his Playmaker persona]], but '''especially''' [[RedOniBlueOni A]][[LoveConfession i]] and [[IWillFindYou Ryo]][[FoeYayShipping ken]]. Just minutes after he was revealed, Takeru [[{{Foil}} Homura]] [[OnlineAlias a.k.a.]] [[PlayingWithFire Soulburner]] was added to the list and when he isn't shipped with Yusaku in a more traditional manner, FanArt either portrays him as a ThirdWheel or uses him to form an {{OT3}} by adding him to almost any of the previously listed pairings, most often ones being Yusaku x Ryoken x Takeru and even Yusaku x Jin x Takeru.

** Xyz Monsters were also expected to appear since the summoning methods before it were already used, but after three monsters with similar effects, no one expected the Xyz Monster, Firewall eXceed Dragon, to be a counterpart and support to Firewall Dragon especially since Firewall Dragon is not only severely OutOfFocus for an ace monster of TheProtagonist, but is also banned in both formats[[note]]"Firewall Dragon" was banned in the TCG on December 2018, and January 2019 in the OCG[[/note]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Viewers were flabbergasted that GO failed to use Gouki Poison Mist against Revolver, which would not only inflict 700 damage, but also prevent Revolver from activating his Set [[spoiler:Mirror Force]] on the same turn, and allow GO to deliver a OneTurnKill.

** [[spoiler:Ai]] after obtaining a human body as Season 3's BigBad.

* EvilIsSexy: Revolver a.k.a. Ryoken Kogami was already this to an extent for some thanks to [[ArousedByTheirVoice his voice]] (in the Japanese version only, it's rather husky as Revolver, but it's raspy in the dub for Varis), but especially once his [[{{Bishounen}} real-life appearance]] was revealed (and in the dub, this time the smoothness of his voice comes through).

** Each season only having one opening theme. While many fans complain about how the opening themes stay the same for each season, ''Anime/YuGiOh'' and ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' had nearly every season use the same opening theme for the duration of their run, and in the former’s case, for nearly two and a half seasons. The difference here though is that those openings would often be updated when a new arc or new developments would pop up, whereas Vrains openings would be updated within the first dozen or so episodes before leaving them as they are for the rest of the season, despite any new developments that take place after.

** In general one character may be shipped with both the civilian persona ''and'' the VRAINS avatar of another character. For example, Blue Angel (and more recently and quite prominently Ryoken) has been shipped with both Yusaku and Playmaker.
** Yusaku has [[RuleOfThree three]] main HoYay {{OT3}}s (without VRAINS avatars): 1) with the Kusanagi siblings; 2) with Ryoken and Takeru; 3) Takeru and Jin.

*** The band performing [=ED4=], "glory", is revealed to be Music/BandMaid. This was welcomed by fans of the band, regardless of their familiarity with the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' franchise, on the grounds that the popularity of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' will help the band gain increased exposure.

** Season 3 has Ai duel GO in retaliation for what GO did to Earth...ignoring the fact that ''Specter'' is Earth's origin and should've been the one facing off the latter or Ai should've acknowledged Specter in some way. (Then again, Specter's Seiyuu was unavailable at the time).

** Each season only having one opening theme. While many fans complain about how the opening themes stay the same for each season, [[Anime/YuGiOh]] and [[Anime/YuGiOhGX]] had nearly every season use the same opening theme for the duration of their run, and in the former’s case, for nearly two and a half seasons. The difference here though is that those openings would often be updated when a new arc or new developments would pop up, whereas Vrains openings would be updated within the first dozen or so episodes before leaving them as they are for the rest of the season, despite any new developments that take place after.

* FandomRivalry: Mentioning how ''VRAINS'' fares compared to the other series in the franchise is an easy way to get into a heated discussion. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment Leave it at that, please.]]

* SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced: The first episode of the dub that was shown during the re-run of ''Pyramid of Light'' received rather positive reactions, and the announcements by several of the voice actors have been praised too, given that half of them clearly enjoy being associated with the series.

** Aoi/Skye barely shows any interest in Yusaku over the series.[[note]]Anzu had Yugi/Atem, Asuka had Judai, Aki had Yusei, Kotori had Yuma, and Yuzu had Yuya (plus their dimensional counterparts and their interest in one another).[[/note]] The previous main female characters tended to show that they cared about the main protagonist and were nursing deeper feelings for them, even getting jealous if they caught the attention of other female characters. Aoi, on the other hand, rarely interacts with Yusaku, only shows one or two moments of closeness, and doesn't show any bouts of jealously. It doesn't help that Yusaku himself is often viewed as less interesting than the previous protagonists, doesn't have the [[ChickMagnet charisma]] they had, and his character doesn't change much outside of specific episodes. The dub alleviates this; there are more references to Yusaku and Skye possibly liking one another that are more in vein with previous female characters.

* WinTheCrowd: The first episode of the dub that was shown during the re-run of ''Pyramid of Light'' received rather positive reactions, and the announcements by several of the voice actors have been praised too, given that half of them clearly enjoy being associated with the series.

** After [[spoiler: Ai and Roboppi]] gained human forms due to the introduction of Soltis androids, many have become curious in what the other Ignis may look like with human forms [[spoiler: as they all killed before the Soltis were released.]]

** Believe it or not in Season 3, [[spoiler:''Yusaku'' and ''Revolver'' of all characters]]. They don't get a proper duel until fifteen episodes into the season, having only each had an offscreen duel with one of the [[spoiler:Ai clones]], and each only get one onscreen duel. Soulburner fares better than them, receiving two lengthy duels against [[spoiler:Roboppi and Revolver]].

* NeverLiveItDown: Even though she was able to [[TakeALevelInBadass take many levels of badassery]] in the show and able to go toe-to-toe with the BigBad, Spectre defeating Aoi in such a way that has her literally [[FacePlant land on her face]] is the moment that fans will often bring up when talking about her.

** Despite dueling him four times, Playmaker barely uses his multi-Attribute code Talkers against the Attribute-countering Hydradrives used by Bohman.

** Yusaku joining the Duel Club and interacting with his classmates. He did join it as a way to get closer to Aoi, but he was never shown attending it and even Aoi and Shima barely bring it up again.
** Likewise, Playmaker and Revolver didn't have a rematch after their fourth battle when it was teased so many times in the show they would clash again, as Revolver battled Soulburner instead.
** Yusaku's Link Sense rarely gets any focus ever since the start of the series. It's hinted a few times to be connected to Ai's instincts and Bohman even hints that the link sense can be used to bridge the gap between AI and humans, yet all of this is forgotten with no explanation.

** Many are disappointed that Aoi wasn't able to duel Spectre again after her humiliating defeat in the first season. It would have been a great way to showcase her strength as it's implied she has surpassed him after transforming into Blue Maiden.
*** Many we’re also disappointed that she never had a Duel against Go, as they were the two best Duelists in Linked VRAINS and were implied to have some sort of rivalry, especially after Go defeats Earth, indirectly leading to his death.
*** Likewise, Playmaker and Revolver didn't have a rematch after their fourth battle when it was teased so many times in the show they would clash again, as Revolver battled Soulburner instead.

* AntiClimaxBoss: The Commanders of the Knights of Hanoi go down pretty quickly after they're introduced, failing to win a single duel against the protagonists and preventing a look at their plan to accomplish their goals ''without'' [[spoiler:destroying LINK VRAINS]], leaving Revolver and [[spoiler:Spectre]] to do the heavy lifting for the villains for the rest of the season. Even more egregious was Baira and Faust's defeat of an army of AI Duelists in a ridiculous timeframe, particularly since Faust went down in a single episode as opposed to either of his fellows.

** Bohman and Windy can somehow use their Skills in the middle of a Master Duel, with little explanation as to how other than Windy's claim that he has greater control over the wind due to his element. [[spoiler:However Queen's duel against Ai may give this a simple explanation. They cheated.]]

** After ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' purists cried foul at the format switching to Speed Duels, it was revealed that the old dueling style, known as Master Duels, would still be in effect for ground-based dueling. Episode 10 confirms the first Master duel in the show, and they remain in use for more pivotal duels.

* BadassDecay: Spectre used to be a dangerous individual, fellow Hanoi Project victim alongside [[TheAce Playmaker]], and TheDragon to [[TheRival Revolver]] during the Tower of Hanoi arc, defeating Kitamura, Blue Angel and coming close to defeating Playmaker. In Season 2 though, he's explicitly said to be the weakest of the team that goes to Mirror LINK VRAINS despite becoming capable of Extra Linking[[note]]and implying that Blue Maiden has surpassed him given her presence[[/note]] and gets defeated by Lightning, and in Season 3 he's defeated by Ai offscreen alongside Faust in due to a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot as his seiyuu was unavailable for recording at the time. That being said, he's only this trope as a Dueling example goes; his mind games remain very much intact.
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Takeru Homura, aka Soulburner, the {{Deuteragonist}} starting in Season 2. Some like him for being a fun, interesting addition to the cast and another Lost Incident victim for the show to explore, being another person for Yusaku to talk to after criticisms of the first season’s lack of character interactions, and for his arc surrounding his guilt over his parent’s dying while looking for him when he was kidnapped. Others dislike his introduction involving him beating Aoi and Go, who (at least at the time for Go) were popular characters, find him faking his fear of ghosts in his duel against Blood Shepherd because he had already gotten over it after a quick pep talk months ago to be cheap and a major AssPull, and accuse him of being a SpotlightStealingSquad because of his [[Creator/YukiKaji popular voice actor]] and cards. While his duel against Revolver near the end of the series and the conclusion to his arc is generally well-liked, debates are still heated over whether it was enough to save his character or if it was much too late for him. He's often compared to Crow Hogan from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', another BaseBreakingCharacter, due to both using Decks that were powerful in the real game, but were introduced late into their respective series.

** [[spoiler: Due to it being implied he was murdered by Windy,]] little is known about Windy’s Origin, creating lots of room for fanfic writers to explore what his life and personality may be like.

** In fanfictions, Windy's unnamed origin is usually named after terms for wind like Zephyr or Kaze as a nod to his Ignis' attribute[[note]]Zephyr means West Wind in Greek, and Kaze is wind in Japanese[[/note]]. He's usually depicted with a brash or mischievous attitude like Windy itself.

* GrowingTheBeard: While the second season's first half started with an interesting premise, it suffered from several problems such as several characters being thrown out of focus in favor Soulburner & Playmaker who made a good chunk of the cast seem like fodder as well as slow pacing to the main arc. Come the second half, the focus on Playmaker and Soulburner has been toned down, each of the neglected characters were given their own storylines such as Go [[spoiler:implanting an AI chip in his brain to get stronger]], Aoi [[spoiler:befriending Aqua and getting stronger as Blue Maiden]], Ghost Girl & Blood Shepherd's relationship and Revolver reuniting the Hanoi to destroy the Ignis, in addition to improving the pacing substantially. In addition, the duels were far better received up until the Mirror LINK VRAINS duels, which are quite contentious.

** Fans often cite Decode Talker as Yusaku's ace monster over Firewall Dragon due to its higher number of appearances. Come Season 2, and Decode Talker only had a brief cameo taking out a [[{{Mook}} BitBoot]][[note]]forty episodes since Season 1 ended[[/note]] before finally reappearing in episode 92 in full, while Firewall Dragon had appeared twice before then, albeit used to [=OTK=] a fodder Duelist the first time and [[spoiler:received an alternate form in Firewall eXceed Dragon]] and an upgrade in the [[spoiler:Link-5 Firewall Dragon Darkfluid]].

* LostInMediasRes: Some viewers found the series confusing and difficult to follow in the first twenty episodes, both because nobody outright explains Link Summoning works, and because it's clear that the audience knows ''far'' less about the plot than the main character does.
* LoveToHate: Lightning. MagnificentBastard, AwesomeEgo, and a ColdHam megalomaniac willing to enslave humanity all rolled to one small Ignis body that it makes him a more compelling antagonist than Bohman. Fans now love to [[MemeticMutation blame Lightning]] for every little thing that happened in the franchise, from plots from the previous shows up to ''[[UpToEleven cards being put on the ban lists.]]''

** Revolver gets a lot of ButtMonkey and/or ComicallySerious moments in fan comics. It doesn't help that his Win-Loss record isn't the best and [[spoiler:he never even beats Playmaker or Soulburner.]]
** In the series itself, GO has started to become this. Despite being billed as the top duelist in LINK VRAINS, he's only won once, against Dr. Genome. To his credit, his other opponents have been [[InvincibleHero Yusaku]], [[TheRival Revolver]], and the newcomer Soulburner. However, in the case of the last one, GO had just undergone a radical character change, even opting to swap for a completely different deck, and it still failed to amount to anything. Keeping in with that, his second deck, the Dinowrestlers. They're still well-liked but endlessly mocked for being inferior to the self-replacing Goukis. [[spoiler:It's later deconstructed since his lack of victories is what caused his inferiority complex and FaceHeelTurn which caused him to become a BountyHunter and his loss against Soulburner was one of the reasons why he took part in a deadly experiment at the cost of his health just so that he can win again. He won against Earth after undergoing that experiment and is confident that he will never lose ever again after becoming one with an AI, [[AllForNothing and even that didn't amount to anything after Go lost to Playmaker in their rematch despite having the duel stacked in his favor, making everything he has done to this point an utter waste.]]]]

* NeverLiveItDown: Even though she was able to [[TakeALevelInBadass take many levels of badassery]] in the show and able to go toe-to-toe with the BigBad, Spectre defeating Aoi in such a way that has she literally [[FacePlant lands on her face]] is the moment that fans will often bring up when talking about her.

* RootingForTheEmpire: People that are saddened by Earth's demise in Season 2 by the hands of SOL Technologies will be cheering for [[spoiler:a rogue Ai]] during his duels against Queen and Go Onizuka in Season 3.

** Few will argue Playmaker acquiring the old summoning methods to be a bad thing at all, but his eschewing of Firewall Dragon (bar a duel against a fodder duelist) and the code Talkers (save Shootingcode Talker, which got DemotedToExtra) in Season 2 in favor of those cards have not been well-received. Firewall Dragon is at least considered understandable due to its powerful effects and notoriety in the [=TCG/OCG=], and yet ironically has had more appearances in Season 2, including a notable appearance in Playmaker's second duel with Go alongside [[spoiler:its Xyz counterpart, "Firewall eXceed Dragon"]]. The code Talkers themselves only appeared in Playmaker's final two duel.

** The fact that unlike the previous ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' series, this series does away with the mysticism that characters had to deal with interfering with their normal lives.[[note]]''DM'' had ancient spirits, Millennium Items and memories of Egypt, ''GX'' had the Light of Destruction, Sacred Beasts and Darkness manifested in corporeal form, ''5D's'' had the Crimson Dragon, Dark Signers, and future robotic abominations, ''ZEXAL'' had the Astral and Barian Worlds, Number Monsters, and the Numeron Code, and ''ARC-V'' had the dimensional war, dimensional counterparts and a god-like dragon monster threatening apocalypse.[[/note]] Instead this show focuses almost entirely the world of the internet, with traces of the Matrix thrown in; logging into the network, whatever happens to you in the net affects your real body, etc. Not to mention the more realistic takes on people (kidnapping, PTSD, humans vs AI, etc.) Some fans miss the actual magic involved that gave life to these cards and drives the plot.

** Haru gets this as he is portrayed as a sneaky character but gets less focus every time he appears and the only episode where he does get focus, he [[spoiler:loses and dies.]]

** Outside of Yusaku, Takeru, and technically Ryoken, the Lost Incident victims get little in the way of focus during the series. While Spectre gets the most out of the remaining four, it's only as TheDragon to Ryoken, with his status as a Lost Incident victim being largely superficial. Jin is mainly Kusanagi's motivation in Season 1, then largely a LivingMacguffin in Season 2. Miyu serves little purpose outside of giving Aoi a reason to be involved in the Ignis Warfare arc and Aqua a reason to partner with Aoi. Finally, Windy's origin is KilledOffscreen with little to go on about him, only being killed to highlight how depraved Windy is [[spoiler:after Lightning warped his programming]]. Any potential relationships they could have had with their Ignis or how they dealt with their trauma is likewise unexplored, the only exception being Jin's trauma causing him to become an EmptyShell.

** Many are disappointed that Aoi wasn't able to duel Spectre again after her humiliating defeat in the first season. It would have been a great way to showcase her strength as it's implied she has surpassed him after transforming into Blue Maiden. Likewise, Playmaker and Revolver didn't have a rematch after their fourth battle when it was teased so many times in the show they would clash again, as Revolver battled Soulburner instead.

** Although better justified with the plot, due to Aoi teaming up with [[spoiler: Aqua]] and needing to have a deck that wouldn't immediately alert SOL who she was, replacing the Trickstars with [[spoiler: Marincess]] has not been well received by many fans, as Trickstars were the first female protagonist deck to sell and play well, whereas [[spoiler:Marincess]] has been accused of having boring appearing and features that simply could have been added to the existing Trickstar deck. [[spoiler: Not to mention switching from a LIGHT deck to a WATER deck made her much more vulnerable to Bohman's deck, whereas adding WATER attribute monsters to the Trickstars would have given her more coverage.]]

** The simulations Lightning shows to Ai is used by fanfic writers to create AlternateTimeline stories, most involving Ai and Yusaku saving each other in different ways.
** The BadFuture glimpsed in episode 120 and [[spoiler: Ai's involvement in the destruction of humanity before or after Yusaku's death]] is another popular topic for fanfic writers.
** Ai's offer to Yusaku to fuse together just like [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Judai and Yubel]] has a lot of fan artists drawing what their fused appearance will be.
** Windy's origin is also a popular topic for fanfic writers to write since nothing is ever known about him.
** After [[spoiler: Ai and Roboppi]] gained human forms, a lot of fanart and fanfics of all the Ignis having human forms popped up.

* TheBadGuyWins: PLayed with concerning Ryoken and SOL Tech. They both set out to destroy the Ignis and ensure that the Lost Incident never became public. In the end, all of the Ignis have been deleted or destroyed and Ai deleted all the information regarding the Lost Incident to protect Yusaku.

* MagnificentBastard: [[TheCracker Revolver]], real name Ryoken Kogami, is the leader of [[Characters/YuGiOhVRAINSKnightsOfHanoi the Knights of Hanoi]] one of Link VRAINS' best duelists. After his father, Dr. Kiyoshi Kogami was put on life support, Revolver swore to eliminate the Ignis in his name, believing their existence to be a threat to humanity. Combining new cards with older Trap Cards, Revolver holds his own against several opponents, only losing through foul play or his opponents being even better. After being defeated by Yusaku Fujiki in the climax of season 1, he returns to form an EnemyMine with the heroes and sets his sights on [[ArcVillain Bohman's]] faction. During his duel with Soulburner, he gives him advice on how to move on from his trauma and faces his eventual defeat with dignity. In the end, Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi [[HeelFaceTurn reform]] and decide to safeguard Link VRAINS, with him giving Yusaku a card to use in the final battle.

* MagnificentBastard: [[TheCracker Revolver]], real name Ryoken Kogami, is the leader of [[Characters/YuGiOhVRAINSKnightsOfHanoi the Knights of Hanoi]] one of Link VRAINS' best duelists. After his father, Dr. Kiyoshi Kogami was put on life support, Revolver swore to eliminate the Ignis in his name, believing their existence to be a threat to humanity. Combining new cards with older Trap Cards, Revolver holds his own against several opponents, only losing through foul play or his opponents being even better. After being defeated by Yusaku Fujiki in the climax of season 1, he returns to form an EnemyMine with the heroes and sets his sights on [[ArcVillain Bohman's]] faction. During his duel with Soulburner, he gives him advice on how to move on from his trauma and faces his eventual defeat with dignity. In the end, Revolver and the Knights of Hanoi [[HeelFaceTurn reform]] and decide to safeguard Link VRAINS, with him giving Yusaku a card to use in the final battle.