History YMMV / YuGiOhVRAINS

* ValuesResonance: [=VRAINS=]’s focus on the question of whether humans and AI can co-exist peacefully seems oddly prophetic in regards to the discourse surrounding AI that propped up in the 2020s. Zaizen even says in the dub that much of humanity’s reluctance in accepting AI is due to fear of what it could do, mirroring how many real life writers and actors fear AI being used to render them unemployed.

** Because of her compatibility with Playmaker's Link monsters in the [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh TCG]], [[Characters/YuGiOhCardGameOToR I:P Masquerena]] is paired up with Playmaker.

* 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 [[{{Bishonen}} real-life appearance]] was revealed (and in the dub, this time the smoothness of his voice comes through).
** [[spoiler:Ai after obtaining a human body]] as Season 3's BigBad.

* CrossoverShip: Thanks to their connection to the word "Stardust", many fanart of Ryoken being shipped with Yusei popped up.

* 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.

** Miyu Sugisaki became well-liked due to being Aoi's ChildhoodFriend and the only female victim of the Lost Incident with a surprisingly fleshed-out backstory. Similar to the other victims her fans were eager to see her in action, potentially taking up Marincess or Trickstar after Season 2, but like Jin she only existed as motivational fuel for someone else's character development, which in her case is Aoi's.

* CharacterRerailment: After his [[CharacterizationMarchesOn drastic change]] in personality in season 2, Go Onizuka acts a lot more like his old self back in the first season and now fights to protect others as he once did. He even uses his original Gouki Deck in duels rather than Dinowrestlers.

* Roboppi’s condition is made much sadder in the dub, where instead of being incapable of handling the intelligence upgrade, it’s instead mentioned that he lacks the emotional upgrade to fully cement it, and ends up glitching as a result, with his previous persona reasserting itself to [[FightingFromTheInside avoid hurting Soulburner, who he recognises as a friend]].

** Firewall Dragon, due to being rarely used despite being Yusaku's alleged ace monster and [[spoiler:only being used as a Link Material to summon Decode Talker in the finale of the first season]]. Hilariously, Firewall Dragon was banned in both formats due to its power and had to be erratad to come off.

** [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/cdd64ec92e2c4c1cefc104443694edb6/tumblr_p725h348qa1tisom3o1_540.png This shot]] of Takeru (only appearing for a split second) almost single-handily gave him this reputation among many fans who speculate that he may have developed a violent split personality as a result of the Lost Incident in order to cope with the stress. Though this turned out to be [[{{Jossed}} unfounded]] with TheReveal that this is how he used to look before moving to Den City, and that his personality issues simply extended to mild anger and feeling empty.

** The fact that GO allowed an AI chip [[spoiler:to be implanted into his brain to improve his dueling capabilities and give him a chance to defeat Playmaker]] is quite shocking, especially compared to his [[FriendToAllChildren first]] [[ForHappiness season]] [[BoisterousBruiser self]].

** Dr. Kogami's appearance in Episode 42 earned him the nickname "Labcoat Jesus".

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: With the revelation that [[spoiler:Jin was given LaserGuidedAmnesia after being freed from Bohman and Lightning, and the implication that it's a result of Lightning taking a portion of his consciousness as a means of surviving his duel with Revolver, it puts Lightning's motive behind this into question. Did he deliberately choose to hold onto the data that had the memories of Jin's trauma as a means of atonement, aware he was gonna lose his life after the duel? Did he just pick the data at random and it was by pure luck said data had the memories? Or was he so assured in Bohman's victory afterwards that he didn't think it necessary to cripple Jin with the trauma anymore and was posthumously HoistByHisOwnPetard? The former seems to be supported by how he admits that he overdid Jin's trauma and initially planned on relegating humanity to a small corner of the world rather than destroying it outright.]] Going a step further into Season 3, [[spoiler:his showing Ai how his existence will destroy humanity]]. Was he really trying to KickTheDog, or was he putting on a facade so [[spoiler:Ai would grow strong enough to succeed Bohman and find an alternative route]]? [[TakeAThirdOption Or was he trying to overcome]] [[spoiler:his InferioritySuperiorityComplex by posthumously warning Ai about a BadFuture while masquerading as a villain [[StealthMentor so Ai wouldn't suspect that he was being used to save humanity]]]]? The dub actually muddles this even further, as he claims to have made these calculations when he met Playmaker for the first time.

** 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).

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: One complaint in the show is that story arcs generally follow the same formula: Big bad is revealed and wrecks havoc in LINK VRAINS, everyone teams up to defeat them, almost [[WeAreTeamCannonFodder all the good guys get erased and their actions are rendered meaningless by the villains]], leaving Playmaker to save the day. The villain gets defeated then releases all captives, rinse and repeat. The only difference is who's the BigBad and who joins Playmaker's faction.

* {{OT3}}: Where to even begin?

* SignatureScene:
** Season 1: Revolver using [[spoiler:''Mirror Force'']] to defeat Go Onizuka.
** Season 2: [[spoiler:Earth's absolutely ''tear-jerking'' death.]]
** The Dub's scene where a Knight of Hanoi makes fun of Shima for dabbing in public.

** Queen getting defeated by [[spoiler:Ai]] is satisfying to watch especially since she was responsible for the death of his friend [[spoiler:Earth]] as well all the other horrible things she did.
%% Please do not propose entries for Complete Monster until two weeks after the airing of an episode. The proposal forum thread is here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok

* RoboShip: Fans shipping Yusaku with Ai increased in season 3 after [[spoiler: Ai's [[{{Bishonen}} SOLtis]] form]] designed similarly to Yusaku was revealed. The pairing exploded even more in the final episode after Ai's true motivation for his actions was uncovered.

* SalvagedStory:
** 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, especially after season 1.
** In addition, Link Monsters, the primary Extra Deck monsters for this season, are not fully utilized in Speed Duels (3 markers on a Link monster do not point to anything while in the Extra Monster Zone as Speed Duels remove the left and rightmost Main Monster Zone) and are shown to be popular in-universe because of the fast pace and dangerous element that Speed Duels present.
** The disliked lengthy summoning sequence of Link Monsters was replaced since episode 14 with a quicker one done on the field, in line with the summons in ''ARC-V'', to the pleasure of the fans. In addition, the replacement of Hosoda Masahiro by newcomer Asano Katsuya is well-received and fans feel the show improves as of that point.

** Keeping in [[FranchiseOriginalSin tradition with the previous entries]] the "Storm Access", "Neo Storm Access" and "Master Storm Access" skills used by several characters, most notably Playmaker. They allow the user to access a random card (specifically Extra deck monsters consistent with their deck's theme) from the Data Storm when he has 1000 LP or less. In theory, he should occasionally gain monsters that are not useful for his predicament. In practice, "random" translates to "whatever the writers need to allow Playmaker to stage a comeback". It is also implied Ai can see the card before it is picked, and actually decides for Playmaker when to grab the card, allowing Playmaker to always get the right card. Which still makes it an asspull, but at least has a justification.
** More traditionally, Playmaker still has an array of situational cards that only appear for one episode in order to counter whatever threatening move his opponent uses. [[spoiler:Zero Extra Link]] from the Season One finale is one of the more jarring examples. It specifically mentions [[spoiler:Extra Links]] in its text; in the TCG[=/=]OCG this restriction was removed, making it a more reasonable card.

** 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 hacked the system.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** 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, especially after season 1.
** In addition, Link Monsters, the primary Extra Deck monsters for this season, are not fully utilized in Speed Duels (3 markers on a Link monster do not point to anything while in the Extra Monster Zone as Speed Duels remove the left and rightmost Main Monster Zone) and are shown to be popular in-universe because of the fast pace and dangerous element that Speed Duels present.
** The disliked lengthy summoning sequence of Link Monsters was replaced since episode 14 with a quicker one done on the field, in line with the summons in ''ARC-V'', to the pleasure of the fans. In addition, the replacement of Hosoda Masahiro by newcomer Asano Katsuya is well-received and fans feel the show improves as of that point.
** Despite the wide use of Summoning techniques in ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', Ritual Summoning was heavily underutilized. Season 2 has both Playmaker and Soulburner use Ritual Monsters.
** Another complaint ''ARC-V'' (and some of the other series) got were the many characters they had which made many of them feel underutilized and made it hard to follow the plot or even remember the characters. VRAINS got around this by making the cast much smaller by comparison, but more plot-important, though some argue that this leads to a different problem.
** The dub of ''VRAINS'' is generally considered a marked improvement over several of the past dubs, even with some questionable choices of names and banters.

* ArcFatigue: The second season suffers badly from this. The pacing for the season was rather poor for most of it. The first half of the season took way too long to properly introduce the plot and while the second half improved pacing, it felt as some duels were way too long or not as long as they should be. Also not helping matters was the entire season using the same opening "Go Forward", but as with the previous season, yet unlike previous series, it didn't even bother to update the visuals despite them being very outdated halfway through the season.[[note]]To name a few examples, Revolver's new Avatar, Blue Maiden, Bohman's second and third outfits, and any of the Ignis other than Ai and Flame are all absent.[[/note]]

* UnderusedGameMechanic: For all the fanfare it received at the climax of Season 1, [[spoiler:Extra Linking]] barely appears in the series, with only a puzzle duel and the duel between [[spoiler:Specter and Lightning]] in Season 2 giving it any focus. The finales of the other Seasons instead went with [[spoiler:high-Link monsters or multiple Summoning methods; despite his Code Talkers being capable of doing so, Playmaker never creates his own Extra Link]].

* FountainOfMemes: This is really the best way to describe the fan response to Ryoken Kogami/Revolver. Just about everything about him is subjected to MemeticMutation: his {{Narm}}-filled NewMediaAreEvil rant, inspiring obligatory gun jokes, [[AssKickingPose his poses]], usage of [[spoiler: Mirror Force]], [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer and]] [[UpToEleven even]] [[spoiler: ''his departure via [[http://miss617.tumblr.com/post/172592949677/what-a-great-send-off-revolver-got boat]]'']] at the end of Season 1.

* LoveToHate: Lightning. TheChessmaster, AwesomeEgo, and a ColdHam megalomaniac willing to enslave humanity all rolled into 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.]]''

** Kengo Dojun[=/=]Blood Shepherd is ridiculously edgy, but also played completely straight. His intro in particular is a case of this. Taken UpToEleven by the dub, where his voice is edgy as well in comparison to the more subdued Japanese version.

** Playmaker Fusion summons "Cyberse Clock Dragon" in episode 54. ''Fusion Summoned'', just when it seemed like Link Monsters would be the only Extra Deck monsters featured in the ''VRAINS'' anime. To top it all off, he managed to [[UpToEleven raise "Cyberse Clock Dragon's" ATK to]] ''[[UpToEleven 7500]]'' and subsequently take out Blood Shepherd.

** Revolver's first avatar gets this treatment in fanart, turning his UncannyValley face into a bishonen one. Some even draw his avatar with irises, but always keep the yellow eyes.

* UncannyValley:
** Revolver's character design in Season 1 gives him ''yellow'' eyes that lack pupils, landing him right into this trope. Administrivia/TropesAreTools, however, as it allows him to be more unsettling.
** Go Onizuka's new design that was revealed in episode 74 is rather unsettling as well. He looks rather malnourished, his eyes look rather lifeless, and he looks almost like he's been taking drugs. [[spoiler: [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Which turns out to not be that far off the mark...]] ]] He only gets worse as of his next encounter with Playmaker after [[spoiler:Earth was terminated]], he's even skinnier, his eyes are sunken, and the skin of his lips is tight.

* 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, 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.

** Link summoning, and the duels in general, are a rather contentious part of the show. On one hand, there are fans who think that the duels involve far too much of the characters just spamming link summons over and over again and feel that the method isn’t very interesting to watch. On the other hand, there are those who like it, arguing that the duels are much more accurate to the actual card game compared to any of the other shows in the series.

** Queen getting defeated by [[spoiler:Ai]] is satisfying to watch especially since she was responsible for the death of his friend [[spoiler:Earth]] as well all the horrible things she did.

* LoveToHate: Lightning. MagnificentBastard, AwesomeEgo, and a ColdHam megalomaniac willing to enslave humanity all rolled into 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.]]''

** Kengo Dojun[=/=]Blood Shepherd is ridiculously edgy, but also played completely straight and a MagnificentBastard. His intro in particular is a case of this. Taken UpToEleven by the dub, where his voice is edgy as well in comparison to the more subdued Japanese version.

** Another complaint ''ARC-V'' (and some of the other series) got were the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters they had which made many of them feel underutilized and made it hard to follow the plot or even remember the characters. VRAINS got around this by making the cast much smaller by comparison, but more plot-important, though some argue that this leads to a different problem.

** Continuing the use of legacy cards, Playmaker before he got his Cyberse deck used several of them some of which were included in Starter or Structure decks for his Code Talkers. These cards include "Photon Thrasher" which is the most shocking since it's a ''Monster'' card used by Kaito Tenjo from ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'', old time favorite "Marauding Captain", the infamous "Limiter Removal" and a card well known to the meta "Forbidden Lance".

* 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.

* ItsShortSoItSucks: The third season and to a greater extent, ''VRAINS'' as a whole, gets this for being the shortest season and series in ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' history. To give a comparison, Duel Monsters lasted 224 episodes, ''GX'' 180, ''5D's'' 154, ''ZEXAL'' 146, & [=ARC=]-V 148. ''VRAINS'' only has 120 episodes, and Season 3 is only 18 episodes. Not only is that strange considering the anime typically takes 3 years to finish, but there were also a lot of plots and characters that still needed development. This caused many to view the series as rushed so that ''Anime/YuGiOhSEVENS'' could avoid the well-known production issues that plagued ''VRAINS''.