Casually dropping a Yu-Gi-Oh banlist like Lolkonami does...

Today in Konami office:
- "Hey, err... when are we going to release that new Forbidden & Limited list again?"
* "Wait, we didn't release it last week? We were supposed to release that last week to..."
- "Didn't get that memo."
* "Oh holy F...."

New Forbidden & Limited list, effective from NOW!

The list

Source: http://yugioh-card.com/uk/gameplay/detail.php?id=1155

Listed are only the changes for TCG.

Forbidden

• Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter (from unlimited)
• Grandsoil the Elemental Lord (from unlimited)
• True King Lithosagym, the Disaster (from unlimited)
• Denglong, First of the Yang Zing (from unlimited)
• Daigusto Emeral (from unlimited)
• Zoodiac Broadbull (from unlimited)
• Zoodiac Drident (from unlimited)

Limited

• Ignis Heat, the True Dracowarrior (from unlimited)
• Miscellaneousaurus (from unlimited)
• Zoodiac Ratpier (from semi-limited)
• Dark Hole (from semi-limited)
• Gateway of the Six (from forbidden)
• Interrupted Kaiju Slumber (from semi-limited)
• True King’s Return (from unlimited)

Semi-Limited

• Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (from limited)
• Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer (from limited)
• Mathematician (from limited)
• Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier (from limited)
• T.G. Hyper Librarian (from limited)
• Brain Control (from limited)
• Burial From a Different Dimension (from limited)
• El Shaddoll Fusion (from limited)
• Preparation of Rites (from limited)

Unlimited

• Debris Dragon (from smi-limited)
• Honest (from semi-limited)
• Rescue Cat (from limited)
• Rescue Rabbit (from limited)
• Summoner Monk (from semi-limited)
• Witch of the Black Forest (from forbidden)
• Charge of the Light Brigade (from semi-limited)
• Dragon Ravine (from semi-imited)
• Wavering Eyes (from forbidden)

First thoughts

Oh, jeezes, Konami. Didn't the list get an approval last Friday? This is so friggin' random, casually dropping the list on a Monday and saying it's effective on the day the list drops? That's why we keep calling you Lolkonami.

So since the list just dropped like a few hours ago, so I'm still processing this. Because at first glance, the hits seem... kind of random.

Okay, hits like Broadbull and Drident were to be expected. But I did NOT expect Dino's to get slaughtered this way. And True kings? I think they're somewhat fine. Because even with all the True Draco cards being on this list, Master Peace, Diagram and Heritage did NOT get hit, nor did Terraforming.

Also, on the Zoodiac side, Zoodiac Barrage also did not get hit, making Zoodiac still alive... somewhat (as an engine, rather than a full deck). Most surprising to see not getting hit is ABC.

What I'm also surprised about is the massive push to get re-aligned with the OCG list. A lot of these hits are to make the lists (somewhat) hole again. But then on the other hand we get random hits again, like Grandsoil and Daigusto Emeral. Yes, they're great cards... but OP enough to be forbidden? No way.

What decks are going to be best?

SPYRAL, definitely. Especially after the release of Double Helix this October (*cough*definite secret rare*cough*). Then I assume Invoked to finally take flight (in combination with what's left of Zoodiac or True Draco) and ABC will probably see a return in popularity. And last but not least: Red-Eyes (with the release of Legendary Duelists) + Zombies (with possibly the new Vendread support in Circuit Break).

That's it for now. I'm now going to sit down, take my popcorn and see how the rest of the world is going to process this random list drop.
Until next time, V out.

About the October Forbidden & Limited List for OCG and its impact on the TCG list

Hey, I'm here with another Yu-Gi-Oh update. No TCG Forbidden and Limited list yet, but a new one for the OCG has just been announced.

I'll give you a run-down of what has changed, why some cards have gotten hit or released, the difference between OCG and TCG, and thus also the possible impact on the soon-to-come TCG Forbidden and limited list.

V takes a look at the October 1st Yu-Gi-Oh OCG Forbidden & Limited List

The Changes in OCG

Source: https://ygorganization.com/ocg-october-1st-forbiddenlimited-list/
Date: From 01 October 2017 onward

Newly Forbidden in the OCG

• Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King (from limited)
• Dragonic Diagram (from Limited)

Newly Limited:

• Tribe-Infecting Virus (from forbidden!)
• Aleister the Invoker (from unlimited)
• Dinomight Knight, the True Dracofighter (from unlimited)
• Souleating Oviraptor (from unlimited)
• Babycerasaurus (from unlimited)
• ABC-Dragon Buster (from unlimited)
• Denglong, First of the Yang Zing (from unlimited)
• Terraforming (from semi-limited)
• Spellbook of Secrets (from unlimited)
• True Draco Heritage (from unlimited)
• True King’s Return (from unlimited)
• Trickstar Reincarnation (from unlimited)

Newly Semi-Limited

• Summoner Monk (from limited)
• Windwitch – Ice Bell(from unlimited)
• Maxx “C” (from unlimited)
• Pot of Avarice (from limited)
• Future Fusion (from limited)
• Fossil Dig (from unlimited)

Newly Unlimited

• Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer (from semi-limited)
• Witch of the Black Forest (from semi-limited)
• Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (from semi-limited)
• Rescue Cat (from semi-limited)
• Burial from a Different Dimension (from semi-limited)
• Fire Formation – Tenki (from semi-limited)
• Preparation of Rites (from semi-limited)
• Saqlifice (from semi-limited)
• Domain of the True Monarchs (from semi-limited)
• Wavering Eyes (from semi-limited)
• Dragon Ravine (from semi-limited)

Thoughts

This list truly feels like an "out with the old, in with the new" kind of list. Almost every Top tier deck gets hit!

True Draco doesn't just get hit, it gets BUTCHERED. Master Peace and Diagram were already limited, but now they're forbidden + an additional hit on Heritage, Return and Dinomight Knight. Ouch.

Also, Dino's get a massive hit with Babycerasaurus, Fossil Dig and Oviraptor (double ouch).

Then also a hit on Aleister (Invoked is now dead, I assume?), ABC-Dragon (necessary), Yang Zing, Spellbooks (booh!) and even Trickstars (wow, that's fast!).

And err... the return of Tribe-Infecting Virus? Not sure what to think of it. No card text update has been announced (yet).

So what decks will survive? SPYRAL (no, really! Did you see the latest OCG weekly list?)! Plus the recently updated classic decks like HERO, Six Samurai and Red-Eyes. We may even see a return of previous hard-hitters like Blue-Eyes and Shiranui. And maybe we'll even see a rise of decks that have flown under the radar like Chaossworn and World Chalice!

It'll be interesting to see how the OCG evolves this coming October.

Possible influence on the TCG F&L list

We've been waiting on the new TCG banlist for a few weeks now. Each weekend us players are looking at each other and expect it to drop anytime. But until the moment of this post, we got nothing.

But looking at this list and the previous list for the OCG, it becomes a little easier to see what is going to get hit in the TCG

• While I expect no butchering of True Draco like in the OCG, it WILL get hit. Master Peace & Diagram will become either limited or forbidden. And I don't know what other cards will take a hit.
• RIP Zoodiacs. You cannot deny it. The OCG has Broadbull, Drident and Barrage FORBIDDEN and Ratpier limited. TCG will follow this example, no doubt about it.
• ABC will see their Dragon (limited) and Union Hangar (semi-limited) take a hit.
• Frogzoic? Yeah, say goodbye to Toadally Awesome (limited in OCG).
• Yang Zing? Not sure it if Denglong wil take the same hit over here. Maybe in a future list.
• Invoked? Doubt it. Kinda flew under the radar here, so I doubt Aleister will become limited like in the OCG. We'll see.
• Dino's? Nah, too soon. Maybe the semi-limit on Fossil Dig will happen, like how Ratpier got semi'd last list.
• Other one-of's? Gofu may become Limited, just like Kaiju Slumber. Terraforming WILL take a hit (became a little TOO good as of late). Card of Demise may become Semi or Fully limited. And probably we'll see a limit to Fairy Tail - Snow as well, just like Psy-Framelord Omega (cards are too good).

And next to those hits, we may also see the return of a few cards, like Chaos Emperor Dragon, Chicken Game (with Terraforming getting hit), Book of Moon, E-HERO Stratos (#FreeStratos), Brionac, Witch of the Black Forest, Rescue Cat, Rescue Rabbit (#FreeRabbit) and maybe even Cyber-Stein. But that's just wild speculations based on the current OCG list.

Will the TCG list hit more cards than its OCG counterpart? Yeah, probably. The TCG F&L list is famous for being more strict than its OCG counterpart. So who knows?

That's it from me now. I'm going to refresh the TCG Forbidden and Limited list page a few more times, just to be sure...

Until next [F5] time, V out [F5].

Is Code of the Duelist is a total miss? - A Yu-Gi-Oh set review

Back from holiday! I took a break, started a subscription with Netflix that got me hooked... and I really need to finish a bunch of half-written blog posts now, do I? (*scratches head and swears*). Oh well, Shoganai. Let's start with this one, while it's fresh.

Now that Link Summoning has become a thing and with new rules, I decided to give Yu-Gi-Oh another shot. I participated in the sneak peek last weekend, but noticed a lack of interest in the set.

I hadn't really payed any attention to what was in the set, other than the Spellbook "Destiny Draw" card, so I was kind of surprised at the lackluster turnout at the events. Due to this, I wanted to dig a little deeper (that's what I do) and see what went wrong. And yes, the set is a total stinker. But it does have a handful of cards worth noting. Let's review:

Is Code of the Duelist a total miss?

A: No real money cards

Biggest problem from the get-go is that there are no cards in here that are worth a lot. There is no Ash Blossom or Pot of Desires or Solemn Strike or anything in here. The priciest card right now (before the set is even out) is Firewall Dragon, which you can get below €40. And that is the hero's key card at sneak peek price (you know that decreases real fast real soon). And "key card" means: This card will be reprinted over and over again, just like every other Key card (Utopia/Pendulum Dragon/Dark Magician/Neos/Stardust).

So underline is: You can buy it if you really need it for your deck. But you will regret spending money on it.

B: Trickstars is not the archetype you are looking for

Fact: Of the new archetypes in this and the next set, only Trickstar is doing anything in the OCG meta on a really small scale. And there's a big asterisk that needs to be added to it due to the OCG meta being different to ours. Over here, I doubt it will do anything at this moment and with the current cardpool. Yes, I know YOU can make a good deck that will do well at locals. But outside of that, nothing.

However, Trickstar Reincarnation itself can be used outside of the archetype and will become a key card in discard decks if that would ever become meta again (you never know with Yu-Gi-Oh). Banishing the opponent's current hand and forcing him to redraw IS an amazing effect.

So underline: Buy 3 Trickstar Reincarnations when they get cheaper, ignore the other Trickstars.

C: Forget about World Chalice

Thé new non-anime archetype that starts in this set is World Chalice (Star Chalice in OCG). You can instantly forget about it. It's not good and it receives very little support in the next set.

D: Chaossworn is not that good

Hate to be the one to tell you, but while the "Twilightsworn" cards may be a good addition to the Chaos Lightsworn decks... they're not good enough to make it tournament-worthy. The new Ryko is amazing, the new Lumina is Great! The new Lyla is good, Jain is "okay" and Punishment Dragon is very iffy and more of a brick draw than JD ever was. Not to mention that constantly banishing your Lightsworns and Twilightsworns is turning JD himself into a brick. You want to keep a certain amount of Lightsworns in the grave.

Maybe this could improve if more Twilightsworn cards would appear. But guess what: Next set has ZERO Twilightsworns. It's really a one-set addition (lol, wut?). So no Wulf, no Ehren, no Raiden or whatever. And that is bad, because I can imagine a bunch of card effects for them that could improve the deck (and I doubt I'm alone).

Underline: Ignore, unless you play Chaossworn. If so: Wait until the prices drop even further and then pick up 3 Lumina's, 2 Ryko's, 1 Punishment and 1-2 Lyla's just in case.

E: TCG Exclusives: F.A. is not good, too soon to judge Vendread

Of the TCG Exclusive card pool, the only cards that seem interesting are the TCG exclusive Vendread archetype, which focuses on ritual summoning Zombies, with huge boost effects. However, with only a handful of cards it's really too early to fully judge it.

Yes, in the future this archetype has the chance to be the next B.A. or Kozmo, But right now it's not good enough yet. But take note in case if it does get better, the most expensive card from the archetype is 5€ at sneak peek value (Vendread reorigin). Reason being that the Spyral dud is still fresh in people's mind.

Underline: Invest in single cards while everything is cheap. This could get good in the future, but beware that this might as well be another TCG hype dud.

F: OCG imports are underwhelming

I've complained about underwhelming OCG promo imports in the past. And this time is no different. The 10 cards that have been added are underwhelming to say it in a nice way. Yes, they all support some fan-favorite archetype (if you stretch the meaning of the words). But none of the archetypes have been relevant in a long while and with the Link format change I doubt that'll change. So no surprise that every card is a friggin' common in here.

G: Other cards worth noting?

The Supreme King Servant Dragons are in here, if you play the new Pendulum Magician Deck that focuses on summoning Z-ARC. That is a legit deck in the OCG, and luckily they're all just plain rares (*sigh of relief*).

Missus Radiant and Gaia Saber are somewhat splashable Link cards, considering there's nothing better in the market. Useful now, but you'll forget about them in a year or so. So pick them up, but don't spend TOO much on them.

Spellbook of Knowledge is the Destiny Draw card that Prophecy/Spellbook decks needed, but next to that it turns Spellbooks into a real engine that can be splashed everywhere. I've seen the combo of Spellbook Secrets/Knowledge/Magician pop up EVERYWHERE in the OCG. If you need to buy anything from this set, it's THIS card. Pick it up while it's still below €10. Because after people start noticing that this engine works, it's going to become expensive.

Overall: Is this set worth investing in?

No. But it's not a total disaster either. Buy those single cards where necessary. But keep in mind that buying a full box is going to guarantee you a net loss of value.

But buy those single cards while they're cheap. This set has a good chance to become another "Starstrike Blast". Horrible when released, but the splashable cards will see a price spike since nobody wants to buy boxes.

Until next time, V out.

The halfway point - What should you watch of the anime Spring Season 2017

We're at the end of May. By now, most of the Spring 2017 anime season have passed their halfway point (all safe Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains due to the delay) and some of those have already reached the much-dreaded recap episode (it's almost pre-packaged with an anime series nowadays).

Overall, there is only one show that stands out from the rest, similar to Ms. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid last season. However, it doesn't stand out for the good reasons... It's more like a... "how low can it go" feeling everybody has while watching it. It's absolute trash and we know it. Yet, we can't keep our eyes away from it.

No, we're not even at rock bottom...
This is only episode 2 of Eromanga Sensei

The Sequels

Attack on Titan S2

• Genre: Seinen action with drama and horror elements
• Studio: Wit Studio - Directed by Tetsuro Araki
• Source: Monthly manga series
• Direct continuation of Season 1. (review of that soon)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (limited regions only)

This season in two words: Beast Titan

Longer version: The story of the second season picks up where the first left off, with the revelation of the Titan in the wall. Soon afterwards, there's the rumor that titans have also appeared within wall Rose (the second wall). Panic spreads rapidly and the members of the Survey corps that didn't partake in the arrest of Annie are now sent on a reconnaissance mission to see what happened.

What the second arc of the first season kinda lacked, this second season makes up for in spades. The first half is pure survival horror. The characters have little to no weapons and there's an unknown presence of titans within the wall (or is there)? This added by the addition of the frighteningly Beast Titan who seems to be the commander of all titans and can make them do things our heroes never expected before.

Recommendation: If you haven't finished the first season, watch that first! Then come back for more here!

My Hero Academia S2

• Genre: Shonen Action, Heroes
• Studio: Bones - Directed by Kenji Nagasaki
• Source: Weekly Manga series
• Direct continuation of Season 1. Link to my review of season 1)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (limited regions only)

While Attack on Titan's second season is only half as long as its first, the opposite is true for My Hero Academia. 25 episodes of Plus Ultra! This will contain the entire sports festival, but will also contain the "Field Training" and probably also the End-of-Term test arc (so I presume up to ch 69).

I'm hyped. How about you?

Recommendation: Watch S1 first, then this one!

Uchouten Kazoku / The Eccentric Family S2

• Genre: Supernatural + Dramedy
• Studio: P.A. Works - Directed by Masayuki Yoshihara
• Source: Original work
• Direct continuation of Season 1. (review of that soon)
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (limited regions only)

In season 2 Yaichirō is setting up a shogi tournament and is getting really close with a female tanuki named Gyokuran. But the rival Ebisugawa clan tries their best to ruin everything. Next to that there's the return of Master Akadama's estranged son "Nidaime" (which basically means the successor). Yasaburo tries his best to keep the peace between everybody, but fails miserably. What happens can only be summed up as something foolish. But then again, it's in their foolish blood.

Canipa pushed this one in the past months, so I ended up watching it. Not regretting it. The Eccentric Family is a different anime from your typical shounen action series. It's about Tanuki's and Tengu's, about creatures that transform into humans and mingle between them.

Recommendation: While you can watch this second season without the first, it would be foolish to skip on the great first season. If you want something different in your anime, The Eccentric Family certainly fills that gap!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains

• Genre: Card games
• Studio: Studio Gallop - Directed by Masahiro Hosoda
• Source: "Original" work
• Yet another Spin-off to the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters series.
• Legal stream: Not yet, currently only in Asia

Card games on surfboards in a VR world no less! The sixth installment of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime has started out on a high note and seems to be at least better than the previous two anime (Zexal and Arc-V). Let's cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Too soon to become a definite recommendation. It's a long-running series that once again will encompass around 140-150 episodes. So we're in for a LONG ride!

Temporary recommendation: This anime seems to go in a similar attitude like 5D's. So if you liked that one, this one may pick your interest as well. We'll see how it evolves.

New anime: The "how low can we go" anime

Eromanga Sensei

• Genre: Slice of Life
• Studio: A1-Pictures - Directed by Ryouhei Takeshita
• Source: Light Novel
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (US only), Daisuki (rest of the world) & Anime Strike

Izumi is a beginning Light Novel writer whose light novels are drawn by a person named "Eromanga Sensei". After his first series ends, he finds out that said Eromanga Sensei is actually his stepsister Sagiri, who has been a reclusive for the better part of the last year (or so). They slowly come to terms that one is writer and the other the artist. But Izumi wants his sister to get out of her room and go to school, while also trying to keep his career as a light novel author going. And then a rival appears.

There's no better misfire to talk about than Eromanga Sensei. Similarly to MaiDragon last season, Eromanga Sensei is thé meme anime of this season. But while MaiDragon was all about positivism and gave everybody a smile on their face, Eromanga rather jives off the "how low can it go" motif. The first word uttered in this anime is "Imouto", or little sister. And from that first word alone, you already know where this is going. Yes, this is a repeat of Oreimo. And according to what I keep hearing from people that have read the novel, this anime will go even lower in "little sister fetish" than Oreimo ever did.

Recommendation: I'd say to stay the hell away from it. But you're probably just like e and want to check it out either way, just to see what the fuss is all about. Hey: Your loss!

New anime: The good ones!

If you want to know which anime of this season will stand the test of time, you've just reached the end of that list. Yes, it consists of the sequels and Eromanga Sensei. However, among all other anime, there still are anime that I want to push as "really good" and worth checking out. I sincerely wish for these to pass the test of time as well!

Sakura Quest

• Genre: Slice of Life / Coming of age story
• Studio: P.A. Works - Directed by Souichi Masui
• Source: Original story
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll and Funimation (limited regions only)

Sakura Quest is about the titular Sakura who recently graduated and is looking for a steady job in the big city of Tokyo, fleeing the the countryside in this process. But she quickly finds out that finding a steady job in the big city isn't all she had hoped it would be. She gets disillusioned, but refuses her mother's call to go back to the countryside.

A temp job as playing a "queen" in a tourist attraction gets her triggered and off she goes. But due to a lot of miscommunication she is not really all that welcome. The old man requesting her thought she was somebody completely different (a dead actress in fact), while Sakura herself is shocked when the "queen" role isn't for 1-2 days. It's for an entire year, and her role requires her to promote the countryside; two things which she absolutely resents doing.

But after some hijinks, she agrees to the role of playing queen, together with the assistance of a few other young women/girls in town.

If this anime gives you flashbacks to Shirobako, it should. It is done by the same studio and it wouldn't surprise me if it had the same character designer attached to it. Other than that, this is a real coming-of-age story for young adults. This anime disrupts the illusion that you can make it big in the big city. It also shows the painful truth of many Japanese people fleeing the country to the big city and thus turning many countryside towns into ghost-towns (or soon-to-be ghost towns).

Recommendation: Must-watch for anyone of 20 years and above. However, this may be boring for teenagers (and young 20-somethings) who have not yet to venture into the real world.

Alice & Zoroku

• Genre: Supernatural + a mix of Adventure/slice-of-life
• Studio: J.C. Staff - Directed by Katsushi Sakurabi
• Source: Monthly manga series
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide) & Funimation (US)

A young girl named Sana has been imprisoned in a secret facility for many years. But one night she escapes. While she is being chased by the people from the facility, she somehow ends up in the arms of a regular old man named Zoroku. Sana, as well as other kids in the team chasing her, have special powers which are akin to mutant powers.

After a few intense chase scenes, Zoroku and Sana are able to get rid of the people chasing her. Since Sana doesn't really know anything about the outside world, Zoroku decides to take in the girl into his house, together with his granddaughter Sanae. Sana now has to get accustomed to all the things in this real-life world, while Zoroku has to handle his normal life as a florist. Yes, you read that right: a florist.

This was one of my favorite series from the get-go, if only the CG wasn't so horribly bad. Luckily, that has slightly improved (although only a little). But the things that made the first episode strong are still there. A good and interesting story, amazing sound design and music. And that general smile that remains on my face after each episode. It's just... warm.

Re:Creators

• Genre: Seinen, Fantasy Action
• Studio: TROYCA - Directed by Ei Aoki
• Origin: Original story
• Legal stream: Amazon Prime's Anime Strike

Souta is inspiring artist who is sucked in to the world of an anime and sees this anime's female protagonist (Celestia) fight with a "Military uniform princess" who is not from that anime. Through a magical force, all three are sucked back to regular old Japan.

Throughout the story, while trying figure out what's happening, Celestia and our hero try to figure out why characters from several games and anime are popping up in the real world. And slowly they are trying to find ways to boost their own power (by contacting the character's creators). But it is not a journey that runs as smoothly as these people think.

This show's concept is so original yet classic at the same time. It's like Jump Ultimate Stars, or Smash bros, or Marvel Vs Capcom! Take random characters from different franchises and have them duke it out. And while the story buildup has gone quite slowly, it (at this moment) is one of the most interesting anime at this moment. In fact, while other anime are starting to show their faults and problems, Re:Creators keeps rising in quality.

Recommendation: If you don't mind some dialogue-heavy scenes, this is a definite must-watch!

KADO: The Right Answer / Seikasuru KADO

• Genre: Sci-Fi, Political
• Studio: Toei Animation - Directed by Kazuya Murata
• Source: Original
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (worldwide)

First contact with an alien / inter-dimensional species happens when a big cube-shaped object appears out of nowhere and lands on an airfield, encapsulating an entire plane in the process. The survivors and the Japanese government try to figure out what happened, until the alien appears a few hours later, together with one of the survivors. This survivor is our main character Kojirou Shindou and is a negotiator (as in this being his actual profession).

We soon find out that this being (Yaha-kui zaShunina) wants to share his knowledge with all humans, but runs into a few hurdles: Actual Earth's politics! What IS the right answer to giving new information to all of humanity?

I personally have noticed I shouldn't try watching this late in the evening when I'm tired, because there's a good chance of me falling asleep. But when my attention has awakened, I find it a very interesting and especially a different kind of anime out there (although that CG+2D gimmick still tends to bother me from time to time).

Recommendation: If you're tired of cliche action or romance / drama series; this is an anime that offers something completely different! However, it might be a little "too different" for everybody's taste due to the level of politics / negotiations (thus lots of talking).

New anime - Average stuff

This group is the stuff that's neither amazing and noteworthy, yet also not bad either. There's some good stuff in there, and there's also stuff in there that makes you go: "Really?"

WorldEnd / SukaSuka

• Genre: Fantasy, with added drama and romance
• Studio:Satelight & C2C - Directed by Junichi Wada
• Source: Light Novel
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide)

Full title: "WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? are you busy? Will you save us?" Only a Japanese Light Novel can have a title this long and convoluted.

Humanity has ended at the hand of the mysterious "beasts". Other races have taken over earth and blame the humans for the continued existence of said beasts. Our protagonist (Willem Kmetch) is a human who was frozen in time and has recently been "released" in present time, only to see it suffer.

He comes around doing odd-jobs and being part of the military. His most recent task now consists of protecting an arsenal of specialized "weapons" that will fight off the Beasts. Due to his own history with the beasts, he takes it upon himself to guard these weapons. But to his surprise, he quickly comes to the conclusion that said weapons are actually young female leprechauns (never seen such beautiful leprechauns in any literature ever). They're the only beings able to wield the "dig" weapons that can slay the beast and they can blow themselves up doing massive damage as well.

Willem quickly settles in and becomes the caretaker of all these young girls, but now tries to stop these girls from blowing themselves to smithereens.

Worldend is an anime with very high high notes, but also with a lot of low notes. The first episodes and some of the latest are really good, but then there are gems like episodes 3-5 that rank between mediocre to just plain bad. I really want this anime to end well since the story concept is REALLY interesting. But those bad episodes give me fear for the possible ending.

Recommendation: I want to say a must-watch. But there's a few episodes in there I really cannot defend from criticism. Take that as you will.

Grimoire of Zero / Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho

• Genre: Fantasy, action
• Studio: White Fox - Directed by: Tetsuo Hirakawa
• Source: Light novel
• Legal Stream: Anime Strike

The world of this anime is inhabited by magicians and beastmen. But regular species tend to hunt these beings to extinction. And since Beastmen are stronger than average humans and thus are often hired to hunt the female magicians (because they're witches and "witches are EVIL"). Our main character (Youhei) is one such beastman and has the looks of a white tiger. He's a mercenary hunting for witches, but once he comes across the magician named "Zero", his world changes. She is looking for the source of all current witches, the "Grimoire of Zero" (which is written by her). In return for Youhei's assistance, she promises to return him to a full human form.

Here's a story with a strong concept and starting point that just went average after a while. It's not bad at all, but you can see certain elements dragging it down, or making me go "Really? Is this necessary?". Albus (for example) is the McGuffin that moves the story forward, even if he/she is quite annoying. The main villain of the series (Thirteen) is the blandest thing you've tasted since tofu. And while there's a lot of potential in his character to be amazing (he has a mysterious power that turns mages into dust, he has great manipulative powers, he can have a sense of humor, etc), he generally just looks and sounds like he's bored out of his mind. And his design looks like he's an average Japanese man who just put on the world's laziest magician cosplay.

Recommendation: While I do quite enjoy it from time to time, this anime just has way too many missed opportunities. So you can skip it if needed to.

Akashic records of bastard magic instructor / Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records

• Genre: Fantasy, action, high school
• Studio: LIDENFILMS - Directed by: Minato Kazuto
• Source: Light novel
• Legal Stream: Crunchyroll (worldwide)

Sistine & Rumia are two girls that are going to a magic high school and are suddenly instructed by a new magic teacher (Glenn) who is totally lazy, a total bastard, a lech and god-knows-what else. Worst of all, everybody suspects that he doesn't know a lick of magic. He's the most useless bastard out there. Our two girls wonder how this "Glenn" was hand-picked to teach them the ways of magic.

But while he initially disappoints everybody in his class by being lazy and uninterested, events that happen in the second episode trigger him to become a bit more motivated and shows his pupils how to actually be better at magic. Bit by bit, piece by piece, Glenn shows everybody why he's the best magic teacher out there, even if he keeps a lot of his snarky wit.

Personally, I hated the first episode. The jokes were not funny and the forced gag of running into a girl's changing room was so bad, it made me drop this anime instantly. So it will be a drag to get over that initial let-down. But afterwards, the anime does get better, piece by piece. But there are (and remain) a lot of contrivances to get people to like this Glenn character. Also, Sistine remains very annoying and is an unnatural character with Easter eggs for eyes.

Recommendation: It's certainly a somewhat enjoyable show to watch (it's one of the most-watched new series on Crunchyroll, if that is an indicator), but there are just better anime with both magic and with high school settings out there.

New anime - The disappointments

Renai Boukun / Love Tyrant

• Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Romance (kind of)
• Studio: EMT² - Directed by Atsushi Nigorikawa
• Source: Weekly manga series
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (Worldwide)

Boy receives mysterious note to kill people with a heart... oh, no no no. That's a different series. This is a lot less serious.

In this case, a Cupid named Guri ends up writing our main hero's name (Seiji Aino) in a parody of said death note: the Kiss note. And unless he finds and kisses his true love, he will die. And he succeeds in doing so in the very first episode; with the only catch being that his crush that he ends up kissing (Akane) ends up revealing herself to be a Yandere who already had a crush on our main character. And then our regular cupid decides that it would be fun if she write Akane's name and her own as a relationship in said Kiss note. Why? Because she thinks love triangles are fun! And thus hijinks ensue.

I originally picked this one up because of the interesting pitch and the amount of comedy in the first episode. However... After watching 6 episodes, it's become clear that having good "pitch ideas" is the only good thing this anime has going for it. The overarching story is boring and the characters (while initially funny) quickly reveal themselves to be one-dimensional cardboard cutouts (the only exception being Guri herself).

Recommendation: Skip it. While the first episode is good and genuinely funny, you will only get disappointed by the end.

Atom: The Beginning (Season 1)

• Genre: Sci-Fi, Seinen Action (with elements of Slice of Life)
• Studio: Co-production between OLM Inc, Production I.G. and Signal MD - Directed by Katsuyuki Motohiyo (lead) and Tatsuo Satou
• Origin: Monthly manga series
• Legal stream: Amazon Prime's Anime Strike

This anime is a prequel to Astro Boy (or "Tetsuwan Atom" as it is known in Japan). And by that one sentence this anime should have picked your interest already, since Astro Boy is one of the first mainstream "shonen action" series ever created.

This prequel tells the story of Astro Boy's creators and how they slowly create the "Bewusstsien" (self-awareness) AI that Astro Boy runs on and makes him as human as possible for a robot.

I've been looking forward to this anime for a long time, and for most part I'm getting what I wanted. But is it thé best anime out there? Sadly enough, no. The first 6 episodes build up the story a little too slow to be REAL good.

Also, I've read the manga (or what IS translated of it) and suddenly noticed the big problem of this show. Half of this show if filler. I'll go into more detail when I do a full review. But think about it, a show that isn't hyped that much tries to sell itself by replacing half of its run-time with filler. Who thought that was a good idea?

Recommendation: It pains me to say this, since I love any re-imagination of Astro Boy. But you better wait until there's at least a second season. Then watch them together. As it stands, this first season alone will not be enough to satisfy you!

Granblue Fantasy

• Genre: Fantasy, action
• Studio: A1 Pictures - Directed by Yuuki Itou
• Source: Game for Android & iOS
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll, Funimation & Hulu (limited regions only)

Girl falls out of the sky, boy saves her from her fall and protects her from the "evil army", although he dies in the process. Girl revives boy and now he has powers. This is a story with floating islands, airships, mythical creatures and magic!

This anime has been panned for being a run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG turned anime. It's mediocrity at its finest.

And while I personally am enjoying the series, I can admit that this series never rises above being "average". The dialogue (and often the art) seems ripped straight out of the game, since it seems so generic that it could appear in a text box and nobody would bat an eye. But at the same time, this anime gives LOTS of room for people to abridge it. I found it to be very funny to ad-lib dialogue over the actual dialogue spoken, since what I was hearing was run-of-the-mill anyway.

Also the voices. Katalina = Celty from Durarara, Vyrn = Happy from Fairy Tail, Rackam = Sanji from One Piece, etc. Once you hear it, you cannot un-hear them being other characters.

Recommendation: If you like anime based on fantasy RPGs and you have nothing else to watch, give this one a shot. Anybody else may skip this one, since it's very forgettable.

Warau Salesman new / Laughing Salesman new

• Genre: Seinen, drama
• Studio: Shin-Ei Animation - Directed by Hirofumi Ogura
• Source: manga from the 80s/90s
• Legal stream: Crunchyroll & Funimation (US only)

Every person has a dark desire in their heart. It is up to the mysterious laughing salesman Fukuzouto Moguro to find what these people are longing for and "selling" it to them. But each of these pieces of happiness brought upon his customers comes with a limit. When these humans reach past these limits, disaster will strike (and it strikes hard).

I was genuinely interested in this anime from its premise. However, after you've seen one or two episodes, you basically have seen thme all. The story becomes repetitive WAY too fast for its own good.

But to give credit where it's due, the OP is animated wonderfully! When you skip this anime, at least check the OP.

Recommendation: Skip it! Watch Hell Girl (Jigoku Shoujo) instead of this disappointment! On that end: New Season of Hell Girl this coming Summer season!

Anime to be watched / Continued

There's still some good anime out there, but I just haven't found the time yet to watch or continue watching.

• Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul: Just started with the first season. I'll get to this one later!
• Tsuki ga kirei: Loved the first episode! Really good! But I'm just not a romance anime fan, so it might take a while to finish it.
• Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism: Kinda liked the first episode, but then forgot about it. May drop it, may continue. Dunno yet.

New anime - Dropped after 1 episode

These are the series that are so disappointing or "not my style", I've dropped after one episode be. For more detail as to why, I refer to my Starting point blog.

• The Royal Tutor: I know there will be many fans of this series. But it's not my style. It's aimed at girls to gawk at boys. I dropped it, but I'm not going to hate on it.
• Hinako Note: Cute girls doing cute things for the sake of being cute. Not my style, but I know there are people that love this kind of genre.
• Boruto: I'm sorry, but I'm apparently one of the few that hated the first episode. But I saw the flaws in it and saw how this series is going to fall in the future. And none of the promo video's that have appeared ever since have picked up my interest. It remains dropped.
• Clockwork Planet: Was "meh" after the first episode, and couldn't be bothered to pick up the second episode.
• Sword Oratoria: The first episode was "okay" at best, but I kinda forgot about it... and so did most other people. I don't hear anybody talking about it anymore.
• The King's Avatar: Not understanding the praise people give this series. The CG is awful and the dialogue and story is very unnatural and awkward.
• ID-0: Mediocre CG, mediocre story and characters you cannot connect with. ID-0 simply does not work.
• Sakurada Reset: The first episode is boring me to tears. And from what I hear, it didn't get much better later on. Stay away from it.
• The Seven Mortal Sins: Some of the best animation of this season went to a glorified hentai. Nuff said.
• Tsugumomo: Fell somewhere between generic as hell and borderline annoying me.
• Anonymous Noise: HATE THIS PIECE OF SH... STOP SINGING! Just STOP singing!
• Frame Arms Girl: Is one of the most popular shows in Japan ATM. And I can understand why. But it's not my kind of anime. It's a glorified toy commercial.
• Kabuki-bu: Had high hopes for this, but dropped it after 1 episode. It's so bland and Generic, I could predict what would happen without even seeing the rest of the season.

Afterword

Yes, there's still a few series to add. still to be added are the short anime. Though I can be just as short about that: "Please Take my Brother Away" / "Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai" is the best short anime of Spring 2017! Nuff said!

To be updated soon. Until then, V out.

Updates

• June 06th: Added Grimoire of Zero, Akashic Records and the Drops list

V reviews - A Post-Mortem of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V

With the last episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V now behind us and the new series (Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains) starting to air this Wednesday with more than a month of delay (with reason), it's time to take a look back on the last of Yu-Gi-Oh series and take a closer look at what went wrong.

Because some things sure went wrong with it. It's weird to see the quality of a YGO series spike AND sink this much as the series progresses. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and go at it step-by-step

V Reviews: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V

What IS the overall story about?

The basic premise of this story is that there are four dimensions (Standard, Fusion, Synchro and Xyz). The latter three have their own specific summoning technique and Standard can basically use all of them. And each of these dimension has a main "Yu-"character and a female lead as well.

• In the Standard dimension, It's Yuya & Yuzu - the POV characters
• And in the Xyz Dimension it's Yuto & Ruri
• In the Synchro Dimension it's Yugo & Rin
• In the Fusion dimension it's Yuri & Selena

The main villain, Professor Leo Akaba, is in the Fusion dimension assembling an army to kill turn everybody into cards and use that energy to fuse the four dimensions into one. This for a secret purpose.

The first world to fall is the Xyz dimension. Then they try to conquer earth (well, standard dimension Earth)

Never gets old...

Our main character (Yuya) somehow unlocks Pendulum summoning for the entire dimension. At first it's him alone. But then quickly more characters obtain these Pendulum monsters.

The son of professor Akaba (Reiji / Declan) becomes the rival character to Yuya and is busy trying to create an army to oppose his father's invasion. He names this group the Lancers.

And then shit happens. A tournament is organized; people are revealed to be traitors; people are (dis)carded, the Main characters from the other dimensions appear, one of the main characters dies and turns into a spirit supporting Yuya, people hop dimensions, unlock achievements and level up.

I could go in way more detail, but since the series is 140+ episodes, that would take me WAY too long.

Overall enjoyment level: Started good, but drops to rock bottom

While the anime did start slow (which is similar to the other YGO series, mind you), it did improve quickly. The big tournament of the first season with some plot twists near the end and the entirety of the second season (the Synchro Dimension) were the highlights of this anime. It was never the strongest of writing, but it sure was entertaining to watch.

Say what you want, but Sergey was amazing to watch!

But the problems of this anime started showing its head when the third season started. It slowly started becoming clear that the creators of the show had no idea how to properly end this series in about 150 episodes and that problem was getting more and more obvious as the third season went on. Let me give some examples:

• Random new and legacy characters were thrown in and then quickly ignored again or pushed to the sidelines (e.g. Asuka/Alexis). Other legacy characters were hinted to appear, but never really do (mostly Ryo/Zane from GX).
• The entire Xyz arc (with subplot for Yuzu in the Fusion dimension) was apparently scrapped halfway through because both story threads just stop dead in their tracks and everybody is pushed into the next story arc (and dimension). So much that every enemy becomes Yuya's ally and helps him along. The more you think about it, the less sense it makes.
• Henchmen of the Fusion dimension from previous seasons just disappear without proper conclusion (e.g. Barrett or Jean-Michel).
• A weird subplot of brainwashing was introduced and almost as quickly discarded again (really weird).
• Some battles were hyped from the beginning of the third season, but reduced to 1-2 minutes when it came down to the actual duel (most notably: Yugo Vs Yuri). And that is REALLY weird, considering so much time is spent on the subplots of brainwashing and the Battle Beast.
• Allied characters appear out of thin air, sometimes even literally (Jack mostly, but later also the (second) return of Crow).
• And boy, don't get me started on the Zarc fight.

The final boss fight (everybody Vs Zarc) lasted 5 episodes and was probably the most boring and stretched-out fight in Yu-Gi-Oh history EVER! And since that boss fight ended with 7 episodes still left on the counter, we were left with 2-3 "conclusion" episodes being stretched out over the duration of 7 different episodes.

*Sigh* Let's take a deep breath and continue.

If you think the anime would use those episodes to end on a high note, think again. The last seven episodes are bad, one after the other. Characters are thrown in and out of episodes with short duels. Those with longer duels all go full derp-mode and don't even know what their cards do (Looking at you, Gongenzaka!).

"I'm on a train! Choo-choo!"

And the one character that does still remember how to duel properly is given such overpowered cards, you're wondering how the friggin' hell he ever lost (never in my life seen such OP card effects).

"This card allows each of my monsters to fuse, synchro and Xyz with
any other card on the field and become a boss monster by itself.
What do you mean, you don't believe me?"

If you would've asked me for a rating after the end of Season 2, I'd given this anime a solid 8/10. But with everything that happened in the third season, I've dropped it to a 6/10.

Poorly received in Japan

Note: What comes next is best to take with a grain of salt. This is translated stuff from NicoNico that found its way to Reddit. And we've seen in the past that this info "can get wrong".

From the sources I find (and translated posts that end up on Reddit), Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh fans absolutely HATE this anime's third season. On Nico Nico Video, the periodically updated top 10 worst anime episodes ever got completely overhauled and got filled up with many Arc-V episodes. Worst of them being the Battle Beast episodes, with episode 122 taking the cake as single worst.

Everybody LOVES Gladiator Beasts, right? Let us change that with this arc!

It's going as far that fans have requested that director Katsumi Ono and head writer Kamashiro Tsutomu would better pack his bags and leave Studio Gallop (the anime studio behind the YGO animes)

And it may have worked, since neither men are to be found anywhere in the production of Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains. With Vrains, direction is done by Masahiro Hosoda and writing is done by Yu-Gi-Oh veteran Shin Yoshida (who had nothing to do with Arc-V, apparently... or doesn't want to be credited for it at least).

Confirmed behind-the-scenes Issues

https://www.reddit.com/r/yugioh/comments/5krhix/arcvs_production_woes/

You can follow the entire thread if you want, but the schtick of it is: Due to circumstances the higher ups couldn't give clear design directions to the animators of the monsters, leaving it up to the imagination of the animators themselves to create the monsters (who don't really have the time for that, nor are they paid enough to actually do that).

It's thus also not surprising that certain monsters can vary their look and animation, even without "alternate form cards" like 5Ds used.

But it also shows a bigger underline that this animation had. The problems the staff had with creating an interesting story, let alone finishing the story boards in time. This thus caused the character/monster designers to be behind on schedule, thus leaving design work to the animators (who get annoyed in the process).It's a topple-down effect where the final product is mediocre.

Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Delay

Near the end of Arc-V, people started to notice that the amount of information on the follow-up series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains, was unusually limited. As many people had pointed out, we usually get spoiled to tears about the first 10 episodes like a month or so in advance (via V-Jump). But at the end of March, we basically had table scraps.

And with the first episode supposedly airing on April 5th, people started to get worried it might get cancelled or delayed. So I don't think it came as a surprise to anyone that the first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains was delayed with with more than a month, all the way to the 10th of May.

What did the anime studio do in the meantime? Fill up the slot with Yu-Gi-Oh! Labo, an "informative" talk show about Yu-Gi-Oh, the behind the scenes work and any preliminary info they could spread to prevent people to completely forget about the series.

But let's face it like it is. The amount of production issues had reached a peak in the past year, so something HAD to be done. A reorganization of the anime studio should be the first, but also re-aligning writers, animators and directors on what direction to take this new series (and hopefully create a buffer of sorts just in case).

Personally, I'd love to be a fly watching what's happening behind the scenes of the anime studio for the past weeks. I think it must've been a hell to reorganize everything and re-motivate everybody to do another anime series that will last for 3 years.

Let's hope for the best for Yu-Gi-Oh Brains... er, Vrains. Let's hope it's it doesn't end up being another trainwreck like Arc-V.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for the best

That's it from me now. Until next time, V out.

V does Yu-Gi-Oh - New Anime, New Rules

The third week of the month is V-Jump time and we were expecting news of the new anime, the supposed new summoning technique and the added ruling updates.

And that is exactly what we got. It's study time! Let's get over the biggest changes and I'll try to explain that as clearly as possible!

When will these changes apply for TCG?

Updated Answer: Upon the legal release of the 2017 Starter Deck in TCG. The exact date is July 21st.

The Lay-out changes!

Click on the image, look at it closely and let it sink in. If you have a feeling of what's on there, I'll cover the details

Image created by DSummon for his explanation video.
Follow him on twitter at @DSummon84

1 - Pendulum Zones are gone... but not completely

First obvious change if you look at the new lay-out is that the 2 specific pendulum zones are gone.

Instead of that, the leftmost and rightmost Spell and Trap card zone can now be used as a pendulum zone instead.

What this means that if you play Pendulum monsters, you lose 2 spell and trap zones, while if you play no Pendulum monsters, you can use all 5 spell and trap card zones (just like before).

However, the zones are interchangeable throughout the duel and thus impose no risk for having to chose over the other. In other words, if you open up with 0 scales but have 5 spell or trap cards, you can still use your pendulum scale zones for regular spells and traps.

Note however, that this does not mean that you can now SET Pendulum monsters in these zones. Pendulum Scales can only be placed face-up, just like before!

Also: Cards that target Pendulum zones specifically (for example: Wavering Eyes) can NOT destroy non-pendulum spells or traps that are placed in these zones. If a regular spell or trap are placed in these zones, they are NOT Pendulum zones but regular spells or traps.

2 - Extra Deck monsters now go in the Extra Deck monster zone

Another big change is the two new monster zones that are spread over the two players. These zones are intended for Extra Deck monsters, while the original five monster zones will now be reserved for Main deck monsters only.

The only exception to this, are "main deck" monster zones that are pointed to by the yellow/gold link indicator (printed on Link monsters).

3 - Link monsters:

The new Link monster have a Blue color (similar to Ritual monsters) but are filled with octagon shapes with a darker shading. They also have black and yellow markers on the 4 corners and the 4 sides of the card. The black ones are inactive, while the gold/orange markers are active. More on this later on.

Link monster have an attack, but no defense. This means that defense is not printed and it can be ruled as "0 defense" if somebody would attempt to use a card like "Shield & Sword" (which suddenly seems like a VERY useful card).

Link Monsters can only be special summoned and MUST BE played in face-up attack position. This position CAN NOT change; not by player choice nor by card effect (like "Book of Moon)". It MUST always be face-up attack position.

Where are those link markers?

The Link markers on a Link card are printed on the 4 corners and the 4 sides of a Link card (up, down, left, right, UL, UR, LL, LR).

However, the only ACTIVE Link markers are colored gold/orange (color presumed via screenshots, not by facts). NON-active markers remain black.

The monster zones marked with these active markers are places where players can special summon monsters from the extra deck. Think of it as if Link Monsters are "unlocking" your monster zones for more special summons from the extra deck.

The number of active link markers is equal to the Link number of the Link card. So a "Link 3" card, has 3 active markers. A "Link 2" card has two, etc...

A few things that you need to take in account with these markers.

• Decode Talker (as well as some other Link Monsters) has an active marker pointing upwards. This means that you unlock an extra deck zone for your opponent as well!.
• Link Monsters have effects that can apply to their linked monsters instead of "one" monster, or "all monsters you control". So for example. Decode Talker gives an attack boost to all linked monsters. This means that up to two other monsters that you control and even one opponent's monster gains that attack boost.
• Not every monster has the markers on the same spot. While Link Decoder has a marker on the top and on the two lower corners, the link card Honeybot has active marker left and right side.

How to summon a Link monster? - Updated

To summon a Link monster, you must send a number of monsters from the field to the grave equal to the Link number on the card. In the case you use Pendulum monsters, they will be sent to the extra deck. In the case of tokens, they will just "vanish" after being used.

Update: Yes, I was wrong before (mea culpa). Tokens and Pendulum monsters CAN be used.

Alternatively, you can also use a "lower-ranked" Link monster + one or more effect monsters. The minimum amount of monsters required in this process will be mentioned on the card text.

For example, the depicted monster (Decode Talker) has "Link 3" with a card text that it requires a minimum of 2 effect monsters. This means that it requires either:

• 3 effect monsters of any kind, or
• 1 Link 2 monster (for example: Honeybot) + 1 effect monster of any kind.
• 1 Link 1 monster (for example: Link Spider) + 2 effect monsters of any kind.
• 2 Link 1 monsters + 1 effect monster of any kind.
• 1 Link 2 monster + 1 Link 1 monster

The selected monsters are sent from the field to the grave and the Link monster is played in the Extra monster zone, (or another "linked" monster zone).

So how does this work in reality?

At the beginning of the duel, the 2 "extra monster" zones are not signed to any specific player.

This means that the first player that can perform an extra deck summon, can choose the first of these two zones. The chosen zone will be his, while the other zone will now belong to the opponent.

This one specific zone can only be used for monsters summoned from the Extra deck (Fusion, Xyz, Synchro, Link monsters AND face-up Pendulum monsters summoned from the extra deck).

If the turn player summons a Link monster with one or more active markers, THEN you can special summon other extra deck monsters to the zones indicated by the active markers (as well as main deck monsters).

This ALSO includes other Link monsters. This means that if used correctly, you can still fill your field up with Extra Deck monsters, as long as the Link monsters have the correct markers on them.

However! Take note that it only applies when summoning monsters from the extra deck. This does not apply not when summoning those monsters from anywhere else (like the Banished zone or graveyard). For example: A Stardust dragon that returns from the grave after using its effect? That goes to the main monster zone.

Doesn't that render my decks useless?

Yes, if you have a deck that focuses on summoning as much as possible from the extra deck, your deck will no longer function decently. Does that include basically most of the current meta decks? Yes, as well as most rogue decks. If it can cheer you up, most decks are affected either way, so you're not alone in your "loss".

*shrugs* Oh, well. Learn, adapt and move on. Oh and hey look at the bright side. My old Prophecy deck may suddenly be viable again.

I know my statement is as useful as Tristan's answer right now, but it's all I got.

I have more questions?!

So do I! But at this point in time it's all the information we have.

Specific ruling details not mentioned in V-Jump this time around will become clear when the official rule-book gets updated or when the yugioh Database gets updated.

Keep an eye on the Konami blog, YGOrganization, BeyoundTheDuel and other similar blogs. More specific ruling questions will be answered in the following months, no doubt about that.

Until next time, V out.

Edit on February 21: Correction made due to OCG website updating the Master Rules. Source: http://beyondtheduel.com/new-master-rule-updates/

Edit in July: Corrected a few of my statements with the actual rules now that it's officially part of our TCG rules.

V does Yu-Gi-Oh: Cards to look forward to in Raging Tempest

It's been ages since I made one of these. So let's do this again!

Yesterday, it was the release of the February booster of Yu-Gi-Oh: Raging Tempest. Let's take a look into what's actually worth looking for!

Zoodiac: The cancer of Yu-Gi-Oh.

Yes. If you thought the ABC archetype was not strong enough, or if Frogzoics and Metalfoes have become too annoying for you, it's clearly time to introduce the cancer of Yu-Gi-Oh: Zoodiac's.

Zoodiac (or just plain Zodiac in the OCG) has been dominating the OCG for so long that local shops have been asking players to just STOP playing the archetype. There are even shops banning those decks from their tournaments due to regular players dropping in masses and lowered tournament turnouts. But if you look on the weekly tournament pages, the "ban' isn't really visible throughout the lists. I don't know if YGOrganization filters the tournament results, or if shops just kept it to a "threat" of banning.

Basically, from this booster's release it's going to be: Play Zoodiacs or GTFO (until some cards are put on a future F&L list)!

However, if you ARE looking to join the hype train, look for the following cards:

• Zoodiac Beast Whiptail (effect - Super Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Thoroughblade (effect - Ultra Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Ratpier (effect - Super Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Tigermortar (Xyz - Ultra Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Drident (Xyz - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Broadbull (Xyz - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Beast Boarbow (Xyz - Rare)
• Zoodiac Barrage (Spell - Secret Rare)
• Zoodiac Combo (Trap - Common)

In terms of how much, let's put it like this. In a pure build, you require 3x all effect monsters, 2x all Xyz, 3x spell, 1x trap. If you start mixing with other archetypes (like the GreenGrass Build), you will require less of some cards, but it's better if you look up specific builds for your variant.

Sea Monster of Theseus: The LOL-Konami moment

In early January, Konami mentioned there would be a new TCG world premiere card monster whose effect could be filled by your own imagination. You instantly started to see people imagining all kinds of Overpowered BS onto this card.

But people familiar with Lolkonami were obviously more cautious. And with good reason. The "effect that could be filled up with imagination" ended up being true, since that monster (Sea Monster of Theseus) has NO effect (*slow clap* Well played, Konami, well played).

But is it useless? NOT AT ALL!

Sea Monster of Theseus is a Lv 5 Zombie Fusion Tuner that leaves much room for possibilities. It's an Instant Fusion Target (easy special summon), it's a Zombie (Mezuki Target, Book of Life target, etc), it's a Tuner (Many Synchro possibilities, including the more difficult to summon Zombie Synchro's), it has no effect (Daigusto Emeral revival); it has the Water attribute (Ice Barrier Synchro's) and it's Lv 5 (Level Eater target in Synchro Dark). So the "imagination" text was somewhat true. There are already OTK and Total Hand Destruction video's on how to abuse this card.

How viable these decks are is something we are going to see in the first big tournaments after this card's release. But let's just say that IF it's easy to achieve, there's a good chance that Instant Fusion might become limited.

Other cards to take note of:

	That Grass looks greener: If you deck is larger than your opponent's, you mill until you have the same amount of cards. This card immediately turns Pot of Desires into a more double-edged sword. If you use it, you turn your opponent's grass more "green". It also gives lots of power to Lightsworn-based decks... and especially cards like Fairy Tail - Snow.
	Foolish Burial Goods: Card Text: Send one spell / trap card from your deck to the grave (so Foolish Burial for backrow cards). I notice this card is seriously dropping in price and goes further on a negative trend, though that's only because of the Zoodiac hype. If I can give one piece of advice: PICK IT UP while it's cheap. This card text is good by default. And knowing Konami, sone future archetype will definitely abuse this card.
	Switcheroo: This card was hilarious in the Sneak Peek for those that got it. If you and your opponent have the same amount of monsters, switch control of ALL of them (effect does not target, obviously). Want a good way to stop your opponent's ongoing combo? Your opponent just summoned a boss monster to take your one monster out? This is a hilarious f**k you to all of that.
	Symphonic Warrior Guitaar and Miccs: If it wasn't for their awesome combo during the sneak peek, I probably would've glanced over these two pendulum monsters. Guitaar's pendulum effect is to ditch one card from your hand to special summon a Symphonic Warrior from your deck (obviously Miccs, but the other Symphonic Warriors are also possible). And when Miccs is summoned, you get a free normal summon. If you hadn't already used up your normal summon, you can now do that twice. And since Miccs is a Pendulum monster, he can allow this basically EVERY turn he's summoned. Oh, and Guitaar's monster effect allows to revive Miccs from the grave. These two are an engine on their own and noteworthy additions for any deck that focuses on effects that trigger on normal summons. Truly, a guitar and a mic is all you need to play music!
	Rocket Hand: A typical equip trap card that boosts your monster's attack when triggered. But you can also trigger its secondary effect at any time. You can send it from the field to the grave to destroy an opponent's monster. The downside is that the monster it was equipped now has 0 attack. Upside is that you can disrupt the opponent's combo plays.

Personal thoughts and afterword

Yes, I participated in the sneak peeks past weekend. And boy, it's been a long time since so many joined in a sneak peek tournament. The Zoodiac Hype is REAL. Personally, the sneaks were great for me. I got a playmat on Saturday, together with the one card I was really looking for (Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon). And on Sunday, I pulled both a GreenGrass and a Ratpier, which I was able to sell at Sneak prices (hey, I'm a casual. I'm not wasting money on the hype).

From now on, every tournament will have Zoodiac based decks until the next F&L list update. If you really want to qualify right now, Zoodiac is thé deck you must play. If you're a casual like me; better skip this set and wait until everyone has opened tons of boxes (and the other cards thus drop in price tremendously). Then you can pick up the single cards you want at dump prices.

And if you can't stand formats dominated by one archetype? You might want to skip out for the next few months. It's not going to be pretty. It's a sad truth, but this kind of format does happen once every while.

Heck, the reason why I'm putting more focus on writing anime reviews right now is due to this archetype dominating every headline in both OCG and now also TCG (and thus turning the game kind of stale). So after this post, I'm focusing back on anime.

Until next time, V out.