Phi Brain – 02

You too can get free lunches if you join the Puzzle Illuminati

Ready for more puzzles? You can never have enough puzzles! Take it from a puzzle lover who printed out a screenshot from the episode, cut out the shapes, and sat there trying to solve it. Not sure how productive that was for time usage considering I had a midterm right after, but as long as I can solve puzzles, I’ll be MAGICAL…….Oh God, this show is brainwashing me. Let’s just go to the summary. >_<

Kaito solves the gears puzzle by evoking his Phi Brain ability and seeing through all the distraction pulleys. He tugs on the correct rope and then collapses from fatigue. Nonoha – black belt extraordinaire – piggybacks him all the way home. She’s quite concerned about him and his sudden GLOWING RED EYE syndrome, so she checks up on him bright and early the next morning. He’s back to his usual slightly less asshole-ish self now, so no need to panic!

Yeah, I always sleep with my sunglasses right by my pillow too. Who doesn’t?

Kaito heads back to school, where he actually never attends class. He is just harassed by puzzle nut students and the puzzle-obsessed principal. His newest stalker is Galileo, a hot-headed punk who uses a megaphone to beckon Kaito to the roof using morse code “BA” and “KA.” Not having anything better to do, like attend class, he races to the roof and solves the puzzles that Galileo has left in his wake. Kaito solves them with ease, but Nonoha (and I) weren’t so quick at solving them…

Upon reaching the roof, Kaito falls into a trap and is hung upside down from his ankles. So Galileo is just a fan of incredibly elaborate bullying that involves traps. Woooow. Just when Nonoha comes to untie him, Jikugawa mysteriously appears (the only way he knows how to appear) and summons them to the principal’s office.

Wait, how is this within school rules?

The principal sure dumps a huge load on Kaito.
1. He has made a contract with Orpheus that lets him use the ‘Phi Brain’ power.
2. He is now a Solver and must complete the puzzles provided by Givers.
3. The Givers are part of a secret puzzle organization called POG.
4. Apparently, ancient ruins, pyramids, and other wonders of the world are PUZZLES to solve
5. The reason the POG does this is in hopes of finding someone capable of solving the DIVINE PUZZLE
6. The school gets a cut from the treasures/money Kaito gets after completing a puzzle

Kaito refuses having the title of Einstein and solving POG’s puzzles, not wanting to be anyone’s pawn. Instead, Kaito goes to the cafeteria and acts like a fool by trying to out-order and out-eat Galileo. Seeing as he has the special title of ‘Galileo’ marking his puzzle-solving expertise, the food is on the house. Not so much for Kaito, who refused the offer just a few minutes ago. Zetsuboushita doesn’t even begin to describe it.

The more you eat, the less effort we put into animating you

During lunch, Kaito gets a challenge from a Giver named Clash who has a puzzle waiting for him. It shows the location on GPS for a split second before Galileo swipes the handheld and heads for the puzzle location himself. He’s interested in the treasure you get for solving puzzles, and Kaito just lets him go. Of course, he changes his mind almost immediately after brooding on the ingenius puzzles Galileo created for him. Perhaps he’s actually respecting him, thanks to his old man telling him that puzzles are a reflection of the person that made them?

Galileo arrives at the puzzle site and demands to be allowed to take a crack at the live action “Traffic Jam” puzzle. Clash refuses until Kaito steps in, to which he just says ‘screw it’ and lets all of them do it together. They all cram into a tiny car and control the puzzle with a touchscreen, which Galileo hogs to himself. He solves the puzzle, but Clash becomes bitter and puts the brakes on their car so they can’t complete the final move. Instead of letting them win, he drops a bus on them.

Well that’s not very nice, sir! Galileo and Nonoha try to break out of the car windows while Kaito activates his Phi Brain abilities to manipulate this puzzle. After all, it’s practically moaning to be finished, so they can’t leave it alone before the climax. Wait, what. No, don’t picture puzzles whispering sexy things to Kaito, please don’t. ANYWAYS, regardless of what the puzzle feels, he solves it anyways by using the momentum of another car to push them out.

Once Kaito confirms that the Givers like to kill you if you can’t solve the puzzle (and sometimes even when you can) he is finally convinced to accept a title and solve puzzles regularly. I can think of no better perk than getting free food so you can risk your life. Meanwhile, funky afro bro smirks in his office and narrows his eyes at the sound of Kaito’s name.

Bonus Puzzles:

Don’t leave a brother hanging!

“Thanks for letting us out of the dark box you keep us in today!” “Yeah yeah, now get solving, midgets.”

What mechanics REALLY do with your cars when you take them in to be repaired

Ohhhh Kaito….I need you to solve me sooooo baddd~~~

End Thoughts: Is this show absurd? Yes, it is. But I like it! I found myself more interested in this episode than the one before mostly because it had more puzzles in it. Sure, they were all pretty simple puzzles, some of which I’ve seen a million times before, but it’s good for a show with a quirky concept to show that off. Once again, they still don’t give much time for the audience to try and solve it or even explain how Kaito comes to his solution. If solving puzzles is so satisfying, why bother have Kaito solve those puzzles on the way to the roof and then never show us the answer? If you’re not gonna let us solve the puzzles ourselves, at least let us live vicariously through Kaito and explain his genius revelations! I don’t want things to get too chatty, so just a quick flash of the answer and a one-liner would suffice for me.

Despite the puzzles being a little easy so far (my favouriteone was the morse code one, and that was barely even a puzzle), at least the show makes the puzzles seem tense. Characters sweat like mad, the music ramps up, and the villain starts laughing evilly. It really is a world where if you can solve a puzzle, you can rule the world. Can’t wait to see how lulzy things get when they try and solve that DIVINE PUZZLE to become closer to God ppffftttt. Well, if you’re gonna do puzzles in a shounen anime, might as well go all the way! This show is corny as hell, but I kind of like that sort of thing.

The newest addition to the cast is Galileo, who really isn’t that likeable. However, his over-exaggerated mannerisms are perfect for this kind of show, so I think he’ll be a good addition once more and more characters are added to Kaito’s rag-tag team of puzzle solvers. Based on the preview, we’ll be slowly introducing characters for a while before Kaito really gets into what I assume will be a “puzzle of the week” flow. The Rush Hour puzzle was stupidly easy, so I hope they start to get…harder? I mean, couldn’t Kaito have just moved the little red car out of the way of the bus? It only fell on a small area, not the entire grid. No wonder that guy got fired by the crazy afro kid.

Preview: Kaito, Galileo and that girl who can memorize stuff face off against their newest opponent…a shota. But he’s a really smart shota, and look! Honest!

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.