Phi Brain – 05
Don’t be afraid of puzzles, they are people just like us. Say no to racism against puzzles.
It’s time for another episode of Phi Brain, which means things are continually creeping up notch by notch on the crazy scale. How the hell this show manages to outdo itself every week is one of the most pertinent puzzles of the show, alongside what kind of elastic/rubber hybrid Galileo’s face is made of to make all of those facial contortions. Anyways, if you’re still here you must be enjoying the freak show, so let’s get started.
POG has a board meeting that talks about Kaito solving too many puzzles and the true power of his armlet. Curious at his true power, they decide to fly on over to his school and invite him to POG’s headquarters and prod him a bit with puzzles. Better than just speculating together in a dark room I suppose. So as Kaito chows down in the super special GENIUS PUZZLE SOLVERS ONLY cafeteria, POG just lands their air craft in the school’s field like it’s nobody’s business.
No one expected this arrival, not even the suspicious principal who apparently took Kaito in as a guardian after his parents died! Fancy that! Kaito’s depressing childhood aside, there is a private aircraft for them to ride in! They specifically ask that only Kaito comes with them, but everyone else packs on anyways. Only Da Vinci and Edison stay behind out of disinterest…Seemingly. Edison is still a bit too fixated on Kaito than one would deem healthy, and has placed a tracking device on him accordingly.
Spot the derp! Oh wait, it’s everywhere…
On the plane ride to the elite puzzle facility, Sheepfro’s henchman Bishop explains Kaito’s armlet to him. It simply enhances his neural activity so he can solve puzzles faster. It’s just working with what he’s already got up there in his noggin. Somehow, he’s still insulted by its presence and feels the need to prove himself. The terse conversation ends and they descend into a facility that I can only describe as WAY too lavish to be a centre for…solving puzzles. Apparently Kaito went to this huge puzzle institute when he was little, so a place the size of Disney Land just full of puzzles doesn’t shock him.
Upon arrival they are treated to…puzzles. Kaito came to talk to the head of POG, but he won’t even look at them until they get past some warm-up challenges. Kaito has actually done all of these puzzles before, so he lets Galileo take the spotlight and do all the work. He solves a rubix-cube tower and..Nonoha almost falls off. Then he solves a Stonehenge problem…and Nonoha almost falls off again. WELP, SO MUCH FOR HER USEFUL STREAK.
Welcome to episode 5 of Phi Brain: Galileo and Nonoha do things…and there is also Kaito sometimes
The third puzzle takes a bit longer to solve. You have to ride a glowing platform across a chasm in a certain order so that all the platforms fall and all the lights turn off. Kaito stays behind as Galileo drags Nonoha around like a rag doll. During the puzzle, Kaito starts to notice that all the puzzles around them are puzzles he loved when he was a kid. It’s almost like his long lost childhood friend was behind all this!
Kaito’s flashbacks suddenly reveal a very important tidbit of information – his parents died solving this exact same puzzle. Kaito tries to warn them, but their platform has already disappeared under their feet. Luckily, Galileo is a TANK and pulls them both up after grabbing onto a ledge. Kaito still sobs like a lunatic about how much he hates puzzles for killing his parents, with his armlet providing mood-setting disco lights the entire time.
Galileo and Nonoha swiftly finish the puzzle and go back to console Kaito. It doesn’t work. That’s when Jikugawa and Edison appear (they stole Galileo’s bike) and tell them to use the power of Nonoha’s cookies! They taste normal to everyone but Kaito. The emotional moment is forever ruined by Galileo facepalming Kaito with cookies. At the very least, he snaps out of his funk. However, Sheepfro is not impressed and kicks them out. A good move, because Kaito has now encountered a puzzle block where he simply cannot solve any puzzle for the life of him. This is a bad in an anime ABOUT PUZZLES.
Hey, I finally get character develo-GRHRHRRRRHH
IT’S PUZZLE TIME:
Roll over, boy! Roll over! Roll over and you get the yummy doggy biscuit!
It’s like that one bug gym in Pokemon! Don’t know what I’m talking about? No..? Okay…
Little did they know, the bottom of the pit was padded and had an endless supply of kittens and candy.
WHOA, I never taught him THAT trick before!
End Thoughts: Dare I say that Phi Brain was actually very good this week? It was honest-to-goodness entertaining! It didn’t magically become deep or anything, but this episode had some great character development for Kaito. For 4 episodes he’s been nothing but an overconfident, capricious brat. This time around, he showed an emotion other than arrogance. I was wondering what Da Vinci meant when he mentioned Kaito’s underlying dislike for puzzles, and that was immediately answered. Puzzles murdered his parents. It was only when they started to shove cookies into his mouth that I recovered from almost feeling bad for him and realized how ridiculous the situation was. Instead of wanting revenge on a villain who had murdered his parents, he wanted revenge on a puzzle. He had a complex. ABOUT PUZZLES. I’m sure if our world actually revolved around puzzles, I’d actually shed a tear. This isn’t the case though, so his backstory is essentially cheesier than a brick of cheese with melted cheese on top of it.
As laughable as the turn of events are, it’s an interesting development. We’re finally diverging from the “puzzle of the week” syndrome and getting into an overarching plot. Kaito won’t be able to do so much as a crossword until he overcomes his trauma. I hope this takes more than just one episode, although the preview does show some glowy-glowy-bling-bling action from his bracelet. It would be nice to have him gradually accept puzzles as friends and heal over a 2-3 episode span. He needs to eat some humble pie, afterall. Not only that, I love seeing Galileo in action solving puzzles and furtively trying to hog Nonoha all to himself. I’m rooting for the guy, I really am.
I get the feeling that Sheepfro doesn’t really want to hurt Kaito like a regular villain would, but he wants to see Kaito reach his full potential. Whether it’s to solve the Divine Puzzle or for his own personal reasons, well, I can’t tell. Based on their childhood promise to always trust in puzzles though, I get the feeling he really loves puzzles and wants to re-ignite Kaito’s love for them as well. It seems like there’s some sort of kindness underneath all that smirking and randomly placing chess pieces on a board by himself in the dark. He’s an interesting villain to watch, along with the whole of POG who seem to be awfully shady. I’m sure they’ll interfere with Kaito and his friends again sometime in the future, and their puzzle won’t be sliding around a few blocks here and there. It will be..deadly!
Preview: Please tell me Kaito doesn’t get his powers back. Please. (His bracelet is shining blue like in this episode instead of gold, so that’s good). Anyways, Kaito is momentarily out of commission so Galileo has to do all the work. Kaito uselessly tags along to see that the Giver is a totally bonkers, homicidal-looking shrine maiden. Middle-aged city explosion man ain’t got NOTHING on this chick.
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.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Serious Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Kingdom and Battle City vibes from this episode. It brought up a lot of nostalgia with all the different challenge arenas.
It’s a good thing Galileo is there to put a little craziness in the show. He’s the complete opposite of Kaito, making things a little more fun, so they complete each other. I knew I noticed familiar in Galileo’s constant mood swinging attitude. He has Rokuro’s (Deadman Wonderland) insane ranting personality. And what do you know? They’re both played by Jun Fukuyama. I imagine Hime is squealing as we speak.
The preview for the next episode looks promising, especially with that homicidal-looking shrine maiden who looks like a demon straight out of Inuyasha. I see possible yandere material. Pleaseee, let her be a yandere!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Precious, precious nostalgia. I appreciate Galileo shaking things up as well. I dunno if Hime is still watching this, but I’m pretty sure she loves anything with Jun in it no matter what kind of crazy voice he’s using. XD
I hope she’s a yandere too! A crazy, puzzle-loving yandere!
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 58 comments
I felt like a terrible person after watching this episode…As Kaito’s terribly sad past that orphaned him flashed by the screen, I couldn’t stop laughing at:
“The puzzles can just go away!!!”
so, want an awesome scholarship with free food? PUZZLES
want to be popular(ish) and revered by fellow students? PUZZLES
want to participate in life-threatening adventures? PUZZLES
want to potentially destroy a town, orphan children and cause mental breakdowns? P.U.Z.Z.L.E.S.
puzzles… SERIOUS BUSINESS o_o
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
We all laughed. Don’t feel bad. That’s why we watch the show, because puzzles are GODS and it’s hilarious.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
That was exciting, but Kaito cried and I laughed. And yes I know what bugger gym you’re talking about. Damn that bugger gym! I so love this show! Its so fun to tease. Awee I’m sorry show its okay ^_^
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Phi Brain is like that one friend you always make fun of, because it’s just so easy.
I’m so glad someone knows what I’m talking about with the Pokemon gym XD
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 48 comments
Most of the entertainment parts came from watching Gammon and Nonoha. I found the back story of Kaito to be a tad overzealous. What kind of parent left their child unattended and alone inside an underground caves with puzzles?
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I love those two, they’re a nice diversion from Kaito. This entire show is pretty ridiculous in nature, so I wasn’t surprised his past would be so corny. I don’t know why the hell they brought him on a life-threatening puzzle adventure either. Poor parenting skills :/
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
“Aargh! That’s the puzzle that killed my parents!” How awesome can this show get?
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
I know right? Who’d expect that the death of his parents was from.. dun dun dun.. a puzzle!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Best anime death ever.
POWUH: 400-499 with 406 comments
This show is actually really entertaining. I came in watching with low standards, but now I am quite excited.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It certainly entertains week to week. Dem puzzles, man.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Welcome to episode 5 of Phi Brain: Galileo and Nonoha do things…and there is also Kaito sometimes << LOL Yes! 100% Oh ma god Puzzles pwned my parents! Wow that is some amazing stuff right there xD And Galileo X Nanoha forever!! Well long as she keeps making cookies and does awesome stuffs.
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
I was expecting that Nanoha would one day kick Galileo’s butt but either way it’s all good and entertaining.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
If he ever cops a feel, I’m sure she’ll kick his ass~
POWUH: 500-599 and The Trapolicious Treasurer with 599 comments
This episode was entertaining but dramatic as Kaito goes down puzzle memory lane leading to his traumatic experience of his parents death by puzzles. We can’t forget the creepy childhood friend watching in the dark. XD Why does the cookies only taste horrific to Kaito? Hahaha
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Kaito must have some sort of weird, mutant tastebuds or something…I don’t even know how to explain half of the stuff that happens in this show u.u
POWUH: 400-499 with 489 comments
I get the weird feeling little kuriboh is gonna find this anime and do an abridged series. It’s so similar to yu gi oh
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I WISH THIS WOULD HAPPEN. PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
POWUH: 400-499 with 489 comments
ohhh yes I can see it now, and it awesome.
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 38 comments
Oh god I’m late to this party but man, this derp! You’ve got to admit derp, derp wouldn’t derp such a derpy show if derp didn’t derp such derpy art and derpy story and derpy everything derp derp. By the way, you can’t spell deep without misspelling it as derp because that’s what Phi Brain: Derp no derp is about! Derp’s why derp has derp in derp’s title, ha-derp-ha.
I guess this comment was pretty derp, so I’d just like to say that in Soviet Russia, puzzles are scared of you! Cause, the Russians invented Tetris, right? And you control those tetrominos, right? And when they form a line, they disappear, right?
Yeah, that’s those puzzles dying. You puzzle murderer.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
lol, I think your comment doesn’t have nearly enough derp in it.