Phi Brain – 16
“Gammon, we need to stop the boat now! I totally saw something shiny down there!”
Yep, I’m still here. I will be here as long as there are puzzles for me to solve *folds arms across chest smugly*. Although, technically I haven’t been solving ANY of these puzzles. I’m just far too lazy. I could pause and think…but I should probably use my brain power for studying. u_u So! Onwards to puzzles that I have no intention of attempting to solve before Gammon or Kaito do!
The gang has found themselves stranded in Italy after Jikugawa got them special plane tickets to avoid POG’s terrorist attacks. I kid you not, he tells them the POG have taken over every flight to Japan and made the planes puzzle death traps. This is, of course, a lie. That’s not Jikugawa – it’s an imposter pretending to be him! The only one to notice is Gammon for some reason, though – but he goes along with it anyways. As a result, everyone is forced to lay low in Italy until they deem it safe to move again. Kaito is still a bit listless, so he stays in the hotel while Ana, Nonoha and Gammon have a relaxing Gondola ride.
Ana and Nonoha get off the boat when it docks to bring back some food for Gammon, but it’s gone as soon as they leave. Hmm, considering that we saw Gammon in a deathly gondola puzzle in the preview, I wonder why this is? Oh, it’s because a Giver is steering the gondola and is about to force a vicious puzzle on him! He turns on the motor and moves to thew starting point where he explains the objective of the puzzle: make it to the end within the time limit, passing through each gate in order. He can only turn on a curve, not on 90 degree angles – or else the boat will crash and explode. He’s also chained to the boat, so he can’t escape. If he just waits for the time to run out, there’s also a punishment of the explosive kind awaiting him. After all that, Gammon simply shrugs and goes on his merry way.
You guys could have just printed out a Mapquest page to make this easier.
The puzzle doesn’t pose much of a problem for Galileo in the beginning, although he barely makes it through the gates on time even without hesitating. Nonoha and Ana catch a glimpse of him racing by and quickly call up Kaito to try and save him. This is a really, really good idea considering that the puzzle gets gradually harder…to the point where there is no solution. Gammon goes in circles until Kaito leaps onto his gondola, activates Phi Brain mode, and takes control of the boat. He defeats the unsolvable puzzle by using the rising tide and resulting wider canals to turn on the dreaded 90 degree angle route and make it to the goal just in time. Ana and Nonoha make a big fuss over Kaito while Gammon quietly swims away looking absolutely livid. Once again, he needed Kaito’s help.
No, I didn’t forget about Rook and Jikugawa. The whole time the puzzle was going on, Jikugawa was visiting Rook and trying to get him to talk about Kaito and the Phi Brain project. Rook refuses to co-operate, so Jikugawa suggests that they can use a game of chess to decide if he’ll answer anything. Jikugawa loses, but he does see Rook’s reaction to everything he says about Kaito. He also sees firsthand the fawning look in his eyes when he watches Kaito solve a puzzle to save Gammon. Just by him saying “that bitch…” when Nonoha revived him, it reveals that he may want Kaito in Phi Brain mode permanently. Jikugawa may have lost now, but he certainly didn’t lose in the long run.
Bonus Screenshots:
“Look, shut up. The last thing I need is to be worse off than a freaking clown.”
It’s a nice view until it all shifts into Kaito porn
Remind me again why Nonoha was given a title after a nurse?
*Mini-Kaitogasm*
End Thoughts: I was wrong – this was the complete opposite of a Gammon and Kaito fanservice episode. Instead of them growing closer together, they’ve become even more at odds than the beginning of the series where Gammon strung him up from the roof by his ankles. That really says a lot for his growing frustration. I’m not quite sure Kaito is deserving of all this hatred right now though. Yes, it’s been established that I think Kaito is a jerk – but you generally do not hold grudges when someone saves your life. I expected at least some sort of tsundere “thank you” uttered at the end, but now Gammon is being just as stubborn as Kaito. Ah, the trouble with men and their pride…they can’t have people helping them. It’s an interesting change to see Gammon so openly defiant to Kaito without any sort of friendliness or protective aura underneath. I wonder just how long he’s going to be mad at him. Not forever, of course. If Gammon really hated him, he wouldn’t care what Kaito thought at all. But he does, and he wants to be Kaito’s equal…or better.
I liked Gammon’s change in character and all the references to Galileo and his discovery of the sun revolving around the earth – but I thought the puzzle he was given to be on the dull side. Sure, it’s clever to use Veice’s waterways as a puzzle (assuming there are somehow NO OTHER gondolas out at that time) but it wasn’t one of the better ones in this series. Jikugawa’s chess match with Rook was actually much more fun to watch. When Jikugawa proposed a chess match, I waved it off as a futile move on his behalf since Rook is such a prodigy at puzzles. However, his overconfidence threw me off. Jikugawa is not a cocky character – in fact, he’s incredibly humble and acknowledges that the Orpheus Bracelet didn’t accept him. That got me confused. “Maybe he’s only good at making puzzles and not solving them…” I began to think. Then, of course, Rook destroyed him. =_= Phi Brain tricked me…I feel worthless.
Jikugawa actually got a lot of info out of Rook despite him not saying anything. Lucky us, getting closeups of his twitching face and narrowing eyes when Jikugawa was treading on dangerous territory with his words. He really doesn’t want to be reasoned with or have anyone dissuade him. Maybe because he secretly has some doubts? Not that he cares about killing Kaito’s friends or anything, he just seems a bit unsure what is best for Kaito since he’s starting to rebel now. Kaito knows his motives now, so he can lash out by screaming at him through Rook’s ubiquitous camera system. As for now, I don’t expect any quick changes in Rook. Did you see his eyes gleam with joy when Kaito came onscreen? Rook…ARE YOU YUNO? Stop being such a creep…I bet he has cameras set up in Kaito’s bedroom and bathroom too. <_<
Preview: The Principal finally gets involved in things more than just planning from the shadows. The POG may have kidnapped him, and now Kaito and friends have to face the same (or similar? All puzzles are looking the same at this point) puzzle that ruthlessly murdered his parents. LOOKS GOOD.
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: Lovely-pyon~ with 338 comments
Omg Rook and Yuno are cousins!! True story! Awesome episode. Are we in for another Kaito metdown when he sees the puzzle related to his parents. I SURE HOPE SO!!
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I hope so too, I love when he goes berserk XD The more Kaito suffers, the happier I am.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Gammon and Kaito are in Italy facing a dangerous puzzle. “Requiescat en Pace” my friends. I didn’t notice it before but everyone was in the very birth country of the actual Da Vinci and Galileo. What a coincidence.
Gammon is definitely a genius for noticing the small details like the free tickets and gondola ride being a setup and remembering Jikugawa only drinks apple juice. It’s not everyday you have a character who realizes his personality is slowly changing.
Interrogation by chess and with a loss. That’s a pretty inventive technique. Rook is more screwed than I thought if he’s driven by selfishness and jealousy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Yeah, he’s pretty sharp to notice when no one else did. I still wonder why he didn’t tell anyone else about it though (or just not accept the tickets).
Rook is pretty messed up. He just sits in a dark room all day staring at footage of Kaito and mumbling to himself <_< He really needs...more in his life...
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
The chess match is based on a real game, Reti vs Tartakower, played in 1910.
Here it is at chessgames.com (Java required)
The real game was blitz. I think 10 sec per move, but I’m not sure.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Wow, I had no clue this was based on a real game. Thanks! That’s actually really cool!