Phi Brain S2 – 02

“If you lose, we blow up the school!” Is she kidding? I’ve dreamed of this happening for my entire life!

To be honest, this is actually exam time for me. I have exams from this week all the way into next week, and I’ve trying to be studying all this time. I have an exam in a few hours. Somehow, I’ve managed to fit blogging first impressions for a bunch of shows, dealing with anitourney stuff and actually studying like I’m supposed to into my schedule. …Now that I’m done trying to brag about my oh-so-valiant efforts, I guess I can actually do my job and talk about Phi Brain.

Just a couple of minutes ago, Kaito solved Freecell’s Judgement Puzzle and narrowly escaped with his life. Now he has to stick his neck out again to solve Chieno’s Judgement Puzzle, or else they’ll blow up their school. Driven insane by her Phi earring and her love for a man who said her writing was not horrendous that one time, she’s out for blood. Despite never doing a lick of homework or studying, they’re concerned enough to challenge the puzzle and let Kaito risk his life again. Chieno and Freecell retreat to wait for Kaito at the finish line while Kaito runs into the puzzle – which takes up the entire school building.

Kaito is the only one allowed in the puzzle, so the rest of the Phi Brain kids just stand around and question why Chieno suddenly became such a bitch. The puzzle is a moving maze. Kaito has to progress to the 7th floor to get to the elevator, but Chieno will be opening and closing doors in three different patterns to block his passage. Kaito wins if he makes it to the elevator, and loses if he gets trapped in a hallway between two shut doors. Chieno can watch all of Kaito’s movements from the surveillance room, so she has the advantage. Still, Kaito accepts the challenge and begins the mad dash to the top.

Chieno actually didn’t make this puzzle when you think about it. She’s just really good at pressing buttons to kill people.

The puzzle turns out to be more demanding than Kaito thought. Not only does he have to predict her movements in order to not get trapped and react accordingly, but he has to be able to run and slide fast enough to get there. This is one of those puzzles where you need some physical prowess in order to successfully win. He’s having a hard time, but he’s making slow progress. Nonoha calls him in the middle of the deathmatch (guess there’s no time limit) to tell him that she noticed something different about Chieno. She had on an earring which is against school policies! Kaito, having telescope eyes, managed to see the intricate Orpheus armlet-like details on her earring from all the way on the ground, and immediately understands. That or he just guessed that anything shiny is probably some crazy Orpheus junk.

“…and then, like, Becky totally said…ohmahgawd…and then, like, Lance…” “NONOHA, I’M KIND OF BUSY”

Kaito can sympathize with being a crazy, bracelet-controlled freak, and he uses this as fuel to focus his mind. Pinochle prods Chieno a bit about her precious Jikugawa-senpai, and it eventually ruffles her feathers enough to push her into Phi Brain mode. Freecell notes her increase in brain capacity with glee. Of course, Kaito has his own trick up his sleeve. His eye doesn’t glow red anymore, but it does SEE INTO SPACE AND TIME FOREVERMORE. Pretty neat, huh? He uses that to his advantage and outwits Chieno to get to the elevator.

Their confrontation is pretty short. Her earring shatters by itself and she falls down (no one catches her), reverting back to her normal self. She’s ashamed of what she’s done, but everyone forgives her because it was the earring that made her nuts. By now, the other Phi Brain kids have rushed to the roof as well to make sure everyone is okay. Now Jikugawa can give Chieno the nice, romantic speech she’s been waiting for…about how her ability to be a good secretary defines her as a person. Get back to work, woman! What would we do if we didn’t have you to do all the menial labour?!

Anyways, Chieno is accounted for, but the Orpheus Order is still watching everyone with cruel eyes. They worship Orpheus, and their mission is to force their religion on everyone else. They also collected some ‘good data’ from having Chieno’s brain capacity grow and seeing Kaito’s potential as well. Kaito destroyed his armlet, so he’s their natural enemy. That, and Freecell has some beef with him from the past that he refuses to talk about. He catches a punch without flinching and then leaps over the edge of the building with his lackies. They’ve escaped…for now. If things weren’t mysterious enough, there is a dude watching from MILES away as if he can actually see what is going on. He is mysterious, and that is all we know right now.

Bonus Puzzles:

Sensodyne toothpaste! For those with sensitive who also want to stop steel doors in their tracks with just a grin! CALL NOW!

*livetweets his soul-eroding, life-extinguishing puzzles with joy*

Tips from a black belt: you don’t have to jump 4 feet in the air to punch a dude. It’s a SLIGHT giveaway.

I’m just quietly waiting for him to reveal that he’s ripped like Rook was

SERIOUSLY. WHO IN THE ACTUAL FU*K IS THIS GUY.

End Thoughts:

I was surprised the villains actually stayed around to serve Kaito a double down puzzle. Usually they make Kaito solve a puzzle, retreat, then come back, then retreat etc. etc. ad nauseam.  The Orpheus Order has less of a chance of running out of steam given how many brilliant members they have (compared to the mediocre side characters Givers in the POG) and the fact that they can just slip some jewellery on a random bystander to win them over. Not everyone should be able to wear an Orpheus armlet (let’s not forget that Jikugawa was rejected), so either the criteria for being able to go into Phi Brain mode is kind of whack or the Orpheus bling they’re sticking on people is just a cheap knockoff. It’s like what you’d get if you tried to buy an Orpheus armlet from China Town. I’m under the impression that they’re making their own line of Orpheus jewellery so that even those rejected by the Orpheus armlet will have a nice alternative to becoming a brilliant yet slightly psychotic new person. This is likely how he’s going to convert all of Kaito’s friends into his enemies. It’s just as ridiculous of a motive as you would expect of Phi Brain…if it’s not a God Scroll, it’s forcing your mind-controlling devices on people because it’s just sooooo great.

The puzzle quality is still very high for season 2, and the 1vs1 maze is proof of that. Instead of just watching Kaito, Chieno gets to actively open and close doors to try and outsmart Kaito. It makes things more interesting, because both parties are wracking their brains at the same time. It was such a fast-paced puzzle too. I loved how Kaito didn’t get a break, so he had to SPRINT everywhere and slide under doors just to make it on time. Well, until Nonoha called. Then he was totally just chilling and walking around casually. Otherwise, it was a pretty intense match between the two. I’m not sure why they kept referring to it as HER puzzle though, when it was clearly the Orpheus Order that made both a pyramid AND a maze puzzle in the same night.Or maybe they did it over a weekend and no one noticed…? I imagine everyone just stays inside doing sudoku all day on weekends instead of partying. Or rather, that is their party.

Season 2’s biggest highlight so far really seems to be the Orpheus Order though. I can’t wait to see what they’re all individually like, and why they think the world should be filled with Orpheus earrings, Orpheus rings, Orpheus noserings and Orpheus lawnmowers. Their hatred for Kaito is frightening, although I’m sure it’s also fueled by the past issues he had with Freecell. I can’t wait for that to come into light. I’m hoping the fact that they hate those who have forsaken the Orpheus armlet to mean that they also hate Rook. Why? Because then they’ll have to challenge Rook to a puzzle! Maybe he’ll even get to team up with Kaito? This is all EXTREMELY wishful thinking seeing as he’s not even in the OP, but it makes no sense for them to target just Kaito if their main reason is “he threw away the armlet.” In the end, Kaito will show them that being able to reject the armlet is actually the real next step in evolution. Kaito’s eye no longer glows red, but he can still enter an accelerated thought mode without losing his sanity. A much better trade-off, I’d say. Phi Brain is as stupid and wonderful as always…looking forward to next week so I can learn more about the badass Orpheus Order!

Preview: The Orpheus Order is still striking like a viper, and their next puzzle seems to have Nonoha’s life at stake. But what’s this…why is that dorky Kaito-fangirl the one solving it instead of Kaito? What is he even doing this episode?

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.