Phi Brain S3 – 03
She’s been practicing.
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Ahhhh, Phi Brain. What more is there to say? We were promised Raetsel coming to Root Academy to spice things up and Jin going nuts. That’s…pretty much what happens. Although there is a bit of a twist at the end. Phi Brain likes to be predictable, but only up until a certain point where it decides to throw logic to the wind just to mess with ya. |
Root Academy is getting mighty crowded. Not only is Jin hovering around, but now Raetsel is there to constantly stir up trouble. The irony is that she’s actually not there to try and assassinate Kaito. Instead of working on evil plans to carry out her goal of killing all puzzlers, she just fawns over Jin. Yes, she’s really just there to be closer to her childhood friend. These Master Brains can pop up to try and kill people at any time, so transferring to the school really isn’t much of a strategic advantage for her. When you can just fly in one day with a mini airship and Kaito just obediently hops on, you really don’t need to do any ice-breaking first.
Outsmarting these 3 isn’t a very daunting task…
This says a lot about Raetsel’s intentions. Like most Phi Brain main villains, she’s just ~misunderstood~ and ~confused.~ She’s blindly following the orders of Jin because he’s all that matters in her life. Ana is almost always right and he says that Raetsel is in love, so she must have gotten extremely attached to Jin over that one year or so of time with him. I’m assuming he saved her somehow and that’s why she’s so hung up on him. I doubt it’s for his good looks since he wears an XXL t-shirt and sandals like some sort of vagabond.
I think we’ll end up seeing that Enigma is the real bad guy here. Raetsel has more sentimental reasons for doing this whereas it seems to be cold, hard business for Enigma. As soon as Jin likes puzzles again, Raetsel will too. It will be a lot harder to convince someone like Enigma who seems to be doing it for other reasons. The Master Brains are doing it for money, but Enigma is rich. Why on earth would he care about eliminating puzzlers? There’s clearly a lot more to learn about him and his secret motives. The fact that he wears an ascot means he’s even richer than the luxurious dinners suggest. Ascot-level richness is unfathomable! What else could he want?!
I love how each week has a different type of cuisine and Raetsel always dresses up for it
It was kind of nice to see Raetsel get angry when Masaka Jin (my subs couldn’t find an english equivalent of that joke, but that name roughly means “No way, it’s Jin!” or “I can’t believe it’s Jin!”) posed as her precious friend. This season is already proving to be less cut and dry, with villains who are more in that moral grey area mixed among the complete nutters. So far the grunt of the week has always been flamboyant and insane, and I am totally okay with this being the trend.
Masaka Jin’s puzzle was standard, but still fun. The sliding maze was like a harder version of the first episode (Season 1) maze that Minotaur built. Nice to see them constantly upping the ante! Another thing I like about these new lackeys is that they cheat all the time. Even if you’re good at puzzles, someone is gonna mess you up by playing dirty. This adds some extra tension to the puzzles, and makes Kaito have to solve them in impossible ways. I love when Kaito has to pull a solution out of his ass. The maze obviously wasn’t supposed to be solved by jumping from a moving segment before it plummets into the water, but Kaito worked it out somehow. It wasn’t a hard puzzle by a long shot since Kaito didn’t have to stop and think, but it was exciting because of all the cheating. Oh, and it was in the air. That was pretty sweet.
Unfortunately, a lot of the time that wasn’t spent solving puzzles was a bit dull. I’ve lost interest in one-time use characters like Chieno, Airi, Elena and the puzzle club bros and all attempts to give them more screentime is just annoying. Even the main stuff surrounding Jin was a bit irritating to watch. Kaito and Gammon bring out the bitchiest sides of each other, and it’s so frustrating to see them fail at having a normal conversation. Gammon’s normal volume is accusatory yelling while Kaito would rather give you the cold shoulder than explain even a tiny bit about what he’s thinking. The miscommunication between them just adds unnecessary drama. Yes, we get that everyone is conflicted about who Jin really is…but there are better ways of showing us this than having eceryone yell “YOU’RE WRONG” at each other.
On that note, having a fake Jin was a really dumb way to trick us in last week’s preview. Ugh. Then again, seeing Jin pull a Kaito face at the Baron while Gammon stares in full-on horror was one of the best parts of the episode. Alright, Masaka Jin, I suppose you served a purpose. If we get a Masakanoue Gammon or a Nisemononoha in a future episode I’m not going to be happy though…
Preview: More shenanigans, basically. There’s a BBQ that somehow turns into a puzzle battle against a guy with an ugly moustache. Not that there is such a thing as a pretty moustache. His opponent is Cubic, which is exciting since he usually doesn’t get to do much despite being a child prodigy. Even better, THEY BOTH HAVE ROBOTS. I know the end battle is s sudoku thing but…are you thinking what I’m thinking? UH HUH, ROBOT PUZZLE BATTLE!!!!! Oh, and some stuff about Raetsel’s past with Jin. Yeah, whatever. LOOKIT THE ROBOTS!
He auditioned to be in Valvrave, but didn’t quite make the cut
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: Novice (36-50) with 37 comments
Aaah, I’m relieved that Jin was a fake…although I was having a grand ol’ time watching him skip around school like a cuckoolander- and THAT FACE when he was hiding from the principle! You know the one. I’m guessing the Jin quietly listening to classical music was the real one. I’m glad to see Baron’s still keeping an eye on his best friend.
Raetsel is sooooo in love the the sloppy unshaven Jin, and I am sooooo in love with her dining attire in this episode lol. I’m pretty curious as to what Enigma’s endgame is (pun intended)- it’s probably just as you say, he’ll probably end up as the main villain. I’m getting some major Whist vibes from him.
So I’m not a very big fan of Cubic, but I’m still pretty excited for next week’s episode because Nonoha looks adorable with a hat on XD. And am I the only one who thinks that old guy might be Cubic’s relative?! I mean, they both have the same hairstyle…and they both wield robots! I hope it’s true, because the kid needs some development.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It was pretty amusing seeing him that daffy. Especially since Jin is usually so nonchalent. The real Jin seems a lot more boring in comparison now.
Next week should be good even if you don’t like Cubic. Robots and alternate BBQ outfits? I’m so there. I’ll be so disturbed if that is Cubic’s long-lost father though….
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 39 comments
Oh gosh. You sounded just like foshizell at the preview cover. Lol
phi brain has been realy delitfull until now, i couldn’t maratone as i wanted to as my mom felt bad and we had to run for the hospital, my boss got all bitchy whit me today because i was late to work and i kind of didn’t wanted to pull up the my mother has cancer card so i just got hear quietly while she talked non-stop.
I watched episodes three and four tho and finded pretty exiting, i got my best friend to have a look on phi brain too (yeah I AM spreading the holy all mighty puzzle word lol) i alredy fall in love whit nonoha since she is the only one who goes WTF!!! Whit the puzzles like i do lol. But really destroy a hole city is a litle too much isn’t it, kaito on morpheus mode is awesome id love to just tell people to shut up like that lol.
Sorry for being naggyn you guys this week teling about my personal life it just makes me fell a litle better after such a crappy day. Also thaks for recomending this series for me cool im realy enjoing watching for now if my friends also like you will have some couple of braziliam puzzle-lovers lol
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I hope your mom is feeling better now. Don’t be afraid to tell your boss about your situation though. It’s not begging for pity, it’s presenting a suitable excuse. Better than your boss nagging you because they assume you were late out of pure laziness.
Anyways, I somehow have a lot of friends who like Phi Brain as well and we reference it every time we see anything remotely resembling a puzzle. It’s such a wonderful series to fangirl/fanboy over with others. I almost forgot about the Orpheus ring…that seems like it was so long ago now!
POWUH: Novice (36-50) with 39 comments
Oh i don’t think im beging for pitty but isn’t that what most of people feel in those situations? I just HATE people feeling sorry for me.
and i know that isn’t right for me to not tell her but i just couldn’t.
Thank you my mother is alright she was just feeling a litle dizzy but as i am such a scared cat about this stuff i convinced her to go to the hospital whit me. It’s realy kind of you for tanking some of your time to talk about my situation thougt it’s not very much of a thing to talk about sorry i was inapropiate.
Also cool lovely cover on pokemon origins, hope everything is alright on school and/or work for you since i don’t know how old you are but i bieleve you must be about 5 years older than me; just saing that because my mom says we should be as much kind as somoene is whit us but… lol i don’t know anything about you. Hahahahaha
You are lucky to have close friends who like phi brain , none of my friends like madoka =p they didn’t iven watched but aniway thank you againg when i finished watching the first season of PB will give you some of my thougts so i can stop naging everyone whit my crazy coments =D.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
This post came faster than I expected. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that happen.
Last week’s preview had me worried but now there’s only relief. That fake Jin was so pathetic; it was painful to watch his antics. If you’re impersonating someone, make sure you study them enough to know all their mannerisms.
Raetsel may turn out to be eye candy for me throughout the third season’s run though she’s one of the antagonists. I still can’t get over how awesome her cat-like eyes are and she’s intimidating when she smiles. For a girl who appears lady-like, Raetsel sure has an appetite and was wearing a nice looking dress. Other than Nonoha, you don’t see girls in Phi Brain eating as much as she did. And it’s a variety of high class foods. Villains in this show are really filthy rich.
Enigma could very well be the true villain. Right now, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he’s manipulating Raetsel emotions for his own ends like Klondike did with Freecell and the Orpheus Order last season. Hence his lack of confidence in Raetsel’s vow to beat Kaito. He might have a replacement already on standby if things don’t turn out his way. The biggest mystery is his motivations for the entire operation.
Never question Ana’s foresight, no matter what it is. It’s still creepy how he manages stuff no one else could and that he has some kind of supernatural connection with anything.
So Cubic faces off in another solo puzzle next time. Out of the whole cast, I feel he’s the character that gets the least amount of screen time. They don’t make him seem as important as everyone else. The last time I remember him challenging a puzzle alone was in season 2 against Melancholy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
The speed at which I blog depends 100% on how much work I have to do. :B
Haha, you like Raetsel? She is pretty cute. I like her style. She’s got a nice fashion sense, and the special “dinner” outfits are nice too. The only girl in the show who’s really girly is Elena. Everyone else has a bit of a tomboy side. It’s neat!
Enigma is already meddling in Raetsel’s plans so I bet he’ll do it again. It’s gonna be an interesting series of villains, that’s for sure.
Poor Cubic! He hardly ever gets screentime, right? And when he does, he usually loses =A=
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Totally lost it with the Masaka Jin naming. Based Koyasu Takehito with his excellent acting here, even as a grunt posing as Jin.
And at least this puzzle was already setup unlike last episode with the thousand spikes underground. Again, the sheer size and ridiculousness of the puzzles is what I love about this show. Though this puzzle doesn’t seem as dangerous if that Masaka Jin could survive that fall in the lake. They made it seem fatal if Kaito failed. Probably didn’t think this through I guess.
You forgot to mention the monocle and top hat. Adds more to the sophistication of the enemy for next week. From a clown to a fake to a gentleman in a freaking robot. This season’s enemies are cranked up to 11. This show never fails to amuse me every week.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
SO GOOD.
It’s amazing how fast they build these things. The airship was impressive. Not sure what the use of it was if falling from it doesn’t kill anyone though. That was definitely…off.
I was too distracted by the giant robot to notice the gentlemanly accessories. My bad! Oh man, next week is gonna be fun.