Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

'''Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS' is the sixth Yu-Gi-Oh!'' anime series and the fifth main spin-off series, which began airing in Japan on May 10, 2017. It airs in Japan every Wednesday at 6:25 pm Japanese Standard Time instead of the usual Sundays as with the previous series does. This series airs alongside reruns of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL as part of BS Japan's ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Hour'' block.

As of June 1st, 2017, Crunchyroll began airing the show with legal subtitles. Future episodes will be simulcast.

The series stars Yusaku Fujiki as the main protagonist, and takes place in a high-school setting, featuring Virtual Reality Duels in a cyberspace constructed with LINK VRAINS, the latest in virtual-reality technology. As with the previous three spin-off series, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, ZEXAL and ARC-V, VRAINS introduces and focuses on a new type of Summoning, Link Summoning.

Story
The series is based in a world roughly 10 years from now where a massive Virtual Reality Network called LINK VRAINS has been established. It’s a suspense thriller style story where Yusaku fights in order to learn the truth of events in the past.

The sixth series focuses on Yusaku Fujiki, a high-schooler and a hacker who doesn't like standing out. However, he gets drawn into encounters with people as he tries out Dueling for once.

There is a city where network systems have evolved: Den City. In this city, with the advanced network technology developed by the corporation "SOL Technology", a Virtual Reality space called "LINK VRAINS" (Link Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System) has been developed. By using LINK VRAINS which was built inside the Network System, Duels unfold where Duelists change their appearance separate from their real life identities, and in this VR Space people became excited over the latest way to Duel.

However, in "LINK VRAINS", a mysterious hacker group that hacks via Dueling has appeared: The Knights of Hanoi. Their goal is to destroy the "AI World" known as "Cyberse" that exists somewhere in the depths of the Network.

However, there is one Duelist who stands against the threat to "LINK VRAINS". His name is "Playmaker". He has become famous in the Network World for crushing the "Knights of Hanoi" in fierce Duels, without mentioning his name. But the true identity of "Playmaker" is ordinary high school student "Yusaku Fujiki", who pursues the "Knights of Hanoi" that appear in VRAINS in order to find out the truth of an incident that happened in his past.

The show's theme is "Take a step forward, and try!", on the premise that kids should start to try things out instead of just giving up at the first try due to being overwhelmed by information.

Etymology
VRAINS is a combination of the acronyms VR, AI, and NS, standing for Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Network System.

Development
As of episode 14, Masahiro Hosoda, due to unknown reasons, stepped down as Director and was replaced by Asano Katsuya. It's to be noted that as of this episode, the backgrounds of LINK VRAINS and the Link Summoning methods were changed and added more detail, possibly due to the change. Even the point gauge for the Link Monsters included Link Markers. Also another interesting thing is that since same episode, series is under supervision of Satou Tatsuo (best known as director of Martian Successor Nadesico series), who oversees Asano's direction of series.

Opening themes
Japanese opening theme 1: With The Wind
 * Performer: Hiroaki "Tommy" Tominaga
 * Episodes: 001-???

Ending themes
Japanese ending theme 1: Believe In Magic
 * Performer: Ryoga
 * Episodes: 001-???