Akira Zaizen

Akira Zaizen (, Zaizen Akira) is a character appearing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime and is the older step-brother of Yusaku's classmate Aoi Zaizen. He is the former security manager of SOL Technologies.

Appearance
Akira is a fair skinned young man with blue and teal hair and pink eyes. He wears a suit which consists of a blue coat with a darker one underneath, a white shirt, and a black tie. He also sports blue trousers and black shoes.

Personality
Akira is a man who values work above all other things. Despite this, he appears to genuinely care for Aoi, and seems to be rather protective of her as he advises her to quit Speed Dueling out of concern for her safety, and when he is asked whether Blue Angel will duel Playmaker, he says no so as to protect her. Akira is generally calm and cool headed most of the time but he can also be stubbornly aggressive especially when Aoi is in danger. This is seen when he lost his cool when he was unable to stop the Duel between her and Playmaker, and when she fell into a coma after the duel he ruthlessly tortured Playmaker whom he believed was responsible for her condition. He is not above admitting his mistakes however and felt remorse for what he did to Playmaker after learning the truth.

Etymology
"Akira"「晃」means "bright" or "clearness". "Zaizen"「財前」can be translated as "before wealth" or "before riches".

History
Ten years ago, Akira and Aoi's parents had a wedding and as they went to an anniversary, their parents died in a traffic accident. Akira and Aoi were left alone, and their possessions were sold out, including their manor. Akira had to do a lot of illegal work, but Aoi made him happy, and Akira swore to protect that smile. Akira worked hard and was promoted to security manager for SOL Technologies - all to protect Aoi from suffering. Aoi cried a lot for the disappearance of her parents, feeling alone and miserable. To cheer her up, Akira read her the story of "Blue Angel", which made Aoi happier.

Hanoi
At SOL Technologies headquarters, Akira informed Bishop that Ignis was inside of the network. Bishop reminded that SOL Technologies has been the leading force in the network for many years and that is all thanks to the data material that has been created from Cyberse, but five years ago due the attack from the Knights of Hanoi, Ai hid the Cyberse somewhere inside the network. Akira added that due to the removal of Cyberse the supply of data material had steadily been decreasing and the performance of the network had fallen by 30%. To save their company, Bishop ordered Akira to find Ai and to determine the location of Cyberse. Shortly after, he informed Bishop that the preparations for the scan was complete but was worried about the decline of the security during the scan and that there will enormous damage if the Knights attack at this moment. Shortly after, Akira looked at the SOL Technology's staff performed a City Scan in order to search for Ai and got frustrated when the Knights of Hanoi decided to attack as LINK VRAINS defenses would be left vulnerable at that point. He was surprised that Ai was bonded to Playmarker's Duel Disk and asked what happened when a mysterious light go out from Playmarker's Duel Disk.

During the Duel between Playmaker and a Knight of Hanoi, he was surprised that Playmaker summoned a Cyberse monster and wondered why he had those monsters. After Playmaker defeated the Knight, Akira wondered if Playmaker and Ai have teamed up. He, Bishop, Knight and Rook discussed the incident caused by the Duel between Playmaker and Knight of Hanoi. Rook proposed to close down Link VRAINS and perform some maintenance. Knight added that there were some reckless individuals who appeared and it might result in injuries. However, Akira didn't think it would be a good idea to shut down Link VRAINS for their company didn't decrease in profits and the Data Storm was confirmation that Cyberse was safe. He added that Ai was captured by a hacker named "Playmaker". When Knight asked Akira about Playmaker's identity, he answered that they devoted all their resource into investigating it. Rook reminded Akira that this was his job as the head of Security Department. Akira told them if they shutdown Links VRAINS and the battle between Playmaker and Hanoi moved elsewhere, they will lost Cyberse forever and suggested to restrict LINK VRAINS as a battlefield for Playmaker and Hanoi to capture Ai. Bishop agreed but warned that they won't accept failure.

Akira met with Emma Bessho and asked her to get information about Playmaker. When he learned about Go Onizuka and his manager, Akira was surprised that Go lived in a warehouse and thought he would have a lavish lifetime. Go's manager said that Go wasn't a Duelist who was after money. Akira asked Go to defeat Playmaker and retrieve the AI Program that he had. He offered him a D-Board for Speed Duels and explained Playmaker's AI program was originally created by SOL Technology, but due to certain events it fell into Playmaker's hands. He added that this AI program would determine the future of LINK VRAINS and if it fell into Hanoi's hand, LINK VRAINS would be destroyed. Akira wished for Go to protect LINK VRAINS and if he succeeded, SOL Technology would become his main sponsor. When Go refused and asked him to leave, Akira told him that he would come back later. He noticed a handmade championship belt and affirmed that many people wanted him to be champion. Before leaving, Akira told Go that if he changed his mind, he could contact him anytime.

When Go visited his office, Akira helped him by giving him Knight of Hanoi avatar so he can lure out Playmaker and Duel him. He then set up a trap to prevent Playmaker from logging out and watched the entire Duel between Playmaker and Go. After Playmaker defeated Go, Akira then left his office. Akira was then pursued by the media, feigning ignorance that he was responsible for setting up a Duel between Go and Playmaker. When they asked him whether there would be a match between Playmaker and Blue Angel, Akira told them that it would never happen. He then called Aoi and asked why she was unhappy and advised her to quit Speed Dueling because if something happened she would get hurt, to which Aoi timidly agreed. He then watched the Duel between Blue Angel and Playmaker and was angered that Aoi disobeyed his orders. When he saw Blue Angel summon Dark Angel, he went in panic and tried to stop the Duel between them.

After Playmaker defeated Blue Angel, Akira immediately called Aoi but Yusaku answered his call after finding Aoi's unconscious body and taking her to the hospital. He then went to hospital and attempt to follow her to emergency room but was stopped by a nurse. Akira met Yusaku and thanked him for saving his sister. He then asked doctor about Aoi's condition and learned that she is in coma and don't know when she'll wake up. Akira was then interrogated by Bishop, Knight, and Rook when they found out that Blue Angel was related to him and wondered if she was secretly working with Hanoi. After being threatened with losing his job, Akira asked Ema to help him trap Playmaker. After capturing Playmaker with LINK VRAINS, Akira questioned and tortured him while refusing to believe that Hanoi caused Aoi's comatose. However, when Revolver appeared and told Akira that he could capture Ai or save Aoi, he reluctantly freed Playmaker and apologized to him for violently torturing him. Akira then pleaded for Playmaker to save his sister and fight for him even if he hates him. Akira was also surprised when Playmaker told him he only hates Hanoi. As Revolver and Playmaker went away on their D-Boards, Akira had Ghost Girl follow them, and show the footage of their Duel. He also noted how his sister's fate would be determined by the outcome of Playmaker's Duel. As the beam of light was shot in the sky, Akira noted how he saw that in Playmaker's first Speed Duel. Akira ordered Ghost Girl to follow Revolver and Playmaker, but Ghost Girl was unable to enter the Data Storm. As Ghost Girl was helped by someone in entering the Data Storm, she had her cameras record the Duel between Revolver and Playmaker, allowing Akira to remotely see it.

After Playmaker used the program on Blue Angel to cure her, it made her disappear as well. Akira learned from Ghost Girl that Blue Angel logged out of LINK VRAINS and was happy. He wanted to thank Playmaker, who immediately logged out, and logged out as well. Akira stormed out and met up with Isomaki who was sent by Ghost Girl to take Akira to the hospital. There, Akira came to Aoi's bed and watched as she woke up from her coma. Aoi apologized for her actions, but Akira asked of her to rest. While Akira cried that she was restored, Aoi smiled, seeing how her brother cared for her.

Back at his office, Akira was approached by Hayami, who gave him coffee. However, she got too excited and spilled some coffee on the table. Akira forgave her, and asked about her work history. Hayami was thrilled, thinking how Akira cared about her, but he specified he only wished to know that as her boss. Hayami counted three years since her employement, as Akira noted she could not know the location of the incident that had happened ten years ago. Hayami confirmed this, since her specialty was managing equipment, which was stored in a special room inside SOL Technologies building. Akira was not pleased, since he could not touch the equipment that held the data. He left off to go to his house, while Hayami noted how cool he was, even if he was demoted. Elsewhere, Akira spoke to Emma, who noted even if Akira was involved in saving LINK VRAINS, he was still demoted. Akira was not displeased, since his wish to cure Aoi was fulfilled when Playmaker gave out the virus removal program. Emma stated Akira was replaced by his former boss Kitamura, whom Akira believed to be the one making the Duelist army that used AI, and would do anything to get results. Emma wished to know about Playmaker's incident ten years ago; since Akira knew nothing about it, Emma decided to make her search on her own, by hacking into SOL Technologies' data bank. Akira was shocked, but Emma claimed this was just to make connections with that company. Akira asked of her to give such data to him, but Emma stated she was not forced to do so, claiming he could pay her. Akira refused, and Emma grew disinterested of Akira. She left, claiming Playmaker could buy such data to know more about the ten-year-past incident.

In LINK VRAINS, Ghost Girl told Akira how she gave the program to Playmaker. Akira was furious, wondering what was Ghost Girl thinking. As a digital butterfly flew near them, Ghost Girl defended herself, reminding Akira also wanted to know more about the data in the mother computer, but had no authority after his demotion. Ghost Girl claimed that Kitamura would be held responsible, and would make his attempt to stop Playmaker. Akira noted if Playmaker was the decoy, nobody would notice their activities, and he grew more interested in his company's activities. Akira wished everything would go as planned, and logged out. Later, Akira and Emma were watching Playmaker's infiltration in the system on the latter's computer. Seeing Kitamura sent two AIs to Duel Playmaker, Akira and Emma logged into LINK VRAINS, and went deeper to access the data bank. Ghost Girl was glad Blue Angel came to the mother computer system, but Akira, shocked at this, thought Ghost Girl had some involvement. He went to save her, but Ghost Girl reminded him this was their only chance to find more about the incident, and pointed out Blue Angel was not a mere child. The two continued on, intending on reaching the data bank before Playmaker did. The two went through a light, where the data bank was located. They saw a pedestal with golden pillars, where the data about 10 years ago was located. When Playmaker arrived, instead of hiding, Akira activated a program, and awaited Playmaker to Duel him.

When Playmaker questioned Ghost Girl and Akira about why they were in the data bank, she explained they, were after the data as well. When Playmaker ordered Akira to move, he refused and admitted that he obtained the data, learning what happened to Playmaker ten years ago. He claimed he had the right to know about the incident and Playmaker asked of him to hand that data over. Akira refused, and Ai started to complain, claiming he is the great Ignis everyone was searching for. Akira wondered if Ai actually had free will, like Revolver told them. Instead, Akira asked Playmaker to hand over Ignis and disperse. He wanted to shed some light over the incident, and Ghost Girl added Akira was demoted, due to the incident with Revolver. Yusaku claimed he would be the one to reveal the truth; since this didn't personally involve Akira, Playmaker challenged him to stop him. He bet Ai for the data, and Akira accepted, seeing this was the only way to defeat Playmaker. Akira already reinforced his defenses by setting a monster, a card and Special Summoning "Tindangle Base Gardna". Playmaker prepared his offence, but Akira tributed "Tindangle Base Gardna" for "Tindangle Hound" to weaken Playmaker's monsters. Next, he activated "Lemoine Point" to prevent Playmaker from attacking face-down monsters as he confidently smiled.

Playmaker used "Cyberse Gadget" and "Gadget Token" to Link Summon "Flame Administrator". The latter's effect increased "Decode Talker's" ATK, enough to destroy "Tindangle Hound". The latter's effect flipped his face-down monster, "Tindangle Angel", which revived his "Tindangle Hound" in face-down position, and ended the Battle Phase. Ai realized Akira played a Flip monster deck, with unique strategies. Akira wondered how old Playmaker was, and sensed he was the same age as his sister. He admitted he knew the pain Playmaker bore, as he and Aoi lost their parents. Still, he swore to protect Aoi and keep her happy. However, he admitted if Aoi was kidnapped by strangers like Playmaker, he would be terrified. Playmaker trusted that Akira was a good person, but doubted he knew anything about the pain he bore. Akira was surprised Playmaker would continue fighting, though he swore he wouldn't fall and continued his turn. Akira Flip Summoned "Tindangle Hound", and set "Tindangle Angel" into face-down position and gained its attack, plus weakening Playmaker's monsters. Akira attacked Playmaker's "Flame Administrator" and halved Playmaker's LP. Playmaker saw Akira knew nothing of his goal, as he Link Summoned "Firewall Dragon". Akira was shocked by Playmaker's dragon, remembering that's the monster that defeated Revolver.

Akira used "Tindangle Hound's" effect to reduce "Firewall Dragon's" ATK, though his monsters were soon destroyed by Playmaker's "Linkage Hole". This allowed Playmaker to attack Akira directly with "Decode Talker" and drop his LP to 1100, though the latter monster was then destroyed by Akira's "Tindangle Delaunay". Akira immediately brought out his ace, "Tindangle Acute Cerberus", and used it to attack "Firewall Dragon", whom Playmaker protected with "Doppler Phase Coating". After Akira protected his own monster with "Gergonne's End", Playmaker tried to destroy "Tindangle Token" with "Firewall Dragon", enhanced with "Alert Lancer". However, Akira prevented damage with "Morley's Shield", and to counter Playmaker's strategy, used "Nagel's Protection" to protect his Tokens. "Tindangle Acute Cerberus" attacked, causing Playmaker's LP to be lowered down to 500. Playmaker drew a card and set it, which Akira declared as Plamaker's destiny. Swearing to uncover the truth himself, Akira asked Playmaker once more to end his revenge and return to his normal school life with his friends. He stated Playmaker must cherish those memories and not remain obsessed in the past, or else he will not find happiness, just like Akira didn't.

Blue Angel suddenly appeared, much to Akira's surprise, and asked to hear the truth about the incident ten years ago before the duel ended. Accepting his sister's request, Akira began to describe the "Lost Incident" where a secret organization six children were kidnapped, Playmaker being one of the victims. He refrained from explaining further after Playmaker told him to stop and went on recount the story himself. Akira believed that Playmaker was rescued from the incident, which had been covered up so the media wouldn't fuss. Playmer refused to believe he was rescued, swearing he needed to uncover the truth for the sake of the people hurt in the incident, as well as save the person whose voice that encouraged him to fight and who may still be trapped. Playmaker claimed even if Akira believed revenge was pointless, he still discovered that the Knights of Hanoi had involvement in the project. Akira also stated the SOL Technologies' data bank contained the name of the mastermind behind the Hanoi Project. Playmaker was shocked, and yelled out for the name, but Akira remained silent.

Playmaker demanded Akira to reveal the name of the mastermind, but Akira refused, fearing this would only feed Playmaker's desire for revenge and hatred. Akira decided to conclude the Duel by having "Tindangle Acute Cerberus" attack "Firewall Dragon". Playmaker avoided the defeat by banishing his dragon with "Cynet Backdoor" and with "Doppler Phase Coating" gone, Akira's Battle Phase ended. Akira turned the tables by using "Euler's Circuit", preventing Playmaker from attacking, and allowing one "Tindangle" monster to be switched to Playmaker's field. Playmaker was frustrated, and noted this was a Duel for justice. Akira swore to solve the incident and hold the ones responsible, but Playmaker doubted he knew anything, as he trusted his own justice that would make him prevail and win. Drawing a card, Playmaker used "Draconnet", "Bitron" and "Digitron" to bring out "Link Spider", "Recovery Sorcerer" and "Security Gardna". Akira deemed the multiple Link Summons pointless, as Playmaker was unable to attack. Since "Security Gardna" was placed on the top link of "Tindangle Acute Cerberus", Akira used "Gergonne's End" to nuke all monsters linked to inflict massive damage on Playmaker, believing the latter has lost hope in winning. The effect activated, seemingly dealing 4500 LP damage to Playmaker.

Announcing that Playmaker's revenge was over, Akira turned to leave, but to his surprise, Playmaker survived as "Security Gardna" prevented all effect damage during that turn. This trap destroyed "Euler's Circuit", and allowed Playmaker to attack. Despite the advantage, Playmaker used "Recovery Sorcerer" to bring back "Security Gardna" and "Firewall Dragon" to return Akira's "Tindangle Hound" and "Tindangle Angel" from the GY to his hand, thus forcing "Tindangle Acute Cerberus" ATK to drop to 0. As Playmaker attacked "Tindangle Acute Cerberus" with "Firewall Dragon", Blue Angel rushed to protect Akira from the blast, only for him to protect her as he fell down in defeat. After Playmaker acquired the data and told Akira to stay from away him and the incident, Akira asked Playmaker why he didn't attack directly with "Firewall Dragon". He replied that "Tindangle Hound" and "Tindangle Angel" represent Akira and his sister, who should turn and walk towards the light, rather than the darkness. After Playmaker and Ghost Girl logged out, Akira lamented he couldn't do anything in the end, though Blue Angel cheered him up by saying she knew what Akira was feeling. She noted that just as nobody would stand up to Playmaker, nobody would prevent her brother from protecting her, causing Akira to smile.

Another
At evening, Akira and Aoi ate dinner, since the former could come back from work earlier due to his demotion. Aoi gloated, making Akira believe she did not like that. Seeing Kitamura developed the AI army to confront the Knights of Hanoi, Akira reminded them unlike Aoi, the AI-s could not be turned into Anothers, and forbade her to enter LINK VRAINS. Aoi was sad, but accepted Akira's demand. The two watched as Kitamura's AI army battled the Knights of Hanoi, but lost to two of elite members and Akira left to work. Before he left the office, Akira heard the news about Blue Angel fighting a Knight of Hanoi. Akira was shocked to see this, and questioned Aoi why would she even do this. Akira nervously watched the Duel between Baira and Blue Angel with Hayami. After witnessing Blue Angel getting slightly injured and fearing she would become Another, he decide to log into LINK VRAINS and stop the Duel between them but was stopped by Hayami who encouraged him to watch the duel instead and felt relieved after Blue Angel won. The Next day he and Aoi watch the news about Another victims getting cured while eating breakfast. Aoi then attempt to apologize him for her action but Akira was happy that she was able to cure the victims of Another and praised her for it. This made Aoi genuinely happy and she gave a cheerful smile to him.

Akira met up with Emma, reporting with the Knights of Hanoi gone, peace returned to LINK VRAINS. Emma wondered if Akira came here just to tell that, who reported despite the victory, SOL Technologies have been looking for more employees. Akira reminded that Knights of Hanoi wouldn't retreat that easily, and Revolver was still out loose. Emma felt something was going on, in this peaceful era. This motivated Emma to search through LINK VRAINS for the treasure, and promised to sell it to Akira. Akira asked for a discount, as Emma promised to think about it. Hayami alerted Akira about a footage of a Duel in LINK VRAINS. He came to the computer, finding Aoi was Dueling Spectre, who defeated Kitamura.

Aoi Zaizen (Blue Angel)
Akira deeply cares about Aoi and works very hard so she won't go through hard times, but in doing so he unknowingly neglects Aoi, causing her to think he doesn't care about her. He is completely oblivious to her wanting him to recognize her and her abilities.

He was dismayed about Aoi being comatose and became desperate to save her, going as far as claiming he wouldn't care if he was fired from SOL in the process. When Revolver blackmailed Akira with Aoi's safety he quickly caved in to Revolver's demands.

Yusaku Fujiki (Playmaker)
Despite having a brief interaction with Yusaku at the hospital he was grateful to him for locating his sister and informing him about her comatose status. He questioned Yusaku about his relationship to Aoi and the latter responded they are only classmates.

On the other hand, Akira dislikes Yusaku's alter ego "Playmaker" for having stolen Ai. Akira grew to utterly hate Playmaker after his Duel against Blue Angel which resulted in Aoi falling comatose. Akira immediately assumed that Playmaker was the culprit for Aoi's predicament and worked with Ghost Girl to turn all of LINK VRAINS into a trap to capture Playmaker. Akira then mercilessly tortured Playmaker and refused to believe Playmaker's explanation that it was the Knights of Hanoi's fault for Aoi being comatose. However, upon being informed of his mistake by Revolver, Akira reluctantly freed Playmaker and was surprised that Playmaker didn't hate him for what he did. After Playmaker defeated Revolver and used the removal program to permit Aoi to awaken in the real world, Akira thanked Playmaker.

In their next encounter inside SOL Technology's database, Akira displayed pity for Playmaker after discovering the data he was after, even insisting that Playmaker trust him and reveal the truth in his stead. Compared to their previous encounter, Akira even demonstrates sadness for Playmaker, especially when he figured out that Playmaker is around Aoi's age. Akira felt that Playmaker shouldn't waste his youth chasing after the Hanoi Project and wanted to handle the situation himself, only for Playmaker to immediately refute Akira's claims and mantained that he deserved to learn the truth himself.

Emma Bessho (Ghost Girl)
Akira considers Emma his only alliance even though he's aware of her double-crossing nature and tendency to come up with schemes that only benefit her behind his back, such as when she informed the heads of SOL Technologies that his sister is Blue Angel. When Isomaki said that he got an anonymous tip to pick Akira up and take him to the hospital, Akira guessed it was Emma and seemed grateful.

Deck
Akira runs a "Tindangle" Deck, focused on Flip monsters and Lockdown strategies. He utilizes a variety of Trap Cards to not only prevent the destruction of his Monsters, but strengthen his own arsenal as well. His ace monster, Tindangle Acute Cerberus, which he can summon on his opponent's turn, allows him to summon Tokens, which in conjunction with his Trap effects, not only limit the actions his opponents can take, but help prepare for massive offensive strikes.