Cardfight!! Vanguard V - Episode 22 Review

The big fight continues and we see Kai get put on the ropes after a crit puts him to 5 damage which elicits appropriate reactions from the peanut gallery all the while.  We get some more of "PSY-Qualia isn't just trigger sacking" from Tetsu and how it lets you actually experience the sensations of being the Vanguard in fights which Aichi picks up on.  Kai calls it nonsense as he dramatically rides Dragonic Waterfall...or at least it would be dramatic if the animation quality of this episode was on par with some the earlier ones.  I know I keep harping on this but Vanguard V has been really inconsistent with it's animation and when it's not good it takes some of the steam out of "epic" scenes.

Babness Geyser?  Really?

People are shocked that Kai has Waterfall though I'm more amused at the fact that we're not only seeing Waterfall now but also instead of Nouvelle which is what was used in the manga version of this fight.  Given how...meh Nouvelle V is I can't say this isn't a bad choice on the part of the writing staff.  Regardless Kai slams Dragonic Overlord down with a pair of Gais to really drive home his intent of finishing the game here as he swings with a 3 crit Waterfall that puts Ren to 5 and subsequently causes his VF Glove to go off and harm him which is a first for him.  Kai tries to finish him off with a 51k Overlord swing but this gets blocked while Ren pretty much says that despite showing him a "serious fight" it's not enough to chance the outcome as he rides to Phantom Blaster Dragon and uses its effect to wipe out 3 Rear-Guards on both sides of the field.

Shadows ruthlessly taking Kagero's place as 2ndBDIF

But before we go onto the dramatic finish of the fight, first let's get some more backstory!  We see a clip of Ren's father beating while telling him that as his child he must be perfect and that there are two types of people in the world, losers who get mocked and those that do the mocking.  Gee I wonder why Ren became such a dick?  Through Vanguard Ren was able to find an outlet to try and be perfect but because Kai exists that isn't possible due to him being the personification of perfect itself which is what led to the spiral into yandere territory that we see now.  PBD charges in and Kai tries to one pass it but this gets broken and he loses while getting knocked unconscious from the VF Glove feedback.  Ren is elated that he finally beat Kai but realizes that he wasn't the personification of perfect that he imagined because of his loss to Aichi earlier in the series.  He berates Aichi for changing Kai from what he used to be and demands to fight him to obtain the perfect victory he seeks. 

Before you even think about it yes there is a Protect Marker of this.

Aichi tries to refute this logic by saying that it was he who got changed and that Kai held back in their fight but Ren doesn't buy it while the man of the hour comes to.  Kai tells Aichi not to fight or else he'll get sucked into the world Ren and him live in of constantly fighting when Miwa pretty much says "nah, do it."  He reasons that if Aichi were to fight Ren he might be able to break the cycle that was just talked about which he agrees to and steps up to the plate to put an end to this madness.  Misaki gives him a big sis hug of encouragement before our two PSY-Qualia users stare down and begin the fight.  Tune in next week to see Royal Paladins vs Better Royal Paladins!