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Additional biography info.
===Personality===
Zaizen is a man who values work above all other things. Despite this, he genuinely cares for Skye, and is rather protective of her as he advises her to quit [[Speed Duel (VRAINS)|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. Zaizen is generally calm and cool headed most of the time but he can also be stubbornly aggressive, especially when Skye 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. He held deep sympathy for Playmaker after learning of the Lost Incident, and desired to get justice for him himself while allowing Playmaker to live a normal life. In the second season Zaizen is quietly loyal to his task set by the company, but is resentful at having to hunt down Playmaker after he saved them from the Knights of Hanoi. Despite this, he accepts a request to meet Playmaker without hesitation and he later cooperates with him extensively after [[Mirror LINK VRAINS]] is revealed. As the events of the season progress, Zaizen becomes more and more openly rebellious against [[Queen]]; the termination of [[Earth (character)|Earth]] and the disregard for [[George Gore]]'s safety in particular causes him to defy Queen directly by logging Gore out to save his life. In the dub, Zaizen's rebellion is far more apparent from the beginning; he outright tells Emma and Skye that if the Ignis are not a threat to humanity, he intends to save them from SOL Technologies and is scornful of Gore's belief that he can defeat Playmaker and does not offer him advice, instead telling Gore Playmaker's past to explain why Gore can't defeat him.
===Etymology===
"Akira"「晃」means "bright" or "clearness". "Zaizen"「財前」can be translated as "before wealth" or "before riches". In both versions, Zaizen is referred to by his last name by other characters, with the exception of Emma and Skye.
==Biography==
===Ignis War===
Zaizen and [[Risa Hayami|Hayami]] both received a message from the [[Knights of Hanoi]] showing them [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]] and [[Theodore Hamilton|Soulburner]] pursuing [[Jin Kolter|a Duelist]] with [[Lightning|a new Ignis]]. Zaizen ordered Hayami to have the Bounty Hunters sent to investigate even though it might be a Hanoi trap.<ref name="ep71">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|71|ref}}</ref>
Afterwards, Zaizen was called to meet Playmaker in the real world, who explained that they were meeting in real life due to the threat of two new Ignis, the [[Lightning|Light]] and [[Windy|Wind Ignis]], who intended to conquer humanity. Zaizen was shocked that the Ignis had turned on humanity, noting the irony of the Knights of Hanoi's theories coming true. Playmaker stated that the coming battle could affect LINK VRAINS itself, which would leave Zaizen as their only hope to save LINK VRAINS. Zaizen quickly visited Emma and Skye afterwards, bringing them up to speed and asking them to find the remaining two Ignis, who were at this point neutral. Unfortunately, [[George Gore|The Gore]] ending his training early and logged into LINK VRAINS to pursue the [[Earth (character)|Earth]] and [[Aqua (character)|Water Ignis]]. Zaizen was shocked that Gore had logged in without recovering properly, and Hayami explained that [[Queen]] had ordered him to be sent.<ref name="ep74">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|74|ref}}</ref>
==Relationships==
On the other hand, Zaizen dislikes Yusaku's alter ego "Playmaker" for having stolen Ai. Zaizen grew to utterly hate Playmaker after his Duel against Blue Angel which resulted in Skye falling comatose. Zaizen immediately assumed that Playmaker was the culprit for Skye's predicament and worked with [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Gal]] to turn all of LINK VRAINS into a trap to capture Playmaker. Zaizen then mercilessly tortured Playmaker and refused to believe Playmaker's explanation that it was the Knights of Hanoi's fault for Skye being comatose. However, upon being informed of his mistake by [[Varis]], Zaizen reluctantly freed Playmaker and was surprised that Playmaker didn't hate him for what he did. After Playmaker defeated Varis and used the removal program to permit Skye to awaken in the real world, Zaizen 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 Skye'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 maintain that he deserved to learn the truth himself.
===Emma Bessho (Ghost Gal)===
Akira considers Emma his only alliance ally 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 [[Nathaniel]] 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. ===George Gore (The Gore)===Zaizen ends up working extensively with Gore. He is highly respectful of Gore initially, but their relationship sours during the second season due to Gore's abrasive attitude, particularly in the dub, where Zaizen is outright dismissive of Gore's ability to defeat Playmaker. Despite this, Zaizen still remains concerned for Gore's safety and he keeps an eye on Gore following his implantation with an A.I. chip, logging him out forcibly from LINK VRAINS in open defiance of [[Queen]] after he lost to Playmaker again to save Gore's life. ===Kengo Dojun (The Shepherd)===Zaizen respects The Shepherd's skills, but dislikes his methods of operating as Shepherd tends to leave him in the dark; using him as bait on a mission once and setting up a false gate without informing Zaizen. Zaizen in return does not divulge anything regarding SOL Technologies' plans for the Ignis when Shepherd asks him about it, resulting in Shepherd striking out on his own against the Ignis. Despite this, The Shepherd returns to work for Zaizen to protect him from Ai in the third season.
==Deck==