Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 097 The Final Card

This is it, guys. This is when the latest pair of superfluous assholes are presented with their own asses and we say goodbye to them forever. Admittedly, the Meikyu Brothers were at least more interesting than the previous two superfluous assholes, but that just makes me suspicious that they may have been responsible for their whole class of unneeded characters being created. I'll be glad to see the back of them when they're beaten.

Oh yeah, that's right, we have THIS anomaly to deal with too. How are Yami and Jonouchi going to squeeze this hulking monster through the labyrinth? That final card the title refers to probably helps that happen in some way, though I'm still not certain on the process.

The Meikyu Brothers gape at the badassery that is this Black Skull Dragon, as Jonouchi suggests they start shopping for a brand new dungeon for after he and Yami destroy this one with it. This just makes Kyu laugh super hard, making Jonouchi question if he's really THAT funny. Maybe he should pursue a career as a comedian after the tournament? Kyu explains that he's laughing at how foolish they are because they seem to have forgotten that the labyrinth can only be traversed by ground troops, and their fusion doesn't take away the Red Eyes Black Dragon's dragon characteristics that excludes it from getting in the narrow corridors, namely wings. While the Black Skull Dragon can't get within range of the guardian, the guardian can still attack the whole labyrinth, and that's what makes this punchline all the funnier.

Jonouchi sweats, now ashamed of his impulse play because of how he was told the dragon wouldn't be a good one before. He realizes that Yami played his Polymerization card as though he had a plan anyway, though, and asks if he really screwed up as badly as Kyu is suggesting. Yami assures him he did just fine, and they still have a chance. Jonouchi perks up instantly, because he knew Yami would find a way to win. He points at the Meikyu Brothers and tells them that he's all done with a wide grin. Mei and Kyu grin back, chuckling from behind their guardian.

Anzu calls to Jonouchi and Yami that they can do it, but Honda seems a bit more nervous when he says that their getting out of the tunnels depends on Jonouchi and Yami's win. Bakura admits that this duel is the last thing between them and Pegasus's castle, as well as the secret of the Millennium Items he's so certain he'll find there. He looks down at his ring with one of its needles pointing ahead, appearing just a bit out of it...

Never mind THAT, there's a card game going on!

Grinning, Kyu claims that the card he's holding scares even him. You don't LOOK very scared, dude. Yami looks curiously ahead as Kyu slaps down Ryoku the magic card. Curiosity turns to alarm as Yami identifies this as a legendarily rare magic card. Kyu laughs, saying that his opponents life points belong to him now, which Jonouchi can't believe and Yami says is decidedly BAD. Both players' life points go down by half, which leaves Jonouchi and Yami with 650 and 600 points respectively. Kyu then feeds those points he stole to the guardian, giving them to both guardian parts and raising their attacks to 3250 and 3000.

Well, ain't THAT a kick in the pants? Kyu says that he can't attack in the same turn as using Ryoku, but next turn he'll thrash their dragon with the combined strength of his thunder and wind demon gods, and they can't do anything to stop him. Jonouchi growls next to a stoic Yami, while their friends mumble anxiously in the background.

Yami is still fired up to take his turn before that, and draws a card. He looks at it and identifies the "shift" card, formulating a plan around it.

The Dark Magician proceeds seven spaces due to his star level as directed, Mei asking if Yami thinks he can just walk out of the labyrinth though he should know he has to face the guardian before that. Yami points and lectures Mei that he and Jonouchi will keep going, no matter the obstacle or risk, as long as there's still a chance.

At seven steps, the Dark Magician is officially out of the labyrinth and standing in front of the guardian, just one more step from the doors on the other side of it. Yami says he's playing just one more card that he holds up before he ends his turn. It's monster reborn, which he uses to bring back an unspecified monster from the Meikyu side and make it defend him. Mei doesn't care, because he's convinced it won't matter which monster is brought back.

He's clearly forgetting a particular monster that's very capable of blocking this attack.

Wow, that was quite the oversight. I can't BELIEVE he didn't see that coming.

Jonouchi congratulates Yami on the smooth shit he took all over Mei's attack. Their friends stare; Bakura is relieved that they managed to survive this particular attack, but Honda wonders if they have a way to BEAT the boss guardian. Kyu is pissed that as long as Yami and Jonouchi have Suijin, the brothers can't touch them.

Yami turns to Jonouchi to remind him that it's his turn, and he draws a card in compliance, wondering what's left to do to win. Yami knows that the brothers will destroy Suijin on their next turn, leaving he and Jonouchi defenseless, so all their hopes rest on Jonouchi's next card. Jonouchi looks at this card, a card called Copycat. He stares a moment in nervous contemplation, then grins and chuckles, having just come up with quite the idea.

He slaps Copycat down on the table and says he's going to copy Ryota, shocking the Meikyu Brothers with his imitation card. Jonouchi intends to take half the Meikyu life points and attach them to a monster for its attack stats.

Yami is impressed with Jonouchi's play, thinking that with that kind of power, they can surely beat the guardian. Kyu yells at them that if he's told them once, he's told them a million times; their dragon CANNOT cross the labyrinth to attack. Then why are you sweating, bro? He announces it's his turn aggressively and destroys Suijin with Kazejin. Yami gets another of those unexplained exclamation points above his head, even though he knew this would happen.

Mei asks Yami what he'll do now that he has no defense, but doesn't seem interested in an actual answer. He says on the next turn, they win, laughing. However, Yami thinks it's actually HIS turn to laugh, causing Mei to clam up real quick. Yami asks if they haven't figured out the REAL reason he took the Dark Magician all the way through the maze, and Mei looks genuinely flabbergasted by the question.

Yami holds up the magic card Shift, explaining that it lets him put his stronger monsters up front. The brothers stare in disbelief, and Kyu's eyes bulge at the realization that getting the magician through the maze and face to face with the guardian would allow him to put any monster in its place with Shift. It's too late to do anything about this, though, because Yami is already calling out his shift. The dragon and magician are surrounded by a flash of light.

Nighty-night, assholes of the superfluous variety! May we never come across another one of your kind again.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? More than the finale, I was actually more impressed with Yami's use of Suijin to block the attack of the other two parts of the guardian. It was critical that his Dark Magician survive long enough for him to switch it out with the dragon, so it was really ingenious of him to bring back out the already defeated part to give them a little more time.

Jonouchi's play of copying the Ryota card was an awesome build on that as well, because it shows how much he really trusted that Yami had a plan to get the dragon through the maze, and he pumped up its power accordingly. This is what makes Yami and Jonouchi such a phenomenal team, because of the implicit understanding that they have of each other and how to BUILD on each others' plays rather than just making their own independent of one another. They GET that they have to observe what one another is doing and use that as a foundation for future moves. Even if Jonouchi's understanding of this fundamental concept is intuitive rather than intellectual, it doesn't diminish the effectiveness of it.

Now all they need to do is go through the right door and they're all set! I wonder if Yami's figured out which one that is by now...