Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 249 Phoenix Rising!

From my perspective, it just looks like a raging fireball growing ever larger on the horizon. The year of hindsight started with a bang, and now EVERYTHING seems to be on fire. Once the inferno burns everything to ashes, I could see something being reborn from them, but right now? I don't know if there's much else to do but flee the flames. Or maybe roast some marshmallows and hotdogs over it like a campfire, depending on your level of insulation from the destruction, of course.

When the phoenix DOES rise, though, I'm not sure there will be any sheltering from it. Phoenixes are alive and have INTENT.

See? What did I say? EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE. Even gods apparently.

In horrified astonishment, Jonouchi stares open-mouthed, wondering just what the hell this thing is. He sees it's QUITE different from the Ra that defeated Mai, made of fire, still growing and changing. Other!Marik gropes the air, eyes wild and deranged, declaring that this is the final form of Ra, culminating in the final moments for Jonouchi on the earth. Boy is getting SMOTE today for sure.

While Mokuba gapes in awe of how cool the light show is, Kaiba contemplates this last form of Ra's, noting the fact that the ancient Egyptians sometimes worshiped their sun god as a bird, the mighty phoenix. This guy pulls the strangest information from his ass at the weirdest times, I swear. Honda and Shizuka call out to Jonouchi in warning, as though seeing a great big flaming bird in front of him is not GUARANTEED to get and hold Jonouchi's attention. Though he sweats profusely, gritting his teeth, he seems to question the supposed inevitability of his loss. Yami yells his name uselessly, while he worries about how everything they know about Ra so far should mean that the god card should have zero in attack strength right now, but other!Marik wasn't leaving any doubt that he's defeated Jonouchi this turn. Watching Ra's gaping, burning beak, Yami wonders if this means this thing has yet more terrifying hidden powers.

I don't know, Yami, perhaps there's a preponderance of evidence pointing to this conclusion, or maybe I'm just not believing hard enough in the FUCKING CARDS. You know I have that same exact problem with going where the evidence leads against the assurance that magical free markets will solve all problems ever. Funny that.

Other!Marik once again says that he never thought he would have to show the true face of Ra to someone like Jonouchi, because he's just GOT to imply Jonouchi isn't worthy of the honor at least once more. He turns to Yami, calling out to him and Kaiba, declaring one of them will face him in the final duel. They glare at him silently as he tells them that it's thanks to Jonouchi that they both get a little bit of a preview of what's to come, and suggests that they send him off with a big round of applause. Other!Marik bids them to make it loud, though, so Jonouchi can hear them in hell. Oddly badass for a guy who spent the past several chapters striking me as little more than a vaguely threatening goofball. Jonouchi sweats and grinds his teeth at other!Marik.

The weirdness continues with Yami's stoic scoff, like his friend ISN'T about to get a fireball to the face, or at the very least the guy threatening his friend with such treatment isn't giggling like a stoner about his plans. Arms crossed, Kaiba admits Jonouchi hasn't done half bad for a deadbeat duelist, and that Jonouchi NOW had his respect. I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, KAIBA. Douchebag will forget he even thought such a thing the moment he wants to act superior.

Oh please don't, Jonouchi. He doesn't need an EXCUSE to explain all this OP bullshit again. The tired reiteration is coming anyway, just let him run his overactive mouth by himself.

But no, Jonouchi has to point out that Ra should have zero attack strength without sacrifices. Ugh, how many times does this need to be said?? Jonouchi claims that even if Ra is a god, it's no match for his Gilford. Other!Marik starts his retort by telling Jonouchi to be quiet and wait for death. That's real hilarious coming from a guy who couldn't shut his gab if his life depended on it. He assures Jonouchi that he'll soon be wandering through hell with Ra's special thrid power burned into his soul for eternity, supposedly the most painful of sensations. I think I sprained my eyes rolling them so hard.

Jonouchi dwells on the remaining mystery of this special power, until other!Marik tells him point blank that if 1000 life points are paid, Ra incinerates all monsters on the field regardless of attack points. Jonouchi seems blown away by the implication that this could take out Gilford the Lightning. Can't imagine other!Marik would have brought Ra out there if it couldn't handle the job, dear. But by the next panel, he's pointing at other!Marik in belligerent defiance. Acknowledging the barest fact that other!Marik can take his monsters, he insists that other!Marik can't defeat him on this turn, and his life points will have to be pried from his cold dead fingers. Jonouchi realizes that this is an action that other!Marik is fully prepared to take out of the realm of metaphor and place squarely in reality like he's performing feng shui, right? Mai is living proof of that.

For now.

Other!Marik smugly mocks Jonouchi's poor memory, reminding him that this is a shadow game, son. Jonouchi genuinely looks like he'd completely forgotten his actual shit was on the line, and it's hilarious, I'm not going to lie. Other!Marik recites the rules to Jonouchi, that his monsters' pain will be his own, therefore Ra's fire trick will incinerate his mind as well as the body of Gilford, crushing his mental resistance, meaning death and defeat regardless if Jonouchi has life points remaining. Sounds a LOT like you're admitting out loud to kneecapping your opponent to avoid having to actually beat him by the rules of the game, other!Marik. Fuck, you'd think that would be against the rules or something.

Jonouchi clenches his jaw, no doubt to hold in the scream of utter horror welling up in him. I know I'm doing that, over the fact that none of the people in charge of this tournament are willing to say it's not okay to murder competitors. But we all should be used to this lawless bullshit by now, huh? Other!Marik bids Jonouchi to watch as the phoenix rises for him alone to lead him down the path of darkness. His deranged grin tells me all I need to know about whether he cares if he made ANY kind of sense there. He doesn't, otherwise he might be at least a little embarrassed.

Yami pulls a full 180 from his previous near-indifference and screams Jonouchi's name in pure panic. Shizuka calls out to her big brother as well, Honda demands that he DARE not lose, and Anzu tells him to hang in there impotently. On the other side of all this, Kaiba wears a goofy little smile as he looks directly into what he just explained to the audience is the GOD OF THE LITERAL FUCKING SUN, calling it beautiful. There's no beauty like burned retinas, friends.

Amazingly, it takes the creepily-eager other!Marik until this very moment to command his god incarnate to take his 1000 life points and channel them into the attack to burn Gilford with the fires of hell. That would be be flames of the sun, dude. I swear, this isn't an Egyptian god so much as an elder god causing a rash of insanity to spread in everyone beholding right now. Wouldn't THAT be a twist? Ra rises up, as the title foretold, and shines down on a terrified Jonouchi. He's also in disbelief, thinking that if he loses now, he'll never see Mai and Yuugi/Yami again. A blinding flash erupts from the platform, and I do mean it ERUPTS.

As Gilford is swallowed by the flames, Jonouchi screams in agony, pupils mere pinpricks in his wide, terrified eyes. Shizuka covers her eyes, crying out at Jonouchi but unable to watch his pain. Yami and Anzu stare, though, Anzu's hand clutching her no-doubt gaping mouth. Other!Marik laughs maniacally, yelling Jonouchi to burn until the last of his life is incinerated. Jonouchi hugs himself, teetering on unsteady feet. As other!Marik continues to yuk it up, we see that though Jonouchi has ceased screaming, his mouth remains open wide, cheeks stretched gaunt in his silent anguish. Gilford burns in a pillar of fire behind him, and eventually disappears without a trace in the heart of the flames. Yami worries that if this goes on, the pain will shatter Jonouchi's mind, as if that wasn't the whole point as pontificated by our psychopath-of-the-day up on the platform.

Jonouchi collapses to his knees, making a sound halfway between a retch and a gurgle. Other!Marik's laughter dies down and he tells Ra that this is plenty burnination for now, asking it to return. Its pillar of fire disperses out and it sinks back down to other!Marik's side as he claims he can see what's left of Jonouchi's soul going to heaven with all the virtual smoke. Or, rather, it's foggy outline of Jonouchi through the din. Once the picture becomes clearer, the grin drops from other!Marik's face.

Hooray! He BARELY made it! Why are we celebrating this before beating the shit out of other!Marik again?

While everyone is in awe of Jonouchi's survival, for better or worse, Jonouchi himself looks up and finds Yami standing across the platform instead of the menacing other!Marik. Hallucination!Yami wears an easy smile, and Jonouchi stutters his name in dazed confusion. His vision tells him that this is the final match between the two of them, but Jonouchi is still having a little trouble grasping the concept of the finals. It takes him a moment to come to the conclusion that he withstood other!Marik's attack, and on the next turn Monster Reborn stopped working on Ra, so it returned to the graveyard. Hallucination!Yami says that this is correct, and lays out the next turn in which Jonouchi summons Gearfried the Iron Knight and defeats other!Marik. Jonouchi's face lights up as he seems to recall this sequence of events.

KT, if you think you can distract me from how you stripped Jonouchi of the dignity you built for him in the last chapter by breaking my little fragile heart in this one...

... You're right.

Meanwhile, other!Marik just stands in utter shock staring at Jonouchi still balancing on his knees across the platform, refusing to lay down and die. Sweating, jaw locked in a permanent grind, he thinks this can't possibly be real and wonders if this means Jonouchi's willpower is stronger than an actual god's. I mean, it's easy to have more willpower than a god when that god is regularly ordered around by an edgy little twerp.

Jonouchi mutters that it's his turn, and his friends are in a joyous uproar. His sister cries that he did it with tears in her eyes, Honda pumps a fist in the air, Anzu explains with excitement that since Ra is gone then the moment Jonouchi attacks other!Marik, he wins. Yami grins with silent elation. Kaiba looks absolutely FLOORED, in similar disbelief that Jonouchi beat a god to other!Marik, except without the barely suppressed rage. All Yami can think is that Jonouchi is a fucking hero. That he is.

Half-conscious, Jonouchi murmurs narration for his draw, thinking about Yuugi/Yami as he does so. He glances at the new card, and lets out a small scoff, because it really is Gearfried the Iron Knight just like Yami said. For how many fake psychics Jonouchi faced in the past, turns out he was the REAL psychic all along! He moves painfully slow to lay the card on his Duel Disk, his non-hallucinatory friends on the sidelines blurred heavily in his view. He stutters his play of Gearfried, wearing a little disoriented smile, thinking he's won. But his summon trails even as Gearfried appears beside him, and he wanders into exhausted silence.

And so concludes the most bloated vehicle for a character exit I have ever seen.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I'm hesitant to say that this one made up for the previous one's disregard of Jonouchi's skill and growth, I can't deny that it was every bit as spectacular as he deserved. KT's art was so rich here; the expression and pose of all the characters were evocative and real, making it easy to practically FEEL everything, from Ra's flames right down to the emotional roller-coaster of all the bystanders. There was a little too much dialog, especially in the beginning of the chapter, but even THAT was toned down from its usual high levels in the rest of the manga so far, so I'm not complaining. Despite the fact that it was one of those chapters that was composed solely of one long, drawn-out turn, it didn't seem like it. The emotional weight carried it.

I was going to criticize how derivative of Jonouchi's duel with Rishid the vision in this one appeared, how it was too similar to the dream he had that prompted his stand. But thinking on it, there's more poetic parallel there than a lack of creativity, even if I think it was still a little on the nose. In Jonouchi's dream at the end of his duel with Rishid, the childish content as a motivator indicated a still naive mindset, the result of relatively low stakes in his journey. He dreams of an innocent past where he's hanging out with friends and his only care is running off to the next tournament. His hallucination of Yami in this chapter is more focused on the only thing he has left to look forward to, fulfilling his promise. Right before Ra turned the platform into an inferno, Jonouchi's one concern was never being able to see Mai or Yuugi again, and was thus given the motivation to withstand as much of the blow as he could, just so he could conjure a vision in his half-fried brain helping him to cope with the agony. He may have fallen at the end, the opposite of how he came out of his duel with Rishid, but his LIFE was saved by his will to be able to see his friends again, and that's the kind of will a god would never understand.

Besides, it's absolutely CERTAIN that he would have one if he had the energy to command an attack, and that's just badass.

It's interesting how Jonouchi's vision of Yami told him the key to his unfulfilled victory, and it turned out to be prophetic. I still sometimes think back on my suspicions that there's some part of Jonouchi in the Millennium Puzzle that helped to shape their bond later, and this just brings it back in force. I don't think it will ever be CONFIRMED whether or not I'm full of it over this hypothesis, but it never stops being entertaining to wonder about.

Inuyasha Manga: 190 Claw and Sword

Knowing that the sword is actually a tooth, and claws are just nails with some power behind them, this title is a little evocative of the phrase "fighting tooth and nail". I doubt it's what RT was going for, given there are rarely little sayings like these that two different cultures have in common, but apt all the same. That is, after all, EXACTLY what is happening in this and the previous chapter, between generations no less. I'm sure the bilingual poetry of this would be lost on Inuyasha, though. Can't really blame him either. Transforming his father's legacy of struggles passed down to him just like that burdensome heirloom weighing him down into little quips of text is nowhere NEAR on his list of entertaining things right now.

But since I'm on social-distancing lockdown, MY list of entertainments have expanded to even some of the most menial things. He can sue me if he doesn't like it.

Or just throw a blood-rage tantrum as he's wont to do these days. Whichever works.

Kagome screams Inuyasha's name from the air, the only safe place to do so, I'm sure. Meanwhile, Ryuukossei's humanoid face is looking down at Inuyasha's prone form with mild surprise. A pulse is emanating from Inuyasha, youki Ryuukossei questions, given how different it is from before.

Then... JUMP SCARE.

To be fair, if I found some jerkwad hovering over ME when I was trying to catch a nap, I might be a bit cranky too.

From his perch on Kirara, Miroku observes the unfortunate fact that Inuyasha has gone feral again. Toutousai stares down at the scene silently, wondering what Inuyasha will do. He COULD fight Ryuukossei with his transformed claws and survive for the moment, but it won't make Tessaiga lighter. Nobody ever got good at baking cakes by chopping lettuce, after all.

Snarling, Inuyasha lunges, and Ryuukossei responds with a disgusted epithet, blasting Inuyasha again with his dragon-mouth fireball thing. Inuyasha leaps off to the side as it reaches him and holds up his lengthened claws to crack his knuckles threateningly. But he isn't just barking.

He's got BITE. Or scratch. Man, the metaphor is ruined now, why am I LIKE this?

The force of this blow forces Ryuukossei to lose a little balance in his coil, unfurling backward slightly. Miroku, ever Captain Obvious, remarks in surprise that Inuyasha's attack knocked Ryuukossei back. After a moment, Toutousai replies with authority that they're all withdrawing. Kagome of course demands to know why they should do that, and Toutousai aks if she can't SEE Inuyasha fighting in his youkai form. Myouga literally jumps into frame, to Kagome's alarm, and arguing that if they stay where they are, Inuyasha may come and attack them after Ryuukossei, since his judgement is getting worse after every transformation. He warns Kagome, somewhat callously, that she will NOT be an exception. Kagome gives him a soft glare, and it's hard to tell if she's pissed at him or if she's slightly worried that he may be right.

Regardless, she doesn't make a fuss, just tells Myouga that she understands and advises HIM to run away. He makes a noise of disbelief as Kagome implores Toutousai to let her down on the ground so she can stay here. He begins to protest, but she cuts him off, insisting that she understands the reasons behind fleeing, however in her mind she knows that running away and leaving Inuyasha while he's fighting isn't something she can bring herself to do.

And it turns out no one HAS to?

Inuyasha makes a low hissing noise while his youki-induced markings and blood red eyes recede. Ryuukossei rumbles still some distance away, clearly a bit wary of what this literal fucking insect is doing as he notes Inuyasha's youki is ebbing. Once we get a nice close-up of Inuyasha's normal eyes returned to normal, he begins to grumble disjointedly about how Ryuukossei thinks he's SO superior to someone's sword with his great big body. It's not like he's demonstrated how the sword doesn't quite cut it, or anything. I mean, if you'll pardon my pun.

He... undoubtedly would not have ANY patience for my puns.

Kagome's face splits into a grin as she says Inuyasha's name in joy and relief. Toutousai's eyes bug out, but it's hard to tell if it's out of surprise, since that's just how his eyes are. Ryuukossei expresses some amusement about the threat, finding the conditions of a dull blade and a weak form not very credible. Inuyasha yells at him to shut it, because it's useless for him to fight without the sword.

At that moment, Tessaiga gives off a powerful pulse. Inuyasha looks down at it with surprise; it's not his imagination that it's really getting lighter. Well wasn't THAT easy. Didn't even have to kill anybody.

Which of course doesn't mean that he WON'T kill anybody. Now that it's so much easier, he's pretty much obligated to waste this mother fucker.

Ryuukossei's blast throws more debris into the air when it hits the ground, and Inuyasha bursts from the dust cloud triumphantly, right in Ryuukossei's shocked face. Inuyasha's friends all gape, staring in shocked silence as Inuyasha strikes the spot where his father's claw was true, sliding the blade into the vulnerable unscaled spot not far below Ryuukossei's ajar dragon mouth. A spurt of blood flows from around the edges of Tessaiga.

I stand corrected. Clearly the "easier" part is already over, and we're entering nightmare mode.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Is there some sort of voice-activation mechanism in Tessaiga that responds to certain phrases? Because this happened way back when he first got the sword too, transformed by Inuyasha's resolution to protect Kagome. I didn't think too hard about it at that point, because it was Tessaiga's first appearance and EVERYTHING about it was new and strange. It wasn't really possible to point out one aspect, due to no "normal" being established yet. I focused more on the characters in my analysis at the time.

But now this second occurrence defines a pattern, a kind of silly mechanic that I have to wonder at. Is Tessaiga really reacting to Inuyasha's words, or the feelings behind them? I think that's the implication, but then why does the reaction only really happen after the words expressing existing feelings/intentions? In this particular case, Inuyasha's will to fight with Tessaiga was so strong that he overcame his own youkai blood that has been making him more and more irrational every time it takes over, so it's not like his commitment needed affirmation to make it real in this instance. Perhaps one could argue that Inuyasha is still so disconnected with his feelings that he needs to articulate them for them to be truly obvious to HIM, and therefore TESSAIGA by extension. It's not too much of a stretch, since he's been known to have a lot of trouble expressing himself in many different emotional issues. Then again, he's also been known to be surprisingly candid and fluid with his expression too, and there's not a lot to distinguish between one of these or the former instances.

All in all, this is a head-scratcher, even if it's one I won't lose sleep over. Not when it was so badass for Inuyasha to overcome what should have been his worst case of spontaneous bloodlust yet. This, at least, is understandable to me. It struck me as his knocked-out consciousness waking up in a similar way to how one might become lucid during a dream - he saw Tessaiga and recognized its distance from him as a sign that he'd entered an altered state. Those steps he took to recognize his loss of control and direct himself, stumbling in a dreamlike lack of coordination, were almost creepy in how they portrayed his internal struggle. It read like one of those nightmares where you can't move, or are moving too slowly, frustrated at your paralysis. Definitely bumped up my ability to relate to what's going on.

And yet, Kagome's inability to leave Inuyasha in this situation, no matter how dangerous it might be for her, was also so REAL. We know Kagome has her own stubbornness, and it has most often manifested in argumentative bursts, but this quiet resolution to stand in absolute support of Inuyasha gave this somewhat frustrating trait of hers so much dignity. I've never been in such a position myself, thank ALL THE GODS, but her devotion was still palpable enough to make me choke up a little. She loves him so much.

Although to be fair I might just be cracking under the pressure of lockdown.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 248 God's Third Power!

When two is just not enough. Hell, you'd think ONE would be plenty, but some folk just have to have more power. No wonder our dear Kaiba is so very taken with these god cards, huh? Meanwhile, the rest of us have to make do with what we have, and that's ZERO powers. It may not seem like a big deal when you're getting along okay, but the disparity is a glaring spotlight when you and everyone around you is dying of heat stroke and Ra over here refuses to stop being so fucking extra with its fiery wrath.

So far we've been waiting for a hero in Jonouchi, or failing that, Yami to seize that power for the forces of good, but that doesn't really solve the underlying issue of enormous powers being concentrated into only two hands. Perhaps it's time for our many protagonists to consider heroes and kings a relic of the past and start collectively taking responsibility for handling god powers.

Sure, I'm still talking about Yu-Gi-Oh. What did you think I was talking about?

Ah, Yu-Gi-Oh, where the abs never quit, and the distribution, unlike power, will eventually be equal.

Jonouchi introduces Gilford as the toughest monster of his deck, and legendary warrior who controls the storm. Yes, but can it code in three different languages? Probably. Jonouchi states with the utmost confidence that Gilford will take other!Marik down. Unfortunately, other!Marik seems LESS than impressed by this as he examines the new beefy monster with a critical frown. The peanut gallery is so much easier to awe - Shizuka makes a noise of amazement, Honda expresses excitement for how the tables have turned once more, as well as how Jonouchi has a high-level monster that ISN'T dripping lava all over him, and Anzu encourages him with a raised fist.

Yami hits us with some technicalities about how eight-star monsters ordinarily only require two sacrifices, but if you use three to summon Gilford the Lightning, it's equipped with an extra special secret deadly attack. Ooooooooh, dare I hope we get to see it for how fast things are constantly flipping on Jonouchi in this duel? Yami mental-shouts at Jonouchi to do the defeat on other!Marik, and Jonouchi complies, commanding Gilford to show its power. Gilford lifts its tree-trunk of an arm and grasps a giant sword on its back to draw with one of those weird inaccurate screeching sound-effects.

Yeah, it doesn't surprise me that you have the same non-understanding of the term "invincible" that you have of "infinite" dude.

Jonouchi explains that when Gilford is summoned, it destroys all the opponent's monsters currently on the field no matter their defenses. Finally! JONOUCHI is the one who gets to do something cheap this time! Other!Marik growls, wincing, and looking even more unhappy than before. As the virtual dust clears, Jonouchi confirms that indeed, he wasn't just talking out of his ass, and the monsters on other!Marik's side have gone. Jonouchi prepares to proceed with an actual attack this time, while other!Marik glares on in what looks like maybe SLIGHT worry? It's hard to tell. Jonouchi instructs Gilford to sic'im with "Lightning Crash Sword" and Gilford lunges with said sword raised. Jonouchi knows that if this attack goes off without a hitch, he's the winner.

But when has anything ever been EASY?

Yami panics about other!Marik's face down card, but it's too late now. Other!Marik starts chuckling, his face shrouded in shadow, somehow. Jonouchi only just realizes he didn't see the EXTREMELY VISIBLE face down card right in front of other!Marik. He just... hasn't been paying attention the whole time it's been there, I guess. Sounds fake, but okay.

Now, other!Marik's suddenly unshadowed face grins maniacally while he praises Jonouchi for lasting this long. However, he has to inform Jonouchi that there's still some playtime yet. Jonouchi stares in alarm at other!Marik's arm waving over the field where his card begins to rotate. His face down card is... a circular mirror standing on a pair of clawed feet and adorned with a skull and bat wings, called "Mirror of Nightmares" by other!Marik, and "Nightmare Mirror" by the actual card's text. Either way, FAR less of a nightmare than some of the other cards other!Marik has played, you can be sure of that.

As Jonouchi wonders just how many trap cards this guy even has, his reflection begins to form in the mirror. For some reason, seeing himself in a mirror seems to surprise him. I mean, granted, it does seem like an absolute ETERNITY since this day was supposed to have started, but I think you should still understand how a damn mirror works, Jonouchi. Other!Marik assures him that's he's right, and tells him to prepare for an attack from his own monster.

... The most spectacular backfire yet?

Other!Marik creates a narrative around this about Gilford itself being the one to act rashly and attacking the mirror, causing Jonouchi damage of 1000 life points. I can't tell you how weird it is to me that other!Marik has decided to shift the blame from Jonouchi to his monster, especially this late in the game. Just bizarre. Anyway, other!Marik admits that he has to pay a price for USING the mirror too, by discarding something from his hand. He makes something of a show of choosing, wondering out loud which of his cards is on the chopping block while assuring Jonouchi it'll just take him a moment of suspense to choose. As the readers, we get a full view of the one he puts into the graveyard slot - Ra. No surprises there. Other!Marik chuckles, knowing that this is it, the card that will introduce Jonouchi to his REAL grave.

Jonouchi grinds his teeth on the opposite side of the platform, mumbling his displeasure at other!Marik and the whole situation, I'm sure. If only he hadn't just randomly forgotten to take stock of the field like he'd gotten so very used to doing. Funny that. The peanut gallery has become crestfallen in record time; Shizuka begs Jonouchi through her disappointment to hang in there, Honda bemoans how close Jonouchi was and how he just got too anxious, and Anzu is the only one of them to suggest that perhaps there's still a chance for Jonouchi to turn this back around, since he still has Gilford on his side. But Yami sees how smiley and unafraid other!Marik is, certain that he must be planning something for the very next turn.

Which is up and coming when Jonouchi declares his turn done with ferocity. It's at this point when other!Marik up and admits to Jonouchi that he underestimated him just a tad. Or more than a tad. He says he should have realized that they can't end this until Jonouchi has had the opportunity to see a god for himself, and grins again with anything but magnanimity. Jonouchi stares back in alarm at the implication that his god is on its way out, Yami mentally naming it, half in awe and the other in horror. Kaiba, whose capacity to care is limited to just these circumstances, wonders with a small smile if other!Marik is REALLY going to do it. He's been burned by empty promises before, you see.

Other!Marik says it's his turn, and for some inexplicable reason, the bystanders decide to have a conversation about this crucial moment, AT this crucial moment. Honda frantically asks Yami how other!Marik can possibly summon Ra when he's not even got any monsters out. Yami takes the long way 'round his explanation, telling his audience friends that it normally takes three sacrifices to summon a god card. He says he can't be sure how else it could be done, since Ra has a big unknown power, or rather, THREE unknown powers, since they haven't seen any of them, really. Yami knows that Ra's attack points are supposed to be determined by those of the sacrifices, but wonders if there's a way to get Ra on the field without sacrifices and still allow it the power to attack. Heavy dramatic irony happening right now, friends.

Even if it wasn't, though, there's no doubt that other!Marik is WAY too eager for this not to be the case.

On the sidelines, Kaiba continues to pay extra attention, thinking that Jonouchi is the REAL sacrifice here. He'll suffer and maybe even die, and these are both perfectly acceptable prices to pay so Kaiba can learn how to defeat Ra. Well isn't THAT attitude familiar at this point?

Mommy, I'm hungry. Can we eat the rich yet?

Kaiba is eager to see the reveal of all Ra's hidden abilities that other!Marik has to show now. He's got more of an idea than anyone else what they are, given his deciphering of the Hieratic text he pulled from the card. The first power is of course that Ra takes its power from its sacrifices, but will only accept them if it hears the sacred words from the person doing the sacrificing. Humph, picky-picky. Then again I guess it's not out of nowhere that Ra would eat like the bird it is. Its second power is that it comes from the earth when the means of resurrection are granted, incinerating its opponent. Vague, but I think we know where that one is coming from. The third and final power of Ra is, and Kaiba quotes, "In an instant, Ra shall become a phoenix, and the enemies of Ra shall return to the earth."

Way to be dramatic about it, card.

Now thoroughly batshit over his coming move, other!Marik bid Jonouchi and all spectators behold the god through a psychotic grin, slapping the card on his Duel Disk. It's a spell card, Monster Reborn, the characteristic ankh of which Jonouchi regards with gritted teeth and mounting horror.

You see, under normal circumstances I might, but these days I find myself craving vitamin D, so I think I'll just bask it its presence for a minute if it's all the same to you.

Yami is half-flummoxed by this summoning of Ra with Monster Reborn, because it has zero attack points, and spells/magic cards are only effective on a god card for one turn, meaning it SHOULD go right back to its grave before it can even attack. Tell me something I DON'T already know for once, Yami. Other!Marik says he knows what they're all thinking, and I'm very grateful that he doesn't feel the need to repeat it yet AGAIN when he informs Jonouchi and bystanders that Ra has the power of a swift attack. Jonouchi repeats this phrase in wild disbelief, looking quite overcome with distress.

Other!Marik introduces his god card's third power with a theatrical wave of the arm, and starts speaking the Hieratic characters on the card out loud. Ra's big golden mouth begins to fill with licking fire, and Yami notes with alarm that the whole bird, on fire, is changing form. Are we sure that's not because the golden sun idol is warping due to its pitifully low melting point?

Feels like Jonouchi just traded one burning lava monster for another at this point.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? First, wow, that was the most dramatic walkback I've ever read in a story. Last chapter KT let Jonouchi really rise to the challenge, using all of his skills and proving that he is more than capable of performing an adaptable and fluid strategy to keep an opponent on the ropes. Now, KT has Jonouchi overlooking something that he really should have seen, it being in his line of sight the entire time, and thereby turned his carriage back into a pumpkin and him into the class clown once more, if you'll pardon the mixed metaphors. Sure, it's plenty realistic for a player to get distracted and make dumb mistakes no matter how competent they are, and that perhaps one could ARGUE that the virtual fog of other!Marik's dissipating monsters put the face down card out of sight for a moment too long. That being said, this sudden critical and regressive mistake strikes me more as KT realizing that he had to wrap up this duel and not being able to come up with a good SUBTLE way for Jonouchi to lose without losing his hard-earned dignity in the process. I've already said that Jonouchi's peers will continue to ignore his progress and skill no matter what, but that doesn't mean I thought it would be acceptable to give them MORE reason to view him as nothing more than a fool who stumbled his way into a place he didn't belong!

KT, you done Jonouchi dirty. What a crock.

Second, the superfluous commentary of Yami and Kaiba, detailing a lot of the things of which the standing readers already know, is HEAVY here. I'm as aware as ever that a serialization will sometimes repeat itself on the assumption that new readers will trickle in at odd moments, but I feel like the reiterations are a bit more elaborate than warranted. Yami could have made his objection to Ra's unorthodox summon much more vague, letting new readers know that there's a rule seemingly being broken here more creatively. What better way to get someone new to want to go back and read what they missed than alluding to prior information in an interesting way? Besides, Yami's listing of all the reasons why Ra's summoning shouldn't be a good plan here is just NOT how people think or talk. It's probably the most blatant example of a problem that KT has always had; making his characters talk to the audience like they shouldn't be able to just SEE what's going on and draw their own conclusions. He still doesn't trust us all that much, and it really shows.

Kaiba's recitation of the card's actual text was not only a failure at antiquated poetic leaning, but also not really a fair and accurate description of the card's effects. Yes, it's obvious that this is just more gate-keeping to keep anyone not destined to have the cards locked out of the loop, but it doesn't actually SAY what the powers are? No matter how much of a dead language you can spontaneously understand, there's still no damn way you should be able to get "quick attack" from that purple flowery word salad.

All in all, this was... very disappointing. Can't say I wasn't warned, though. I'm lookin' at you, Sebastian.

Inuyasha Manga: 189 Ryuukossei

Sounds like the noise I made when I sliced into my finger trying to pit an avocado the other day. I was chatting away about how utterly livid I am on a constant basis these days and not paying too much attention to what my hands were doing, and oops! The knife glanced off the pit and went straight into my finger. Though it hurt like a motherfucker and I was bawling about having to go to the doctor and take away resources from people who need them in the midst of a PANDEMIC, it didn't need stitches. Just a lot of gauze and a splint to keep me from bending it during the healing process.

Be careful with knives, kids, no matter how distracted you are by shitty world affairs.

Or be careful with big-ass swords, no matter how distracted you are by weird two-faced dragons whom your dad couldn't kill. Same thing, really.

Yeah, shitbags who blabber endlessly with one little humanoid mouth while destroying literally everything and everyone around them with their giant dragon mouth is a pretty familiar sight at this point, and enough to cause the slip of any blade. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Ryuukossei was part of the GOP.

As Inuyasha runs across the long coiling body of Ryuukossei, he keeps a sharp eye on the scar from his father's claw set into the dragon's chest area. With Tessaiga hoisted on his shoulder at the ready for a swing, Inuyasha anticipating the sword becoming lighter once he pierces that spot. He leaps at it with Ryuukossei watching, fully open for the attack, and not doing a damn thing to stop it. Truly this MUST mean the bum-rush will be successful.

Don't act so surprised, Inuyasha. Surely you KNEW this wouldn't be so easy.

Or maybe not, because as he flies backward through the air, he's in absolute disbelief that Tessaiga couldn't cut it. I mean, I guess I might expect the tooth to do a bit better than the claw too, but I'm sure Inuyasha's dad thought the same thing, and well... we know how that turned out. Ryuukossei's humanoid face laughs mockingly at how the attack didn't work at all, and informs Inuyasha that his body is harder than steel. Then Ryuukossei proceeds to open its dragon mouth and shoot a ball of crackling energy or fire, or both, at Inuyasha. Inuyasha leaps out of the way just as the rock face behind him shatters with the blast.

Myouga, miraculously STILL hanging out on Inuyasha's shoulder in the midst of major danger, tries to convince Inuyasha that this is really impossible. But Inuyasha snaps at Myouga that this party is just getting started. I mean, no one has even thrown up in the punch bowl yet! Myouga says that while he told Inuyasha that doggy-dad had only been able to SEAL Ryuukossei, it's not exactly the whole story; apparently the Inu no Taishou's death was ultimately caused by the wounds he received in the process.

Great job loud-mouth Myouga. Now Ryuukossei is not only aware that he beat his previous enemy in his SLEEP, but has all the reason in the world to throw that fact back in Inuyasha's face as a psychological tactic. Fantastic. Just brilliant.

Ryuukossei recalls Inuyasha said he was that Inu no Taishou's son (which, you know, is wrong, since it was Naraku actually, but that's probably neither here nor there), and asks if it could be that Inuyasha came to avenge his father's death with that blunt sword he's carrying. Inuyasha scoffs in response, yelling up at Ryuukossei that he doesn't even remember his dad's face, and vengeance would be a waste of time. Priorities in the right order. Man, I knew I liked this kid. Myouga, on the other hand, is super offended, saying that he's not showing a lot of gratitude for the immense help his father's keepsake Tessaiga has been to him. Inuyasha tells Myouga to shut it, which he uses as an excuse to jump from Inuyasha's shoulder, crying about what a disrespectful son he is and claiming there's no reason to care anymore. Inuyasha shouts at that little bastard not to run away, but that's just what Myouga does.

He'll be back.

Inuyasha is almost caught unawares by another blast exploding the ground at his back again, and as he's scrambling out of its way, he recalls that Tessaiga is so heavy because his own fang's sluggish power in comparison to that of his father's. He promises to rip apart Ryuukossei no matter what and surpass his dad, standing steadfast to face the dragon-thing looming over him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang is flying over a canopy of trees, Sango and Miroku on the transformed Kirara, and Toutousai, Kagome and Shippou hitching a ride on Toutousai's three-eyed bull. Miroku mentions a terrible evil presence he's feeling, and Toutousai says this is BAAAAAD. Kagome guesses that this must mean Ryuukossei's seal has been broken and Toutousai confirms it's the only thing he can think of. In that case, Toutousai says that there's only one way to defeat the revived Ryuukossei, with something called the Bakuryuuha. Is the fact that it appears to have part of Ryuukossei's name in it another of those famous Japanese lingual puns, or am I just buggin'? I honestly don't know, I barely know two things about the Japanese language, friends.

Kagome attempts to repeat the complicated phrase and gives up two thirds of the way through, just asking what the fuck it is. Toutousai explains that this is Tessaiga's ultimate move, and Miroku asks if it's greater than Kaze no Kizu then, which is totally not an unnecessary question to fill panels. Toutousai answers that Kaze no Kizu is like an easy beginner attack. Kagome frets that Inuyasha can barely lift the sword to do a regular swing, let alone Kaze no Kizu, to say NOTHING of doing this new more complicated move. Toutousai, like a dipshit, just casually says it must be impossible then. Yeah, must be nice to just shrug and say fucker's just gonna die without the slightest bit of worry over it. Pissant.

Miroku notices a little blurred speck hopping from Sango's shoulder guard onto his own arm, and flattens it with his palm before it can try to get at his flesh. He pulls his hand away, letting Myouga's paper-thin form waft back down onto his palm as he accuses the bug of abandoning Inuyasha yet again. Myouga responds with a disoriented noise, and Kagome fixes her worried gaze forward, mentally begging Inuyasha to stay safe.

... He's not doing the best job, is he?

Inuyasha slams into a pile of rubble, as Ryuukossei's humanoid face mocks him for being too feeble and no fun at all, even though he's giggling like a little sociopath pulling wings off a butterfly. Inuyasha groans and leaps to his feet, Tessaiga hoisted over his head, running at Ryuukossei and calling him a bastard. He slices down between the toes on one of Ryuukossei's chicken legs, but Ryuukossei just laughs, repeating that Inuyasha can't cut him with such a blunt sword. He lifts his chicken claws and pins Inuyasha violently to the crumbling rock face that I'm honestly surprised still exists at this point, asking if Inuyasha REALLY doesn't understand this simple fact yet.

When Ryuukossei withdraws his digits, Inuyasha begins to fall, as does Tessaiga.

As it often does, Tessaiga's point sticks in the rubble and fallen rocks, standing in its unimpressive rusted form once more. I swear, they should tie Tessaiga to Kirara's back, blade up, and perform that classic toast/cat experiment. Might be very clunky, but very illuminating as well.

Ryuukossei blasts Inuyasha again, and this time actually hits, sending the guy flying, along with half the landscape, it seems. Inuyasha lands face-first in a pile of rocks, which looks like it must have hurt A LOT, and a familiar darkening around what's visible of his cheek forms.

At this moment, Toutousai and the rest of the gang arrives, flying toward the looming Ryuukossei. He looks strangely small in this shot, and messes with my sense of scale. Draped over Kagome's shoulder, Shippou points out that Inuyasha has lost Tessaiga.

At least he isn't AS far gone as last time. Silver linings and all.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I wasn't kidding that Inuyasha had his priorities in line. Revenge is something of a cliche as motivation these days, and if it has to be in the story, I prefer it to be a garnish rather than the main dish. So far, Inuyasha has done a pretty good job keeping everyone's motivations a bit more complicated; there are elements at wanting to get back at Naraku and others for the shitty things they've done, but more immediate is always the need to keep the villains from doing any more harm, or keeping a horrible curse from killing someone, or even take back up the mantle of obligation from the past.

When Inuyasha outwardly defies the expectation that he's doing this for a man he no longer remembers is all the better, because it just highlights his need to perform this act for the people with him here and now. While revenge is regressive and an unhealthy obsession with the past that the character cannot move past, Inuyasha's motivation is progressive, a literal need to move past his own limitations to protect everyone around him. It has an inherently positive outlook that changes the tone of the battle, which in turn gives that last panel a hopeful note as well, despite how devastating Inuyasha's previous transformations have been. Since his motivation IS Kagome and friends, she has the power to keep him lucid where the dedication to a dead man would not. The Inu no Taishou won't come back no matter how anyone defends him in death, and there's only one way to express real gratitude for Tessaiga now. Use it how it was meant to be used, to seal Inuyasha's youkai blood and protect his human friends to its maximum ability.

But Myouga already knew that, I'm sure. These old dudes know damn near everything. Or so they tell me.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 247 Duel the Lightning!

Just how in the world is someone supposed to duel LIGHTNING? Not only am I sure that if lightning were sentient, it probably wouldn't care a whit about a card game when it can just fry opponents on the spot, but it wouldn't even be able to hold the cards if it did. It would have to get a surrogate to play for it, and have a reliable way of controlling how the surrogate plays so that they don't get all uppity and start playing with their OWN strategy. You gotta have some sort of mind-control going on there, but perhaps not super obvious, the kind that's a leading suggestion.

Oh dammit, I'm describing those fucking Millennium Items, aren't I??

Say what you want about other!Marik, at least he doesn't hide behind manipulation and underhanded garbage. Unlike regular-sized Marik, what you see is what you get, and he doesn't bother with the cloak-and-dagger shit.

While Shizuka frets over her brother and Honda exclaims that Jonouchi is in a cage, as if everyone else can't see that, Yami contemplates the horrible Lava Golem that other!Marik managed to force Jonouchi to summon by using Jonouchi's own monsters. He wonders if this is other!Marik's plan for a brief moment, but concludes that other!Marik would never just give Jonouchi a 3000-point monster, even if it DID cost Jonouchi a couple of other monsters. He figures there has to be some sort of terrible strategy behind this.

Meanwhile, other!Marik laughs and taunts Jonouchi with a mocking request for thanks; he gave Jonouchi quite a powerful monster after all. But then he speculates that Jonouchi is just too frightened to speak, locked up in his cage as he is. Other!Marik acknowledges that there's a certain risk with having Lava Golem as a monster. Even if he hadn't already given it away, I'm sure Jonouchi could have guessed, what with being locked up and prevented from getting away that's part and parcel with the summoning. Also, he's sweating his ass off, grinding his teeth over how hot it is all of a sudden. Again, other!Marik goes over how the Lava Golem's melty body causes 700 points of damage to the player every turn, relishing in the prospect of Jonouchi tasting red hot hell.

I've heard of some weird fetishes, but lava is a new one. For me anyway. I realize this is the internet, so please don't send me lava-porn, because I don't need convincing it exists in this hell-hole.

Well, at least a card game is an easy feat to accomplish in a cage. Granted, he can't flail like they usually do, but I feel like that can be easily omitted with little impact to the match.

Honda JUST seems to have noticed the hefty attack points on the Lava Golem, and asks Yami if it can't be used to attack other!Marik and win, since it DOES seem to be Jonouchi's and all. Hesitantly, Yami admits that other!Marik doesn't have any monsters on his side right now, but he's pretty damn sure that other!Marik wouldn't just hand Jonouchi the means to beat him, and he's preparing a trap. Yami mentally urges Jonouchi to draw the card "Giant Trunade", which would return all spell and trap cards to their respective owners from the field. Jonouchi is on the same wavelength as he draws, hoping against all hope for the hurricane card.

Unfortunately, when he looks at his new card, it's Foolish Burial. He curses internally, noting that he doesn't have any more monster cards as he adds his new spell to his hand. He wonders what to do, contemplating his cards, taking stock of Viser Des still clinging to Panther Warrior, which means other!Marik can't use it to defend. The only problem Jonouchi can see at the moment is other!Marik's face down card. But after only a moment of consideration, Jonouchi thinks that even if it is a trap card, it'll probably go to the graveyard after other!Marik uses it. Yeah, I guess if he were ANYONE ELSE. Regardless of how much of a miscalculation I think this is, Jonouchi decides that he'd rather step into a trap than just let lava drip on him passively.

Well, at least he's aware of the overwhelming risk.

Jonouchi yells at other!Marik that he'll attack with the grotesque pet that was given to him, just like other!Marik wanted. I suppose if you're doing something outwardly stupid, you've got to alert people to the fact that you KNOW it's stupid, to avoid too many accusations that you're a moron. Other!Marik grins, admitting that he thought Jonouchi would be too afraid of his face down card. He begins to smugly say how this decision turned out for Jonouchi before Jonouchi cuts him off to throw his condescending wording back at him. Seems other!Marik's endless prattle is only entertaining to him, but that's the only person he gives two shits about, so he proceeds to tell Jonouchi that his hunch was indeed right.

Wait, what? I was expecting a speech about how impulsive Jonouchi was wrong and stupid and other!Marik was going condemn him to eternal darkness for this sin, but other!Marik has surprised me. He says that his face down card doesn't have a permanent effect, and it won't be around the turn after it's triggered. Eyes narrowed in determination, Jonouchi announces he's going for it, and other!Marik encourages him, revealing the Lava Golem's ultimate attack to be "Golem Volcano" and demanding to hear Jonouchi shout it with another deranged anticipatory expression. Call me crazy, but this isn't inspiring a ton of confidence that Jonouchi is out of the woods.

It's the little acts of rebellion that keep us going, kids. Remember that.

Honda doesn't get it, and stutters Jonouchi's name for the attack, utterly mystified by it. He tries to steer back on the course of blindly supporting Jonouchi, but I'm afraid his poor mind has been derailed. And they call Jonouchi simple. Other!Marik calmly activates his face down card, just like that, thrusting his arm out to introduce "Monster Relief". Jonouchi gapes in confusion while other!Marik explains that with this card, he can make any one monster retreat and special summon another to take its place. Immediately, Yami realizes with alarm that the monster to be targeted is Viser Des. It's the only one available to other!Marik at the moment, so the deduction isn't exactly brilliant, but kudos anyway.

Indeed, other!Marik pulls Viser Des back into his hand in what looks like a slight-of-hand trick his Pandora follower would praise up and down. But then, strangely, he slaps it back on his Duel Disk again.

At least it's not attached to anyone's skull this time around. That's good news. With the rarity of good news these days, I'll take what I can get.

But Jonouchi is of a different mindset, cursing softly and wondering aloud just how other!Marik DID that. Other!Marik doesn't answer, just states smugly that the Lava Golem will now start to melt. A rope of molten rock drips next to Jonouchi, sizzling as he stares with a wild eye, but that's just the closeup. The next panel shows at a distance Jonouchi getting showered in melting Lava Golem drool in his cage, and Jonouchi repeats "HOT" over and over while he sizzles and his life points drop to 2600.

Other!Marik laughs, and reminds Jonouchi that Helpoemer is coming to loot another card from his hand. As if waiting for the cue, the ghostly fingers reach out from Jonouchi's Duel Disk and snatches something new from Jonouchi's palm. Jonouchi, feet propped on the metal cage that HAS to be more hot in the dripping lava than the damn ground for some reason, stutters that his turn is over and curses at other!Marik to hurry his ass up. Other!Marik smirks at him, claiming his turn, and thinking how unseemly Jonouchi's climbing in his cage is. It IS getting rather difficult to argue how clever he has been at this point...

Casually, other!Marik plays another face down card, while he contemplates the one easy way Jonouchi can get rid of that Lava Golem gift of his; a sacrifice. He reasons that Jonouchi must not have any high-level monsters handy at the moment, given he hasn't tried that route yet. Other!Marik can always stop that action dead in its tracks, though, by switching Viser Des from Panther Warrior to Lava Golem. Wait a moment, did he put Viser Des back on Panther Warrior? It was just hovering in front of him before like a weirdly effective shield, so what the hell?

Anyway, other!Marik decides to paralyze Jonouchi for real now, which is a super dick move even for him. I mean, at least let him finish the game he's playing before you rob him of all motor function and the ability to play later! Other!Marik pulls a card from his hand with a flourish, slapping it on his Duel Disk to reveal it's a spell card called Machine Duplication. Jonouchi gapes in disbelief, while other!Marik explains that this card will allow him to summon two additional machine-type monsters, under 500 attack points, of course. Jonouchi shouts a word of question, still in shock I'm sure, but Yami gets it: with grinding teeth, he realizes that other!Marik is going to summon two more Viser Des.

Or is it Viser Deses? Is there a plural for this name?

Just as Yami predicted, other!Marik starts pulling more cards from his deck, telling them he has two more of the sentient vices in his deck, and calls for them to come out as he flails their cards onto his hologram device.

The second worst thing I can think of locking onto me at this point. By a long way, though.

The additional torture devices attach to Lava Golem and Rocket Warrior where their temples MIGHT be if they had such things, but the third one still hangs out at other!Marik's side. I guess Panther Warrior has had its skull crushed quite enough for other!Marik, who laughs that Jonouchi cannot sacrifice a monster now, and will be forced to sit there losing life points every turn without the ability to TOUCH his opponent. He wonders out loud just how much Jonouchi will squeal when all three vices tighten at once, but this just elicits a growl from Jonouchi at the moment. Other!Marik ends his turn here.

Honda gripes that other!Marik's deck is far too good, which I guess is ONE word for playing three of the same cheap OP card at once. He asks if there's anything Jonouchi can do, Shizuka calling to her brother not to give up and Yami looking not too well on either side. Kaiba glares at the spectacle, scoffing about how other!Marik didn't even need to play the god card. Jonouchi hunches over his cards, looking desperate, and Anzu questions Yami just as Honda did - what can Jonouchi do? He doesn't answer, but he's looking intently at Jonouchi now, silently imploring Jonouchi to search his cards, because there has to be a way out. Maybe if he has a bobby pin and a paperclip.

Jonouchi examines the cards in his hand, Graceful Dice on top. He's consumed by the knowledge that the Lava Golem behind him will keep causing him damage every turn if he can't get rid of it, and he'll eventually lose. In addition, he's mentally beating himself up for that promise he made to Yami it doesn't look like he'll be able to keep. But, in true Yu-Gi-Oh style, Jonouchi decides he's not giving up, and he's going to keep believing in his next card.

Which when he draws it, turns out to be Gilford the Lightning. I didn't know lightning could have muscles, but this one DEFINITELY does. Jonouchi is at first a little sullen, because this is an eight-star monster that he can't summon if he can't sacrifice some of his current monsters. When contemplating how he just needs a sacrifice, he seems to have an epiphany, and sees his Graceful Dice card peeking from behind his Gilford card anew. Thinking that there's still a way, he pulls Graceful Dice from his hand.

Hot shit, this kid's getting creative AGAIN! Other!Marik sure doesn't look happy about this either.

Jonouchi has the weird hat angel-baby in the diaper roll its oversized die, trailing a speculation on what will happen if he raises those Viser Des attack points. It rolls right onto the six, which destroys two of the Viser Des. No kidding, they explode and everything. Other!Marik scarcely has time to growl in his irritation before Jonouchi tells him to get ready. He declares his sacrifice of Lava Golem, Panther Warrior and Rocket Warrior, all of which are surrounded in swirls of virtual wind.

Really? It seems to me you should have been paying attention, other!Marik, because there were SIGNS.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? As much as I'm making fun of other!Marik at the end of the recap up there, I am rather surprised about how much KT is making the most of Jonouchi's swan song here. If I weren't so certain that Jonouchi is going to lose for the sake of the story moving forward, I would be biting my nails right now. Even DESPITE the fact that I'm well aware that Jonouchi can't win, I still find myself marveling at how REAL the fight is for the character. He's giving it all he has, getting increasingly creative with what little he's given, to duel as hard as he can, and that makes this weird magical game (on its face) all the more realistic. It may seem like a given to have the characters maintain their effort to maintain tension even when there's a meta knowledge among readers and author that the outcome has to come out a certain way, but I've read a LOT of stories in which the author seems to FORGET that their characters are supposed to be  PEOPLE rather than vehicles for a narrative. So kudos to KT for keeping Jonouchi's energy high, because it's keeping mine high too.

I can't really say the same for other!Marik though. He has moments of emotionality, but it doesn't seem like much more than mild annoyance. I get that he's not really invested in this one, and that's understandable, because much like Kaiba, he has ONE target in this tournament. But you would think the revelation that he'll have to use his god card against Jonouchi after all would be a wake-up call. Maybe induce a bit more of a reaction than a little cocky grin? I don't know, I'm just never much feeling his character, and perhaps it's because he keeps pulling the cheap shots. His creativity and drive just isn't on the level with anyone else, and it's not easy for me to relate.

Then again, his overt pleasure in the shitty, hurtful side of life is kind of enviable these days. I wish I could be so excited about prospect of pain. All I am is angry, though. Angry and tired.