Yu-Gi-Oh Movie: Dark Side of Dimensions

 It's nearly 3 hours long. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. XD

Yu-Gi-Oh Transcend Game: Part 2

Trepidation. My feelings going into this chapter are trepidation, all the way down. To be fair, I've been dealing with a series of physical ailments for the past month and a half, which has culminated in a frustrating bout of sciatica that keeps me up at night. I haven't been sleeping very well, and that CAN lead to a tad bit of paranoia about some of the most mundane things. BUT I do remember the horror tinge to the previous installment, that clearly wasn't MEANT to be horrifying, so I'm sort of dreading what other fucked-up shit is going to be in this one that is presented as innocuous. At the very least, I'm poised for some peak Kaiba cringe to come at some point, if nothing else.

Why are there crazy search lights pointing every which way around Kaiba's home? Is this another of those weird rich people things that I don't get?

Kaiba's seated in an elaborate rolling chair, at a big chunky work desk, bent over the top half of the egg-helmet with what looks like a soldering iron in one hand and a magnifying device mounted on an arm in the other. He narrates that he's cooped up in his home lab doing some final adjustments on the test model, and looks forward to the moment of completion. With a little smile, he plans on entering Duel Links himself when that happens and... ruling as its king. 

There it is, peak Kaiba cringe. First page. This bodes well.

Cut to some distance behind him, where a familiar little figure is shown from the back in her baggy dress and bangles, saying Kaiba CAN'T become king. After a panel showing Kaiba in some alarm at NOT being alone in his private lab, the little girl from the end of the previous installment adds dead straight "not EVER", just so we know how serious she is that Kaiba is NOT capable of becoming a king. Sorry buddy, you don't have the DIVINE RIGHT to rule a single thing.

Strangely, Kaiba is also smiling rather easily when he swivels in his chair, more lightly amused that someone is able to creep up behind him in there than upset. He's got composure HERE, but he can't hold onto his shit in less creepy situations? This boy... Anyway, the little girl chuckles, because there weren't quite ENOUGH indicators that she's a freaky ghost child. Why not comb her hair in front of her face while you're at it?

Kaiba recognizes her from the end of the last chapter just like we do, and says so, still wearing that "I'm humoring a little kid" smile. She bows her head and says she's the test subject whose duty it is to help shape his world - a duty I thought belonged to ALL of the test subjects, but that shows what I know. Kaiba has ditched the grin when he speaks again, asking seriously what she wants with him. She waves a hand, asking him not to make such a frightful face, and stating that she only came over to offer her thanks. He repeats this intention as a question, and she explains that Duel Links assembles the consciousness of duelists, a truly ground-breaking system that gives players a brand new field of battle. She then goes on to speculate about if an individual with superior consciousness that transcends human wisdom got mixed in there, only pausing to let Kaiba repeat "superior consciousness" in question too. Humble little thing, isn't she? 

Anyway, she says that in this dimension that's founded in disorder, high levels of consciousness gather and unite, and this allows access to ANOTHER unknown dimension. This is apparently a place that transcends the realm of the living, and she mutters about whether this is the netherworld or just a world of greater dimensions. It's mostly word salad, but you can tell where she's going with this. The girl claims to have heard the voice of someone SUPER DUPER important in the world of Duel Links, a person who no longer exists in THIS dimension, but is now a resident of the netherworld. 

This face is going to show up in my nightmares tonight, I just know it. 

The girl does not seem the least bit disturbed by this (despite being somewhat defensive about his "frightful" frown earlier), and suggests that he could totes sync up with this limited superior consciousness right now if he wanted. We just see his eyes in response, narrowed a bit this time, creepy grin thankfully out of frame. Right in front of his eyes, the little girl just up and vanishes. Kaiba bolts out of his chair, alarmed again that she disappeared. And she'd seemed so SOLID too!

Suddenly, Kaiba has to twist around again, because a monitor above the desk he was working at turns on to show Mokuba, yelling at him that they've got big trouble. Remotely, it appears Mokuba pulls up a hologram in a round projector somewhere in the room, panicking about some weird data they've never seen before coming up on the main branch lab's surveillance monitor, urging big brother to take a look for himself. Seto indeed peers at the globe that appears before him, trailing in an assessment about what it is, allowing Mokuba to fill in the blank with the statement that the Neurons signals are moving in an abnormal pattern. He says the test-subjects' neuro-signals are being drawn away by an unknown consciousness. An unknown consciousness that appears to be in space? The little data points and their connection lines are literally moving UPWARD off the globe, so I guess so. 

Wow, this one is even MORE horrifying! Wait, is he modeling the new murder grin? Is that what this is?

I changed my mind, I LOVE IT. I missed you, murder grin!

So he calls this thing he's been looking for "Project Neurons' final vision", and he's not making this sound any LESS ominous. He turns away from the monitor on which his brother is gaping at him, because he starts laughing like a fucking maniac. Also, he's making this weird pose/gesture as he's walking away toward some sort of open pod, his left elbow raised straight out and the corresponding fist over the center of his chest, his other hand over that - at first I thought he had done the classic "fist in palm" pose, but upon closer inspection, it doesn't look very similar. I don't know what he's doing here, it's weird. Everything he does is fucking strange. 

He sits in the pod, tapping buttons and lights, telling Mokuba that he's going to access Duel Links in response to his brother calling out to him in a panic. After he's done adjusting the settings, presumably, he lays back in the reclining position of the pod, which seems very closely tailored to his specific stick-like proportions. The door descends on him, sealing him in, and he yells, to no one in particular, here he goes, full speed ahead, etc. Of course, he's not ACTUALLY going anywhere, but from all the lights and shit I can safely assume that he's taking a virtual trip. 

He just immediately manifested himself in Duel Links in a Blue Eyes White Rocket so he could blow right on past the plebs. Shit, even in virtual space he's putting distance and metal plating between himself and everyone else. 

His test subjects, who are also apparently STILL in the Kaiba Corp labs LATE into the night (who is looking after these kids' physical needs???), point and gape at Kaiba's rocket, urging each other to look and calling it "Seto Kaiba-sama's Battleship". As he zooms up and out of range, he leaves behind a whole shit-ton of fanbrats begging him to duel with them, and some others pointing out how massive Kaiba's "consciousness" is and that they wouldn't even stand a chance at dueling him. Yeah, sure, it's his "consciousness" that's overinflated. So they set THAT aside and chatter about how he's ascending at breakneck speed, wondering where in the Duel World he could POSSIBLY be going. 

To hang out with the only kind of person he can stand. A dead one. 

He's got that murder grin on again as he's blasting off, a bunch of what look like the connection lines on a circuit board lit on the side of his face. He's thinking that by gathering the consciousness of Duel Links, the frequency will amplify infinitely. Oh shit, not this misuse of the concept of infinity again. I thought we were past that! Apparently that will evolve them into a superior consciousness, and that will ascend to a higher dimension beyond. More word salad, but with the added implication that he's USING the consciousness of his test subjects to catapult his stupid ass into the beyond. 

Clearly, the murder grin is aimed at himself. This becomes even more obvious when he appears on the OUTSIDE of this rocket ship, on the BEWD head if the lines of the logo/design insignia he's kneeling on and the perspective as he stares down the light burst he's advancing upon are any indication. As he glares and clenches his teeth at his presumed destination, the space chair from the previous chapter circles around his left, and he catches a glimpse of it out of his periphery, whipping around in alarm. 

The space chair approaches, the "woman" in the seat leaning forward to warn Kaiba that it's too dangerous for him to go on ahead. Kaiba scoffs, calling her Prana now, a slight translation inconsistency between this and the first part - it's an understandable one, but I wanted to point it out just in case there was some confusion, since from what I can tell, use of one or the other seem pretty evenly split between the "l" and "r". 

She says that the Duel Links he's created are part of a dangerous game, which was designed to gather the consciousness of neurons and access a higher dimension. Did Kaiba stumble his way into playing a very crucial role in heisting another dimension??? Prana continues to warn him that he's heading for a "world of evil" that transcends the boundaries of mortal man, which is ONE way to tell a guy he's going straight to Hell, lol. She asks if he's really prepared to set foot in such a place. 

Kaiba repeats her question back at her, asking in turn if she's really asking if he's AFRAID. He then declares that anyone who stands in his way will be eliminated, and she's the only one who needs to be PREPARED here. Dude, she's just trying to offer you a way out of certain suicide, okay? Prana stands, saying that if he can defeat HER, HOLDER OF SUPERIOR CONSCIOUSNESS, she'll let him pass, but if he can't beat her, then he'll die. Did I mention how humble she is? In any case, Kaiba is gonna die either way, so what does any of this even matter? 

Kaiba scoffs again, expressing how interesting he finds this challenge, speaking to how ridiculously BORING he is. 

Because it's essential we have a duel SOMEWHERE in this, even if it's a farce that makes no difference whatsoever. 

Prana again summons Meteor Directional World Device, Duja, with 8800 pulse attack points, precisely like when she went up against the little baby dragon pirates or whatevz. She clearly doesn't think Kaiba is any more capable than his child test subjects, and if I were him, I MIGHT be insulted. But he ain't got time for that, apparently, because all he does is announce his turn, summoning the obvious - Blue Eyes White Dragon. Shit, I forgot my Frank Sinatra joke doesn't work anymore. What's a female version of Frank Sinatra? Marilyn Monroe? Ella Fitzgerald? Peggy Lee? 

Oh fuck me, this is impossible. 

The way Prana says the name of the Blue Eyes, you can tell she's got mad respect, but she notes with an internal chuckle that it only has 3000 pulse points, and Duja totally trumps it in attack power. She declares the battle phase of play. 

That's a mean right hook. And the Blue Eyes White Dragon has quite a glass jaw, because in the next panel it's crumbling away while Kaiba braces against the shockwaves of the attack. He's using the arm on which his Duel Disk is, the other curled out behind him, which I guess confirms that there's no danger of it "breaking" as a mechanic of the virtual world. Prana says her opponent is "pulverized" and I wonder if she knows what that word means, really. Superior consciousness beyond regular human wisdom, everyone!

But Kaiba lifts his head, smiling, seeming a lot more confident than a guy whose monster got "pulverized" has any right to be. He smarms that if he were to give Prana any criticism on her dueling, it would be that she puts in no consideration, whatever that means. She seems to have cottoned onto the indication that she's fallen for some sort of trap, as Kaiba drawls on, speculating that it might be because she's a child and she should learn to control her consciousness better. Isn't this EXACTLY what I was saying in the previous chapter's analysis??? That expecting babies to be able to do this is... you know what, never mind.

Prana notices that the pulse points on the NOT pulverized, in fact completely recovered, Blue Eyes White Dragon are actively going up, at 5900 and counting at a single glance. With one of her large child-like eyes visible through her helmet and widened considerably, Prana realizes that Kaiba controlled his own thought frequency to raise the BEWD's attack power. I mean, isn't that what YOU'VE been doing? More important question: does this concept actually MEAN anything, or are you two talking out of your asses?

Cool?

Prana's life points hit zero and her exterior facade begins to crumble off her. The little girl inside pouts that she really liked the style of that avatar too. Her taste is questionable, but there's not a single one of us that DIDN'T have shitty taste as kids, so she gets a pass. Kaiba said he knew it was her, no points for managing to pick up on the obvious, but he says playtime is over. Prana says haltingly that she went through the effort of trying to stop him, but there's no turning back now if he really wants to go to his demise. Kaiba says he's well aware, but really all he's thinking about is facing "HIM" again, to deliver the final blow on the deceased king, as he turns his attention back to the bright light ahead. Prana stands to the side, smiling back at him and saying they're almost there, as though she DIDN'T make their destination out to be a land of evil and horror just a little while ago. 

They speed toward the light, and Kaiba holds out his hand with the Blue Eyes White Dragon card held firmly in his grasp, bidding the faithful dragon to come along with him on his journey into oblivion. Just as in the first few panels of the previous installment, Kaiba waxes poetic about illuminating the infinite darkness over there if that's where he's headed, which makes a tad more sense now that it's in context that he's talking about DEATH itself. The actual LIGHT he's hurtling towards seems to shape itself into Atem's form, head inclined, and this form is reflected in Kaiba's BULGING eyes. 

Meanwhile, the Immaculate Facial Hair Guy shouts about Kaiba-sama as he hunches in front of a computer screen. Mokuba turns to him, asking what's wrong, and Immaculate Facial Hair Guy whirls around to panic at Mokuba about how it's too dangerous for the elder Kaiba, his brainwaves are ascending at a rate above human limits, and at this rate Seto Kaiba's life is in danger. Wait, I thought the "ascending" brain waves were just a few minutes ago a data anomaly that you'd never seen before, and now all of a sudden Kaiba's R&D department is the fucking EXPERT on how fast human brain waves should be going up? How does THAT track?

Express rocket to Hell, right there.

Oh, you know you're on a bad path when your moral support nopes the fuck out of there. Kisara is like, "Nah son, I'm out."

Mokuba pulls down a big knife/guillotine switch, broken safety glass surrounding it, yelling that he's tolerating NO MORE of his brother's elaborate un-aliving. Kids, don't try this at home without the proper safety wear - there's a reason there's a big-ass "DANGER" label on this switch. The power in the lab and in the giant room where all those test subjects are sitting goes dark, and they take of their helmets, looking around in confusion. Mokuba is still hanging off the handle of the switch, his eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, thinking at Seto that he can't handle anymore, that he'll die. 

The good news is that Mokuba managed to flip the switch in time to save his brother, and the bad news is it looks like the elder Kaiba is literally getting the shock of his life. His torso is raised right off the reclining pod, muscles seizing and jaw grinding, the tendons standing out in his neck. His eyes are bulging again too. When the fit subsides, he hunches over in his seat, sweating and panting. He raises a palm to his forehead and asks himself if that was a hallucination. As he stumbles out of the pod, he decides that it's not, and chuckles a little. 

Well, at least you believe SOMETHING. 

Cut to a set of stairs leading down from the larger city area filled with tall buildings to a park if the swing set in the corner of the panel is any indication. The Prana little girl is sitting on a little round seat with a book open on her lap, people wandering around her, going about their leisure time. A boy clutching the string of a clown balloon approaches her, asking her what she's reading. She indicates the book and asks if it's what he means, and, uh, yeah, I'd imagine so, since that's the only thing around that he COULD be referring to. Superior consciousness, everybody!

The boy accidentally let's go of the string, and his clown balloon starts to float up and out of his reach, both kiddos gaping at it. A woman pushing a stroller with a toddler in it ahead of him, presumably his mother, scolds him for doing EXACTLY what she told him not to, and let go of that fucking balloon. Kid probably BEGGED her for it too, lol. Long-suffering parents, poor folks. The boy grunts in frustration as he tries to jump for the rapidly retreating string. 

The Prana girl has lost interest in the boy and his balloon troubles bending her head over her book again. Someone off-panel says that "Sera" was awfully close to something. A tall guy in a long vest-like getup over a shirt with rolled sleeves, cuffs on his wrists, and SEVERE bedhead at the back and longer locks of hair on the sides of his head just behind his ears has retrieved the boy's balloon and kindly hands it to him. The Prana girl immediately patronizingly calls the kid such a good boy, then offers him the book he was so interested in, since she's finished with it. How fucking SICK would it be if it were the final volume of the original Yu-Gi-Oh? That's too meta for me not to headcanon. In reality, we have no idea what this book is, it's probably not important. The boy thanks the both of them, and the Prana girl stands in front of the tall guy, waving at the boy as he leaves with a weird chuckle.

Not surprising, you can't even eliminate your fucking cowlicks.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I had to start with looking up the word "Prana", since the name this Sera girl has chosen for her Duel Links alias seemed to have a fair amount of significance. From what I can gather, from a MINIMAL amount of research, to be fair, is that it is a Sanskrit word for "breath" and refers to the Hindu version of the cross-cultural concept of a "life energy" that inhabits all things. It's one of five "Vayus" that are specific breaths that are related to different parts of the body and systems in that body, exercises that can bring a sort of active meditative high. "Prana" is the main one, and the one from which all the others are derived, originating or located in the head, lungs, and heart. Kind of a related concept to chakras, although where I am in the West, this complex idea has been watered down pretty significantly and miscommunicated a lot to white women in yoga gear, so I very much doubt I have even an inkling about what "Prana" really means in its cultural context. The way many of the sources I've read put it, it's kind of similar to chi, or a "subtle body", an energetic self, if you will. 

As far as how this relates to the content of the chapter, I can only make a very WEAK connection to it regarding its "location" in the head, leading to a calm mind, among other things. Getting a handle on one's Prana could be interpreted as in connection to "higher consciousness", it is after all a spiritual idea. But other than that, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of levels of reality, different dimensions and such, like the chapter is leaning heavily on. Just the idea tied to another separate one that control of one's consciousness in tandem with a collectively raising consciousness can lead to access to other dimensions. Kaiba's consciousness was described as huge by the test subjects in Duel Links, and he implies that he's able to control his consciousness better than Sera while he's lecturing her, but I have no idea WHY. Hell, I don't even know what that MEANS. How does Kaiba, or ANYONE, train their consciousness? Was Kaiba able to do some sort of mental exercise in order to beef it up for the game, or is he just naturally a bigger, badder consciousness because he's such an "enlightened genius"? Without meaningful definitions and a proper explanation of these concepts of "superior consciousness", "ascending consciousness", or "consciousness" in general, it all amounts to vague nonsense. 

I'm struck by all the visual representations of "ascension" as LITERALLY going up. It's clear that the characters and the audience wouldn't have any reason to believe something weird is happening with the collective conscious of Duel Links if there weren't some sort of pattern you could SEE and could link to the concept of "rising". This is after all a visual medium, and there's only so many ways you can SHOW an audience what's happening with INVISIBLE concepts. But this is really the only part of the whole that gets this treatment, almost as if a general collective trend of a consciousness in this game rising to other dimensions or realities was the HUB of the content of this story, and the spokes that fan out from it that are supposed to follow from or explain this aren't constructed from anything but smoke. Reading some of the lines above gives me pause because I get the impression that I'm supposed to THINK there's something profound being said, something about the incorporeal base of reality and the ability of human consciousness to look behind the curtain and see so many other worlds that our awareness could perceive under certain stimuli, but at a second glance, it's just a trick that's meant to superficially make the main character look clever. Ironically, a good majority of the dialog in this chapter in particular is missing the substance necessary to make the mechanics of what Duel Links, Kaiba, and the chapter itself is trying to pull off comprehensible. It doesn't just not do a good job of explaining the HOWS, but deliberately AVOIDS doing it entirely at every turn, because the idea behind this wasn't really thought out in any way other than a brief foray into a pop understanding of half-remembered esoteric spirituality and what I have to assume is a large dose of mangled quantum physics.

And I've got to say, even if I grant that there could be a bit of translation fuckery, and the dialog could make much more sense than I'm seeing in this particular version, I have trouble buying that Spaz-Boy up there has THIS much of a grasp on HIS consciousness. He's a wacky motherfucker for this whole two-part fiasco, singularly focused on dueling a DEAD KING. Doesn't seem particularly "enlightened" to me. In fact, it seems to me that his character has kind of regressed since we last saw him. I know that there's a split among fans on this point, some saying Kaiba needs closure since he wasn't there for the ceremonial duel so this makes sense for his character, and some saying that his character took a step backward to get back to this level of insane obsession with dueling Atem. I understand the former point of view - Kaiba had a relationship with Atem too, largely adversarial, but intimate in a way. I can see why someone in his position might feel a range of upset and hurt by the disappearance without a goodbye of not just a rival, but someone he felt so connected to. The relationship was so interestingly complicated that it seems a little odd that he would just shrug after going to pick up Yuugi and gang from the desert to find that Atem was gone into the light. 

But THIS, Transcend Game, doesn't ADDRESS that, in my perspective. In fact, it reduces Kaiba's motivations to defeating the king so he can be crowned instead. This is diametrically opposed to the conclusion he came to while he was preparing to destroy Alcatraz Island back at the end of Battle City - there's a reason it's named after a prison. He realized that he was holding onto grudges and anger that was keeping him from moving forward, primarily against his stepfather, but it manifested in his matches against Atem as a desperate need to be the best, the duel king.  His and Atem's conversation during their last duel articulated why this wasn't conducive to reaching for a future he wanted, and Atem spells out for him IMMEDIATELY after the duel that Kaiba's opponent wasn't even HIM, it was Kaiba's uncontrollable, obsessive hatred. Let's not forget it was the attitude of his stepfather ingrained in him since he was adopted that really kept him gunning for winning every duel over the course of the series; the attitude that losing was the same as death. It was why he felt like losing against Atem was killing him every time, and he couldn't move on UNTIL he took back the life stolen from him. But Atem helps him to realize that it was all a lie, implanted by Gozaburo's mental colonization, creating the inner demons that he was ACTUALLY struggling against the entire time. After the end of Yuugi's duel with Marik, he remembers that he had dreams and ambitions before Gozaburo, and he could still pursue them, because he's actually STILL ALIVE. All he had to do was decide to shift his focus. And he did. 

Kaiba's character arc, in my mind, was about letting the fuck go. About not embodying the very criticism he gave to Atem about being a creature of the past, unable to move ahead because he's stuck on whatever happened back in the day. Kaiba's obsession with winning against Atem was presented as unambiguously unproductive, stunting, and futile, and he acknowledges at the end that he has other, better things to do with his time. Transcend Game walks all that back, yanks him back into the abyss of endlessly dwelling on defeating a dead guy. It's depressing. No wonder he wants to die so badly.

I think the Blue Eyes White Dragon dissolving there toward the end is a pretty big indication that Kaiba's direction is going backwards. I joked about Kisara noping out, but it does bear a HIGH resemblance to the other times she has refused to carry out attacks, disappearing from the field because she doesn't think her participation is right or good. It's always on the cusp of "victory" right? Kaiba would have "won" the first time if BEWD hadn't disappeared at a critical moment in his first appearance. The Conical Hat Weirdo would have "won" if it hadn't disappeared before the end of the turn. Priest Seto would have "won" if it hadn't disappeared, while Kisara appeared before him to insist he can't be consumed by shadows. In all of these matches, technically the wielders of BEWD lost the battle, but it was for the wider benefit of everyone involved. Except Conical Hat Weirdo, of course, fuck that guy. The point is that there's circumstances in which a technical win actually makes things worse, and the Blue Eyes White Dragon has been crucial in putting a stop to that shit. KT seemed to be admitting here that not only were Kaiba's actions self-destructive, they were also a regressive pattern of behavior that even his fave monster has to call the fuck out. But hey, when you're compelled to write a prologue and movie about characters that were SUPPOSED to have moved on with their lives a long time ago because the owners of your work have noticed that it's gotten really popular again and the they wanna cash in...

Anyway, this two-parter was a downer on the whole. While the new murder grin is something I can feel excited about (I'm holding onto this interpretation for dear life because otherwise I feel like it's genuinely terrifying), the "duel" that Kaiba and Sera/Prana fought here wasn't much of a duel at all despite the impressive visuals, and I feel BAD for Kaiba. I don't wanna feel bad for HIM. He's a dickbag. Granted, I was joking pretty heavily about his potential death, but that's only because I'm currently reading The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett right now, and I was imagining the scene with Twoflower teaching the four horsemen of the apocalypse bridge, except with Kaiba and Duel Monsters/Magic and Wizards. Tell me that wouldn't be entertaining. I'll call you a liar.

So, Dark Side of Dimensions is next, folks! I don't know when the post for that one is going to be on the blog. There's something specific that I want to do with the movie, but getting together the proper... resources might be challenging. I can't say more than that, I really want it to be a surprise! It might be mid-August before I can get it up, maybe a bit later, I'll let you know. Until then, the Inuyasha reviews SHOULD continue. It depends on how busy things get for me in the upcoming month because it's been somewhat chaotic at the moment. We'll see!

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 343 The Journey of the King

I... I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of freaking out a little.This chapter is labeled the FINAL DUEL. The next chapter on the Viz website is just a small afterword from KT. I still plan on covering both Transcend Game chapters and Dark Side of Dimensions, as well as writing up an overall impression/final thoughts/general overview (including impressions from that afterward I just mentioned), so I'm not DONE with Yu-Gi-Oh just yet. but there's a finality here that is hitting me HARD in my sentimental core. Things might get emotional.

... Here we go.

Yuugi doesn't look the least alarmed faced with Slifer. Not even a little uncomfortable. In fact, this just validates what he knew all along, that if he were Atem, he'd summon a god. Granted, given what he'd been theorizing before, no doubt he thought it would be Obelisk, but validated he is nonetheless. Yuugi announces that he's now breaking the seal on that Sarcophagus card he'd played before. Atem seems taken aback at the comeback of that card, implying he'd forgotten about it, but I won't fall for THAT trick again! 

The box pops open to reveal it was holding inside Monster Reborn all along, bathed in light, much to Atem's sweatdropping amazement. Yuugi explains that because he put that card in the Sarcophagus, neither of them is allowed to use it in this duel, so since Slifer was brought back with it, its attack is negated entirely. Atem's own Monster Reborn card, the projection of it on the field anyway, starts to disappear in tendrils of digital smoke, while Jonouchi and Honda draw attention to what's happening to Slifer itself, mouths agape.

Not to mention he's defeated two out of three god cards with nary a problem. Frankly, it's the far more impressive feat here.

Jonouchi is aghast, commenting on how Monster Reborn could have helped Yuugi, but he sealed it away instead, while Honda reiterates how Yuugi COULD have used Slifer for himself and Anzu just stares with a hand over her mouth. Ishizu, however, looks on with a mild expression, secure in her certainty that Yuugi's message to the pharaoh is that the souls of the dead must not linger in this world. Yeah, tell that to the ghost on my ceiling, buddy. Ishizu thinks that at last, the king must travel to the afterworld, adding to herself that Yuugi's trump card was also his way of saying goodbye. 

With Yuugi at 1000 points, Atem at 2500, and Silent Magician still sporting 3500 attack points, Yuugi hangs his head slightly, mouth screwed up in a trembling expression. Atem, however, is looking straight ahead, the slightest of encouraging smiles on his face. Ryoji remarks on how "the other Yuugi" doesn't have any monsters for defense, Bakura adding that the duel is over if the Silent Magician attacks. Sugoroku is speechless, intent upon whatever will result. Anzu stares with overflowing sympathy to Yuugi, who is growling frustration over a tear emerging in his eye just out of frame. 

But Atem is still smiling at him, urging his friend and partner either aloud or mentally, to strike that final blow. Yuugi at last looks up, determined eyes brimming with tears, and commands Silent Magician to attack the other player directly.

During the flash, Anzu squeezes her eyes shut to block out the final move. By contrast, Jonouchi's eyes are wide open and his teeth clenched. Honda and the others are in various iterations of gaping, save Ishizu and Rishid, who are either more than prepared for this eventuality, or they're just a little bored. 

After a few more wisps of smoke clear around Atem and he stands up straight again, his life points have dropped to zero. He looks placidly on, but Yuugi dropped to his knees, sniffling miserably.

I'm not too far behind him, truthfully.

Atem walks over and gently says that Yuugi did it, he won, but Yuugi remains hunched and gurgling through his tears, not even replying. Kneeling next to Yuugi, Atem tells him to stand up, because the winner shouldn't be on his knees. He smiles, his hand on Yuugi's shoulder, and says he wouldn't CRY if he were him. Of course you wouldn't dude, because if YOU won the duel, you wouldn't be saying goodbye to anyone!

At last, Yuugi speaks up, stuttering that he's too weak, that Atem was his HERO, his GOAL, and he wanted to be strong just like Atem, and that's all there is to it. Atem assures him that he NOT weak, and he's always had a power that no one could beat. Giving Yuugi a soft smile (with the reader looking back at him through Yuugi's eyes, it should be noted), Atem informs him that he learned the power of kindness from HIM, his partner. 

Oh, I knew I wasn't too far behind Yuugi - the tears have begun. 

But Yuugi's tears seem to have stopped for the moment, as he looks up at Atem with astonishment.

HE'S SO BRAVE WHY CAN'T I BE????

Yuugi calls Atem his "other him" again, but Atem at last corrects him; he tells Yuugi that he is no longer the other him, and that Yuugi is no one else but himself. Atem declares that Yuugi Mutou is the only Yuugi Mutou in the whole world. They're two separate people, and they may as well acknowledge it. Though Yuugi still has tears in his eyes, he's no longer bawling, and he agrees with pep that he is his own individual person distinct from Atem. I wish I could say the same for myself. 

Atem turns now to the door next to them, and the eye on it glows in response. Ishizu explains that the Eye of Wadjet guards the door to the afterlife, and it's seen the truth of the pharaoh's soul through the Rite of the Duel they just did. She says that he's finally going to be welcomed into the next world after being lost in the living world for the past 3000 years. As if this is news to them, Jonouchi, Honda and Anzu are gasp and gape at this declaration. Guys, I know every moment of this process is a fresh knife in your guts, but come on, it's hardly SHOCKING at this point.

Ishizu instructs the soul of the pharaoh to say his name to the Eye of Wadjet. Atem looks up at the glowing carving, silent a moment. 

The door slowly opens, casting a bar of light from the great beyond over Atem as he regards it seriously. He's about to take a step forward when his friends call out to him, as YUUGI again, though he just got done with a speech about how he and Yuugi aren't the same. He stops dead anyway, looking a little shocked. 

Honda is now the one bawling, trying to stem the flow of his tears with clenched fists as he asks Atem if he's really going to go, if he REALLY has to go to the afterlife, and ending with a plea not to leave them. Jonouchi grunts through clenched teeth, he and Anzu both have their eyes closed as if not wanting to watch. Ryoji and Bakura look on in grief, one of them calling out to "Yuugi" once more. Yuugi's waterworks have started back up, Anzu is also starting to cry, while the Tomb Guardian siblings regard the scene with varying degrees of acceptance. 

As Atem continues to stand in the doorway's light with his back to them and Yuugi wipes his fresh tears with a sleeve swiped over his eyes, Jonouchi at last starts to cry too. Anzu hangs her head, but speaks up, first calling Atem "other Yuugi" before correcting herself. She says she knows he has to go to the other side of the light facing him, but she frets that he won't get to come back once he does.

Oh, sweetie, as long as there is a corporation that can profit off of him coming back, that is NO guarantee. ;)

Anzu wants to know WHY. She opines about how they've been friends for so long and now Atem is just going to leave, and she just doesn't GET IT. With his eyes shadowed by his hair, and a thumb in his waistband to insert some casualness into his grief, Jonouchi tells Anzu she doesn't HAVE to get it, she just has to ACCEPT it. And he wisely advises her to burn these memories of the time they've spent with Atem, the feelings, so that she never forgets. Anzu's head continues to hang, but there's an exclamation point coming from her - perhaps she's surprised at how sage Jonouchi is being at the moment, because Jonouchi encourages her to see him off to his future right with the rest of them. 

Atem's chin hangs low too, and he thinks on Anzu and Jonouchi. Anzu promises that she'll never forget anything about Atem. Jonouchi shouts "Yuugi" again at Atem's back, declaring with a grin and eyes brimming with tears all in one that Atem is always "Yuugi" even if he's king, and they'll still be friends even if a thousand years pass. Not even death does friendship part, apparently! 

Atem's eyes widen, and finally, he twists to look back, smiling in shared affirmation. Yuugi also smiles, also declaring that they'll never forget him. 

Hitchhiking for the afterlife.

As Atem walks, he silently thanks his partner and his friends. His jacket transforms into a cape, ankh earrings appear on his ear lobes, and he is decked out in the attire he wore inside the Memory World. Although, it strangely looks like he has socks on too...

Otherwise, a perfectly respectable outfit to meet all his former buds in the thereafter. 

The door shuts completely, and everyone kinda stands around for a moment, wordless in their grief. But a crack resounding through the chamber comes from beneath the Millennium Tablet and shocks them out of their momentary stupor, Jonouchi and Yuugi gaping at the tablet in alarm and the former wondering aloud what's going on. They all follow an encouraging cry to look at the tablet, deep cracks spreading into its heart from the edges. 

The group recoils when the tablet breaks apart entirely and caves in on itself, the golden items in it tossed out of their crumbling beds. Ryoji exclaims that the slab is falling into the depths of the earth, and Bakura motions for everyone to get the hell out of there. Indeed, the priceless Millennium Items fall into a pit beneath the chamber, and Yuugi hesitates for a moment, trying to draw attention to them as they disappear into the dark. Jonouchi and his granfather both grab him by an arm and urge him to get going, but Yuugi takes one more split second to bid farewell to his Millennium Puzzle. 

Ahh, how fitting that Shadi should be left behind at the crumbling door to the afterlife. Should I feel good or bad about the fact that he's staying in the living world? I mean, on the one hand he's not in there mucking up Atem's afterlife, and on the other he's free to keep mucking it up for the living characters...

The group runs up the stairs and out of the chamber as a couple of the columns around where the tablet was collapse as well, sending up a cloud of sandy dust. Once they're outside, they all stare at the entrance to the chamber, which has a little dust issuing from it in a somewhat final manner. No one's going back in THERE. Ishizu explains that since the pharaoh's soul has been delivered to the afterworld, the role of the Millennium Items is done, and the door to the beyond has closed for good. Imagine your purpose being opening a door for a ghost, lol.

The gang just zones out, staring out across the Eyptian dunes, Honda breaking the silence just to marvel about how that was it and Atem's just gone now. No one says anything in answer. They all gaze at the distant horizon, sun high over them as if Ra himself is looking after them. What do you know? We saw him one last time after all. 

Hold up, what are the Kaiba brothers doing here? Did they just show up, or what?

... Was a sequel coming all along???

So, what did I think of this chapter over all? Honestly, I'm finding it difficult to fully articulate my thoughts about this one, given that it's the final chapter. I definitely feel some melancholy, the water-works were going for most of the goodbyes, and the rest of the chapter was full of sniffles. But this was a very gratifying ending to me as well, because not only was the mourning vibe you got from the characters dealing with the departure of their friend palpable and REAL, the reactions were of a varied solemnity, but also there was a note of hope and wisdom in all of them that made it easier to process. 

Jonouchi was the best at expressing this; death isn't something you COMPREHEND so much as ACCEPT. It's difficult to wrap your brain around never seeing a loved-one again, but it's a reality for all of us that must be faced sooner or later. This is why cherishing those memories, again as Jonouchi said, is so important - they help us hold onto that person we lost while we process their absence, and even though we never quite get over it, it becomes easier to live with as time goes on with those comforting memories there to make us feel like the crossed-over are never REALLY gone. They've just gone on to exist in our minds and hearts exclusively, almost, in a much less overt literal way, sharing our bodies as we continue to go through life without their physical presence. Because Atem was always technically a spirit in Yuugi's body, this was already some part of the reality for Yuugi and friends, so it might be a little easier for them to cope knowing that their relationship with Atem already spanned many centuries and miles. That's part of the reason why Jonouchi's final assurance to Atem that they would still be friends no matter the time elapsed or castes between them rang so true. If they already touched each others' lives over thousands of years and enormous distance, what's a little more?

I'm not sure how to feel about most everyone continuing to refer to Atem as "Yuugi" through the chapter. He asserts that he is not the "other Yuugi" anymore himself, but other than Anzu, no one really corrects themselves when they're referring to him as "Yuugi", and Atem still answers to the name. I'm not saying that Atem should be offended by this or keep correcting them or anything, because we know they mean well, and "Yuugi" is how he was known to them for so long that it's understandable for them to keep using the name. Still, it seems to undercut the will expressed by Atem to assert that Yuugi proper is the ONLY Yuugi Mutou in the world now. He no longer has to share an identity with Atem, as Atem and he are separate and whole people in and of themselves. I don't know, it's not grating on me, just makes me cock my head in question as to what the point is in asserting this when everyone is still just going to call Atem "Yuugi" until the very end, lol!

I think Ishizu's analysis of how Yuugi was communicating the message that the dead must not linger in the living world by putting Monster Reborn in the sarcophagus was just a tad blunt for my tastes. It's kind of like having to explain your own joke and making it not funny in the process. But maybe that's just because I've made it my business to read into these things myself and I get a little annoyed when I'm not given the chance to come to my own conclusions. I think audiences are a lot more capable of interpreting a story themselves than is believed, especially nowadays, and handing them a blatant explanation holds something of a patronizing air. But, again, this is just me, and I don't think that the message conveyed is a bad one on its own. I just think it could have been conveyed with more subtlety is all. 

But it wouldn't be possible for me to gush enough about how PERFECT the goodbye between Yuugi and Atem was. Atem is gentle and encouraging as he implores Yuugi to stand proud in his victory, displaying the very power of kindness he tells Yuugi that he learned from HIM. It's not hard to believe, either, because we all remember that murder!grin he used to wear regularly - the guy seemed to kind of get off on being cruel to people who had shown Yuugi and company cruelty before. But he got mellower and more compassionate as time went on, nabbing himself great relationships with once-enemies like with Kaiba and Marik. Without Yuugi's influence, his strength of kindness, there might never have been reconciliation with these characters. Atem acknowledging that and SHOWING Yuugi just how powerful an influence he's been on him was a thing of pure beauty. I couldn't think of a better way for Atem to reassure Yuugi that he was going to be alright without him, and express the strength Yuugi possesses to be a positive force in the world. Just... wow. 

I'm only really confused on ONE thing: why was Kaiba in the desert there in the end? Was that just a projection of one of those with their stories regarding Atem, to imply that Kaiba was kind of there in spirit, or did he really just... show up at the last second? I don't have a CLUE. 

Anyway, stay tuned for the first chapter of Transcend Game!

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 342 The Last Gamble!!

Taking a leaf out of Jonouchi's book, are we? Not that there's much choice after a certain point - Yuugi and Atem only have the cards they've drawn, and as the saying goes, you've got to make the most of the hand you're dealt. I can imagine that being left with little choice but to take a large risk is a quite frequent occurrence in this game. Being left with several cards that simply don't work very well together would be MY luck, but then again, I've never been much of a strategist in the traditional sense. Not like these two, who literally built these specific card decks around what they imagined their mind twin would do. 

Took a while for one of them to have the other on the ropes like this, for how well they know each other.

Jonouchi curls up a fist in front of him, hunched and tense over how even Yuugi's secret weapon Gandora couldn't beat DM, and now Yuugi doesn't have any monsters to defend himself. Honda is standing a little straighter and looks more subdued in his disappointment when he says that when the Dark Magician attacks on the next turn, it's all over for Yuugi. Anzu just thinks about Yuugi with a worried look. 

An observation is made by one of them that Yuugi and Atem each have one card left in hand. Not sure who it is, but Yuugi speaks next when he pulls the final card from his fingers to play face down and end his turn, naturally. Not really much else he can do. Atem updates the observation from before - now Yuugi has NO cards in his hand. Does he have no cards left in his DECK, since he didn't draw a new one? Or is he just voluntarily making this is last turn? I can't really get a good look at that Duel Disk, so I'm not sure.

Atem, however, DOES draw a new card, and assesses the two face down cards Yuugi placed, as well as the gold sarcophagus box that contains the secret unusable card from the last chapter. 

 I should HOPE not. What, do you expect him to go to the afterlife in your place if he loses or WHAT??

Atem declares (whether silently or out loud is a little unclear; I'm guessing the former) that he will ALSO fight to the end, as if he has ever NOT done that. Then he plays a card face down as well, and Yuugi notes the single card left in Atem's hand with a sharp look. Still has a pretty fat stack in his deck to draw from, though, from what I can see. 

Throwing out his hand, Atem orders DM to attack Yuugi directly, much to Jonouchi's distress. As the Dark Magician approaches Yuugi with staff raised, ball of energy charging at its tip, Yuugi poop-faces the coming attack head-on, but Sugoroku and Ryoji are kind of freaking out about how bad this is and declaring it's all over, respectively. 

If you smirk on the next page, Atem, I'll... well I can't actually do anything, but I'll be very displeased!

Yuugi says that this card allows him to summon a magician of his very own when a magician attacks HIM, and Jonouchi cheers that he's not out of the game just yet, Honda looking astonished in the background. The gears are turning in Sugoroku's head, though, and he's wondering if Yuugi KNEW that Gandora wouldn't destroy the Dark Magician, if his grandson is really thinking THAT far ahead. Pretty impressive, if so. 

Yuugi slaps down Silent Magician, Level 0. Atem scoffs, but he doesn't SMIRK, at least not that we can see, so I guess I can't get upset with him, technically.

What is this POSE??? 

You know what, it's time I just accept I won't ever get it. I'm not a het dude, I just won't ever get it. 

Although, het as Yuugi has been established (to an extent), he's not looking pleased, but rather a little horrified. Atem asks if Yuugi WASN'T aware that Magician's Circle applies to both players when it's played, so he also gets to summon a magician, and says he's glad for it. From just the eyes that we get to see in his extreme close-up, Yuugi is quite alarmed. Atem reveals his own face down card, "Magicians Unite", the card text stating that Atem's two magicians can combine their power for 3000 points of attack when more than two spellcasters are out and about. 

Now it's YUUGI'S turn to wonder if ATEM was thinking so far ahead that he knew Yuugi would be playing a magician of his own, given that Magician's Circle only works when MORE than two spellcasters are on the field. Can't share a head with a guy for a few years without him being able to pull one over on you at the most inopportune time! Jonouchi and Honda are blown away by the 3000 points between DM and DMG, the former lamenting that Silent Magician just has 1000 points of attack. He says the two against one odds are too unfair and he can't watch. His eyes are wide enough that he may not have a choice, though. 

The Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl fly at Silent Magician, but Yuugi throws out his hand to put a halt on the attack, activating another of his face down cards called "Card of Sanctity". Atem gapes at the announcement, trailing in a thought about what that means, and Yuugi finishes that thought by stating plainly that they both draw cards until they have six in their hand. So I guess Yuugi DOES still have cards, he just wasn't drawing them on purpose? I'm focusing on entirely the wrong part of this, because Atem looks almost mortified while Yuugi continues to explain that Silent Magcian's attack goes up by 500 for every card they draw, and they have to draw quite a few. He invites Atem to look at Silent Magician now, with the card power-ups they gave her. 

Oooh, buddy, that hat is fucking SICK. I said it before: conical hats are best hats. 

Silent Magician throws out her arms and a sphere of power radiates out from her, which blows away Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. Atem's magicians are defeated, as Yuugi notes from the spectral smoke they leave behind, and Atem has his jaw clenched while his points go down by 500. Everyone stands in silent awe as the rest of the smoke clears. Atem, in particular, looks a bit miffed. He ends his turn. 

Yuugi announces his turn and draws a card at last, thinking at Atem that this is it - their last turn. Atem himself appears moody, noting the six cards in his hand, then smiles a little, declaring mentally at Yuugi that this is his final gamble. Ooooh, SO close to getting that title.

The tension isn't anything to scoff at. 

With an expression of determination, Yuugi orders Silent Magician to attack Atem. Honda's the only one who can pry his jaws apart enough to declare the obvious, that if this attack works, then Yuugi wins. Atem doesn't seem very worried at all, not so much as a sweatdrop to indicate nervousness. Sugoroku thinks that there's only one thing that Atem could do to block this upset, and wonders if Yuugi did anything to prepare for it.

Yuugi is still considering what he would do if he were Atem, while Atem has to admit that Yuugi's Card of Sanctity/Silent Magician combo was just about perfect, with just the TINY little flaw that it filled ATEM'S hand too. He makes an apology to his partner, while we get a good look from a low angle at the card he has face down, an ankh with a brilliant backlight. 

Atem orders something back to life. 

... Do you though?

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? First and foremost, I have to ask, can it be a part of one's strategy in this game NOT to draw a card at the beginning of a turn? I had to go back to the previous chapter to see if he had stopped drawing cards and I just didn't notice, but he seemed to be drawing them like normal, so this was something of a new development in this chapter. And one that didn't have ANY attention drawn to it too - none of the characters comment on this or say anything referring to it, except to state how many cards are currently in Yuugi's or Atem's hands. I certainly don't have anything against this being treated as normal, considering that as a part of the strategy it IS pretty subtle and so comes off as an interesting surprise if you're not paying attention (like me, lol). Still, I can't recall if I've seen this before in duels leading up to this one, and it seems to have come a little from nowhere for me. Let me know if I'm just a little blind in the comments! I can totally see something like characters quietly NOT drawing at the start of their turn totally escaping me before because it just wasn't really part of the resolution of the duel or something. Scratch that, it turns out that I had completely failed to register that the chapter started in the MIDDLE of Yuugi's turn, after he had already drawn his card! See comments below!

That aside, I think it's interesting that Yuugi did some overlooking of his own here; he assumed that Atem wouldn't put more than one god card in his deck because they require too many sacrifices, but failed to remember that there might be OTHER ways gods can be summoned. And I went back a few more chapters still just to refresh my memory - I had completely forgotten that Atem had indeed put a card in the graveyard before summoning The Tricky on his first turn. The audience even got a pretty clear view of Monster Reborn in his hand at the time. GREAT setup and payoff, in addition to the fairly solid logic from Yuugi to throw us off the scent a little. Is it weird that I like being deceived by writers when it's done well? 

But more than that, Yuugi's little mistakes in reasoning and strategizing are really compounding at this point. His use of Magician's Circle, his assumptions that Atem wouldn't put more than one god card in his deck, his lack of caution around Atem's face down cards, have all allowed Atem to gain a prominent lead in the duel. It's keeping the tension high, but at the back of my mind, I'm still not trusting that all of these are necessarily "mistakes". After all, Yuugi has referred back to his "if I were you" train of thought many times, and there's still that sarcophagus box to contend with. There's obviously no doubt in my mind what the ultimate outcome of this duel will be, but I'm just anxious to see how Yuugi makes the turn-about happen. 

Finally, I just want to point out the universal loser's declaration that Atem makes at the very end of the chapter there. Always a mistake to declare a win before its time in a story. But he certainly doesn't look happy about it, and that's very striking to me. When he thinks that he's won, his reaction to this thought is at best stoic. There's no emotion behind it, not even smugness, and you just get the impression that his winning has become so uninteresting, even to himself, that he's almost uninvested. It's another day ending in "y".

Further driving home why this "sword" of his needs to be TAKEN from him. It's his instinct, nature, to use his deck not just to fight obstacles, but to reinforce his own place in the grand scheme. It may be holding him back, but he can't let it go willingly because of how integral to HIM that it's become. So, though it's not helping him, hindering him at this point, he's just kind of going through the motions. The lack of JOY at his thought of winning, though it would mean him getting to stay with his friends, is fucking BLEAK. 

Shit dude. Making me depressed.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 341 The Master of Servants

This is an... awkward chapter title. The existence of servants kind of implies a master, but the way this is worded without any kind of article suggests that the master is for ALL servants, not specific ones. I don't like the concept of servants and masters in even the kindest of interpretations, but there's something even MORE sinister about the sound of this phrase. Should we imagine that servants as a whole have some OVERLORD master that can command them all? Is this some kind of essentialist rhetoric that speaks of naturally servile entities that are beholden to the commands and whims of a natural master? 

Or was this just a really unfortunate translation compromise? Only one way to find out I guess.

Well the duel isn't over yet. Maybe we should be a little patient, hm Yuugi?

After both big bad monsters dissipate into tendrils of smoke, Atem scoffs, thinking that his partner has grown quite a bit. Jonouchi admits on the sidelines that he'd thought Atem (the OTHER Yuugi as he says) would dominate this duel, but neither player is giving an inch in this one. Honda agrees, adding that all they can do is watch, not that someone suggested they interfere with the match in the first place. Anzu thinks about how Yuugi's gotten stronger and stronger, and wonders how Atem feels watching him - happy? Sad? A little hungry? She's certain that Atem is happy as "the OTHER Yuugi", but as Atem, maybe he's a little sad. A very intriguing line of thought, to be sure.

Yuugi notes the face down card as he declares the start of his own turn, marveling at the fact that they were together in the same body for so long, and now they're facing each other in a duel. He urges himself to think about what he would do if he were Atem, closing his eyes in concentration on how he would think and fight. The first thought in his mind is that if he were Atem, he'd be scared to lose and be separated from his friends, and it would be too painful to go to "that other place" alone. Looking at his own deck of cards in the Duel Disk on his arm, Yuugi draws the conclusion that Atem CAN'T lose, and will have stacked his deck with the strongest cards, the god cards and his most trusted servants (read: monsters). Given Yuugi has JUST faced one of the god cards, this isn't exactly a stretch of a conclusion to draw. 

But he knows that the god cards need sacrifices, and it's risky to fill one's deck with too many low-level monsters for that purpose. So, Yuugi is thinking that Atem would only include ONE god card in his deck. Getting a bit riskier in his logic now, I like it. From there, he thinks that since Obelisk is now in the graveyard, after a short pause, Yuugi thinks he would play a CERTAIN card next. 

Now thoroughly inside his conception of Atem's strategy, Yuugi plays two face down cards, and then summons Marshmallon in defense. Excuse my flinch of horror at this smiling squishy psycho. Yuugi ends his turn here, again closing his eyes and thinking at Atem that he KNOWS all this sorrow must hurt, because he knows he's got some pretty painful feelings himself and they must be experiencing a pretty similar emotional reaction right now. And this is why...

That meek defenseless kid doesn't really exist anymore anyway. Your definitions are outdated, Atem.

Atem starts his turn with a declaration, thinking at Yuugi that he'd better be ready, because he's going to use his full power to dominate this duel, as he draws a new card. A bit late for that resolution - you've already been playing this thing for a while now, dude! Not to mention, his full power is expressed in this turn with a play of Jack's Knight in attack position and then the end of his turn. It's not BAD, per se, but I don't know if I buy it's turning the power up to 100%.

It's Yuugi's turn again, as he announces, and he summons a Lego monster in defense called Blockman, which ends his turn too. They are REALLY moving along here. Atem says it's his turn again, thinking that if Yuugi DOES win somehow (he's still in denial about Yuugi's badassery, apparently) and takes his sword, it's his wish that Yuugi stab his soul with it without mercy. Please no, Atem, PLEASE don't bring back the abuse of metaphors. I BEGGING you, dude. 

He sacrifices both his monsters.

There he is! This just wouldn't feel right without him.

Somehow, Yuugi looks shocked at DM's appearance, but while Jonouchi's posture suggests alarm, his statement proclaiming that "the other Yuugi's" partner is here suggests he was expecting DM. Atem would probably contest the claim that DM is his partner, though, because he's more in the habit of using that term for Yuugi. Regardless, Honda declares that Dark Magician is Atem's best servant, and has gotten him out of all kinds of scrapes. Jonouchi is convinced this means Atem is SERIOUS, because summoning the god before wasn't serious enough for him.

With a combative expression, Atem silently urges Yuugi to just TRY and take his sword, asserting that his grip is firm and his aim is true. Not as bad as the other metaphor, but maybe you should just lay off the damn sword imagery, Atem. He commands the Dark Magician to attack, who points his staff at Marshmallon and blasts it right apart. As it goes "splat", Atem narrates its death. 

Yuugi raises his arm against the digital smoke remains of his monster, realizing that OF COURSE Atem knew that Marshmallon could only be destroyed by magic. He's not the only one who can get into his opponent's head, lol.

Shit, DM, no need to give Yuugi the stink-eye.

Yuugi silently admits that it was comforting having DM on his side in the past, but there's no stronger opponent. Clearly, Obelisk was just chopped liver in comparison. Yuugi's not exactly stoked to have to defeat DM, but he knows he has to, otherwise this whole match is hopeless. 

Atem continues his turn, not QUITE finished yet, by placing a card face down, as one does. THEN he ends his turn. Yuugi responds with an uncertain-looking acceptance of the announcement, but he's pretty certain in his mind that he'll have to take a chance here, one that will lose him the duel if he fails. Jonouchi asks how Yuugi's going to beat the Dark Magician rhetorically, and Honda adds that this is a critical moment for Yuugi, win or lose. 

Yuugi plays a spell card from his hand, called Gold Sarcophagus of Sealing. It looks VERY SIMILAR to the box that once housed the Millennium Puzzle, and its text says that any card placed in it will be immune to magic effects and cannot be used by either player. I assume until certain conditions are met, at least. 

Atem ponders the box critically. Jonouchi wonders aloud what card Yuugi chose, while Anzu points out what I just did, that it looks just like the puzzle box, and Honda agrees. Anzu has an extended thought about the actual box that held the Millennium Puzzle, what she considers a symbol of friendship that brought Yuugi and Atem together. She seems to be picking up what Yuugi's putting down, huh?

After a panel showing the floating digital box Yuugi summoned, Yuugi declares he's going to do one more thing: he activates Bockman's special ability, called Block Release. All the Lego pieces pop apart, which appears to shock Atem a little, or at the very least gives him a gape. Yuugi explains that Blockman can break into the same number of Block Tokens as the number of turns passes since its summoning. The blocks have rearranged themselves into two smaller kinds of little Lego robots, a move that makes Grandpa Sugoroku proud because now Yuugi can sacrifice them to summon a high-level monster. 

Indeed, the smaller Block Tokens are already surrounded by those familiar sacrificial whirlwinds, and Yuugi is sure he'll defeat the Dark Magician with their replacing monster. He announces it's on its way.

That dragon is the bomb. Don't give me that look.

Atem looks pretty nervous about Gandora, sweatdropping about it and everything. Yuugi shouts that Gandora's special power is to destroy all the monsters out and about, no matter their level of strength. Acknowledging that Yuugi has a chance at winning if he can destroy the Dark Magician, Jonouchi leans forward, gaping at the scene in similar fashion to Honda next to him. 

Yuugi calls for Gandora to do its thing.

Damn your impossible poker face, Atem.

Atem reveals a trap card he'd laid - classic ol' Mirror Force. Wide-eyed and lock-jawed, Yuugi seems to realize he's in it deep. Atem narrates the transparent bubble that appears around Dark Magician as a holy barrier that reflects the Giga Rays, which bounce off DM at close arcs, slamming right into Gandora instead. As a somewhat douchy flex, Atem declares that Gandora has killed itself.

Gandora explodes and yet again Yuugi doubles over behind his arm in the waves of virtual fallout, groaning. When he looks up, one eye still screwed shut, he's got just 1000 points left. Jonouchi panics about how bad it is that Yuugi doesn't have any monsters left, and either he or Honda makes the observation that if the Dark Magician hits Yuugi, he'll lose. While the smoke is still clearing, we get a view of Atem. 

That's an... expression.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This one is actually pretty straightforward, so there's not a LOT for me to say. I thinkYuugi's statement that he has to defeat the "him" that Atem has in his head is a particularly sharp point. As we discussed in the comments of the last chapter's review, it's clear Atem's construction of Yuugi in his mind is still pretty weak and defenseless, not to mention relatively incapable of fighting for himself or his friends. This is something Atem can be kind of forgiven for; to some extent, we've all got to build SOMEWHAT inaccurate ideas of the people in our lives, because there's no getting into their head to see what they're REALLY like. The problem here is that Atem's image of Yuugi in some ways casts him as a fragile extension of himself that requires protection constantly in order maintain it, simultaneously giving him anxiety over both what happens if Yuugi is left without his aid and is hurt, AND if Yuugi doesn't actually need him anymore and can function just fine as an autonomous person. These are both fears of Atem's ego, and split as that ego is between Yami the other Yuugi and dispenser of justice through games and Atem the pharaoh embodiment of the gods and light in his own time, only one of these definitions of himself is rooted in the conception of Yuugi and company as fragile. Defeat that conception, defeat the "other Yuugi" Yami concept as well, leaving just Atem without any excuse to avoid stepping into that great unknown that we all must one day.

I WOULD be more nervous about all of Yuugi's attempts to gain the upper hand in the duel here failing miserably if that mystery card in the box wasn't still hanging out. Also, the fact that KT has laid out a string of failures before the ultimate success in duels before. The try-fail cycle is a very effective way of raising the tension in a match as well as making the audience more sympathetic toward the protagonist, so that the win in the end feels more "earned". I love me a good try-fail cycle (one of the more prominent reasons why Jonouchi is my favorite character), but sometimes it is just a TAD obvious after more than 300 chapters of its employ. 

Still having a blast, though, I can't deny that!