Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 006 Burning Struggle to the Death

Well, since the established pattern of chapters has been somewhat damaged, I don't know what to expect with this new one. Maybe I'll like this one? Maybe I'll hate it? Maybe it'll turn into a DVD copy of Heathers and Christian Slater will blow himself up? There's another story about teenagers taking it upon themselves to judge their peers. Needs more ancient Egyptian magic though.

Well, this is somewhat of a first. Neither the title or the title page give me much of a clue as to what this chapter is about. Maybe fire... or...

Of course, a festival! Every manga and/or anime worth its salt needs one of those! All that's left now is a beach or hot springs episode, then we'll be set. Make it happen, Takahashi. I hear you're interested in releasing new chapters of old-as-fuck manga.

Woah, woah, hold up. Yuugi has only been at this school a WEEK? But, it's implied that Anzu has been a friend of Yuugi for a long time before Chapter 1, since before high school even. Did he transfer schools recently? Did all of the chapters before this one happen in less than seven days? Is this one of those weird airing issues where this chapter was supposed to be before the other ones, but got moved for whatever reason? This leaves me with so many questions!

Everyone is raising their hands with innocuous suggestions for their class's contribution to the festival, so Jonouchi decides to take it up a notch.

So, last chapter I asked myself if I would ever understand Jonouchi. Since then, I've come up with something of an analysis: he schedules time between three distinct types of people. 25% of his existence is spent fighting a good portion of the male half of the population, 25% is spent palling around with Yuugi and other male friends, and 50% is spent sexually harassing the female half of the population, friend or not.

I'll figure out how to fit Shizuka in there when she shows up. Maybe make a chart. It's so complicated in its simplicity.

Anzu, probably thinking that Jonouchis will be Jonouchis, asks for more suggestions while he's being beaten up. Hanasaki is back and makes the meek suggestion of "Comedy Manga Dojo." Everyone stares, I'm guessing because they're as confused about what that means as I am, but who knows. Anzu is nice enough to write it down, though, so he's gotten some validation at least.

She asks if anyone else has suggestions, then asks Yuugi specifically, since he has yet to actually speak. He's just as shy as Hanasaki was when he throws out a "Carnival Game" theme, but everyone else is reacting positively to this idea. Mumbles of approval become a roaring consensus as Jonouchi motivates everyone with his enthusiastic, desk-climbing vote for Yuugi's idea. Anzu makes the final proclamation that they will build a "Carnival Game."

Anzu secured a coveted booth for the above games, so now all that's left is to build them in the three days until the festival. Despite being over budget, everything seems to be going smoothly and Anzu reflects on how well the project is bringing the class together as they work. Yuugi and Jonouchi are working together on different parts of the game at the top of the above picture, the head and barrel respectively. Yuugi comments on how good Jonouchi is at working with his hands, and Jonouchi makes no comment on how gay this sounds. Instead, he brags about his years of experience building models in his garage.

Jonouchi climbs into the barrel and laughs as he wonders who in the class will be sitting in his place at the actual festival. Anzu reveals that it's him and he blanches, because it's not quite as funny when you're the one being stuck with wooden swords. Yuugi holds up the head he'd been crafting, saying it was specifically made to fit Jonouchi's skull.

Man, I'm stoked for this, but it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh if the dreams of Yuugi and his classmates weren't dashed upon SOME rock. That rock happens to be the guy who walks up to their booth and declares it's actually he and his gang's spot, Inogashira. While Yuugi is thinking that the new antagonist looks super mean, Anzu stands up to him with the firm statement that they got the booth in the lottery, and they have a right to set up their games. She gets this in response:

Dude. Your hair is more horrible than any I have seen thus far. You should seriously reconsider letting your mom cut it next time. Snap! Who brings the burn? This girl!

Why can't I come up with these zingers against my real life villains?

Anyhow, Jonouchi shouts at Inogashira to beat it from within the booth, because he's already had enough of his ratchet shit. Most people would leave it at that, but Jonouchi is always taking it up a notch. He declares it's time for a festival brawl, but gets a leg caught in the barrel. While he's immobilized, Inogashira clocks Jonouchi and commands his buddies to destroy the carnival booth with their gigantic griddle top that they hold over their heads like they raising the roof.

As they crash through the booth like a heard of elephants, Inogashira spits some useless trivia at Yuugi's class about how thick the iron plate is, and how many portions of okonomyaki it can cook. No one fucking cares.

Yuugi runs forward to defend all his class's work, but is knocked aside and unconscious. Anzu runs to nurse his bruise, and Inogashira announces that his buddies and he will leave the griddle there in the rubble to mark their territory. It would have been less insulting if you had just peed on it. They walk off triumphantly, Yuugi's class looking on in their despair and helplessness.

WHERE ARE THE TEACHERS? Authorities that will defend the lower classmen? It's no wonder Yuugi needs dark powers of judgment and wisdom, because no adults with any desire to share theirs ever show up, even in grand destructive displays like this. It just pisses me off!

Yuugi wakes up in the infirmary with Anzu looking after him. He asks after their booth, and Anzu makes an evasive, yet painful, statement of having to wait until next year to get their idea off the ground. Optimistic as Yuugi is, he says they'll get their spot back. Anzu doesn't seem very hopeful when she agrees that everyone can help get it back. She wipes away a tear after turning her back, but Yuugi sees her crying, triggering his evolution!

He... jumped out the window. You going to do anything about that, Anzu? Okay, then.

Yami meets Inogashira in the schoolyard, who says it takes guts to summon him. I'm sure it takes some bird entrails or something. That line about trespassing on the territory of hearts/minds is uttered again, this time in reference to Yuugi and his classmates, so I'm more convinced that this is the double entendre I mentioned the last time it was used.

I think Inogashira is the first one who hasn't taken Yami seriously at first. In fact, he thinks that maybe Yuugi sustained a little brain damage when they knocked him over. However, by the next panel he has decided that he will take Yami up on the challenge he issues, and even says he's sure to win, despite having no idea what the game is or how to play it. What do you mean this was too sudden? Don't people change their minds on a dime for no reason all the time?

Yami tells Inogashira that they'll use the griddle plate he left there that afternoon, and Yami was even nice enough to heat it up for them.

Uhhhh... Yami... This is infinitely more deadly than how you managed to kill that convict. And he was a CONVICT. You know that the person you're playing against is a kid, right? You didn't try to kill the last guy who pissed you off, and he TRIED TO RAPE ANZU!

Does this seem a bit disproportionate to anyone else? Because I'm pretty sure this is exactly why I was nervous about Yuugi having these powers in the first place. I was okay with it for a while, because the punishments seemed fair before. Even the prisoner's because he had killed a guard and was on death row, so you could argue it, but... Is this an indication that Yami is getting out of control?

Because if it is, that means the stakes are raising. It means Yuugi, if he becomes aware of Yami's actions against others, might have to start resisting his influence and power in his life. It means he might be afraid for the lives of people who hurt him.

I think I seriously underestimated where this was going. It started out as a silly, campy series of high school revenge fantasies, but... Wow, this could be way deeper than I gave it credit for at first.

Yami, I'm pretty sure that whoever loses this match isn't going to have a chance to complain.

Anyhow, they start their deadly air hockey game with Inogashira's statement that he's really good with his spatulas. No, I didn't intend for that to sound like innuendo, but since it's there, read into it what you will. He likes to talk to himself during his life-threatening arcade games, apparently, because he rambles about how the block of ice is melting fast, how it can be compared to a bomb, and how the trick is to keep your swipes fast so the bomb has a better chance of being on your opponent's side when it explodes.

I think the real trick is not to roll your eyes at your opponent's unnecessary monologues.

Yami is sweating because Inogashira's swipes are so strong that the chunk of ice keeps coming at him like a rock. Inogashira's commentary also continues with no end in sight, full of disjointed explanations about how Yami should be returning his serve, and that this is really just a game of superior strength, so he'll just hit harder. Why is he talking? This is a visual medium, all we need are the pictures. Anything we need by way of explanations, we can just get from Yami's thoughts, which are redundant after Inogashira's chatter.

Whatever. The Millennium Puzzle begins to glow, and Yami knows he has to take down Goliath with some David ingenuity. He holds out the edge of his spatula for the incoming ice block, and apparently isn't hitting it back fast enough for Inogashira's tastes. As Inogashira is preparing to hit the ice back, he yells out that he has power levels over 9000 or something.

And the ice block splits in two. As the vial of gunpowder falls onto the griddle, Inogashira somehow has time to deduce that Yami put a chink in the ice with his last hit, and he finished the cut. Plus, something about his loss being idiotic. Then this happens. 

Oh, hi Christian Slater. Didn't see you there. I wouldn't say the loss was idiotic so much as your decision to play the game to begin with. Rest in charred flesh, okonomyaki guy.

That... That guy is dead. How is he going to remember anything? Is Takahashi trying to imply that he's not dead? The convict died from lighting some room temperature vodka on fire, but this guy didn't from a literal explosion of gunpowder? Even if I bought that, the severe burns he would sustain from this are unjustifiable.

At least Yami's murder-grin makes sense now, I guess.

Cut to the day of the festival, where Yuugi is dancing on the grave of his dead classmate at the festival booth's entrance. The carnival game booth is on! Let's just ignore the fact that Inogashira's gang broke all their shit and Anzu had said they were already over budget for that stuff to begin with, so purchasing new materials was out of the question. Given how absent the teachers were for the incident, I'm guessing they weren't going to give them more money for the project, either.

Oh well. Jonouchi is flying out of his barrel with his paper mache head, and a classmate comments that it looks painful. Anzu is delighted by this.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? On the one hand, the "bullying" theme came back with this one, and I'm over that. Also, there was plenty of unneeded dialogue from Inogashira, when the dialogue he should have had with Yami that convinced him, visibly, to play the game was absent. Characters, even one-shot characters that will never be seen again, need to be SHOWN changing their minds. Not showing this is, again, an indication that you were too lazy to think of a reason for your character to go along with your intended plot.

On the other hand, Yami was out of line with his game this time around, which is our first indication that there's going to be conflict between himself and Yuugi later. That's really motivating to me in a storytelling way, because it's conflict that moves a story forward. This conflict promises to be interesting, too, because while it will be an internal, mental conflict, Yuugi and Yami are still two distinct personalities. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Dammit Takahashi, just when I think I'm out, you pull me back in.