Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 033 Terrifying Squares!!!

Triple exclamation! That's one more level of exclamation than we've seen before! These squares must be especially terrifying! What are Yuugi and friends playing this time around, Four Square with a bomb instead of a ball? Maybe a little too Looney Tunes for Kaiba's tastes. I can't think of what else would involve terrifying squares, though, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what this is supposed to mean.

Especially since we start the chapter with Sugoroku's feeble heartbeat rather than Yuugi and friends.

Wait, he's still being wheeled into a hospital? I thought a lot more time had passed than this. Either the games took a lot less time than I realize, or those paramedics were VERY slow in getting Sugoroku to the hospital. To be fair, I do tend to go through chapters pretty slowly when writing these reviews, so that may cause the illusion of events taking up more time than they're supposed to... Still, even if the first game only took fifteen minutes, Sugoroku should have been in the hands of doctors WAY before the end of it.

Writch, stop obsessing, please.

While Takahashi really shouldn't be trying to write doctors and nurses speaking, as ridiculous as this dialogue reads, this is a really good reminder of what the stakes are. Those cards have been very explicitly linked to Sugoroku's heart at this point. Maybe a little too literally for my tastes, but that's really not the point. Yuugi's duel with Kaiba appears to be an analogy for the fight for Sugoroku's life. Sugoroku's heart attack was caused by the stress of the holograms in Kaiba's virtual penalty game, but there was another "penalty game" before then in which Kaiba destroyed Sugoroku's favorite card and the heart of his Duel Monsters deck. Yuugi's rematch with Kaiba without that particular card is like his grandfather struggling to overcome his the condition affecting his heart - he has to find the strength to go on, though his body SEEMS weaker without the cooperation of one of its important organs. It's not a perfect analogy, of course, because Sugoroku didn't lose his heart like he did the Blue Eyes White Dragon. It's still a poignant comparison in drawing strength from the working parts to help the whole body recover, however.

With that long-winded analysis out of the way, I can get to the next page, on which Yuugi is looking at the pulsing deck in his hands with worry and shock. He's noticed that the pulse is even faster this time, and he thinks he has to beat Kaiba in order to save his grandfather. Honda points out a door at the end of a corridor, saying it must be the entrance to their next game. Thank you for that observation, Honda, I don't know what we would do without you. Somehow, Anzu is carrying Jouji again, though Jonouchi was the last one to have him. I guess that's what she gets for being his favorite.

Honda encourages them with a short speech about how the more of these stages they pass, the closer they get to wherever Kaiba is hiding. Jonouchi agrees, urging them into a jog toward the door. Kaiba watches this from his wall of monitors, frowning and thoughtful. They've made it to the third stage of his death park, and he thinks it's about time he took a serious look at their teamwork, which has been an unexpected asset for them so far. He ponders the possible necessity of separating them.

Huh? You were just talking about separating them like it wasn't something you had considered before, but now you're talking about this next game being designed to do exactly what you weren't considering? Does anything you say make sense, Kaiba?

I guess one way you could make sense of this is by assuming my comments at the end of the last chapter were correct. If Kaiba was only expecting Jonouchi to be with Yuugi during the first four games, and planned to eliminate him in the previous one, then he wouldn't expect Yuugi to have anyone left to separate him from at this point. If that's the case, he can still imagine the ways in which this next game's mechanics might tear them apart in an "every man for himself" sort of way.

That would make my prediction that it would require Yuugi to have someone else help him through flawed, though. Not that I'm too broken up over that or anything.

Yuugi and friends skid to a stop outside a door labeled "Death T-3," which Honda feels the need to point out to everyone else as though they're illiterate while it slides open automatically. Why has he gotten into an annoying habit of stating the obvious? They run inside the room on the other side, not knowing what to expect after the horror theme last time, but knowing that if Kaiba built it, it's bound to try to kill them. Once inside, they look around in shock.

He gave you guys your own little sterile cell. How nice! Too bad Kaiba misjudged who should really be in there.

The door slams shut on them, yet again, and Jonouchi echoes my thoughts that this is typical. He whines about how now they have to find an exit, once more. They split up, Honda reminding them to check the whole room because there has to be a switch somewhere. Honda, sweetie, can you just keep your mouth closed if there's nothing actually novel you can add to a panel? A couple of panels show all of them running their hands along the walls and floor, to no avail. Jonouchi shouts that they've found squat.

Honda and Yuugi look up, but Honda says the ceiling is too far up to see it, comparing it to a staircase. He's going to wish they had an ACTUAL staircase handy, because Yuugi points out that ten meters up there's a hole in the wall. Honda knows they can't climb up the smooth wall as Jonouchi agrees, pronouncing the prospect impossible. Honda curses their inability to advance, and Yuugi is disheartened, saying he can't believe how all their work has culminated in a dead end. Kaiba has trapped them there.

Jonouchi puts a hand on his shoulder, telling Yuugi not to give up so easily. After taking a long look at Jonouchi's serious face, Yuugi agrees not to throw in the towel just yet, though he still looks depressed. It looks to him that they're stuck there for a while, though they have yet to check to seeing the door opens again. After all, Kaiba seems to have overlooked that little detail before. He might do again, you never know.

They all sit in a circle of silence, heads bowed as who knows how much time passes. Anzu comments that Jouji has been napping for a long time and Honda says that all the excitement must have worn him out. Everyone falls quiet again as they look down, Yuugi hugging his knees to his chin. He's scared about how long it's been since they've been trapped, and wonders if it will end with them starving in this tiny room together. He begins shaking as tears come to his eyes and he thinks about all the people who had been counting on him.

I'm actually with Jonouchi on this one. It's not even remotely Yuugi's fault that HE'S here in the first place, but to suggest that he's somehow responsible for all of his friends being there, when they all VOLUNTEERED, is kind of an asshole thing to say. Jonouchi says as much when he asks if Yuugi has forgotten why they came with him. They're a team, and he shouldn't be blaming himself when they're all in this situation together. Yuugi takes Jonouchi's advice and doesn't waste his breath on arguments, opting to stare instead.

After a moment, Honda tells Jonouchi he can let go of Yuugi, reminding him he's not a bully trying to intimidate Yuugi out of his lunch money anymore. It takes yet another moment for Jonouchi to release Yuugi's jacket silently. He then reminisces with Honda about how they were such useless punks thirty-some chapters ago. Honda agrees with a smile, but Jonouchi continues, calling the world, their parents, and themselves so utterly useless. Jonouchi admits that he never liked himself until he met Yuugi. Yuugi continues to stare at Jonouchi, this time with confusion, as I'm literally tearing up right now guys, I just can't even.

Jonouchi lists all the things about Yuugi that he used to hate; his childlike innocence and his kindness made him seem so stupid to the old Jonouchi. But he knows now that it wasn't really even Yuugi he hated at the time, but rather himself. Honda joins into the confession session, talking about loitering around telephone poles with any gang he could and getting into fights, beating on others with all his might. The one he was really beating up was himself, however. Because those folks he punched weren't even characters, so they don't count I guess. Anzu looks on in awe.

Jonouchi lifts Yuugi's Millennium Puzzle, finally letting him know that it was he that took that piece in the first chapter, and was also the one to return it, even though it was embarrassing and took all his willpower to perform that one act of kindness. Yuugi is still quiet, but his face is surprised. He was never made aware before this moment that Jonouchi was the one who returned the puzzle piece, and it SHOWS. Jonouchi also tells him that it was the point from which he actually started to like who he was a little too.

Really, Jonouchi, you don't have to scream in his face. It's fine. Yuugi begins to cry, and I'm pretty close to doing that myself. It's moving not just because Jonouchi's spilling his guts about how attached he is to Yuugi, but also because Yuugi's little creeping doubts about his friendship with Jonouchi, in particular, can be alleviated now. He now knows that Jonouchi's friendship was not conditional on his completing the Millennium Puzzle, rather the other way around. All of the things about Yuugi that he was worried might drive Jonouchi away are actually things that Jonouchi treasures in their relationship.

That's why Jonouchi assures Yuugi with a smile that he'll never give up on himself or Yuugi. Yuugi wipes away a tear while he lets Jonouchi know that he believes him. I'm just going to need a moment to compose myself here. I'm kind of weeping right now.

After I'm done bawling, Anzu pipes in. She wonders if this game is supposed to make one think back on their life and spiral into self-hate, if the point is that you can't like yourself when you're alone. Well, I suppose, if Kaiba expected Yuugi to be isolated in this room, that might have been the point, especially if Jonouchi was supposed to be dead. Yuugi would definitely have blamed himself for Jonouchi's demise.

Still, I don't know if I buy that. After all, Kaiba appears to be the kind of person who isolates himself from everyone else deliberately, and is intensely arrogant as well. I don't think he would have expected Yuugi to hate himself when alone any more than Kaiba would anticipate that reaction from himself. Judging by his thoughts on it before, the intent is to induce a selfish self-preservation instinct. Although, I'm not sure how it's accomplishing that at this point, so I can understand Anzu's analysis, because she doesn't have all the information a reader does.

Everyone turns to her as she bids them to look at the white canvass walls. She talks about how they write about their friends and their names, but by themselves, all they'd write is their names. What, like in a "Herbert was here" kind of way? I'm not entirely sure what she's getting at here, though if I had to guess, it's probably commentary on how there's not much to write about when there aren't other people in your life - all you have is your name.

Anzu produces a magic marker from nowhere, and tells them its time for some of its namesake. She tells all of them to put their hands forward like they're about to hand huddle. They're confused, and Jonouchi asks what she's doing as they gather closer to her, but she just tells them to hurry. Why? It's not like you're going anywhere. They each put their right hand into the center of their circle, not quite touching.

Well. That... sure is something. Anzu tells them that even though they'll graduate and go their separate ways (implying they'll eventually get out of this room too) and have some loneliness ahead of them, the marks on their hands will remind them of their time together in this room. She'll remember even when she's dancing in New York, that time she got stuck in a death room waiting for something to kill her.

Everyone is smiling about this, for some reason, and they agree that even though the marker will eventually wear off, it won't wear off their hearts. Just like PTSD. By the way, I can guarantee this will give you LOADS of that without a smiley face drawn in marker on your hands.

Something above their heads whooshes as it falls toward them, and Jonouchi shouts to watch out. They all jump back to avoid a giant cube as it lands perfectly on a square of the grid lined out on the floor. Jonouchi stutters as Yuugi tells him, quite unnecessarily, that a block fell from the ceiling. Yuugi declares that this must be Death T-3's game. Sooooooo, Kaiba's going to kill you guys with Tetris? Kaiba, I swear, you are probably the dumbest genius I have ever seen depicted in print.

Yuugi yells that another is falling and to watch out. Anzu is carrying a still conked Jouji. That kid could sleep through a hurricane, couldn't he? The teenagers jump out of the way of another two blocks while Kaiba continues to watch them from his monitor wall. He wonders how many of them will escape from the room, chuckling. Meanwhile, Yuugi laments that he can't tell where the blocks are going to land next.

You just sat there watching them being sappy with each other until you got bored and decided to crush them with blocks, huh?

Yuugi doesn't need to say that this is a dangerous game as he jumps out of the way of yet another cube, but he does anyway. Jonouchi says there's nowhere left for them to go, but Yuugi tells him to climb on top of the blocks once they fall so they can get closer to the exit they observed before. Jonouchi repeats this as he follows the instructions, and goodness why is everyone saying completely useless things?? Just be quiet if you can only reiterate facts the audience already knows!

Yuugi is pushed aside by the air rushing past a block falling next to the one he's standing on. He then advises everyone to stay away from the walls in case they're surrounded by blocks. Jonouchi is surprised by a block landing behind him, cursing as he asks how they're supposed to win and where they're supposed to go. Honda has the sleeping Jouji where he didn't in the last few panels and Jonouchi, straddling the space between two blocks, tells Honda to toss the baby to him. Honda passes him like a football while Jonouchi thinks about how Jouji is the only one who could ever sleep through something like this.

I'm surprised they didn't make Anzu carry him by herself, until a panel shows her having a revelation in another part of the room. She tells everyone she's noticed the blocks falling according to a fixed rhythm, and wonders if this is true for the physical pattern too. She closes her eyes to concentrate, Yuugi ignoring this to blurt out that she has a talent for rhythm and that's why she wants to be a dancer.

Anzu recalls the rhythm of the falls in her head, then points right to where a block falls some ways away from her. Jonouchi is amazed at her accurate prediction.

Each new block is a new big galumphing foot of an obnoxious dance partner. Got it. They continue climbing with their knowledge of where and when each of these feet is going to land, to the point that Jonouchi is about ready to climb through the exit with Jouji, helping Anzu up as well. Honda tells Yuugi to hurry, because he's the slowpoke who's last in the queue to the top. I shouldn't make fun, because it's probably due to his shorter legs.

Another block is headed for Honda, though according to the pattern before, it shouldn't be. Anzu notes that the pattern has changed and tells Honda to look out as the block crashes down... right behind him. Jonouchi asks him if he's okay, as he breathes a sigh of relief. Anzu warns him that the rhythm is now faster, so he and Yuugi better get a move on. He suggests to Yuugi that they hurry again, but suddenly looks shocked.

Jonouchi and Anzu are shouting that they're already at the exit, and that Yuugi and Honda need to move their asses as Yuugi struggles to climb another block. Honda holds his hand out to Yuugi, telling him to take it, but Yuugi urges him to go ahead to the exit. Honda yells that the exit may close sooner than they thought, so Yuugi needs help to climb the rest of the way. Yuugi allows himself to be lifted by the wrist and passed to Jonouchi's waiting hand. He drags Yuugi through the exit opening, while he and Anzu are screaming at Honda to hurry along himself.

But Honda is convinced that this is as far as he can go. Jonouchi just now realizes that his jacket is caught in between the two blocks stacked behind him, though he should have had a clear view of this before. Honda bids them goodbye with a thumbs up right before another cube falls in front of the exit, BLOCKing him from view. Get it? Blocking?

What do you mean that's insensitive? He could have removed that jacket at any time, he was just being dramatic. As if this situation needed any more of that. He'll figure out that he can just take off his coat and then continue dodging the blocks as they come down, If Kaiba even bothered to make any more fall after the exit was obstructed.

Jonouchi is inconsolable, however, screaming out Honda's name in anguish.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was almost like two different chapters to me, to be honest. The first half was so completely different in content from the second that they were kind of disjointed, especially in tone. Everything went from sentimental to rushed, emotional to physical, contemplative and confessional to loud in a single page, and it was a little disorienting.

There was also the matter of the content being a little confusing when Anzu jumped in with her own two cents during their confessional session. Thematically, it fit, but it was also out of place because she didn't have a background of being unfriendly with Yuugi before eventually growing to love him and their friendship. Her interpretation of the room's purpose through Jonouchi's and Honda's confessions is dubious, because she uses loneliness as the crux when I feel like "uselessness" would have been a better idea to tie it all together. Besides, I've already said how likely I think it is that Kaiba would have been thinking that loneliness would make Yuugi hate himself, so I won't repeat that.

The game part of it was interesting, though. Anzu's talents being of use here is finally justifying her presence as more than a babysitter, and I'm stoked she got to solve a problem herself. It was also in a somewhat creative way, too. I know the dialogue around her figuring out the pattern mostly revolved around tempo and rhythm, but one thing to note is her comparison of the blocks falling as a dance. The "steps" determine where the blocks fall as much as the rhythm would determine when they would fall, which gives her some excellent spacial analysis skills as well. She would have to, actually, because dancing, especially on stage like she wants to, would require one to be very aware of the space they have and that awareness would be crucial to figuring out how to make the most of it.

All in all, I think I'm satisfied, despite the amp-up of needless heroics at the end there. I swear, Honda is the biggest drama queen...