Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 043 Monster Fighter, Part 1

Monsters, monsters everywhere you look! You'd think there would be a limit to how many games were based on battling with these things, but I guess on the other hand there's a lot of design and marketing potential of these types of creatures. A lot more than with human characters, anyway. Still, there has to be a limit to the appeal to cock-fighting with mythical creatures. At the very least, there should be a monster rights movement, because they must be in AGONY.

Hmmm, this scanlation style is a tad different than that of the other chapters. I think we might be dealing with a new scanlator here.

Jonouchi isn't sure what to make of this gun-like thing he's holding, but is quickly told to think of it like a mixture of arm wrestling and "beat 'em up" games. Jonouchi goes from confused to excited as he grins at the gun, and Yuugi says everyone will be playing them pretty soon. Yuugi explains that you start by finding a monster to put on the platform, out of 100 different types with different abilities. Jonouchi picks out one called "Killer Emaada."

Just like Yuugi, right? That horse corpse is starting to become unrecognizable, Takahashi. You should probably put down the stick.

I find that this game reminds me of something. What was it...?

Oh yeah! Although, these were entirely mechanical, whereas the ones in Yu-Gi-Oh are digital. Yuugi tells Jonouchi that a chip with special attack data can be put onto a sensor on the back of the gun and it can help put that extra oomph into your monster's fighting style. Each monster has a few different chips you can choose from, but the most basic attacks can be located on the gun. There are buttons to kick, punch and block, and the trigger is for the special attack. Assuming you have a chip in the reader, I guess.

Yuugi also emphasizes the importance of watching your opponent, and winning by knocking the opposing monster out of the ring by attacking weak points or just being a heavy-handed button masher. Once all the rules are laid out, Jonouchi wants to learn by doing, and have a fight with Yuugi. Their monsters are already connected at the platform anyway, so what the hey. Yuugi agrees.

Yuugi's monster kicks Jonouchi's in a weak spot and Jonouchi's gun starts vibrating. Must... resist... making dirty joke... Sugoroku says that attacking a weak spot makes a monster immobile, so he tells Yuugi to use his special attack to finish Jonouchi off. Yuugi follows his grandfather's advice and pulls the trigger, allowing Arti to unleash a "Mega Tornado Punch," knocking Jonouchi's monster off its platform.

Yuugi cheers his win while Jonouchi wonders if Yuugi can be beat. No, dude. Honda's caught on to that fact, so you need to get with the program already.

Sugoroku asks Jonouchi how he liked it and he gives the monster fighter game rave reviews. He suggests to Yuugi that they show it off at school tomorrow, and Yuugi is delighted with the idea. The next day, Jonouchi gets his ass kicked by Yuugi once more, and can't believe he lost again. Get with the program, Jonouchi. Seriously. He and Yuugi are surrounded by kids asking what the game is and if they can have a go at it, and Yuugi explains the Monster Fighter game to the crowd eagerly. His promotion of the game is going so well he should be on the marketing team, because everyone thinks it looks great and wants to buy it.

In fact, in just a short week, Monster Fighter has taken the school by storm. Everyone's playing it during recess and in the classroom, gloating at wins and whining at losses. Jonouchi is surprised that it became so popular, and even Yuugi is amazed by his sales skills. He says it's sold out at most game shops, including his grandfather's, and wonders if Sugoroku didn't have them promoting it to help his bottom line. Well, if it hadn't been Jonouchi's idea to show Monster Fighter off at school, I would definitely be pretty suspicious myself.

A couple of kids wander over to Yuugi and ask him if the game is sold out at Sugoroku's shop, and Yuugi confirms this, saying he doesn't know when the next shipment will arrive either. As the kids walk off in disappointment, Yuugi estimates that this is possibly the 100th time he's been asked the question.

And this isn't the last time he's going to be approached today.

Who the fuck is this, and why isn't he in uniform?

He finds Yuugi's classroom and opens the door, asking the first kid he sees which of his classmates is Yuugi. The kid walks over to Yuugi and points out Mr. Spider Muscle Shirt. He warns Yuugi that the guy is known as Nagumo Koji, who's good at Monster Fighter, but others have accused him of cheating too. Yuugi stares, and the next thing he knows, he's on the roof of the school face to face with Nagumo, and alone.

Why? How? Nagumo not only didn't just go into the damn classroom, but he took Yuugi all the way to the roof? And in the time that must have taken, Yuugi never questioned the motivations of Nagumo, because he immediately starts repeating that his grandfather's shop is sold out of the Monster Fighter toys. Kid, your naivete never ceases to amaze me. And not in a good way.

Nagumo cuts Yuugi's default answer in half, because he already knows that Yuugi's shop is sold out. He takes out a Monster Fighter gun, having wanted a match. Yuugi seems excited to hear that Nagumo plays the game, even though he was told on the previous page that Nagumo is pretty good at it. And that he cheats. Yuugi needs to stop forgetting these things. Nagumo tells him he's been searching for him because he was sure he had to have a Monster Fighter gun too. Yuugi takes his out as well, although I'm not sure from where he pulled it, and looks down at it with a concerned face.

Nagumo says that's good, because he's heard that Yuugi's unbeaten and wants to challenge him. He asks Yuugi if he wants to play, and Yuugi's answer is about as clueless and optimistic as ever as he thinks that Nagumo is okay if he was just looking for someone to play with. They connect their monsters' platforms.

Immediately, Nagumo starts off by making fun of Yuugi's monster and calling it a loser just like its owner. Uhhhh, didn't you seek out Yuugi because he WASN'T a loser? That's what you just said, Nagumo. He goes on to say that his monster is Wild Spider, with which he's never lost. Yuugi apparently doesn't have anything to say about this contradictory trash-talk, because next thing the reader knows is that the game is starting.

Both competitors are pushing buttons like crazy, and Nagumo admits that Yuugi's play style isn't bad. He has a special rule to the game that he forgot to divulge before starting the match, though, an aside that causes Yuugi some confusion. Nagumo explains that the loser has to give the winner his game, monster and all.

Well, while it was UNETHICAL to wait until you two were already playing to state that he's taking your game if you lose, he clearly CAN do it. And it explains why everyone is still clamoring to buy more of these toys when they're so popular everyone in the school should have one by now. Why you didn't see this sort of thing coming given what you JUST heard about Nagumo is beyond me.

As Yuugi picks himself up off the ground, Nagumo declares Yuugi's loss and his claim on Yuugi's toy. He states that he's got to get back to his shop, and drops a little comment that maybe next time he'll play fair before walking off laughing. Yuugi grits his teeth.

Back in the classroom, Jonouchi is livid at the story he's hearing from Honda. Honda tells him that the thief has stolen Monster Fighter toys from kids in Domino High and other schools, and sells them on the black market. I don't think Honda knows what that term means, because the black market is for items that are ILLEGAL, not stolen toys. Jonouchi demands to know who's doing it as Yuugi pokes his head back into the classroom. Jonouchi and Honda see him with his forlorn look and bloody lip and call out to him.

Jonouchi asks Yuugi what happened, putting his hands on his shoulders. Honda might be asking the same thing, but I can't tell because his speech bubble is blank. Yuugi looks up at Jonouchi with his eyebrows at an angle, and I'm guessing he doesn't have to poop. He tells Jonouchi he has to ask him for a favor.

Behind a house, or another building of some sort, a kid is cradling a Monster Fighter gun like it's his first born child and thanking the person who sold it to him. That person is, of course, Nagumo, sitting on the ground in front of a selection of guns and monsters and a sign advertising their sale for 30,000 yen. He looks forward to his scheme making him a millionaire, because when he sells all of his goods, he only has to go beat up more kids for theirs for free. He seems to think this makes him a salesman.

Seriously, where the hell are we? I thought Nagumo was outside before, but it looks like he's inside now because of that doorway?

Okay, I guess we're actually inside, despite how bright the panel of Nagumo sitting with the toys was, but I suppose... WAIT. Yami, what is a "revance??" You mean rematch? Revanche? No, this isn't political... What in the world...? I don't think I'm much of a fan of these new scanlators...

They stick those platforms together to form their ring, revealing that Yami's monster has been borrowed from Jonouchi, which must have been the favor he asked earlier. Nagumo notes the new monster before asking if Yami remembers his extra special rules. Yami proposes a set of best two out of three, and announces that he's introducing his own rule as well. He and Nagumo will be playing a shadow game.

Nagumo says whatever, not bothering to ask what a shadow game is, because it looks like he's come up with his own explanation of what that might be. He thinks he'll show Yami a "dark" game as their match begins.

I can't get over these silly boxing gloves on these silly little creatures. I've been giggling through this whole chapter, no lie. Nagumo tries to kick Yami's monster in the middle, but Yami blocks. Then Nagumo tries a one-two punch and Yami tries a... drop kick? Was the opposing monster picked up? Drop kicks generally depend on DROPPING the object being kicked... Nagumo is mentally encouraging Yami to continue concentrating really hard on the game, in which their monsters are well matched with punches and defense. As Yami stares at the monsters in combat, Nagumo thinks he's become all but invisible to him. Nagumo pulls back his fist and thrusts it at Yami's face, thinking Yami is just no match for his surprise punch.

Whoops, looks like Karma really got you there, Nagumo. Nagumo curls up on the ground clutching his aching chin and screaming like a little baby. Yami explains that in this game, their monsters don't suffer because their damage is transferred to the player. Nagumo's mandible sports a grand radial crack from the point of impact. Yami warns him if he fails to take this game seriously, he'll die, because they've still got two rounds to go in their set, and Yami claims victory in the first.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The beginning dragged for me a bit. It's difficult to say why that was, but I think it might have something to do with how the popularity of the game was built up. Yuugi and Jonouchi went on a mission to make the game the talk of the school and then blamed Sugoroku for their combined efforts to do so. Sure, I don't think Sugoroku is complaining about how successful they were, but he wasn't the one who suggested they bring the game to school and promote it. Jonouchi was.

I felt an interlude of annoyance with how abrupt the meeting on the roof was. Takahashi wanted Yuugi and Nagumo to be alone, but he didn't want to take the time to actually make that plausible. He just teleported them to the roof within the space of a single panel, and it left me dazed and confused.

But the rest of the chapter had a fair amount to admire. The antagonist was justified in his actions, and by that I mean he had reasoning behind actions rather than simply going along with the plot for the sake of it. He's not so shallow that he's villainous just for Yami to have someone to punish, but shallow enough that he doesn't come to the level of interest that Kaiba introduced. The only thing I'm wondering about him is if he actually goes to school at Domino High. If he does, why is he allowed to wander around without a uniform? If he doesn't, why is he allowed to wander around at all?

There's always a teacher handy when some authority figure needs to abuse their power and hide a stolen toy under their hairpiece, but never one around when some weirdo is harassing students and snagging their belongings.

Just like real school!