The first official panel of the chapter reminds us that it is a couple of hours into the dueling time allotted for the tournament. Really? Last we heard, it was only twenty minutes in. What have these kids been doing for the last hour and twenty minutes?? Apparently Yami and Jonouchi have been ruminating on how many more chips they need to enter Pegasus's castle while staring at their duel gloves. Yami repeats that he has three star chips and need seven more. Jonouchi admits he only has one, and incidentally the panel also says he got his glove from Haga before he called it quits. Anzu is standing in the background looking a little exasperated. What's wrong, girl? ALREADY done with this shit? I feel BAD for you, if that's the case.
Jonouchi announces it's about time they left that freaking forest, all while Anzu remains a few steps behind, sweatdropping and wondering if Jonouchi's actually going to be okay. Honda is also a little worried that Jonouchi's skill level is a tad low for the rest of the duelists on the island, and whether or not he can make it to the finals. Honda figures the only thing they can do is cheer Jonouchi, and leave the rest to him, and Anzu agrees, eyes downcast and sad. She hopes Yami will help him to win and save Jonouchi's sister from going blind. At least, I hope that's only hoping, because it came across a little like praying, which would imply that she worships her gaming friend and... well that's just weird.
Someone announces that they've come upon a grassy field, and I'm guessing it's Jonouchi, because he's in the next panel shouting about how great the view must be from the hill and encouraging his friends to come see with him. Anzu sweatdrops some more, mumbling that they're not on a field trip. Technically, you are, it's just not for a school subject, but fieldwork in card games.
Jonouchi stands upon the hill, taking in the great view he predicted would be there and smiling.
Honda thinks Jonouchi should choose a weak opponent first and foremost, but Yami's advice is to be careful about where he chooses to duel. Jonouchi tells him that he understands the field affects the strength of monsters. After a demonstration like the previous chapters, you'd better have that lesson drilled into your head, Jonouchi. Yami says that the other duelists likely figured out the rules by now and staked out the booths that most benefit their monsters while waiting for other duelists to wander by.
Bakura asks Jonouchi what field best benefits his monsters, and going through them, Jonouchi supposes that the plains are best for his warrior and beast-warrior cards. Anzu figures right where they're standing is the best place for Jonouchi to be, with mountains on one side and ocean and the other. Bakura agrees that Jonouchi should stay right where he is.
Off to the side, they hear a shout about how someone is done and they want their opponent to leave their star chips on the table. Jonouchi looks a bit put off by this as Bakura recognizes the voice. He points out the booth it's coming from, which is now emitting obnoxious laughter.
The kid still sitting defeated in the box begins to exposit how it serves him right for going easy on a girl, but also for getting distracted by a trick she pulled with her cards. Well, at least you know enough to be ashamed that you're sexist and easily tricked. He asks how she managed to read her cards while they were still face down, but Mai's not talking, saying it's her secret.
She practically skips away from the box, singing that she's one step closer to that sweet, sweet cash prize. Something catches her eye and she stops, turning to a glaring Yami and friends, Yami and Jonouchi's particularly piercing. Mai is far from intimidated, and with a gleam in her eye dances over to Yami and Jonouchi asking how Yami's dueling is going and if he's double-dueling with his buddy. She giggles coquettishly, but Yami's not falling for it as he continues to glare and says that he's been doing fine.
Mai observes that Yami has three chips, so he hasn't been in a duel since the one with Haga, but Jonouchi only has one chip. She's staring conspicuously, and Yami stares back, daring her to say she wants to play him. She says she's decided that she definitely wants to have another duel now.
She begins to pontificate on how she REALLY wants to duel Yami, but she acknowledges that's a strategy she learned wasn't such a great one with the rules of the island, given how thorough a spanking Haga got for his trouble. She implies that she considers Jonouchi a weakling when she says the weaklings are the first ones she needs to beat in order to collect her star chips, to go up against Yami in the finals. She's a stereotypical villain giving away her plan before she's thwarted. Surprise.
Jonouchi balks at being called a weakling, but Mai just giggles. Yami is about to call her some name or other (which I'm guessing rhymes with "witch"), but acknowledges that she's right because the island rules seem to weed out the weak before anyone else. No shit, that's how all tournaments work, not just the one on this island.
Anzu, showing what a great friend she is, insists that Jonouchi won't be able to beat Mai, and urges him not to accept the challenge. Honda is only a LITTLE better of a friend when he reminds Jonouchi that if he loses just once, he's gone. Bakura suggests that Jonouchi have Yami accept the challenge for him, and Anzu supplicates him to tell Jonouchi that he'll fight in his place. Yami doesn't have anything to say at first.
Jonouchi, you are so cute looking up to someone like that. Even if it's a strange thing to say because Yami is so much shorter than you...
Anzu and Bakura mutter Jonouchi's name in apology, and Honda says he gets it, saying sorry he told Jonouchi to chicken out. You guys SHOULD apologize... Meanwhile, Mai was just standing there looking smug while Jonouchi gave his inspirational speech. He assures her that he will accept her challenge, holding up his cards as he does so.
In the next panels when they're facing off, Jonouchi looks a tad more comfortable in his dueling seat, even getting the guts to flex for the audience when his friends press their noses to the glass of the box as they cheer. Yami just says Jonouchi's name in his head, displaying a stoic glare. This kid takes himself too seriously.
Mai looks pouty as she observes again that Jonouchi only has one star chip, so she'll bet one too. She lays hers on the table, and Jonouchi dutifully removes his lone chip from his glove to set it down too, knowing that if he loses it, he's out of the tournament. Mai then points at the table as she explains that their field is 40% mountains, 40% grassland, and 20% wasteland, by which Jonouchi looks a little confused. Then he looks freaked out.
Jonouchi has a question for Mai before they start the duel, and Mai looks at him curiously. He asks her why she came to the island, for honor or prize money. She answers both immediately, fantasizing out loud about how she plans to spend the prize money, changing her plan midway from traveling the world to living in Paris for years and buying designer baggage.
Sorry, bags. I meant bags.
Jonouchi chuckles, telling her that's a weak reason to be there. She gets in a snit, asking how he dares to tell her that her reasons are weak. Well, I guess he probably has the same arrogance you had when you told him HE was weak, but a little more dignity in controlling his reaction to it. She demands to know why he's there if he's got a better reason, and he says simply that he's there to save a life. She looks shocked by this, but doesn't ask any further questions.
Anzu shouts from the other side of the glass for Jonouchi to show "that woman" who's boss. Yeah, that's right! Put her in her woman place!! Yami thinks that Jonouchi should just show Mai the strength of his convictions. Mai, no longer looking surprised by said convictions, announces the start of the duel.
Jonouchi draws his cards, but notices that Mai doesn't even look at hers, closing her eyes and holding her hand face down. He's baffled by this behavior.
Jonouchi stutters out a question about why she's not looking at her cards, and she answers that she simply KNOWS what her hand is. Jonouchi is a little overly freaked out by this, but I guess that's his shtick in this chapter. The observers of the duel are also completely shocked, Yami wondering if she can tell what's on the other side of the cards while they're face down.
Mai declares that it's her turn first, and for her first move, she picks up the card in the middle. It turns out to be Harpy Lady as she turns it over on the field, and the monster gains points from the 40% mountainous environment. Jonouchi, still mystified as to how she could know what monster she was playing, plays Tiger Axe. It gets its boost from the 40% plains, and the attack points are the same as its opponent. He calls out his attack, but Yami knows the land monster's axe won't reach the flying harpy.
Mai laughs as her Harpy Lady gores the Tiger Axe with a "Scratch Clash", killing it instantly. Jonouchi's life points go down to 1610 as he mourns his dead tiger. Mai giggles in her head about how not only is her opponent distracted by her card trick, but he's an amateur to boot. Yami mentally begs Jonouchi not to be fooled by tricks, because there has to be a way he can win.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I don't feel like the title was very appropriate here. Sirens are mythological creatures that lure sailors to their drownings with their irresistible song. It's a metaphor for a woman who uses her feminine wiles to lure men in and kill them (figuratively or literally). That's... not really happening here. Yes, Mai's prior opponent admitted to going easy on her because she's female, but that's not the same as saying that she seduced him into distraction. What really distracted him was her little psychic card trick. While psychic powers are generally associated with women, Sirens aren't PSYCHIC, they're SEDUCTIVE; being alluring is their power.
This might seem like nitpicking, but to me, these are two different qualities that shouldn't be conflated because they work differently. I'm not saying they're mutually exclusive, though. Mai's mode of dress makes it obvious that she's using that as a distraction too, but that's not what the bulk of this chapter is about. Jonouchi isn't lured into dueling her by hip gyrations and a song - her strategy to get him into a duel was to offend him by calling him weak, get him riled up and ready to prove a point, and bamboozling him with her card trick. When she dueled Ryuzaki, the title would have been more appropriate.
Why am I so hung up on this? Because it's a little tiresome for every tactic a female character takes to be equated to sexual seduction and temptation. When it's just trash-talk and a mildly confusing psychic trick, it's especially irritating. Can we just call it what it is? A person with a vagina acting like any other scheming asshole competitor.
Nothing quite like an asshole competitor being backed up by asshole friends, too. Man, the way Anzu, Honda and Bakura talked about Jonouchi's abilities in this chapter really bugged me. I can see each of them doubting in their respective heads whether or not Jonouchi can compete in any capacity, and I would have understood that. This vocal and loud opposition to him actually taking part and TRYING, though? It's not only blatantly bad behavior, but a very obvious attempt by the author to jack up the feeling of Jonouchi being an underdog, even among his allies. KT is trying to make me think that Jonouchi's got even less of a chance than I thought by having his friends talk shit, but all I think now is that his friends are just douchebags.
He should know by now that talk is cheap.
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