Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 072 Attack from the Deep

Well, Yami's Imp would have lost if it had been able to attack anyway, given it had lower attack points than the kraken to begin with. What's the big deal? Would it have magically gained attack points in an initiative attack because of some new fancy rule for the tournament? Or was he simply blind to the attack points listed on Ryota's card laying on the table until the moment that the kraken attacked?

Or was it that KT was so preoccupied with revealing his new rule for the tournament duel booths that he had to have Yami attack, even though it would be totally illogical and dumb?

Guess we'll never know...

That description is so excruciatingly specific... Did Pegasus, when he was having the programmers do their thing for the boxes, give them a list of these specific sounds and effects that go with each monster facing each other in each setting? Must have been killer work...

Anyway, we get a recap of Ryota telling Yami that he's a master of the sea domain, which comes with this totally unfair stealth attack that KT only put in to give this new fight suspense. Gotta keep tricking us into thinking that Yami could lose, right? Yami is watching the kraken sink back into the table, noting it went back beneath the water.

Outside the box, his friends have figured out that Yami can't attack the enemy while it's underwater, and repeat this information, as if we needed to hear it AGAIN. Jonouchi talks up Mr. Fish Head's (Ryota) skill with cards as not just that of a wannabe fisherman. This has nothing to do with skill, Jonouchi. It's just the effects given by the box.

Ryota chuckles as Yami sweats, saying that his kraken was only a small taste of the sea terror Yami will experience today. He urges Yami to bring out his next monster already, as the panel reminds us of the land to sea ratio on the table. Yami draws a card, glaring at the board, and thinks that his only move is to play Feral Imp in defense if he can't see his opponent to attack. Yami smirks when his new imp appears, kneeling with crossed arms, because he plans to teach Ryota a little lesson on his next turn.

Ryota thinks he's figured out what Yami is trying to do as he puts on a grin too, and this causes Yami's to collapse. Ryota announces that his next card is the Jellyfish, which he plays in defense mode, and treats everyone to a small bit of trivia on how the jellyfish is known as the "moon of the sea". This manga could have been halved in length if KT would have just taken out all the unnecessary crap these characters blurt out at random. Oh yeah, BTDubz, the jellyfish gets a power boost from the ocean.

Yami notices that Jellyfish isn't hiding under the ocean like Kraken, and this worries him a little, though he doesn't know why. Ryota jovially says that the jellyfish isn't scared, and Yami should serve it up grilled or boiled or however pleases him. I don't know if that sounds at all appetizing...

But, I guess if Ryota's hungry for jellyfish, that's what Yami's going to give him. Did this just turn into a cooking manga?

Bakura is suddenly onto what Yami is planning and Honda stupidly asks him what he's talking about. Can't we just SEE it? No, Bakura has to EXPLAIN that Ryota's monsters hiding in the water is a disadvantage as well as an advantage when Yami can attack the water they hide in with electricity. Jonouchi is down with this awesome idea, and Honda says that the ocean's electrocution will put all those monsters in a bad way.

Because Yami had to wait for his friends to finish expositing, he only calls out his attack now, commanding it to charge up the ocean. Ryota smirks and Yami is dumbfounded, because he sees that the jellyfish is absorbing the electricity from the imp's horn. Laughing, Ryota tells Yami that the jellyfish has the ability to act as a lightning rod when on the field, negating a water monster's greatest weakness. He falls easily into infomercial mode when he tells Yami that a bonus is that the jellyfish is fed and powered up by the electricity. Ryota got it for only five easy payments of $19.95! You can too!

Yami makes a weird strangled noise while he grits his teeth and Anzu looks full of pity on the sidelines. Jonouchi is indignant that not even electricity works against Ryota's strategy. Laughing again, Ryota says it's his turn again, and calls for his Devil Kraken to attack. It grabs hold of the Feral Imp in its submission hold and drags it into the table. Yami flinches, down to 1480 points. As his jellyfish wobbles in front of him, Ryota laughs about how no one can beat him at the sea, and starts chanting "big fish" like a lunatic. Well, I guess if the jellyfish IS the moon of the sea, that WOULD make him one.

Yami stares, thinking about how strong and without holes Ryota's attack and defense are. He wonders if there's any way to get past the ocean fortress that Ryota has set up, sweating. Yami decides that the best he can do in this situation is to fall back as far as possible. He draws a card, glances at it, and slaps it on the table. Silver Fang, turned savage in combination with Mystic Moon. The wolf howls, but this doesn't impress Ryota, who thinks Yami's life points will be wasted with such a card that can't beat the power of the sea. Yeah, yeah, we get it, you're a water baby.

He promises to show Yami that true power with the next card he just drew with another smirk, which happens to be the Leviathan. As the holograms make it look like a geyser of sea water is rising from the face of the card, Yami wonders if that's the same Leviathan as the sea dragon god of legend.

I don't know, Yami, looks more like that worm-thing from Tremors.

Yami looks kind of horrified, and I agree with him. Ryota thinks it's funny, though, because he laughs while telling Yami that it is indeed the primordial god of the sea that fishermen generally pray to before they engage in their profession, lest they anger it. More trivia? Really? Ryota calls out the "Wrath of the Leviathan" attack, which looks a little like a wave with a worm head.

Silver Fang clearly didn't pray hard enough before it went fishing. Yami gasps, his life points dwindling at 340. Anzu is generically upset at Yami's loss of points, and Jonouchi mumbles that the battle is awfully one-sided. Ryota encourages Yami to look down at the table, because his attack wasn't just to kill off the wolf. Yami grinds his teeth, wondering what the heck happened.

THANKS GLOBAL WARMING.

All Ryota ever does is laugh and talk up his card-moves. He tells Yami that just that one attack from the Leviathan turned 95% of the table to ocean territory, which is the wrath of the Leviathan in a nutshell. I thought global warming was caused by burning fossil fuels...

Yami looks shocked while Ryota asks him what he's going to do now, because he bets Yami doesn't have a water monster card in his deck. He also says that according to tournament rules, if he can't play a card on the table on every turn, he loses automatically. What? What if he's just attacking? I could swear there were turns Yami took during his previous duel with Haga that he didn't play a new card...

Internally groaning, Yami thinks about how his enemy in this duel is the ocean itself as well as the monsters in it. Anzu continues to be generic in giving Yami encouragement as Jonouchi wonders how someone could win when their opponent's stolen the board. He reiterates that there's barely any ground left for Yami to stand on over on his side of the table. Thanks dude, I couldn't see that.

Ryota says it's tough luck for Yami, because even though he's tough on land, he can't compete with the sea's power. Inside, Ryota admits that the Leviathan's attack doesn't normally cover as much of the board as it has this time, but he's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Yami looks down at the board, where he only has 5% of the field and can only play one card at at time now. What about your card there on the upper left? The moon card?

That's what caused so much of the table to be taken over by water, isn't it?

Yami draws a card with a determined look and slaps it down on his 5% of nothing as his last gamble.

I've heard that the best offense is a good defense, but I don't know if that adage applies in this situation, Yami.

Ryota seems amused at Yami reminding him it's his turn, saying he knows what Yami is up to. He says that Yami is going to move the Giant Soldier into the ocean on his next turn and use his body as an island. He calls this a good idea. I call yet another example of how these cards and their effects were designed specifically for this environmental catastrophe of a tournament.

Seems Ryota was actually on to something there, because Yami is clenching his teeth and sweating on the other side of the table. Ryota continues by saying the idea won't work, because he's going to play even more monsters, holding up a Megalodon card. He tells all his monsters to advance on the stone soldier, and they surround the island. Jonouchi observes this out loud as Yami stares down at the board.

Uh-oh, looks like he's got a case of Haga-Face there. Ryota sees that Yami is chuckling across the table. He perks up a bit as he tells Yami not to laugh unless he's got something to laugh about, and Yami just tells him he's been waiting for a moment such as this one. Ryota asks what Yami means, because it looks to him, and everyone else, that Yami is trapped with nothing to do. Yami switches his stone soldier into attack mode, and this seems to upset Ryota, who reminds him that his monsters are under water, invisible to him, and he can't attack.

Yami asks who said he was going to attack Ryota's monsters.

With that, the tide goes out taking Ryota's enthusiasm and cockiness with it.Yami pontificates on how his virtual moon effected the water level and tides just like the real thing, creating a high tide and improving the Leviathan's take-over of the table. CALLED IT. Yami continues, stating that the Leviathan's power is halved by the disappearance of the moon, and he's successfully beached Ryota's monsters.

Ryota is shocked that Yami used his own card to help him take over his terrain to ultimately trap him. Yami mockingly says that Ryota's monsters are weak outside their environment, and chooses a combination of Curse of Dragon and a fire card to burn them all up. It all started with cooking fish, and ended with it too. Poetic. Ryota grinds his teeth at his defeat.

Anzu cheers that Yami won, Bakura yells that he came from behind and did the damn thing, and Honda says it smells like barbecued squid. Ryota has finished grinding his teeth and is smiling again, chuckling. He says Yami really IS a big fish, as he's super good. Yami tells him he's pretty good too. Awww, they're friends! Ryota admits that Yami has taken him down to his last star chip, but he's not out of the game because he's still got to win for his big boat. He'll start over again and either he or Yami will end up winning the pot. Yami puts the star chips he won into his glove's wrist with a smile.

Hmmm, I thought Ryota was taller than that...

So, what do I think about this chapter overall? I feel really good about this win. Don't get me wrong, I thought the fact that Ryota's monsters got an extra cloaking was unbalanced. I thought it was a cheap way to try and raise the tension on the duel without having to creatively make Ryota a real threat as a duelist, just giving him an unfair advantage instead. I also think that these rules are so heavily dependent on the holograms that I don't see how the game play represented here even resemble the plain old card game.

But I feel good about this win because Ryota wasn't an antagonist. He was just another person on the island, trying to win the money, and for understandable personal reasons. They ended the game on amicable terms, as friends, which I think really pushes forward the underlying message of this manga by perfect example. Ryota may have been an OPPONENT for a little while, but he's not an ENEMY. He wants to win, but when he doesn't he doesn't resent Yami for that; he doesn't resent ANYTHING. He just resolves to try again, from the start, and not let his loss dictate how he feels about himself, his goals, or Yami.

Too bad Mai couldn't have seen this one. She could have learned something from Ryota. I know I did.