Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 078 I Won't Lose!

I should hope not! The whole point of mini-arc is to teach the rewards of risk-taking and pushing one's limits. If Jonouchi were to lose, well... there are ways to keep the overall message of risks being a good personality-growing experience even if they don't pan out, but I don't know if KT would be able to be pull that off at this stage in Jonouchi's journey. There's so much more than his pride and confidence on the line here, so his winning is the best message that can be sent here in my opinion.

Besides, no better way to show that a character has the ability to stand on their own then to have them just DO it, right?

A recap goes over how the Two-Headed King Rex (redundant) stomped all over Jonouchi's Baby Dragon and dreams of an easy victory. Jonouchi looks ill as he mourns the death of his trump card, and a chuckling Ryuzaki calls him an idiot. Outside the booth, Mai laughs too, mostly at how Jonouchi was going to try the same move on Ryuzaki that he beat her with. She mockingly encourages him to try aging up his Baby Dragon after he scrapes it off mutant rex's foot.

Jonouchi gulps, knowing this isn't good, because his strategy is now ruined. That's why you should never rely on one strategy to get by, kids. Jonouchi's friends encourage him not to give up from the other side of the glass, and Mai encourages Ryuzaki to kick Jonouchi's beginner ass. She calls Ryuzaki "baby" here, and I'm gagging.

Anzu shouts that Jonouchi can still win, while Honda yells that Jonouchi can't lose to someone with such a sucky theme for his deck. Ryuzaki has nothing to say to this, pointing at Jonouchi and urging him to play his next card already. The next panel shows Jonouchi with all his life points, so I guess that Baby Dragon wasn't much of a loss, point-wise. Still, he's trying to talk himself out of his high-stress state while Ryuzaki states from the other side of the table that his dinosaur deck can beat anything. Except insects, of course, because that was a thing at the beginning of this arc.

Jonouchi flinches at the sight of the Two-Headed King Rex, because he doesn't like how tough it looks. Still, he thinks he has a strong card in his hand that can stand up to it as he plays it. It's the Battle Steer, which Jonouchi commands to attack the mutant rex immediately. Ryuzaki laughs, calling Jonouchi a dimwit for not understanding that King Rex gets a power-up from the wasteland on the table. Doesn't Jonouchi's warrior get a power-up from the grassland on that table too, though?

Jonouchi blanches at his forgetfulness while Mai laughs and shouts at King Rex to flatten Jonouchi.

So, I had to go and check, because I thought I was losing it. Yes, in the previous chapter, Ryuzaki said that the field was part grassland, and yes, in the SEVENTH chapter of the duelist partition, it said that beast-warrior and knight cards got a power-up from grassland. Unless our castrated bull warrior is just a "beast" type card (getting its power-up from the forest instead), which I highly doubt considering it's wearing armor and has a weapon, it should have gotten a power-up too, making this victory on Ryuzaki's end total BULLSHIT right now.

But since KT doesn't give a shit about his own rules, everyone clearly just has to deal with it. Mai reminds Ryuzaki through the glass that if he wins, the two of them will have a special duel. Woman, could you stop dropping pedo innuendo every five seconds?? You're grossing me out! Ryuzaki tells himself that he has to remember his real goal is dueling Mai again, so he wants to wrap this farce with Jonouchi up nice and quick.

Jonouchi concentrates on the table, noting that his side contains grassland, just like I said. It's good for warriors and knights, just like I said. You got shafted, Jonouchi, raise hell! He plays Axe Raider in attack position, which for sure gets the field power-up because reasons, thinking that he should be able to beat King Rex for sure with this card's 2210 points. Ryuzaki seems totally cool with this as he smiles and draws a card. He plays Sword Dragon with the wasteland advantage as well, and since it now has 65 points on the Axe Raider, it's allowed to cut it cleanly in half with its swinging stegosaurus tail.

Jonouchi is dismayed that Ryuzaki just played a monster with even stronger attack points as his life points go down to 1145. Ryuzaki tells him to just give up, because someone would have to travel back to the ice age in order to beat his dinosaur cards. You mean bring the dinosaurs back to the ice age, right? Whatevz. Yuugi, with his palms pressed against the glass, calls out Jonouchi's name and thinks he'll lose if things keep going the way they are. Jonouchi worries that he's just not good enough to beat Ryuzaki.

He glances over and sees Yuugi smudging the glass with his dirty little hands and begins to think he needs his help.

That's right, boy! Always keep your promises to yourself!

He draws a card with a determined expression and notes that none of the cards in his hand will beat Ryuzaki's dinosaurs, so he wonders how he's going to pull this off. He looks closely at the Time Wizard and reminds the audience that Yuugi gave him the card, with its powers to turn time backward and forward. He has no idea how else to use it other than in the combo with which he beat Mai, though, so he starts to wonder if there's some other power in it separate from that context. He decides he'll play it face down on the table just in case it comes in handy later.

Mai guesses correctly that the card Jonouchi laid down is the Time Wizard, but thinks it's more than likely that Jonouchi doesn't know how to use it. She tells Ryuzaki through the window that Jonouchi played the Time Wizard, and Ryuzaki says he's aware of that too, also under the impression that Jonouchi doesn't know how to use the card. Yuugi looks thoughtful as he considers the card they're talking about. Mai thinks about how its great powers even got to her when she had her guard down.

Jonouchi, meanwhile, plays the Rock Golem in defense. Of course Ryuzaki isn't impressed with this, saying that he's prepared to murder every monster Jonouchi puts down as he plays the Megasaurus with its wasteland advantage. It looks a bit like a Triceratops as it charges Rock Golem to crush it like Ryuzaki requests.

After a flinch, Jonouchi plays Swamp Battleguard to attack the opposing dinosaurs, but it gets bitchslapped by the Sword Dragon's tail. Just like Ryuzaki says; more prey for the dinosaurs. Now Jonouchi is down to 665 points and he's looking more desperate. Laughing, Ryuzaki asks him if he wants to give up yet. Jonouchi's friends call out his name, but to no avail. Bakura gives a bleak analysis of the situation, saying that with their field advantages, he doesn't know how Jonouchi will be able to beat them. This is the most depressing State of the Union Address I've ever seen.

As Jonouchi sits hunched and browbeaten at the table, Anzu turns to Yuugi and asks if there isn't some way Jonouchi can win. Yuugi looks down and away when he says there may be one card Jonouchi can use.

Anzu begs Yuugi to tell Jonouchi what to do, saying he'll lose otherwise while Bakura agrees. Yuugi remains silent, so Honda says he knows how Yuugi feels about not wanting to break his promise on refraining from giving advice. Bakura continues this train of thought by telling Yuugi that the tournament is all over for Jonouchi if Yuugi doesn't help. Anzu finally pulls out the big guns by asking Yuugi to think of Jonouchi's sister and what will happen to her if Jonouchi loses. Yuugi looks like Anzu punched him in the stomach when she says this. She drives her emotional fist into his gut a little deeper by suggesting that it might be kinder to Jonouchi in the long run to lend him a hand now.

It looks like Yuugi has a revelation around the word kindness here, and goes back to pressing his hands against the glass and thinking Jonouchi's name. Jonouchi looks like he's about to give up, so Yuugi opens his mouth to tell him the secret of the Time Wizard. He has to stop midway through getting Jonouchi's attention, though.

Hey, he's awake after all! Yuugi begins to argue that if if this continues, Jonouchi will lose, but Yami says that rescuing Jonouchi is what will really cause him to lose. Yuugi doesn't understand at first, but Yami explains that this is actually a battle Jonouchi is waging with himself. He's going up against his own sense of inadequacy, maaaaaaaaaaaan! Yami tells Yuugi that they can only watch Jonouchi get backed into this corner, because he did it of his own free will. Well, I don't know if that's a super solid argument, but I do know that necessity is the mother of invention, and if Jonouchi's backed into a corner, he's capable of getting pretty creative to solve problems. Remember when he fought that guy for the Millennium Puzzle in The One Inch Terror?

Yuugi and Yami remember when Jonouchi said that he felt if he could win then so could Shizuka and Yuugi smiles, saying that Yami is right.  Yami also points out Jonouchi's eyes, which don't look to him like the eyes of someone who's willing to give up yet. Yuugi peers out of his head at Jonouchi, who's glaring with determination.

When Yuugi comes back from his inner conversation with Yami, he calls Jonouchi's name with a smile. Anzu looks pretty amazed at how Jonouchi is so... something, and Honda yells at him to go for it. Jonouchi announces it's his turn and draws a card, slapping it down on the table. It's the Flame Swordsman, which gets a grassland field advantage and an attack strength of 2340. Ryuzaki grins as he congratulates Jonouchi on drawing a good card for a change. Mai looks less than enthusiastic, thinking it's a good card for such a n00b.

Jonouchi calls out his attack, and Ryuzaki points out that the swordsman has the same attack as Megasaurus.

Winking, Mai extends her condolences to Jonouchi for getting charged by a thousand pound dinosaur. These are HOLOGRAMS, sweetie, they don't have any weight. Mai begins to say the match is over, but by the widening of her eyes and general confusion in the next panel, I'd say her judgment was a tad premature.

Disbelief in his dinosaur's loss has Ryuzaki's mouth hanging open as his points lower to 1460. At first, Mai is flabbergasted too, but then she smiles as she remembers that dinosaurs are weak to fire, which the Flame Swordsman had plenty of. She says that beginner's luck is a little scary, though her smirk remains.

Jonouchi's friends are more than happy to see Jonouchi's spirit taking the high road. Jonouchi himself is still glaring, promising himself yet again that he'll win on his own. You go, boy!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? One of the layers of complexity of Jonouchi's struggle is made more overt here. The overall theme of the story is togetherness and friendship, but here Jonouchi is trying so hard to gain some measure of independence from Yami and Yuugi specifically. He's only doing this, of course, because he's trying to strike a balance; becoming his own person AND keeping that network of relationships to support him when he NEEDS it. First he has to test what he needs versus what just makes him comfortable.

This chapter attempts to differentiate between receiving support from friends and actively LEANING on them like a crutch. Mai represents the extreme of preferring not to have support from anyone in any capacity, which is why she has been such a crucial figure in both of Jonouchi's duels so far. She's one extreme on the spectrum of independence/dependence, and he started out as the other extreme. Through their encounters with one another, they scoot closer and closer to the center as they take lessons from one another in how to balance these two necessary states.

Speaking of two states, something else VERY interesting happened in this chapter. Yuugi and Yami had a full-on conversation within Yuugi's head. This has never happened before this moment, because Yuugi said at the beginning of this arc that he could kind of FEEL what Yami is feeling, but not really talk to him. Now they're finally able to converse, and this opens up a whole new WELL of possibilities for their relationship growth in the future.

Their bond grows...