Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 079 Time's Mark

For whatever reason, the third volume of Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist isn't downloading for me on this computer, so I can't get it from my usual source. I don't know if it's the file or if there's something about it my particular computer doesn't like, but I really didn't have time to troubleshoot today because there are too many things I have to be getting on with after this project. Thankfully, manga sites aren't failing to provide a readable scanlation! We'll be going independent for this chapter, and perhaps the next few. Who knows? Maybe this translation is a little truer to the original Japanese than the official translation I was using. I DID feel like I was missing a little something from the context of the official copy...

Besides, I do enjoy an image file that isn't two-and-a-half megabytes in size. Loads up a LOT faster and takes up less space.

Anyway, the MegasauLER has been defeated by the Flame Swordsman! Wait, was it called the Megasauler the whole time? Did I read it wrong in the last chapter or what? I blame having to sit on the floor until my desk arrives. Changing position on the hard wood at least one hundred times during a single review could lead to misreading things. Right?

While Jonouchi wasn't celebrating at the end of the last chapter, he is now. He's wearing a cocky grin as he basically tells Ryuzaki to lick his balls, because Flame Swordsman is his MVC (most valuable card) and he's got the power to beat up ALL of Ryuzaki's dinosaurs. Jonouchi's friends cheer him from beyond the glass while Ryuzaki looks like he's forcing a gigantic dump all over his chair. He grits his teeth, asking himself why the n00b Jonouchi was able to defeat his dinosaurs.

Mai's grinning as she shouts that Jonouchi's win in this instance was a fluke, because he still can't beat her fucking manservant. Duh.

Anzu isn't so convinced, because she remembers who lost to Jonouchi in the first place. Mai smirks and scoffs, saying that Jonouchi can't win alone without Yami's advice. They glare at one another like THEY'RE the ones in competition. Which, you know, they probably are. I can imagine people whiling away their lives arguing about which of them is hotter on the web or something. That was just inevitable.

Turning back on her smile, Anzu shouts at the booth, encouraging Jonouchi to keep winning. Yuugi is also letting him know that he's doing great. Just keep up that lamaze practice, kid, you're doing good! Jonouchi assures them he will with a serious expression, then reminds the "Dino-Freak" that it's his turn.

Ryuzaki considers the Flame Swordsman whose high attack points and fire attribute will be trouble for him. As he draws a card, he reminds himself that he still has his ultra-rare power card in his deck. Looking at his draw, he's put out as he realizes that it can't beat the Flame Swordsman, but he plays it anyway, a Wild Raptor that doesn't do anything before he ends his turn. Too bad that clever girl can't do your dueling for you, eh Ryuzaki?

Jonouchi shouts that it's his turn and commands the Flame Swordsman to attack. It destroys the Two-Headed King Rex (redundant), and Yuugi and Anzu are grinning hard as they continue their encouragement. Jonouchi celebrates with them with a raised fist and exclamation. Down to 720 points, Ryuzaki scoffs and thinks that he can't let Jonouchi keep up this momentum.

Now Mai is pissed where she wasn't before, demanding to know what Ryuzaki thinks he's doing and insisting that if he's going to be her manservant he'd better actually fight. Ryuzaki glares at her and vows internally to beat this bitch after he wins the duel he's currently playing. I'm surprised, because "bitch" isn't my word here! Actual translation! Wow, I got so used to the official translation that I hadn't even thought I'd see anyone using my grown-up asshole language. Good to know I'm among friends.

I mean the translators, not the fictional characters. Just to clarify.

Goodness gracious, Jonouchi, you're supposed to be learning independence! I don't know how someone can be acting on their own and still be so damned codependent.

Yuugi silently warns Jonouchi to be careful, because Ryuzaki probably has a card that can beat the Flame Swordsman. Ryuzaki meanwhile draws a new card, looks at it, and scoffs again, because this one won't help him take down the swordsman either. He plays the Corpse-Devouring Dragon in defense, which sounds a little like something out of that other comic I'm reviewing. And now I'm imagining Inuyasha playing this game for Shikon shards. It's at times like this I wish I could draw.

Jonouchi commands his swordsman to cut that corpse-eater in half. Anzu proclaims that he's strong, while Mai is consumed by rage and screaming at Ryuzaki that if he loses, she won't duel him. Getting cocky, Jonouchi points at Ryuzaki and mockingly asks if he's run out of cards. Ryuzaki demands that he shut up as he draws a new card. Looking at this card, he smirks. Looks like he found that powerhouse card he was searching for.

New recurring dragon! New recurring dragon! Just what I wanted!

A little later than expected, but hey...

Jonouchi is speechless at how strong the card is, and Yuugi is amazed. He thinks about how the card is so rare as to be worth a ton of money, and its high attack level is pretty good too. I mean, duh, it's the literal opposite of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, KT had to make IT was formidable as well.

Ryuzaki chuckles, telling them all how he got the card as a tournament prize. In the spirit of full disclosure, he also says that it's a dark monster rather than a dinosaur, so it doesn't get the field power-up, but it's still a match for Jonouchi's Flame Swordsman.

Aaaaaand there goes that confidence right out the back of him. Yuugi frets about how Jonouchi only has 65 life points left while he and the others call out Jonouchi's name. Jonouchi has his head lowered as he thinks about how the Flame Swordsman was the best card in his deck. Ryuzaki is smirking, thinking how natural it is for him to be winning. Jonouchi is convinced this must be it.

Arms crossed, Mai smugly asserts in her head how Jonouchi was no match for her manservant. Ryuzaki is clearly no Jock, though, that's all I'm saying. Yuugi stares through the glass at a demoralized Jonouchi, accosted on all sides by questions of whether there's anything else Jonouchi can do to win and defeatist statements about his impending loss. Yuugi thinks that there's only one way left for Jonouchi to win at this point, and that's to play his Time Wizard card that he's already set on the table. In addition to using it with Baby Dragon to grow it up into Thousand Dragon, there's a way Jonouchi can use it on its own, which he's not familiar with yet.

When used on its own, the Time Roulette has a needle that spins and decides what happens to all the monsters on the table. It even has little skulls for all those possibilities of failure where monsters get caught in a chain of self-destruction. Are we sure we should be giving Jonouchi reminders of roulette games that have a potential for death?

Yuugi thinks that if Jonouchi can succeed, though, he has a chance to turn the duel around. Unfortunately, he still can't TELL Jonouchi any of this information because of his promise. He mentally begs Jonouchi to figure it out himself.

As Jonouchi hangs his head, Ryuzaki demands that he draw another card while his rare dragon roars. Jonouchi does as he's told, cursing and looking at his card only to wallow in the assumption that he has nothing left and he's going to lose. He places his hand down by the Time Wizard he placed earlier, and Ryuzaki starts to sweat, though he keeps his smirk firmly in place. He had forgotten about that card, and knows it's scary, but tells himself that an amateur like Jonouchi can't possibly use it right.

Jonouchi is thinking of Shizuka again in his funk, and Ryuzaki listens to Mai cheer for him beyond the glass. He suddenly has a revelation that Mai lost to the Time Wizard against Jonouchi, and realizes that if he can get his hands on it, Mai has already lost to him too. He points at Jonouchi, proposing a wager of the winner getting one of the loser's cards. This is, after all, a trading card game. He demands that he should get the Time Wizard in the event of Jonouchi's loss.

Looking tired and put-out, Jonouchi repeats the name of the card in confusion. He looks down at it, having forgotten he had played it. Ryuzaki also proposes that if he loses, Jonouchi gets the Red Eyes Black Dragon, citing the card's high value as a great deal for him. Jonouchi is shocked at the value Ryuzaki quotes him. Meanwhile, Mai bangs on the glass, wanting to veto the card-trading rule, because if Ryuzaki gets the Time Wizard, she realizes it'll be bad for her. They argue through the glass, Mai telling him that he has to do what she says as her manservant, Ryuzaki saying he never agreed to be her slave and that she should just let him handle this duel quietly. Jonouchi has the "hundred-thousand" quote echoing through his head until he announces that he'll accept the bet.

Mai and Ryuzaki continue to call each other names while Jonouchi analyzes this behavior, noting that they only started when Ryuzaki said he wanted the Time Wizard. He assumes the card to be really valuable if Ryuzaki wants it so badly, but the card is special because Yuugi gave it to him. Staring down at the face-down card, he admits to himself that he has no idea what will happen if he uses it, but he has nothing left. He has to just bet on it.

You hear that, boys? REAL men gamble with their sisters' futures! I kid, I kid, he was doing that from the very beginning of this tournament.

Jonouchi flips the card over to play it, causing Mai and Ryuzaki to finally stop arguing and sweatdrop at him, and Yuugi to grin for his finally using the card. The holographic Time Wizard pops up holding its roulette wand, with its skulls and the symbol for its time magic.

Seriously, what the fuck is this thing? A deformed flux capacitor or something? I don't know.

The needle starts spinning on the wand after a declaration, and SOMEONE says that when the needle stops, success is the time magic and failure is self-destruction. It can't be Jonouchi saying this, because he's winging it and has no idea about any of these things.

YEAH! It's not the skull! That's how you know it's the GOOD outcome!

Jonouchi looks pleasantly surprised that his monster is still alive at the end of the time magic blast. Yuugi is ecstatic that the Time Wizard pulled it off, and that the powerful dinosaurs have been brought down by time. Ryuzaki grinds his teeth and bangs his fists on the table at his unbelievable loss. Oh boy, your loss is that much worse because of the little bet you just made too, kid.

That must be pretty embarrassing, Mai.

Jonouchi looks over at Yuugi, thinking it was hard, but he won all by himself. And he managed to win a rare card that he holds up triumphantly.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It ended just about the way I thought it would, which is far from a bad thing, mind you. I was actually asking myself how Jonouchi managed to get his hands on the Red Eyes Black Dragon, because I remembered he had it in the show, and for a moment there thought he didn't win it off Ryuzaki until later.

It was actually a greatly satisfying plot point for Ryuzaki to make that bet because it made sense. His thought-process was sound; he was close enough to wiping out Jonouchi's points that he could afford to think about taking the risk of losing his dragon. Gaining the Time Wizard was much more likely at that point, and his strategy to get it to use against Mai was totally understandable. It raised the stakes on the match enough that Jonouchi's win was all that much more satisfying at the end too.

Ryuzaki was actually a great opponent, and I'm a little sad to see him go. Does he come back around later? I hope so. I like him a lot more than Haga, that's for damn sure.