Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 120 Heavy Metal Raiders

Woah, that title is evoking so many different images it's making my head spin. Chemistry, music, video game characters, pop-culture archaeology, as well as that very famous character who is representative of such; there's just too much here to even begin making a joke about all of it. Maybe... a scantily clad Indiana Jones with an electric guitar strapped to his back and studying a periodic table like it was a one of his treasure maps?

Actually, that image is awesome, I NEED someone to draw it for me.

Oh SNAP, Jonouchi! You have him pegged for SURE! Though to be fair the stubble doesn't JUST indicate that he's given up on personal grooming standards. He could also be in transition between being baby-faced to growing REAL facial hair.

Anzu shouts that Jonouchi can do it because he's not an amateur anymore. Uh, correction: he's still an amateur until he wins that money, because then he's getting PAID. Important distinction there. Glaring in concentration at his friend and that friend's opponent, Yami thinks this will be Jonouchi's toughest match yet. No duh - his character arc has been a pretty steady incline of difficulty thus far. Jonouchi is glaring too, mentally asking Yami watch him beat Keith and bust open the door to glory, as well as winning the money that will give his sister all the light in the world.

Jonouchi announces it's his turn, and he's playing Kung Fu Fighter Ultimator in defense. That name makes my eye twitch, so you can imagine how relieved I am not to have to type it again when Keith shouts that it's not even worth defeating and for it to just get lost. He commands his pendulum machine to turn the Keanu Reeves card into dog food with its pendulum blade, which I guess it can do despite having been played in defense on the FIRST page of the chapter. The Pendulum Machine grabs hold of Keanu Reeves's shoulders, holding it in place while the blade swings back.

Awww, bye-bye Keanu. You will not be missed. Not like I miss people actually having to SWITCH to attack mode before attacking, anyway.

Yami thinks at Jonouchi to watch out for the Pendulum Machine's special power, because OF COURSE it's not just a swinging blade. They never are. Keith yells at Jonouchi to hurry the fuck up, because it's his turn. Maybe you just need to slow the fuck down, Keith, ever think of that? Regardless, Jonouchi begins his turn with a shout back that he KNOWS it's his turn, slapping down Giltia the Dark Knight. Much more palatable name this time around. Jonouchi informs Keith that Giltia's magic spear can take him down in one hit, so Keith better prepare himself. Keith smirks and thinks Jonouchi can bring it on, which freaks Yami the fuck out.

Well fuck that noise!

Keith says it's his turn, and uses it to play Land Ironclad TM-1 Launcher Spider. Figures that Keith would play a card with an even WORSE name than Keanu above. Jonouchi stares open-mouthed at the tank with the spider legs and can do nothing as Keith commands it to take aim and fire at Giltia. The spider tank does just that, shooting several missiles on Giltia, which is taken down in a flash of holographic smoke.

Jonouchi curses through clenched teeth as his life points lower to 1650. Keith practically screams that Jonouchi isn't any match for him, throwing in an expletive for good measure, as Americans do. Seriously, I have a mouth like a sailor, so I'm not going to call Keith on that. Jonouchi is already losing confidence, thinking that Keith really IS good and MUST be the ex-champion. Yami spends a panel explaining to the audience contemplating the fact that Keith has a heavyweight power deck of machine cards that are immune to magic and can overwhelm opponents with high attack points. Still, he urges Jonouchi not to give up, mentally of course, because Keith is powerful but not very subtle, and there IS a way to defeat him.

Gulping at the attack points of the monsters on Keith's side of the table, Jonouchi says it's his turn again, drawing a card. Looking at his hand, he's disappointed that there's nothing there to compete in attack strength with Keith's robots. He has to make a move though, so he slaps a card face down on the table, following that up with playing Axe Raider in defense. Upon seeing this, Keith taunts Jonouchi by expressing his lighthearted disbelief at how Jonouchi made it this far with a card like that in his deck. Jonouchi growls in response.

Keith knows that if he takes out Axe Raider, it's in defense and won't take away any of Jonouchi's life. He has an idea to trap Jonouchi and end this match quickly, though. He pulls a card from his hand and plays it face down as well, then plays a card called Zoa in defense, just like Jonouchi.

Oooo... kay...

Keith says he's done and it's Jonouchi's move, while Jonouchi clenches his teeth in fear at how buff that thing looks. Yami is struck by how strange it is Zoa is being played by Keith, considering it's not a machine monster, but a regular "dark" monster. What's even weirder is that it has 2600 attack stats, but Keith played it in defense at 1900. Obvious trap is obvious, and Yami mentally warns Jonouchi to be careful.

But poor short-sighted Jonouchi is only concerned with whether or not he can attack it, and he's totally on fire to do it too, if one can judge by his raised fist and determined expression. He play's his Flame Swordsman, paired with his spell card Salamandra, because it will work just fine on the non-machine Zoa. Jonouchi taunts Keith for screwing up before he commands his Flame Swordsman to attack.

Jonouchi is wide-eyed and horrified that a trap card like Metalmorph exists as his magic Salamandra attack bounces right off the shiny new metal demon. Keith laughs and informs Jonouchi that the deflected attack strikes the Flame Swordsman with Zoa's attack stats, which means that FS is dead by his own sword.

Flame Swordsman is incinerated and Jonouchi's points drop to 1150, Jonouchi himself grinding his teeth and sweating. Keith guffaws about how much of a fucking idiot Jonouchi is while Jonouchi's slack-jawed friends call his name in concern. Jonouchi growls when Keith announces the best part, that it's still HIS turn. Keith draws a card, looks at it, and chuckles, telling Jonouchi that he's just won. Jonouchi indignantly asks for elaboration, and Keith is patronizing when he speculates on what would happen if Jonouchi can't defend with Axe Raider. Keith throws down Stop Defense, which Jonouchi is terrified by the sight of.

Good thing Jonouchi still has that face down card on his side, huh?

Keith is perplexed when his Metal Zoa drops out of sight, demanding to know where the monster disappeared to. His answer is in the table, where a hole has appeared that Zoa dropped into, metal limbs tangled among spikes. Jonouchi scoffs as he turns over his face down card to reveal...

Jonouchi has turned up the puns to eleven.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I have to admit that the ending of this one kind of surprised me. I hadn't expected Jonouchi's confidence to have come so far as to pull off a turn-around like that, or the attitude to match, but I suppose it makes sense. He has the full support of a new friend (a force he said during the last duel was what pulls him through his matches) who was the first one to assure him that he has skill and talent in this game. Add that to the fact that his last duel was in tandem with Yami, whom he was able to intuitively help without mistakes or setting both of them back, I can imagine that Jonouchi has come to trust himself and his ability to take on tough opponents quite a bit by now.

And I'm kind of amazed at how perfectly this duel's beginning contrasts that of Yami's. When Yami first faced Mai, the pressure of eventually facing Pegasus was making him careless, cutting into his confidence and causing him to make shallow mistakes. Here, Jonouchi begins by making his typical careless mistakes by attacking without thinking, but ends the duel with more confidence than when he started, and a well-earned sense of pride in making a good play. He still has to find a way to beat the rest of Keith's magic-immune deck, but at least he's starting off on the right foot where Yami hobbled into the ring on the wrong one.