Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 135 The Set Trap

Oh no, manga, don't do this to me! I was enjoying the promise of a chapter free from Duel Monsters madness, but your talk about setting traps is giving me flashbacks! Can't my small vacation from Duel Monsters be more complete and not filled to the brim with reminders that we're eventually going to be returning to it? Can we manage that? Please?

Ryoji's side of the room are all looking pretty smug for his having pulled the lamest trick in the book. It's so lame, all Jonouchi would need to do to get Ryoji back is to tell him his fly is undone.

Unfortunately, Jonouchi is too busy gritting his teeth in embarrassment to do much of that, still in disbelief that he ever fell for such a childish trick. Yuugi just glares at Ryoji with that classic poop-face of his. Ryoji's thoughts are dedicated to his plan to tear apart Yuugi's so-called "friendship" piece by piece. Not sure how Ryoji is determining the friendship isn't legitimate to begin with, but Yuugi is jumping in to defend it regardless. Yuugi tells Jonouchi not to listen to a word Ryoji says while pointing accusingly at him, labeling his trick as cheap and a set-up.

Ryoji just grins at this, asking how it's cheap. Yuugi explains that while Ryoji claimed he could get the die without touching the cup, he tricked Jonouchi into moving the cup for him so he could snatch the die out from under it. Ryoji's deft fingers play with the die he used in his trick as he confirms Yuugi's assessment, saying that since his hand didn't touch the cup, he didn't cheat. He calls this gambling, which isn't what it is at all, but whatevz kid.

Yuugi begins to protest haltingly, but Ryoji insists that since Jonouchi didn't realize the weakness of the game from the beginning, it was his own damn fault for losing. The word "weakness" has Yuugi confused in some fashion, so Ryoji breaks it down for him; if Ryoji couldn't touch the cup, then of course he couldn't get the die, so the only thing he could do was convince Jonouchi to move the cup for him by convincing him to check if the die was still there. Jonouchi leans across the desk in indignation, asking if Ryoji really intended to trick him all along. Ryoji laughs that Jonouchi finally understands.

Because Jonouchi is a sucker for punishment, he demands that he and Ryoji compete again, and Ryoji agrees on the condition that if Jonouchi loses, he becomes Ryoji's "dog" for two weeks instead of just the one. What, like being walked and groomed and fed? That actually sounds like a dope deal. Still, Jonouchi is determined to win this time, despite Yuugi's advice not to play Ryoji's games again. Jonouchi tells him to mind his own business. Sheesh, losing really puts Jonouchi in a mood...

Ryoji holds up a deck of playing cards, telling Jonouchi they'll be using them this time, and Jonouchi says this is fine. Having pulled the four aces from the deck of cards, he mixes them up and puts them face-down on the table between himself and Jonouchi. He names the four suits of cards in a playing deck, and says they'll class hearts and diamonds as red, clubs and spades as black. From these four cards, Jonouchi is allowed to pick two.

No, I'm unclear about something here... When does your damn class actually start? Is this some sort of study period where your dumb teachers just leave you alone forever to gamble in the classroom? And when am I ever going to not be confused by the lack of adult presence in this comic?

Jonouchi examines his choices thoughtfully, noting that there are four color combinations available to him, and two of those are what he needs, so his chances lie in a solid 50/50. Now THIS is gambling, kids. Jonouchi decides that this seems plenty fair to him, so he calls for a start to the game. After a moment of concentration and Honda shouting that Jonouchi has to win from behind a crestfallen Yuugi, Jonouchi slaps the two center cards as his choices. When turned over, however, the ace of clubs and ace of hearts is revealed, making Jonouchi grind his teeth again due to his faulty guess.

Ryoji brags that he won, just fueling the teeth-clenching, cursing rage of Jonouchi. He demands that they play one more time, to which Ryoji responds that Jonouchi isn't being a good boy. There goes my gaydar again. Regardless, Ryoji arranges the cards face-down on the desk, while Jonouchi tells him to shut his trap.

As Jonouchi hunches in his chair and clenches his fists in frustration, Ryoji comments on how bad Jonouchi's luck is that he couldn't win once in a fair game. Yuugi says Jonouchi's name, wondering if this game isn't also a tad off. Meanwhile, Ryoji is telling Jonouchi that he has to keep to their agreement and be his dog from now on. Jonouchi silently curses.

The first order Ryoji has for Jonouchi is to speak to no one other than him, and bark when he's answering his "master's" call. Yuugi is pointing at Ryoji again when he shouts that they're all classmates here, and the game is too cruel for them. Also, I shit you not, he says that "this kind of friendship is too weird." Is it? I think YOU'RE too weird for assuming that friendship has anything whatsoever to do with this, Yuugi. This is pure malice, plain and simple.

However, Anzu agrees with Yuugi and tells Jonouchi not to listen to Ryoji. Jonouchi glances over his shoulder to tell Yuugi not to worry about him, because this is his own problem. Well, that's fair. You did walk right into this against everyone's better advice, Jonouchi.

What the fuck??? Ryoji, you just made it on my list. And my list is not a place you want to be.

Anzu and Honda hover over a thrashing Jonouchi as he pisses and moans about the die hitting his face, Honda calling Ryoji a skunk. Ryoji jovially commands Jonouchi to bark, and this is the last straw for Yuugi. He grabs hold of the chain on his Millennium Puzzle, thinking this has gone way too far.

In the next moment, Yami has come out, telling Ryoji he's awfully bold for bullying his friend right in front of him. Ryoji smirks, realizing this must be the "other" Yuugi everyone talks about that's finally showed up. Yami sits in Jonouchi's vacated chair, a cocky smile on his face, though Jonouchi is protesting. Yami says it's his turn to play a game with Ryoji, and if he wins he wants only a promise from Ryoji. Ryoji agrees, positing that if he wins, Yami has to do everything he says as well. Man, this kid is really into having indentured servants. And being certain he won't lose.

Yuugi asks Yami in their head if he's planning on playing the "four aces" game with Ryoji, and Yami asks why he's wondering. Yuugi says he's not sure this is a fair game, and Yami is glad Yuugi noticed this as well. Surprised this is true, Yuugi is also informed by Yami that Ryoji lured Jonouchi into playing a game called "Bar Bet", which Yuugi asks for more information on. It's a game that the gambler sets up so they never lose, the same thing regardless if it's with cards or dice. The "four aces" game only SEEMED to have a 50/50 chance, but in reality, the odds are skewed by the illusion of choosing two cards at the same time. Choosing one card at a time has the same odds, actually, because the other three cards are two of the opposite color and one of the same. Yuugi gasps, realizing that when explained this way, the odds are actually one in three. Yami appears to say that he's right out loud, but no one seems to notice.

This is super shocking to Ryoji, so much so that he's letting Yami continue to make all the rules. Yami says that they'll each take turns picking one of the face-down cards on the table, and the first one to get two of the same color wins, though they'll lose automatically if they draw that joker. Finally, Yami tells Ryoji that if they both end up getting mismatched cards, it'll be a tie, and he asks if this is okay. After a small pause Ryoji smiles and says it's fine.

The competitors glare at each other over the table for a panel, until Yami says he's going first. He grabs the second card from the right, identifying it as the ace of hearts. Then Ryoji leans forward and picks up the second card from HIS right, the ace of spades. Yami takes three panels to pick up a new card and look at it, maybe for some sort of attempt at suspense before it's revealed that the card Yami chose is the ace of clubs. The game will either be a tie or Ryoji's loss at this point, and it's difficult to tell which Ryoji's disgusted face indicates when he draws and looks over his new card.

Yami demands that Ryoji show his cards as he slaps his own down on the table, red and black. Ryoji grinds his teeth while he mirrors the move, black and joker. Yami smirks, declaring his win. Now Ryoji is cursing and asking for one more game, which Yami agrees to while Jonouchi snickers that Ryoji is getting an idea of who's better. Yami tells Ryoji he can go first this time, since he won the last, but when he announces the start of the game, he goes first again anyway. What a douche.

No one says anything about this inconsistency as Yami and Ryoji take their silent turns drawing cards again.

Doesn't feel nice, does it?

Yami's friends cheer, Honda shouting that Yami has managed to win again and Anzu saying that Ryoji will have a wait another ten years in order to beat him. Isn't the saying one hundred years? Ryoji hunches in his frustration, wondering why he's lost, until it looks like he has an epiphany. He slams his fist on the table, asking how Yami dares to set him up in a "bar bet". Yami chuckles, as he stands from his seat, and Jonouchi repeats "bar bet" as a confused question. Yami assures Jonouchi that he didn't lose in a fair game when he played. Ryoji mutters his unhappiness that his dirty tactics are about to be exposed.

In the game Yami played with Ryoji before, he explains, the only ways that the game can be a draw is when the joker card remains. That means that there's no winning in this game unless the other person loses by drawing the joker first. However, the chances of drawing the joker is only one in five... at first. It was one in four for Ryoji on his first turn, and one in two on his second, so Yami still had the better odds.

BUT because our Yami always has to be correct, Ryoji internally acknowledges that this isn't a bar bet game, but fair. Scoffing, Ryoji realizes that Yami added the joker just to break his own bar bet game. Jonouchi growls that he had THOUGHT there was something fishy about that "four aces" game, and Yami turns back to Ryoji to shout that he wouldn't have let his trick succeed.

How was that supposed to break up their friendship exactly? *shrug*

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Useless. It was just useless, because there was no point to any of this. Not only was the concept of a "bar bet" game as opposed to a "fair" game ill-defined and vague, but from what I could glean, Yami's "fair" version of four aces was in the same category as a bar bet. He tries to lay it out as though the odds are more equal on both sides once the joker is added, but the person going first is always going to have better odds than the person going second, every time. I guess someone can lose right off the bat by drawing the joker on the first turn, but that person still had better odds of not drawing it than the person going after them would have. This game still only gives the ILLUSION of better odds, and therefore still seems like a bar bet.

More than that, though, this game served no purpose except to allow Yami a chance to show off, as though he doesn't get enough of those anyway. I mean, what were our villain's motivations? To break up Yuugi and pals, right? How would this game have done that? So, Jonouchi wouldn't have gotten to talk to Yuugi or any of his other friends for a couple of weeks, big whoop. Any friendship that can't withstand two weeks of not talking wasn't much of a friendship to begin with, and I doubt very much that Jonouchi's friendships are in that category.

If Ryoji had won against Yami, he might have tried to make the Yuugi and Jonouchi do mean things to each other, but I can't really see THAT breaking up their friendship either. They've been through similar situations in the past (Shadi tried to get Yami to kill Jonouchi in his twisted game, and Yuugi was bullied by Jonouchi for a long time while considering him a friend), and it didn't stop them being friends before.

It's not a really big stick, is what I'm saying.