Speaking of which, we never got a clearer picture of what actually happened with that, did we? While I'm pretty sure Sugoroku never did it on purpose or out of malice, confirmation is always appreciated...
Yuugi is convinced that his wish to see Yami again led to his victory, Yami's face in his mind framed with the chain of the Millennium Puzzle he just installed. I'm surprised the chain wasn't shaped into a heart for how many romantic undertones there are to this line. Or, is this just Yuugi expressing some sort of self-love? Yami DOES have Yuugi's face, with slight differences in eyes and hair, so is this a nuanced message of growing to embrace those parts of oneself with which one was once uncomfortable? Or just some weird masturbation metaphor?
Nope, not going down THAT rabbit hole.
Eyes closed, Ryuji dwells on how even all his skills couldn't break the bond between Yuugi and his Millennium Puzzle, which just makes Ryuji's defeat all the more prominent. Meanwhile, clown!dad's eyes are popping beneath his mask, though he remains silent, thank ALL the gods. Yuugi stands and demands that Ryuji give back the Millennium Puzzle, since he met the condition of winning Ryuji's game, so Ryuji meekly agrees.
Asshole!Bakura motions for Yuugi to sit again, because he's had a hard, tiring battle, and asshole!Bakura wants to get the puzzle for him instead. One hand is in his pocket, and for a split second I think asshole!Bakura (who had declared himself a thief) stole the puzzle and its pieces off the edge of the table while no one was looking, because how fucking dope would that shit be, amirite??? But no, Bakura lifts the puzzle not out of his pocket, but off the table where it was left, and picks up the pieces too, all while asking Ryuji is he finally understands that Yuugi is its rightful owner. Man, what a WASTE.
He monologues that Ryuji's weak mental state would have only caused him to be trapped in a mind maze if he ever wore the puzzle, and that losing this game actually saved Ryuji's life. Ryuji looks kind of pissed by this lecture, but also to demoralized to do anything about it, so he just grinds his teeth. Asshole!Bakura puts the puzzle and its loose pieces into Yuugi's hand, telling him that it's now his mission to put it all together again, and Yami would want it that way too. Yuugi agrees, but internally he knows that Bakura is being controlled by the ring's douchebag spirit. Though he supposes he's more inclined to think of asshole!Bakura as his friend now, because of how those words he spoke helped Yuugi win. I don't for a moment believe that asshole!Bakura helped ANYONE by being present here today, but that's just like, my opinion man.
Yuugi tells asshole!Bakura that it took him a total of eight long years to finish the puzzle last time, but promises to go home and reassemble it as quick as he can now. He thinks that even it takes him twenty years this time, he'll definitely see Yami again, gazing hard at the top of the puzzle he's holding by the chain. Asshole!Bakura glares silently down at Yuugi, expression unreadable.
His internal yammering continues as he thinks that Yuugi doesn't know the REAL hidden power of the Millennium Puzzle; not even Yami managed to figure THAT out. But asshole!Bakura knows! Why? Because. He just happens to be savvy to the fact that the Millennium Puzzle holds the memory of the ancient pharaoh from three thousand years before, and all the Millennium Items must be reunited in order for its seal to be broken. Asshole!Bakura's ring is apparently the key to unlocking this seal, as well as that tablet in the underground palace of Kul Elna that Pegasus described before his death. Somehow, asshole!Bakura is able to totally recall what exactly this tablet says: an inscription about a young pharaoh sacrificing himself and six priests to seal away some evil power into a holy gate that he wishes to awaken.
Well I see no one needs to unseal YOUR memories.
Asshole!Bakura is intent on finding that hidden memory in the pharaoh's Millennium Puzzle so that he can take that evil power for himself, so he's going to use the Millennium Ring to put a part of his soul into the puzzle piece he has in his hand, much like what he did with those little lead figurines way back when. You all remember that, right?
Asshole!Bakura pretends that he only just found the piece of the puzzle on the floor, which sure would have been a close one, right? Yuugi thanks him as the piece is handed back to him, because one piece missing would have meant the puzzle would never have been put back together again, like Humpty Dumpty. I guess Yuugi thinks that all items picked up off the floor are warm and slightly sweaty, so asshole!Bakura is in the clear with his dastardly scheme. He chuckles evilly in his head while telling Yuugi he's welcome for the help. Then, he peaces the fuck out of this bitch, because this situation is no longer any of his business. Regular Bakura scratches his head, disoriented and wondering where the crap he is, but deciding immediately to go home because we can't have him making a scene while Yuugi still has important words to share with his former opponent just as he's contemplating how much everyone must be worried about him.
Before Yuugi can leave, Ryuji calls his name, and Yuugi looks back at him speechlessly. Ryuji tells him that even though he lost, he doesn't regret it or having played the match. Yuugi smiles at him, then Ryuji turns to his clown!dad silently fuming off to the side. He apologizes for being unable to get revenge, because he just can't bring himself to hate Yuugi. Sweetie, don't ever apologize for NOT HATING SOMEONE. That is totally normal, your dad is a piece of garbage.
But the next panel shows clown!dad looking somewhat remorseful as he tells Ryuji that it was his own fault by asking for Ryuji's help in the revenge plot. Ryuji suggests that if they continue to hold on to vengeful feelings, they'll never be winners in any game. Clown!dad doesn't respond to this, instead turning to Yuugi and apologizing for breaking the puzzle. He assumes this must have saddened by this, and Yuugi just kind of glares at him with that poop-face of his. Turns out he was correct to be wary.
Ryuji calls out to his deranged father, but his father commands Yuugi to come with him, implying that he'll break Yuugi's neck otherwise. Bakura frets over his friend being yanked around by his neck and Ryuji shouts at clown!dad that his revenge won't ever lead anywhere, so he should stop this crap right now. Clown!dad retorts that since Ryuji lost to Yuugi, he doesn't DESERVE to be the son of an torturous clown asshole. According to clown!dad, Ryuji's sole purpose was to help with the revenge plot, and his life no longer has value now that he's failed in the task. The irony is all this is his saying so is exactly why Ryuji doesn't deserve to be his son - Ryuji deserves SOOOOOO much better than this crap.
And Ryuji appears to understand this perfectly, begging clown!dad not to make his heart any uglier than it already is. Oh snap, this kid is bringing the burn! Clown!dad's eyes widen and then he grumbles that he's lost all faith in Ryuji, so he'll just have to get revenge himself. He reaches behind himself, twists around one of the clown masks on the wall he'd been imitating before, causing the wall to swing around and sweep he and Yuugi into an adjacent room. Ryuji runs to the wall and shouts to his father, pounding his fist on the hidden door because it's apparently locked from the inside and can't be opened from the outside. Even though it just was.
Shut up, the logic is flawless!!
Bakura asks if there's any other way inside the room, but Ryuji says this is the only way. He also says that he knows what clown!dad is planning; to play some cursed game with Yuugi in the room, a plan that must be stopped. Bakura looks half-horrified and half-dumbfounded by phrase "cursed game," when I would probably be asking about where an axe was in order to bust down that freaking door. But hey, different strokes and all that.
Because he remains perfectly unchallenged by the meek Yuugi, clown!dad turns to Yuugi creepily, asking if he knows what kind of wheel he's just surrounded with candles. He explains that it's a game from ancient Egypt (because when is a game NOT) which is cursed to eat away at a person's life. Though it appears to be a regular goal-oriented dice game, players use their own years as bets and whatever number the loser's piece ends up on is the number of years they'll have aged.
Seriously? Why couldn't we have seen THIS game played over the past several chapters? That sounds WAY more interesting that Ryuji's hack job of an invention!
Clown!dad says that THIS was the game he lost to Sugoroku, and though he's still young, he aged by fifty years. Wait, I was under the impression that he was about the same age as Sugoroku when this happened? Sugoroku isn't exactly young, so how old was clown!dad when he and Sugoroku had their match? And how can he still be young if at LEAST sixteen years have passed since that match took place? Or did I pick the wrong contradictory backstory information again? I'm so confused!
Yuugi is revealed to be still against the wall, eyes squeezed shut, I suppose to imply that he's been knocked out, except it doesn't REALLY look like he's knocked out as much as in pain. Whatevz. Clown!dad stalks toward Yuugi menacingly, divulging how his original plan was to let Ryuji inherit the Millennium Puzzle's power and then have another match with Sugoroku - winning and cursing him to the same fate clown!dad had to suffer, and completing his revenge. However, because Ryuji isn't as good a puppet as clown!dad had anticipated, his plans are now ruined. What's that I hear?
Clown!dad grabs Yuugi's wrist so he can pry open his fist where the Millennium Puzzle pieces are in his grip. He takes them and the top of the puzzle with the chain he attempted to strangle Yuugi with earlier and declares that he'll just reassemble the puzzle himself. Clown!dad is convinced that the Millennium Puzzle is his now, and no one can take it away from him. Just to make absolute sure no one is able, he thrusts a peg through one of the links in the chain to peg the top of the puzzle to the table on which his cursed game rests. Once it's safe and securely fastened to his table, he sits down and proceeds to try and solve the Millennium Puzzle for himself, planning to force Yuugi into playing his cursed game later in an attempt to make him suffer just like clown!dad did.
Assuming you win, dude. And you know what they say about assuming.
Yuugi's eyes open a crack as he sweats and huffs, but he doesn't appear to actually wake up, because clown!dad just keeps on fiddling with that puzzle. The pieces click and clack as he tries them in various positions. Yuugi staggers to his feet, and a strange font escapes his mouth as he warns clown!dad that he can't solve the puzzle. Clown!dad cackles, telling Yuugi that solving it doesn't worry him at all. Bracing himself against the wall, Yuugi tells clown!dad not to anger the puzzle, again in his weird, wispy font. Clown!dad just chuckles again, tried pieces clicking away.
Some ethereal smoke starts to waft from between the fitted pieces, up to clown!dad's face, whose smile has definitely collapsed by this point. He makes a confused noise while he sees a point of light shine out from the depths of the puzzle.
But before clown!dad can get hopelessly lost in the illusion he lashes out, flailing from the table and knocking his cursed game and the candles everywhere. A candle tips over onto the tablecloth and the flames immediately start to spread, though it takes clown!dad a moment to realize what happened. Once his head is fully in reality again, he starts to shout "fire" like it'll help put the spreading inferno out, but I guess this brings Yuugi back to his senses too, because his eyes are open wide and full of horror at the sight of the flames. I guess clown!dad couldn't manage to put a damn fire extinguisher in his secret room where he was going to be lighting all those candles. That douchecanoe.
Bakura uselessly observes that everyone came to look for Yuugi, because he's superfluous. Meanwhile, Jonouchi demands to know where Yuugi is. On the other side of the wall, clown!dad claws at his secret door in panic, asking for help and yelping that there's a fire. I thought the door was locked from the inside? Is it just locked on EVERY side now? Yuugi lunges for the puzzle he sees still sitting on the flaming table, but when he grabs it, he's appalled to find that the chain has the peg holding it to the table. Yuugi yanks on it, horrified and wondering why.
Because maybe it's better that sucker is melted down to nothing, that's why.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Very dramatic on its surface. It appears that there are going to be very real consequences to Ryuji's father's jealous vengeful pursuit of the puzzle, and I'm glad these stakes are being explored. Back in the Dragon Cards arc, we got a little bit of a taste of what it would be like if someone were aware of what kind of power Yuugi got from the puzzle and they wanted it for themselves. However, the damage wasn't very visible, though the stakes were quite a bit higher. It's at least interesting to see the stakes a tad lower (life vs soul) in exchange for some more visibility in consequences and action.
I'm pretty intrigued by the exchange between the half-conscious Yuugi and Ryuji's father as well. The strange way in which Yuugi was speaking gave me a distinct impression of a possession or trance. Strange, because since he wasn't wearing a completed puzzle at the time, I don't know what Yuugi might have been possessed with at that time. It's possible that being assaulted with the incomplete top of the puzzle put him in a lingering trance, but I'm kind of doubtful. Other than that, I'm not sure what could have been happening there, but it's definitely a little mystery setup that has me successfully mystified.
That being said, I'm still not wild about the way these stakes and the situation at the end of the chapter was set up. That door in particular really gets to me, because it's not consistent in how it's supposed to work. I'm not even certain why Ryuji's father has to be stuck in there with Yuugi in the fire anyway in order for this to be dramatic. We all know the danger isn't in Yuugi being trapped, but in choosing to stay behind so he can put back together his puzzle because he can't get it out of the table. The door doesn't even need to be stuck in that case, so what is the point of it being that way?
Speaking of useless...
You bringing up masturbation reminds me that Yugi is confirmed to have watched porn at the start of the manga. I wonder if Atem's increased awareness makes that awkward.
ReplyDeleteOn a less lurid note, the anime has this whole "Bakura puts his soul into the Puzzle" thing as well after the Bandit Keith duel. The only thing is that the manga doesn't have that many arcs left. The anime, meanwhile, had... six? So that detail kinda got lost in a lot of clutter.
I assume the wall is operated by the masks, so it was locked from the inside when the wall turned, but not beforehand. But then Clown Dad should have been able to escape rather than begging for someone to help him. Maybe he was just in a panic.
Yeah, I do wonder about the logistics of knowing that there is someone else in your head that could potentially be "listening in" while you're at it. I know that Yuugi and Yami get really close over the course of the series, but that is still pretty awkward, considering how personal that kind of thing is. Maybe it's a matter of them staying in their own "rooms" when that's happening?
DeleteThat whole business with Bakura putting his soul in the puzzle gets lost even in the MANGA, because Bakura is just kind of in the background for most of what I've read beyond his introduction in the tabletop RPG arc. I blame Battle City for being so overstuffed, personally.
And I agree, it was probably just panic on Clown!Dad's end, and it also still reinforces his cowardly impotent characterization, so I can take back a little of my earlier head-scratching. Still seems a tad odd in how it was executed, but it's not too important so I just give a big shrug.