Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 180 Return of the Sea Scourge

Scourge indeed. Here I am, getting up at 4am every weekday, just so the Navy can have my husband for a few hours before returning him to me tired and full of grievances. What they're doing over there that pisses him off so much he can't say most of the time, but it's enough to make him look forward to the day when he can get the hell out of there. Luckily, it's not going to be too much longer now before he'll be able to get himself a civilian job.

Looks like Jonouchi's a little too green to feel the fatigue yet, though. Give it time.

Ryota congratulates him on his ability to put up a decent fight after all, satisfied that this won't be as boring as he at first feared. Jonouchi points out that their life points have almost evened out again, and this is only the beginning of the duel. Yeah, there's plenty more time left for Jonouchi to turn boring again, don't you worry, Ryota. Mentally, Ryota acknowledges that Jonouchi is right about it only being the beginning, but he still doesn't know what terrors the sea REALLY has to offer. Ryota considers himself an experienced fisherman who knows how to make his prey come to him, and since Jonouchi's on his home turf (an aquarium? I thought he wasn't familiar, and isn't he...? I don't understand!) he's been in the net this entire time.

Apparently, Ryota has a sure-win strategy that he'd like to show Jonouchi, called "Sea Stealth II". I'm sure this will be new and fresh and totally NOT just his strategy in Duelist Kingdom but even MOAR.

The crowd has mixed reactions to their continued theatrics up front. One girl thinks that all this hologram dueling looks fun, an overenthusiastic little boy wonders who's going to win while pumping his fist in the air, and another just wants to see those damn killer whales before he dies. Marik's Ghouls just keep staring blankly at Jonouchi as he declares it's his turn again, and Ryota agrees. The killer whale, of course, celebrates its peripheral thematic relevance with another jump.

Anzu calls to Jonouchi through her cupped hands that now is his chance, because Ryota no longer has a monster out. I would say she was stating the obvious here, but knowing Jonouchi, the obvious may need to be said. Multiple times. Still, Sugoroku opts to stroke his chin in contemplation than give any advice here. Jonouchi draws a card, looks at it, and is rather pleased to see it is Polymerization, just what he needed. Apparently.

If you did, that might make you a bit of a hypocrite.

For some reason, Jonouchi's eyes are downcast and he isn't making a move, contemplating his possession of Alligator Sword as insufficient. Anzu asks Sugoroku why Jonouchi isn't attacking, and Sugoroku answers that warriors and beast-warriors can't swim, so Alligator can't leave Jonouchi's side. But in the last chapter Alligator was in the Fairy Box underwater and somehow came back up to kill the Amphibian Beast? Does that not count as swimming in this game? Why do I constantly find myself asking what words mean every time I read a chapter of this manga??

Anzu is incredulous when she follows up with the question of how Jonouchi is going to win this when almost all of his cards are the types that can't swim. Sugoroku cryptically states that there is a way, but questions if Jonouchi will figure it out. Do you even have to ask? A smirking Ryota sarcastically wonders what Jonouchi will do now, and it's not too long before he finds out. Jonouchi plays Baby Dragon, and plays Polymerization to fuse both it and Alligator Sword. The result is an alligator riding triumphantly atop a grinning baby dragon, a weirdly dissonant image.

Sugoroku cheers Jonouchi's good job, Ryota looks downright pissed that this thing can now apparently fly, and Jonouchi confirms that it can indeed glide right over Ryota's old ocean. He commands his alligator/dragon team to go and fuck up Ryota, which flies to deliver a direct slash to Ryota's life points. He cringes at the blow, then glares at Jonouchi, grinding his teeth as his points whittle down to 1400. Jonouchi is ecstatic, cheering that this duel is a piece of cake, and he knew the sea wasn't that tough.

Teeth still gritted and looking all the angrier, is taken aback at first, then insists that the sea shouldn't be underestimated. Waves crash in what I assume to be a memory, where Ryota is calling out to his father in choppy waters out in the open ocean.

Well hot damn, if that isn't the finest piece of man...

Ahem. Never mind. Ryota plays two cards, and quickly ends his turn, looking livid the whole time. Look, Ryota, I'm sorry I looked at your dad that way. I was out of line. Just please stop looking like you're going to murder someone.

Jonouchi stares wide-eyed at Ryota as though he too is rather shocked by his sudden change in attitude. The cards he played are face up, however no one can see what they are due to a turbulent virtual ocean, reflecting Ryota's mood, no doubt. He silently dares Jonouchi to attack him now. Jonouchi draws a card now that he's acknowledged that his turn has come back around. He wonders what it was that Ryota played, then gasps when it occurs to him that Ryota hit the monsters beneath the holographic water where they couldn't be seen, pulling the same strategy he used on Yami in Duelist Kingdom. Jonouchi remembers vividly how Yami's monster attacked from land, but a tentacled beast Yami couldn't see pulled it under the waves each time.

But when he remembers that his monster can now fly, his worries lessen, with the mental note that as long as his combo monster doesn't get too close to the virtual water it should be fine. I don't know, Jonouchi, I feel like there's a Icarus-type lesson to be learned here, despite your monster not being made of wax or anything. Proceed with caution regardless. That isn't really Jonouchi's style, though, and he commands his Alligator Sword/Baby Dragon to soar to the other side of the ocean and attack Ryota. As it zooms at his opponent, Jonouchi taunts Ryota with how he can't do anything if his monster is so high up. Ryota glares at the oncoming monster while Jonouchi confidently thinks Ryota's points are about to dip below zero, giving him the victory.

Wrong. Ryota takes this moment to raise a trap card from the depths of his holographic ocean.

Hubris. Gets them every time.

Jonouchi recognizes that those water spouts are blocking his attacks from all three avenues of land, air or sea. To make matters worse, Ryota informs him that this trap is permanent, so as long as it's around, Jonouchi can't get at him, period. Jonouchi sweats and swears, but then seems to have an epiphany. The ocean on Ryota's side is being lifted by the swirling tornadoes, so the sea level is low enough that he can see there's nothing on Ryota's side. He thinks that Ryota never played a monster at all, saying that the whole thing was a bluff and not the Sea Stealth strategy at all. Thinking he just overthought the whole thing, Jonouchi snaps that it's Ryota's turn. Ryota chuckles and Jonouchi's inability to see his monster, given it's right in front of him.

Ryota draws a new card, plays one, and ends his turn, all without giving the slightest information on what he actually did. Jonouchi's heart pounds as he questions whether THIS is the time he hid a monster. Though his sweatdrops clearly indicate he's nervous, he figures there's only one way to find out and announces he's going to attack again. A determined Alligator Sword Dragon flies straight at Ryota, because I guess we're ignoring the permanent trap or something. Ryota, in fact, draws attention to this, asking if Jonouchi REMEMBERS the trap is there for good. The Tornado wall blocks his Alligator Sword Dragon and Jonouchi thinks with a fraction of vindication that there is again no monster.

Or, I guess he says it, because Ryota responds that this is just Jonouchi's assumption.

You can tell what's going to be in Jonouchi's nightmares tonight. Assuming, of course, that something worse doesn't happen later in the day.

Shit, I just jinxed it, didn't I?

Ryota looks sinister in the next panel when he mentally describes his Sea Stealth II in terms of the invisible predator in the open ocean, inspiring more nightmares with his internal chuckle. Jonouchi grits his teeth, wondering how he can fight something he can't see. At a loss, he summons Little Winguard in defense to wait. Ryota is quick to take his turn, but is still not letting on what's happening on his side of the duel. From Jonouchi's point of view, Ryota's cards fan out in front of him, none of them readable and all obscured at least in part by the rolling ocean waves. The illusion of a vast expanse of sea makes Jonouchi's heart hammer.

What kind of Jaws bullshit is this?? The "terror of the sea" kind, as Ryota shouts at Jonouchi. He asks if Jonouchi still thinks the sea isn't all that tough, spitting his own words back at him. Jonouchi, sweating and wide-eyed, might very well be having a panic attack. He's still trying to figure out where that pesky monster is hiding, at least, but he's just not able to.

Ryota takes his turn to play even more cards, all of which are completely unknown to Jonouchi. He's smugly watching Jonouchi freak out from a distance, reveling in the fear he's caused. He's got one of his monsters ready to sacrifice at this point, or rather, use as "bait", as he prefers to call sacrifices. Whatever floats his boat. I mean, you know, once he gets it and everything. Anyway, he's looking to summon the biggest monster one has ever seen. Well that kind of takes the mystery out of it.

Jonouchi growls in frustrating, playing Rocket Warrior in defense, and one card face down. Ryota calls this "battening down the hatches" sardonically, then tells Jonouchi to get ready, because he's offering two monsters as bait to bring forth the ultimate sea beast. Jonouchi is flabbergasted by the term "bait", but he's about to feel all the more lost.

Lost in terror, that is. I mean, that thing is packing some serious heat.

So, the implication is that all the above happened in five minutes, because this is the point where we return to Marik and Bakura, the former informing the latter that his five minutes are up. Marik looks strangely morose when he looks down and says that either Bakura dies or joins forces with him, asking which it's going to be. Bakura considers the man who says he holds the key to the Door of Darkness he's trying to open, while said man gives him a sidelong glare out of his periphery.

Bakura informs Marik the easiest way to hurt Yuugi is to go through his friends, and that he's just been waiting for the right moment to do that himself. Marik, of course, already knows this, and says he's already got a plan to use them, hence why he even has the Millennium Rod in the first place. Bakura continues to disseminate the most obvious information, telling Marik that the bond between Yuugi and his friends is strong, and they'll know Marik is up to something. Bakura has used his "host" as a hiding place for a while, which he suggests might be useful to Marik as well. Marik grins at the word "host", asking how he's going to use the host now. Bakura chuckles darkly.

Licking a knife? Is he going to cut out his own tongue? What kind of answer is that???

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? For the first time in a while, there isn't a lot to think about here. It's all pretty straightforward. Jonouchi is going through his usual drawn-out process in learning to adapt his strategy to the current opponent. This is all par for the course; the phase where Jonouchi realizes that whatever plan he had going into the thing isn't going to work for this particular match. The adjustment phase usually follows, so it'll be interesting to see just how he manages to figure this out. Until then, however, he's stuck freaking out, which doesn't offer much in the way of subject matter for commentary, unfortunately.

I could talk about how Ryota's offense at Jonouchi's dismissal of the sea and all the deadly surprises it holds, but that's all pretty straightforward too. Something happened to his father and it's really painful for him to hear anyone minimize that issue, even in a peripheral way like in a card game. On the other hand, everyone's deck themes in this manga reflects something serious about their personality and individual struggle, so it's not like Ryota's deck and strategy have NOTHING to do with whatever personal trauma he's dealing with.

My issue with the chapter came in that tiny part down the middle, where a setup for Jonouchi's move for combining his warrior card with that of a flying monster card was just a bit too close to the payoff to be satisfying. There wasn't time for tension to build, so the device just kind of fell flat. Also, I'm getting a little tired of Sugoroku acting as the mouthpiece for how secretly good Jonouchi is at the game, because at this point, we don't need that. We've already seen how intuitive he is when he plays, so it's not like we as an audience doubt him at this point. I feel like that's the only reason the old guy is around too, which is a little sad. That, and paying entrance fees to the aquarium.

At least we get some semblance of suspense with Bakura and Marik at the end. They're formulating a plan involving a knife, so you know SOMEONE is going to get stabbed. It's probably the audience. Right in the feels. Be prepared for that.