It's going to be a LOOOOONG post, guys.
Ryota brags that his monster is the biggest beast in the ocean, powered even more by his Umi field magic card, while Jonouchi frets about how he's supposed to beat such a behemoth when there's clearly no way in hell. Meanwhile...
Okay, that's fair.
Anyway, asshole!Bakura describes his self-injury as a loan of his host to Marik, apparently. Marik chuckles before Bakura collapses on the ground, groaning, and likely changed back into less!asshole!Bakura. I don't know if the double-exclamation is a proper use of this fandom convention, but I feel it's a more fair title for him. I'm still mad that he wears around that Millennium Ring like he's not aware it might kill him and his friends one day. Fuck him. But, you know, on a deep, spiritual level.
And back to Jonouchi and Ryota, the former of which is cringing away from the massive beast taking up the entirety of the space between himself and Ryota now. A good shot of his face shows that he's freaking out about the whale floating above the game, making it not a regular whale at all, but a FLYING one. Are we really not paying any attention to that set of gun barrels on its back? Or is Jonouchi just not able to see them. Fair enough, he's at a bad angle.
Ryota informs Jonouchi that his deck full of landlubbers and warriors won't stand a chance against his whale dropping in from the sky. The sheer weight alone would simply flatten them, I'm sure. Jonouchi's pupils have constricted to the size of pinpricks in the midst of his sweat-drenched face as he is lost in fear, and the comic takes this opportunity to remind us of his life points: 2850. Pointing, Ryota advises Jonouchi to extract a lesson of humility and not underestimating the sea, because he HATES guys who don't take the ocean seriously. Whoops, that's a big hit to their compatibility, huh? So much for Kaiba's matching algorithm.
Jonouchi looks surprised by the fact that Ryota doesn't like people who openly mock his duel theme. Ryota says that he's experienced the dangers of the sea first hand, because he's a fisherman who carries his scars with him from his battles from the sea, just like his father and all other fishermen. True for the REAL ocean and his understanding of it, but not so much for a poor facsimile in a card game. But the increasing conflation of this game with reality is something of a trend lately. The holograms are getting to everyone's heads.
Again, Jonouchi gapes at Ryota wordlessly, and Ryota takes this opportunity to begin his tragic tale, featuring a baby Ryota and his father losing one of those sea battles he was referencing earlier.
Jonouchi frowns, still wordless, but no longer looking weirdly shocked. Ryota asks him if he gets it now, and declares he'll be taught to fear and respect the sea. Jonouchi finally responds that he already respects Ryota as a good duelist, but with a determined shout he tells Ryota that there's no way he can give up while he's still a duelist. I mean, he wasn't ASKING you to give up, but you have to keep up your streak of misunderstanding and drawing totally insane meanings from otherwise straightforward statements, don't you?
Ryota grins, daring Jonouchi to just TRY and stand up to the ocean. He announces his battle phase and commands his Fortress Whale to attack, which is difficult to discern from it just, you know, floating there. At least in a panel so small. Jonouchi is banking on his Rocket Warrior to block the whale's attack so that he can live for one more turn, but Ryota expresses doubts that they'll see THAT happen, mostly because he's got something up his sleeve.
A load of spears come out of nowhere and make a pincushion out of Rocket Warrior. Jonouchi is again struck with horror at the new attack from the hidden enemy. A smirking Ryota counts the steps in his plan; first was Fortress Whale, and the second is Sea Stealth II. Wait, Fortress Whale wasn't PART of Sea Stealth II? Even so, it seems like that Sea Stealth actually came first, because now Ryota has Fortress Whale's guns trained onto Jonouchi, telling him to brace himself. Jonouchi can only grit his teeth in the face of this massive enemy.
The crowd is cheering, amazed that the whale monster shot Jonouchi with its cannons, and certain that Jonouchi doesn't stand a chance now. Anzu urges Jonouchi not to give up, because he only has to in this one duel in order to get into the finals and face Yami. Jonouchi doesn't look so good, though; a little on the woozy side. He asks himself what it is he can do, considering that hidden enemy is still going to target any monster he plays, the one per turn he can play.
Sugoroku looks pretty grim about Jonouchi's chances if Ryota does another dual attack. The only chance he can see for a turn-around is if Jonouchi can manage to find Ryota's sniper, but even from Sugoroku's high vantage point, he can only see the waves of the virtual ocean. He wonders where this sniping monster could possibly be.
The killer whale pops back up out of the water while Jonouchi despairs over his poor chances. When Jonouchi curses in one panel, the killer whale is in such a position (and of a certain expression) to make me think IT'S the one cursing on Jonouchi's behalf, and that is HILARIOUS to me. Not as hilarious as this:
Jonouchi faces down the giant "killer whale" as Ryota asks him what the hell is taking him so long, given that it's his turn. He impatiently insists that Jonouchi hurry up and play a card. Jonouchi doesn't do anything except issue a dead-eyed stare, a look that reminds Ryota of a dead fish. He inquires if Jonouchi has given up so soon, and what happened to the eyes he had when he waltzed into the aquarium looking for a duel. Ryota has, of course, referred to the aquarium as his territory, which Jonouchi repeats in his head with some surprise.
He remembers back to Duelist Kingdom once again, where Ryota had lured the other duelists to the water's edge where he had the advantage. It makes him contemplate the notion that the whole aquarium holds the same territorial advantage for him, meaning his sniper could be anywhere. He wonders if he's looking in the wrong place, and just as the real killer whale jumps again, he has an epiphany while he stares at Ryota's Fortress Whale.
Sure now that there is only one place the sniper could be, Jonouchi declares that he's ready, to which Ryota responds with a cocky "bring it on". Jonouchi draws a card, which turns out to be Kunai With Chain. He takes stock of his one monster, trap and spell card, as well as the one card he has face down in front of him, deciding with gritted teeth that this will have to be enough. Throwing caution to the wind, he puts two more cards face down, one of which is clearly the one he just drew. Next...
With Jonouchi's 300 points as compared to Ryota's 1400, I can't really blame the guy for shouting his assumption that this is the end. Ryota plays Sea Snake in defense, then lays out his plan to defeat Jonouchi, starting with defeating the Panther Warrior with a stealth attack. After that, he promises that his Fortress Whale's "whaling" on Jonouchi will be quick and painless. A classic beating isn't exactly what I consider quick and painless, but hey, Ryota is clearly not a guy who's that great with words. I mean, "whaling" is the best kind of word-play we can expect from him, soooooo....
Sweating, Jonouchi reminds himself that he only has one chance to defeat the unknown sniper. He waits, glaring uneasily into the rolling virtual waves, anticipating the attack. Just when the killer whale jumps again, he's ready to launch his counter-strike.
That's dedication to cheating right there.
BTDubz, that's the Legendary Fisherman that is sniping from behind his whale buddy. Not Ryota's dad. Just thought it was necessary to make that distinction, because they're a tad difficult to tell apart. Ryota is absolutely dumbfounded at what is happening, so Jonouchi fills him in. He says that when Ryota played his Umi field card, that virtual water went into the killer whale tank as well, and it had to be where the sniper was hidden. So THAT'S what my spirit-kid meant by there being two killer whales. Gotcha. Ryota is furious that Jonouchi saw through his Sea Stealth strategy, and that his Legendary Fisherman is caught by the ankle with the Magic Arm.
Why am I even surprised anymore?
A smug Jonouchi asks Ryota if he's sure about his assessment, and explains that he had Kunai With Chain face down as well.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I liked the look of it. It's rare that I'll pass eight pictures of the chapter in a post, but what can I say? I like whales. I also found this chapter more difficult to describe in terms of my usual style. Yu-Gi-Oh already has a lot of REALLY busy panels, but these ones are somehow BUSIER than what I'm used to. I found myself missing details along the way, and for some of those panels I thought it would have been better to just show rather than tell.
That's not to say there was a ton going on in this chapter. Just because a frame is busy visually doesn't mean there's much substance. This was another one of those chapters that is mostly taken up by a character's emotional turmoil and the fretting about how one is going to win. It's not the worst of those by far, and in fact one of the ones that I'm not going to complain too much about, because the ratio of action to angst wasn't unbearable this time. Still, there were a LOT of shots featuring Jonouchi's face in various states of weird emotional void or just confusion.
I can't say I wasn't entertained by the little mystery put in front of me, though. The kid in the crowd noticing the other creature in the killer whale tank was a nice touch, and I love the implication that Ryota was in there training the killer whale to cover for his hologram. The way Jonouchi figured it out was kind of interesting too, calling on his memory of how Ryota worked the last time he encountered him. It shows that he was paying attention, even if it wasn't his duel, and he learned from it. He's in a good habit of learning from Yami's struggles as well, which undoubtedly helped him get as far as he has.
My only question is: would a killer whale even be able to SEE a hologram? Or was it just watching Ryota? Questions, questions...
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