And boy are they looking dire. The panel following this one features possessed!Jonouchi still grinning, scoffing at Yuugi and telling him his attack was useless, despite his points being reduced to 3100. He threatens to use his next turn to use an illegal magic card and wipe out the rest of Yuugi's life points. Why he still needs to clarify that the cards he's using are illegal is beyond me. Maybe he thinks it makes him sound edgier? Breakin' the law? I don't know.
Yuugi, with his 1300 life points, stands staunch and with a determined look on his face, though the smudges beneath his eyes make his prior tears obvious. He's also still wearing his puzzle, so we can recap that dramatic moment when he refuses to let Yami take over again in his panic about Yuugi being in danger. Yuugi takes the puzzle off and gives Yami one last statement: to let him duel to the very end. Yami is clearly terrified, calling to Yuugi desperately.
Instead of dropping the puzzle in steely defiance, Yuugi cradles it in his hands and starts to explain himself. He recalls how he made a wish on the Millennium Puzzle for a friend, and received Yami's courageous spirit in his mind, and making his friends thereafter. He questions whether he would have still been a coward had Yami never come into his life, a worry that's been plaguing him for a long time. He says that this is the reason why he has to use his own power to bring Jonouchi's heart back.
Yami calls to Yuugi once more, looking shocked and horrified, but Yuugi once again requests that he just be still and watch. Yami is practically screaming at Yuugi that this duel is crucial enough that he could lose his life along with the duel, but Yuugi responds calmly that he understands that well. He will believe in Jonouchi until the very end regardless. Yami quiets down a moment, looking somewhere between crestfallen and surly. Then, when he opens his mouth again, he can only tell Yuugi that he HAS to survive.
Yeah, he sure needed advice on that, bro. Great use of your potential last words to him.
Nevertheless, Yuug agrees with a curt nod, but still clings to the Millennium Puzzle's chain. He thanks Yami, but acknowledges that if he keeps the puzzle off of him, Yami can't interrupt him by exchanging minds unexpectedly.
He looks extra constipated when he states that it's just his duel from now on. Yami must have been the laxative in this relationship. Yuugi's poop-face sure looks a whole lot more intense whenever he's out of the picture. Possessed!Jonouchi complains about how long Yuugi has been ignoring him in favor of deep thought, and suggests that he can think about it after he's died. I guess that's a variation on the "sleep when I'm dead" saying. Except it's stupid and makes no sense.
Possessed!Jonouchi declares his turn and immediately launches an attack at Yuugi with a card that apparently produces enough light to wash out Yuugi's terrified face in the next panel. It's the fireball card again, falling from the sky and engulfing Yuugi at possessed!Jonouchi's command to directly attack. Yuugi is knocked back, screaming, while his life points go down to 700. A dazed Jonouchi is listening to Marik's commands in his head once more, just more iterations of the same "kill Yuugi and let him and his puzzle drown in the ocean" bit.
Yuugi continues to tumble along the dock, making me wonder just how long the damn thing is, as Mokuba shouts his name. Kaiba chances a concerned look over his shoulder and is shocked to see that Yuugi has gotten rid of that puzzle, and of the OPINION that he has to lose now that he's not wearing it. Fuck you, Kaiba, I disagree.
Smoke streaming from him, Yuugi lays dazed on his shoulder, pretty beat up. Jonouchi stares at him listlessly.
She remembers how baby versions of herself and her brother used to walk along these streets, and tilts her head up toward the buildings around her, really wanting to see the city again. Meanwhile, Honda and Ryuji are talking. Honda tells him about his deduction derived from hearing the ship's horn; he thinks their friends are at the docks. He's concerned about the distance, though, and leans closer to Ryuji to ask if he can pay for a taxi, reminding him who paid for their trip into the city. Ryuji protests, because he paid for all of his own travel, thank you very much.
So, Honda tells them that they'll have to walk otherwise. Shizuka identifies this as a 40-minute walk, or thereabouts, and she doesn't seem happy about it, what with all the exclamation and question marks attached to the statement. Ryuji asks Honda which of them will carry Shizuka, and their eyes immediately flash in imminent competitiveness. They agree to decide by a game of rock-paper-scissors, though it's not clear whether the winner or loser is going to carry Shizuka - I guess it might depend on how much they like her.
Right as he and Ryuji shoot, Honda plays scissors, but is distracted by a laughing behind him, and doesn't see Ryuji play paper. He tries to place the familiar voice as he looks back, but is suddenly infuriated that Ryuji is showing a fist and declaring himself the winner. Honda of course sees this for the cheating it is and demands that they have an immediate rematch. They never get to start this one, though, because the voice Honda thought was so familiar before speaks again, claiming to own a very strong deck. Honda looks over to a large crowd from where the voice is coming and is in disbelief when he sees the person it's attached to.
But it looks like she's got all the puzzle cards she needs, because she's got her head bent over her Duel Disk, muttering a question about where those finals are. Presumably because she faked it until she made it, Mai looks around BEFORE Honda calls her name. She grins at him, remarking on the long time it's been, and then her eyes get really wide and excited when she asks about how Jonouchi's doing. It's kind of adorbz, but I don't think she would like the truth at the moment...
Honda says with a level of seriousness that he's across town, and their current group just got here. He nods toward Shizuka and says they're going to visit Jonouchi with her. Mai gives the girl sitting on the bench with the bandage around her eyes a somewhat critical look, but has indeed identified her as Jonouchi's sister. After all, she does recall that Jonouchi was going to use Duelist Kingdom's prize money for his sister's eye surgery, and there's no better reason for Shizuka to have her eyes bandaged.
Mai says she understands Honda's "feeling" on the matter, whatever that means, and announces she's going with them. Honda looks surprised, but not more than Ryuji, who is confused as to just who the hell this is anyway. Instead of sticking around for Honda's explanation on what we already know, we follow Mai over to where Shizuka is sitting, where she leans down and says her name gently. Shizuka recognizes her as a woman, but she doesn't question who she is beyond that. She just gives her the polite go-ahead to say her piece.
Shizuka gapes as she listens to Mai's assurance that Jonouchi is indeed fighting for her somewhere in the city. Then Mai decides she wants to shame Shizuka, stating that it's a pitiful thing that Shizuka isn't willing to open her eyes. Slipping down my likability scale pretty quick, there, Mai. Still, Shizuka seems HAPPY here, and agrees, which wouldn't be MY reaction to someone insulting me to my face, but who am I to judge?
After this confusing interaction, Mai starts to walk off, telling the boys to follow her. She leads them to a shiny dark convertible parked on the street, which amazes and shocks both Honda and Ryuji. They have to ask the obvious, if this is HER car, and she responds from behind the wheel that Battle City is just a playground to her. She's kind of slipping back into that creepster she was back at the beginning of Duelist Kingdom, isn't she? Talk about nostalgic regression...
Back at the dock, Yuugi is pushing himself to his feet, groaning, while possessed!Jonouchi looks on listlessly. Marik chuckles evilly from afar, probably at the gulf that has formed between Yuugi's and Jonouchi's life points. He admits that the Red Eyes Black Dragon is giving him some difficulty, but he's got a way to get rid of it. Yeah, good luck getting the guy who couldn't even TAKE the card DESTROY it. That'll go over well.
Yuugi finally staggers to his feet, stuttering Jonouchi's name.
Possessed!Jonouchi says that his turn isn't over yet, clearly not prepared to listen to anything. He slaps Rocket Warrior onto his Duel Disk and launches into a long explanation about the special ability of this monster - turning into a rocket to attack an opponent. You'd think that would be all that needs to be said, but there's more, apparently. In its rocket form, Rocket Warrior can attack monsters much stronger than itself and not be destroyed, inflicting damage of its own.
Yuugi is still limping over to Jonouchi, who stands with his shoulders slumped. When the panel finally features his face, he's bug-eyed with teeth grinding, one of his hands clawing at the air in front of his chest. The pain he's feeling overwhelms every other thought, and he clutches his forehead. He wonders what the hell this agony is. Yuugi inches closer, speechless, still half-conscious.
He stutters Jonouchi's name again, and Jonouchi answers with a doubled-over groan. He looks absolutely TERRIFIED by Yuugi's continued approach, because his eyes are practically popping. Maybe it's the puzzle he's freaking out about, because Yuugi holds it out, saying he doesn't want it to sink with him into the harbor.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It was really hard to get through this chapter for a myriad of reasons. I'm currently trying to establish a writing habit for my original work, which is exhausting me in a way I wasn't prepared for. Because it's really difficult for me at this point to go from my story to writing about the stories of others, I kind of put off trying to finish this post. I also came off a rare four-day weekend with my husband, and he makes it difficult to concentrate on anything other than him.
Mostly, though, I feel like I failed at explaining something in the last chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh I covered. I didn't articulate Yuugi's feelings very well, and I wasn't sure I would be able to here, either. But part of my own articulation of a concept the chapter covers partly depends on how it's articulated in the chapter as well, and I think this chapter was more explicit in how Yuugi regards this situation and his place in it. Because of this, I think I can more accurately disseminate what he's feeling as he's going through this.
Here's the thing: no matter how much Yami expresses the need for Yuugi to survive this duel, no matter how hard Jonouchi worked to get Yuugi out of that fire, Yuugi's disregard for his own life persists. It's not just that he thinks he's worth nothing or his life isn't worth living without them, he actively demonstrates that he thinks his life is worth LESS than that of the people around him. This is the ultimate reason why he says he can't bring Jonouchi's life points to zero. It's not just that he can't bring himself to beat Jonouchi, but that he doesn't believe that he's worthy of taking Jonouchi's life points at all - that's something that YAMI was supposed to do in the tournament. He's trying to preserve a loop he thinks he was never part of, and doesn't really deserve to be.
This is another reason why Yuugi hands the puzzle off to Jonouchi at the end of the chapter, even though Jonouchi wouldn't really be able to call out Yami without Yuugi. He's still got the idea stuck in his head that Yami is infinitely more important than him, not only on the grand scale, but also to all their friends. His "power" in this instance is the ability to sacrifice himself and leave the people whom he believes are TRULY important intact.
And because this chapter is so much better at getting that message across than the previous one, my heart is breaking even more than ever for Yuugi. He AGREES with Marik, who thinks he's just a vessel without the slightest importance, and Kaiba who thinks he's got no skill without that damn puzzle! It's painful to see how little regard this kid has for himself, because I happen to know from personal experience that it takes ENORMOUS effort to overcome this level of imposter syndrome. I'm only NOW, at 30 years old, starting to seriously battle my own issues with this sense of hopeless self-minimizing.
This duel isn't about trying to survive a hopeless situation where you're pitted against one of your friends. It's about dealing poorly with a hopeless situation in which you're pitted against YOURSELF. Being set up to fight a friend is just the ideal backdrop for understanding how small Yuugi views himself in comparison to those around him. His feelings of inadequacy are running his choices here, they're going to kill him, and he WANTS them to.
I think I need a moment to punch down my intense personal connection to this conflict right now. And a pint of ice cream. Shit.
I'm going to assume Mai's weird commentary is less insulting and/or creepy in the official translation.
ReplyDeleteI mean, to be fair, I'm just OLD, and the older I get, the more baby-ish the characters seem to me, so that's probably partially just me.
Delete