Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 200 The Courage to See

Here we are at the big two-double-zero! More than halfway to the end and still at it! This past arc's setup may have been forced and more than a little ridiculous, but made up for it in emotional sincerity. It's hard to imagine how KT could drive those emotions much higher, but I'm really interested to find out. Though he laid out a really scary situation that I struggled to recap and analyze, coming out the other side with my favorite character intact has given me "the courage to see" how KT can raise these stakes.

See? Did you see what I did there?

Also, cake, wine and party at my house!!

Yeah, if I were you, I'd really start doubting if I was capable of murdering Yuugi. You really seem to fuck that up at every turn, so I don't know where you get off looking so smug.

We get a reiteration of Jonouchi putting Yuugi's treasure back around his neck, and him affirming that yes, it is definitely his treasure, uh-huh. Already been established. Jonouchi silently (I presume) thanks Yuugi for sacrificing himself to save the guy who threw their precious friendship into the sea. Or let that friendship be dragged into the sea by an apparatus set up by some weirdo. Whatever. Meanwhile, Yuugi addresses Yami, cradling the Millennium Puzzle in his hands. He tells Yami that he and Jonouchi both won, and Jonouchi overcame Marik's brainwashing.

You mean Yuugi's sweetness and dedication to friends is ALSO capable of strength in its own way? YOU DON'T SAY.

As Yami watches Yuugi interact and reunite with Jonouchi and Anzu, he knows that there will come a day, a time very soon, when Yuugi will surpass him. Well, I mean, I think we ALL realized where this was going, Yami. No need to state the obvious.

In the meantime, we've returned focus to the speeding car driven by Mai, skidding sideways as she stops right in front of the dock. All save Shizuka climb out of the car, and I do mean climb, since even Mai doesn't appear to use the door she's afforded, having swung her legs over the side. I don't know if I would be doing that in a skirt that short, but hey, Mai gonna Mai. Shizuka just continues to sit in the car, numbly considering her brother.

Mai helps her by the hand out of the passenger seat, then tells her that her brother is just in front of her. After a moment of hesitation, voice too quiet to really get Jonouchi's attention anyway, she fairly screams at him from the land end of the dock. Jonouchi's eyes widen, and he slowly looks over his shoulder in disbelief for Shizuka. He sees her as she calls to him again, and he calls back in shock, running to her and shouting her name. Yuugi mutters her name himself, while Seto and Mokuba Kaiba eye the scene, along with Anzu, Mai, Ryuji, and Honda.

What? No hug? I guess he doesn't want to get all that seawater on her. That's already going to take some explanation.

Shizuka refers to Mai and the boys behind her when she says they brought her there, smiling. He says each of their names in turn, these guys who fetched his little sister. Honda winks at him and calls him a duelist who hasn't grown up yet, so they took the liberty of bringing the person who could help him with that most. Why would you put his growing on on his SISTER, dudes? Should you not have just brought along his mother, since it's generally considered the PARENT'S job to help that happen?

Mai takes it upon herself to explain to Jonouchi that Shizuka is also interested in seeing him beat the odds in his duels, wanting to be there to watch. I'm not sure if the kanji characters in the tiny bubble afforded her after this statement is left untranslated because it was forgotten, unimportant, squeezed into the previous bubble instead, or just some weird thing. Shizuka, regardless, affirms Mai's statement with a simple demure nod.

Yuugi and Anzu run up to the group from behind, Yuugi excitedly calling out Honda's name and referring to Mai as a "sister" which is half-cute and half-weird. Anzu says this explains where Honda disappeared to earlier, since he was, if you'll recall, supposed to be cheering his buds on. All of this is making Jonouchi ANYTHING but happy, though, his expression looking irritable and sour. After a long pause, he addresses Honda and his accomplices quietly at first, head hung.

... Okay somebody needs a nap. For which I don't blame him, but still.

Shoulders slouched in defeat, Jonouchi complains that they weren't supposed to let Shizuka see this ugly side of him. Yuugi gapes in pity at Jonouchi as he recounts the fact he did some pretty nasty things to him just a few minutes ago. How the fuck were Honda and company supposed to know THAT would happen? Sure, the timing isn't good, but is he failing to notice the bandage still around Shizuka's eyes? She didn't see a damn thing of it, so what's the deal here?

Well, the deal is that Jonouchi is now doubled over with the mental anguish of what happened. He says he can't forget in his heart what happened, and it has disqualified him from being a true duelist. This particular incarnation of him is ill-equipped to give Shizuka the courage she needs, because he doesn't have it to spare.

Shizuka listens to this in silent shock, but Mai is grinding her teeth beside her. She turns to Shizuka and gives her a syrupy apology before stepping up and SLAPPING THE SHIT OUT OF JONOUCHI, calling him a child. Finally, she is accurate about Jonouchi's maturity. Jonouchi mumbles an "ow" while he reels backward, and Yuugi makes a shocked noise when Jonouchi lands on his ass on the dock. Jonouchi rubs the cheek she struck, asking what the fuck she's doing. She asks him in turn if he easily loses his manhood. WOAH, this conversation took a TURN.

Jonouchi seems to agree, gritting his teeth and maintaining a long, shocked pause. Mai elaborates that he worked hard during Duelist Kingdom to help show his sister a better future, or at least not a dark one, and wonders aloud if it's THAT easy to lose that way of thinking. Ryuji is holding back Honda by his straining arms with fists windmilling, as Honda insists he also wants to hit Jonouchi for making him mad. Ryuji refuses to let go, so Honda chooses to yell at Jonouchi instead, trying to remind him how his hard work was inspired by wanting to give Shizuka courage. Honda goes on to say that Shizuka came here now to lend him HER strength in return. Jonouchi stares in astonishment, then lapses into a memory of him standing at this pier at nighttime, almost as though he's watching from a third-person perspective himself and his friends mingle next to the cruise ship that would take them to the island. He cites Shizuka as the reason they took that boat in the first place.

Yuugi stands next to him and confirms that he did indeed go to the island with those thoughts. Honda says, a bit less irritable than before, that they're not supposed to just forget the thoughts they had back then. Anzu says that Jonouchi gained his courage from them, after all. They all stand and stare at that ghost ship that took them to Duelist Kingdom, while Jonouchi ponders the phrase "a real duelist". He eventually glances behind him, addressing his sister, only to widen his eyes in shock.

... Took off a bandage that would need to have come off eventually anyway?

Shizuka lets the bandage flutter off in the breeze. While her eyes remain shut, she says that her brother has already used 100% of his strength, fighting really hard for her in the last tournament. She learned this from Mai, since Jonouchi didn't tell her in any real detail. She implies that she was too far away to have more than a passive role, but now his friends have ensured that she can be more supportive by being directly by his side.

With everyone staring, she announces that it's her turn to show her courage this time. At another mention of her name in pure astonishment, she slowly opens her eyes, squinting against the flood of bright light.

And at last, Shizuka runs to the brother she's finally found, hugging him. Jonouchi's buds look on, all smiles, milling around in the midst of the reunion. The ghost ship floats next to the dock.

The only people standing way back from this tearful scene are the Kaiba brothers. Mokuba examines the backs of everyone over his shoulder, but Kaiba inclines his head, turned completely away. When he looks back up, he addresses Yuugi, who responds with mild alarm and curiosity. Kaiba asks Yuugi to tell Yami that they've provided him an answer. He walks away, even as Yuugi says his name.

Well, at least Kaiba didn't bust into the middle of the saccharine syrup of emotions to snap at Yuugi. He's respectful enough to wait for it all to die down before he says his unrelated piece.

Don't make me take that shit back, Kaiba! I'm warning you!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I didn't really expect Jonouchi to throw a pity party here, considering how relieved everyone, including him, were at the end of the last chapter. Still, it makes some sense that he would react this way to having his sister show up in a time of supreme shame for him. He's just had a very emotionally charged afternoon, compelled to do the labor of extreme hatred for some asshole, struggling to separate his real emotions from those imposed, and almost killing his best friend and then himself in the process. Though he DID manage to get it all sorted in time, it was a close shave, and he's probably kicking himself for not getting his shit together all the sooner. I know I would be. It doesn't take the short distance between two chapters to get over that.

I thought the reference back to the symbolic nature of their location was interesting. It really tied everything together under Jonouchi's struggle. His friends insisting that he shouldn't forget the whole reason he started this path is very pointed, not only in the aspect that Shizuka is a common element, but also that the thoughts and experiences overall led him to this moment. It brings the previous duel under this umbrella as an important part of his growth, not something to be suppressed and forgotten. It was the strength he built over the last tournament and this one that helped him to overcome the horrible experience before, and with everything intact. That's not a small feat, and it was in part thanks to his value for Yuugi and their mutual leaning on one another that helped drive it home.

And Shizuka is right, she's part of the gang now, the network of support that Jonouchi relies upon to accelerate his growth. Far from an innocent that needs to be sheltered from her brother's "ugly side" as he put it, she's fully committed to accompanying him on his journey, the good and bad parts, and help get him through them. Her unraveling bandage is a commitment, not to look away, to be engaged and invested in her brother's success, like he was engaged and invested in her recovery. She's ready to be an equal participant in their relationship now, just as Yuugi was insistent upon proving he was in the previous duel as well. She's like a big symbolic representation of Jonouchi's growing strength through his connections to loved ones AND Yuugi's need to be an important part of that strength as well, all rolled into one.

Although, she and her helpers haven't been brought up to speed with what just happened before they got there, so she's still operating with some blinders on until that issue gets cleared up for her. Irony.