Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 213 An Unexpected Card!

Another one? I was already blown away by KT's unexpected payoff on the Jinzo card in the last chapter. What's next? The windy dueling and spectating conditions ironically blowing one of Kaiba's crucial cards straight into Jonouchi's hand? Wouldn't be any less believable than having a dueling platform on top of a blimp in the first place, and imagine the fallout. For the first time ever, Kaiba would be attempting to enforce some RULES in this tournament. He might even throw a tantrum. I think I could dig that.

If I didn't die laughing first.

As "Marik's" trap monsters explode into holographic smoke, Jonouchi informs him that Jinzo is in fact the reason they're all going poof. "Marik" shields his face from the imaginary debris with an arm, and identifies Jinzo as a high level monster that can destroy trap cards. Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Hopefully you would have figured that out from the context if you weren't able to just recite a Duel Monster's dictionary of cards. That aside, "Marik" seems a bit surprised that Jonouchi would have a card like Jinzo in his deck.

Jonouchi barks a laugh and, pointing, states that Jinzo is the natural enemy of "Marik's" trap deck. I should have known that Jonouchi would have to one-up Rishid's Captain Obvious-ship. "Marik" bows his head in defeat, possibly as much in capitulation to Jonouchi's skill as Mr. Duh as the good play. Honda and Mai cheer for Jonouchi, Yami standing between them with a smug smirk on his face. He's thinking that those who duel on this platform will have become stronger than at the beginning of the tournament. At least, that's what I THINK the reference to a "duel's deck" making people stronger means, because the phrasing in the translation is a tad puzzling.

Jonouchi agrees internally, holding onto the image of Roba as he thinks he would surely have lost if he didn't have Jinzo. Indeed, this and other battles have made him generally stronger. Okay, KT, I'm really excited that you managed to create a compelling setup and payoff, but at this point you're inching dangerously close to masturbating over the successful execution of it. Thankfully, Jonouchi announces that he's about to come use his turn, so it looks like the wanking is already almost over.

Aaaaaaaand Jinzo's load is blown.

The dust that usually needs a panel to settle is already cleared by the beginning of the next page, where Jonouchi refuses to forgive "Marik" for controlling him to hurt his friend Yuugi. "Marik" of course remains silent on this matter, leaving Jonouchi to continue by saying he'll beat his presumed opponent. On the sidelines, Yuugi's specter appears next to Yami in order to encourage Jonouchi, though Yami remains stoic and wordless, staring intently at the duel.

When Jonouchi says that his turn is over, "Marik" starts his by reaching for a new card. We're back to the spectator pit behind the real Marik, who is no longer grinning. He is very disappointed that Rishid's points were injured at all by Jonouchi, but Rishid mentally asks him not to worry about it. He apparently has a way to deal with Jinzo, so he's not afraid. Marik shoots him a telepathic warning that if he loses, alternative plans will have to be put in play. Notice he doesn't say "plan B", because he's at this point already on "plan J". He's constantly having to readjust his crappy plans, because he NEVER gets what he wants.

If that's not an indicator of how this tournament is going to work out for him, I don't know what is.

Marik glances over to where the Kaiba brothers stand, specifically the elder. Turning his eyes back on Rishid, he reminds his #1 underling that everyone believes the owner of the god card Ra is standing on that dueling stage right now. Marik suggests that Rishid let everyone see said card.

The two on the stage stare each other down for a panel or two, with Jonouchi smirking smugly in the knowledge that "Marik" won't be able to use trap cards as long as Jinzo is active on his side. "Marik" announces that he's about to make a move, pulling a card from his hand and slapping it down. It's a magic card, Swords of Revealing Light. Oh, cool, we haven't seen those for a while! Classic. They surround Jinzo, immobilizing it, much to Jonouchi's surprise. In fact, he looks horrified that his monster cannot attack for three whole turns. Honda clenches his teeth at the wrench thrown into Jonouchi's play when he was so close to bringing things back into balance. Yami just comments that it looks like "Marik" has replaced his lost trap strategy with magic cards instead.

"Marik" ends his turn, so Jonouchi shouts that it's his now, drawing a card with aggressive flourish. He figures that if he can't attack, he'll just summon monsters, and lays down his newest acquisition, the Legendary Fisherman. The translator admits that they totally spaced on Ryota's name on the next line, Jonouchi attributing the card to him as his image is superimposed there. To be fair, I've had to look it up again this time too, so I feel that. Anyway, Jonouchi asks Ryota to lend him strength, like he's summoning an ancient spirit, which is also fair. Ryota is so... primal.

It's "Marik's" turn once more, and he announces a dramatic draw. The drama was warranted, to Rishid's shock, because when he looks at the card, he's in disbelief over the one it is. The real Marik seems to know which one it is, and I think we can extrapolate from there. Indeed, Rishid is wondering what it's doing in HIS deck, but hey, he's supposed to be "Marik" right now, right? Why wouldn't it be?

Rishid looks over at Marik, who remains silent in the face of an unspoken question. He does manage to think the answer at Rishid, though, admitting mentally that he added it before the duel started to make their little charade more believable. Predictably, Jonouchi doesn't have much patience for this silent conversation, and tells the "tattooed freak" on the other side of the stage to play a card already. In response, Rishid puts a card face down on his Duel Disk, and since it's not automatically destroyed by Jinzo, Jonouchi deduces it has to be a magic card.

Meanwhile, the silent conversation hasn't stopped.

Is it though? Everybody THINKS their favorite card/strategy is undefeatable until they get their ass handed to them, and given your track record...

Rishid is not any more convinced than I am, remaining speechless and sweating a bit, something that Yami notices from his spectator position below. He describes "Marik" as "wired" since he drew his last card, and wonders what that's about. Yuugi appears again to admit to Yami that he's pretty worried about that ornate box in the shrine behind "Marik", which seems to have small streams of wind flowing toward it. Yami reveals that he's also been a bit wary of it too, but he seems to know a bit more about what it does. In addition to allowing the player to set two trap cards at once, it provides a place for the player to shelter one card from the attacks of their opponent. Yami supposes there has to be something in there, and bids Jonouchi to be careful.

Impatient as ever, Jonouchi wants to know if "Marik's" turn is over yet, to which "Marik" responds that he hasn't SAID so yet. I don't blame him for being sassy, because I get just as irritated by little pricks hurrying me along at the damn grocery store. I'm not done checking out yet, douchebag, and neither is Rishid.

Well, there's something in the box NOW, regardless of what it is. The real Marik is very pleased by this, praising Rishid.

Jonouchi doesn't seem to notice that anything is amiss, announcing his turn, summoning Baby Dragon, and ending his turn in quick succession. "Marik" also only uses one panel in order to start his turn, place a card face down, and end the turn. Then Jonouchi shouts that it's his turn again. This is the quickest series of actions anyone has taken in this whole manga. I approve.

Spectators and duelists alike are on edge as the game drags on, until Jonouchi blurts his excitement that the next turn marks the end of the Swords of Revealing Light's effect. He literally points out that "Marik's" side of the stage is devoid of monsters, and if an attack comes, it's all over. "Marik's" glare shows not even a shred of worry as he assures Jonouchi that there's plenty of time, because he used Swords of Revealing Light to stall for it. This is somehow a surprise to Jonouchi, despite the fact that there is hardly a time when Swords of Revealing Light acts as anything BUT a stall for time. I might argue that the one exception was a bit of a hack job anyway, but that's just my opinion.

"Marik" indicates the cards he's already set, in hologram form in front of him, and says they've been placed to protect the card in the box in addition to summoning the powers of a god of protection. Jonouchi is a bit alarmed at this term, so "Marik" just tells him to take a look as he calls for his face down cards to be revealed. The three of them flip; a Holy Chalice card, what I believe to be a Crest of Selket, and then a Shrine of the Pharaoh. According to "Marik", when you assemble the Crest and Shrine, you can summon without a sacrifice out of the Chalice, which starts to issue smoke from within as "Marik" calls out the Holy Beast Selket.

Jonouchi finally seems to slow down and realize he's headed for disaster when he starts to see a mess of claws and limbs just off the panel. He asks what it is, classifying it as another weird monster, while Rishid thinks about the card he's still holding in the box at the back of the shrine. It is exactly the card you thought it was, clever one that you are: Ra.

Meanwhile...

I thought that scorpions couldn't get much scarier, but I was wrong. SO WRONG.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Apparently that there weren't enough good visuals in this chapter to include in the recap. Usually it's just that the panels are a bit more difficult to isolate, for KT's love of diagonal borders, but I find a way to make it happen if the image is really good. In this chapter, there just wasn't much to look at, which is a tad disappointing. The last page was a good one, but for the most part, most of the panels featured shots of the characters just talking and there wasn't much new or stylized to display there.

In addition, I'm bumping back up against the speech bubble issue I've had for a while when it comes to this series, but with a new dimension. I can't really tell how much of the dialogue between Marik and Rishid is actual conversation and how much is just an isolated thought about the other. When Marik thought about how Rishid should show everyone Ra, it LOOKED like it was in the context of a telepathic talk they were having, but a few panels later, Rishid is completely thrown by drawing Ra. When it's already difficult to tell what is being thought or said by any of the characters, it's really not good news that your mind-reader/brain-washer character adds a whole new layer to the confusion. It doesn't help when the translation bleeds over the confines of the bubble so often either. Generally, this was one of the more difficult chapters to read, and I expect the next one to follow in that fashion, unfortunately.

Which is a shame, because I'm looking forward to seeing Rishid get Ra out. It's clearly not a move he's confident or even comfortable with, so he must know something we don't. Marik's lack of concern doesn't indicate a lot, considering how he failed to consult Rishid about this little add to authenticity in the first place. If Marik had to sneak the card into Rishid's deck, you can bet he knew Rishid would have put up some resistance to the proposition had it been posed. And if resistance were to be put up, it would have had to have been quite a hefty concern for Rishid to do so in the first place, given that they seem to be closer than Marik to his other minions.

Also, Rishid doesn't really seem like the type to voice minor concerns. He's a bit too quiet for that.