Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 240 Beckoning Attack! Pursuing Attack!

Ugh, have I accidentally stumbled onto some kind of criminal e-book? This chapter title sounds like a creepster's self-published guide to trapping and victimizing your local women and/or children. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that's exactly what it is, or going to become once other!Marik writes all his methods down for other Cenobite-wannabes. He's probably organizing the text in his head right now, with examples from this very tournament. No doubt that kind of content would be a hit on the darkweb.

I wish that were the joke it seems like.

This poor kid is just never going to understand friendship, is he? He's JUST as dense as Jonouchi here, who also looks over at Yami with alarm, which I'm sure is a comparison he wouldn't very much appreciate. But fuck him. In response to Jonouchi's expression specifically, Yami promises that he's going to make their plans to face each other come true. Though, once again, I can't really tell if this is spoken aloud or silent.

Either way, Kaiba mutters his displeasure once more while Jonouchi offers Yami a muted thanks. Yami knows that he has to reduce other!Marik and Kaiba's life points to zero in order to ensure he faces Jonouchi in his next match. He thinks at Kaiba that he can't let Jonouchi's life be destroyed. What about not facing you in a Battle City/Alcatraz duel is going to destroy Jonouchi's LIFE, Yami. Don't be so ridiculously...

Oh, oh wait, he's talking about Jonouchi's life POINTS, isn't he? Never mind, a perfectly reasonable reinforcing statement, then. Carry on.

Kaiba has a crisis of mental grammar as he insists that Yami is the only duelist he's destined to win against, their match being, say it again with feeling, his DESTINY. He plans to DRAG Yami to the dueling platform if need be. I suddenly got this vivid image of Kaiba conking Yami over the head with a classic caveman club and dragging him away from Jonouchi by his hair. It's probably what he would HAVE to do, quite honestly, because it has been demonstrated time and again that Kaiba just doesn't have the blessing of "Main Character Magic" on his side.

As they stand speechless in the wake of Yami's not-so-shocking move, Jonouchi studies him from his own perch. He thanks Yami again silently, sensing his devotion to their promise to face each other in the tournament. Jonouchi also wants to fight Yami, but... there is another. Jonouchi turns to look at other!Marik now, knowing that if he doesn't beat THIS guy, he can't save MAI'S life. He's still agonizing over what to do. Jonouchi, it's real simple - a measly promise, or the life of a friend who is also the buddy of the guy with whom you made the promise? I think Yami would understand your need to bail.

Why Yami doesn't ALREADY understand is a bit beyond me, since there could still be conflict in him trying to talk Jonouchi out of going up against the guy who is slowly turning said friend's brain to bug food. I guess KT just wanted to go the shallow route with this one.

Anyway, Jonouchi's musings are interrupted by Kaiba's scoff across from him. Kaiba giggles and says that he knew that Jonouchi would need Yami's protection here. Jonouchi fumes in disbelief as Kaiba goes on to proclaim that Jonouchi is a useless person and a weak duelist. Gee, Kaiba, you didn't seem to think so when you were all smiley over how you thought he'd become a decent duelist back in chapter 199. Yeah, that's right, I remember that shit. I don't remember much, but I remember THAT, especially when Kaiba contradicts it with a trash-talk-envy-tantrum.

Jonouchi demands that Kaiba stop talking shit, but Kaiba just continues to amp up his douchebaggery to eleven with... the most confusing sentence known to man.

... Lol wut?

Kaiba tells Jonouchi to think carefully, and that Yami can't save him. Jonouchi scoffs, glaring at Kaiba warily, becoming shocked and appalled once more in less than a second when Kaiba goes on to say that's the only way Jonouchi will make it up to the final duel platform. What's the only way? Yami's protection? A friendship duel? Fairies? Beats me, but no time to dwell on that when Kaiba has become much more comprehensible in his next panel.

He says there is ZERO chance Jonouchi will make it to the final duel, just as little to win against the others. Kaiba points out that even if they aren't taking into account Jonouchi's subpar skills here, there's still the fact that all THREE of the other duelists he's facing have god cards. It looks like Jonouchi didn't really consider that before this point, because he looks just a tad ill when he groans in response. Kaiba speculates that Yami knows this, and that's the whole reason he's itching to face Jonouchi in the next duel; he's a shoo-in for the final duel if Jonouchi is his opponent. He follows up with something about being too sympathetic toward your opponent will make them too pathetic or sad or something. I don't know, the kid has descended back into incomprehensible gibberish again.

Yami warns Kaiba he'll never be forgiven if he keeps running his mouth. Oh no, I'm sure Kaiba would just be fucking DEVASTATED if you never forgave him, Yami. Sarcasm aside, I'm pretty sure Kaiba hasn't really forgiven YOU for all the shit you've pulled in the past, so at least if you don't forgive him, you'll have taken a minuscule step in the direction of how he must deal. Yami yammers on about how Jonouchi is a real duelist and he got to this point by winning just like everybody else (and side note: getting struck by weird god-lightning NOT like everybody else), when Jonouchi tells him to shut it.

Yes, you read that right - JONOUCHI was the one to say that's enough to YAMI. What a twist. Though Yami protests, Jonouchi assures him that he has his own ideals telling him to keep going until the end and Kaiba's words won't be taken to heart. Not that nonsense like the above is difficult to forget. It was mostly just word-salad anyway.

Wait, I thought THIS was the determining battle right now, not the next one. Just how many duels are they all going to have before one actually COUNTS???

Yami has clammed up, thankfully, giving Jonouchi his silent agreement. Meanwhile, Jonouchi mentally THANKS Kaiba for making his decision a lot easier now. Kaiba giggles away over in his little rail car, and whether to himself or aloud, advises Yami all the same to stop having so much sympathy for the loser-dog. He insists (with mixed speech bubbles again) that he'll battle Yami in the deciding duel. I suppose he's changed his mind about wanting to face him one-on-one? It's wildly unclear whether Yami is looking somewhat disturbed over how fickle Kaiba's affections are or the deranged grin Kaiba is directing at him. Maybe both.

Other!Marik has had enough of the meandering trash-talk and suggests they get this duel back on track, because it's his fucking turn! He recalls his decision to target Yami for his next duel, so he's got to get rid of the other two. He puts one card face down and summons Lord Poison in attack position, some kind of worm with arms and barbs all over it. Then he warns Kaiba to prepare himself as he sends Nyudoryuga after Blood Vors. It's got fewer attack points than its target, though. Kaiba looks a little too excited about this "interesting" development. Yami just deduces that the damn monster has a special ability that makes up for the low attack. He also looks much more concerned, and he's not even the guy getting attacked.

Maybe he DOES have a little too much sympathy for dog-losers, just not the ones Kaiba thinks.

Kaiba orders his Blood Vors to kill Nyudoryuga with its superior attack strength, which it easily does with a swipe of its naginata-looking dealie, reducing Nyudoryuga to a screaming cloud of virtual smoke. To no one's surprise, other!Marik giggles and calls out the activation of the special ability Yami predicted his monster had.

Oh, I'm sorry, did I say to NO ONE'S surprise? I meant no one's except Kaiba's. He looks askance at other!Marik with a touch of worry, who tells him that when Nyudoryuga is sent to the graveyard, he can take one monster on the field with him.

Oh Kaiba, you are CONSTANTLY eating crow.

That second "but" of other!Marik's is preceding his play of a magic card from his hand, the name of which I can't read because it hasn't been translated. No matter, whatever the cards effect, other!Marik directs it toward Jonouchi, as well as an index finger. Jonouchi cringes away from the gesture, but to no avail. His life points have reduced in the interim to 3300, and his car is the first to ascend its track after all. One of the spectators below narrates his loss of points as well as the rising car, as though we couldn't see that shit happening for ourselves.

Yami calls Jonouchi's name, along with Shizuka and Honda on the floor. Jonouchi also looks up, into the long shaft still stretching quite a ways above him, and curses the fact that he's the closest to the top. When he looks back down at the others, he also notes that he's the only one without a monster out there. He has not started well.

Other!Marik is already planning to sacrifice his monster to summon a higher-level one on his next turn. And if anyone tries to attack the one he has now? Well, he's pretty sure his face down card will take care of that. He ends his turn on this mysterious note.

Yami announces his turn, drawing his turn as he notices Kaiba's lack of a monster guarding his points and decides to attack him now while he's vulnerable. He sacrifices his Big Shield to summon the winged, armored, swole Gilfar Demon. Yami warns Kaiba that Gilfar is about to head on over to him, and Kaiba, after Gilfar prepares to launch itself in his direct, says bring it on.

The face down card is Attack Drawing Armor, which Yami identifies as a trap that can change the trajectory of an attack with some trepidation. Kaiba brags that Gilfar's attack will bounce off the armor, presumably to wherever he dictates. He doesn't explicitly say this, but when he trails off dramatically about the Gilfar's attack, and Yami glares nervous and speechless in an extreme closeup, I kinda figure I'm waiting for him to reveal who he's going to blast with the fireball he caught.

Kaiba pretends to deliberate, smirking the whole time. Finally, he points and announces he's reflecting Gilfar's attack at...

Not likely. Remember that face down card other!Marik was talking about earlier? He activates it, and it's the most obvious card ever: Mirror Force. And yet, here Kaiba is, staring in absolute disbelief at the card anyone else would have to TRY to overlook.

Other!Marik starts to offer fake sympathy for all of Kaiba's nonexistent monsters, but is cut off by Yami, who offers REAL smugness and another twist that has other!Marik shocked.

Yami's just got everybody's back up in here, doesn't he? Stringing all three of his boyfriends along is probably not going to get him anywhere.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It's a little weird that the pacing here is almost exactly like the previous chapter; slow at the beginning with all the character deliberations, and then stomps on the gas at the end. I hope that's not going to be a pattern for the rest of this match, because I don't think it's very sustainable. We've probably reached a limit in how much deliberating the characters can do now that Jonouchi has at last made his decision about where he wants to end up in this duel. And in an unexpectedly mature way to boot. He's always been extremely easy to tease and provoke, due to his overwhelming need to prove himself. Jonouchi's background of constantly having to fight for respect and basic dignity has no doubt put him in the habit of getting really riled up in the midst of a good roasting. It's interesting to see him having matured enough to recognize that even if he doesn't meet Kaiba's definition of a good duelist, he has his own definition, and no amount of heckling from Kaiba can make him lose sight of his goals. My boy is growing up.

Speaking of Kaiba, THAT one seems to be regressing a bit. I joked before that he seems to be getting dumber, but that really seems to be the case. Every few seconds he's overlooking huge things that he would have noticed fifty chapters ago, and making a lot of impulsive moves like Jonouchi might have in the past, much as he likes to think of himself as "above" the level of Jonouchi. I can think of two possible reasons for this: the first is that Kaiba's eagerness is causing him to get ahead of himself. This current game doesn't affect his standing in the competition, and it's not a one-on-one with the person he's dying to face, so he's a little disengaged right now. His head is simply way in the future, where he gets to duel with Yami over their god cards. We've all been there - getting closer and closer to the destination, becoming more and more impatient with the preliminaries to it. Kaiba's been stuck in the car on a road trip for hours and now that the campsite is in sight, he's losing his shit. As Kaiba does.

The second reason is just that the plot kind of demands that Kaiba be dumb here. If he's as cautious and discerning as he should be, this four-way duel would take all the longer to get through. Kaiba's not the only one who's getting a little antsy for this thing to progress.

Not so anxious not to notice that other!Marik was referring to monsters that don't exist, though. The LACK of monsters in front of Kaiba was the whole reason Yami attacked him in the first place, after all. Unless other!Marik is referring to YAMI'S monster. Is anyone else totally confused by who might be addressed by which comment in this overly convoluted duel? Or is that just me?