Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 281 The Truth of the Artifact!!

Brace for exposition! Normally I'd sigh and prepare for things to be a little slow over the next few pages, but even if that is the case in this instance, it's information that I've been anticipating in some form for a while. This actually has me nervous - I'm wondering if any of my previous speculations and suspicions are even close to what is going to be revealed here. Just how far off base was I through this whole manga, and what curve-balls is KT going to throw in here to keep the tension going even after a couple of important facts get dropped? 

Although, I have to admit, I probably wouldn't be nearly as anxious for whatever revelations lie ahead if real life weren't also dropping important information on me in the meantime. My husband and I were pre-approved for a home loan yesterday, and now we're getting into the nitty-gritty of shopping and digging up the history of our options. There's too much there to learn, and I'm a little overwhelmed, so maybe that attitude is leaking into my feelings about this comic. 

I just hope there are no secret murders in the houses we check out that we discover too late. 

You see? This is the exact kind of revelation I want to avoid in the home-search. This is exactly why the Millennium Eye is being offered for so cheap, Yuugi, don't buy it!!!

While Yuugi's alarm bells are going off, asshole!Bakura maintains his smirk, that is until he seems to realize his is the next line. He explains to Yuugi that when he solved the Millennium Puzzle, he released the pharaoh's soul into this world, and it became his duty to to reawaken the pharaoh's memories as the chosen one. We already got this information a lot more organically throughout the previous chapter, but okay, go ahead and waste everyone's time. He also tells Yuugi that in order to accomplish his fated duty, he needs all the Millennium Items. Yuugi remains silent, giving asshole!Bakura his poop-face, forcing asshole!Bakura to continue to break this down even further unnecessarily to keep the scene moving along, something I kind of admire Yuugi for here. Asshole!Bakura keeps holding out the eye, identifying it as one of those Millennium Items he was just talking about, and reiterating that he's giving it to Yuugi to use it for its intended purpose, all because Yuugi refuses to move or speak. 

Perfect way to stick it to this piece of shit, honestly. 

Asshole!Bakura proceeds to give Yuugi his worthless fucking word that he'll hand over the Millennium Ring once he gathers the rest of the items, holding it up too with his free hand just to illustrate his point. You know, just in case Yuugi isn't hesitating on purpose and his brain is actually frying. In reality, Yuugi is just wondering how much it is asshole!Bakura knows about those damn items.

A no less impressive recall is expected from a kid who performed weird "intuition" strengthening games toward the beginning of this comic. It doesn't say anything good about mine that I remembered the "intuition" game here before the memory tablet. 

Anyway, Yuugi goes right ahead and asks asshole!Bakura if he knows about the memory tablet, and what happens if all the items are put into it. Asshole!Bakura asks for clarification if Yuugi is referring to the tablet in Kul Elna, no doubt just to flex; a lot is implied just from his knowledge of the village's name where it can be found. He tells Yuugi that the memory tablet is an artifact that connects this world and the world beyond, launching Yuugi into agape disbelief and shock again. While Yuugi play-acts the goldfish, asshole!Bakura says that placing all seven items in the slab opens the door to the afterlife. 

Yuugi repeats this final phrase in awe and asshole!Bakura asks, in slight mocking fashion, if Yuugi knows what this means. As Yuugi contemplates his Millennium Puzzle in his palm, asshole!Bakura silently gloats about how Yuugi DOESN'T know what's on the other side of that door: a shadow power the asshole is after. That's what we on this side of the screen call a BFS, or Big Fucking Surprise. The "S" can also stand for Sarcasm. 

After a moment of hesitation, Yuugi says he kind of knows - it's his duty to send the other him, or rather the pharaoh's soul sealed in the puzzle, to the afterlife. Asshole!Bakura gives him a single finger-gun, crying bingo, and smarms that this is what Yuugi gets for solving that puzzle, great power and great responsibility. All that spider-jazz. Again, he promises to help out Yuugi however he can, holding up the fist with the Millennium Eye wrapped in it. 

Oh great, throw a small heavy object at the most unathletic kid in this whole story. That's showing him solidarity. 

And it WORKS? Yuugi seems to think he's being FRIENDLY here. But this is the kid who somehow turned his bully into his best buddy, so that tracks. He also compares this mild assholeishness to how asshole!Bakura used to be after the Millennium Items and tried to kill him, which is a fair one. Perhaps I'm just too sensitive to mild assholeishness. Kinda explains how I'm slowly becoming more and more intolerant of my time at the grocery store...

Anyway, Yuugi thinks he can't trust this asshole THAT easily, and asshole!Bakura notes with a smirk that he looks pretty suspicious. Yuugi demands he explain WHY he wants to help with this task so much. After a small pause, asshole!Bakura holds up his own Millennium Ring again and looks down at it, saying he too is a soul sealed in an item 3000 years before. He admits he can't do anything without a host body, and with a twisted smile claims he wants to go to the afterlife too, once the pharaoh does. Yuugi still looks suspicious, and I don't blame him. Asshole!Bakura isn't exactly wearing the kind of expression that suggests he's yearning for the sweet release of death.

Nevertheless, asshole!Bakura wonders if that was the correct answer. He knows the seven items aren't enough all on their own to open the door; apparently there's another key he needs. Asshole!Bakura recalls Marik said that the god cards won in Battle City have the power to restore the pharaoh's memories, and this key he needs is somewhere in those memories. His plan is to let Yuugi do all the work and swoop in to steal the key. Ah, history repeating itself, I see. Asshole!Bakura better hope he doesn't end up like Sugoroku's unfortunate guides...

Yuugi holds his hand up to his chin, contemplating asshole!Bakura. There's no telling what the guy is up to, but Yuugi DOES know it's his duty to collect those Millennium Items. As he clutches the Millennium Eye in his fist, he counts the four he has now: the puzzle, the necklace from Ishizu, the Rod from Marik, and now Pegasus's eye. He recalls the three that are left are Bakura's ring, and the scales/key that belong to shady Shadi. 

Asshole!Bakura interrupts Yuugi's train of thought by asking for confirmation that he's going to the museum with his friends after school today, and says his host is looking forward to the outing. Yuugi just stares at him, holding the puzzle box close. Asshole!Bakura assures him that he'll soon find another piece of the mystery of the pharaoh's memories, in addition to his god cards, of course. He then turns and begins to walk away, promising to watch from the shadows, and that they'll meet again. 

Yuugi watches him leave, and I assume it's him transitioning us to the dawn and the schoolyard in the next few panels, claiming that with the rising sun comes their greatest adventure yet. 

Well I know THIS isn't where it happens. If there's one thing this manga has taught me over the years, it's that NOTHING happens at Domino High. Especially not learning.

Jonouchi is exuberant all the same, though, greeting Yuugi loudly at his desk. Yuugi responds with a very muted good morning in return, prompting Jonouchi to notice how tired he looks and sounds, and ask if he got any sleep. Yuugi smiles through the grogginess and vagues that there was a lot going on last night. Jonouchi at first asks what he means by that, and when he thinks he's cottoned on, he leans in and whispers a request for Yuugi to return the VHS tape he lent to him because he just got his VCR fixed. Holy shit, the PORN gets a call-back! That's hilarious!

Yuugi is genuinely confused at first, but another couple hints from Jonouchi has him blushing mad, and he begins whispering back that his grandfather found that tape. Oooh, that must have been awkward as hell. He begins to go into what Sugoroku DID when he found it (confiscated for his own use, no doubt) when Anzu comes out of nowhere to clap Yuugi on the back and wish him good morning, scaring both boys half to death. She asks what they were talking about, as if she didn't HAVE to sneak up behind both of them consciously from the door  IN THE FRONT of the classroom, and Jonouchi starts denying talking about a thing while Yuugi returns her greeting in a panic. 

There is nothing good about this morning for either of you and you both know it.

Jonouchi makes the same observation on Bakura - commenting on the lines under his eyes and how tired he looks. Don't worry, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that both he and Yuugi look like death this morning. Bakura rubs an eye and acknowledges his plight, complaining that he couldn't seem to drag himself out of bed. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to find the motivation to claw my way back to this useless institution either.

Anzu leans on Yuugi's desk, asking him if he brought the cards, to which he gives her an enthusiastic affirmative. He puts that whole damn puzzle box on on his desk. You know, that one someone stole right off the desk in his room last night? I suppose there's at least a couple of ex-delinquents keeping an eye on it now, or staring down at it in awe, rather. Between the five of them, they should be able to keep track of the damn thing. Right?

Yuugi fans the cards out for everyone to see once they're out of the box, and Honda gets the opportunity to hold them too, though he doesn't look too stoked about it. He asks critically what they can do for Yami's memories that they haven't done already, and Yuugi admits he's not quite sure himself. Jonouchi snaps that this is why they're going to the museum, and Honda asks sarcastically what's over THERE that's so important, if they've got an exhibit on trading cards now. Honda over here, bringing the hard-hitting questions like a real journalist or something. Jonouchi whines that he can't be expected to know the answers, and that's entirely fair. 

Anzu mopes, recalling what's in the museum: the tablet depicting Yami as an ancient pharaoh. She supposes she's the only one who's seen it. I mean, do those other guys you hang with strike you as the kinds who would visit a museum in their off time? Anyway, Anzu sads about the meaning of Yami really being the pharaoh's soul trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, that he has someplace to go back to like Ishizu said. She addresses Yuugi, who gives her a questioning glance, and asks if Yami would forget all of them if he gets his original memories back. She's got a mighty shine in her eyes and looks on the verge of tears. 

Everyone just kind of stands there in awkward silence for a moment, and Yuugi says Anzu's name as he gapes at her hanging her head. Then he winks at her while holding the puzzle around his neck. It flashes and glows. 

I mean, he probably won't forget those things on the video tape Sugoroku confiscated either, soooooo...

Anzu maintains that blush in the panel above when she seems somewhat taken aback that it's Yami. I don't know why, since we see YAMI more than we see the original owner of his shared body these days. Jonouchi drapes and arm over a bewildered Honda's shoulders with a huge cheesy grin, agreeing that of COURSE they won't be forgotten, they're friends forever. Anzu stutters her agreement as well, and it's super awkward that she's the LAST person to jump on board the "friends 5eva" train. You'd think she'd be the conductor. 

Yami smiles up at them while the excitement of discussing their everlasting friendship drives who I'm assuming to be Jonouchi (this panel is a shot of the ceiling with speech bubbles) to proclaim they should get to that museum already. Who I'm assuming to be Honda reminds this blockhead that the school day has only just begun and it's not even first period yet, as if THAT matters in this comic. Someone else tells Jonouchi to cool it, and another says they'll go AFTER school. 

Lucky for us, we get to skip straight to the part where the kids are filing out of the building at the end of the day. Can't imagine what it would have been like sitting there reading about them not learning and playing card games all day. Wait... 

The kiddos all stand dramatically in front of Domino Museum, and a deadly serious Jonouchi says that it's about time they came here. To be fair, class in Domino High likely WAS a big waste of time for them. But you know. Don't want to end up in truancy court. Yami thinks about how the secret of his memories are here, before they all spot a turbaned head up the steps of the museum before them. The mouth below the turban, crowned with a mustache and beard, greets whom he correctly presumes is Yuugi/Yami. His distinctive hair gave him away once again. This stranger on the steps says he's been awaiting Yami's arrival. 

Jonouchi bristles unnecessarily and comically, demanding to know who the heck this guy is. The big round-faced man introduces himself as Bobasa, looking entirely nonthreatening. 

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK DID SHADI DO TO YOU???? I swear, Shadi's list of inhumane crimes grows every time he's mentioned! It's wild!!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I had something of a hard time getting through this one, partly because there weren't a ton of interesting panels to feature in this post. It's something to be expected from a chapter that mostly consists of shot-reverse-shot dialog with a smattering of close-ups. Not a lot of ACTION in this one, which I'm okay with in general, except that I ended up recapping a conversation full of information that wasn't all that new and delivered in a super awkward way. But you also get the impression that the discussion isn't so much about the content as it is about the dynamics of suspicion and devious plotting surrounding it. Asshole!Bakura trying to get Yuugi to trust him despite how ridiculously untrustworthy he's been up until this point and Yuugi reluctantly playing along because he knows he needs this guy's cooperation to get the job done was the interesting part... but it couldn't QUITE overpower the somewhat dull, repetitive talk screening it. There was literally nothing else they could discuss in order to have the underlying dynamics at play, though, and at least we've got a couple of tiny new details to mull over: Kul Elna isn't a place I remember being mentioned before, so that's neat - at least a specific destination for a little trip is dropped here. Little things.

I feel a little conflicted on that friendship talk toward the end, too. On the one hand, Anzu has a history of moping over the eventual departure of Yami, and it makes sense that she would be doing so more now that the departure is creeping ever closer. Still, I'm not sure I buy that SHE would necessarily worried about him forgetting about them all when they're separated. It seemed more like something YAMI is mulling over and fretting over; he was the one bring it up in the last chapter when he started rambling about having new memories with his friends even when he regains the old ones, and now Anzu is a mouthpiece for the concern that the old memories might override the new ones. I don't know if KT wanted to reassure fans who might have been nervous over this particular issue that hadn't really been touched upon before, or if he just wanted to reinforce Yami's affirmations from the night before, but it seems a little discordant that Yami would be the one to express some uncertainty through outward reassurance in the last chapter, and then solid confidence that this is nothing to worry about at all in this one. 

As for Mr. Bobasa above... I find myself both horrified and amused at the same time. It's a weird, uncomfortable feeling, like some sort of fever dream. It might very well be the beginnings of one, from what I've been told. I'm aware that, during this arc, KT was hospitalized and had to plow ahead with writing the story despite his condition due to his deadline, so I'm already prepared for things to get WEIRD. If this is the beginning of that, I can't even GUESS what's going to go down later. 

Stand by for the freaky shit, apparently.