Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 300 Slifer vs. Diabound

My local liquor shops do not sell good champagne, which should surprise literally no one. However, if I COULD find a decent bouquet in this town, I would absolutely be popping a bottle for this milestone. KT's 300th chapter, and my 300th time taking the piss out of his comic. I know I've said it before, but I still to this day find it ridiculously ABSURD how consistently I've been keeping up with this blog, to the point that it's now in its seventh year. The sheer number of OPINIONS I've conjured out of thin air about this story is perplexing, and I still don't know what I'm going to do when it ends. I see the conclusion creeping up on me, so I'm going to have to sit down and really ponder the choices for when the time comes. 

In the meantime, I suppose I should just enjoy the last leg of the journey. 

Though THIS particular journey looks to just be getting started.

Yami's got his arm out, presumably directing Slifer, as he chases thief!Bakura, silently promising not to let him shed any more innocent blood. Thief!Bakura is MORE than happy to have Yami following him, internally urging him to follow along to his own doom. Just outside the palace, propped against the outer wall, Yuugi and friends (plus Bobasa) doze away. That is, until there are shouts from the guards yelling about thief!Bakura and how they can't let him get away. Briefly, the group awakes in drowsy confusion, Honda and Jonouchi asking what all the noise is about and vaguely registering that something is going on. Yuugi rubs the sleep from an eye while they listen to the guards panic about thief!Bakura escaping toward the city, the pharaoh himself pursuing him, disbelief at these details, etc.

The mention of the pharaoh wakes Yuugi up completely, Bakura's name a close second in the hierarchy of concerns. He jumps to his feet, alert JUST in time to see Yami galloping past in a hurry. Yuugi gapes in alarm.

I want this as a poster. It's so SICK.

Jonouchi speaks in awe regarding how clear it is that his is Yami, despite him being dressed as a king, and Honda remarks on Slipher being by his side too. Anzu just calls out in worry as Yami recedes into the distance, Slifer's LONG back-end trailing all the way back to the palace. The guards are still shouting about getting thief!Bakura, which Yuugi turns over in his mind, trying to comprehend his other self going after Bakura with Slifer. While he's busy processing, the action is getting farther away.

Thief!Bakura mentally commands his Diabound to attack that stalker with its NEW power. Diabound stretches out its arms on either side, one of them pointed at the oncoming Slifer, to shoot what look like a volley of energy balls at it. LESS than impressive, and not just because it's pretty par for the course as far as monster powers go. Slifer's lithe long form just weaves between these blasts as they smash into the surrounding architecture, splitting an obelisk in half. Destructive, but average. 

Yami is still understandably a bit distressed by this, though, looking over his shoulder to assess the damage as he grunts. Somehow, thief!Bakura is able to shout clearly back at Yami as they're still galloping along, and provides an explanation for what is so special about what Diabound is doing; it's able to steal the abilities of defeated enemies now, and this is the Magic Blast he got from the Magus of Illusion, spirit of the axed priest. Yami recalls Mahado in shock, but in the monsters are uninterrupted in their dance above, Diabound continuing to shoot blasts and Slifer ducking them.

Thief!Bakura gets a bit annoyed by how fast Slifer is, hardly a moment before Slifer shoots forward and Yami yells at him to feel the wrath of the gods.

But thief!Bakura is not so bothered by THIS, tut-tutting Yami for forgetting Diabound's OTHER power. With a crackle of electricity, Yami is looking around in shock when Diabound disappears, and exclaims that it's hidden in the ground. It's not long before he hears some groaning in the earth around him, to his continued shock. 

A massive crack splits the ground behind Yami's horse, following the galloping animal as Yami urges it forward. Thief!Bakura calls this the "fuse of death" and encourages Yami to run and see if he can outstrip it. Yami groans, an explosion of dirt and sand blooms next to him, and his horse rears, prancing to the side to avoid the monster emerging. 

Yami is having NONE of this invasion of his personal space. 

SUCK IT, Diabound!

As Diabound is propelled backward, thief!Bakura clutches his chest where the blast hit his monster, grimacing. He realizes that the Dragon of Heaven's lightening is no joke - it actually hurts! Who woulda thunk? He and Yami are still galloping through the city, by the way, and Yami is thinking he has to hunt him down. Easy hunt when the guy is right in front of you, I guess. 

Thief!Bakura is grinning again at his periphery, because he's considering the creed of the pharaoh behind him as putting first the good of the world and the people. He wants to see how many innocents Yami can save.

Plagues of Egypt, eat your heart out. 

Yami is horrified by how low Diabound is flying, knowing that it's going to hurt the people in the city, and commands Slifer to him, getting him closer. Slifer drifts directly behind Diabound, also flying down low.

I can already tell I'm going to hate this game. It's going to suck.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I was underwhelmed by the reveal that Diabound had stolen the Magus of Illusion's power, but that's probably not KT's fault. I've just seen SO MANY anime/manga with a power-absorbing weapon/character that I'm kind of desensitized by the concept and have come to expect it at this point. It's old hat by this point, but not BAD by any means. It was a little hokey that Yami can hear thief!Bakura's shouts back at them as they're galloping along, though. I was kind of rolling my eyes at that one, even though it's pretty par for the course in this comic. 

Other than these two very minor complaints, this chapter was downright SICK. The action was intense, the imagery was equally so, and this was probably one of the most insanely cool chapters in this whole manga, if not THE coolest. The way the scene where Diabound rose out of the ground almost right under Yami as he's trying to avoid the crack it's causing in the ground? It had me breathless, I was so blown away. The detail on Diabound and Slifer was incredible, demonstrating once again how much FUN KT clearly has drawing these big god-like creatures. Therefore the chapter as a whole was a major blast. 

Love it, simple as that. What a tricentennial!