Considering how dickweeds on the internet have recently defined "NPC" as an actual human being whom they want to degrade as non-autonomous and superfluous to some extent, I'm kind of reveling in Yu-Gi-Oh's more charitable definition of the term. Sure, the NPCs in this literal game have much less power than the player, but they do appear to be autonomous and are able to perform actions in service to the game's resolution, to an extent. And in this case, some NPCs are actually main characters too! Pretty unique in my opinion, and a somewhat smile-worthy thought if you ever find someone calling you an "NPC" online from now on.
Hasan has NOT skipped leg day, I see.
He says that not only CAN he reveal the hiding place of the pharaoh's true name once evil git god Zorc rises from his slumber, it's his duty. So then get on with it Buffy the Evil God Slayer, Yuugi is waiting there slack-jawed to receive your wisdom on the subject of his other self's true name already, don't you know? Jonouchi is just as impatient as I am, asking where this name is supposed to be, and having to correct his impulse to call Hasan Bobasa. Hasan answers that the pharaoh's name is in the holy place where his soul sleeps. Jonouchi and Yuugi look a bit perplexed by this riddle, until Yuugi quickly works out that this must mean the pharaoh's tomb.
Jonouchi protests that Yami is still ALIVE right now, but Anzu informs him that the tombs of the pharaohs were constructed while they were still alive in ancient Egypt. Yuugi insists that the Valley of the Kings is where Yami's tomb has to be, failing to add that it's probz one of many at this point. How are they going to distinguish the right one from all the others? No answer to that question, because Hasan tells them they have little time - he says to the four that they're the only ones who can enter that holy place, and that they MUST find that name. Yuugi confidently asserts that they've got this task in the bag, and Hasan crosses his wrists over his chest in a sign of solidarity, declaring he's leaving it to them.
Then he just takes off into the sky at top speed. Like a fucking jet. Jonouchi is alarmed by this, gaping at the sky in amazement as he wonders out loud just who this weirdo is who just flies away. Hasan provides one last entreaty to his great pharaoh before he streaks off across the sky in a matter of seconds. Seemed slightly unnecessary to pause only to utter a title, but what do I know?
Yuugi insists to his friends that they've got to get going to the Valley of the Kings too, beginning to sprint off. Anzu follows, but she says that this location is all the way on the other side of the Nile, implying it's WAY too far away for them to get to in a hurry. Yuugi is sure that there's one thing that should be true if this is a game world like he thinks.
Oh good, I was afraid flying was just another of those infuriating advantages asshole!Bakura had for no reason. Glad to see everyone can get around like that after all.
Anyhow, we're zoomed back out on the next page, with Yami and asshole!Bakura facing each other across the table, little shards of panels depicting the characters in the diorama they control and themselves. Then, in the diorama again, Zorc is standing there with that threatening cock hovering over the whole scene, the pharaoh grinding his teeth over not being able to move. Akhenaden takes the Millennium Eye back out of the mold tablet and pops it into the hole in his new mask with a chuckle, telling pharaoh!Yami that Zorc used his power to stop time. He assures Yami that his death throes will be witnessed by the Millennium Eye pretty soon.
Oh don't worry too much about your priests, dude. They'll be the lucky ones dying unknowingly here and now if I know an evil god's malevolent plans. Better than being tortured horribly.
A short pause focused on Akhenaden's masked face later, we see that Zorc is holding a swirling vortex of plasma between his hands, called "Zorc Inferno" according to the shout bubble next to it. Dope. Zorc bids the pharaoh in his shadow to die now, and said pharaoh just kind of glares up at him in response, while Akhenaden continues to not have a readable expression under the growing fiery light overhead, because of his dumb mask.
Asshole!Bakura declares that this is game over for Yami with a laugh, with Zorc Inferno striking in but one turn, and the pharaoh being unable to move until it's over. Yami retorts that he'll stake everything on this one turn in defiance, as if he has much of a choice. Asshole!Bakura wonders what it is Yami hopes to do, and concludes derisively that he's all out of moves, so this has to be all bluster. This as Yami is recalling the Japanese term for traditional RPGs being "table talk", which means to him that players can use their words as weapons. That is one MASSIVELY dorky bit of trivia, Yami.
He refers to the mummy behind asshole!Bakura, reminding him he said it was involved in the game. At first, asshole!Bakura stares at Yami with suspicion, the mummy silent over his shoulder silent as always, but conspicuous. Then he repeats that the mummy's soul is animating the High Priest of Darkness with him as the player.
That expression of Akhenaden's doesn't count, his jaw is always hanging open like that!
Asshole!Bakura asks if Yami intends to use the card he's holding up as a shield against Zorc, and a closer look at it confirms that it is indeed the Priest Seto card. With a claim that he sees, asshole!Bakura recounts how they know the backstories of all the characters in the game as players, like the relationship between Priest Seto and Akhenaden. Yami affirms this, asshole!Bakura continuing to elaborate that Zorc attacking now will take Priest Seto's life as well as the pharaoh's, and trails at the part of the statement about what this means.
Yami says that if asshole!Bakura is a REAL role player, the High Priest of Darkness should be made to stop Zorc from attacking, given that he's Priest Seto's father. Asshole!Bakura asks Yami if he'll hand Priest Seto's card over if Zorc/Akhenaden decides not to attack, but Yami refuses with a grin, asserting that Priest Seto is part of HIS team. Asshole!Bakura glares, Akhenaden's mummy yawns as usual, Yami glowers back. Lots of "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" action going on. Scoffing, asshole!Bakura declares Yami a fool, insisting that HE'S the one controlling ZN, not Akhenaden.
A growl of frustration escapes Yami, and Zorc in the diorama says that Akhenaden, by the terms of their contract, has become a mere piece of their greatness, and they collectively have no use for his parental emotions. He announces that they're going to kill Priest Seto along with the rest of the priests and the pharaoh. Akhenaden doesn't even SAY anything, staring ahead at his wide-eyed frozen son. I assume he does, anyway. That mask makes a better door than a window.
Asshole!Bakura says Yami's turn is over and yells that ZN attacks. ZN wastes not one more second in pushing off his inferno attack, washing out the frozen figures below.
Oh? Did you come up against an unexpected obstacle? How inconvenient.
Obviously no one - you said yourself NPCs weren't controlled by players. What asshole!Bakura should REALLY be asking is how lame his dark evil god is if some rando can just fly in and block his bone-incinerating fire. Maybe he bet on the wrong horse.
Good call not to address the battery of questions from friends who haven't quite cottoned onto the fact that they are probably not going to get any satisfying answers for a minute, Yuugi. Best not to waste time speculating on the hows and whys just yet when there's work to be done.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It seemed surprisingly SHORT compared to many of the chapters before, despite technically being the same number of pages as all the others. I've been so used being gorged on BIG action, BIG revelations, BIG crazy implications that this chapter appeared a lot smaller in scope. There isn't much new regarding the characters or how they stand in the plot, the only wild card element being Hasan, and he only pops up in the beginning and the end to help out where he's needed, and in very abrupt ways. I wouldn't be surprised if he's promptly melted by Zorc's attack in the beginning of the next chapter, though, for how much his sudden appearance felt like a deus-ex machina. He just kind of seemed to be there specifically to bail Yami out of this jam, and given the massive power Zorc is supposed to have, Hasan strikes me as a blip on the radar.
I'll be happy if that's not the case, since I thought it was so super cool to learn that there was a spirit of the tablet as well, and I would like to learn a little more about that, but I'm keeping my expectations minimal in that regard. We are, after all, in the final stretch.
I'm conflicted over asshole!Bakura's move to just override Akhenaden's parental instincts. On the one hand, the way he says that HE is the one controlling Zorc gives the impression that this is just another of his bullshit excuses to piss in Yami's face and deny him the opportunity for a play. It was a very petulant statement, suggesting that though Akhenaden has been declared his partner a couple of chapters ago, asshole!Bakura still views him as much a pawn as Regular-Sized Bakura. He'll ignore the fact that one of Akhenaden's primary motivations has been his son's ascension to the throne from the beginning if it benefits him, established character backstory be damned.
BUT, I can also see how Akhenaden's parental instincts might legitimately be moot at this point. Zorc's statement that Akhenaden has become PART of their overall power and they function more as a whole with Zorc as the controlling force is not out of nowhere. There have been plenty of hints that Akhenaden is just... not HIMSELF anymore. He's been slowly descending into complete madness since thief!Bakura messed with his Millennium Eye, and it's not out of the question that this descent has removed all his distinguishing features as a father looking out for his son, replacing them with a singular mission to just get Zorc back in the here and now. Akhenaden may be the high priest in this new pecking order, but he only has as much power as Zorc is willing to give him, which isn't at all much. After all, Zorc isn't one of those monsters they boss around from the tablets. Not even the god-like ones. He's an all-consuming malevolent force.
Finally, Yuugi just kind of ignoring his friends' blown minds over flying or the game they're stuck in because he's so focused on getting Yami his name in a timely manner drives home the increased pace we're going for. There is NO time to find explanations, question WHY they're all in a game, or HOW they got there, or what its mechanics are. All that takes a back seat to getting the damn job done so horrible things don't happen.
One of my favorite aspects of Yami's character is how overly serious and dramatic he is while also spouting some of the dorkiest pieces of gaming info; he's just a massive nerd that takes himself WAY too seriously and I think it's hilarious. Honestly, Yami and Kaiba actually aren't that different from each other; they're both massive dorks but they're also somehow simultaneously kind-of cool and confident. I've never seen characters like them in any other piece of fiction and it's honestly funny.
ReplyDeleteOn an aside, Yami, when he was reborn into the modern era when Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle, sort of took on Yugi's memories and identity for himself at first, I think. Yami referencing Astragali in chapter 2 does imply that he has a knowledge base apart from Yugi; however, he refers to Yugi's grandpa as "grandpa" and he knows Japanese and modern gaming terminology that he couldn't have possibly known before he shared a body with Yugi. This all seems kind of obvious, but my overall point is that when you think about it that way, Yugi actually served as the basis of Yami's strength as much as Yami empowered Yugi, it's just that Yugi's contribution is more subtle than Yami's. Yami has the magic powers and the confidence sure, but the creativity to come up with different games, the deep gaming knowledge, as well as the knowledge of how to shut cheaters down all came from Yugi if you think about it. The difference is that Yami is much more confident and assertive so he wasn't afraid to implement that knowledge against other people. Yugi was overlooked by many characters in favor of Yami throughout the whole manga but in reality Yugi was never actually inferior to Yami as a gamer. What's more, Yugi showed that despite being physically weak and demure, he actually had courage and strength of character since chapter 1. Without physical or magic power, he stood up to Ushio and took a savage beating and didn't beg or back down or anything, in order to defend Jonouchi and Honda. Of course, you've been saying this the whole time, but Yugi has NEVER been weak, ever. He just lacked confidence, that's all.
It's absolutely hilarious, to be sure, and I really enjoy seeing it in the full knowledge that Yami would not give one flying fuck about what I have to say about it, lol! Part of the fun in ribbing these characters on this blog is that they have helped, with their cool confident attitudes, to give kids with nerdy interests a good example of what it looks like to be comfortable with their hobbies and proud of what they put into them. Amusing as it is, I think Yami's unmitigated confidence has had a net good on those young people who would otherwise have been ashamed of their love of trading cards or games or whatever.
DeleteWhen you get older, of course, you start to not care one way or another what folks think about your hobbies, but it helps if you can pick up a little of the "no shits given" attitude a little earlier, lol!
I absolutely LOVE what you've said above about Yuugi contributing that more subtle bit of creativity and knowledge of games that Yami has utilized throughout the series, and I agree wholeheartedly. The way they're so differentiated here at the end of the manga, you kind of forget how intertwined, almost inextricable from one another, they were in the beginning, and how their essences kind of dipped into/borrowed from one another. I still very much like to think that Yuugi's not the only one to contribute in to Yami's manifestation - in a lot of the earlier chapters and a couple later ones, there seem to be a couple hints suggesting that Jonouchi has given a small amount to Yami in that way too, and Honda/Anzu as well, but there's never been much confirmation on the idea. Still, I think as it is Yuugi's body, he serves as the foundation for how Yami is able to act and be in the modern world, and when you pay attention, you can say that it's a VERY solid sturdy one. Yuugi is a creative and emotionally strong kid, and if he wasn't, Yami wouldn't be HALF of what he is.
I think you're right; speaking as an autistic who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh! being one of my special interests, I've looked up to both Yugi and Yami when I was younger (as embarrassing as it may be to admit that). Even as a kid, I always really liked Yugi for his kindness and generally positive outlook, and how even though he lacked physical and magical power, he still would stand up to defend other people, even if he got the stuffing kicked out of him; that bravery made a huge impression on me and made dealing with some hard times growing up more bearable. Now as an adult I do find Yami being a drama king hilarious but growing up I found his confidence really cool and inspiring (I still do, even if I find humor in it now too). Heck, I made some friends and actually got involved with competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! for a while during my teen years because of Yami (really because of KT).
DeleteYou know, it's interesting to note that in the first chapter, Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda (as well as Sugoroku) all directly handled the Millennium Puzzle box/pieces with Jonouchi and Yugi having the most interaction with it. When Yugi proved himself a brave, kind, and selfless individual by standing up to Ushio, only then Yugi was allowed to finally complete the puzzle and only could do it by having Jonouchi recognize his actions and acknowledge him as a friend. Yugi's wish had to come true FIRST before he could solve the Millennium Puzzle, though Yugi himself is unaware of that irony. Although KT doesn't give direct confirmation, I think you're right; I think Jonouchi (and to a lesser extent Anzu and Honda) did leave something of themselves in the Millennium Puzzle and Yami. It would tie in to the whole unity power of the puzzle (plus there's that chapter with the virtual pets).
It's fun to think about how the stories we identify with shape us in various, subtle ways, and help us to more fully become ourselves in the long run. In that way, Yami and Yuugi's relationship with each other could be perceived as a metaphor for that very thing; stories and the ways they become part of us and our identities, while we help to give them meaning and purpose in our own lives.
DeleteBy no means do I think that's INTENTIONAL, but as I said before, we find meaning in art that the artist never could have dreamed of, so there's no harm in playing around with the idea, lol!
Though to be fair, I think I may be thinking too deeply about the internal logic of this children's comic which isn't exactly known for its consistency. 😅 Honestly, when Yami referenced the term "table talk," it just got me on this train of thought. KT never explicitly explains how Yami in his modernity was formed exactly though.
ReplyDeleteOh, we are absolutely reading WAY too deep into all of this, and I have no doubt about that fact, lol! But to me, that's one of the amazing things about art: that someone makes something, and the people who see/experience it draw so many emotions and interpretations and meanings from it that the original creator couldn't have even IMAGINED. It's downright magical.
DeleteYou can't just hit me with "Zorc is standing there with that threatening cock" in the middle of a sentence. You have to give me some time to prepare.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't mention Atem's smug face when he says Seto is his card. It's pretty close to the early crazy grins! That being said, I do like how Bakura is like "Hey, if you give me your literal only bargaining chip, I promise not to try to kill you.". I don't buy that for a second!
I'm assuming Akhenaden has exactly as much agency at any given moment that Zorc deems a non-issue to his own desires. If Akh wants Seto as pharaoh, that's fine. If that desire gets in the way of Zorc killing Atem, then Akh's going to factory settings mode and he can just deal with it after the fact.
Why not? Zorc didn't give ME time to prepare, lol!
DeleteI don't know HOW I missed the approximate murder grin, that's like one of my favorite things. Thanks for bringing it up, I went back to look just so I could have a cackle at the fragment of those good ol' days.
Asshole!Bakura has some serious nerve to make these suggestions, doesn't he? And I definitely agree, Zorc's own agenda can just override Akhenaden's whole being when convenient, because what IS Akhenaden but an extension of himself and a tool that needs a reset if it won't do what it's supposed to?