Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 338 The Rite of the Duel!!

Exciting as this and its stakes sound, I am DESPAIRING of sitting inside reading about "the Rite of the Duel" at the moment. It's been raining nonstop since yesterday with more rain on the way, I haven't gotten out to get the rest of the stone for my herb spiral yet, and I didn't get to ride my bike this week like I'd grown accustomed. I'm feeling a little bit of cabin fever, and despite having plenty to do indoors (including this review), I can't help but feel a bit bored and bummed by it all. Normally the rain feels cozy here, so I don't know what's changed. Perhaps I'm longing for summer and sunshine more than I've ever done before. Perhaps I just need a little vacation.

But if Yuugi can keep truckin' with his somewhat painful duties to Atem at this bummer of a time for him, then my task of reviewing them is relatively small in comparison. 

He sits back in his chair, surrounded by piles of odd cards that didn't make the cut for the deck he just finished, some of them trailing out of his back haphazardly. He starts looking through his chosen cards again, mumbling that the balance isn't quite right, considering out loud some more traps, and saying that there's too many monsters. He thinks about how before now he always built his deck with "his other self" (except for that one time where he had his dream deck in the Memory World RPG, but perhaps he doesn't count that as "building" per se) as he makes the changes he was muttering about before, eventually giving his choices more notes of approval. He acknowledges that this time is different, though: this is his OWN deck, to duel the "other him" specifically. Can't let him have the advantage of seeing what he's up against beforehand, after all.

Over an image of the ship moving along the Nile, Yuugi also notes that they'll be arriving in the Valley of the Kings in just a few more hours, where the Shrine of the Underworld is, the arena for their duel against one another. At last, Yuugi decides to stop fussing over the deck and says that's it, stashing it away in the Millennium Puzzle box until the duel. Once Yuugi has closed the box and has taken it off the table, possibly to put it in his bag, Atem appears in spectral form beside him, asking if he's finished up building that deck yet. Yuugi responds to his "other him" in slight alarm, asking where he's been this whole time, saying everyone was worried about him.

Atem apologizes, claiming that he had to sleep to minimize the risk of seeing Yuugi build the deck for his duel with him. Yuugi assumes Atem must have heard the news then, to which Atem responds that he indeed was at least around to hear Marik's explanation about the Rite of the Duel, and he in turn assumes that Yuugi's accepted the responsibility of giving him his final test. Yuugi kind of hangs his head in morose silence, Atem waiting patiently for Yuugi to look up again and affirm that he'll use all his skills to duel him. Atem says he knows, so Yuugi launches into an excited declaration that it's his turn to build his own deck, urging him not to forget that he knows all the weaknesses of the current deck, his new deck has ways to beat the classic Atem strategies, and he shouldn't be underestimated. 

Atem doesn't respond. Yuugi hangs his head again and repeats that it's his turn.

Does their shared BODY ever get to rest? 

Inside, Yuugi is no less obviously unhappy about the course things have taken. He's got his spectral fists all balled up, his head inclined, his shoulder tensed up around his ears. He states in no uncertain terms that he doesn't really want to fight his "other him", as if he's talking straight to him. But he acknowledges that if he doesn't Atem won't ever be free, and will always be trapped in his heart. Heart-prisons have become something of a recurring idea, haven't they? Yuugi again looks back up with determination and insists that it's his duty to beat Atem, that he HAS to. 

Since they don't have much time, Yuugi would REALLY like to spend what they have left talking to Atem, but he's made the decision to fight as a duelist, so he resolves to keep silent. Toxic positivity switched out for a little of the toxic masculinity, I see. Although, I do agree that Yuugi should probz show Atem the same courtesy shown to himself and NOT interrupt him while he's building a new deck.

Would hate to break THAT intense concentration.

Thinking on Kaiba, Marik, and Pegasus, Atem acknowledges how he's fought many enemies on his journey, but he's convinced this Rite of the Duel will be his hardest challenge yet. He considers how willingly Yuugi took on this duty to fight to determine his fate. As he sifts through the cards from Yuugi's bag, it's clear to him that the trial isn't just his, looking at the puzzle box with Yuugi's deck sitting inside as a vessel for his hopes and dreams. He asserts to Yuugi (hypothetically, since Yuugi's removed himself from any possibility of conversation) that he also has hopes and dreams, and he'll put them ALL into his new deck. 

Over a panel of some ruins that we can assume the ship is passing at the moment, Atem thinks about how the stone slabs of 3000 years before have been reborn as cards in the modern day, and the cards he's choosing hold his soul as a duelist. A succinct summary, I like it. And the boat continues to chug along the river.

With the certainty that this duel will determine where he spends ETERNITY, staying in the modern day if he wins, and going on to the next life if he loses, there's no pressure or anything. Yuugi's image is superimposed on the puzzle box as Atem issues his challenge to his trusty partner. I would be looking a little sick, but Atem looks as composed and determined as ever. 

The ship approaches a mooring cleat at the edge of the river, and Atem sees from the window, supposing that they've arrived. He stashes the puzzle box with Yuugi's deck inside into the backpack, Presumably doing the same with his own deck, but I don't know how - there are SEVERAL stacks of cards in there otherwise, and I hope the damn thing doesn't get jostled and lost. 

The gangplank is lowered to the dock that where it lands and Atem arrives with the backpack slung up on one shoulder, and alone. He looks a bit shocked when he sees what's waiting for him. 

He was taking his sweet time in there, I guess.

Atem smiles at all of them warmly, and the ever impatient Jonouchi suggests that they all get going. Not that he's looking at all irritated about it - he seems to be rather gentle in his expression and tone right now. Atem inclines his head in agreement and they all take a walk among the rocky outcrops in the Valley of the Kings. At some point they descend a set of stairs, and once more Atem widens his eyes at the view at the bottom.

Everyone looks around in curious wonder, Jonouchi muttering about THIS being the Shrine of the Underworld. Ishizu gestures the folks standing at the head of the shrine to Atem, who approach him and kneel with the final two Millennium Items presented on a tray and dark altar cloth, telling him how they've been waiting for him. The man raising the tray makes the unnecessary comment that they have the last two items right here, and while Ishizu silently takes the tray off him, Atem turns silently to look at the tablet with all its very specifically-shaped indents. He opens up the backpack where the rest of the items are stashed. 

Ishizu instructs him to insert the items in their slots. Anzu watches Atem do so, addressing him silently in her increasing misery. The puzzle is the final item he puts in the tablet, right at the top in the chest of the pharaoh figure that the tablet is fashioned after. Atem stands back while light starts to shine out of the edges of the slots, and the Door to the Afterlife beyond shines from the eye set in the center top. Jonouchi observes this with alarm, and Ishizu explains how the Wadjet Eye will be judging the truth here, and this is how the Rite of the Duel begins. 

Atem raises his arm, Duel Disk clacking into shape, and behind him, Jonouchi points and makes an unneeded bid for them to look, Honda looking pretty stressed with his clenched jaw and sweatdrop next to him. 

That's something you don't see every day.

They're like twins, standing next to each other in a similar battle stance, though Yuugi appears just a bit more perplexed than the stoic Atem. Relatable, especially considering even the DUEL DISK has been cloned up. Jonouchi is astonished by Yuugi being split in two like a frickin' amoeba, but Honda blurts that their duel is about to start, as if THAT'S the most amazing part of this whole deal. Weird comment, dude. 

With Atem asking if his partner can surpass him, Yuugi determined not to lose to his "other him", and the onlookers running the gamut between anxiety, gaping, and stone-cold concentration, they're ready to face off. 

This is some Twilight Zone shit.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? There are a lot of emotions here, and a part of me is almost grateful that it's a little rushed, because I think KT could have gotten LOST in how many there are throughout many chapters. I certainly would have. As it stands, half to three-quarters of a chapter was a good amount of time to scratch the surface of the massive OCEAN that is these two trying to distance themselves preemptively. It's downright heartbreaking that Yuugi is struggling with sacrificing the goodbye he WANTS for the goodbye he thinks both he and Atem NEED in order to properly challenge each other. The fact that he feels his urge to communicate with Atem is incompatible with their trial is a bit of a tragedy, especially since Atem isn't exactly contradicting that perception. His wordless response to Yuugi's attempts to express excitement and encouragement came off as ice-cold, so it's not really a surprise that Yuugi came away with the conclusion that he had to try to be just as expressionless.

That's not to say I'm not sympathetic to Atem's reaction to this ordeal. It's not out of the ordinary to have an emotional deep freeze in stressful situations, where one tenses and clams up, unable to find the proper enthusiasm to match what's being expressed by others. Atem's certainty that this will be his biggest challenge speaks volumes about why he couldn't join in Yuugi's attempt at manufactured happiness. This one duel determines his future, and both outcomes could be a tad bit of a bummer, no matter how bubbly Yuugi tries to paint it.

These are just two different reactions to the same stressful stimuli, and unfortunately they clash pretty hard when they come in contact with one another. It highlights HOW different Yuugi and Atem are as people, despite how well they've worked together over the majority of the story, and the friction that can cause when they're FORCED to be opponents. It's... fucking weird. 

Not as weird as them splitting in two so they can make this whole thing physically WORK, of course. But on second thought, it's not all THAT surprising that the onlookers weren't too hung up about it. Marik, Rishid, and Ishizu have literally been preparing for this moment their entire lives, Ryoji was well acquainted with the Millennium Puzzle and primed for the weirdness before he even MET Yuugi, Sugoroku experienced his own weirdness when he first got the thing, and the main friend group has just been through a ridiculously bizarre adventure that is at least somewhat on par with watching Yuugi's body replicate itself before their very eyes. When dealing with the Millennium Items, one comes to expect every level of fuckery, I'm sure.