#ORICHALCOS ARC BUT TRUE LOVE WINS

[shinayashipper]

I want Yugi to be Saved by Kaiba too. It's one of my favorite tropes

[enneadau]

Review Response:

I had a review come in from Awayhere that had many questions, so I felt that maybe I needed to post it and my response here on the tumblr for others to see in case anyone else had the same questions.

Review:

My response:

Hi,

I'm glad you enjoyed the arc. The faster pace of the last few chapters was building up from pieces falling into place throughout the slower chapters and dominoing at once.

Zorc's last minute appearance was a combination of things that will be considered in the next chapter but were hinted at in the chapter with the fire. (His fear that if the Ring and the Puzzle were destroyed, parts of himself could be destroyed for example).

However, make a note. Amane can resist him where Ba-Khu-Ra cannot. This is important.

Anzu's musings about her friends have spawned from her realization that she's not around as much as she should be and Katsuya has slipped into the best friend position because he is there and he is supporting Yugi.

This is something we see in the canon too. Anzu becomes the 'love interest' but the best friend is clearly Jou. In Ennead there is no room for her as the love interest so she has to find a slot to fit into if she wants to be included better in the group. This is something she is planning on working on but changes to a person are not a fast thing and need to be worked on.

Interactions with Kaiba and Katsuya are going to be different because Duelist Kingdom was different. The yugi-gang didn't allow Mokuba to be captured again, so he was safe when Kaiba got to DK. This changed the debt owed to the group. Also rather than annihilating Katsuya on arrival on the island like canon, Kaiba had a moment where he and Katsuya understood that they were very similar and then a very close duel that only ended in Kaiba's victory because he managed to goad Jou into attacking his Blue Eyes rather than his weaker monsters. Jou could have beaten him and we've seen Kaiba respect those who have proven their strength.

Plus Katsuya is biting at Kaiba less than in canon because of that moment of understanding, where they understood that when it came to their siblings, they were basically the same. With Jou being less nasty to him, Kaiba doesn't feel the need to put him in his place. Note, when Katsuya called him 'Rich Boy' it earned the 'Mutt' retort but when Jou used his name, there was no need to be rude.

As regards to Yugi not asking for help, imagine yourself in her position. If she goes to her friends, she's risking them going after Otogi. If they do that and he does something that gets that Puzzle piece damaged, she's dooming Meisa to eternity in the Shadows. Plus she's risking the safety of the friends that are missing. She has no idea where they are at that point. Only Ryuji does as far as she's aware. She can't just go and rescue them. And if Ryuji takes the Ring from Amane, he's threatened to use it against her Grandfather. That's 4 people she has to think about besides herself.

In her head it is safer for those she cares about, for her to do things by herself. We see canonically, Yugi will try to keep things to himself to prevent others from being hurt. This was another example of that issue.

Regarding the flashbacks to the Egyptian things, it was implied that this and Egypt are not the only times this dance has been danced. Yugi has reincarnated before, but this is the first life she's managed to complete the Puzzle. It's also her last chance to defeat the demon once and for all, because the seal was tied to a part of her soul, the Ren, or True Name, when it was cast, and each time Yugi has died across history, the seal has weakened as her connection to that soul part has weakened. This time, if Yugi dies, it's all over. Zorc wins.

Zorc implied that Yugi's allies have been at her side in previous incarnations. This was confirmed by Mahad (the Dark Magician) when he called Katsuya 'Djau'. He has met Katsuya before, during previous cycles, and knows that he can trust his Pharaoh's life in Katsuya's hands.

I have many plans for the Orichalcos arc, but none of them are going to be shared yet. No spoilers. Sorry :)

[commenter2]

Story arc ideas for yugioh sequel series (Part 1)

In my posts about anime that I personally think should return, I added yugioh on it but didn’t get into that much detail about it because I have a lot to say about what should happen next in the franchise.

After watching a few episodes of yugioh VRAINS, I found it really bland. Don’t get me wrong it has some good things, and I’m sure it gets better as the series progresses but even if I did want to watch the whole series as I don’t think it be as good as previous yugioh shows.

I know that this sounds like hate but that’s because I’m a big fan of the series but after years of the series having spinoff after spinoff, the anime series has gotten kinda bland which personally makes me think/hope that after VRAINS, Konami should take a break from doing spinoff series starring new characters and instead do some sort of sequel series to there previous shows, which now seems like a good time to do since not only is nostalgia a big thing now and that other anime series are doing it, but it be a cool way to expand on the yugioh universe without using a spinoff.

That’s why I made a fun 2 part list of ideas for potential story arcs that could be made for sequel series that take place in the various yugioh series (not counting VRAINS since its still new) along with other ideas.

This part contains miscellaneous ideas and ideas for the original yugioh series.

Here are the misc. ideas I have that could work for any (or all) of the show’s sequel series and future yugioh spinoffs. If you want skip this, then go to the paragraphs with the big gap between them.

Less background duelist/characters- I’ve noticed that for ever show (with a small exception for the original) there were always characters that though have the skills to duel, rarely did so and were always put into the background along with other non dueling people, where they would narrate duels and do other things until the writers put those character into a duel which would rarely happen and when they did they would usually lose to the main protagonist or an antagonist. Some big examples of this are Mai, Bastion, Leo, and Flip. 

Yes I know the show is suppose to center around the main protagonist and a few other main duelist but it’s just a waste having characters that can duel, not do so for long periods of time, as well as make them not only lose most of the time, but occasionally use cards that aren’t even going to be made into real life cards for the game.

Not only would having these characters duel more build more character development for them, pleasing fans of the anime, it’d also advertise more cards for Konami, which at the same time would have to make and release more cards for people of the game to buy/collect, which sounds like a win-win-win situation for everyone.

If not they should at least give reasons for why these people don’t duel as much, like one character’s a rookie so he watches people duel to learn how to be better or one that only duels certain people on his list or use certain cards.

Same with the non dueling characters, the writers should also try and have them do more in the show, beside be the cheer squad and narrate duels. One idea is that the non duelist do something to save the day while a main character duels a bad guy or let them have a skill/something convenient that helps the main characters quite often like a character being a good mechanic/computer expert or one who lends (or rents) his rare cards from his vast inventory to the characters that duel.

A true canon couple- Again I know the show is focused on showing duels between characters yet it surprises me that in the shows history, the series has only had a few romantic canon couples on it, and most of them are a stretch. We’ve seen characters on the show have feelings for one another and sometimes those same characters shows feelings back, so maybe, just to test it, Konami or whoever makes the anime should make a few characters on the show become a couple, and NOT near the end of the series. 

I personally see SOME benefits of having a couple on the show, one is that if its making characters that have/had a history of liking each other, it would please fans and shipper out there. Another is that couples could bring a new drama to the show like having one of the characters make a decision to either save the person they love or there other friends/the world from great evil. A couple could even bring in some funny moments in the show like them getting into fights that could result in cartoonish hilarity or them dueling out of anger. Then there’s the idea of having a canon couple (either one with main/recurring characters or a one shot appearance characters) be amazing at tag team duels (kinda like this couple in Zexal), making 2 other main characters have to work together and duel them. Speaking of which.

More tag team/non 1 vs. 1 duels- I always liked the occasional tag team duels/ other kinds of duels that would happen once in awhile cause they mix up the shows formula a bit, so it seemed like a waste that not many of these happened in the series. That’s why if any of these shows return, there should be more of these to mix things up, maybe they can replace some episodes that feature one episode length duels featuring the main protagonist ?

A villain that gets his “just deserts”- Another thing I’ve noticed that the human villains of the shows always do one of the following

1)   become a ally/friend of the protagonist after being defeated by protagonist and turn over a new leaf.

2)   Do the bidding of a much eviler force but comes around at some point.

3)   End up being possessed by an evil entity who is the big bad or was an evil force disguised as a human.

Either way no matter what, the human villains never truly pay for causing trouble for the protagonist and/or other people, sure there are some but still. That’s why I think they should change it up and have a human villain after being defeated go to jail or something that implies punishment but not death or eternal torture.

   All right with that over with, here are my ideas for potential are for the original yugioh series * insert bland spoiler alert warning here*

Making yugioh R an anime arc- Yugioh R was the name of a manga spinoff to the original yugioh manga. The story involved Yugi and the gang having to deal with Maximillion Pegasus’s protégé Yako, who wants to get his revenge on Yugi for (spoiler alter for the manga version) killing Pegasus (Pegasus dies in the manga) and does this by kidnapping Tea and after taking over Kaiba Corp, forcing Yugi and the others to save her while dealing with dueling professionals and Yako’s Wicked god cards.

I believe this has the potential of being a good arc since it involves a new threat in the original series as well as it featuring not only new characters but old ones as well, like Bandit Keith for example. Though if Konami ever does make this into an anime they will have to make a few tweaks here and there, since it involves Pegasus (and another yugioh character) being dead as well as it taking place after the Battle City Tournament. Other then that, this could work if they make this take place between the Battle City Tournament and Waking the Dragon, since Pegasus doesn’t reappear in the anime till Waking the Dragon.

Return of the Legendary Knights/Entering the duel monster spirit world- Though the concept of a duel monster spirit world was used for a filler season in the original series it was used a lot in GX and part of 5Ds. So what if there was a small arc where Yugi and the gang go to the duel monster spirit world to save it from an evil threat with the aid of the Legendary Knights. This could lead to new cards that surround the Knights and Dragons, which is good since Konami had recently made those anime only cards into real cards as well as explore/tell us more about the duel monster spirit world and how it and various other similar dimensions are connected to Earth.

Fighting an evil Greek king/queen- Speaking of the orichalcos arc, though used pretty badly, I kinda liked the idea of other ancient civilizations of Earth using duel monsters. I can see an arc being based around this idea, specifically one involving an evil Greek king (or queen as there aren’t that many female antagonist on the show) because if I recall my ancient history that civilization constantly fought against the Egyptians.

The arc could be about how during the first fights between the Egyptians and Greeks, an evil king/queen discovered the shadow games as well as duel monsters and he/she along with some of there closest allies used this power to fight against the Egyptians as well as take over other parts of the world, using their own duel monsters that would eventually inspire the creatures, heroes, and gods in there mythology, but before they could use the power of an almighty monster (maybe Typhon ?) to destroy the Egyptians once and for all they were stopped by the descendant of priest Kaiba. However similar to the Pharaoh, the king/queen sealed his/her spirit away somewhere vowing to return once all Egypt’s pharaohs are gone, which she does after the events of either the last episode of the original series or the Dark side of Dimensions movie, causing Yugi and the gang have to stop the new threat from ruling the world.

I think this would make for a good small arc cause not only would it show us more of the Yugioh world’s history but this could also result in the creation of a Greek myth themed deck archetype, cause looking back I’m surprised Konami hasn’t tried to make one yet, especially Divine cards based on some of the Greek gods.

A season about going to the Shadow Realm- Though used a lot in the original series we don’t really know that much about the Shadow Realm, besides that it’s a place of darkness and torture where souls of the losers in shadow games go to, as well as where some duel spirits come from (at least before the concept of the duel spirit world was introduced) so what if there was a arc that surrounded it ?

What if after all the recent shadow games that were happening in the original series, an ancient villain is able to make a tear between the realms and enters the mortal realm where he starts his plans to rule it like he did thousands of years ago, but when the gang try and stop him, they (minus Kaiba) get sent to the Shadow Realm, which as a result makes them duel there way out of it in order to get back in time to save the world.

It’d be kinda cool cause not only could we learn more about the Shadow Realm itself but Yugi and the gang would have to fight old enemies that were banished there like Kaiba's evil half, Yami Marik, and maybe the dark side of Aknadin to name a few.

A evil parallel Pharaoh- After Arc V revealed alternate dimensions in the yugioh franchise, what if there was a arc that used a similar idea ? In this case an evil version of the pharaoh that took over his universe’s Yugi’s body and enters our Yugi Muto’s universe where he and his minions, which are evil versions of Yugi’s friends invade, so now Yugi with the temporary return of the pharaoh must once again save the world from evil, which in this case is just as powerful as them.

The following are just other small ideas that could be use in almost any of these arc ideas.

Yugi saving the day without the Pharaoh- Though the 2 were together, the pharaoh was pretty much the one to save the world from evil, though with the help of Yugi and his friends, however what if there was an arc or two where Yugi and his friends had to save the world from a new evil WITHOUT the help of the Pharaoh.  This would be interesting cause we could see more of Yugi’s own dueling style as well as see how he is doing without the pharaoh, especially if the season takes place after the Darkside of Dimensions movie. 

A Joey and Kaiba tag team duel- This is one of the reasons why I think there should be more tag team duels. We’ve seen the 2 work together with Yugi in the past, but what if they had to work together in a duel? I can see this being a few good episodes as it would involve the 2 enemies working together. We could see the 2 learn to put aside there differences to defeat the enemy and maybe as a result end up respecting each other a bit more. I can also see there duel resulting in a new fusion monster that requires the Blue Eyes and Red Eyes in order to summon, heck maybe the enemy they fight could use a 3rd colored eyed dragon just as powerful as both as there Dragons, that be kinda cool don’t you think ?

Having Mai Valentine join the gang on an adventure at the beginning- Though Mai Valentine was a recurring character in the original series, she always joined the others late into the journey as well as never really did anything big, most of the time she was written out, like being sent to the shadow realm or appear from time to time in season 1. That’s why I think the plot of any possible sequel series should involve her joining the gang at the beginning of the adventure, as well as see her duel some more to help the gang, and win for a change. Plus this would be a cool callback to the 4th season where she became one reason was not being involved more as well as promising to see Joey again. Maybe she could replace Tea’s role in the team, at least until Tea returns, which is most likely to occur.

Seeing Pegasus get closure about his dead wife- Looking back at it now, I’m surprised that in the anime the writers never again brought up Pegasus pain about losing his wife, I mean that pain caused the events of the series to occur yet even when Pegasus returned in the anime they never mention it again, so bringing this up in a sequel series could give some character development for Pegasus. Maybe in an arc, he is persuaded by the bad guy in destroying Yugi and his friends in exchange of seeing his wife again, but after remembering what he almost did to see her again, plus having grown attach to Yugi and his friends he says no but as a result of his dead his wife (as a spirit) not only saves him from being killed by the bad guy but also gives him a gift in the form of a field of flowers she liked (or something like that), thereby closing that part of Pegasus’s life for good.

Kaiba getting a love interest- Now here me out. In the last season of the original series, we learned that in Seto’s past life, he was in love with a girl who possessed the Blue Eyes White Dragon spirit and after she died, she said he would be with him in the form of the Blue Eyes White Dragon, hence why the Kaiba we know loves the card. However my idea is that since a lot of previous characters the pharaoh knew reincarnated into the main characters, like Yugi, Seto, and grandpa what if she was reincarnated as well ! This could cause Seto to warm up as a character, hinting that he could care about others besides himself and Mokuba, thus giving him some more development, kinda like Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z though maybe not as goofy.

Part 2 will contain ideas for the rest of the yugioh shows but in the mean time did you like of these ideas ? Which of these would you like to see happen in a sequel series or spinoff ?

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

I caught your Yu-Gi-Oh reference :) I've been getting back into it recently, so it was a funny coincidence to see you mention it. Now for the obligatory question: what was your favorite duel from the anime? For me, it's got to be Yugi vs. Bakura during the Battle City finals. I love gimmicky win conditions, so Destiny Board is a really cool card to me (although it's pretty bad if you actually have a well-rounded deck with Spell/Trap removal), and also the haunted atmosphere of Dark Sanctuary.

Aha! Glad to meet someone else who enjoyed that series.

You’re right! Destiny Board is pretty damn cool. Difficult to pull off as, like you said, one Mystical Space Typhoon is all it takes to ruin that strategy’s day. Final Countdown is much more viable and doesn’t really have a counter so long as you can stall out the twenty turns...but it’s not nearly as cool! There's also the classic Exodia, but he more or less requires one to build their entire deck around the end-game of "summoning" him. Which is fair, I mean, it's an instant win if you do, and Exodia decks can be fun as well, like they're totally viable. (I say this like I've kept up at all with the metagame.)

My favorite duel is probably a toss-up between two.

The first being “Face Off.” The three episode duel between Kaiba and Yugi toward the end of Season 1. Apart from the little things, like how much I enjoy the style of the prototype duel disks, and how this duel introduced Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon...this duel does what the best ones do - it tells a story, and the stakes are emotional. Sure, the “Living Arrow” is peak Season 1 nonsense, but who cares? It was creative, and more importantly, it was symbolic of Yugi’s goal to save Solomon. Still, what really sells this duel for me is the end. That’s when things get intense. Kaiba puts it very simply. “It can’t end this way.” And he’s not going to let it. He will threaten suicide if that’s what it takes to force Yugi to concede the game. Because Kaiba is ruthless, and Mokuba matters more than anything. It’s the peak of Kaiba’s character arc. (This is unrelated, but I low-key feel like Season 2 threw away all of Kaiba’s growth, and then he remained static for the rest of the show. Which kind of sucks, because he and Joey had amazing character arcs in Season 1.)

What’s more, it also forces the conflict between Yugi and Atem, who had only just recently become aware of each other. It demonstrated how far Atem was prepared to go. (Which I’ll discuss more in my other favorite.) The emotional weight of this one just gets to me every time. Yugi’s breakdown after Atem’s betrayal destroys me. He’s lost the chance to save Solomon, and lost the ability to trust Atem. That mysterious voice in his head, who up until now, he’s depended on. Kaiba’s stony indifference as Yugi’s friends yell at him for what he’s done, because what is he supposed to say? No matter what, losing this duel was not an option for him. What I find myself respecting is how shameless and honest he is about it, too. He admits that he cannot defeat Yugi outright, that he’s lost the game. (Again, I find it hard to picture Kaiba doing this even one season later) But he still makes it clear that he will cross whatever line he needs to in order to walk away victorious. Because this is for Mokuba.

But tied with this one, is “Fate of the Pharaoh.” The first duel between Rafael and Atem in Season 4. I’ve got to confess something, another unpopular opinion - I freaking loved Season 4. It broke my heart as I got older and discovered that it was universally hated. As much as I love Yugioh Abridged, watching this particular arc got tiresome because about 50% of the jokes were just “lol, Season 4 is bad.” Like, sure, it was filler...but it was interesting! Hey, at least the Orichalcos arc actually waited it’s turn, rather than abruptly occurring in the middle of Battle City, am I right? The Orichalcos being stronger than the Puzzle was a great way to immediately establish this unknown force as a threat, and it’s only because the Orichalcos is older, so as far as I’m concerned, that checks out. In particular, I have to commend the character of Rafael. Seriously, he is one of my favorite characters in this entire franchise. A true Anti-Villain. So loyal to his monsters that he refuses to even let them enter the graveyard. And when you learn his backstory, you see why. Rafael is amazing, and putting him against Atem proves it. Other than Yugi, he is the only character to defeat Atem through sheer skill. He hands the overpowered, corruptive, soul-stealing card to Atem and he still wins, because he knows exactly how it will play out.

This duel has so many twists and turns, and seeing how far Atem falls, how much the power corrupts him...it’s chilling. It’s the little details, like how he creatively exploits The Seal’s ATK bonus to recombine Kuribabylon into that deadly demon spawn. Atem’s skill combined with the Orichalcos’ power is terrifying. I love how Joey notices that his playstyle is different, that it’s all about sacrificing, compared to Rafael’s style, going out of his way to save his monsters. Yugi’s sacrifice at the end was genuinely shocking as a kid, but it was also devastating. (Well, at least until they milked the hell out of it with flashbacks…) It changed the formula in a way that the show had never done before, it marked the point that this season transitioned into its second Act. Yugi was captured, and Atem was to blame. Like...damn. I’ve never forgotten the scenes that came later. Atem’s breakdown. “It should have been me! Yugi, come back!” (God can Dan Green act…) and then later on when the others figure it out. Tea’s realization in particular stands out. “You’re wrong! If Yugi lost, then how can he be standing right...behind me. Oh no…”