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3w-writer-with-wings · 5 years ago

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Next Yu-Gi-Oh! anime - new series or a crossover?

Now that VRAINS is over, it is time for Yusaku to pass the torch to the next protagonist and start a new story from the start. Knowing Yu-Gi-Oh! Series, the next protagonist and their story will likely be a brand new one... or we might get something different. Considering all that we know from the news so far, a new spin-off could go two ways:

1) A continuation of ZEXAL, ARC V and VRAINS

2) A brand new series with a new protagonist

Now how could a continuation of the last three series even be possible? Well, it is just a speculation for now, but here is the thing – all three of them have relatively very open endings. The first series ended with Dark Side of Dimensions movie, with Atem finally be able to return to the afterlife and Yugi graduating and on the way to create his own game. GX ended with all main characters graduating and Judai finding fun in duelling again. 5Ds probably had the most conclusive ending since it nicely showed the futures of all Signers. Not to mention Bonds Beyond Time movie really nicely connected their stories together.

Compared to those three series, ZEXAL, ARC V and VRAINS had far more open endings. Yuma might’ve obtained Numeron Code and rewrote the future in the best way possible, but the adventure itself is not over yet since the series end with Yuma and his friends on the way to the new mission.

ARC V probably had the worst ending since the last arc went downhill and failed to deliver a proper ending. Still with Yuto, Yugo and Yuri now inside Yuya, this adventure could still continue as Yuya would likely try to find a way for other Yu boys to exist now that all dimensions have merged. Who knows maybe there is another Numeron code hiding somewhere that will save the day.

This brings us to the most tragic ending in the series VRAINS. There was no Numeron Code this time nor was the protagonist still hopeful in the end. Yusaku’s story has been a tragedy from the start and ended up even more tragic. Still, there was a tiny bit of hope in the end that may hint this is not over yet:

First, Akira states that VRAINS not only connects to Cyberse, but to many worlds. He doesn’t specifically state what kind of worlds, though considering how much of a role multiverses played in series so far, it could be anything. First three series mostly focused on duel monster worlds with many characters having abilities to travel there and communicating with duel monster spirits.

ZEXAL went a step further and made it more believable with a use of science fiction: Earth, Astral World and Barian World are all considered worlds at different places in universe, accessible only by alien beings like Astrals and Barians. ARC V went into details about dimensions and nicely incorporated an idea that all four dimensions used to be one and Yu-boys used to be the same person that split in four. Due to the merge at the end, the world of ARC V is considered as a single world but there were also hints of other worlds still being present. Back in Original dimension, that's exactly what Leo Akaba has been researching and he even half-confirmed it when he found out that duel monsters created by solid vision project body heat. Duel monsters were in fact alive and solid vision connected them with an actual world they came from and that's why Zarc became so unstoppable. He's been using solid vision to the point where his dragons materialized completely and in the end even En's couldn't destroy him – they simply split him in four in order to weaken him.

Now VRAINS doesn’t actually include any other worlds, but it deals with another important plot point – a creation of artificial life. Dr. Kogami used Lost Incident to create six different AIs with free will for which he believed will create an even better world. He was so obsessed with it that he didn't even consider it will go wrong and once it did, he was even ready to literally nuke network system and people in it. Ignis did create their own world, but they didn’t want to share it as it rightfully belonged to them and they would likely continue with their lives there (in case Lightning didn’t go on with his plan). And what's more – they also created life in that world – Cyberse Monsters. If Ignis and Cyberse Monsters were indeed alive is up to debate, but one thing is real for sure – Ignis acknowledged their existence as to being alive and that's why their deaths were so sad.

It is not clear if that little eyeball at the end of VRAINS was really Ai, but if it was (https://3w-writer-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/188222599160/yu-gi-oh-ending-theory-spoilers here is my theory that supports this) then Yusaku has one more mission up ahead – reunite with Ai.

And this is where the new Yu-Gi-Oh series will likely begin – with Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku about to begin a new adventure. Reunions played a major part in not only last three series but in all YuGiOh series so far: in Waking the Dragons arc Atem was separated from Yugi and had to save him from Dartz, Judai literally fused with Yubel, Yusei defeated Z-ONE with a power of all Signer dragons combined, Astral and Yuma were kept getting separated and then reunited, Yuya was reunited with his counterparts and even Yusaku and Ai nearly became fused. Bonds Beyond Time already had Yugi, Judai and Yusei together, so there is a great chance new series will connect Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku. The commercials known as Duel Hour even included a few moments where Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku appear together. I know there is one with Yusei and Yusaku as well, but just think - maybe those were the early teasers for the next Yu-Gi-Oh series!

While the first three protagonists were connected by time (Yusei's Crimson Dragon who can travel through time), I believe the other three protagonists will be connected by space. While the first three series are confirmed to be connected, the other three are left to our own interpretation. Zexal is confirmed to be connected to the first two series but not 5ds. The proof was shown in the episode where Yuma visits Duel Lodge and finds the statues of legendary monsters from first series and GX like Dark Magician, Blue Eyes White Dragon, Neos and Cyber End Dragon, but there is no sign of Signer Dragons or other significant monsters from 5Ds.

ARC V went overboard and literally based four dimensions on four previous series and even included an actual Heartland from Zexal plus several alternative versions of characters who appeared in previous series. While VRAINS doesn’t include any connections to previous series, it still includes all summoning methods except for pendulum which means pendulum really is exclusive to ARC V only.

So how could those three protagonists connect? In Bonds Beyond Time it is Yusei who travels to different times, so it will likely be Yusaku and it would make sense since VRAINS ended with him travelling to unknown part of network. Maybe he will be reunited with Ai, but to get to him he will find himself in completely different dimension that VRAINS connected him to. Let's say he ends up in ARC V dimension and while he tries to find way back, he runs into Yuya. Other Yu-boys sense something in Yusaku like his Link sense or something, and Yuya being Yuya offers to help him out. Maybe they even end up in a tag duel or something, and Yuya learns about Link summon and Yusaku learns about Pendulum summon. I would love to see Yusaku having fun duelling for once by participating in an action duel and maybe he even remembers Ai's words to not be afraid to make friends, and recognizes Yuya as his friend. Maybe they even have a moment when they talk about their past experiences and see they have more in common than they think.

From that point on their main goal would be to find Ai and maybe even a way to get Yu-boys to exist. There could also be a new threat, serious enough for Yuya and Yusaku to team up. Maybe they visit Heartland again and it is still not completely restored and Yuya tells Yusaku about the war of dimensions and how he lost his counterparts and he understands Yusaku's pain. Maybe that's when they are attacked by a new threat and that's when Yuma enters the picture. Maybe that new threat is the same one Yuma was about to face at the end of ZEXAL and Yuma merged with Astral follows it to alternative version of Heartland that is now a part of ARC V. With the trio complete, they have a new mission now: take care of the new threat, find Ai and find a way to bring other Yu- boys back.

This is more than enough material for new series and would surely love to see these three interact. With a new threat there is tons of ways this could go, either by them trying to bring back Yuya's counterparts and finding Ai or dealing with other missions that are connected to new threat.

Another hint that ZEXAL, ARC V and VRAINS will continue is the fact that we currently (as of December 12th 2019) have absolutely no other info other than the series will come out in 2020 and will celebrate 20th anniversary. When 5Ds was still ongoing, we already got shots of Yuma and Astral at the end of the episodes, same went for ARC V shots at the end of ZEXAL and even VRAINS scenes were already popping up towards the end of ARC V. It's been more than two months since VRAINS ended and we still don't have anything and we likely won't until 20th December. This might suggest that producers wanted to make this crossover a surprise and won't reveal it until the time is right.

While this new crossover could be possible considering it has been done in the past with ARC V and Bonds Beyond Time, there is always a chance that the second option will be done instead – brand new Yu-Gi-Oh! series with a new Yu-tagonist, rival, best friend and so on. It is also possible that there will be a combination of both – with a new protagonist joining the Yuma, Yuya and Yusaku on their quests. But for a stand-alone YuGiOh series what can we expect? Well, one thing is for sure – the protagonist's name will start with Yu- and will have an impossible anime hairstyle. I checked several videos, blogs, ideas and other posts about what other fans wish to see and I tried my best to gather up all info in order to structure my idea for new YuGiOh series.

What yugioh fandom wants? :

Back to magic, ancient cultures and mysterious artefacts concept (possibly another culture – we had ancient Egypt, Nazca culture and references to ancient Rome and Greece, maybe medieval Japan, China or ancient Mesopotamia or the culture of Native America)

Ability to talk with Duel Spirits

Female protagonist (or better treatment of female characters)

Two main protagonists who are siblings

Back to the tournaments

Isekai style aka. transported to the Duel Monster world

Adorkable protagonist

Well-developed antagonists (like Dark Signers and Barian Emperors) or multiple unpredictable antagonists (like in VRAINS)

Something new

Connected to the past series (like ARC V)

Missions/quests (like Number cards collecting in Zexal)

So here is my idea that hopefully incorporates the majority of before mentioned tropes.

I would love to see a female protagonist who is a mixture of Yuma and Jaden/Judai aka. loves trying out new things, is very energetic and friendly and is fascinated by a card game. Insert the protagonist who is kinda like Astral and Yusaku aka. someone who used to love the game but no longer sees it as fun (he was a duelling prodigy and participated in tournaments since a young age, but the pressure and demands for being the best broke him down mentally) though he still likes the card game itself. I imagine that he would design cards or work in a card game shop like Yugi and would be a shy and quiet type of a character, kinda like a mixture of Yugi, Yusaku and Astral. He would basically be like a male version of Luna/Ruka from 5Ds (from what I remember she was a duelling prodigy too, defeating tough opponents since she was three and would probably continue participating in duels if she hadn’t fallen in a coma and became afraid of duelling in tournaments ever since). Just like Ruka, he would maybe also have an ability to communicate with duel spirits (please bring this troupe back, I absolutely loved the connection between Judai, Johan and Ruka with their duel monster spirits!).

So here's how I imagine the first episode: the female character just lost a duel to one of her classmates and his friends are taunting her for being stupid, inexperienced and that she generally sucks at cardgames aka. "Oh, girls can't play this." She either brushes it off with a smile or goes berserk saying that she will get better and that they will be sorry when she wins in some sort of tournament. Then she looks at her cards and realizes she should change it a bit since she keeps getting lost what to use. So she goes to the very same shop where the protagonist is and stares at different cards for hours until the protagonist steps to her and says the closing hours will be soon. Maybe that's when her more vulnerable side is revealed and she admits that she indeed doesn't have much idea how to improve herself and that she will never be able to even participate in a tournament. The protagonist asks her why she wants to play the game so badly if she is not even close to average and she admits some personal connection to it (maybe a person close to her played the game with her when she was little but is now no longer there and she remembers that person whenever she plays OR she simply loves the concept of the game and wishes to learn more). That makes the protagonist remember of days when he was playing the game for pure enjoyment and he didn't care who loses or wins and decides to help her build a deck and walk her through basics. He sets the sign of the shop to CLOSED and takes his time going through different cards until it is very late and she has to go home. He gives her some cards that might fit her duelling style and gives her a few tips. She thanks him and promises to stop by the next day for more lessons. But the next day she encounters the same group of classmates who again mock her until she agrees to duel, even though she wanted to practise more. This time, using the boy's advice she really pays attention to what he taught her and is doing great until her opponent deals a great amount of damage and she is close to giving up. Then - the protagonist appears next to her, who has been watching the entire duel (he visits her school in order to give her more cards) and simply encourages her to not give out hope, take a deep breath and see what she can do. He basically becomes her duelling partner and leads her through the game. The girl so claims her first victory and the boy tells her he was only a guide and she overall beat her opponent herself (similar to how Yugi helped Joey during his first few duels), though she still needs to learn. Her opponent can't believe he just lost and to very (consideringly weak) cards (she had more powerful ones before adding the new cards) and continues to mock her, but then the boy (either removes his hood or fixes his hair) steps before her and says that every duelist has to start from zero just like he did and the guy recognizes him as a champion that's when episode ends. The preview hints that the boy was a duelling prodigy and in the next episode he teaches her some valuable lessons about duelling while she tries to encourage him to duel again. He could also show how cards are made, like how he makes a design, comes up with stats and other info and has it printed. The card-making was briefly shown in first two series, how Pegasus made Egyptian God Cards, how Chumley/Hayato went to work for Pegasus and young Jaden/Judai designed his own custom cards as a child (that were actually made and sent to space).

From this point on it could go many different ways: maybe it starts with the protagonist helping the girl train for a tournament while someone from his past blackmails him into participating as well, threatening to expose his secret, maybe the duel monster spirits start appearing whenever he makes a new card (they didn't before, meaning the girl in a way awakens his ability to talk with spirits), maybe someone wants to kidnap him for his abilities, maybe the girl has secrets as well.... there are many possibilities and I would watch the hell out of this spinoff XD I'm currently writing a similar yugioh OC insert fanfic since I really wanted to explore the concept of card making since anime didn't really do much with it since GX. We need to know where cards come from!

What do you think the next Yu-Gi-Oh! series will be about?

#yugioh theories #yugioh arc v #yugioh zexal #yugioh 7 #yugioh gx #yugioh first series #yugioh 5ds #we need more duel spirits and card game making!#vrains and arc v deserve a better ending!

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number-1-kuaidul-fanboy · 2 years ago

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My Thoughts on VRAINS Season 1

So far, I’m really liking this one. I was always cautiously optimistic about it though learning it was a spiritual successor to 5Ds (which I wasn’t all that fond of but still think had its good parts), made me a bit nervous. However, I’m glad to see that VRAINS, despite definitely being more serious right from the get-go, still has that “Yugioh feel” I’ve come to love. It allows itself to be silly, even in the Japanese version which is apparently too serious. I have one argument against that stance:

Yeah, that’s all. Ai is hilarious, whatever version you watch. He’s just a silly probably actually still evil bean who wants to be the aloof Yusaku’s friend (or possibly more) and it’s the most endearing part of Vrains so far. I like a lot of the characters, Yusaku, Aoi, Akira, Onizuka, Ghost Girl, I even kinda like Revolver as a villain, but Ai takes the cake. He just makes me laugh, especially his interactions with Yusaku, even if the extent of Yusaku’s “I don’t care about you” act is starting to get a little sad.

Yeah... I don’t know if I’d call that a problem, it’s more like something that’s probably going to be a plotpoint with how consistent it is, but I don’t like how Yusaku treats Ai. I think I’ve made that clear in both this post and previous ones. I do like Yusaku himself. He’s emotionally numb and feels like an outsider due to trauma thus he walls up away from society, which just makes him more emotionally dead and an outsider. The only people he seems to feel close to are people who went through similar experiences or share the same goals as him. I find that interesting, personally. And honestly? Yusaku has already made some progress by the end of season one, much more than Yusei did after two seasons. We see him smile and even laugh during a duel and he and Ai share friendlier conversation:

So yeah, he’s made progress, it’s just small. I hope he makes more by the end of the series, which already feels a little scarily close. Good lord Vrains, why are you so short?! D:

If I had to say problems I have so far... well, the amount of recap episodes but now I know that happened because of production troubles so I’m trying not to be too harsh on that. I’ve been fast forwarding those episodes anyways. It’s not a damning issue now that the show is fully released but it’s something I can only imagine was incredibly frustrating when the show was first coming out. As for other problems... well, I really hate that weirdo tree man and think Aoi deserved better.

Although it should be noted that when she isn’t being mind controlled by Hanoi or unfairly beat by weirdo tree guy, Aoi is pretty cool. Still, I can see her joining the list of “awesome female characters who got fucked over by the writers” club with Mai, Aki, Luna, Carly, Droite, Yuzu, Ruri, Rin, Arc V Asuka, and god knows who else I forgot.

Overall, Vrains good so far. I find the main character to be relatable and interesting when they give him time to be focused on, I hecking love Ai, I like most of the cast as a whole, and card games on hoverboards in a VR world is the exact nonsense I come to this series for. Keep up the good work :D

#yugioh #ygo #yugioh vrains #ygo vrains #vrains #yusaku fujiki #ai vrains #ignis vrains #aoi zaizen #skye zaizen #yugioh stop hating women #I'm not even a woman and this shit annoys me

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hecho-a-mano · 3 years ago

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Headcanon plz?

Thank you for the link, I was so confused without the context! You know some of these already, and I don't have many HCs so they're really gonna be mostly controversial opinions. I'll try to keep it spoiler-free.

Tatami Galaxy: The Protag does not deserve the girl. He's an ass and a mess.

Slam Dunk: The basketball team will/should probably win the finals of their next tournament, even with the 3rd years gone.

Kuroko no Basket: The opposite as above, the bb team would absolutely lose the finals, possibly won't even reach them. Rakuzan could take it, but everyone got a power-up post the final movie so idk.

The Harry Potter world would and should be more trans inclusive, screw j.k rowling. Hot take I know!! Never heard of before. (Also the House system is trash)

The Try Guys:, Zagene was the most feasible ship. It's canon that Eugene wanted to fuck Zach and that's that. Don't actually ship real people tho.

Yugioh 5D's: All of the protags should've remained as duelists post-ending, not just some. Crow doesn't have the chops to be the best in the world (we all know that Aki got shafted in screentime so that Crow's Blackwing cards would sell more). Capitalism and the state should've been destroyed like in Arc-V's version of this world, not just the class distinction.

Yugioh Arc-V: Yuya and Yuzu don't necessarily end up together. A gay ship of Crow x Sawatari is feasible.

The Final Arc was....bad. Yusho should've won against Yuri. We should've seen that final Yusho vs Yuya duel instead of freeze frame at the final episode smh.

All of the alternate dimensions main characters should be let free instead of being trapped in the protag's mind/soul. Yuri goes to jail for genocidal war crimes after that LMAOOOO.

Crow (and Yugo) CAN become the best in this universe.

Yugioh VRAINS: THEY GET THERAPY. THEY ALL. GET THERAPY. MY GOD.

Blue Maiden has a successful dueling career. Her brother quits his corporate job because clearly it was killing him. Yusaku gets a better job. AI reunites with Yusaku, Flame reunites with Soulburner. Kusanagi's brother deserved more screentime, dude was a figure more than a person.

Haikyuu: The team should've done way better on it's 2nd and 3rd year. Kageyama shouldn't have reverted to his King (being the main leader) tendencies. Kagehina and Kiyoyachi not being canon was queerbaiting.

#ask #anime

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finding-fallen-stars · 3 years ago

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YGO Questionnaire Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

So, my gf/bf @howaboutalittlehelpneos tagged me to do this again a... good long while ago, and I had wanted to wait until I'd finished my GX rewatch before trying this again. But ouch oof I accidentally also got through all of 5Ds again before getting to this lol

But the 5Ds rewatch definitely reshaped a lot of my thoughts, so... cracks knuckles. This won't be spoiler free, fair warning~

Favorite Series: ugh the formatting killed my original essay on this but okay GX and 5Ds are pretty tied in my book, now-- I love them equally, but in different ways! GX fulfills my love for subversive coming-of-age stories with a heartwarming, humorous, and also soulcrushing touch, and I love how each season brings a new story and new characters-- it's like reading installments of a novel series, and I think the formatting works wonders for it as a whole. It has some absolutely phenomenal character writing, too-- even the characters I dislike are ones I can appreciate for what they introduce to the story! And honestly, not enough people give the first two seasons of GX the credit it deserves: they're half the charm, really. How are you going to feel the full impact of the heartbreaking content in seasons 3 and 4 if you aren't properly attached to the characters?

But on 5Ds's side of things... it fulfills my love for stories with time loops, found family, human nature, and of course, love and death and how they intertwine. I love how the leading characters are just a bunch of broken kids from broken circumstances who all find a home with each other, and of course, how it highlights class disparity and how fucked up the prison/"justice" systems are. Yea, sure, maybe it underwent executive meddling and all, but I genuinely love it for what it is and I wish more people appreciated it... my only problem with 5Ds is the untwist with Z-ONE and then the ending s m h I adore it overall and I could go off for a long while on it. Overall, these are my two instinctive recommendations for anyone getting into Yugioh!

(look at these boys they're so important) Favorite Protagonist: Oh, believe me, absolutely nothing has changed here-- Yusei Fudo is and always will be my favorite protagonist, and my rewatch only solidified that.

I just... love him so much? He's seen so much hell in his life and carries so much guilt on his shoulders, but he still has room in his heart to believe in others and to believe that anyone can defy fate and find hope even at rock bottom. I love that he's initially introduced as this quiet, brooding figure when he really just turns out to be a huge softie who wears his heart on his sleeve half the time and wants to bring about change for Satellite and its people. Plus I just really love that his greatest flaw is something that would ordinarily be a positive trait-- he's Overly self-sacrificial, to the point where he's basically setting himself on fire to keep others warm, and that's not really framed as something Heroic

Just... he makes me so happy. I have two Yusei charms that I ordinarily keep on my keys (one was a gift from Zenzen) and they're a constant source of serotonin for me. He's Peak comfort character for me. Best protag in my book Favorite Rival: Same deal here-- still Manjoume!

look at him he's so important

While he spends a lot of the anime getting the good old damsel in distress treatment (getting suckered into a cult, getting knocked into a coma, becoming a zombie, getting fucking Killed, etc), I still think his character arc is really well-written overall and I only appreciated it even more when I watched GX again. I love the fact that he's got a soft heart he buries beneath the edgy facade, and that he's simultaneously really sharp and also kind of dense lol. He's just a fun character and watching how he evolves from episode one to episode one hundred eighty is such a satisfying journey.

Plus, props to him for being such a versatile duelist-- 50 wins in a row is HARD as is, let alone with a deck full of cards he just found laying around in the Arctic. Three ace monsters, three different archetypes... he's a really good duelist and I'm proud of him for it

Oh, but honestly, I don't really dislike any of the rivals-- I'm neutral towards Revolver and Reiji, but the remaining four (Kaiba, Manjoume, Jack, and Shark) compel me. yes I accidentally wound up liking Jack Atlas shhh Favorite BFF: Honestly, I really like most of the characters who fit this archetype-- Joey, Crow, Gongenzaka, Soulburner... I still lean a little bit more towards Joey, but I really appreciate all four of them. I'm gonna say Joey again, just because I find his evolution as a character the most compelling, but I appreciate the other three a lot. Soulburner has the best design though Favorite GFF: Oh absolutely still Aki, but I honestly... really love most female Yugioh characters? I'm assuming this is lead girls only, but like. I'm dumb and gay and I love Girls so this is naturally the most difficult one for me to answer lol

Aki just resonates with me the most because she's the prime example of how trauma doesn't always manifest in palatable ways-- when we first meet her, she's angry and lashes out at anyone and anything just because she wants the world to suffer in the same ways she's suffered, and then... we get to watch her grow from that, once she's free from Divine and able to heal the way she needs to heal. I know the second half of 5Ds didn't give her character the attention it deserved, but I'm still proud of her for winding up on the path she did-- seeing her channel her power and energy into wanting to heal and help others was just so good and was one of the few things I really Loved about the 5Ds ending.

oh, but like. Asuka Tenjoin and Aoi Zaizen are very close seconds for me!!! Aki just has a vice grip on my heart Favorite Villain: Okay, it's still technically Vector-- I think he's the most entertaining, well-written, and effective villain out of all of the ones we've seen so far, but... I also want to add Takuma Saiou and then all of Yliaster as honorable mentions?

As someone fond of tarot myself, I was naturally pretty intrigued by Saiou the first time I watched GX, but my attachment to him only grew the second time around where I actually got the chance to understand his character better. Plus, like... the visuals with him are fucking astounding and he's always so interesting to watch.

As for Yliaster, I just... really love how the big bad of 5Ds turned out to just essentially be a broken man desperate to save anyone and anything and three robotic reconstructions of the friends he'd lost. I still think the untwist with Z-ONE was stupid and I much prefer the idea of him and Yusei being the same person, but I'm still compelled by the other three-- well. Paradox less so, because we don't get a lot of Paradox lore, but. Aporia and Antinomy for sure.

ugh Yugioh has some damn good villains

Favorite Card: now that I actually play the TCG game...

Stardust is always going to be my favorite of all cards because it checks every box for me (my favorite YGO character's ace monster, space theme, what more could I want), but Aromaseraphy Rosemary has really become one of my aces in my best TCG deck! I'm still mastering irl plays, but I'm happy with my progress and I love my plant gang...

Favorite Episode: alright, here's where there's actually been a Lot of change, so...

Season 0: Episode 16: "Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis" -- The more I think about this one, the more I love it; there's a... lot of corruption in the medical industry, and I've seen a lot of it firsthand, so just. Seeing a corrupt doctor get what he deserved at the end was cathartic, in a way? Plus, a Jounouchi-centric episode is always a good time.

Duel Monsters: Episodes 96-97: "Darkness vs. Darkness/One Turn Kill" -- this hasn't changed, I still love seeing Marik and Bakura bitch at each other for two whole episodes LMAO

GX: Episode 152: "Activate Super-Fusion! Rainbow Neos" -- This one hasn't changed and it likely never will-- I take so much pride in seeing Judai push forward, past the fear and guilt he's carrying, all to save Johan... it's cathartic and I never get sick of watching it.

5Ds: sweats. still all of Crash Town, but also episodes 137-147-- the Ark Cradle is one of my favorite parts of 5Ds and one of my favorite YGO arcs period, and even though each duel is a fucking gut punch, I love the emotional intensity and weight in each episode... It hurts but in a mostly good way

Zexal: Episode 143: "The Aloof Duelist 'Nasch': The Destined Final Duel" -- this one hasn't changed! Still hurts, still love it, I still weep over Ryouga Shark Kamishiro on a daily basis

Arc-V: Episodes 81-82: "Our Respective Battlefields/The Ultimate Falcon VS The Black-Feathered Thunder" -- Okay, honestly, this was hard because I... genuinely. really don't like Arc-V very much at all lol (it's just not my cup of tea, but more power to those who do like it!), but I thought this duel was a lot of fun! Shun is my absolute favorite from Arc-V and I really like the friendship he struck up with Crow a lot, so here we are

VRAINS (so far): Episode 25-26: "Virus Deck Operation/Three Draws Leading to Hope" -- honestly I am so biased because I just really love Blue Angel and I loved seeing her get a well-deserved victory like this lol. I'm not done with VRAINS, so this is probably gonna change, but anytime Blue Angel or Soulburner are on screen, I'm happy

Favorite Decks to Use: Aromages will always have my heart, but I adore Cyber Angels too! I'm building my Trickstar deck, my Synchron/Stardust deck (just waiting on Dawn of Majesty...), and my Magician Girls deck, too! Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum, or Link?: Synchros my beloved... but also Ritual Years in fandom: I've been here for just a little over one year now! and I wuv it... I'm never looking back Who am I tagging: no one I'm too shy

#yugioh #ygo tag meme

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shidoukanae · 4 years ago

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YGO! Questionnaire

Tagged by @cipher-wise

Favorite series:

My favorite series based on what I watched and enjoyed would have to be Arc-V!!! It's honestly the series that got me to adore YGO when previously I'd seen YGO as, and I chilidishly quote, "uncool". Everything about Arc-V is pretty much wonderful: Yuya's presence as a "everyone MUST be happy" kind of character in a plot that discusses themes of war, revenge, and despair is absolutely refreshing (especially when Yuya's ideals of happiness are stripped from him and made a mockery of by, *coughs* one of my favorite characters in the franchise *coughs*).

I love how the four Yuu boys are a wonderful combination of "protagonists" (/anatagonists) and how they each play off of each other's weaknesses and strengths, often acting as mirrors to each other in their individual dimensions while having amazing interactions (Yugo and Yuri, anyone? Yuri and Yuya?).

I admire how the endgame plot is a perversion of Yuya's ideals: he gets what he wants, showering happiness upon all, but that "happiness" is corrupted into the notion of entertainment. While Yuya seeks to provide people with smiles and laughter, to give them hope to work together through tough times and to stay strong in the face of adversity, his "counterparts" in the endgame are really good at acting as Yuya's mirror: showing that his style of performing can also be used to appease the bloodthirst of one's own self and that happiness can be corrupted into self-deserving power.

...Hard to put that into exact words without spoiling a lot of things but, gosh, let's just say that Yuri and ____ are the perfect mirrors to Yuya in terms of what his entertainment dueling style is meant to be.

The plot over all is pretty good! I won't lie and say it stands strong all the way throughout the story but the first half is amazing and there are some pretty strong episodes in the second half (Yugo and Rin, the parasite episodes in general, Yuri Yuri YURI). I can definitely say that the humor is there, the characters are amazing (if nothing else, watch for the Yuu Boys, the Bracelet Gals, and Shun versus Sora!!) and having come into the show around episode 104, I was pleasantly surprised by the trip Arc-V brought me and how it played with its protagonist, giving him hope, kicking him down, and toying with his mind - just like the way a warzone might to any idealistic individual.

In terms of other series, I like VRAINS but only up to like episode 19 (or the end of the Data Bank arc). It had potential and I kept hoping it would get better but the plot was constantly floundering, there are plot holes abundant (sewer monsters, ugh), character development is inconsistent not to mention very shallow, VRAINS has some of the best side characters but they're kicked to the curb by a bland protagonist and a villain that could've been so much cooler but they made him a sympathetic mess.

...I have a lot of gripes with VRAINS but, if it were to ever be rewritten with clear goalposts and plot twists in mind (not to mention development on ideas like Charisma Duelists because at the end of the show I still have not a fucking clue what a Charisma Duelists is or was) I would say it has potential to become my favorite series but Arc-V clearly beats it for me in every category lmao.

Zexal’s also really good too!!! I don’t get all the hate behind it because it’s actually really interesting and engaging (also IV’s definition of fanservice is literally the only type of fanservice I will ever accept) and I think I’ve even cried a couple of times during the course of the plot which is like,,, shocking considering it’s not a show I thought I’d cry over (I cried in Arc-V too but goddamn does tiny Yuya just want to make you tear up lmao). This show is really good emotionally and it’s literally so stupid how Kaito carries a lot of the early and middle game of the show yet most of the meat of the plot doesn’t begin to unravel until the second season.

Also, if you ever want to watch a show of 100+ episodes that is so masterfully written that there is foreshadowing for stuff in like episode 130+ on EPISODE ONE, please watch this. Literally there are so many hints of what is going to happen in the future in the early episodes and you won’t really be able to tell what those hints are until you’ve finished the show but goddamn when you go back and rewatch things it does indeed feel amazing how much foreshadowing they threaded into the show without you ever knowing...(please don’t search for spoilers if you intend to watch this. I went into the show knowing some spoilers tho not all and, while I was still pleased by what I watched, I honestly can agree the show is A Lot Better without knowing ANYTHING)

Favorite Protagonist: Yuya. For sure, out of all the series, Yuya.

He’s a refreshing protagonist, especially considering he shines in a world of war and despair. He’s also someone who you empathize with right at the start and want to hope in, especially since he is the “happiness” in a word of “madness” and “sorrow”. He’s not someone out to save the world (not really, anyways), but his actions touch on the lives of others anyways, giving people in a hope in a world that is otherwise cruel and heartless. Also, it really helps that he’s able to pull you into his world of “egaos”, making you believe in him and root for him despite how cheesy his ideals may or may not sound.

Also love how, despite being the centerpiece of “happiness”, Yuya isn’t allowed to always be happy :> Not spoiling plot related things but if you like protagonists going off the rails insane at times, Yuya’s definitely a fun protagonist for that!!!

Favorite Rival:

Kaito Tenjou!!! Literally the best rival in the series that I’ve seen. Everything about him is literally perfect ngl. From the way he’s chillingly introduced, with the spine-tingling whistles and cruel, almost merciless nature, to the way he slowly becomes sympathetic while also remaining a terrifying presence whenever he appears...I love him????

Favorite BFF:

Does Shoichi count? Because like...he’s Yusaku’s closest friend and ally in the series and I generally don’t pay attention to the other BFF’s in the other series (or at least, the ones I can recall bc I know in Zexal that Yuma has a whole group of friends lmao).

But I like Shoichi!! He cares about Yusaku a lot, is pretty damn cool as a sidekick hacker, his sideplot with his brother was actually honestly endearing and I loved the mystery about him. His early-game jokes w/ Ai to tease Yusaku were also a good laugh.

Favorite GFF:

Not a girl friend forever for the main protagonist (although she like...lowkey confessed to him...though that plot really never went anywhere so I still don’t know what the fuck THAT was about) but,,, Ema Bessho,,

If y’all knew me back in my peak YGO days when VRAINS was airing,,, this gal was and STILL is my favorite girl of the YGO series. Even though she was pretty much done dirty imo I still love her (even despite considering she’s been made a damsel-in-distress at least three times, she’s only ever won one duel on-screen despite being supposedly good at dueling, ngl they could’ve done so much more with her but tbh she’s mostly just an asset to solve problems at whim and barely gets character development/does nothing but watch and spectate stuff late-game).

Even though she’s like...the unfortunate side character who’s probably meant to be more fanservice than interesting, in the first 19 episodes (and even the Revolver vs. her fight as well as the one time she meets Aoi IRL early-game) made her out to be a lot cooler and complex than she ended up being. I mean,,, a hacker gal who’s self-serving, cynical, and cold-hearted taking on the tasks of her (potentially ex) boyfriend while being really nice to his sister to the point she baffles even herself,,, we could’ve had a really unique and cool character to play around with here but instead we got...cool-ass character with potential to be something more reduced to a spectator with nothing better to do than idolize the main protagonist and have a plot with her brother that honestly detracted from her character more than it added to it imo.

Also Ema could’ve been a female Yuri but,,, nope,,, they decided she was better as a background piece instead TwT

Favorite Villain: Yuri.

Literally Yuri.

I could choose the leather jacket w/ fluff boi in a certain series because hot damn was that guy convincing AF that he wasn’t an evil psychopath (and even while knowing that he was, I still got fooled into thinking he was a good guy somehow omg) however,,, I’ve always held a love for Yuri and the way he’s been portrayed.

Despite ALWAYS being the bad guy, the show has always made this purple fucker into the most entertaining character on-screen. He even beats Yuya sometimes in terms of how entertaining he is - that’s literally how good he is,,

Also his facial expressions are amazing, he’s a VERY VALID threat to the main cast (and his creeper levels are not only off the charts but literally called out by the main female protagonist herself lmao), and he acts as the perfect foil to Yuya, battling not to entertain others but to entertain himself.

Also, he likes killing people.

No this is not a joke.

He literally likes killing people. And is pretty sadistic about it, too.

(^^^^ for those who don’t get the joke, “Fusion” is pronounced “Yuugo” which sounds similar to “Yugo” which is what,,, Yuri is making fun of,,, more context is needed of course but this is a Great Running Gag)

Favorite card:

I don’t know if it actually exists as an actual card but...that crystal dragon from the YGO movie with the glass pyramid. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon...it’s really pretty...I love it...

Favorite Episode:

I’m...too lazy to search for names of these episodes but I can give brief summaries of them,,, because I can’t choose,,,

Arc-V: Shun vs. Sora (ALL episodes). Hot damn if you have never watched YGO but want to try and see for yourself why people like it: WATCH THESE EPISODES. I can’t explain how amazing these episodes are and, while I admit jumping straight into them might have you missing out on some important context (such as who Shun is or why Sora’s battle tactics lead to revelation) it’s honestly an amazing fight regardless. The battle starts off plain enough - there’s obvious tension, it seems like a typical fight of a battle royale, etc. - my god does the battle ramp up in emotional tension and promptly kick you in the gut with not only how blindsided you’ve been, but it also showcases just how cruel these “entertainment duels” can really get.

Any episode with Yuri. Literally any episode he’s in.

I think this is like...episode 8 of VRAINS...but whenever it is that Akira hires Ema to find the reason why Aoi just...straight up got knocked into a coma. Literally this is my favorite episode when it comes to Ema. The way she makes fun of Akira even while aware of his situation,,, her cruel selfishness and desire for money bubbling to the surface, the way she confesses how she can’t be trusted willingly and still asks Akira why he’s hiring her,,, god I love this episode in terms of what Ema could’ve always been.

Episode 13 (/14?) of Zexal!!! This is the episode Kaito appears and when the show REALLY picks up. Kaito is a fun bastard of a rival and tbh I don’t think I’ll ever stop getting chills of him walking in, debris frozen in time all around him, as he approaches his victim, whistling an eerie children’s tune as he gets ready to close in for the kill,,,,

Favorite Deck to Use:

I don’t...really play the game itself but...I have used a couple of decks and I guess you can say I really love Raid Raptors??? First of all, those warbirds make really fun sounds I love ‘em in the anime but they’re also just fun to use in general (even tho I used a,,, very basic deck for them,,, I love them still).

Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum or Link:

XYZ bc it’s really the only summoning method I’m used to lol :P. Also XYZ loyalist I guess????

Years in fandom: roughly five to six years iirc? I mean, I was a fan of the early day YGO and watched it as a kid but not active enough to be in the fandom for it lmao. Also not in the fandom atm because Sevens lost my attention (it’s a good show!!! I’m just unfortunately more a fan of things with serious plots and darker themes and it’s hard for me to stomach slice-of-life shows that don’t focus on a mature and engaging plot). However, Arc-V and Zexal holds a special place in my heart (as does VRAINS, begrudgingly) and so I occasionally find myself wandering back to these shows like right now,,,

#yugioh #Arc-v #Zexal #honestly Arc-V feels like the type of show beginners should watch if they want to get into YGO #granted it might take all the way up until Yuto and Shun to get into the show #but once you hit Shun versus Sora oh my god does the slowburn really feel worth it #it will also probably surprise no one that I have several OC's based on who Ema Bessho could've been and despite how much I hate how she's-#been written in canon I've taken ideas I've had for how she could be better written and slapped them onto characters for my own story uwu

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cityescape4 · 4 years ago

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what is your opinion on each ygo so far?

DM (Dubbed):

will always have a spot in my heart. Home to my first OTP (puzzleshipping) and over all just so formative and important to my youth

GX (Dubbed):

I've only seen like 3 episodes. As a kid, I hated it because it wasn't DM. Now that I'm older, I do wanna watch it, because it didn't deserve the hate I gave it.

5D's (Dubbed):

Ultimately? Left little impact outside of the video games, one of which I still play today. Interesting characters ( I adore Yusei, Crow, Jack, and Aki) but in the end, for me, they weren't used for much that was memorable. I never finished the series, either. I ended at the tag turbo duel tournament, against the unicorn team and the norse god team.

Zexal (Subbed):

*prolonged screeching* IM LOVE. I admit it has its faults, but goddamn I love Zexal. Its probably my favorite YGO out of them all. Also Alit is my son,and you can pry Kingdomshipping from my cold, dead hands.

Arc-V (Subbed):

I watched like. 5 episodes? I never picked the series back up. I was interested, but didn't have the time to watch. Apparently it turned out to be shit tho so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'll still probably try it. From what I saw as an outsider looking in, Yuto and Yugo were my favorites. But thats on character design and what I've seen from a few posts about them.

Vrains (Subbed):

Again, only saw like 3 episodes. Again, a series I really wanted to see, but didn't have the time for it. However, from what I've seen through posts, it was way better than Arc-V. Also human Ai? 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 probably would be a Yusaku/Ai shipper knowing me.

Sevens (???):

i've seen nothing. i know damn next to nothing. I think I have one post in my Sevens tag. I don't even remember the protags name

#asks #anon #YGO #DM #GX #5D's #Zexal #Arc V #Vrains #Sevens

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gauchebistro · 4 years ago

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Day 5-Best Villian(s)

@ygotober2020

By best I'm going to assume who plays the role best. But I'll also put my fav in.

Since it's plural optional, I'll list the best and my fav from each series.

DM-I'm gonna say Bakura. I'm a sucker for villians that do stuff here and there and end up as the final villian. That being said I do wish Bakura did a little more leading up to his prominent role. My fav would be Pegasus. His personality alone does it for me, but his backstory also I love. I'm a sucker for villians that had good intentions or weren't truly as bad as they seemed. Pegasus lost his wife, and it fucked him up. But damn was it fun to watch him.

GX-Yubel is best no doubt. They gave Judai the most hard time. Plus they got a change at the end. Was just great seeing their role play out. Started out mysterious too which I love as well in a villian. Probably my fav too, although Judai is possibly tied.

5D's-I'll cheat and go with Yliaster, yes the whole organization. Secret society, used for various reasons. Rex side was great for some character growth for tons of characters. Z-one was great for the drama also growth. Kalin probably is my fav.

Zexal-Best? Vector. Fav? Vector. That being said Tron was great for both too. Heartland as well. I also have a long list of favs.

Arc-V-Jean-Michel Roget is hands down the best villian in all of Yugioh, even better than Vector. This is for all one simple reason, everyone hates him. Villians are written in many different ways for many different purposes. Jean is your classic villian that's just a shitty person and you hope he gets what's coming to him and wants no redemption for him because he doesn't deserve it. He is a failure. I mean he seems to have managed well enough prior to appear but once Yuya and co show up he fucking falls down and does not do so gracefully...at all. He is originally from Fusion Dimension, but he defected from them to try and take Synchro Dimension for himself. Right there he shows he only gives a fuck about himself. He uses whoever he feels will help his goals and discard them once done. He will modify a human for his own goals. He'll try to modify the protag. He'll shove a child(Literally did this on screen in front of whole city). He's willing to destroy an entire dimension because he can't get it. Every plan he does once he appears fails. I don't think he even really had a brief accomplishment. It was hilarious too because he's got a chess motif going on but he's never truly ahead of anyone(Enter Reiji too who fucking wrecks this guy when he's already fucking wrecked). He's a hot mess that fails and you laugh at him for failing. And is just amazing to watch. My fav for those reasons as well. Top 5 overall in yugioh for villians. Just...lol Jean-Michel Roget you fucking suck, I love you.

Vrains-Hard to say here, so I'll pick 3. Revolver, Lightning, and Ai. Revolver is your legitimate threat, does is good, has the motive, etc... Lightning is like Jean, you love to hate him, but he actually manages to be an actual threat, it's not as fun seeing him fail at the end but he sure boils your blood. And Ai...well watch and find out. Spectre is my fav, wish he got more in the end. Revolver is great as well. Ai too. Lightning is pretty nice too.

Sevens-Can't really say right now as I haven't watched enough plus there's not much in the first place. I feel it'll be another organization type deal with Goha. Have to wait and see. My fav is president Goha though, just because so far he's just hilarious. Just laughs awkwardly in his scenes, doesn't say anything. I think he had one line and it was nonsense. Curious to see how everything unfolds for this series.

#yugioh #ygotober2020

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moonlights0nata · 7 years ago

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whenever i start thinking about arc v and the POTENTIAL and all it could have been i get so fucking mad and the salt practically pour out of my mouth

#hold me cause i could rant for days #just aksdjasd #AKSJDA #THAT ENDING STILL PISSES ME OFF #VRAINS PLS DO WELL BE A GOOD YGO #i am rooting for u #arc v started off great but then it started to go down and down and....it just got BAD #sob #it had so many great characters (or that could have been great)#I WILL FOREVER BE SALTY ABOUT YUURI #HE #IS STILL MY FAV AND HE DESERVED BETTER DEVELOPMENT #AS AN ANTAGONIST AND AS A PERSON #I WILL FIGHT #text

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kuriboo · 5 years ago

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so here we are, y’all. i’ve finally reached the end of the zexal anime, and, uh, it sure was a ride. a ride from start to finish. i’m gonna write out some final thoughts, if i end up forgetting something i might make another post of this, but, don’t count on it. but, before anything, i do intend to read the zexal manga at some point as well, and when i do, you might see me post some funny or interesting screenshots in this tag too? probably not a lot, i don’t know, i’ve never read the zexal manga either. just be aware that the zexal liveblog might not actually be over.

i know people like to talk in terms of zexal i and zexal ii, but hulu doesn’t split up zexal like that, it’s actually in three seasons? i think i generally know what people are referring to with zexal i and zexal ii(?), but i’m genuinely not sure and the terms feel super weird to me anyway, but just to be safe, i’ll refer to things as the first half and the second half. the first half ends with the duel against dr faker and yuma vs kite, part 2 picks up with...whatever the hell happened after the yuma vs kite duel, which certainly wasn’t a continuation of kite’s character arc, but we won’t worry about that.

with that, uh, let’s go high-five the sky

before starting zexal: i’d pretty much watched all the other yugioh series, and was keeping up with vrains as much as i could as it aired. i saw one episode once, before i started watching the whole thing, that aired on some channel we normally don’t get but got a like free preview weekend of it or something. the episode i saw was the episode where yuma meets the guy who makes the statues, i think. whatever it was, the impression i got from what i saw was: this yugioh protagonist is really bad at card games, whines a lot, and his voice kinda grates on me, and also this protagonist is younger than i was at the time, which tended to lead to more annoying behavior. this kid didn’t want to shut up, man. couldn’t sit through the whole thing

so, this was how i rated zexal against the other yugioh series, keeping in mind that this is a rating of series, and not yugioh protagonists, and noting that the members of the A tier are not in any sort of order and all members have equal ratings:

(sevens is unrated because it’s just barely started.)

(there’s not really much of anything that could top gx, tbh, because gx got me through the hardest time, the hardest year, of my life, and i don’t know where i’d be without it. gx helped save 17 year old me from myself)

now, i’ve finished zexal. i’ve watched every single episode of zexal. it’s important to note that i watched the dub of duel monsters, the dubs of gx and 5ds along with the sub of their non-dubbed final seasons, the dub of zexal, the sub of arc v alongside a stretch of dubbed episodes towards the end, and the sub of vrains along with the dub of the first 20 episodes. i’m aware zexal’s sub was better than the dub, but i generally prefer dubs when possible and also i’m largely comparing it against every other yugioh dub. it’s not an unfair comparison.

so, here is how i now rate zexal against the other yugioh series, keeping in mind the members of the A tier aren’t in any sort of order:

you may have noticed this is the same as the previous rating. that’s correct. zexal was my least favorite yugioh series before i began watching it, and now that i’ve finished, it’s still my least favorite yugioh series. i know for a lot of people, zexal was their favorite yugioh series, but i simply can’t vibe with that. i’m sorry. i’m also aware the dub of zexal is a lot worse than the original. that doesn’t change the fact that i’m mostly rating dubs against each other here (haven’t seen enough of the arc v dub to account for that, but every other series i’m strongly thinking about the dubs). also, i’ll still give zexal credit for that. i’ll excuse some of its bad points as bad dub writing. some.

this chart, though, doesn’t paint a complete picture of how my opinion of zexal has changed. because it has. i like zexal a lot more now than i did before i started really watching it.

we’ll address good points first, so if anyone wants to bail for the bad points to avoid any sort of hurt feelings or anything like that, they can while still reading good stuff. again, i know a lot of yugioh fans’ favorite yugioh series is zexal, and my opinions are directly opposed to that, and again, i’m sorry.

there was some pretty cool new cards in this one, particularly in the numbers side of things. shark drake was cool. i liked all of the arclights’ numbers; honestly, how could i not love dyson sphere or number 69? i’ve forgotten a lot of it by now but there was some cool stuff especially in the first part.

the two best characters in this series, in terms of both writing and personality, were easily astral and shark. astral’s probably my number one, shark’s probably my number two.

astral was definitely great. his observations he kept making about humanity based on yuma was definitely one of the funnier things in the series, and the last duel of the series ending with astral’s last observation was poetic. he talked smack about yuma a lot, and a lot of the time it was pretty well deserved, and that was very cathartic and very good humor. his whole arc where he learns to trust yuma in part 1 and they truly become partners, then yuma meets vector who convinces yuma to keep pretty big secrets from astral, then astral realizes yuma’s been keeping these big secrets from him which is something astral never thought would happen by that point, and astral almost loses himself in that darkness of feeling betrayed and angry and sad, that was all really really good. yuma and astral not not immediately going back to loyal trusting partners and needing time before astral could truly trust yuma again also felt natural and real and i enjoyed it a lot. i like astral’s hairstyle, i like his dub censored ass, i like his whole ghost-like vibe. i don’t appreciate that astral is a nudist, even among the other residents of astral world who all wear actual clothes. i kind of wish astral would wear clothes but i would still want his ass to be censored because it’s hilarious. there is a lot i like about astral. i also just think he’s neat. my easy favorite. cannot go wrong with snarky glowy alien boy.

shark surprised me. i didn’t like him for a fair amount of part 1. he hurt yuma’s feelings a lot and i hated that. but when he started accepting yuma’s repeated attempts at friendship and turned around, i liked him a lot. he’s got purple hair, he plays a guitar (i think electric guitar? might’ve been electric bass), and his development was super interesting. i figured he had some kind of shitty home life that yuma would help him cope with using the power of friendship, but it was quite a bit more than that. he got disqualified from a tournament he desperately wanted to win because of a trick his opponent pulled, eventually evened out and became a pretty cool chill dude, and then it turned out he was like the head emperor of an alien planet that astral had set out to destroy?? he was the leader of a group of people and then blamed himself for their destruction?? he felt torn between his guilt/duty to his people and the new friendships he’d made with yuma and astral?? and he ended up deciding to go back to his alien emperor ways even though it pitted him against his friends which was hard but he had to make it up for the people he’d lost before?? but then he learned don thousand had been manipulating for a long long time and then faced against don thousand at yuma’s side een though he chose to turn his back on that friendship?? he didn’t let some fanfic choose his life for him??? he had shark drake??? there’s a lot of cool shit about shark and he’s got a lot of interesting shit going for him. i love a character that gets me to analyze what’s going on in their mind as they do certain things or make certain choices. i also love me a character who ends up getting/remembering magical powers. sorry shark astral’s in first but i still think shark’s neat too.

byron arclight!!! byron arclight! he’s not on the same level as astral and shark, but mAN i love byron arclight. he was constantly roasting everyone when he appeared and had some of the funniest dialogue in the entire series. anyone he looked at he’d be like “look aliens made me physically look like a child, my sons are taller and look older than me now, i couldn’t possibly give a shit about whatever your deal is.” he got super strong magic powers and used them to kidnap a small child. he became evil and told his sons to be evil with him because he was mad at dr faker, but they all kinda sucked at being evil and decided to be good guys instead by part 2. it’s honestly a shame the arclights didn’t appear in the series, especially part 2 (and especially byron, i’m p sure he appeared the least of the arclights) because i like them all actually. that episode where trey erased yuma’s like most important memories... dyson sphere... quattro telling off shark for dueling poorly while shark was sufferering the effects of POISON... what absolute legends. also byron had number 69.

yuma’s pretty cool, ended up being a more compelling character than i thought he would be. he’s a sweet kid, he’s annoyed initially by astral’s presence but he still helps astral with his quest to gather all the numbers anyway and he likes astral the more they hang out. that episode where yuma loses his memories because of trey really showed yuma’s pre-series development pretty well. yuma talks a lot and shouts the same few catchphrases a lot and it can get annoying, but there’s a lot more to yuma then that. at his core, he’s actually a pretty scared and lonely kid who doesn’t believe in himself, he looks at his current situation and goes “there’s no way i can win this duel there’s no point i might as well quit”. he’s not inherently upbeat and positive and self-confident like he usually appears. “feel the flow” is his source of strength, it’s what gets him going, gets him to believe in himself and inspires bravery in him. he’s actually one of the strongest people in the show for it, to be honest. his friends are so important to him, he cares about them so much and would do anything for them, even when his friends aren’t acting so friendly to him. even when his friends want conflicting things he tries his best to appease both sides. he becomes a voice of reason a lot in part 2, honestly. he kept voicing my thoughts and things i said throughout the season, which at times was really cathartic honestly. he kept challenging the status quo. why do we HAVE to do this, why can’t we find a compromise for THAT. he’s a good kid. i’m adopting him.

kite in part 1 is a cool Strong Opposition To The Number Hunt guy. he needs a glasses prescription but refuses to do anything about it and dies on the moon for it apparently, which i think is pretty funny of him. since he’s not astral he has to number hunt differently and the way he does it hurts people, but he’s only doing it because if he has all the numbers, then there might be a way to help his little brother who is suffering some big shit. his life literally revolves around his little brother who wants kite to just live his life for himself and be happy and have fun, to which kite replies “i don’t know how to do any of that”. relatable. eventually he realizes his dad is a dick. and beats him up until his dad says okay i’ll be good now. i won’t throw trash at astral world anymore i promise. kite’s hear to kick ass and take names and he runs out of names before he runs out of ass. but he gets new names by the time he runs out of ass so it’s okay. kite does some pretty fun stuff in part 1 and actually gives astral a run for his money which doesn’t happen often in part 1 so that’s pretty fun. also. his name is kite and his brother’s name is heart. dr faker is the worst at names but i’d expect that from someone who’s name is faker. it’s pretty funny, honestly

dumon is great. he’s a nice guy who is always trying to help out his friends. him first meeting shark and them pretty much despising each other and then realizing hmm maybe that other guy isn’t as obnoxious as i thought all before shark even realizes he’s nasch and nasch and dumon are like best friends? top-tier, def funny. after like that first meeting though dumon always came off as a nice guy. i like dumon. also, his dub voice actor voices dub yusaku and i was assigned yusaku by the government so i really appreciate that. he does a good job as yusaku. and honestly a good job at dumon, too. dumon is one of the best voices in the whole show. he’s great. i just think he’s neat

rio!!!! once rio wakes up, she’s great. you can tell like within an episode that she and shark are the kind of siblings that constantly snark at each other but would do literall anything for each other. shark tried to do anything he could to help her before she woke up, and rio stuck by his side no matter what in the barians vs astral conflict. the foreshadowing in that episode where she pretended she was knocked out like the rest of yuma’s friends but she really wasn’t!! within like a week of waking up she reveals shark can’t sleep in the dark and i think that he hates onions. she’s the picture of confidence, and it seems to come more naturally to her than yuma’s forced and learned confidence. she believes in herself for sure, she’s a great duelist and she knows it, she’s got that ice aesthetic that i love, she’s cute... i’m gonna go adopt shark and rio right now. she’s also fiercely protective of her friends. but she’s not afraid to tease them either! and she will do it! she’s unrepentantly herself and i love it.

vector is funny. vector had some great lines in part 2. “ray shadows” was always predictably not what he seemed at first glance but that’s not a bad thing. just because i knew “ray shadows” was bad didn’t make the reveal of him being vector any less satisfying, honestly. that whole sequence of what happened when vector revealed himself was one of my favorite parts of the second half. vector constantly leading yuma into “the ray way” (usually a poor way), then after reealing himself talking about doing things the ray way, absolutely poetic. that reveal causing a huge shift in yuma and astral’s relationship, beautiful. did you just say the b word??? he also had funny lines. most major villains in zexal (byron and vector) were pretty funny honestly. neither of them were the ultimate antagonist which is fine, but probably the best humor in the series to me came from the major villains. it made them less intimidating, maybe, but it made them a lot more enjoyable to watch.

number 96 looked like a dark version of astral, which is essentially what he was, but like, he literally looked like astral. but you know what? while astral’s ass was censored, number 96′s wasn’t censored in the slightest. to this day i don’t understand why but this is so funny to me. 4k media really said astral wasn’t valid but number 96 was.

there’s a lot of good stuff in zexal. and i enjoyed it! at the end of the day, that’s what i care about the most. doesn’t matter as much if something’s good or bad as much as if i’m enjoying it. and i enjoyed quite a bit of zexal.

i did say it was my least favorite yugioh anime currently, however. which means there must be parts of this anime i didn’t like. so let’s get into the aspects of zexal i didn’t like. feel free to bail now if you’re not interested in that. i’m not interested in hurting any feelings or tarnishing anyone’s love for zexal.

yikes

for what it’s worth, i like the first half a lot more than the second half. most of the problems i have with the first half are also present within the second half, but the second half has a lot of unique things i don’t like.

i know i said something doesn’t have to be good to be enjoyable. anyone can enjoy bad things. i enjoy plenty of bad things! look, i watch sword art online!! i’m no stranger to the concept. but a lot of things i didn’t like about zexal were just...too glaring for me to enjoy anway.

let’s start with cards.

i think xyz summoning should’ve been pronounced as x-y-z and not x-eez. i hated it from episode one and i am still holding to that.

i don’t like tori’s whole fairy cheerleader archetype. i don’t like the way they all look. these things were in arc v, too, and given to a slightly better character but i didn’t like these things in arc v and i don’t like these now. arc v gave me something to look forward to when i needed it most, i don’t say many bad things about it. but i hate these things in both series they were featured in. i think that says a lot. it’s the combo of the hair and the eyes. their hair is way too big. their eyes tend to look bad. it’s just not a great look.

the series started off with a very simple set of rules for number cards: number cards come from astral, and there are 100 of them (and only number cards can only destroy other number cards, which is less important here). the first half of zexal stuck to that prett well. the second half of zexal just laughed at the idea of rules and said i’mma break them. characters are suddenly given number cards that go over the number 100. all these characters are barians. and these cards didn’t come from astral. what the heck! you’re breaking rules left and right! and then don thousand comes out with his stupid imaginary number, and then two duels later yuma comes out with his own new number, future number zero. you’re breaking all the rules. you’re breaking all my trust in everything. you’ve stopped pretending there’s any sense of rules entirely and you’ve started making things up as you go. i don’t like that!! especially imaginary number and future number zero had basically no explanation as to where these things come from, how do these characters have these cards? it’s one thing when yuma comes out with a new gagaga card or something, that’s acceptable and makes plenty of sense, but the new number cards don’t. also, don thousand, yuma doesn’t know enough math to know what an imaginary number even is.

astral’s whole deck angers me. astral is one of the most important characters of the series, and you couldn’t bother to give him any non-xyz monsters. his whole deck is spells and traps. you gave tori, who only duels once and isn’t very good at it, her own whole archetype, but you couldn’t bother to think of a single monster to give astral. and even then, the only xyz monsters astral uses are utopia forms, (not including shark drake and galaxy-eyes, who were only brought out to serve as material for a utopia monster. this is the laziest deck in the whole series, and you gave it to a major protagonist. like, the second most important protagonist in the whole series. i get he only duels without yuma once, but dude. i hate this.

i also really don’t like that the only number yuma and astral use most of the time is utopia. i know utopia was the first one they had together and it’s popular and shit. but there are other numbers! other numbers yuma gains! that i would like to see him use! but instead the show just...keeps giving him new forms for utopia? for some reason? at least on one occasion one of yuma’s new forms has like the same exact ability as another number yuma has at the time. it’s infuriating. to me, at least. plenty of other characters only really use one number most of the time the duel, but most other characters only really have that one number and maybe another form of it or maybe two other forms. yuma doesn’t have that excuse. i’m not saying i never want him to use utopia ever. i just like variety. if you’re introducing the idea of collecting a lot of things, i wanna see those things used.

i hate don thousand’s dueling gimmicks most of all. he gets access to the numeron code and uses it to cheat in his duels, even though kite has it and zexal really gave the impression before this point that you needed to obtain the numeron code to use it, but don thousand’s just like, i fused earth and barian world and somehow i can use the numeron code now. ??????? no fucking sense. on top of that, his cards are super unbalanced. i could not stand watching this duel.

i don’t like the literally no excuse given of other characters besides yuma, the arclights maybe, and the barians maybe, the literally no excuse given for other characters suddenly being able to see astral. being able to see astral required either special powers or special circumstances but then at the end of part 1 going in to part 2 characters were just like “i can see astral now!!!” and that was the end of this and this was the stupidest laziest thing ever. dunno if this was a dub-only thing, maybe the sub explained it, but it really bothered me and still does.

i don’t think chaos was explained very well, at least in the dub, and i looked it up later on and know pretty much what it is now but when you introduce new concepts and ideas, please explain them to me or else i feel like there’s literally no rules to the universe and characters are just making things up as they go.

a lot of the time in the second half, astral is written really weirdly and, not as good. especially post-vector reveal. i’m not talking about any stubbornness on astral’s part because that’s who he is. part 2 starts going in and after a while of it already going, astral just comes in and explains things to yuma that astral definitely didn’t know before. i know astral starts out with almost no memories and regains them all throughout the series but i don’t think any of this like came right after astral regained some memory. the numeron code seems to come out of nowhere, and oh, by the way, this thing can rewrite the entire rules of the universe. it’s a race to see who gets the numeron code first! except, uh, kite ends up winning it i think but that ends up literally not mattering because don thousand and astral both finds ways to use it without even having it. so there wasn’t much of a point of a lot of the duels before the don thousand duel, huh. that’s a lot of time wasted. and apparently astral can use the numeron code after regaining all 100 numbers, but. i don’t remember when astral first introduced that fact and when he got all 100 numbers. but it only is relevant after the duel against nasch and astral only makes any attempt to use the numeron code then. i don’t even know how he got the numeron code after that duel anyway. kite had it and he died on the moon. don thousand could use it without actually having it but then he was defeated. was astral always able to use it without actually having it like don thousand? why didn’t he does this before, then? everything related to the numeron code is vague and explained poorly and every time the numeron code comes up someone makes up some new bullshit thing related to the numeron code and i hate it. i hate the stupid numeron code.

back on track with astral. there’s other stuff besides the numeron code he seemed to know about without any real explanation. i do not remember a lot of them. besides the numeron code. i think i repressed the rest of out of annoyance. i think the worst astral was written was right before his duel with yuma. i get that astral intended to use the duel to help yuma and not hurt him. but he could’ve accomplished this without being an entire jackass. yuma’s mourning the loss of friends that he’s also blaming himself for. and then astral decides to resolve that by telling yuma that astral’s gonna go kill a bunch more people and yuma can’t stop him? that’s uh, not helping anything astral. you had other options to get yuma to duel (while yuma was in a state of not wanting to duel ever again) rather than telling yuma more people are about to die. the point of the whole duel was to remind yuma how to have fun in duels. but uh. when you put a bunch of lives at risk like that after a bunch of people just died, that’s not a great way to introduce fun. yuma promised astral to duel against him before astral left earlier on in the series! you had other options! astral acts like he doesn’t have other options but he literally does! there’s stupid stuff like this astral does earlier in the second half but i have forgotten the details. i get astral’s an alien who’s pretty socially awkward and doesn’t get earth people super well, but b the end of the series he certainly should understand them a little better, or at least, he should understand yuma pretty well, after hanging out with yuma literally all the time. it’s stupid! astral’s better than all this! there’s no way this is the fault of dub writing! unless 4k media made entirely new animation for multiple episodes. like. of the entire episode.

there were multiple times in the second half i didn’t understand character motivations in certain events at all and had to really come up with my own weird headcanons to make sense of it. this is probably largely a result of dub writing.

i wish the arclights were more relevant in the second half. most of all they did was watch things happen. they’re cool and powerful give them something to do.

kite felt extremely pointless in the second half of zexal. he was given a clear character direction to go after the first half and basically abandoned it the second the second half started. he had this pointless rivalry with mizar that only ever felt relevant when they dueled each other on the moon to get the numeron code. kite realizes he needs glasses. he wins the duel. and then he fucking dies somehow. and everyone else gets access to the numeron code. it’s all really stupid and makes no sense. i wouldn’t care about him not being as narratively important as yuma, shark and astral. kite’s not from astral world, kite’s not from barian world, and he doesn’t have any partnership with anyone from either world. at most, he thinks astral’s neat now. but they keep dragging along this stupid rivalry between mizar and kite that literally amounted to “my galaxy-eyes dragon is better than your galaxy-eyes dragon”, these two idiots dueled about it multiple times, and it was just pointless. it ate up too much time. i could feel myself aging. the second half of zexal had enough filler episodes that made me want to tear my hair out without this stuff.

i hate mizar so much. he’s probably my second least favorite character in the series. all mizar EVER does is duel kite over who has a cooler galaxy-eyes dragon, which isn’t even a question because kite’s is cooler and he had it long before mizar ever showed up which at most makes mizar a copier idiot. the most relevant thing mizar does is duel kite on the moon for the numeron code, but i’ve been over that. you could take mizar out without changing much. he’s by far the least interesting barian emperor. mizar is more annoying than kite ever was, and is more annoying than the other barian emperors ever were. and yet mizar lives longer than pretty much every barian emperor except nasch. he got the honor of being written out of existence by don thousand himself. radical. cool. get him out of my sight. i can’t stand him.

there’s a point where there’s a number shown on baby vector. i really wanted to know what was up with that and how it was relevant. this was never explained at all. i’m gonna assume this was don thousand altering vector’s memories or something and move on and never address it again because this show just did and said so many things without explaining any of it whatsoever. this stuff needs established rules and explanations. otherwise it just feels like everythings made up on the fly, it’s all completely random shit with not much planning behind it, that the writers don’t care...it feels insulting. i had this same issue with the infinity stones in the marvel cinematic universe. this is not something i just don’t like because it happened in zexal. i like knowing things.

so if mizar’s my second least favorite, who’s my least favorite character overall? i’ll tell you who

tori fucking meadows.

tori. geez. has there ever been a worse character? yes, mineta from my hero academia exists. but what exactly is tori’s crime? what has she done to make me dislike her so much. well, nothing. ‘nothing?’ yes. she didn’t do anything. but at the same time, she didn’t do anything. my problem with her is she literally does nothing, she barely has any sort of relevance to anything, and she’s annoying. i’m very serious. there’s only two things she’s ever done: she got possessed by a barian emperor to duel against yuma once, and there was that time she challenged yuma to a fashion contest, which was a little entertaining. those are the only things she’s ever done. and yet, somehow, she finds her way into every single episode. it is rare for an episode to go by without her. well, if she’s in so many episodes, surely she must be doing something of importance? nah. her only purpose is to cheer yuma on when he’s discouraged and to get distressed when yuma looks like he’s in a bad spot. this is not a joke. this is not an exaggeration. there are entire episodes where her only dialogue is “(sad voice) Yuma...! Astral...!” i constantly forget she’s there and then the show reminds me she’s there and i get mad because she doesn’t do anything. it’s either be sad about duel going well for yuma, or tori going “yuma you can do it” and yuma going “YEAH YOU’RE RIGHT THANKS TORI”. yeah, she doesn’t even give good motivational speeches, she just says the laziest most generic thing possible, and yuma just cheers himself up anyway because that’s usually what he does anyway. there’s not point to her being there. oh, and she got to be the damsel of distress once to convince yuma to duel. that’s great. lovely. that’s definitely not shady/shifty as hell. all girls are only good for fueling boys’ pain and suffering, right.

but lemme ask this. let’s replace tori with a very pretty lamp for the entire series. how much of the show would change? and honestly? it’d mostly be just like, bits and pieces of three episodes. she’s literally just taking up space. she doesn’t need to duel to be relevant and do meaningful things. maybe she could do more to help yuma convince astral that blowing up barian world is a bad idea, maybe she’s able to come up with the right words where yuma isn’t. maybe she catches on that something’s wrong with shark before shark switches sides, she doesn’t have to convince him not to and i’d rather she didn’t but she can be an uninvolved person to listen and tell shark it’s not an easy choice for sure but she supports him whatever he does and she’s sure whatever he chooses will be the right choice for him. maybe she could get astral some fashionable clothes. i don’t know! she could actually do something! i’m not asking much here i just want her to be something besides a generic love interest (gross) or a generic supporter with generic advice (annoying).

a lot of yuma’s friend group have similar similar issues, but at least they have parts to play. bronk’s probably the best written of the bunch in part 1 before he dissolves into randomly in love with rio taking over his entire life (gross). cathy honestly is better than average too. rio is exempt from this paragraph because she doesn’t spend too much time in the friend group before bailing to her past life which is valid. yuma starts out with only bronk and tori for friends but he gains a lot of friends during the number hunt. most of these friends were possessed by numbers and yuma befriended them afterwards because ultimately his goal is to have fun and make friends by dueling. but they all stick around and don’t not hang out with him and don’t do much after yuma helps them. yuma has way too many friends that he drags around with him everywhere, and then some combination of the arclights, shark, kite, vector, and rio is often there as well. It’s way too many people and no wonder most of them never do anything because often all the things that could be done are taken. Most of these kids need to stop following Yuma everywhere. For the most part, they’re all annoying, too. I really only care for Bronk and Cathy.

i get it. the protagonist always has friends that are ride or die and help them out no matter what. i get it. but there was never this many constantly around, often times they’d switch around each other if anything, and they always all were either relevant to the plot or played good important roles in helping the protagonist, and they always had development. i think the most development any of yuma’s friend group (ignoring brinks negative development) had was cathy’s hatred of dogs getting a bit less intense. flip’s literally a shitty dude who cheats and yuma told him “hey maybe be less shitty next time” a couple of times and flip said “sure” each time but then never put any effort into being better and just kept being shitty towards other people. caswell just...reiterates what’s happening half the time ans starts literally every sentence with “in the end”. all they’re good for is filler and zexal has really bad filler. they’re not good for anything. they should’ve showed up less at least after the heartland tournament arc if not sooner. i get that the whole thing is to show that yuma wants to make friends through duels but this is unnecesasary and eats up time that could be better spent on other characters who actually do things and who actually are relevant and develop and stuff. the protagonist’s friend group was never this annoying before zexal and it never was after zexal either. when they all got sent to barian world and stopped showing up for like ten episodes i almost finally new peace if those ten episodes weren’t like some of the worst content zexal had to offer.

there’s a lot of pointless boring uneventful unnecessary hetero shit all over the show, too. obviously, the whole deal with yuma and tori, while yuma really has no interest in romance at all and tori can’t take a fucking hint and then somehow the last episode decides to make them start dating for some reason. bronk falls for rio (understandable) and then in a filler episode asks for shark’s permission to date her (gross), shark misunderstands what bronk’s asking and is like “if you wanna deal with me or rio you gotta beat yuma in a duel first”, bronk gets it in his head that means yuma likes rio and duels yuma over rio (gross) and this is all supposed to be a funny whole series of events but it’s not funny and it’s kinda gross actually. orbital and lillybot!! yikes!! i don’t like orbital anyway. lillybot is amazing and great. the show decides to assign lillybot female (tori just says lillybot’s a girl and we’re supposed to take tori’s word for it i guess) so obviously the assigned male robot and the assigned female robot have to date, right! they MUST like each other because he was a boy robot, she was a girl robot, can i make it any more obvious. it’s annoying and stupid. they have kids!!! they have kids for some reason!!! why do they have kids!!!!! zexal never interact with me about romance again.

the girls in this show really get the shit end of the stick, huh. i feel really bad for them. obviously we have tori. who was there the whole time but really didn’t do anything except be generically sad or generically positive. cathy’s a little better than that. she has a bit more personality going for her. she likes cats, she makes cat puns, she duels a dog, she did get possessed by a number... she’s got a few things going for her, but she doesn’t do much either. she doesn’t do anything worth noting in the tournament in heartland, she barely does anything of note related to the barian emperors or don thousand. so that’s not much better. rio probably got the best treatment of any of the girls in zexal. she is a major player in the second half of zexal, being one of the barian emperors. she’s got a very strong personality and did plenty of important things. she helped her and her brother deal with the barian emperors before realizing she was one herself, she reclaimed her title of barian emperor and tried to kick vector’s ass. rio and shark brought a lot of life to each other. she revealed her brother’s need to sleep with a nightlight and she was allowed to be good at dueling! but also, she spend the entire first half of the show in a coma. she wasn’t allowed to have any part in the show before astral and the barian emperors did their thing. so in a way, rio also got the worst treatment, too. discounting rio, though, i think the girl who got the worst of it was actually kari.

i know, i know. kari’s an investigator, a journalist! she’s always after a scoop, she’s always looking after yuma, and she deals with old friends/enemies. she’s not just some generic friend like tori, she’s not in a coma like rio! kari’s great! and i love her! but this isn’t just about girls not getting to do things that matter or girls not getting to have personalities. this goes in a bit different direction than that. she wanted to go out and explore with her dad, just like yuma did, but her parents always brushed her aside and made her do more “girly” things because “girls can’t do what yuma and your dad are doing”! she didn’t get a wole lot of agency in her own life. her parents all but told her that yuma was more important than her, that he had this big destiny related to dueling and that all she was good for was watching out for yuma and making sure he was okay because she’s his older sister. and then both her parents disappeared! and she was just left with that! she grew to hate dueling, to push yuma away from it because their parents basically told her yuma would be in danger because of dueling. which is a totally understandable reaction to your parents telling you that out of seemingly nowhere! except the show doesn’t treat it that way. the show puts her in the wrong for not liking dueling! because everyone has to like dueling kari!! how dare you not like card games. how dare you have any interest in anything else. i’m surprised she’s not more bitter towards her parents for this whole fiasco. she just gets slammed into a caretaker role because girls can only be love interests or caretakers! (tori, cathy, and rio were all set up as love interests at least one time or another, while yuma would rather eat another hot dog than deal with that) but honestly, she does her best to do what her parents told her: take care of yuma during his big dangerous dueling destiny. she watches out for him, she tries to steer him clear of the thing that’s supposed to be dangerous for him. and as a journalist she has to be constantly up to date on current events and happenings, so if something happens that might endanger yuma with his big dangerous dueling destiny, kari’ll probably be on of the first people to know about it in all of heartland. that’s not to say that’s not the only reason she took up the profession. she definitely seems passionate about what she does, she takes it seriously, i’m sure she does actually like being a journalist, but it does help with yuma, too. her parents basically forced her life to go exactly one way. and that’s not shown in a bad light against her parents! if anything, the show basically acts like it’s kari’s fault for not being happy about it every second. all this while yuma gets to be whoever he wants to be and do what he wants to do their whole childhood, he gets a lot more freedom than kari for sure. yuma got the childhood kari wanted and she’s not allowed to grieve what she could’ve had. because it’s not just “kari’s parents forced her into a very specific role for her life and gave her no choice in any of it”. that can actually be a really cool thing to explore. i love chazz princeton! kari has plenty in common with chazz! but i don’t like this setup like this. chazz got to be right about being bitter about what his brothers did to him, about breaking away from them and living life the way he wanted to. but making kari’s parents the right ones in this whole situation is just kinda gross and disgusting. if you’re gonna frame it like that don’t bother. cannot stand the “your parents are always right” sort of shit.

speaking of? goddamn i hate kazuma. i hate yuma and kari’s dad. i would say he’s the worst dad in all of yugioh, but he didn’t start an interdimensional war, so we’ll say he’s the second worst dad in all of yugioh. ...if i tie dr kogami with leo, but either way, leo, dr kogami, and kazuma are the top 3.

how can kazuma be in the top 3?? with leo and dr kogami?? leo and dr kogami are evil villains!! kazuma’s not a bad guy! he helped give yuma more self-confidence! he wanted peace between astral world and barian world!

first of all, if you skipped the paragraph related to kari, go back and read it. it’s required reading for the “why kazuma sucks” portion of our program tonight. okay good, you read it. here’s more reasons why kazuma’s a pretty sucky dad.

this here is a bullshit man.

kazuma had good intentions, i think. he wanted to be a good dad but intentions don’t really mean a damn thing when you look at the results.

pre-zexal, kazuma tsukumo knew about yuma’s destiny and told kari about it. how did he know this? how did he figure this out? that’s a good question. i have no idea why he knows about yuma’s destiny, or how he knows about it. the wiki just says he “showed great intelligence and foresight”, whatever that means. my best guess is that honestly? once kazuma saw what was happening in astral world, he created yuma’s destiny himself. he gave the key to yuma, and then he fucked with astral’s shit so that astral would meet yuma. yeah, kazuma looked at everything going on and was like “i’ll put it on my 12 year old son to save three worlds at the same time! what could go wrong”, and told kari about it beforehand and was like “lol kari can’t do it she’s a girl so i’ll just decide her entire life for her a different way”

uh, clearly yuma was not emotionally capable of dealing with the shit kazuma pulled him into. yuma was ready to never duel again because dueling killed his friends. and then kazuma talks to astral about the whole thing and is weirdly smug about the whole thing related to yuma’s lost friends and lost love for dueling. so like...was that part of your plan or not? do you give a shit about your son’s feelings regarding your whole plan for his life or not?

after yuma falls into a portal in the hell dimension he ends up being a prisoner on astral world. which was definitely not explained well in the dub. but he and his wife just hang out freely and openly in remote parts of astral world so he sure as shit doesn’t look like a prisoner. and while he’s there he certainly looks like there’s no place he’d rather be. wait, his wife? how did she get in astral world? that’s a good fucking question and i sure would love to know. i guess she’s not allowed to exist outside her relationship with kazuma.

after kazuma is stuck in astral world, everyone thinks he’s dead for a while, but then when everyone finds out he was alive, he’s treated as this all-knowing projection/recorded hologram who is always right about everything. he always has all the answers and if we don’t know what to do about something then kazuma definitely knows! and after he appears to die he can sometimes appear to people somehow, how he can do that is never explained well at least in the dub, and there are arbitrary conditions to it also never explained in the dub. he can appear in the emperor’s key. he only really seems to do this once to have a weird conversation with astral, and then he also...was able to help vetrix make a barrier during yuma and nasch’s duel, somehow? i mean, i get tron’s whole thing, but kazuma, not so much? if he can appear to astral and vetrix why does he never try to connect with yuma? i’m guessing he probably can’t appear to yuma directly but he never tries to leave a message with astral either. he has these arbitrary weird abilities never explained well (in the dub, at least) and it feels like he’s playing calvinball to make himself seem like a hero or something.

honestly, everthing about yuma’s dad being seemingl dead but still alive, creating his son’s destiny and being this vague benevolent being who is always right and is never allowed to be seen in a bad light related to the consequences to his kids for his meddling, it all seems familiar....

that’s right! it all comes back to sonic!! once again i am literally unable to talk about anything without bringing up sonic, i always bring everything back to sonic!!!

i explained this all a lot better a year ago so i will let myself speak i guess

obviously kazuma isn’t as bad of a person as locke the echidna, not nearly as bad, but there’s parallels, anyway.

so if you agree that yuma is the old comics knuckles of yugioh, if you look at the bad dads section of this article (in case you think i wrote it for some reason, which i didn’t, thankskenpenders did) you can understand why locke is a horrible dad, and looking at the similarties pointed out between locke and kazuma (again, locke is a much worse father than kazuma) you can understand more why i hate kazuma.

so, yeah. i can go on and on about all the things i don’t like zexal. the writing is sometimes sexist and lazy, there’s way too many characters hanging out with the protagonist and most of them have nothing to offer. sometimes things just don’t get explained, or are barely explained. it’s a big ol’ game of calvinball sometimes. and i am aware and accept that some of this is the fault of the dub writers. but there’s also a lot of good things i like about zexal! astral, shark, and yuma were all written really well! there were some really cool monsters in this show! there were some moments of good jokes! the show had good messages and a lot of characters had complex motivations you can sympathize with even if you don’t agree with what they’re doing. this show was very good at being yugioh. and it’s a pretty good show in my book. i enjoyed watching it! it just doesn’t happen to be my favorite yugioh. or like. anything but my least faorite yugioh. but that’s okay. really, the most important thing with watching a show isn’t how well it’s written, how good the visuals are, or anything like that, the most important thing is whether you enjoyed it. and i enjoyed it!

i enjoyed watching yugioh zexal.

if you followed me through my journey watching the anime, thank you. i appreciate it.

this isn’t the end of my journey through zexal. i intend to read the manga too, so when i do get to that, if i end up wanting to post any screenshots or anthing i’ll be using the same tag. that’s sure to be an interesting journey as well.

but anyway. if you read this entire post, thank you. this is over 8,000 words long, damn.

#zexal liveblog #long post 235

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