Thoughts&Observations | Mangá Vol.12-15 Part 9 ( Jounouchi VS Bandit Keith)

From here on out will be more around summaries first so I can get into details after, it's more organized like this....

Update (22/09/2018): I have been a lot faster because there is less key points to add and less to expand, the other reason for being motivated and determined that I finish the updates on Duelist Kingdom Arc before moving to another place, at least that's my intent, we have been in my sister's home temporarily so far, so when I move, I will be without internet for awhile, so there, but even without internet I can advance by writing drafts in a wordpad, so that then is ready to be updated when the internet is back... :).



Plot Summary:

It is time for the 2nd duel, Jounouchi didn't knew his card was stolen by Keith, once it came the time to show the card, Keith showed his (truly belonging to Jounouchi borrowed by Yugi), Jounouchi searching in his pockets, realizing the honor card isn't in his pockets, Crocket says he only has 5 minutes to find it, while going searching, Honda with Bakura and Mokuba on his piggyback.
Jounouchi frantically searched and nothing, Mai passes by and gives her honor right card wrapped in her handkerchief, Jounouchi feels grateful to her goes to the duel arena.
The duel starts, in the beginning is Keith taking the lead, then Jounouchi turned the game to his favor, then became a duel of back and forth, Pegasus paid close attention being 2 opposites against each other, he makes an interesting observation, Keith is cheating desperately to win while Jounouchi plays fair, the duel ends with Jounouchi's victory.


Key Points:

I like this scene about how the gang and Dark Yugi admit it was very difficult duel for Dark Yugi between each other, which shows not just humility from Dark Yugi side but also from the gang who tend to be quite self-righteous, but the gang were faster in becoming more down to earth than Dark Yugi, who still has some ways to go and in his inner monologue feeling very grateful for the duel with Mai which taught a very important lesson.

Besides the exchange between Jounouchi and Keith which is about Keith being disrespectful in putting his feet or boots on the table, Dark Yugi agrees for different reasons related to his passionate and intense ethic and honour as a duelist, Jounouchi's reasons comes from somewhere else, looking back in Volume 2 of the early volumes, the environment of his home, his alcoholic father does exactly the same thing Keith is doing here, if you look at Jounouchi's eyes and the way he says about he dislikes seeing the bottom of anybody's boots...:

"I don't like seeing the bottom of anybody'boots...but you're about as good as dog crap on the bottom of my shoe!"

Jounouchi is mostly referring indirectly to his own father and finds it as extremely rude and disrespectful independently the individual being a duelist or not, to be honest, I wholeheartedly agree with him, at minimum decency not put feet on the table, specially in someone's else house/location as basic good manners at the very least, Jounouchi is seeing behaviour and attitude in Keith is a strong resemblance to his father.

So subtle of Takahashi-sensei showing Bakura and Honda have successfully saved Mokuba, I do still wonder why Yami Bakura saved Honda to help saving Mokuba, it's plain strange or to help trigger some future events regarding Pegasus...Yami Bakura is certainly a mysterious villain character, we don't know what kind scheme he is playing by keeping a low profile...

This scene may be quite serious, but Bandit Keith thought about 5 minutes of waiting being the most useless five minutes of his life, it's hilarious and quite relatable, I know I have been waiting for an hour in a hairdresser, 30 mins at the hospital/clinic and social assistance, when you finish your test in a class and you have to wait until the bell rings, anyone had this kind of feeling before, pffft, so funny.

If you want to continue click "read more" below:

 

You're not, Jounouchi, naive but not stupid, it wasn't your fault either for losing the card, I think once he sees something isn't going well or something like this happens, he tends to guilt himself a lot when it isn't, this scene won't be the last when he guilts himself, Jounouchi tends to underestimate his worth as a person a lot, what's more interesting about him, he works on himself as person first  before as duelist, because other duelists put himselves as duelists first instead as an individual like he just said before entering the castle to Yugi "Before I'm a duelist, I'm Katsuya Jounouchi...That's just the kind of guy I am...", I think it shows where his strength of character lies.
He is also a very committed person to his goals and loved ones, it's a trait Jounouchi and Kaiba have in common however they contrast from different personalities and how they apply their dedication, Kaiba is more dogmatic and pragmatist while Jounouchi is more rough and righteous (much healthier).

Jounouchi acknowledges to some degree, card battles needs luck to win, not just skills, the flaw in this acknowledgement is that he thinks it applies only to him and not to the other duelists, when it does applies to every player, then again underestimating his worth.

Jounouchi and Yugi have similar insecurities about themselves, Yugi is about his strength of character while Jounouchi is about his worth, when they have way more than they think.

You know, Jounouchi, it's okay to cry, having emotions and being sensitive is not something to be ashamed of, but I do understand not wanting to cry in front of someone...

When she says to save his tears if he loses duel and she gives the handkerchief, Jounouchi realizing is wet, it implies she has been crying after her defeat against Dark Yugi, Jounouchi realizes as well, oh Mai :( , but don't worry, what you taught Dark Yugi in the duel will to be vital to his character development and growth as an entity.

 

This scene, it reveals once again deep down Mai is actually very generous, in her own way but only to those she cares about, I guess she doesn't show this generous side to her not just to anyone, it has to be someone who she can trust and is aware the person is good-natured and honest.

  

I really like this scene, the art is good as well, specially the last panel indicate they were in front of the door to the entrance to the duel arena , the eyes shape changes depending in their emotions in Jounouchi like Kaiba, it usually seems to mean when their mind is clear and determined, he was also moved by her gesture and friendship.

Dark Yugi makes an interesting comment and information about card games, he is actually quite right, because there is the luck playing an important role in a card game, we have to remember the cards we draw relies on luck a lot, there is a reason why is possible to spend more than one hour to organize and build your deck, we try to make it as much possible relying more on skill than luck, which is hard, luck influences the tide of the duel, there is other elements helps to control the flow of the duel, but it will be brought up in the duel between Yugi and Dark VS Pegasus.

"Maybe the cards sensed his good intentions...his need to save his sister!"

Heart of the Cards, it's something mentioned a lot besides Destiny Draw, as if the cards can act on their own, in Yu-Gi-Oh! world logic, this is possible depending on your connection to your cards and deck, funny enough, certain monsters cards are important pieces of the main plot, they have a role as well.

Here is some amusing observations on Pegasus part about the duel...

 

In this scene, Pegasus reveals some backstory about the aftermath of their duel, this some of the dark scenes like the early volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the duel did strongly affected him to the point of going into underground gambling duels, it was Bandit Keith lowest point, Pegasus curious goes peeking their minds...

 

This is an accurate description of this duel. you can see Pegasus became very intrigued by the duel, he literally saw this contrast between light and darkness, they may look different and separate but they are one and the same, two sides of the same coin, one cannot exist without the other, connected by a continuum and a spectrum, depending on each individual inclination towards, some don't fall to neither of these (called the neutral or the outsider), for example hope and despair, they're both wills of keep fighting, one is more positive and the other is negative.

You can be blinded by both being in the end negative, in my opinion what's really making the difference, Bandit Keith is blinded by despair and revenge, Jounouchi could be blinded by hope and trust but he isn't because he knows his flaws, weaknesses, he knows very well there is darkness in life, life can be very harsh, he doesn't pretend there is no shadows in the light, he accepts it and face it head on, we can see Jounouchi is far more down to earth than it looks and strength of character, the light and darkness in Jounouchi is stable, on the other hand Bandit Keith is unstable.

 

Pegasus brings up a fascinating truth about despair and revenge, when you reach a certain point of these two elements, it can become irresistible, specially if you don't have self-control, I think is amusing how Jounouchi keeps quiet with a dark expression when Keith asks if he ever risked life before and has seen hell, we know Jounouchi had a harsh and dark past and he may have his friends now but still has a harsh life, he points out the rule of himself and duelist kingdom, being "survival of the fittest", he's right though, difference is Bandit Keith is the most desperate.

I do like how impressed Dark Yugi is by Jounouchi's opponent, he may not like Keith but he admits to himself that Bandit Keith is indeed a very skilled player, if I have to say, he comes very close to Mai's level or both being on the same level at this time, Dark Yugi is not someone who easily admits such things to himself, even more being someone with a big ego and prideful, there will be another three players where he will be deeply impressed (The Ishtar siblings - Marik, specially Yami Marik and Ishizu, lastly Yami Bakura).

  

These particular panels means Dark Yugi vs Mai didn't just affected Dark Yugi, also affected Jounouchi and he watched, you can learn a lot just from watching a duel, from that duel and generous gesture from Mai, his respect for Mai increased just as a person but as duelist as well, he builds big admiration for Mai as a duelist but seeing her as a friend like Dark Yugi...

I guess it requires courage when you're facing an opponent face to face, in person, I really don't have much idea how is it, because I always played Yu-Gi-Oh! in video games, only few times against my little brother, but it's one of the main messages in the series from Takahashi, there is a big difference battling someone behind a screen and face to face, your reactions and behaviour are different, affects your performance in a duel (it's often mentioned by Takashi, including in his afterwords of the last volume).

 

I love the artwork on the panel with the Time Machine Trap Card and Jounouchi, I think is really cool and very expressive, then is Jounouchi's victory, same for the art in his victory pose, I think is cute how expressive he is when watching a friend duel, he becomes a bit more lively, same for Mai, when she watches Jounouchi dueling she also becomes more lively, same for Anzu or anyone, Jounouchi's vibrant personality is very contagious, Yugi also has an contagious personality but differently with his amiable personality.

See ya Next Post!!