Thoughts&Observations | Mangá Vol.18-19 Part 5 (Jounouchi VS Insector Haga)

This time it will be a bit smaller than the previous, but the summary might be a bit long.


Plot Summary:

We left off with Marik getting closer to Domino City, so the scene changes in focusing Anzu, Sugoroku (Yugi's grandfather) and Ryou Bakura searching for Yugi and Jounouchi and not having much success, comes the time for lunch, Anzu remembers where Jounouchi might be, Beef Burger.
The scene changes to the location of where Jounouchi is as Anzu suspected, Jounouchi eating with his duel disk still on his arm without considering it might be hurting others around him as he eats, a man who he accidentally snapped in the face called him out, Jounouchi feels offended for being called out of not removing his duel disk and the owner of the Beef Burger called him out as well, Jounouchi listen to him because he has given him free pickles (I don't think it's the only reason, I 'll approach this rude behaviour).
After Jounouchi removes his duel disk and put on the table, a kid was passing by and steals Jounouchi's duel disk, Jounouchi notices straight away, leaves his pay and left the restaurant to go after the kid and quickly catches him as his friends caught up with him.
The kid tells a sob story as he lost a duel, he lost his deck and duel disk, Jounouchi buys the story while the others specially Sugoroku is giving the benefit of doubt, suspicious, Jounouchi is decided to duel against this person, they do have an interesting conversation between Jounouchi and Anzu, sharing a tidbit of the current state of Shizuka, even though the surgery was a success but Shizuka is scared to take off the bandages, Anzu to Jounouchi "reporting" Honda went on some trip, Jounouchi knowing full well Honda, he understood straight away where he went...
A scene transition goes to the kid thief talking with another kid, this other kid reveals to be Insector Haga who orchestrated the whole thing to put one of Haga cards, a parasite card in Jounouchi's deck, with the condition of giving a rare card to the thief kid, unsurprisingly Insector Haga given a "common" card (so he lied), the thief kid calls out and Haga attacks him with a bug killer to his eyes and leaves to prepare himself for the duel...
Jounouchi meets Haga and the duel starts, right at the first turn, Jounouchi got his parasite card and was automatically special summoned due to it's effect and activates it's player field effect, from the start Jounouchi is in a corner, as the duel goes on, there plenty transition scenes between this duel and Honda going to the Hospital to pick up Shizuka followed by Otogi Ryuji and convince Shizuka to go with them to give courage to Jounouchi since Jounouchi is dueling to do the same for her.
The duel ends with Jounouchi's victory.



Key Points:

 

I want to mention this titbit scene which talks about their daily life a little bit, Anzu mentions while blushing a little(it could be from feeling tired from walking searching for Yugi and Jounouchi) and expressing her opinion that Yugi should get a cell phone is interesting, indicating Yugi isn't much for technology unless there is games involved...he needs to reorganize his priorities a little...

Honda not telling he is picking up Shizuka just to surprise Jounouchi and them, another cute titbit from Bakura, he participates in campaigns and write the plots for these tabletop RPGs campaigns, which later Anzu reflects on it as "seems like everybody's drifting apart these days...", it's natural, you're all in 2nd year High School, one wonders what's Yugi future...as profession (Jounouchi for me is kinda easy, it's what he always have been doing as part-time jobs, Anzu - we already know to be a dancer, Honda I suppose I can have a guess it will be something similar to Jounouchi or something else, Bakura might be related to RPGs or game designer of RPGs, Otogi Ryuji is easy because he already works as game designer, Kaiba is electronic gaming engineer and president of KaibaCorp, but Yugi is a real mystery for me because he has so much potential and promise yet he always not thought of his future until recently because of the circumstances regarding the spirit of the pharaoh he is hosting made him think about his own future, but what kind? I have a feeling the end of Dark Side of Dimensions movie will give a glimpse).


If You want to continue reading this post click "read more" below:

Ryou Bakura is a very sharp young boy, but one wish he could have more character development in terms of personal growth, but his life got a little better after millenium enemy arc, which is good to know, I guess Takahashi is already developing so many at the same time, there isn't much space for him and Honda, but Honda appeared since the beginning so he had and has a bit more development.

 

Jounouchi, Jounouchi...no matter who you are or hobby you have or pride, it's not okay to behave like this, specially when the duel disk is hurting someone in the face because you didn't remove it, then Jounouchi felt a bit embarrassed, admit it within but doesn't say it, remember Jounouchi has a bit of foul-mouth because he isn't good at expressing himself, you can see in the series some people aren't good at expressing themselves but they show it differently, the characters who has problems at expressing themselves are Kaiba, Jounouchi and Yugi, Kaiba and Jounouchi are very similar in the way they show this personality trait, they both have a foul-mouth but they do it differently, Kaiba is cynical full of arrogance and pride, while Jounouchi is much more raw and rough, Yugi is simple, he is very shy, but he is starting to coming out of his shell.

To be honest, I wouldn't put the duel disk over there, but there isn't much space, Jounouchi is pretty athletic and Jounouchi seems to know it as well, he is very fast, so he quickly caught up with the kid.

It seems Dark Yugi intense sense of justice has been influencing Jounouchi, however using word "hate" is a bit strong there, Anzu and Ryou are a bit suspicious of this story.
Is it a good thing this influence? I think it is but to some extent, no need to be that intense about it...even friends are seeing he is being a bit intense...
It isn't just Dark Yugi's sense of justice has been influencing him...

 

As expected of an old man with lots of life experience and having a sharp mind as well guessed right about the thief kid, he even suggested to check his deck just in case, I think Jounouchi has some points right and some points wrong, he is right about people being cynical mostly, but not 100% right having faith in people (I lost long time ago, until proven the contrary, I am aware there is only the minority), it's moving and nice but... it's important to always give the benefit of doubt, the benefit of doubt is giving a chance to the person to prove their trust as much having the guard up, just in case, it's putting you in a neutral position, I'm not okay blindly having faith in others, but I don't think Jounouchi is doing this blindly, he questions a bit, but he takes it literally, I think this faith in people is Yugi's influence who always gives the benefit of doubt and second chance but he never does it blindly, then Jounouchi says...

"If you can't trust people...How can you trust anything?"

How about starting trusting yourself and loved ones?

I can get where it comes from, but it doesn't have to be for every single person you meet, you can trust someone to some extent, yes, I do think there is levels of trust, to most people small amount of trust that you would give to a stranger, because trust is something you earn and not given on a silver platter.

On a related note about these recent attitudes of Jounouchi sense of justice and kindness being influences from Dark Yugi (sense of justice) and Yugi (kindness) in different aspects based on their each of their own individual strengths, it shows even Jounouchi can distinguish them to some extent and can tell the difference, he sees Yugi as the Yugi he knows and Dark Yugi as the other yugi, but like I said in previous posts he probably knows they're 2 entities of their own because he sees them as important friends anyway, and that's the most important part and matters the most to him, so he doesn't think much about it.

In these panels, the Yugi he is referring here is Dark Yugi, because he always dueled against the "Yugi he knows" and not the other Yugi (Dark Yugi), he wants to duel against, but he says something cheesy as this, that's shounen and teenage years for you to make friends rivalry more dramatic than it needs to be, I can't take it seriously this kind of stuff, I'll see more as the light side of things.
However I do understand wanting to go to the same level or very close in terms of skills and attitude in dueling and agree having faith in the future is very important, believing your life and future will get better.

 

Now this part we can take more attention, the character arc, in this case, Jounouchi's arc is related to his sister because of the familial issues with their parents, the way he explains is that he wants to be a good role model to his little sister, how a big brother is supposed to be, it's a role as big brother he takes it very seriously, to him Yugi and Dark Yugi are inspiring him to be a good role model to his little sister Shizuka, to me it makes more sense, because he is feeling the way he can show and give courage to her sister and express that is through dueling, one would think how duel a trading card game could do such a thing? it depends how you look at it as this series is trying to show, if you don't give up and fight until the end attitude being it TCG or chess or work or school, it can encourage others, for Jounouchi that's his way of encouraging because like I said in the post about the duel of Jounouchi Vs Esper Roba , TCG duel Monsters/Magic&Wizards is also can be a way to express yourself, discovering how he can express himself properly (as I said some paragraphs ago, he is not good at expressing himself because of his foul-mouth).

On Shizuka situation, I think is pretty realistic of her being scared in taking off the bandages full of uncertainty and anxiety after a surgery and not being sure if she can see again or if the person she wants to see first when she opens her eyes will be there (being Jounouchi).

 

It's good seeing him being this positive, my only issue, is not just Jounouchi but in other characters and other stories as well that seems to believe that by winning it's when we can get somewhere or seems to mean "true achievement" and by losing you go nowhere. what about neutral people? what's bad in being a loser, anyway? why treat as a lesser being because is a loser or always lose, I don't agree with that kind of mindset that seems sometimes society is trying to teach us.
If Jounouchi faces the challenges head on whether he wins or loses and fight again, I think is giving courage, more than enough.

Now here is a particular detail of Jounouchi I found interesting is that he doesn't want Yugi to know...it's probably because he already did so much for him and feels he has to do this himself being his own battle he has to win himself (to me this makes much more sense to me).

 

What a jerk! anyway to the point, once again Insector Haga up to no good, he hasn't changed one bit, so disappointing, it seems the only thing that has grown from him is his deck.
Using a bug killer to some kid's eyes, that's just terrible, but it shows that even without his TCG skills he can still stand up and defend for himself with a bug killer.
Now as for why he is targeting Jounouchi is because...

 

Insector Haga is a sore loser.
One can't deny it, he has a big ego, he is being childishly overconfident by calling it his new improved deck as "super insect deck", cute metaphor of Haga's perception of Jounouchi current skill level (we all know Jounouchi is intermediate, not a beginner anymore).
What I find amusing how he refer to Yugi as spiky-haired, others as baby goth, others punky hair or punk or goth punk, we all know is just a natural color and hair (Sugoroku had the hairstyle and colour), emphasising Yugi's and Dark Yugi hair it's easy to spot and stands out plus their fashion sense. (pffft too funny).

Nice choice of clothes Honda, trying to impress someone...? I find interesting Ryuji following him and heard about his sister, but from who? it could have been from Anzu or their classmates...but Shizuka situation of not being able to take off the bandages? does he knows it? it seems the gang and Sugoroku knows except Yugi, 

I can see Ryuuji feels guilty about how he treated Jounouchi and Yugi but there is something else as well.

 

I find this conversation very curious because is between being realistic and idealist, practical and naivety, to be frank, I think Ryuji is right, even Shizuka agrees, if we look at it logically, even if we encourage the person or give our support, the person who is being encouraged and being supported has to make the choice to make the first step (I can speak for experience and for a friend of mine) , I do think bravery and courage isn't a personality trait but an active response to difficult or dangerous situations that affects your morale, because it's technically an attitude and choice of how you deal with your problems, fears, anxiety, etc.
Now what Honda says is mostly naivete, it doesn't mean he is completely wrong and not explaining properly or not understanding well yet, I'll answer for him, it's important for people to know they have support and encouragement from loved ones, including advice, but is still the choice whether the person is willing to listen and come to it's own conclusion and decision to act on it, and it isn't that simple.
It seems Ryuji reached the point of what he wanted to find out, to come to understand from his own perspective and what he can learn from observing and staying close.

Putting clothes of Honda's sister aside, he was thoughtful and give her time to gain courage and take her for the trip so she can go see Jounouchi, I think Honda is aware the first person she wants to see is her big brother, so he went to pick her up, but there's more to it than just helping Jounouchi's sister for Jounouchi giving her courage...

 

These panels shows how well Honda knows and understands Jounouchi way of thinking, knows his tendencies to lose focus and doubting himself, he knows if Shizuka is there present, Jounouchi won't lose sight of his "future" and path, because he knows very well the source of Jounouchi's courage is Shizuka and vice versa, indicating Honda is fully aware of Jounouchi family situation and their siblings bond being very strong...

But also I think Honda knows if they encourage each other, Jonouchi to Shizuka and vice versa, they will be able to overcoming anything, I think helps much better to feel motivated to keep moving forward and take the first step.

 

These panels, specially Shizuka it shows how strongly attached she is to Jounouchi, showcasing their sibling strong bond, because she is the sister he calls Jounouchi by his name (Katsuya), in her thoughts "you big dummy", what little sisters called their big brothers when they were small, she is very fond of the memories she has with Jounouchi before their parents got divorced and remembers well and knows well her big brother.

As expected from a master of games, Sugoroku already knew it, he probably have met professional con artists and knows it's techniques, so he can tell from first glance, now here is again the whole thing about outwitting your opponent before the battle or game, what pisses me off is that they don't seem to know honourable ways of outwitting your opponent unless is by cheating and using cowardly tactics, do I think he is being a brilliant strategist using such low tactics? No, it's what a coward strategist would do.

 

No, Ryou Bakura, it's not genius but cunning and very sly, he is a cunning and coward strategist, because if wasn't for the parasite card cheating tactic, he wouldn't be so overconfident but more focused on the duel instead. not boasting so much.

I think what Anzu is saying is that if you give up before the duel ends, that's when you truly lost, you have to keep giving yourself a fighting chance until the end, keep moving forward, I do think she is quite right, you wouldn't a be good role model if you did that :).
I also think it is a very important message, because sometimes we want to give up without giving a fight until the end, it's a good reminder to not give up.

 

It's a very relatable mistake Jounouchi made, I did it a few times before because I tend to be forgetful, even though I love strategy games, but I do believe others may have done similar or same mistakes as he did.

 

What he is saying is partially true, I wouldn't say found a weakness against the Haga's army of insects but it can counter the combo Haga implanted in Jounouchi's deck, the parasite card, as we all know the card Jounouchi uses is the one which isn't affected by magic card or monster effects as target, "Gearfried, The Iron Knight", it was a clever move with nice quick thinking, I find so funny Ryou Bakura thinking what Jounouchi says is a bluff, it's not but I think Jounouchi is taking this chance to say a cool phrase about to play his trump card.

Not an amateur anymore, these duelists seem to forget we start off as amateurs...-.-", good grief, besides Jounouchi isn't an amateur anymore as I said before in this post and previous posts, he is starting to enter on a intermediate level.

Sorry for taking so long to post this one, I had some daily life events that prevented me to advance on this post, since from now on I start off as a draft (being constantly revised), once is finished, I publish it.

See ya next time!!