This post will be covering Volume Duelist 18 only ( Japanese print volume 25, bukodan volume 15 or 16) and a little of Volume Duelist 19 (volume 26 japanese print).
Plot Summary:
After the duel was over, Jounouchi and friends were in the medical room to see if the mysterious man pretending to be Marik (Rishid) was okay, who they still don't know his name, they both felt compassion and sadness for this man being in coma and left alone by Yami Marik, Jounouchi then remembers and reveals how he stand up and won the match, being through a dream with his friends pulling him to get up, however he forgets to mention and setting as added detail, so Mai who considers Jounouchi as a friend and being sure they see her as a friend as well, so she asks Jounouchi if she was in the dream, Jounouchi feels awkward since she wasn't in the dream, so he explains why she wasn't being in a school setting and all, even though Mai understood and the way he explained had good intentions yet she couldn't help but feel disappointed and hurt...
Mai and the others go to the meeting to see who are the next two contestants to fight, right off the bat, it's Mai who is next as she going towards the arena still feeling upset about the "dream", so she acts tough specially to Jounouchi while the others tell her they will cheer her on.
When Yami Marik was in the medical room, who he already killed the doctor overlooking Rishid, he was about to kill Rishid with his Millenium Rod but is interrupted when is revealed that he is about to play a match...the duel is about to start...
Key Points:
Ishizu Ishtar already knew but at this point, a reader would think is because of the Millenium Tauk but since she is Marik's sister, she must have known way before she wore the Millenium Tauk, she implies only Rishid was the only hope that could stop from Yami Marik to take over...
I find it cute, the man they hardly know and since they heed he was a good person and worried being left alone, you see there is some growth in the group of how they display compassion, before it was in a righteous sense and now is more humble and kindness (Yugi's influence), you see Anzu and Jounouchi are the most worried about him, as for Anzu like Yugi, she doesn't like violence and fighting, Jounouchi for admiration and respect and wants to know his name, as for Dark Yugi questioning himself if the man was working for Marik, well for insisting in being Marik when clearly he wasn't, we can easily conclude it is the case but being sharp, he suspects there is more to this man and Marik, specially with the reveal of Dark Marik...
In the previous post, in the summary I focused on the dream but not as a key point, however in this post I will because it connects to this scene, it's important for his character and will affect Mai.
The way they look at Rishid as Jounouchi explains what decided the duel was that Jounouchi had friends waiting for him through a dream that made him remember while the mysterious man laying unconscious must had been felt all alone, Jounouchi is mostly right on the money, if you remember in Rishid's past, he was treated as a servant by Ishtar father and taking care of the Ishtar siblings, he probably didn't knew or sure if the siblings saw him as a servant or sibling, with this uncertainty never been confirmed which was clear in his backstory and hesitant, therefore he must have felt alone.
Now going into more detail about the dream...
The way they look at Rishid as Jounouchi explains what decided the duel was that Jounouchi had friends waiting for him through a dream that made him remember while the mysterious man laying unconscious must had been felt all alone, Jounouchi is mostly right on the money, if you remember in Rishid's past, he was treated as a servant by Ishtar father and taking care of the Ishtar siblings, he probably didn't knew or sure if the siblings saw him as a servant or sibling, with this uncertainty never been confirmed which was clear in his backstory and hesitant, therefore he must have felt alone.
Now going into more detail about the dream...
As it's clear to see is in the school setting, so appears only his school friends, since they're part of his daily life, Shizuka and Mai aren't here because they aren't part of his daily life, to me what impresses me the most is Kaiba being there as a classmate (does that mean even though Kaiba works at his company, sometimes go to school even though he doesn't really need it, maybe to gather intel about the public related to business, maybe) and to some small extent Jounouchi considers him as a friend, from the looks of it he is conscious that Kaiba acknowledges him as a duelist but in Kaiba's fashion, it could be connected that he owes Kaiba for saving his life in the Domino Pier, but the cat and dog dynamic between them is still there (xDD).
How Jounouchi handled it, it's hard to say, he is someone who can't lie but is obvious he sees her as friend, a friend outside of school, I don't think he handled the situation badly (since I have seen worse...yesterday I have seen a worse case, much worse case, chapter 25 from the manga Kuzumi-kun, Kuuki Yometemasu ka?)..., he definitively felt awkward about it, it's true he could always tell a white lie, but Jounouchi has a big mouth and is someone who just can't lie, for someone who has a big mouth, I'll give him credit for trying to put care in his words, he tried to explain the reason why Mai probably didn't appear in the dream...
If you look who is behind, some must have caught up what happened in this part, specially Anzu and Dark Yugi...
If you look who is behind, some must have caught up what happened in this part, specially Anzu and Dark Yugi...
It's visible she was very upset, understandable, to her friendship means a lot to her, she knows his explanation made some sense and there was no ill intention and deep down knows he sees her as a friend, probably thought she isn't an important friend enough to appear in his dream...Dark Yugi noticed and then must have realised the reason because reticencies in the top of his head which he connected with what happened earlier when she asked about the dream...
Anzu noticed as well, she is good at spotting this stuff and make notice her friend said something in a awkward manner, same for Dark Yugi specially when it comes to detect a slight change of behaviour and finding contradictions in them...
small note, I find Jounouchi last panel to be very cute, it's like it went chibi for a little.
She is upset, how she is dealing with her disappointment is what you would call act tough on yourself about being a duelist and thinking about her self-image that she built herself as a wall, this could be a way in not letting herself being upset in the moment and focus on the tournament instead, so she won't let her attachments distract her...it's not wrong but isn't quite right, but is understandable being upset for having high expectations in friendship with someone, which can happen and we can see where it comes from (it did happened to me before).
As you can see she is trying acting tough to them and to herself, but only Dark Yugi and Anzu knows this - Dark Yugi: "Mai..." | Anzu: "Miss Mai..." - but is cute, while worried and understanding about her being upset about the dream plus acting tough in attempting to create a wall around her and at the same time moved because it says their friendship actually means a lot to her, while Jounouchi just starting to realise why the sudden "toughness" might be related to him regarding the dream.
Jounouchi's expressions are hilarious, by this time around Jounouchi must have figure out that deep down it was his fault and starting to understand why she is acting suddenly tough...
The Next Post will be about this very important duel!
No comments:
Post a Comment