Thoughts&Observations | Mangá Vol.32 Part 1/4 (Memory World Prologue)

Back on track, it took me longer than I expected to write this, not because of the number of panels, how the weeks have been going, lots of things have been slowing me down, which happens, many times...After this post, so when I will have time to post the next one (since scanning the pages I want is almost over..., so then I edit), and all I have to do is write.
Plot Summary:

Memory World Arc begins with Sugoroku Mutou (Yugi's grandfather) in his early fourties around the 60s in the Valley of the Kings accompanied by two siblings grave robbers, they speak about a specific tomb where the legendary game called "shadow games" happens, it is a tomb of a nameless pharaoh...
They rest a little for when the night comes, so they won't be seen at night to enter this royal tomb...
When they enter the tomb, in the start, not much happens, until they arrive at the entrance of a labyrinth, one of the grave robbers unlock a hidden trap, the entrance is closed, with spikes and the same for the walls side by side of the entrance and starts moving on it's own, so they're forced to enter the labyrinth with moving statues if you make the wrong move, you die or severely injured, if is the right one, it stays still.

Sugoroku and one grave robber survived, the other was killed by the moving statues for rushing, all that is left is to walk over some stone slabs laid down with sculptings of monsters as a bridge, Sugoroku passes by peacefully, when he is almost reaching the end, the grave robber from far behind who hadn't entered the bridge yet, shot Sugoroku on the shoulder from a gun he was carrying hidden, he entered this bridge and was swallowed by one of the monsters summoned from the stone slabs on it's own, while Sugoroku hanging to his life on the edge of the monsters's stone slabs bridge, when he wonders if this is the end, then an image or spirit of a young man who looked like a pharaoh who called Sugoroku a different name and "help" to get up and he reached the last room with the millenium puzzle inside the golden box...

30 years later or so, Sugoroku thinking about Yugi's fate and role with the millenium puzzle, it's revealed that after school, Yugi is going to the museum, so that Dark Yugi can start his quest to recover his lost memories, as he thinks about this, Yugi's grandfather enters his room and asks to see one more time to see the god cards, so there is a bit of a discussion to an important conversation (which  Sugoroku reveals he knew all along about the pharaoh soul that Yugi is hosting and his grandfather giving a warning and advice to Yugi about his role not only as a vessel of the pharaoh soul but also as the chosen one by the Millenium Puzzle...).


Key Points:

 

This is happening 30 years before the present now, when Sugoroku was in his early forties, this is pretty much about how Sugoroku Mutou got the Millenium Puzzle backstory, I think is a great way to open into the journey to the quest of the lost memories of the nameless pharaoh.

The conversation about the special tomb, the one as referred as that it has "shadow games", the mention of this team of archaeologists that this grave robber spoken about is probably the same one Sugoroku mentions in the beginning of the series, they're going to the Valley of the Kings, the graveyard of pharaohs of Egypt New Kingdom period, the way one of the escorts speaks of the special tomb as "that tomb", it implies the name of the pharaoh of this tomb is unknown, because no archaeologist was able to reach the point of where it reveals his name...

 

I have to say, Sugoroku in his forties was pretty handsome, you can see some similarities to Dark Yugi and Yugi as well, but his expressions is more Dark Yugi's inclined.

These two men escorting Sugoroku are grave robbers, because of the stories of mentioned tomb, no other grave robber ever tried since many have died already, including archaeologists, so they're only going with Sugoroku Mutou to rob the tomb, because Sugoroku being a professional gamer and him being interested in this game called "shadow games" inside this tomb, in order words, he will be the one doing the games leading them to the hidden treasure, you can tell in the panel when he says he is not interested in the treasure, you can tell he is bit suspicious of the grave robbers escorting him...you see the one who have been silent, the one his right side is hiding something prepared for Sugoroku...


If you want to keep reading, click "Read More" below:

 

I do agree a little with the grave robbers escorting Sugoroku, wearing a tuxedo isn't practical for this, it isn't not like these grave robbers are any better by wearing robes, when this kind of specific tomb seems to need a more practical clothing, even the tuxedo is slightly more practical than robes.

However the reason why he wears a tuxedo is based on his own principles as a gamer as he sees there must be a proper attire as a way to treat their opponent with respect, which is pretty interesting, but he says one more interesting thing is this...

"In fact, if I ever lose a game...Then I'll exchange my tux for denim overalls and collect years instead of chips..."

Here is the curious part, nowadays this is exactly what he is wearing in the present and collecting years, even though one would think he just retired, did he lost a game before and to whom (before Kaiba in Death-T, even in the beginning of the series, he was already wearing denim shorts and then overall denim)? even at the time he had his millenium puzzle and had Ryuji's father as apprentice and won the game against hiim, he still wore a suit or tuxedo, he still was a professional gamer and a famous one (even Kaiba when challenged him to a duel in Death-T admitted he was pretty skilled for his old age, even in the Death-T event, he didn't completely lost his touch as a professional gamer).
Who did he lost to for the first time I wonder or might be not related to a loss of a game but different kind of loss? my headcanons would be maybe the loss of his wife or his first time he lost to a game was his grandson Yugi or even Yugi's father (we just know he works abroad but is most likely to a company, it's possible he is a professional gamer or player, who knows, we don't know much about him)?

Even his way of speaking and  demeanour is so similar to Dark Yugi, it's possible Dark Yugi did unconsciously got his habits (I would even dare to say that Dark Yugi is more similar to Sugoroku than Yugi, Yugi certainly got his grandfather's talent and interest in games for sure but the approach is a bit different and personality wise too), but how would that even happen...?

Here we have a bit more of a gist of him stating that he defeated every opponent at any game he played (this made me think of a fun headcanon, Gozaburo supposedly was the best professional chess player, is it possible that maybe he has defeated Gozaburo or vice-versa - made him retired? who knows), despite Sugoroku principles and demeanour is similar to Dark Yugi with games, but the obsession with games in general is very visible in Yugi, even though he knows this "shadow games" named "game room" are dangerous and many have died, he still goes after the game anyway, just like Yugi would be willing to skip lunch just for a game...

 

The more quiet one is the leader, it seems the two grave robbers escorting Sugoroku are brothers, the quiet one had a gun hidden and seems to be the older sibling while the scaredy and talkative is the younger one, you can tell he is already planning something and possibly killing Sugoroku...

The game room itself, it's obvious is a labyrinth and there is some statues armed with weapons, and under the statues there is some sort of rails...(I wonder how it even works)

Obviously it was because one of the grave robbers who was the most in a rush is what unlocked the trap without looking, nothing good happens if you rush, I have to say, the author has a bit of a gory taste with those skeletons hanging still there of those who died...

 

It's quite impressive how prepared he came to be for this game, he must have researched quite a bit about Ancient Egypt to recognise these kind of details (even though the left forward foot is still in most discussion what is for and meaning, I guess it depends it's meaning in some places...) because the left foot is related to the heart since is in the left side of the chest, in this case must be this, Sugoroku makes interesting observations and understanding it's purpose by testing the wisdom and humility of the intruders, which is interesting to think about, one can wonder who designed this...

Because most people aren't used to walk with left foot first, one of the grave robbers gets easily scared because of the special way that a person has to walk inside this labyrinth, so he rushes and...

It's impressive that sometimes in Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series can get really violent, it makes me twitch a little sometimes, this is one of those times (Marik's ritual and Marik's father on what he did to Rishid's back, there is few others I don't remember well), the more reasonable and fishy grave robber does have a bond with his sibling and slightly protective, but still towards more himself...

 

You can tell from his expression in the beginning that this grave robber was planning to kill him anyway...also Sugoroku kinda suspected but he tried to keep calm to see it through the game and to get out of this situation by conquering the shadow games, in part the grave robber shot him because of his brother and the other for his greed, more inclined for his greed...

I think this scene could go a little more gory if the author was allowed to but I find the drawings of the monster very impressive, the amazing details in this scene, you can tell some influence from american comics in his art style despite being quite unique, even the manga is in comparison to the others, you can see lines making the shadows and shading, compared to what's coming, this is almost nothing.

As for this bridge being a trap to summon from the stone slabs on it's own, it's strange in how this part works, it didn't work on Sugoroku who was passing the bridge, since the grave robber cheated and was dishonourable, he received the "penalty game" of the shadow game of this tomb, I think there is more to it...in some posts later, I will approach this in the last part of this volume...

 

This is when things get very interesting, Sugoroku sees this image of a young boy/man in king-like robe and tunic with a cape, but also same kind of hair in shape mostly as his own, the readers knows well is Dark Yugi or can be mentioned as "pharaoh spirit", but here is a curious part is it seems he is not wearing the millenium puzzle...to look further in how Sugoroku was saved from edge of the bridge...

The Pharaoh spirit, the fact he is not wearing the millenium puzzle says is still in pieces inside the famous golden box (remember when Yugi wasn't wearing the millenium puzzle, Dark Yugi spirit wouldn't show wearing the puzzle, like the talk about Ishtar family tragic story and when Yugi entered Dark Yugi's soul room), what's more interesting is what he says:

"Siamun...I've been waiting..."

The fact he is addressing Sugoroku by a different name, it's obvious is someone the pharaoh spirit knew from when he was alive, this scene alone reveals many things, for starters, before Yugi completed puzzle, his spirit could still watch over things from a certain distance even when the millenium puzzle was in pieces, the other thing is he still had his memories at this time, which means when Yugi completed the millenium puzzle, it was like Yugi hit the "reset/restart button" and he didn't remembered anything then, not even the time spent before the puzzle was completed, it also means he watched over Sugoroku from this point on (if he could slightly interact  with him like this) and onward, he watched Sugoroku's son growing up (Yugi's father), his grandson (Yugi), when Sugoroku lost his wife (Yugi's grandmother, remember it was mentioned she passed away from Sugoroku's NDE when his soul travelled freed from Pegasus card and to his body and said he have seen her), it also explains how Dark Yugi could speak and read japanese too, these memories were in his subconscious which is why the pharaoh spirit when he was "restarted", he thought himself was Yugi's other self in the beginning, it's pretty  amazing when you think about it...wow...

If you look back into very the first volume, Yugi said the box with the millenium puzzle inside was in a shelf of the game store gathering dust, it makes you re-think about other things about this as well and brainstorming headcanons like crazy, he must have watched over when Yugi was baby, a newborn and everything, it also explains why Dark Yugi is so protective of Yugi and treats his host with care and acted like a mentor to him as well, it was already in his subconscious from seeing him growing up to a 15 years old boy as if he was his spirit guardian, older brother, father (he must have seen Yugi growing up with his father absent and felt a certain kind of fatherly responsibility)...
It also explains his cocky personality, as we have seen above, Sugoroku was cocky and pretty confident but in his early 40s, from life experiences, it was mostly what made him more humble, in this panel you see that Dark Yugi was slightly different from how he is now, I guess subconsciously it influenced him a little for watching and the "shell game", he must have known from Sugoroku as well by watching him play before he was "restarted" and went to his subconscious memories... 

It's curious when pharaoh spirit calls Sugoroku as Siamun, it might imply that Sugoroku had a past life or is because he looks so much like this man called Siamun...

There is a question can be raised, if Dark Yugi had his memories before the millenium puzzle was completed for the first time, and restarted when the puzzle was completed, when Yugi was doing the 2nd time in the fire, it didn't happen again and didn't lost his memories from when the puzzle was completed first time to the time being completed again? I do think the answer lies in Yugi sharing his body with the pharaoh spirit, there is memories stored in the brain, including the pharaoh spirit/dark yugi from when he took over, not just Yugi and not just inside the millenium puzzle and also because Yugi is "the chosen one", and if was a different person - the person would die or would then be really restarted...but Yami Bakura already implied if someone else completed, the person would have died...

I almost forgotten how beatifully drawn is this panel, specially the pharaoh spirit/Dark Yugi...it's one of my favourite panels of the manga series...

I do think he is quite right, the prophecy that the Ishtar family said in the Epilogue of Battle City, which was pretty much speaking about the pharaoh spirit (Dark Yugi) and the host (Yugi), the one who has made the prophecy, probably was the wielder of the millenium tauk from the time Dark Yugi was alive and died, so it started from the moment his spirit was sealed inside the millenium puzzle or slightly before...

Here it is, they finally have decided to go to the museum, one wonders what was taking so long, I only say this because the timeline of this seems to be slightly after summer (these museum exhibits such archaeological ones, temporary ones like these can take 4 or more months), the battle city time seemed Spring was coming to a close by their clothing (remember the Anzu and Dark Yugi date on their light clothing), I have noticed certain Yugi's habits in his clothing and uniform in certain weather seasons, this must be around the beginning of fall (6 months later, which means Dark Side dimensions is Yugi and the gang already in their 3rd year as high schooler, I thought it was weird when I watched the movie, the practice for the graduation ceremony and the graduation ceremony...), so this must be around the beginning of Fall/Autumn.

Next up, I find interesting about a mention off-panel from Yugi's thoughts that Anzu later about when they decided to go the museum, she informed them about the stone slab where it shows Dark Yugi and the priest that looks like Kaiba...it seems it took pretty long for her to reveal this to them...I say them because Yugi thought "Anzu said there's an(...)" and not "said to me", which implies she said to all her friends or a mistype and was just to Yugi she said it...

 

It's highly amusing seeing Yugi showing a very angry expression, it's not often we see this side of him and yelling like that, it's pretty funny xDD.

Yugi without realising it was saying everything as if in his subconscious kinda knew, what I don't get really is Sugoroku acting as if he doesn't know and Yugi's shock when he implied clearly that he knew about it to Yugi in Duelist Kingdom , I would say is just a small mistake on the author's part or is Sugoroku little trick for being old and pretend it doesn't remember...also there is more...

If we look into one of Yugi's thoughts in this scene:

"Uh-Oh...Granpa hasn't met the other me...!"

Yugi didn't thought "he doesn't know" but it was "he didn't met" and also doesn't know that his granpa already talked with Dark Yugi in Duelist Kingdom and when got the millenium puzzle, so he was suspicious that he might know due to their conversation in Duelist Kingdom without full confirmation, he just let it slip subconsciously and also another thing, I think Yugi is more shocked about how he knew Dark Yugi was the spirit of the pharaoh and before Yugi himself than his granpa knowing of "the other yugi"...this says a lot, that Yugi never asked and knew how he got the millenium puzzle and probably doesn't know that he was actually a professional gamer in his younger days (when in the anime is a little different, even Sugoroku personality is a little different), he just knows that he travelled around the world and collected different kind of games...

 

Once again, Sugoroku is so on point in this and previously too, even he kinda knows and guessed right that Yugi has the duty to send Dark Yugi/pharaoh soul to afterlife, but before that, there will trials, but he also suspects that even after Yugi is done with his duty as vessel of the pharaoh spirit, he will still tested (by looking at end of the series and Dark Side of Dimensions), Yugi's reaction tells that he understood very well what his grandfather just said.

 

Sugoroku is more or less giving a warning and advice, what I wonder is at the end...Yugi probably wondering why he suddenly was from so serious wise old man to petting his head while playing with his hair as if Yugi was a little kid.
With these reveals to Yugi must mean, the confirmation that he knows the big picture of Yugi's situation with the pharaoh spirit (expect me to vary a lot between pharaoh spirit and Dark Yugi a lot, depending on circumstances).

See Ya Next Post!