Thoughts&Observations | Mangá: Vol.4-7 Part 1 - Death-T Arc Part 1/3

 Hellos!!

I'm finally going back to Death-T arc, I did make a little more in the "old version" in comparison to "old version" of episodic arcs and Shadi arc, but from what I re-read, I was very unsatisfied, so I wanted to "remake" the thoughts and observations of the first 7 volumes, specially Shadi's arc and this one was one of the main reasons with the first chapter, the Monster World Arc will be the least changed because back then "the current" structure was starting taking shape.

I hope this pace keeps up!

Plot Summary:

Yugi and Jounouchi hang out at the arcade, Jounouchi speaks about a skilled gamer who is always at the top charts in most arcade games, since you can write only 3 letters, the top gamer is "Kai", Yugi starts playing a fighting game, Jounouchi tries to beat the "Kai" gamer records at the arcade, some kids pass by and confirms that "Kai" is actually Kaiba, someone who is considered as one of or the best gamer in Japan and is admired by kids.

Yugi continues playing his fighting game and local mode or online mode, where you can play against other people around Japan, Yugi was always winning at his games, it was always the same person challenging him, but Yugi was winning every single time, Jounouchi went to buy some beverages for them...Yugi's opponent was someone who were in the same arcade, a man dressed as his favourite actor and martial artist, seeing himself always losing to Yugi, the man give various hits to Yugi's face and Yugi who have been slightly knock out, the man steals his millennium puzzle and leaves, the kids get worried about Yugi, Yugi realising his millennium puzzle is missing, Jounouchi arrives seeing Yugi badly hurt and that someone stole his friend's puzzle, Jounouchi goes after the man, the same man challenges Jounouchi to a game that revolves around street fight, Jounouchi wins the fight and gets back Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.

Yugi and Jounouchi leave the arcade on the way home, however they are interrupted by Kaiba's chauffeur for receiving invitation to go to Kaiba's mansion, they feel they don't have much choice, they enter the car, Yugi and Jounouchi stay at the backseat while being greeted by a kid, Yugi already knows, Kaiba Mokuba (Mokuba Kaiba) who is Kaiba's little brother, while revealing his name and position as Kaiba brothers...Mokuba is the reception to the invited guests as not only for dinner but also to sleep at their mansion...

The dinner became dangerous since some of the food intentionally had poison, "incidentally" eaten by Jounouchi and Dark Yugi started to take over to become a game against time and Mokuba...Dark Yugi won the game...

The next day, Kaiba wake up from his nightmare about his penalty game and thinking this day was to realise his revenge on Yugi and Dark Yugi...but pretends on to act nice and takes Yugi and Jounouchi to the opening ceremony to his "amusement park", while with some instances that they get suspicious, then Kaiba takes to the last place...Yugi's grandpa inside a glass box seating in front of a table, Yugi gets worried, the same for Yugi's grandpa, basically Kaiba kidnapped both, he challenged Yugi's grandpa to a duel inside the glass box, however is a high tech glass box that can invoke holograms of the monsters in the cards during the duel...Yugi's grandpa is shocked and even more due to his old age, Kaiba won and give a similar "penalty game" that Dark Yugi did to him, Yugi begs Kaiba to free his grandpa, Kaiba agrees on the condition of Yugi accepting his challenge in facing his game challenge named "Death-T", Yugi agrees and Jounouchi and Honda(with his baby nephew reluctantly joining and who is a fan of Kaiba) decided to come along and help Yugi.

Death-T game has 5 stages, at the first stage they see Anzu working as part-time job of the first stage of Death-T not knowing what is going on...in summary the challenges proven to be really dangerous and somewhat rigged in some places, Shooting Stardust (it's about shooting opponents at paintball style  and supposedly harmless), "Not make a sound"(by showing horrifying images as well sensorial), the murderer mansion has a riddle, Yugi was able to solve it.

Yugi and Co. going to the next challenge.

Key Points:

 

As explained in the plot summary, these arcades games are connected online across Japan, however you can use only 3 letters, at this time, this is the mid-late 90s, the internet and the online play was still very young but was growing fast in technology, so Jounouchi says some interesting things and more regarding a certain gamer who he found was legend around Japan:

"It's not just this game...the puzzle games and the fighting games...this «Kai» has the high score on almost all of the games in this arcade. Plus, these games are connected online to arcades across the country! That means this «Kai» dude is the number one gamer in Japan!"

I wonder who is this «Kai», any reader could easily guess who it was, it's Kaiba as revealed by the kids in Panels Ensemble on the Right.

However I find interesting is that «Kai» Kaiba had the highest score in almost all games, it wasn't all games in the arcade, I wonder which games he didn't get the highest score, I can make a few bets...dance games but the ones you have to move your feet a lot, rhythmic games is a maybe, games that require somewhat fast almost athletic reaction, does that reveal that Kaiba isn't really athletic or he thinks is too much work? 😂

Yugi was quite interested and impressed by this «Kai» gamer and even wondered, but he did thought of something "Kai" in the names records, also it seems to be pretty recent for Yugi going to arcade that he was impressed or is rare for him to go (I guess he favours traditional games over videogames), it may not be surprising that he isn't in these records.

After the kids reveal this "Kai" records are Kaiba's and they can't beat it (Yugi could if he was invested in it as much he is in more traditional), Jounouchi gets irritated while Yugi...

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Thoughts&Observations | Mangá: Vol.1-3 Part 8 - Episodic Arcs Phase 4

Hellos!

I'm going through some rough stuff at home, but I'll do my best to keep my intended speed to finish these old updates and Dark Side of Dimensions by end of July or early August, to make it easier to refer these observations and thoughts - analysis-esque of Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and original source material (Dark Side of Dimensions was written by Kazuki Takahashi, so it can be considered as source material).

Writing in this blog is what helping my mind to keep busy with something else that isn't bothering me.

This post will be about the Episodic Arcs between Shadi's arc and Death-T arc.

Enjoy yourselves seeing through the words of a character development of a character that I liked a lot to later in the series disappear, disappointingly, since this is his last time he shines and one more appearance in Death-T, that's it.

Plot Summary:

Chapter 21 * Digital Pet Duel

A small digital game is very popular around Domino High School, using digital device where you raise a digital pet, Yugi's friends have them except Honda since he has his IRL pet, a dog, so they discuss and compare each others pets, Yugi's and Jounouchi's digital pets connects through the devices and become friends and shared data, then a classmate of theirs named Kujirada enters the classroom and claims his digital pet is a hidden character and are very rare in nature being a glitch or a computer virus and if you do it right then becomes a special pet, Yugi and Co feel indignant with his presumptuous attitude, starts to show off and his having a "black star", Anzu calls out on his arrogant and overconfident attitude and Kujirada leaves them on their own thinking they're just jealous.

Kujirada goes home and feeds his digital pet, trying to go sleep, but his digital pet keeps interrupting his sleep, Kujirada hears voices of his own pet to his mind, what he isn't aware is that he is being brainwashed by his own digital pet which kinda gained a life of it's own...

The next day at school, Jounouchi's pet was "gone", the gang wondered what happened, then Kujirada appears and asks for Anzu's digital pet, she refuses, what happens is that Kujirada connects his digital pet device to Anzu's by force and his digital pet eats Anzu's pet, then goes after Yugi's, however it seems that results from the shared data and something else did make Yugi's digital pet evolve temporarily and beaten Kujirada's digital pet which free his classmate from his own digital pet's brainwashing.

Chapter 22-23 * American Hero

Hanasaki Tomoya is one  of Yugi's classmates, acquaintances and friends in their group, hanging out with Yugi and his friends by showing a bit of his collection of american comics themed on heroes or superheroes, here is specifically to be Zombire, Hanasaki is a huge fan of these american comics and Zombire, Yugi and friends are curious and impressed by his passion for these comics, Hanasaki invites them to go to his house.

Yugi and Co. arrives to Hanasaki's house then to his room and they are very surprised that his room is filled with Zombire merchandise, they have a lunch at his room, then Hanasaki's dad appears to surprise him with a Zombire costume for his son's size, Hanasaki was very happy with his father's gift, he went to try out his new costume, Jounouchi saw a garage kit figurine box that hasn't been touched, so he does touch it and makes the figurine, the others were reluctant in touching someone's object, they were impressed by the result, Hanasaki arrives with his costume, he was sad since he wanted to keep in the original box to later be grateful to Jounouchi for doing so, Hanasaki's father, Mr.Hanasaki asks the gang to keep being friends with his son and talks with them a little.

Mr. Hanasaki has the idea seeing his son exit the window to walk in his favourite hero costume in the night, he pays a group of boys like victim and villains to pretend that his son can beat him and save the victim, Hanasaki thinks he became a "superhero", this group of boys came to Hanasaki's school and meet Yugi asking if he knows a boy named Hanasaki, Yugi sensing trouble from them he intends to keep quiet to not get himself and Hanasaki involved, Hanasaki sees the same group of boys and thinks they are bullying Yugi and stands between Yugi and these group of boys as an attempt to protect Yugi, the group of boys leave and the leader of this group says he has plan by making ransom on Hanasaki to his father by pretending to Hanasaki they kidnapped Yugi, threats Mr.Hanasaki for ransom to sending a "kidnapping note" to his son, Yugi passed by to ask for a spray paint for his garage kit to know the situation.

Hanasaki in "Zombire" costume goes to the group of boys to know it was all a set up to really beat him up and reveal the truth to him...Hanasaki going through problems in believing, Mr.Hanasaki and Dark Yugi arrives already taking over and challenges the group of boys to a game by using the butt cigarette lying on the floor and spray paint to create a maze of fire, while sparing their lives as the exit to be going into the water.

Chapter 24 * Capsule Monsters Chess

Yugi is leaving school or going to school (I don't know which is which, it doesn't specify, I presume is leaving) passes by a candy store with a coin machine that has capsule monsters which are mini figures of monsters (very gacha like) and used them in a board game similar to chess divided by 5 levels, coming from a coin machine, therefore the monsters are random and so are the levels of these capsule monsters...Yugi is pretty interested in the game, he gets to the line but a kid just cut it in front of him, comes his turn, to his "bad luck", the coin and capsule got stuck, the owner of the candy store gets mad and spanks in his head and scolds Yugi, then a boy named Kaiba Mokuba (Mokuba Kaiba), he is the little brother of Yugi's classmate named Kaiba Seto (Seto Kaiba) who is a capsule monster "champion" and challenges Yugi to a game of Capsule Monsters Chess to force him to play in his hideout and even using the candy store owner's coin machine that Mokuba himself paid him, Mokuba's followers tries to mess with Yugi to Dark Yugi taking over, the kids get scared off except Mokuba who is not surprised, if anything that was his intention from the beginning and the whole thing in the candy store was staged by Mokuba to meet Yugi and challenge Dark Yugi.

Dark Yugi warns Mokuba their game is a shadow game, Mokuba says he was prepared, Dark Yugi wins the game and gives Mokuba a penalty game being inside a capsule monster then leaves the scene.

 

Key Points:

Chapter 21 * Digital Pet Duel

As explained in the plot summary for this chapter, this is more or less about a digital device in raising a digital pet, which reminds me of the tamagotchi days, which are the same or very similar, the same can be applied with Digital Monster (the original digimon at this time by Bandai), these were in stores in the late 90's which is more or less the timeline of this series at this time.

I think most people were kids at this time remember the tamagotchi, I did get the time where you could find them almost everywhere, it was fun when it lasted :).

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