It has been awhile, I came to realization that I passed by Mokuba, but his birthday is in 7th July, on this day we received the news about author Takahashi-Sensei passed away...so I will do Mokuba Kaiba together with Seto Kaiba whose birthday is in November...
Now is Anzu's turn, when the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime dub reached my country, I wasn't fond of her character, she sounded a little too corny for my taste, as the anime dub progressed, I liked her less and less, when I read the first 7 volumes, made it even worse, before I had the whole mangá, specially certain chapters like the amusement park (chapter 45) and the love tester one (chapter 41), those are her worst chapters, she was a b!tch to Yugi, once I got the rest of the mangá, it's when I started to like her character bit by bit, took years and years to come to really like her character, she grows on you as you re-read the mangá (it took 10 years xD, she isn't easy to like at all).
(I really like seeing her hair tied like that in the movie, very good)
The introduction of Anzu Masaki, it's a good one, it would give a good impression, but it's made quite obvious she is quite gutsy, confident, pushy and sharp, she won't stay quiet about any pervy business either 👍! She is Yugi's childhood friend and his crush, Yugi opens up to her about his millennium puzzle, in fact she is the one whom Yugi tells the story of how he found the puzzle...
She had good introduction, her character development was fine in the beginning, we got to know her ambitions and dreams which is to study abroad in New York to become a professional dancer...
The Panels Ensemble on the Right, I think this scene was one of her most brave moments, she was in a very terrifying situation, she was very scared too, but the moment the criminal said "wussy little one", there were children there, but knew was Yugi right away the criminal was calling, even though Yugi is very short and looks like a child but his hair alone makes him stand out , Yugi stood out to the criminal, but Anzu, with no hesitation told Yugi not to come because it was too dangerous and stood up despite knowing it would endanger her own life, it shows Anzu can be quite protective of Yugi, she stood up to him when Honda and Jounouchi bullied Yugi...
This is when it starts...the awkward bumps in her character development, it relates to her "idealization of Yugi" in Dark Yugi mixed with being attracted to this "confident voice" as well his looks once she gets to know "the owner of the mysterious confident voice" in Death-T, it shows her more "negative traits", when she is very pushy to the point of acting like a b!tch, that she can be manipulative, however in her defense, she certainly learned her lesson in the amusement park in chapter 45, because after that chapter, she stopped being "pushy", she understood that "Dark Yugi" won't come out when she wants to and also she was being quite inconsiderate to Yugi as well, he only acts as a guardian, even after this "Dark Yugi" started being distant and awkward with her when they were alone (yeah, he sees her more as a friend while being aware that she had a crush on him), Yugi as well came to realize Anzu had a crush on "the other yugi", this might what have started Yugi inferiority complex with "Dark Yugi", or one of the reasons, but not the main one.
The Monster World arc is where it sets the gap for Anzu, the clear distinction between Yugi and Dark Yugi as much as her idealization as well.
Before getting to her character arc, I want to point out some "trivia" scenes that many may have overlooked...regarding Yugi.
On the Left, when looking at Yugi's digital pet, Anzu says "EEE! It's so cute! So, pets do look like their owners!", we can quickly assume, Anzu thinks Yugi is very cute (who wouldn't?), this is before Death-T, by the way.
On the Right, in Duelist Kingdom, Jounouchi vs Ryozaki, in order for Dark Yugi and Yugi help Jounouchi not to be too reliant on Yugi's advice and Dark Yugi, Dark Yugi steps away to the puzzle, Anzu gets surprised and blushes a little seeing Yugi, to see it better, click here , after such a long time spending time with Dark Yugi with the gang, it's when Dark Yugi started to feel more as a friend than as crush to Anzu, the distinction becoming clearer while avoiding it, the reason became less of "idealization of yugi" disappearing, but meant admitting losing a friend that will never come back once goes to afterlife...
Anzu's character arc is very very awkward, specially in the beginning, but as the story progresses, it starts getting smoother and gets better, for those reasons I find her character development and arc as very interesting in the manga, the anime doesn't do justice...her main character arc is this...:
It has been implied that her biggest fear in going to study abroad to become a dancer, it's friends going their separate ways never seen them again, going on their own lives and their friendship disappear, afraid it won't be the same anymore, here with Atem it's like voicing her own fears and facing them, just her calling Atem by Atem says a lot that shows she sees separately and seeing her friend go to a separate place that won't allow him to never come back...it's also grief, this isn't a normal goodbye after all...make an effort to learn to accept that he has to go to afterlife...
The other elements of her character arc other than learn to say different kinds of goodbyes instead of avoiding them, it was her know the differences between "idealization" and the "real" Yugi as well Atem regarding her own romantic feelings, there was indications of this progression, how she always ended up prioritizing in the end was Yugi...like Duelist Kingdom how she agree Yugi straight away with Yugi in his duel with Kaiba in surrendering (stopping Kaiba from doing something stupid, in Kaiba's case, it's very stupid and irresponsible), the same with Yugi&Dark Yugi VS Pegasus, VS Dark Marik, bases on this simple feeling..."her Yugi" is the "real Yugi" she known since childhood...Yugi Mutou.
I will end this post with my favourite moment of Anzu Mazaki (it was this moment that I saw her in a better light and started to like her bit by bit, I think currently she is one of my favorite characters):
Happy Birthday, Anzu Mazaki!!
Thank You and Rest in Peace Kazuki Takahashi...
