Happy Birthday, Anzu Mazaki! (18th August)

 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...

Happy Birthday, Atem!

 It's ironic and strange now, Atem's arc being about self-discovery and go to afterlife...while the death the storyteller who wrote and draw his character passed away this month, also went to afterlife...

I started with Yugi to celebrate Takahashi Sensei's characters on their birthdays, Yugi was in 4th June, today is Atem according to Gospel of Truth in Ancient Egypt calendar as well, 26th July is Pharaoh Atem's birthday.

The introduction of Atem (AKA Yami Yugi, Dark Yugi, the other yugi) is quite distinctive, he started as his identity was "reset" from the moment the millennium puzzle was completed, he forgotten all his memories from the time he was alive as when he was in his tomb when saved Sugoroku, therefore becoming more susceptible to the "evil intelligence"/"dark intelligence" influence, since he was first introduced as this "mysterious and sinister" Yugi other self, to later as we go along the story bit by bit suspecting something, possibly most of us knew or suspected he was a deceased pharaoh...as it was eventually confirmed in Battle City.

It was always very clear that Atem wasn't "other yugi", it was always heavily implied that he was spirit of pharaoh that died thousands of years ago...

There is discussion if "Dark Yugi" was an evil character in the beginning, was it though? Even after he lost his memories, being more vulnerable to "evil intelligence"/"dark intelligence", he still retained his sense of justice, punish those who harm his host, friends and the defenseless, acted as a guardian spirit, whoever doesn't change the nature of the power of the millennium puzzle being a millennium item that used shadow games and penalty games, it was always from a dark source...other wielders did it, even one who did hardly used was still tempted (yes, Ishizu), even though "Dark Yugi"'s penalty games and shadow games were mostly soft in comparison to others who were much worse, even for punishment - such Shadi and Pegasus.

 The only time when you could say "Dark Yugi" kind of killed someone, it's the criminal fugitive with a gun pointed at him, it was legitimate defense and more of the criminal own doing who could take out the gun and pick up the lighter...it was an accident and it wasn't, if it wasn't, it was legitimate defense.

  

Now that his "main introduction" is out of the way, his character development, some elements of his personal growth are easily overlooked by most people, he was introduced as sinister to becoming less sinister for spending time protecting Yugi and his friends, then the "evil intelligence" influence become weaker, like someone with no memories lost in the darkness and Yugi and his friends was that light that guided him and banished the darkness that surrounded him...bit by bit, going through self-discovery to becoming his loving and caring true self.

 

Personality wise, he was always the most mature of the gang, he was also quite wise and confident (maybe too much ;), protective, caring, considerate, mostly a softie, strong sense of justice ), however he could be quite cheeky, arrogant and very prideful, a little too "self-righteous" sometimes, and way too considerate to a person's feelings that he cares about if it somehow was damaging for him (he hold back a lot when wanting to know who he was for Yugi), he has his strengths which are mostly "heroic virtues" and some of his flaws (common to see in "hero characters" xD), his personal growth is about to become less overconfident into having a more solid confidence that is stable and learn the importance of humility, overcoming his fear of losing and how pride ends up being more damaging, he learns from his mistakes, from ruthless to becoming more of selfless protective and caring nature that was always inside him...

  

In Atem's character arc, which was more or less self-discovery jouney in identity and entity, to finish unfinished business about himself and his past, learns parts of himself that he even in personality that he didn't knew, to find his own peace and thread his path to afterlife since he is a soul of someone who died long time ago.

   

This scene is still my favourite scene of all time, the growth on both these characters shows right here...You can tell how grateful he is that he met Yugi who taught the power of kindness, how much it can extents even making difficult decisions such as this one, so Atem wouldn't spend eternity inside the millennium item for the rest of his existence, while the others would live and go to afterlife, Atem would be the one truly be left behind, which is worse and Yugi sending Atem to afterlife was kindest and courageous thing he did, guaranteeing him that Yugi was not ever weak.

   

I have coming to notice that Atem didn't cry, also we didn't ever seen him cry, he always tried to keep a brave face like Mai, but this time is so that he wouldn't hesitate as well deep down, very deep down since Yugi completed the puzzle, he always suspected he is a spirit of someone who died and that one day this day would come eventually, discovering his identity further confirmed him that one day he would have to go to afterlife, he is very grateful for the special friend and friends he made along the way to this point.

Even in Afterlife, Atem still watches over them...in times of need, he tries to give a helping hand when he can...

 

Thank You, Kazuki Takahashi for sharing these characters's journeys, thank you so much...!

Rest In Peace!

Rest In Peace, Kazuki Takahashi...

 How to start...I woke in the morning and the first news on twitter that I got was Kazuki Takahashi passed away at 60 years old...it took time to process still is, the whole day was me digest this terrible news about a terrible loss, that left a legacy and messages in his mangá.

Kazuki Takahashi was a mangaka that loves mangas, making them, loved games very much, so much so that he wrote and draw a story about games, Yu-Gi-Oh! which technically translates King of Games where the main concept of the mangá was about battles through games instead of fighting and physical violence, with it's unique and distinctive art style.

The main story was more than one story...a freshman high school boy named Yugi that looked like a child and avoided in engaging with the class and was shy, whose classmates were Anzu - his childhood friend who dreams to study abroad to become a dancer, Jounouchi and Honda who were initially bullies, Jounouchi was a former delinquent due to his family problems, Honda had his own, became friends with Yugi, he awaken an ancient spirit from completing a ancient puzzle to later be discovered he was a deceased pharaoh who lost his memories to then start a quest to recover his memories, Kaiba Seto and Mokuba lost their parents and sent to an orphanage to later be adopted by an abusive foster father Gozaburo Kaiba, even more came and had their story...Mai, Hanasaki, Ryota, Marik, Ishizu, Pegasus, just to mention a few...

The manga ended with Atem, the deceased pharaoh, who moved forward into afterlife...Yugi moving ahead forging his own future.
The Story ended in Dark Side of Dimensions on similar note.

The legacy we see in spin-offs, the trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh!, that many still play today, part of childhoods, adolescence as well that touched the hearts of many, including mine.

Even after when he was finished, he still made games, wrote and draw "The Comiq", he draw a graphic novel of Spider-Man and Iron Man called "Secret Reverse".

It's pretty obvious that I am a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! or else I wouldn't be willing to create this blog to eventually make analysis of the manga, the franchise is my favourite, the manga is my favourite of all time, the anime as well (I got to know through the portuguese dub on a kids show in the beginning of my adolescence, when I was 14), Kazuki Takahashi is my favourite mangaka, artist and storyteller of all time...so... 

Thank You and Rest in Peace, Kazuki Takahashi...

 

  

Happy Birthday, Yugi Mutou!!

Last time I didn't do much, this time around, it's a post to celebrate him as a character.

He went through so much growth from a shy and reclusive freshman in High School, with an appearance of a child that could fool an adult if wasn't for his school uniform and also very short into become a very mature and wise young boy about to become an adult.

I want to start with the evolution of Yugi's character art from Kazuki Takahashi-sensei, not only is noticeable the art evolution from rough and whimsical to a more straight and consistent style.

 

 

You can see the differences and how it gradually the lines become more straight and much smoother and more clean..., it also shows to some extent his physical growth too, to the most recent ones:

It's the last panels more or less, looking at his eyes and eyelashes, we see that Yugi is getting to look more how he looks like in Dark Side of Dimensions, speaking of which:

This is one is directly from the Instagram of the mangaka, Kazuki Takahashi, if you click in the picture, it will get you straight to his instagram, it's worth to follow, because he post his art there.

If you wish to continue click "Read More"

Is the Early 7 manga volumes to be the most dark and edgy volumes?

Hellos! Long time no see!

This will be some of those random posts with thoughts and observations about the mangá and the fandom community, the manga and anime community and the medias itselfs and so their industries related to YGO! or Random rants.

As can be hinted by the title, that's the subject of this post, over the years, including while I was making analysis of the mangá, I have been noticing some misconceptions of the mangá that may some of it's readers stating that the early 7 volumes are the most dark and edgy ones of the series, I have to disagree to an extent, if there is something I have been implying, is that the manga in comparison to anime, including the japanese adaptation, the mangá overall is actually a lot darker, it's not just because "the early 7 volumes", if we look over, Duelist Kingdom like how Kaiba used his "aluminum briefcase" and cards as weapons and make demands in a rather violent manner, it was actually changed in the anime, yes the japanese one (they censored some scenes from the manga and changed)

(Note: reference to Yu-Jyo.net and violent version in the manga)

By taking a look at the mentioned scene example between the anime and manga of how Pegasus and Kaiba "negotiate", the anime (Season 01, Episode 21, towards the end of episode), Kaiba actually does better choices except one thing, I'll get there, Kaiba infiltrates the place stealthy to go immediately rescues Mokuba, Pegasus actually goes to Kaiba in person with Mokuba already sealed in the card in the anime version to force Kaiba to play agaisnt Dark Yugi or Yugi...while the mangá there is some distinctions, one more glaring than the other, the mangá is something like this:

 

  

The anime version, including japanese, there was no guns, a guy's head close to be chopped by a duralumin case while still holding a gun, once again Kaiba using his case to hit someone in the face...it's still not over the differences...

 

Pegasus never did go in person even more with Kaiba holding a gun and survived "2 penalty games" from shadow games, what Pegasus did to kill Bandit Keith wouldn't work on Kaiba, Pegasus is well informed on these matters, even more with Kaiba holding a gun, the other difference is Mokuba wasn't sealed in card yet, it would be later (Pegasus VS Kaiba).

One version or another, Kaiba is still Kaiba being a prideful individual, and goes to his enemy terms anyways due to pride.

Click Read More if you wish to continue....

hmmm is it today September 14 or 30 to be Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga 25th anniversary?

 

You may be wondering about the title. it's because on VIZ Media twitter says is today September 14th 2021 that the manga series makes 25 years, however according what I researched, suggests otherwise, because it's original run in weekly shonen jump was in September 30th 1996 Issue no.42-1996, then technically would be in September 30th 2021 that makes 25 years...
however, from further research, the release date of the magazine was 14th September which is today, while cover date is 30th September... but I don't understand the difference between any...it seems to according to this website:

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/manga/weekly-jump/

The differences are that the issue date is supposedly from what I understand, the issue date/cover date is 30th September but the "sale date"or release date is in 14th September?

It's very confusing for me, it seems to be related to the 2 holidays in September 1996 (3rd Monday of September was on 16th September 1996 while there was another in 23rd September,  and both were on Mondays) however, when in Japan when a holiday falls on Monday, Weekly Shonen Jump releases on Saturday, 14th September 1996 was on Saturday...

So what does it mean a cover date?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_date

I get it better, it seems, that cover dates are meant to make "magazines still feel recent", it's actually a common practice worldwide, despite it was released a few weeks before...we can conclude that today is the 25th Anniversary of the manga series.

Today was a more trivia+research about the manga series, I got to learn new things, like holidays in japan, this "cover date" practice in magazines is not the actual release date of the magazine, interesting.

So...

Happy Birthday Yu-Gi-Oh! Mánga!

My manga collection on other hand is around 10 years old xDD