Where I rewatch Yugioh GX, Episode 87
Oct. 12th, 2010 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cypsiman2Yeah, my recaps have been getting a little too vitriolic, a little too base and angrish for my taste. So I'm going to try and refrain from CAPSLOCK and "motherfucker" and "I kill Judai with a rusty nail", see how that works again.
So, we open on a foggy day, and Manjoume and some random, I presume Professional Duelist, are about to go at it. Presumed Pro shows off all his Genex medels, Manjoume shows off his, I can't imagine wearing all those medals on the inside of your coat would be at all comfortable or practical, more trash talk, and then we cut away to the always melodious sound of Judai's voice. And evidently Shou has taken to hiding in a trash can, so that he can't be challenged by a strong duelist. Umm, I do vaguely recall that Shou was supposed to have undergone Character Development by this point; I mean, TV Tropes lauds him as being one of the most developed characters on the show, and TV Tropes would never lie or be horribly mistaken, right? Also, apparently there are a whole bunch of students hiding in the woods, and somewhere Seto Kaiba needs a very, very, very stiff drink in the face of his school turning out dozens and dozens of cowards. And of course, in all of this, there's plenty of Ra Yellow bashing, because the writers have a hate-on for Ra Yellow. Oh, and now Kenzan shows to tell Judai that Manjoume is dueling a pro. Because, you know, Judai actively finding this out would have been right out of the question.
TITLE SCREEN! KEEP IT UP! OJAMA TRIO (PART 1) no, how about we don't, and say we did.
So now there's a loosely spread out crowd, and Judai asks Edo if it's true, because apparently Kenzan's word isn't good enough; it isn't, but you would imagine that Judai would think differently. According to Edo, the pro in question is mid-ranked, not on his level. Of course. Also, Manjoume is totally owning him. Of course. Also, note how Judai demonstrates more concern that Manjoume might be losing in one moment then he has over the past 20 episodes about the fact that Manjoume's been brainwashed into joining a cult. So yeah, Manjoume has 4000 life points, while the Pro has 2600. Okay, it's the Pro's turn, let's see the advanced tactics that he employs that keeps the crowd coming...he summons Marshmallon in defense mode, and ends his turn. Yes, Kenzan, thank you for pointing out that Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle, I had no idea. I mean, it's not like it was played in two of the most epic duels in the entire franchise or anything like that. Whatever would we do without your valuable card exposition? Also, nameless Pro really needs to trim those eyebrows. Seriously. Manjoume's turn, he summons White Knight's Lancer, because he's contractually obligated to use a different deck every time he duels. And now he plays Hell Gauntlet; by sacrificing White Knight Swordsman, Lancer will be able to attack twice, and with Swordsman in the grave, Lancer's attack power rises by 300. And of course, Lancer's has the ability to deal piercing damage, so he attacks twice, dealing 1300 damage each time, winning the duel without taking a single scratch.
I know that this is supposed to impress upon us how powerful Manjoume has become after joining the Association of Light, but it fails for the simple reason that his opponent was never meaningfully built up; he has no name, he only plays one card, and we only see the very end of the duel besides. Also, why these new cards? Between the Armed Dragons, the V-Z union monsters, and...the Ojama Trio...he could have easily destroyed Marshmallon and attacked directly for the win. In any event, Edo inexplicably refers to Manjoume as a boy despite the fact that Manjoume is older than him, and now Manjoume challenges Judai. Painfully unfunny gag, and Judai declares that it doesn't matter if Manjoume's memories are foggy, he just wants to have a fun duel.
And this moment perfectly encapsulates how badly Judai fails at being Yuugi's "heir". Consider that in Battle City, the moment that Yuugi found out that Malik was going to target Jounouchi, he immediately did everything in his power to get to Jounouchi as quickly as possible, even working with Seto Kaiba, which would be a trying experience for anyone. Malik had to send all his best remaining minions after Yuugi and Kaiba to slow them and buy him time so that he could fully take control of Jounouchi. Judai, by contrast, never took any initiative, and if not for the fact that Manjoume just challenged him, he would have left Manjoume in Saiou's clutches for the rest of the series. I am not kidding.
Oh, also for some reason Manjoume says they'll have their duel tomorrow. Why? What, did you break your legs in that duel you were just in, Manjoume? What are you waiting for, why are you taking so long with all of this? Even Judai wonders why tomorrow and not right this minute, and the fact we were of like mind, for even a moment, horrifies me. Deeply. Manjoume brags that his deck is more powerful than it used to be, a point I already addressed above, so he'll give Judai the chance to prepare his deck. Because apparently Manjoume's brainwashing also took 50 points off of his IQ. Oh, and the nameless pro just crawls away, because he's no longer needed for this scene, or any other. Manjoume drops some drivel about how he needs to beat Judai at full strength or else there's no point, and given how badly Manjoume's been robbed and cheated in all of his duels against Judai, I'd really think that he wouldn't care about that. Oh, and now Judai says to Manjoume that he didn't sense the Ojama trio in his deck. Manjoume has no idea what the Ojamas even are, which horrifies Judai, once again reminding us what Judai's priorities are.
Blah blah blah, Manjoume honestly has no memory of the Ojamas and all that they've done for him, I roll my eyes, but Manjoume says he does remember throwing away cards like those not too long ago, which we saw back in the duel between Misawa and Manjoume. You know, the one where Misawa was robbed by the writers throwing a jealous fit and destroying his character? And because Edo has nothing better to do with his time, he goes off to watch other people duel. And not, say, get some duels for himself. Because that would be silly. Also, didn't Saiou just gain control of a world destroying satellite only three episodes ago? Isn't anyone the least bit worried about that? No? Yeah, that's what I thought. Blah blah blah, Edo's already got a handful of medals which somehow impresses Kenzan, so Edo gives them to him since he doesn't care about the medals. You know, it would be nice if I had any idea what exactly Edo was doing, aside from being smug and superior to everyone around him as opposed to doing anything useful. Again, see the Misawa vs. Manjoume duel, where Edo decided to lecture everyone on what a weak and pathetic person Misawa is, as opposed to actually trying to reach out to Misawa and keep him from making a terrible, out-of-character mistake.
And now we've transitioned to Manjoume, lying on his bed, owing to his grossly pointless delay of his own duel. He goes on and on about how he can't remember the Ojamas, or even why he came into his room, and now there's a cockroach. Because apparently forced, trite, and unsubtle color symbolism trumps all. Manjoume even out loud wonders why the color black calms him down. And then Misawa comes in, scaring away the cockroach, and also he's dyed his hair white now. Hey, you remember that one guy? You know, the one who was into videogames, and he lost to Judai, and Saiou turned his hair white? Yeah, that was pretty pointless, and so's this.
Blah blah blah, Manjoume remarks that he hasn't seen Saiou lately, Misawa says that he's supposedly fatigued, and now some random nobody is addressing the Association of Light. You'd figure it would be Manjoume, or Asuka, or even Misawa. You know, a named character. I mean, Manjoume is the first member of the Association of Light, second only to Saiou himself, but apparently that no longer means anything. Anyway, random nobody calls on everyone to close their eyes and picture a white sun in the sky, and now we get Manjoume wandering through the desert wasteland of his own mind, and he is obliterated by the light. Also, why is the speaker wearing Obelisk Blue, as opposed to the White uniform? It just bugs me, is all. So the boring speech by the random nobody is over with, and now we transition to Judai and Kenzan.
Apparently Judai is searching in a tiny cove right by the ocean to find the Ojama cards, and once more his declarations demonstrate that he cares more about the cards then he does about his friends. And even though Kenzan points out that the cards have in all liklyhood drifted away long ago, and even though there is no rational reason for Judai to be right, he is in fact looking in the right place. For he is Gary Stu, and Gary Stu is never wrong. Couldn't he have at least brought out Winged Kuriboh, so that this wouldn't be quite so intolerably stupid?
EYECATCH!
It is night, and we get the whining crying of the Ojamas. Delightful. Oh, and its that well where people threw away level one cards. I...guess the wind dropped the Ojamas back there once more. And now Shou has fallen asleep in his conspicuous trash can. This does not make me laugh. And of course, Judai is excited about getting to duel Manjoume again, he hasn't gotten to do that since season 1. What? Free from being brainwashed? Why on Earth would Judai care about that. Ho hum, Daitokuji's soul comes out of his cat in yet another reminder of how much the writers disrespect the original series, and...wait, Daitokuji's trying to talk to Judai? Now??? Not when Judai couldn't see his cards, not when he first got back to the island after his trip to Hippy Space (You'd really think that Daitokuji would have all kinds of questions about that, given his blather during his duel with Judai as Amneal), not when the Association of Light started taking over the island...now? And Judai's actually shocked and not blase about his dead teacher's soul speaking to him?
I feel confused. Judai questions Daitokuji's soul, pointing that he's, you know, dead, leaving unsaid that this means that he should be in the afterlife, because the souls of the dead do not belong in the world of the living, the very point that Yuugi made to Atem in the Ceremonial Duel by sealing away Monster Reborn (Raise the Dead in the original Japanese), which makes all the fics and doujinshii where Atem gets to come back or stay anyway nothing but heresy, except that fandom is stupid and doesn't want to accept one of the most beautiful and honest endings in all of shonen so they...I've gone off on a tangent. Back on track, Daitokuji's excuse for his canon desecrating presence is that his cat ate him on the way to the afterlife. I really, honestly, can't even begin to explain all the myriad reasons why this doesn't work. At all. And I'm pretty sure that while Cats were sacred to the Ancient Egyptians, they did not believe that cats could eat people's souls and keep them from moving on, so this idiocy is entirely upon the writers. And of course, Judai unquestioningly accepts this ludicrous farce of a story.
Of course he does. And now Daitokuji says that he was woken up by a strange voice, and I'm pretty sure that as a disembodied soul, Daitokuji shouldn't even need to sleep, but hey, I'm thinking about this, which is more than the writers ever did. So yeah, Daitokuji, and not Winged Kuriboh, leads Judai to the Ojamas. And how exactly was Daitokuji woken up by voices coming from that far away? I guess its because it doesn't make sense, that seems to be the rule of this show. And now a couple of crabs have taken a hold of the Ojama cards. More unfunny comedy, Judai finds them, blah blah blah, and now we're back in Judai's room, where Daitokuji goes back to sleep inside of his cat's stomach, his entire presence in this episode completely superfluous. Judai talks to the Ojamas, telling him that when he duels Manjoume tomorrow, he'll give them back, but the Ojamas say that because of how Manjoume's changed after dueling Saiou, he'll just throw them away again. So Judai says he'll use the Ojamas in his deck, which according to him will turn Manjoume back to normal, which is a notable afterthought given that this is literally the first time Judai's expressed any desire to return Manjoume, or any of his other friends, back to normal. Oh, and more extended unfunny attempts at comedy. My theory that the writers are not actually human becomes more plausible with every episode.
So now its the time of the duel, and what a shock, Judai is late. Also, Judai has Manjoume's old black coat/uniform with him, which Manjoume apparently left behind at the Osiris Red dorm. Again, Judai says things which imply that he's trying to bring Manjoume back to normal, which comes off as incredibly hollow, since Judai never actually got around to challenging Manjoume. Blah blah blah, and apparently seeing his old uniform brings back some of Manjoume's memories. That...is incredibly weak. Seriously, I know that clothes make the man, that naked people rarely leave a mark on society, but this is just ridiculous. I mean, can you imagine Yuugi trying to use Jounouchi's green jacket to snap him out of Malik's mind control? No, you can't, because it's stupid. Judai puts the coat off to the side for now, blah blah blah, cramming in this last second bout of empathy and heroism does not work, and the duel finally begins. Oh, and Shou is still hiding inside the incredibly conspicuous trash can. Still not funny.
Manjoume goes first, summons White Knight's Swordsman, and Kenzan provides unnecessary commentary. Then again, it's not like he's ever done anything else on this show, even in his own duels. Then Manjoume sets a card, and ends his turn. Judai's turn, he summons Sparkman, and then plays Good Hero; this lets him special summon a normal monster with 1000 attack points or less from his deck, and then that monster gains 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero he has on the field. So Judai summons Ojama Yellow. Also, Edo is watching. This will prove pointless. Blah blah blah, Judai found the cards, and apparently it hurts Manjoume to try and remember. Sparkman attacks, destroys Swordsman for 400 damage, then Ojama Yellow attacks directly, he says something incredibly stupid, and Manjoume takes another 300 damage. Then Judai sets a card to end his turn. Manjoume yells at Judai for belittling him for using a zero attack power monster against him, and then Judai declares that he's responsible for Manjoume being in the state that he is.
Wait...did Judai just take responsibility...for the consequences of his cowardice, laziness, and disregard for his friends? No, he thinks that Manjoume's acting like this just because he lost a duel. Because apparently losing a duel is absolutely devastating, which is why Judai smugly stands over his opponents and declares "Gotcha!" at the end of all his duels. And where is all of this coming from? For the past twenty episodes Judai hasn't given a thought to Manjoume, and now, all of a sudden, he cares about how he should have been there for his friends? No, I don't buy it. This is empty and meaningless. The writers halfheartedly realized how Judai's come across, but this is way too little, way too late, and really undermined by the fact that it's not until the Ojamas started whining to Judai that he even gave a thought to returning Manjoume back to normal; up to that point, he was perfectly okay with Manjoume staying in the Association of Light so long as he got a fun duel out of it, but the moment the voices in his head/spirits of the cards told him to do something about Manjoume, that's when he starts caring.
Blah blah blah, more flashbacks, and Manjoume takes his turn. He summons White Knight's Lancer, who gains 300 from Swordsman in the grave, and wow, that horrible music cue. Hey, like I said, I wasn't going to use capslock in this, and I meant it. So Ojama Yellow is destroyed for 1500 damage, and then Judai activates the continuous trap, Over-Limit; by 500 life points, he can revive monsters with less than 1000 attack points that were destroyed in battle that turn. So he pays five hundred, and brings back Ojama Yellow in defense. Blah blah blah, Judai takes his turn. He summons Ojama Green in defense, and then switches Sparkman to defense, and that's it for him. Manjoume's turn again, and it's playing the heroic music for him. Why? I mean, I despise Judai and regard anyone who can defeat him as a true hero, but I was certain that the writers saw it differently. Anyway, Manjoume plays Tribute to the Doomed, discarding another Swordsman to the grave to destroy Sparkman. Now Lancer gains another 300 attack points, and so Ojama Green is destroyed for 1100 damage, and Manjoume summons White Knight's Guradna in defense. Judai uses Over-Limit to bring him back at the cost of 500 life points, Manjoume yells at Judai, thinking he intends to lose, but Judai says that he's respecting Manjoume's beloved monsters.
And now Judai summons Ojama Black, so now he can play Ojama Delta Hurricane, blowing up all of Manjoume's cards, including that face-down card that Manjoume never got around to activating. Manjoume is unmoved by all this, and apparently his trap, Hell's Gate, is activated when it gets sent to the grave; he removes Swordsman, Lancer, and Guardna to special summon from his deck White Knight's Lord, with 2000 attack points, which becomes 2300 with the remaining Swordsman in his grave. This monster better have some impressive effects, I tell you what. And apparently we need to spell out that Manjoume was given this card by Saiou. Because the writers do not trust us to tie our own shoes, much less draw our own conclusions. End episode.
NEXT TIME! The duel continues, and eventually they get Manjoume to put on his black uniform, like it means something. EPISODE TITLE, KEEP IT UP! OJAMA TRIO (PART 2) card of the week is white knight's lancer, which was never released, which is just as well, as it is a rip-off of an already existing card.
Well, I managed to get through without swearing like the Angry Video Game Nerd. Notable, given how stupid this episode was, and how obnoxious the writers were being as they desperately scrambled to make it seem Judai was a heroic figure all along, despite all previous evidence to the contrary.
So, we open on a foggy day, and Manjoume and some random, I presume Professional Duelist, are about to go at it. Presumed Pro shows off all his Genex medels, Manjoume shows off his, I can't imagine wearing all those medals on the inside of your coat would be at all comfortable or practical, more trash talk, and then we cut away to the always melodious sound of Judai's voice. And evidently Shou has taken to hiding in a trash can, so that he can't be challenged by a strong duelist. Umm, I do vaguely recall that Shou was supposed to have undergone Character Development by this point; I mean, TV Tropes lauds him as being one of the most developed characters on the show, and TV Tropes would never lie or be horribly mistaken, right? Also, apparently there are a whole bunch of students hiding in the woods, and somewhere Seto Kaiba needs a very, very, very stiff drink in the face of his school turning out dozens and dozens of cowards. And of course, in all of this, there's plenty of Ra Yellow bashing, because the writers have a hate-on for Ra Yellow. Oh, and now Kenzan shows to tell Judai that Manjoume is dueling a pro. Because, you know, Judai actively finding this out would have been right out of the question.
TITLE SCREEN! KEEP IT UP! OJAMA TRIO (PART 1) no, how about we don't, and say we did.
So now there's a loosely spread out crowd, and Judai asks Edo if it's true, because apparently Kenzan's word isn't good enough; it isn't, but you would imagine that Judai would think differently. According to Edo, the pro in question is mid-ranked, not on his level. Of course. Also, Manjoume is totally owning him. Of course. Also, note how Judai demonstrates more concern that Manjoume might be losing in one moment then he has over the past 20 episodes about the fact that Manjoume's been brainwashed into joining a cult. So yeah, Manjoume has 4000 life points, while the Pro has 2600. Okay, it's the Pro's turn, let's see the advanced tactics that he employs that keeps the crowd coming...he summons Marshmallon in defense mode, and ends his turn. Yes, Kenzan, thank you for pointing out that Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle, I had no idea. I mean, it's not like it was played in two of the most epic duels in the entire franchise or anything like that. Whatever would we do without your valuable card exposition? Also, nameless Pro really needs to trim those eyebrows. Seriously. Manjoume's turn, he summons White Knight's Lancer, because he's contractually obligated to use a different deck every time he duels. And now he plays Hell Gauntlet; by sacrificing White Knight Swordsman, Lancer will be able to attack twice, and with Swordsman in the grave, Lancer's attack power rises by 300. And of course, Lancer's has the ability to deal piercing damage, so he attacks twice, dealing 1300 damage each time, winning the duel without taking a single scratch.
I know that this is supposed to impress upon us how powerful Manjoume has become after joining the Association of Light, but it fails for the simple reason that his opponent was never meaningfully built up; he has no name, he only plays one card, and we only see the very end of the duel besides. Also, why these new cards? Between the Armed Dragons, the V-Z union monsters, and...the Ojama Trio...he could have easily destroyed Marshmallon and attacked directly for the win. In any event, Edo inexplicably refers to Manjoume as a boy despite the fact that Manjoume is older than him, and now Manjoume challenges Judai. Painfully unfunny gag, and Judai declares that it doesn't matter if Manjoume's memories are foggy, he just wants to have a fun duel.
And this moment perfectly encapsulates how badly Judai fails at being Yuugi's "heir". Consider that in Battle City, the moment that Yuugi found out that Malik was going to target Jounouchi, he immediately did everything in his power to get to Jounouchi as quickly as possible, even working with Seto Kaiba, which would be a trying experience for anyone. Malik had to send all his best remaining minions after Yuugi and Kaiba to slow them and buy him time so that he could fully take control of Jounouchi. Judai, by contrast, never took any initiative, and if not for the fact that Manjoume just challenged him, he would have left Manjoume in Saiou's clutches for the rest of the series. I am not kidding.
Oh, also for some reason Manjoume says they'll have their duel tomorrow. Why? What, did you break your legs in that duel you were just in, Manjoume? What are you waiting for, why are you taking so long with all of this? Even Judai wonders why tomorrow and not right this minute, and the fact we were of like mind, for even a moment, horrifies me. Deeply. Manjoume brags that his deck is more powerful than it used to be, a point I already addressed above, so he'll give Judai the chance to prepare his deck. Because apparently Manjoume's brainwashing also took 50 points off of his IQ. Oh, and the nameless pro just crawls away, because he's no longer needed for this scene, or any other. Manjoume drops some drivel about how he needs to beat Judai at full strength or else there's no point, and given how badly Manjoume's been robbed and cheated in all of his duels against Judai, I'd really think that he wouldn't care about that. Oh, and now Judai says to Manjoume that he didn't sense the Ojama trio in his deck. Manjoume has no idea what the Ojamas even are, which horrifies Judai, once again reminding us what Judai's priorities are.
Blah blah blah, Manjoume honestly has no memory of the Ojamas and all that they've done for him, I roll my eyes, but Manjoume says he does remember throwing away cards like those not too long ago, which we saw back in the duel between Misawa and Manjoume. You know, the one where Misawa was robbed by the writers throwing a jealous fit and destroying his character? And because Edo has nothing better to do with his time, he goes off to watch other people duel. And not, say, get some duels for himself. Because that would be silly. Also, didn't Saiou just gain control of a world destroying satellite only three episodes ago? Isn't anyone the least bit worried about that? No? Yeah, that's what I thought. Blah blah blah, Edo's already got a handful of medals which somehow impresses Kenzan, so Edo gives them to him since he doesn't care about the medals. You know, it would be nice if I had any idea what exactly Edo was doing, aside from being smug and superior to everyone around him as opposed to doing anything useful. Again, see the Misawa vs. Manjoume duel, where Edo decided to lecture everyone on what a weak and pathetic person Misawa is, as opposed to actually trying to reach out to Misawa and keep him from making a terrible, out-of-character mistake.
And now we've transitioned to Manjoume, lying on his bed, owing to his grossly pointless delay of his own duel. He goes on and on about how he can't remember the Ojamas, or even why he came into his room, and now there's a cockroach. Because apparently forced, trite, and unsubtle color symbolism trumps all. Manjoume even out loud wonders why the color black calms him down. And then Misawa comes in, scaring away the cockroach, and also he's dyed his hair white now. Hey, you remember that one guy? You know, the one who was into videogames, and he lost to Judai, and Saiou turned his hair white? Yeah, that was pretty pointless, and so's this.
Blah blah blah, Manjoume remarks that he hasn't seen Saiou lately, Misawa says that he's supposedly fatigued, and now some random nobody is addressing the Association of Light. You'd figure it would be Manjoume, or Asuka, or even Misawa. You know, a named character. I mean, Manjoume is the first member of the Association of Light, second only to Saiou himself, but apparently that no longer means anything. Anyway, random nobody calls on everyone to close their eyes and picture a white sun in the sky, and now we get Manjoume wandering through the desert wasteland of his own mind, and he is obliterated by the light. Also, why is the speaker wearing Obelisk Blue, as opposed to the White uniform? It just bugs me, is all. So the boring speech by the random nobody is over with, and now we transition to Judai and Kenzan.
Apparently Judai is searching in a tiny cove right by the ocean to find the Ojama cards, and once more his declarations demonstrate that he cares more about the cards then he does about his friends. And even though Kenzan points out that the cards have in all liklyhood drifted away long ago, and even though there is no rational reason for Judai to be right, he is in fact looking in the right place. For he is Gary Stu, and Gary Stu is never wrong. Couldn't he have at least brought out Winged Kuriboh, so that this wouldn't be quite so intolerably stupid?
EYECATCH!
It is night, and we get the whining crying of the Ojamas. Delightful. Oh, and its that well where people threw away level one cards. I...guess the wind dropped the Ojamas back there once more. And now Shou has fallen asleep in his conspicuous trash can. This does not make me laugh. And of course, Judai is excited about getting to duel Manjoume again, he hasn't gotten to do that since season 1. What? Free from being brainwashed? Why on Earth would Judai care about that. Ho hum, Daitokuji's soul comes out of his cat in yet another reminder of how much the writers disrespect the original series, and...wait, Daitokuji's trying to talk to Judai? Now??? Not when Judai couldn't see his cards, not when he first got back to the island after his trip to Hippy Space (You'd really think that Daitokuji would have all kinds of questions about that, given his blather during his duel with Judai as Amneal), not when the Association of Light started taking over the island...now? And Judai's actually shocked and not blase about his dead teacher's soul speaking to him?
I feel confused. Judai questions Daitokuji's soul, pointing that he's, you know, dead, leaving unsaid that this means that he should be in the afterlife, because the souls of the dead do not belong in the world of the living, the very point that Yuugi made to Atem in the Ceremonial Duel by sealing away Monster Reborn (Raise the Dead in the original Japanese), which makes all the fics and doujinshii where Atem gets to come back or stay anyway nothing but heresy, except that fandom is stupid and doesn't want to accept one of the most beautiful and honest endings in all of shonen so they...I've gone off on a tangent. Back on track, Daitokuji's excuse for his canon desecrating presence is that his cat ate him on the way to the afterlife. I really, honestly, can't even begin to explain all the myriad reasons why this doesn't work. At all. And I'm pretty sure that while Cats were sacred to the Ancient Egyptians, they did not believe that cats could eat people's souls and keep them from moving on, so this idiocy is entirely upon the writers. And of course, Judai unquestioningly accepts this ludicrous farce of a story.
Of course he does. And now Daitokuji says that he was woken up by a strange voice, and I'm pretty sure that as a disembodied soul, Daitokuji shouldn't even need to sleep, but hey, I'm thinking about this, which is more than the writers ever did. So yeah, Daitokuji, and not Winged Kuriboh, leads Judai to the Ojamas. And how exactly was Daitokuji woken up by voices coming from that far away? I guess its because it doesn't make sense, that seems to be the rule of this show. And now a couple of crabs have taken a hold of the Ojama cards. More unfunny comedy, Judai finds them, blah blah blah, and now we're back in Judai's room, where Daitokuji goes back to sleep inside of his cat's stomach, his entire presence in this episode completely superfluous. Judai talks to the Ojamas, telling him that when he duels Manjoume tomorrow, he'll give them back, but the Ojamas say that because of how Manjoume's changed after dueling Saiou, he'll just throw them away again. So Judai says he'll use the Ojamas in his deck, which according to him will turn Manjoume back to normal, which is a notable afterthought given that this is literally the first time Judai's expressed any desire to return Manjoume, or any of his other friends, back to normal. Oh, and more extended unfunny attempts at comedy. My theory that the writers are not actually human becomes more plausible with every episode.
So now its the time of the duel, and what a shock, Judai is late. Also, Judai has Manjoume's old black coat/uniform with him, which Manjoume apparently left behind at the Osiris Red dorm. Again, Judai says things which imply that he's trying to bring Manjoume back to normal, which comes off as incredibly hollow, since Judai never actually got around to challenging Manjoume. Blah blah blah, and apparently seeing his old uniform brings back some of Manjoume's memories. That...is incredibly weak. Seriously, I know that clothes make the man, that naked people rarely leave a mark on society, but this is just ridiculous. I mean, can you imagine Yuugi trying to use Jounouchi's green jacket to snap him out of Malik's mind control? No, you can't, because it's stupid. Judai puts the coat off to the side for now, blah blah blah, cramming in this last second bout of empathy and heroism does not work, and the duel finally begins. Oh, and Shou is still hiding inside the incredibly conspicuous trash can. Still not funny.
Manjoume goes first, summons White Knight's Swordsman, and Kenzan provides unnecessary commentary. Then again, it's not like he's ever done anything else on this show, even in his own duels. Then Manjoume sets a card, and ends his turn. Judai's turn, he summons Sparkman, and then plays Good Hero; this lets him special summon a normal monster with 1000 attack points or less from his deck, and then that monster gains 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero he has on the field. So Judai summons Ojama Yellow. Also, Edo is watching. This will prove pointless. Blah blah blah, Judai found the cards, and apparently it hurts Manjoume to try and remember. Sparkman attacks, destroys Swordsman for 400 damage, then Ojama Yellow attacks directly, he says something incredibly stupid, and Manjoume takes another 300 damage. Then Judai sets a card to end his turn. Manjoume yells at Judai for belittling him for using a zero attack power monster against him, and then Judai declares that he's responsible for Manjoume being in the state that he is.
Wait...did Judai just take responsibility...for the consequences of his cowardice, laziness, and disregard for his friends? No, he thinks that Manjoume's acting like this just because he lost a duel. Because apparently losing a duel is absolutely devastating, which is why Judai smugly stands over his opponents and declares "Gotcha!" at the end of all his duels. And where is all of this coming from? For the past twenty episodes Judai hasn't given a thought to Manjoume, and now, all of a sudden, he cares about how he should have been there for his friends? No, I don't buy it. This is empty and meaningless. The writers halfheartedly realized how Judai's come across, but this is way too little, way too late, and really undermined by the fact that it's not until the Ojamas started whining to Judai that he even gave a thought to returning Manjoume back to normal; up to that point, he was perfectly okay with Manjoume staying in the Association of Light so long as he got a fun duel out of it, but the moment the voices in his head/spirits of the cards told him to do something about Manjoume, that's when he starts caring.
Blah blah blah, more flashbacks, and Manjoume takes his turn. He summons White Knight's Lancer, who gains 300 from Swordsman in the grave, and wow, that horrible music cue. Hey, like I said, I wasn't going to use capslock in this, and I meant it. So Ojama Yellow is destroyed for 1500 damage, and then Judai activates the continuous trap, Over-Limit; by 500 life points, he can revive monsters with less than 1000 attack points that were destroyed in battle that turn. So he pays five hundred, and brings back Ojama Yellow in defense. Blah blah blah, Judai takes his turn. He summons Ojama Green in defense, and then switches Sparkman to defense, and that's it for him. Manjoume's turn again, and it's playing the heroic music for him. Why? I mean, I despise Judai and regard anyone who can defeat him as a true hero, but I was certain that the writers saw it differently. Anyway, Manjoume plays Tribute to the Doomed, discarding another Swordsman to the grave to destroy Sparkman. Now Lancer gains another 300 attack points, and so Ojama Green is destroyed for 1100 damage, and Manjoume summons White Knight's Guradna in defense. Judai uses Over-Limit to bring him back at the cost of 500 life points, Manjoume yells at Judai, thinking he intends to lose, but Judai says that he's respecting Manjoume's beloved monsters.
And now Judai summons Ojama Black, so now he can play Ojama Delta Hurricane, blowing up all of Manjoume's cards, including that face-down card that Manjoume never got around to activating. Manjoume is unmoved by all this, and apparently his trap, Hell's Gate, is activated when it gets sent to the grave; he removes Swordsman, Lancer, and Guardna to special summon from his deck White Knight's Lord, with 2000 attack points, which becomes 2300 with the remaining Swordsman in his grave. This monster better have some impressive effects, I tell you what. And apparently we need to spell out that Manjoume was given this card by Saiou. Because the writers do not trust us to tie our own shoes, much less draw our own conclusions. End episode.
NEXT TIME! The duel continues, and eventually they get Manjoume to put on his black uniform, like it means something. EPISODE TITLE, KEEP IT UP! OJAMA TRIO (PART 2) card of the week is white knight's lancer, which was never released, which is just as well, as it is a rip-off of an already existing card.
Well, I managed to get through without swearing like the Angry Video Game Nerd. Notable, given how stupid this episode was, and how obnoxious the writers were being as they desperately scrambled to make it seem Judai was a heroic figure all along, despite all previous evidence to the contrary.
