The duel between Yusei and Aki continues from when Yusei discovered that she enjoys inflicting pain on the others. Knowing deep inside that Aki truly doesn’t gain pleasure by hurting others, he decides to try and reach out for her within their duel using Stardust Dragon.
Impression:
If anything this was by far the most powerful episode that was able to connect with the audience – well for me at least! The production team did an excellent job not only with the animation, but how they set everything up with the soundtrack. As soon as Aki had put on her mask the soundtrack immediately stopped. There was nothing but silence. All you could possibly hear is her speaking. This technique was able to convey the overwhelming tension between Aki and Yusei. It felt very dark. This episode also didn’t feel rushed at all. It took its sweet time making this feel longer and well paced.
Then we got major symbolism. Both Yusei’s and Aki’s dragons played a huge role in this. I can’t help but think how ironic it is for Stardust Dragon to have an effect called Victim Sanctuary. Even more so how Stardust literally displays how Yusei wanted to reach out for her. It’s even more symbolic how Black Rose Dragon was thrashing about in Stardust’s arms. It really expressed Aki’s inner emotional conflict. And here’s the thing, the fact that this has been constantly used and Aki constantly reviving Black Rose Dragon after being removed from the field. This gave me the image of her wanting to run away, avoid the problem. Yusei encouraged her to go all out on him so that she can vent out her sorrows. When her mask finally cracked, she was more vulnerable than ever, and finally whispered for help.
If you guys never seen this fanart before, I absolutely recommend you see it. It pretty much declares everything I said in the above and is just breathtaking. Honestly I was just waiting for Yusei run to the other side of the field and give her a hug, she needs one.
Preview: And so the duel between Jack and Yusei begins… along with a load of flashbacks – but that isn’t a bad thing.
