Impression
WOW. HOLY SMOKES, I AM KIND OF FRUSTRATED THAT I AM NOT CREATIVE ENOUGH AT THE MOMENT TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO SAY FOR THE OPENING LINE- BUT OH MY FUCKING GOD.
THIS WEEK’S EPISODE WAS FUCKING EPIC.
HOLY SHIT.
Shun just annihilated Sora.
AND IT WAS GLORIOUS!!!!
Smokes, where do I even begin? So much to talk about! Let’s start off with how BADASS Shun is! This guy contentiously managed to shut Sora down, even when the little psycho shit was going berserk. Sora performed at least three different Fusion Summons, and Shun had a counter attack ready for almost every single one of them. This guy went from the melodrama storyteller to the Fighter of the Resistance. Other than his epic tactics, what makes Shun such an appealing duelist is that he isn’t arrogant. So watching him kick Sora off his high horse was extremely satisfying to watch.
However, hands down, biggest shocker of the episode (despite the fact I already had suspicions about it) was how Sora boldly revealed that he was part of the organization that hunted Shun and his companions down. Man, I knew Sora was shady, but up until last week’s episode, I certainly didn’t expect him to be a full out psychopath. He was so mad at Shun shutting him down, that he was going berserk, saying all these terrible things, such as how the victims like Shun and the others were preys for their Hunting Games. Now when you think about it, it is quite scary how Sora has had this cutesy mask of innocence, but then we see this Satan child side of him who wants to destroy his opponents. But it begs the question of: Is this Sora’s true nature? Or is it really a split personality issue?
We will have to wait another day to find out.
One of the most interesting surprises though was learning about the Rank-Up, XYZ Change technique (which debuted in Zexal, but I didn’t know of it since I dropped the show early on). This technique appears to be very similar to how Yuuya changes Odd-Eyes Dragon’s form and it makes me wonder if in this series, rather than having multiple mains to rely on, they will focus more on the multiple evolutions of the duelist’s ace monster. This would be a unique approach since we are so used to seeing the protagonist have multiples mains. Being able to choose a particular evolution for your ace monster to adapt to the battle would be an interesting change of pace, and I am curious to see how that kind of concept would unfold. It can be a hit, or a miss.
Another plus about this duel was the lack of reliance on Action Cards. Yes Sora and Shun used it once or twice, maybe three times on Sora’s end, but at the end of the day, Shun’s strategic trap and magic cards are what made the duel so epic. The fast pace of counter attacks, and the Solid Vision of Heartland City falling into ruins, gave this duel an unique and exciting atmosphere. Ironically this duel between Shun and Sora went from entertainment to a full out war. The escalation of the battle stunned the audience, scaring the children and was no longer just a duel for fun and games- they were set out to kill each other- and Yuuya was NOT happy about it.
This brings me to point out that Yuuya is already bias about Shun by viewing him as the enemy while he identifies Sora a friend. He was extremely upset about how the duel he was watching was no longer something he could connect and recognize, and was more concerned about Sora’s safety. And rather than listening to what was going on, that story of Sora’s and Shun’s relationship appears to have flown right over his head. It would be nice if Yuuya starts asking questions to Sora about his relationship with Shun and their backstory, but I won’t be holding my breath for it- especially when we know from the preview that Sora escapes from the hospital and goes down to hunt Shun or maybe anyone else involved with the resistance, such as Yuuto, and Yuuya runs into them while they are dueling. Although the Preview could be misleading us, it appears that Yuuya sees Yuuto as a threat, which is to be expected when they look identical and finally understands why people had mistaken him for being the culprit behind attacks.
Speaking of which, it certainly makes it all the more interesting to see that Yuuya and Yuuto will finally meet face to face- without disappearing as soon as Yuuya appears to the scene (or so it seems). If that is the case, it will make me wonder more about Yuzu’s bracelet and what role it plays.
In the mean time this makes me question how Yuzu is going to cope with all of this. Unlike Yuuya, she has been fortunate enough to have had many opportunities to speak to Yuuto so that she could get some answers. While doing so she also gained a better understanding about the reasons behind Shun’s actions. I feel like Yuzu is going to be the bridge between Yuuya and the Resistance, but at the same time, I do wonder whether or not this duel will change what she thinks about Sora. Yuzu isn’t the type of character to lull around and do nothing, when there are questions, she goes out to search for answers, and I hope to see some of that in the following episodes.
Reiji intends on using Sora as an ‘experiment’, how so? I am not entirely sure. A lab rat is one thing, but keeping track of him is another. Another thing about Reiji that kind of spooked me was how he told Layra that he (?) I still don’t know what gender this kid is) needed to pay close attention to how the duel was fought. I get this icky feeling that Reiji is grooming the kid to be part of his forces, and by the look of it, the kid wants no part of it.
PSA: Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V will be on break next week, and will resume on December 14th!
Hahaha! The girl who kept going on about “Mr. (Insert animal here)” was quiet! As for Shun annihilating Sora, not quite. Sora seemed like he would have won if not for Shun having an entire hand full of protection since turn one. So much protection that it makes me wonder if raid raptors will be 10% level 4 summon spam, 10% Rank-up Magics, and 80% protection. I’m not sure if Sora revealing his backstory was very bold because nobody in the crowd seems to have a clue what the “Resistance” is. As for Rank-ups, they were used a ton near the end of Zexal, and I’m pretty sure Yuma uses about 4+ versions of Utopia specifically. Only one ace can work (I like the idea) but I’m still annoyed at Yuya’s magical super consistent way to always get Odd-Eyes with no searches and him only having one copy, but that’s due to playing the game a ton and realizing holy cow Yuya would never draw what he needs IRL. Same with action cards. If Sora would have been able to use his monster’s effect (Des Toy Saw Lion) and destroy Rise Falcon he would have most likely won, because Shun’s hand had no way to recover monsters as far as I could tell, so yeah everyone seems to be relying on them far too much.
I would say it was more bold for us the viewers and Yuuya and Yuzu than for the crowd in the story.
Yuuya has the thick plot-armor of convenience, but I am hoping that they will make use of his flaw of depending on Action Cards to allow him to have some character growth where he would either reduce or stop using Action Cards altogether. There is potential, now we have to use whether or not they will put it to good use.
Though I am not any sort of expert in the actual game-play, seeing how he had all the traps and magic cards prepared, I am under the impression that Shun is more of a defensive player, who focuses more on utilizing the counters to go on the offense than being an aggressive player who follows the STABS strategy.
I was referring to Yuya having no searchers for Odd-Eyes and only one copy and drawing that one copy despite the hilariously terrible odds of that happening every duel. Yeah, and on the episode 32 review I commented on it was agreed that Yuya will most likely lose a duel due to not having action cards. And Raid Raptors do seem to be entirely defensive so they also somewhat had an advantage vs Sora’s strategy of “Spam huge monsters”. (Also I may have wanted Sora to win because I’m building a Fluffals deck IRL but that totally isn’t clouding my judgement at all. Surely not. Ok maybe it is.) But I was thinking it wasn’t much of a total loss for Sora especially compared to Shun vs the LDS students.
Aahahahahahahah Fluffals ftw! XD I plan to build/collect Yuzu’s and Shun’s deck, and soon enough (i’m sure) Yuuto’s as well heehee. I don’t play (or rather I don’t have anyone to play against) so I’ll just stare at the collection lovingly.
There are a few ways to play online if not having a place to play IRL is the only problem. Dueling Network (manual controls, browser based) and YGOPRO (Automated, downloadable, but somewhat buggy) are the main two online options. However it takes a while to learn enough to be a good duelist (I’m average at best). However a basic enough understanding to play on Dueling Network would only take a few hours. I would collect too, but buying a collection and decks when a decent tournament level deck is easily $100 is not something I’m willing to do. Fluffals will probably be about $50 or so.
Before I try stepping onto that stage, I need to get through the YGO Tag Force 5 first, LMAO! Man I suck at it. T Thanks for the rec though!
There is also that new official free-to-play app that have recently came out: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Generation for tablets.
(Too bad it doesn’t work with ipods… but I guess you need a bigger screen resolution) I don’t own any Tablets so I won’t be able to try it out. ; v ;
it seems the plot will continue in the next episode and we will learn more about the fusion and xyz problems in shun and yuto world that showed in the flashback i cant wait to learn more
You should have named the title SHUNtdown XD*BRICKED*
Kay’, I finally watched this episode subbed and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD SO MUCH EPICNESS!!
The action was well animated and Sora’s raep faces looked very disturbing. Kudos for his VA, she did a wonderful job to convey his assholish madness!
One think that amused the crap out of me is that they focused on Yuzu’s face when Shun ranted about his comrades and people saying that being chill when failling from high heights must run in the “family” XD, everyone from the other world are ninjas Holy Crap!
Sora’s monsters weren’t half bad and his deck does have good support for Fusion, just wish that he had a monster like Soprano to complete the deal, but eh, ok. Chimera Des-Toy has a insane effect because taking control of your opponent’s monster will never stop being broken and Chain Sheep can lay to waste everything in its battle phase, it kind of reminded me of Mirage Dragon, but with more attack points.
Lol, Shun does show his Zexal heritage of using one ace monster and upgrading it ad infinity, I hope he gets more main deck monsters and others aces for the sake of variety.
Speaking of Shun and Yuzu fanart made me want him to hug her already or at least interact with her, I would be 100% distracted from Yuto shenaningans if it happened hohoho~ I kind of look forwards to see if she will act scared of him or angry(must sucks to see a doppel of your sister reacting that way towards you hohoho~delicious!)
I can’t wait for the plot to unfold, and not having summaries of next episodes is driving everyone insane, worst of all is surviving two weeks until next episode, Arc V turned into my reason to live as it’s the only anime I am watching after Free! and RWBY ended, I can’t even imagine what I’m supposed to do after that, I’m at a point that I wouldn’t mind even fillers if it meant seeing everyone, I became so attached to characters in this show that it’s not funny!
*SNAPS FINGERS* DAMN IT YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. A MISSED OPPORTUNITY!!!!
I absolutely want Yuzu to have a talk with Shun too, and I think would be important for her to do that. As of right now, I get the feeling Yuuya would trust the information coming from her more than Shun himself, or at least be WITH HER when they get the chance to have an actual discussion.
I don’t think she would be scared of Shun, maybe angry- but I don’t really see any reason to when Sora flipped into Yandere Terminator Mode and was pretty set on destroying him.
One of the best episodes from Arc-V. And possibly one of the most epic duels. I sort of figured Shun was going to win, i mean he has a lot more to fight for being there than Sora. I did not, however, expect Sora to reveal just how much of a sociopath he really is, so that took me by surprise a little, though i already saw it coming due to the preview. I am interested to see how it all plays out in the next episode, since Yuya seems a little too earnest and naive, he will probably be sympathetic towards Sora (like Yuma did for Vector), even though he is an enemy to the Resistance. A meeting between Yuya and Yuto will be interesting, to say the least, since they haven’t officially met, and this time nothing will keep them from seeing one another. I am so pumped up for the next episode. Hell, the Arc-v series in general has so much potential, i hope it goes a long way and gets even better. :’)
Shun VS Sora duel definitely has raised the bar for Arc-V. It makes you wonder how they are going to top something like this, but I sincerely hope that they will be able to do so, without going too crazy. The execution of the duel packed a punch without it being ridiculous. If these are the kind of duels we will be seeing more of in the future, outside of solid vision, this series is gonna be epic to watch. I too would love to see this potential be delivered properly.