Reiji did exactly what I expected him to do, he is milking the opportunity to bait Yuuya with Yuzu. He told Yuuya that if he defeats him, he will tell him whether or not Yuzu is safe. Reiji knows that Yuzu is alive and well and is in safe hands after seeing Yuugo assist his fallen LDS Idol Squad. In fact, he knows a lot of things, including witnessing both Yuuri disappearing and Yuugo appearing, and then suddenly disappearing with her afterwards when Yuuya followed up (surely he must have seen it too- even if they didn’t show it today). This also shows us Reiji surveillance is everywhere, and so it increases the likelihood of being aware that Dennis is a double-agent.
During his match against Yuuya, Reiiji embraced playing the role of a villain. He constantly would bait Yuuya by setting up a false sense of a lead, and then to continue to overwhelm him, striving to push him to the limit – all while being an absolute jerk. The only gain Yuuya got out of this was learning another one of his weaknesses, being naive. And it’s true, we constantly saw Yuuya making naive choices and we the audience would shake our heads thinking to ourselves, “There’s no way it’s going to be that easy.” And surely enough, Reiji would counter punch and Yuuya would be crushed every single time.
What struck me however today was how while Reiji was trying to push Yuuya, we saw a side of him that eerily reminded me of his father. It makes me consider that while he is trying to put together a team to cross realms and stop the Professor’s plot of uniting the realms, little does he realize he is unconsciously becoming the man he despise. I say this because there was one particular scene where we see this look in his eyes, and the first think the crosses my mind is how it looks remarkably similar to his father’s expression. He is so focused on stopping his father, recruiting the strongest duelists, that I think Reiji has somewhere along the lines has forgotten what it’s like to duel for fun. It will be interesting to see whether or not he will ever be called out on that at some point down the line. And while I am on the subject, I am sure Shun too is someone who has forgotten what it’s like to duel for fun. I think this theme of remembering the true purpose of dueling will grow stronger as more and more of the characters’ innocence be stripped away by being dragged into the mess. And I say this because Yuuya is devastated. He feels helpless at the thought Yuzu was carded, he is desperate to become stronger, and so it’s going to be a challenge for him to find a way to keep true to himself as well as continue to keep his promise with Yuuto. In fact, Yuuya’s heart is broken. He cares for Yuzu so much that it destroys him not knowing if she is okay (UGH MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT. I HATE SEEING YUUYA CRY!). So I wouldn’t be surprised if Yuuya reacts more aggressively in desperation to become stronger as quickly as he can, or react the same way as he had when he realized he was no longer the only one who could Pendulum Summon. And if it does happen, based on the preview it appears it will be his mother this time who will challenge him to a duel to help him overcome this struggle- OR, Youko could be fighting against the Obelisk Force (I’m fairly certain they are still around, unless they all retreated like Sora had).
Reiji has confirmed to us he intends to be crossing dimensions, so by the sound of it- THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE WE WILL BE GOING TO THE SYNCHRO REALM!!!! BRING IT ON, I WANNA SEE NEO DOMINO CITY AGAIN IN ALL IT’S GLORY, ALONG WITH JACK TOO… among others… (I won’t get my hopes up though, I don’t want to set myself up for disappointment!)
The last thing I would like to bring up is, I would certainly like to see Yuuya and Shun have a chance to properly talk about Yuuto. During the duel, Yuuya emotionally shouted out how he cannot lose since he needs to save Yuzu and keep his promise with Yuuto. When Shun heard that, he was taken aback and now knows that Yuuya had met Yuuto at some point before he had disappeared. It will be important for the two to talk it out (especially how LONG OVERDUE IT IS), but while they do, I am absolutely certain poor Yuugo is going to be brought up and they are going to be like, “PAWN OF FUSION, IT’S ALL HIS FAULT!!!”
NEXT WEEK! YOUKO GETS TO BE A BADASS. HELL YEAH! BRING IT ON, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HER DUEL! Actually now that I think of it, does this make her the first mother in the Yu-Gi-Oh series to duel?!
PS: Reiji showed us today he can be a bit of a Diva when it comes to doing all sorts of poses.
HELLLOOOOOOO!!! 😀
Gah! I wanted to comment in the last review, but I had some things to do and I didn’t comment on it >_<
Oh speaking of feels, there's a magazine that was released that said that Yuzu was Yuya's Key person, and quoting word by word the description of her profile in the magazine:
"Yuuya’s Key Person
Hiiragi Yuzu: Yuuya and Yuzu are childhood friends, but the Yuzu who often rebukes him feels like an older sister to him. In his heart, Yuuya cherishes her greatly. To Yuuya, Yuzu is someone who’s always been with him, an irreplaceable existence."
Oh My God, I don't remember the last time I shipped two characters as hard as these two, their bonds is a miracle of the universe and sorry I will stop spamming this, It's just that I have a lot of feels!!!
Ok, one last thing before I stop: Between YuzuxYuya and HarukaxTokiya, which one you like more? 😀
Ahem, back to the episode, damn, this was hard to watch, this episode and the last one. Yuya's angry and anguished screams hurt my heart and Reiji taunting him was even harder to watch, I still like Reiji a lot and I understand that he's trying to test Yuya as well as motivate him to get stronger, but damn! It still hurt a lot!
Also, WTF with that pose Reiji, for a second I stared blankly at my screen because I didn't know what to think about it lololol XD
I thought the duel was neat, and Yuya didn't use Action Cards even once in this duel, improvement!
Yeah, I noticed that too, if Reiji isn't careful he might turn into the villain he want to defeat, and I think Yuya might be the key to avoid this situation when he gets stronger.
Also, about next week, I think it's need to explain the title. The title for the next week used a "Banchou" title, Yakuza/Deliquent thing, so it's implied that Yuya's mom was something like Kyoko Honda from Fruits Basket LOL XD
HOW CAN I CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER?! THE SHIPS ARE SO DIFFERENT TO EACH OTHER!!!! I like them for different reasons.
Ugh I don’t now, I am kind of more of a Yuuto x Yuzu shipper than Yuuya x Yuzu since I appreciate their friendship, but the way Yuuya has been reacting as the late is starting to make me ship them romantically. Tokiya X Haruka I like because of how they understand each other, I don’t know. I’m a pretty hardcore Tokiya x Haruka shipper.
You mean the pointing down to the graveyard but really looked more like he was able to do the disco dance? LMAO. You just wait, someone out there will put together a dancing video of Reiji’s poses.
//Also, about next week, I think it’s need to explain the title. The title for the next week used a “Banchou” title, Yakuza/Deliquent thing, so it’s implied that Yuya’s mom was something like Kyoko Honda from Fruits Basket LOL XD//
RIGHT, THAT IS WHAT I FORGOT TO ADD. I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING! I ALSO THOUGHT, “OMG IS YOUKO A FORMER YAKUZA?” That would be so sick though. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Looking forward to seeing a different side of her!
Since their duel is supposed to last for 2 eps you know that Yuya vs Youko will be intense. Especially in comparison when he dueled Yuzu’s dad (it was pretty lackluster as duels go). I mean, i’m pretty sure its a normal motorcycle, but it would be cool as hell if Youko came from the sychro dimension.
Ooooh two episodes? HEEHEE CAN’T WAIT! IT’S GONNA BE FUN! 8D
I have my doubts about Youko being from the synchro realms considering the standard realm is universal with the summoning techniques, therefore D-Wheels are surely a thing in their world too. But it would be cool, LMAO!
When Yuya met Yugo, he seemed surprise at the idea of duelling on a bike, so it seems unlikely D-Wheels are common in Standard.
I personally wouldn’t read too much into it considering how Yuugo just appeared out of thin air, shares the same face as him and then challenged Yuuto to a duel. XD But needless to say we will find out next week whether or not it’s a thing in the Standard World.
I see it as both of them being flawed. Reiji isn’t as different from his father as he thinks, while Yuya needs to be concerned for others beyond just MUH YUZU, and the fact that he told Gon not to help him when he’s also been always there for Yuya and is friends with Yuzu showed that. His obsession will be the death of him, which is what Reiji is also trying to teach him.
And the Arc V website preview for next week makes it sound like his mom is pissed that he’ll say he’ll do whatever it takes to save Yuzu, and she points out if that includes harming his friends like Sora.
Everyone seems to be trying to stop Yuya from going all Supreme King by teaching him he can’t let his obsession consume him.
I also like how Reiji was dueling just enough to bring out Yuya’s full power and then immediately crushed him once he saw it.
*NODS* Well said. And it’s nice to have flawed characters = v = And yeah, that was a major burn when Reiji called him out on being solely focused on Yuzu when many others were carded right before his eyes.
YOUKO GONNA LAY DOWN THE LAW, YAKUZA-STYLE! 8D I’m loving the fact the parents actually have a more significant role for an exchange (not to mention being alive and on-screen interacting with characters.)
the next arc is named the otherworld arc and based on the opening, The lancers are going to the Synchro dimension baby!!! Where Yuzu us
WOOOOO NEO DOMINO, HERE WE COME~! 8D
Apparently it was stated that Yoko was a female gangster boss.
Which I think is the BEST THING EVER. *CACKLES* I seriously can’t wait to see Yuuya’s reaction- especially if he has no idea about her past!
Hello! I’m new and haven’t commented here before. Nice to meet you! m(_ _)m
Yuya’s obsession with saving Yuzu no matter what reminded me a bit of Judai’s obsession to save Johan in Season 3.
It’s been a while so I’m fuzzy on the details, but basically, Judai became so obsessed with finding Johan that he disregarded how the consequences of his actions would affect his friends. His friends end up being captured and sacrificed. His other friends saw that Judai let the others be sacrificed to save one person and they kinda abandoned him. ^^;
Fortunately, in Arc-V, Yoko will be there to knock some sense into Yuya so he doesn’t inevitably befall the same fate. Go duelist mama!
Field trip to the Synchro Dimension!! =D
I didn’t get to comment about last episode, but I wanted to point out that when Shun asks Serena why she looks so much like Ruri, the English subs wasn’t able to capture the nuance of his question.
The original line in Japanese: 「なぜお前も瑠璃とそんなに似て入り？」 (“Why do you also look so much like Ruri?”)
I interpreted it to mean that he’s wondering why there are now TWO girls who look so much like his sister.
It makes me wonder if Shun will eventually catch on to the fact that Yuya looks so much like Yuuto…
Welcome! 😀
You’re absolutely right about that. Judai was always, “I’M GOING TO TRAVEL TO EVERY REALM AND I WON’T STOP UNTIL I FIND HIM!” It will be interesting to see whether or not Yuuya will suffer in a similar way, but I think Reiji (though different circumstances fueling motivation) is in a similar situation as Judai’s. He isn’t fazed seeing people be carded and is obsessed with stopping his father’s ambitions and has a one-track mind set. It would be interesting to see whether or not the group may actually end up ditching him if/when he crosses the line and proceed in a way they feel is best.
//I didn’t get to comment about last episode, but I wanted to point out that when Shun asks Serena why she looks so much like Ruri, the English subs wasn’t able to capture the nuance of his question.
The original line in Japanese: 「なぜお前も瑠璃とそんなに似て入り？」 (“Why do you also look so much like Ruri?”)
I interpreted it to mean that he’s wondering why there are now TWO girls who look so much like his sister.
It makes me wonder if Shun will eventually catch on to the fact that Yuya looks so much like Yuuto…//
Thanks for the insight! When you put it that way it makes a whole lot more sense. And yeah, ahaha- he seems to be a bit slow when it comes to processing the fact they more or less share identical faces. XD
Ooh, nice, that is very good to know. Thanks.
It was painful seeing Yuya lose, breakdown, and cry. Especially since it looked like Yuya was going to win for a moment there before Reiji snatched victory.
The moment we all wanted to climb into our computer screens/television screens to give him a hug.
Damn you Reiji for being so nasty!
Guess I’m the only one rooting for Reiji. I like how he and Shun use their decks to greater potential.
Also, he was messing with Yuuya the whole time. Even if Yuuya manages to randomly pull Soukoku no Magician through the magical powers of plot, Reiji could have easily shut him down at any time by using Kali Yuga’s effect, or adding other covenants. But instead he chose to fuck with him. That’s the makings of a true badass over your main character; it’s no fun if your plot armor’s too thick.
Well said, it’s no fun when the protagonist’s plot armor is too thick (I’m looking at you Yusei). Reiji may be an ass, but he is still an awesome character. xD
No one seems to point out what Reiji’s true motive in this duel. The hint when he says “this is what I want to see” while slowly closing his hands and the call from his assistant asking if the duel has been recorded. Reiji has to get info from the Xyz-Pendulum so he can create one.