The opening match for the Friendship Cup is Crow VS Gongenzaka! How was it?
Pretty boring to be honest.
I am thankful the match was resolved within this episode. It was so linear! In fact, there were a number of reasons why this duel was fairly dull and uneventful. First off, I couldn’t find it in me to care about who was going to win. During the first half of the episode, I was irked at the possibility of Gongenzaka only winning because Crow was so distracted by the kids. Thankfully Crow got his head back into the game, but it was still unsatisfying, probably because it wasn’t a hot blooded match. The second issue was the audience in the arena. It certainly takes away the interest when the audience cared more about debating amongst each other whether or not Jack is a hero or a traitor. I had to laugh (sarcastically) because the fuss was an absolute joke, and it is even more so when we know Crow didn’t want to participate in the first place because he didn’t want to ‘entertain’ the Tops. Well, if they are too busy debating to watch the duel, then you aren’t entertaining anybody. On that note, the other thing that bothered me was how we know Crow was really ticked off about participating, but then all the sudden he flips and goes on about setting an example to the kids (cue to the flattest back-story ever, of how they ‘saved’ him).
In all, it felt like lazily written episode. It didn’t feel like it had any value, any stakes (I mean, how does it work now that Gongenzaka had lost his first match? Is he out of the competition for good?). Gongenzaka didn’t seem to mind that he had lost the duel since he knew Crow had a valuable purpose for winning, but um… what about the stakes? Gongenzaka will no longer be given protection if he is officially eliminated from the roaster. I hate how there was no sense of danger about that possibility!
It is a relief I won’t have to wait another week for the following episode! Episode 67 looks like it is going to be fun, and I am excited to see how Reira’s character is changing thanks to Yuuya’s influence. It appears he may be turning against his brother. Reira doesn’t like getting involved in fights in general, and he sure as hell doesn’t want to participate in the Friendship Tournament without his consent. This opens an opportunity for us to see how Reira’sand Reiji’s dynamic with each other.
I guess Crow’s backstory here affect me because I’m a melted butter lmao XD
I felt a little depressed comparing this Crow with the 5D’s Crow, Arc V!Crow seems more… Pessimistic and more hopeless, Synchro Dimension is so unfair and bleak that it sucks the happiness out of my soul D:
I think in a way it’s good for Gongenzaka’s character, besides Yuya he didn’t feel particularly connected to anyone, so him interacting with other named characters and developing some sort of mutual respect is good, Shun at least appears to not be as rude to him as he is to everyone, Dennis surprisingly seemed concerned about Gongenzaka here and now Crow acknowledges him.
I knew he wouldn’t pickm the Action Card but I found it cool how he avoided the card anyway XD
I have noticed that was well about Crow. It’s nice to have a stark difference between the AU and original, but at the same time it’s a bit of a bummer because it doesn’t give him a whole lot of depth (and understandably so since he is a minor character right now and is unlikely to be participating further into the story beyond the Synchro World arc).
I was also surprised Dennis appeared to be concerned for Gongenzaka. I mean, it’s kind of weird. Is he forming some sort of attachment to him or are they just doing that to try and distract the audience enough so they could somewhat forget he’s a double-agent.
I love how Gongenzaka sticks to his steadfast style of not using the Action Card,! I sincerely hope he will stay that way till the very end because it is refreshing to have someone not rely on them and leave is an optional decision for any duelist. :3
I think your overthinking Dennis’ character a little. Sure, he’s a double agent from Academia, but he really hasn’t done much to show any signs of betraying the team. He was originally suppose to bring Selena back to Fusion, but got roped into the Lancers before he could leave. As long as the focus is on the enemies in Synchro, he’s still an ally. We’ll have to wait til after Reiji decides the time to fight Academia where we’ll see his true colors. Besides, who says you can’t be a double agent and truly get close to your team?
I tend to be guarded around two-faced characters.
I agree this wasn’t the most plot relevant episode, but it was such a treat seeing Crow duel again that I didn’t care (just like with Jack I had a dump truck of nostalgia hit me head on). I also agree that Crow was given a pretty generic anime flashback to fill in his background, but I feel it served it’s purpose. Plus on the bright side these new kids have names and recognizable faces, so that’s at least one thing I can say this show did better then 5D’s.
I really like that in the beginning they show the Commons and Tops all fighting, but by the end they were so enthralled by the duel none of that mattered, it shows that this tournament can work if everyone gives it their all and shows what they can do. Plus technically Crow pulled off a Delta Accel Synchro Summon, so that’s pretty cool.
Little sad to see Gongenzaka go, but we’ve seen enough of his deck recently, so it’s not a huge loss. Better him then Swatari, Yuzu, or Serena, characters who haven’t gotten much time to duel yet.
i rather enjoyed this episode, if you compare it to plot based episodes… yeah, it’s boring by comparison. However, it’s a nice break from Yuya. I know he is the main character and i love him, but honestly i felt there was too much of him especially being angsty so a break was in order… The complaints i have on this episode is mainly the overuse of CGI when they’re riding the d-wheels on the first half of the episode, it didn’t blend well and looked like something out of a video game. The second half was much better as the CG felt more mixed in with the background that it blended better.
Crow seems more depressing than i remember here. He’s so bloody pessimistic! He’s also rather closed-minded which seems to be the opposite of what i remember in 5ds. I can’t remember that much of Crow from 5ds but i can’t remember him being this much of a sourpuss. I know he cares about the kids but i hope he stops becoming so negative in the future…