This week, it is the 777th Episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Series! And what was the special treat? Lots of plot revelations and some characters’ growths are finally blossoming!
Let’s begin with the plot reveals: Jean-Rogers is extremely likely to be affiliated with Academia. The only reason I am not saying he “is”, is because I prefer to wait to hear it from the culprit themselves. Also, there could potentially be another possibility where Jean-Rogers had left Academia, and went to the Synchro Realm to form his own army to achieve his own set ambitions. It may be considered unlikely, but it is a legitimate possibility to keep far in the back of our heads as an alternative twist. But for now, let’s talk about what we learned from the rumors which indicate he is from the Fusion Realm:
It is said he has appeared in the city out of thin air, and quickly climbed up the ranks to where he is now, the head of the Public Security. All while doing so, brought/introduced new technology (from Academia) to the council, (eg: before Jean arrived, there was no such thing as Real-Solid Vision).
Without a doubt, the said new technology is playing a key role in Jean-Roger’s grand plans, which have now officially been set into motion. Sergey, an infamous and dangerous criminal is under his control. The word going around is how he is “dead” because he is nothing like how he previously was. The out of control Duelist Crusher we see today obediently follows every order Jean-Rogers assigns to him. The sign of a robotic eye certainly further hints the possibility Jean-Rogers is forming or already has an army of cyborgs or some form of mind-control, which he has complete control of. And it only makes sense or Jean-Rogers to do that, especially with a duelist who has such a violent track record, and to ensure he will be the one who has complete authority when he finally dethrones Jack.
Jean-Rogers’ growing forces are merely his pawns- or more accurately, puppets, to use to take control of the Synchro Realm. But one of the dreadful parts to this grand plan applies to the ‘high quality duelists’ looking for a way out from the dumps. Surely they may have heard of the rumors of what happens to those who are scouted, but it isn’t enough to spook them from taking up the offer. The way it seems to be going for these unsuspecting duelists: if you are a strong duelist who gets scouted to join Jean’s growing forces, what you are really doing is selling your soul to the devil because as it appears with Sergey as the set example: in no way or form do you have control over yourself. With general public and seemingly the council oblivious to his plans, they have no idea they being attacked from the inside out. It certainly doesn’t help that Sergey alone, is a force to be recon with. They didn’t show us how he even won the duel against Damon. All we knew was Damon was “winning” a one-sided battle, and all the sudden he loses and the audience doesn’t have a clue how he did it.
However it is thanks to “Promoter”, the knowledge of Jean’s motives and background managed to be obtained by Tsukikage and our fellow Lancers. It is an important piece of information which will impact how they will proceed with their plans. With that in mind, I am curious to see what Reiji may want those in the underground to do. He wants Tsukikage to go back there to continue obtaining further information, and keeping up to date with the status of their companions.
In the mean time, it looks like Sawatari just might stir up some trouble since he simply cannot ignore any opportunity of a duel or returning to the the surface.
While I was happy to finally receive some more information revolving around Jean and his plans, it was terribly underwhelming. It wasn’t because the rumors of being sent to a trash facility deep underground was true, but it was the execution of it. The whole reveal felt rushed to me. It just happened. We already knew in advance we were going to learn a few things by seeing what is happening down there, but instead we learned A LOT. Fundamentally, I believe it was the lack of build up within the script which made it a sloppy delivery. I say this because there was no absolutely challenge in order for the characters to learn this precious information. They were sent down to the dumps and bam, we were immediately told of all the major details regarding Jean. It felt as if it was handed to the characters on a silver platter.
But now we know of this: it is clear Reiji and his team are running out of time. Jean-Rogers has set his plans into motion, and who knows how many others he had recruited! We have no idea- it is only Sergey a ruthless duelist who is setting the example.
On the more brighter note: I can’t tell you how freaking happy I am that Yuuya FINALLY understands Jack’s words. It took Reira’s resolution and message to get it through his thick head, but nevertheless it is about bloody time because I am so sick of hearing, “Stop it, this isn’t dueling” mantra. PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS THE END OF IT (FOR NOW). And if that wasn’t enough of a reason to celebrate, well Yuuya also took a hold of the opportunity to have Tsukikage send Yuzu a letter from him. (Bless Tsukikage for simply being awesome!)
It was fantastic to see a bit more of Tsukikage’s character and showcasing his loyalty towards Reiji. Besides passing along Reira’s message for him and some updates, he also provided Yuuya some reassurance regarding Reiji’s character. He told Yuuya he wouldn’t be working with him if he were heartless and ruthless as Academia is, and has uttermost faith in him as a leader.
And finally REIRA! I am so happy for this kid! He now understands what he wants to do, and has been absolutely inspired by Jack (bless you too, Jack). We have never seen him speak this much before, nor look as human and alive as he did today. Reira is stilling growing, but finding a resolution within him means he has found a piece of his soul. It was so touching to how he apologized to Tsukikage, shared how he wants to be someone his brother (Reiji) can believe in, how he wants the opportunity to duel against Yuuya and as well as receive the opportunity to beat Jack! Uff, I won’t lie- my heart would melt to see Reira VS Jack. We have to thank Jack for sharing his story with Reira, providing him hope and valuable advice to not waver and take the initiation. I am excited to see Reira grow as an individual and under-go his self-discovery of who he wants to be. I have faith Reira has a strong mind within him, and no matter the ups and downs, he will find a way to climb back up onto his feet again.
Next week! Dennis VS Shun, and the tagline is “The clown’s mask”, gee how accurate! I wonder if Dennis’ true colors will be revealed… Shun already has some suspicions, so let’s see how this will unfold!
As much as I found it sweet that Yuya asked Tsukikage to send a letter to Yuzu, it’s also pretty sad based on how Yuya written that letter featuring his friends including Dennis only with the possibility of finding out that he was really a spy. That’s basically dramatic irony in a nutshell. Also things may not end well for Yuzu based on who her next opponent is going to be [spoiler]Synchro Terminator[/spoiler].
To me I don’t think the delivery was bad, instead it was likely displaying the details now that the first rounds partly down and hinting events to take a more major turn for the worst.
I haven’t looked at the spoiler, but your tone is certainly making me nervous! XD I have a couple of ideas running in the back of my head of what the dreadful match up will be. And yup, it’s going to get real ugly real fast now. I can hear the thunder rumbling already.
Wellllll holy hell, I won’t divulge in what happens in the second round matches as some of it has been leaked but they really picked an unfortunate match-up with a certain two characters. Also new op and eds will appear OCT 4th, and the op is being sung by the band who did the second Shingeki no Kyoujin ed.
Once again, I’m going to be missing our new OP. It didn’t take long for it to grow on me, and I’ve been watching it every week ever since. XD
Here’s to hoping they keep the OP epic, but omg, shitstorm coming. Look at all the dark clouds coming our way.
what is op?
In this context: I am referring to “Opening Theme/Song”.
While reading your review I had thought up a weird theory…
You had said that it could be that Jean-Rogers is trying to build an army of his own right?
Maybe that way he was so interested in Yuya after his Duel with Duel Chaser 277, maybe later on he wants to get Yuya on his side?
I don’t know, sounds a bit cheesy though. XD
If it is mind-control or turning his “recruitments” into cyborgs, I can see the possibility of him wanting to use Yuuya – or he might know something we don’t.
Other than my hype for Shun v. Dennis, I actually don’t really have a rant to subject you to this week. I’m mostly surprised Shun went 10 episodes without saying anything.
I completely agree about the info-dump regarding the underground. The uncertainty of the losers’ fates was potentially scary, and then it ended abruptly with Sawatari basically saying “well we’ll just win”. Still, Tsukikage and Reira were great! As much as I adore you, Yuuya, please stop saying the same thing over and over again. (It’s like the writers want everyone to be frustrated with him.) I really don’t expect his resolve to stick for long, particularly if Dennis blows his cover.
One other comment. Yuuya-vision versions of Shun and Serena were pretty funny to me, because seriously Yuuya have you ever seen either of them smile?
I do look forward to seeing Yuuya become more resilient over the course of the series though. His development will be very distinctive by the end of the series.
I think his development up to this point mirrors Yugi’s in some sense. Yuuya has become much more confident in his own abilities and is willing to step out of his comfort zone and will hopefully stand on his own two feet now rather than trying to fill his father’s shoes. We didn’t get to see Yugi fail because Atem doesn’t fail, but Yuuya gets to keep falling down. It’s getting frustrating for the audience because every time Yuuya stands up he just tries to do the same thing again (or basically has since about episode 30 with few exceptions). (Aside: I find the Zexal fandom to be hypocritical for complaining about these traits in Yuuya since the resolution of that series is that Yuuma shouldn’t change from his childish and trusting nature.) Where Yuuya is now (supposing he sticks to his resolve) is close to where Yugi ends DM, so it’ll be interesting to see where he ends up. I know a lot of people make the comparison to Judai and expect Yuuya to break as badly as Judai and end up as cynical. I think Yuuya after snapping would be mostly angry, part despair, and part shame. ARC-V will likely have the most bittersweet ending since DM.
I want to protect this tomato from the terrible things on the horizon for him, if the spoilers for the next episodes are any indication. But Yuuya, please don’t fall back into complaining about whether something agrees with your dueling style or not. There are so many better uses of your time and resolve. At least Yuzu is supposedly trying to tell people about the interdimensional war.
Oh, did you have any thoughts on the special opening? I know that a lot of people found it disappointing because it’s all old clips and static images. It was nice to commemorate 777 anyway.
(Oops I ended up with a rant.)
Well said!
I agree, the special opening was quite disappointing.
I love arc v and yuuya is great but ugggggh do I hate when he gets preachy I know that the synchro dimension is a little messed up but I hate seeing him whine about how other people duel like there are other ways to enjoy it not just yours
Man, I dunno… I just feel satisfied by this episode. Like it’s the end of an arc, which in a way it is (an Arc of Yuya’s growth [wait… Arc-V?! Nah, it couldn’t be…]). Chances are next week is going to shake things up, with arguably the most plot-centric duel of this bracket finally rearing its head. Shun always seems to get those duels, doesn’t he?
I still love Dennis even though he’s a dirty Fusionist (I love Xyz, I really do, but Dennis and Sora are just so fiiiiine), so I’m hoping he doesn’t get shut down by the badass in black. The preview seems to hint at a new card for Dennis, possibly a Fusion that uses Xyz as Materials like the new Elder Entity Norden, so I’ll be waiting!
I was thinking the same thing. Now we just have to wait and see whether or not he can cover it up or will his cover be blown. >x