I am not sure what I expected to happen during this duel, but I have to say, I am really pleased with how it is playing out. I loved how Yuuya was able to stay focused, for most part calm, and had the ability to “reset” his mindset, and recognized he did have a chance to reach Edo. It is such a positive thing to see since Yuuya has been through a lot, but he has been able to strengthen his mental fortitude to follow through with is convictions and stay true to himself. I am also especially encouraged to see Yuuya’s willingness to try new and more creative ways of reaching out to his opponents. 
Yuuto was skeptical about Yuuya being able to communicate with Edo properly when Edo is constantly preaching how Academia’s and the Professor’s teachings are the right way. In fact, my favorite part of this episode was the smooth transition to the truth behind Edo’s internal struggle. When it all came together, it made so much sense because of his behavior and his obsession with defeating Yuushou and Yuuya. As it turns out, Edo suffering a serious case of denial, and it’s literally driving him mad. The reason why Edo wants to beat Yuushou so bad is because he was defeated by a man whose ideals of dueling was different than his own and the Professor’s. The problem Edo was facing was a clash of ideals, and the truth is, he did enjoy his duel against Yuushou, but he couldn’t consciously stand to admit it. It is as though if he were to admit the Professor’s teachings are wrong (or in this case, he enjoyed Yuushou’s style more than the Proffesor’s), it would be a form of betrayal- at least that’s how I am presently interpreting it. Yuuya was able to realize he still has a chance to reach Edo all because he is still holding onto the other half of the torn Smile World card which Yuushou had given to him as a gift. If he truly disliked Yuushou’s dueling style, he wouldn’t have carried the card with him, and would have left it to be caught in the wind.
I think a lot of also appreciated how for once, Yuuya’s new evolution of Odd-Eyes Dragon did not make him victorious, instead Edo had successfully countered and negated the attack, all while destruction Brave-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (and design is epic, I love it)! I was also pleased to see Yuuya Fusion Summon because I can’t remember the last time he did it. It feels like it has been FOREVER. Needless to say, it was fun to see how Yuuya’s decision to use a Fusion monster was inspired by Edo’s unwillingness to be reached out to.
In the mean time, Kaito took care of the fodder soldiers single-handily, enabling Yuuya to keep focus on his match alone. So as his duel continues, Kaito is helping them carry Shun to safety along with the others as they retreat from the enemy. They should be counting their lucky stars because Gloria wants to go after them, but Grace wants to stick around and watch Yuuya duel. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was entertained by Gloria’s enthusiasm. You can just tell how bored she is of the same old duels. Unfortunately for Gloria, she can’t go ahead and pursue them alone since she and Gloria are a tag-team.
One last thing before I wrap it up: So we learned that Edo was in fact not the one responsible for Yuushou’s dimensional transfer. In fact he was shocked by his sudden disappearance. Edo is guessing someone else may have transferred him, which may have been the case, but I also suspect it could be a side-effect of the Dimensional Transfer Device, as it was still being perfected at the time Yuushou went in to use it. We will have to wait and see what the answer it, as anyhow it- it was definitely out of both Yuushou’s and Edo’s control.
PS: THE OST WAS SO GOOD THIS WEEK! Uff, it reminded of the 5DS OST!
GX Edo was a badass (until the end when everyone rekted him, even an Ojama Yellow WTF?!), but Arc-V Edo is such a sore loser, he DID smile during his duel (and defeat) against Yusho! Also, can D-Heroes publish more useful cards? Man all the new D-Hero support are GARBAGE, no wonder people really don’t use D-Heroes in modern Meta gameplay because they keep on being trash! BRAVE EYES though, yet another awesome addition to the Odd-Eyes archetype, but its appearance was only for a few seconds?! Also Kaito, STOP PRETENDING THAT YOU’RE TURNING GOOD, I wish someone would crush you in the near future!! >:(
“I was also pleased to see Yuuya Fusion Summon because I can’t remember the last time he did it. It feels like it has been FOREVER.”
He last did that against Jack in episode 64 (Rune-Eyes). Beast-Eyes was even “ancient”, last appeared during episodes 50-51 against Reiji.
“Grace wants to stick around and watch Yuuya duel.”
She’s already a fangirl of Yuya, so expect a massive cat-fight between her, Yuzu and Mieru for Yuya’s affection in the near future XXDD
This episode & next week’s, expect more tantrums from Edo, seriously I can no longer take him SERIOUSLY anymore with such a childish manner! Yusho though… I’m darn sure he has more secrets he is hiding from us!
LOL The things AU does to characters, for better or for worse. XD
I was bummed out that Brave-Eyes’s debut was so short-lived, but hopefully it will have a chance to shine sooner than later!
Brave-Eyes will probably be back next episode.
Do you mean the track that also played during Allen’s second turn in 107, or does OST just mean the episode’s soundtrack in general? I’m unfamiliar with the terminology.
But it was a fun duel. Even though Yuya didn’t beat face as much as I thought, the desired effect happened anyway. Aster is boned, no questions there…but what’s gonna happen to Yuya afterwards?
Grace and Noroma-chan continue to be hilarious.
I’m not sure if Allen’s BGM track was the same as the one we heard in this episode, but yes, I was broadly speaking about this arc’s OST, We’re just getting started and I can already hear some fanatic pieces!
eva are you going to do a double review for episode 19 and 20 of mahou tsukai since the imagniation subs will take long time by what said in his twiter
Yeah I heard the subber got their hands full, so we gotta wait for it a bit longer. That being said, Episode 19 & 20 are going to be the deciding factor whether or not I will continue the coverage (I will do the post though). If I do end up choosing to continue beyond Ep 20, then it will probably be a triple post (Ep 19 – 20 – 21).
Also for future reference, please use the FAQ page to ask these sort of questions in order to keep on topic. 🙂
it not spoiler but i think after you will see episode 20 you will continue to watch since it one of the best episodes
also i got into the faq ask the team but i dont know where to post the question there
O____O Oh my god, thank you for alerting me, I didn’t realize the comment section has disappeared in all of our pages. It must have happened after the last WP Update because the comments section still exists but won’t show up on the page. FFF— This might take a while OTL||||