This is me right now.
(ﾉꐦ ⊙曲ఠ)ﾉ彡┻━┻
*A/N: No gallery today because I can’t even stand to even skim through it again.*
I am crying. I am genuinely crying right now. I am so fucking upset. What the fuck have they done? My worst fears for this show has come to fruit, and my god, I am just devastated. This show did not deserve to be slaughtered like this. Who in the world gave them permission to give this show such a half-assed ending to what was supposed to be the final showdown? This is the… I am just, at loss for words. I can’t even fathom how in the hell they thought this would be okay, let alone decent- because it’s not. I understand there were production problems, but dear god- this is an insult and a betrayal to the entire fandom who loved this series dearly. I loved the story is had, it’s characters and it’s potential from the bottom of my heart, and that’s why I am absolutely heartbroken. I expected better, from the very beginning I truly thought it was going to be to amazing series, but now it has been reduced to rubble. All there is left inside me is anger, frustration and bitterness. For a story that cares so much about ‘Smiles’, the Production Crew are the biggest hypocrites.
A premature ending with Reira serving as a Ray’s host to defeat Zarc is the most underwhelming way possible. And dear god, the moment Reira offered to serve as Ray’s vessel made me sick to my stomach and the dread the reset of the episode. That alone pulled the trigger and I wanted to rip my hair out. Also I’m going to call it right now: it’s god damn obvious that the core of Zarc’s darkness went after Reira/Ray. I am willing to bet if we end up seeing Reira again, he will likely be possessed by Zarc and “SURPRISE”, Yuuya will face off Zarc within Reira and that will essentially be his last mission.
At this point I don’t know what kind of ending this show is going to have, but in all honesty I don’t want to know. This episode delivered the final blow. There is no saving this show, all hope is lost and I don’t even fucking care if they suddenly make my OTPs canon, nothing is going to fill the void in my heart. The way the characters were treated makes my blood boil. They were truly the highlight of the show, and for them to not only be demoted for the sake of Crow-from the past, but either cut out altogether was just one of biggest mistakes. Characters like Sawatari and Reira who have undergone major character developments were cut short, or flipped to serve an entirely different purpose. Benching Yuzu and introducing her counterparts so late in the game was a missed opportunity for something incredible- especially since the girls’ all have badass personalities. Not committing time towards Yuugo and Yuuri, and leaving them as passive characters who were not direct participants with major events. They should have never been left on the side on their own in the first place. In fact, the best way to explain how this mess happened in the first place, is simply because they didn’t set it up properly. It wounded up having a domino effect, once a mistake was made, it ended up effecting the rest.
And the mistake that ended up haunting the rest was in fact the Synchro Realm Arc.
There were a number of problems with this arc, but the biggest flaw was the pacing. They stuck around for far too long, and prioritized on the characters that had no business of dominating the story. From there everything started going downhill.
Then there was Heartland Arc, that honestly can’t even be considered as one because of how short it was. This was the most anticipated arc from the very beginning of the series, and it ended up get the shortest end of the stick. Once they arrived at the scene, it was only a matter of seconds before they successfully flipped the villains to cheerleaders and moved on.
Academia Arc, same problem, they rushed in, needlessly sacrificing the main characters in place of the cameos from the past. Villains not quite flipped, but questionable battles that dragged out for far too long. That was then followed up by stupid actions with grave consequences, which created the dumbest ‘villain’ of all the YGO series.
And finally, Zarc. Invincible until the four magic cards comes into play. We have yet to see his back-story from his perspective. There is a number of ways they could have introduced this in and even drag out his fight against Ray/Reira (which ended up being a premature end). Considering how long they dragged out those pointless fights of passing on the baton, what was expected to be a dramatic fight ended up being less than a minute long and was utter garbage.
I stuck around because I really wanted to cover this show till the very end- to fulfill my regrets of being unable to complete YGO 5DS’s coverage due to an emergency health hiatus. But after this episode, I don’t know if I even have the heart to do it. I feel like I am done with this show, this was the last straw, the one I desperately had hoped would not happen, but it did. I think the most baffling part of this mess is how predictable it was. Every single worst case scenario prediction came true, and if that doesn’t speak for itself for how shitty this final arc of the series was, I don’t know what will.
Since I am so furious right now, I am certainly not in my right mind to decide on the spot whether or not I will continue this coverage. With that in mind, I would like to know from those who have been a part of this journey of whether or not you would like me to finish it by whatever means, either through double-posts or something.
But seriously though, when is this show supposed to end? I don’t even want to imagine it going on until April…
I would like to write up an Overall Review of this series, but man three years ago never expected myself to have to write up a review about the tragic ending for this series. I guess I will need some time to figure that one out.
UPDATE: Alright so now that I cooled down and I see you guys want me to continue till the very end, here is the plan:
If I can’t come up with more than 400 words, I will release the entries as a double-post. If I choose to do this I will immediately update everyone through Twitter, Tumblr and in this post + Comment Section. If I do not put up an update, then we will be sticking to the usual weekly routine!
I can understand your feeling very much. I’m really really frustrated by how this ended after all those Duels. I was thinking that Yuya (and possibly his counterparts) Duel and defeat Zarc in the end. I bet that after this, many fans who are unsatisfied will unleash their frustrations by writing their own version of the last battle in fanfics. Oh well, it already happened. I hope the new YGO series will be much better than this so I can move on completely…(TT_TT)
I personally want you to continue until the end because it’s only a few episodes left, and as the others said before me, you’ve dedicated yourself reviewing this series for three years already, and to stop just now would be a shame. Plus, sometimes, even though we’re not satisfied with something, but if we keep up with it when it’s so close until the very end, we’ll find a strong sense of fulfilment that will liven our spirit once we finished it. Trust me, it happened to me in my work. But at the same time, as I said, I can understand your feeling. It must be hurt to keep doing something when you don’t feel like it anymore, so I won’t force you to continue if you feel it’s too much.
Whichever you choose, I’ll respect and accept your decision. Good luck 😀
And I expect the sixth series to be darker and WAY better than Arc-V, since gaming anime with VR and Cyberpunk themes are usually darker.
Damn, at least even if zexal was horrible, it gave us the best final of a YGO show
Oh, you thought the final to Zexal was the best, me too. Did you like it because of the the epic duels like Yuma vs Astral, Yuma vs Shark, Yuma and Shark vs Don 1000, or because the Tori(Kotori) confessing her feelings, or because Astral came back and all the characters came together to go off on another adventure showing that the story will never end.
I haven’t comment before so dont mind but I gave up on Arc V since Dennis got kill after that I completely avoided watching this. Honestly you and Wilfredo commentary are the only reason I haven’t gone insane. Zexal was truly better than this at least Zexal had better character, drama and heart. GX still the best imo the 5d and the original Yugioh had the heart and soul excluding the Duelist Kingdom.
The ONLY reason I’m still watching Arc-V is because I want to know if Yuya and Yuzu finally hooked up in the end. The rest is ancient history, no thanks to the writers’ incompetence.
As for Ono, I’m going to say this: He’s not worthy of being in charge with an over 150-episode series. My wishful thinking is the one who’s in charge with Arc-V’s plot should be either Takahashi or Urobuchi.
Why them? Because 1) Takashi started the ENTIRE franchise, and the original manga would’ve been a masterpiece if it weren’t for executive meddling, and 2) Urobuchi is better at deconstructing than Ono and some of his works have the potential to achieve critical acclaim status.
I know having them being in charge with making a YGO spin-off is impossible at this time, but think about it.
In all honesty, looking back on the episode…I actually enjoyed it more than I thought.
Declan was standout, as usual. I didn’t want him to lose, but I suppose that he had to in the end. The lack of summon chants goes with the packed running time sadly, it happened in episode 49 (and is also the reason Wild Vulture is a thing). Moon Shadow showing up and being as awesome as always was a definite plus in my book.
I’m very irritated about the whole ambiguous gender thing with Riley, mostly because I don’t see the point, and would rather that Ray had been revived earlier and given more time to develop (with the girls too, grr). That being said, it was an absolute joy to see Zuzu again, and her speech had me in tears.
This is what I’m trying to say; I was genuinely moved by the episode, and it was great to see Yuya take back control and fight back as a final “eff you”, especially with the Marik callbacks.
The defeat…yeah, not really a fan. There, I said it. In retrospect, it makes a lot of sense; the Natural Energy cards didn’t defeat Zarc on the first time, and since Zarc was now a pendulum, he could come back (and did). Ah, yes, Wilfredo, Zarc never stopped being a pendulum. He was a Normal/Pendulum monster, those do exist. But as Ray said, the pendulum symbolized good and evil, and the good swung back to take control in the form of Yuya. Corny, I know, but I liked it. Really, Yuya made the defeat possible; if it hadn’t been for him, Zarc would have won.
“I am willing to bet if we end up seeing Reira again, he will likely be possessed by Zarc and “SURPRISE”, Yuuya will face off Zarc within Reira and that will essentially be his last mission.” Oh, I admit that I never thought about it. Please, please, please let that happen, though given the preview it could get extremely weird…
Bit annoyed that the dimensions might be split again. No! Give me our original world!
All in all, my thoughts. I usually don’t write that much…I’d better not be turning into Wilfredo. And the ending of DM is the superior ending to them all. NO DENYING IT.
Are you going to see the Dark Side of Dimensions, Eva?
Zarc’s backstory is so easy it can be written in anyone’s sleep.
Zarc was a fairly normal duelist and always dreamed of dueling out there in the coliseum. He gets his wish and enjoys the feeling of the crowd cheering for him after his first victory. Zarc continues having these win streaks and performing for the crowd. Then Leo Akaba develops Solid Vision and after Zarc’s first duel with this new technology he feels unsure and not happy with the harm he caused. Yet the crowd cheers for him and also pressures hin. So Zarc continues dueling, the crowds keep cheering for him and over time he becomes comfortable with the “entertainment” he puts on for his adoring displays, always feeling pressured by the adoring crowd to make it even more violent than the last. At some point he snaps and becomes the monster we know.
Its a fairly basic gladiator backstory that is clear cut and dry.