YGO ARC-V can finally be put to rest.
Final Impression
It’s over, it’s finally over. YGO ARC-V can finally be put to rest. I have covered this show for three years, and good lord, this poor show, did not deserve this crappy ending. This finale was making me cringe from start to finish, and my notes were so short, I had little to nothing to say. The one thing that was on my mind was, “I can’t wait to rip this shit apart”. And I will, but that will be featured in the Overall Review that is currently works in progress. Unfortunately I was not able to have it finished to immediately publish right after the final impression, but I am going to see if I can get done and release it tonight, or tomorrow by the end the day. Worst case scenario, it could come out as late as Thursday… But I honestly don’t want to keep it that long because I know I am going to quickly lose the drive to write about it.
You know ARC-V ended in a pretty bad place when they didn’t give the finale an hour special. The duel between Reiji and Yuuya was pretty awful and I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy any of it. With baby Reira stupid giggles (that even sounded stupid), Yuzu being left to the very last moment to return, and not a word from Ruri, Rin or Selena. I mean, even the reunion itself was horrible. Like come on, you dont’ think Yuuya and Yuzu wouldn’t want to jump into each others arms and give each other a hug after all the shit they been through? They didn’t even try. Welcome back was all we got until Yuushou showed up and – ugh, forget it. Let’s just move on. It’s not worth getting worked up about it.
It’s a real shame that the err, “Pure” versions (I guess) of the Supreme King Dragons only got to debut in the final episode. Missed opportunity. I also want to rip my hair out over the constant contradiction of Reira = Zarc when it makes NO FUCKING SENSE BECAUSE YUUYA + YUUGO + YUUTO + YUURI = ZARC. THEY EVEN SAY, “OH WE’RE ONE AGAIN” AND ALL THAT SHIT. YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH, IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. IT’S EITHER ONE OR THE OTHER. AND ONE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER. And this is something I am going to be gnawing at in the Overall Review.
Anyways look forward to the Overall Review because it is going to be a lengthy one as I am currently at 2700+ Words and counting, and will also be done in a different format than how I usually do it. I am currently only 45% into it too, so there’s A LOT more coming. So without further ado, I will provide you a preview with a portion that is done
SNEAK PEAK OF THE OVERALL REVIEW:
(Disclaimer: This portion may be tweaked or be different in final edition)
Final Judgement
In the end, Is ARC-V the new worst of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series franchise? It is up to you to make that call.
Despite the fact this series ended up as a train-wreck, I won’t go as far as to say it is now the worst Yu-Gi-Oh! Series of all time. ARC-V started off on a very high note, the first fifty episodes were its strongest. At the time, I was convinced it was going to be my new favourite. And in a way, it is still close to it. It was only when they dragged out the Synchro Realm arc for far too long, and spent to little time in Heartland that was when it fell into disrepair. Even then, the worst of the series would only happen by Episode 130 and onwards (with a few exceptions). Though the characters were unfairly treated, I for one, loved them dearly. It was because I saw them all brimming with untapped potential. They were a hidden gem waiting to be polished. For whatever reason, be it production woes, or poor choice of priority… in the end their potential were not realized. I think it is because of the promise this series held, dissuades me from claiming it to being the worst one of them all. Regardless of its horrendous flaws and abusive treatment it has received from the production team due to internal conflicts, and how it broke my heart… At the end of the day, I still love ARC-V. Not for its outcome, but for the characters and the the story of this series I had fallen in love with. Yuuya will always be my precious puppy, Yuzu will always be my queen, their respective counterparts will always be remembered for all that they could have been in my heart, the concept of the ZARC’s fragments being divided into different realms, his dragons seeking out each other to make him whole again. Maybe, just maybe, had there been no production woes, ARC-V’s true potential could have been realized and could have ended differently. In all, ARC-V is a show that will make you feel the mixed emotions of happiness, sadness and frustration. It is up to you whether you wish to take that journey, to see all what it sincerely, could have been.
WELL, TIME TO MOVE ONTO YGO VRAIN. Let’s hope that one will be good!!!
Too bad that they decided with the ending of the boys and girls stayed merging. It would have been a bit better at the very least if they got separated in the end right after the Duel even without any explanation how. And instead of just Reira laughing, they could have showed a cameo of Zarc and Ray’s spirits smiling happily or something before they finally passed on. And as you do, Eva, I would’ve loved to see Yuya and Yuzu hugging instead of just saying “welcome back” and “I’m home”. I mean, at the end of Synchro Dimension, Yuya hugged her while both crying happily but how come they didn’t do the same now after Yuya trying so hard to get her back?
I personally quite enjoyed the Duel thanks to Yuya’s new dragons and all (I especially like Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon, it’s very beautiful). It also helped that Hiroki did a good animation for this final episode. They chose Burn! as the ending theme was also a good decision, the theme song is a perfect choice as it’s very fitting for final episode.
In any case, the series has finally come to an end. Regardless of the train wreck plot and pacing and lack of several characters development, overall, I still love this series, especially the characters like Yuya, Yuzu, and their counterparts. ARC-V will always have a place in my heart as one of my favourite anime of all times. I will remember and love this series forever.
Now that ARC-V ends, time to welcome VRAINS! After reading the newest synopsis and watching the anime PV, my expectation for the newest series grow! I hope VRAINS will live up to that expectation! XD
Oh, and Eva, is it true that you’re cancelling your hiatus and will do VRAINS review? If that’s the case, then I guess that means see you soon in VRAINS 😀
It’s not quite canceling my hiatus since I won’t be returning as a Full Time Writer at this time (meaning to participate in the on-going seasons). But I will be covering VRAINS because I am the only one on the team who is interested (if someone else were, then that would be a different situation), and I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity since I know I will be returning full time sometime in the future, not to mention, it’s a show you have to start early with. 😉 There’s no gain in catching up on cover of something you already watched (for me anyway! XD)
I actually haven’t seen the PV yet (been so busy omfg), but I think I’m actually going to go in blind (no watching PV!) like I had with ARC-V. It’s more fun that way!
I honestly, couldn’t take it seriously as it wanted me to. I was fine with most of the things with the half until Yuya pulled Magician pendulum and constant Action Card spam. And the ending was by far the worse in my opinion. Pretty much sucks that Yuzu only got 3 lines only to be completely ignored the next second.
While on the subject, with all the hype and tease towards Yushou especially with that ending tease we all know is not going to happen, he was pretty pointless/useless like the majority of things here(correct me if I’m wrong).
Yushou’s only actions in general:
)Tells his son to bottle up his emotions which isn’t much of a good influence when you look at what that lead to.
)He chooses of his own free will to leave his family without a word leading his son to constantly get bullied for three years.
)An offscreen win against Edo, leading to him for some reason getting teleported to Fusion Dimension. I doubt it was ever mentioned what made him teleport because what we saw after Edo started whining, Yushou picked up one-half of EGAO world then vanished.
)Mocks Dennis’ version entame calling it nothing but flashy yet when Yuya does he gets all the praise because he’s a Messiah
)Could have dueled Dennis but he ran away from him which ended up being a pointless excuse to letting Kaito shill Ciphers two episodes straight and Dennis’ pointless “suicide” that was never brought up again later and thanks to what happened afterward.
) Canceling Yuya/Reiji vs Leo which inadvertently led the girls officially killed off and Zarc much closer into reviving but made to look like his most badass moment he ever did.
)Did absolutely nothing but be a worthless spectator with Yugo vs Yuri rather than try using that “bug” card on Yuri(don’t know rather it was said it couldn’t be used again but still).
)Loses against Yuri for the sake of pissing off Yuya who in turn barely won thanks to the powers of forced friendship but made Zarc revive.
)Once he’s brought back he never tells his family of what’s going on and relies on Reiji idiotic plan as the only solution(in fact he never once had an onscreen interaction with Yoko(except if you want to count her flashback of him in 52-53) but then again neither did Himika and Leo despite them being “married”).
There’s not much to say but amazing original cast, VA’s, music(a real shame we may never get a Sound Duel 4), and ideas but poor execution and overall wasted potential unfortunately I have no intention looking back on as a rewatch after Standard arc. I think a lot of people here acknowledged that Standard was arguably ARC-V at its best despite most of the rushness and debatable pacing in some places. Synchro while not too great as well as definitely lacking but it still could have recovered itself until 92 happened and the start of 112. For me honestly, I had concerns starting at 112 but ended up losing hope when 115 happened and of course the “you know what” arc that in my opinion destroyed the shows’ credibility.
Overall, in my opinion, I would just call ARC-V the weakest spinoff mainly for my own reasons but all probably work on my own overall review of it in another site or blog? While had potential the execution ended up dragging and arguably made things worse for itself and the lack of standing out on its own.
I feel like even when GX and Zexal didn’t have an hour finale, the results still worked to its own favor and gave the characters full closure and a fitting end. Sure it could be argued that most of it was rushed but still it ends up having the ending it deserves. DM and 5D’s had without a doubt my favorite endings and still holds up today. Unfortunately, with ARC-V there really was nothing new to it in what we already gotten except it had a baby smiling which apparently was important and the villains being excused of all the crap they’ve done no questions asks nor reaction. Not to mention, the fact that in this show nothing last as much as it should leading into what we kinda acknowledged since the end of 99 and that’s Yuya and Yuzu’s relationship being a constant running gag. No answers of what happens with Ray yet Zarc is apparently trapped in a baby and the other counterparts lost all of their individual lives. It would be called bittersweet but really this was all forced with everyone and everything being EGAO related.
Overall, Arc-V is not the worst, but definitely not the best; It’s more of a mixed bag series because its has good characters, good ideas, and good key themes, but poor plot pacing and execution.
And yes, several people called it the worst of the worst, realistically speaking.
Here’s my personal cons:
1) 2.5D CGI. It should’ve been 3D like in the DSOD movie, 5D’s, and ZEXAL.
2) Lack of screentime for supporting characters such as Gongenzaka, Sawatari, Kurosaki, etc.
3) Again, poor plot pacing and execution.
4) How Ono, Kamishiro, and the writers handled the remaining 2/3 of the series, such as Yuya’s EGAOism.
What could’ve make Arc-V better in my opinion? Having either Takahashi or Urobuchi as the main writer of the series; the former because YGO is HIS franchise, and the latter because he’s better storytelling.
My personal overall rating: C
Time for my final thoughts on what I would have liked to have seen from the Fusion Arc until the end of the show. This will be split into two separate comments as there is a lot to write for this one.
Fusion Arc: Ep 126-140
Reiji and co. confront Leo who reveals the backstory of the show, with Zarc, Ray, The Four Dimensional Dragons and the Four Nature Cards. After Leo awoke in the Standard Dimension with no memories apart from his name, he was found by a younger Yusho who helped him get back on his feet as the two worked the streets of Miami City together as Entertainment Duellists so Leo could raise enough money for himself. Leo recreated Real Solid Vision and used the ground-breaking technology to found the Leo Corporation and gain a monopoly on the duelling industry when he reintroduced Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Summoning to Standard, as well as helping Yusho set up his own school. Yuya, Gongenzaka and Sora enter the throne room at this point, as well as The Doktor with the Bracelet Girls. The Doktor offers to use the girls to help him take down Yuya but Leo reveals he knows The Doktor lost to Sora, so he stands no chance against Yuya. The Doktor keeps pushing the issue however, saying that as fellow scientists, developing new ways to work on Real Solid Vision, they should be able to understand each other. Leo is angered by this, stating that The Doktor’s way of thinking reminds him too much of how he used to be and he cards The Doktor, freeing the girls from his control. Leo continues his story about how he met a young Yuya one day while visiting Yusho, causing his memories of his time in the One World to begin to resurface until he used a machine to fully regain them. He theorised that the world was split into four based on their summoning methods and he harnessed the power of Fusion Monsters to test his theory, and eventually succeeded in opening a portal to the Fusion Dimension where he discovered Yuri and Serena, making him realise that Zarc and Ray had also been split into four and reborn to families across the four dimensions. Leo unveils the Arc-V Machine and explains that the true purpose of the Arc Area Project and Revival Zero is to revive the One World and Ray. Edo duels Leo to stop him, with Leo revealing that his Spirt Crystal/Spirt Tech Force deck is capable of using all three Extra Deck Summoning methods, causing Edo to call Leo out on this hypocrisy. Leo shocks everyone further when he Pendulum Summons, having reverse-engineered the cards in Dennis and Serena’s decks. He defeats Edo’s Duskutopiaguy with Pendulum Governor, winning the duel. Leo expresses disappointment in Edo, saying he would have been welcome in his new world, instead he’ll be wiped out along with everyone else before carding him and adding his life energy to Arc-V. Leo explains that just as the people of the One World were wiped from existence when it split, so too will all the people across the dimensions once Arc-V has absorbed enough life energy which will also allow the people of the One World to be reborn. Leo has prepared the throne room to act as an isolation chamber to protect himself when it finally begins. All present are horrified by this, especially Reiji, only to be told by Leo that they are the only real beings living in this universe since the four separate worlds are a mistake and none of the people living in them truly matter, though he is prepared to make an exception for Reiji as his son, Himika as his wife and Yusho as his best friend. Reiji refuses, saying he will never forgive his father for abandoning him and his mother, only to be shocked into silence when Himika appears. She reveals she has been aware of her husband’s ambitions all along, as this will make the Akaba family the saviours of the reborn One World, allowing them to rule over it, and asks Reiji to stand at his father’s side with her. Reiji is devastated by this betrayal from both his parents, believing all he has done has been for nothing. Yuya empathizes with Reiji for the first time, and he and Reira snap him out of his funk with support from the other Lancers; reminding him that they never would have made it this far without Reiji, even though he hasn’t always taken the most moral path. With renewed faith, Reiji resolves to put an end to his parent’s ambition, only for Himika to utter a phrase that activates Reira and make him turn his duel disk against his brother. Himika explains that Reira is a sleeper agent, trained not to fight Academia, but to stop Reiji in case he got too close to foiling their plans before they could come to fruition, adding that he has been her eyes and ears throughout the Synchro and Xyz Dimensions. Yuri and Yugo’s duel ends with Yuri defeating Yugo and absorbing him whilst at the same time Reiji duels Reira to free him from Himika’s control. Reiji is nearly overpowered but Reira’s memories of the times his brother taught him to duel, accepted him growing a sense of self and Yuya’s own support causes him to snap out of his brainwashing, but before he loses; he remembers a time in his war torn country, before the Akaba’s found him, of a girl approaching him. Yuri enters, intending to obtain ultimate power by absorbing Yuya and Yuto. Leo claims that will never happen as neither Yuri nor any of his counterparts will live to see the rebirth of the One World, and the only reason he never killed Yuri before is because it gave him vindictive pleasure to be able to harness the power of Zarc to aid in fixing the very tragedy he caused. Leo summons the Obelisk Force and the staff of Academia to deal with his enemies whilst he retreats into Arc-V and seals himself off as the machine begins the process of fusing the dimensions and the Bracelet Girls back into one. Himika remains behind briefly to finish off Reira with her Eidolon Beast deck for disobeying her, but Reira finally overcomes his fear and defeats her. Reiji hacks Himika’s duel disk and teleports himself into Arc-V to confront Leo. Yuzu and Ruri’s distress, combined with Yuri’s presence, causes Yuya and Yuto to Awaken. They summon their dragons to try and break into Arc-V, but the dragons are so indiscriminate in their attacks that they end up putting everyone present at risk. Yusho uses a Trap Card that Leo gave him years ago to pin Yuya to a pillar. Yuri’s own dark powers are also out of control and he cards all the O-Force and Academia staff before channelling Zarc’s power to make his Predator Plants monsters real and has them bind the Lancers, apart from Yusho, to stop them from interfering. Yusho duels Yuri to defend his son while Reiji duels Leo within Arc-V. Yusho loses to Yuri due to his control over Yugo’s dragon and despite Reiji summoning executive versions of Temujin, Alexander and Caesar, he loses to Leo’s Pendulum Ruler and both are carded. This is too much for Yuya who breaks free of the Trap Card and faces Yuri in a duel were he takes control of Clear Wing and uses it alongside Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion to defeat Yuri. Despite his victory, Yuya is still consumed by Zarc and he absorbs Yuri to become whole again and regain his true body as Arc-V finishes absorbing life energy and begins to fuse the dimensions together. The next four episodes deal with Gongenzaka, Shingo, Sora and Shun facing off against Zarc together to stop him from destroying all of reality, as they are the last line of defence in this darkest hour, with people from all four dimensions watching on. Despite their best efforts to get through to Yuya, Yugo and Yuto, Zarc tells them to stop wasting their time as the Dragon Boys were nothing more than phantoms to fuel his rebirth and don’t exist anymore. They fall one by one and Zarc decides to take their power for himself by having the Four Dragons absorb each of their souls into him, leaving them lifeless husks. Leo arrives, planning to stop Zarc himself with the power of Pendulum Summoning until Ray fully revives. It is revealed that Zarc and Ray met and fell in love during their time in the One World, and it was Leo who created Starve Venom, Clear Wing and Dark Rebellion as a gift for Zarc to celebrate their love. This is why Leo despises Zarc: he broke Ray’s heart with his betrayal when he used his gifts to give into evil to satisfy the violence of the audience and the revenge of the dragons. Zarc laughs at Leo’s hubris, say
ing he could never be beaten by the very power he created to counter Ray the next time they met. At the same time, Reira approaches the Arc-V machine, sees Ray’s spirit within and reaches out to her. Zarc defeats Leo and buries him under rubble but before he can continue his rampage, Reira appears before him, alongside Reiji, Yusho, Edo, Asuka, Jack, Crow, Kaito and Droite whose souls Ray has freed from Arc-V. It is revealed that Reira is not from a war torn country in Standard as Himika believed, but is another survivor of the One World when Zarc began destroying it. Reira simply repressed those memories into something else to cope with the trauma. He was found by Ray and as a last resort, in case she didn’t survive the battle with Zarc, she used the Four Nature Cards to transfer part of her soul into Reira to allow her to live on; this is also why Reira was sent to Standard like Leo instead of wiped out like everyone else when the world split; as his body contained part of Ray’s soul. Now that Ray has retrieved her soul fragment from Reira, she is able to fully revive, alongside the Nature Cards. Leo drags himself out of the rubble and is overjoyed to see Ray again, saying they can finally end Zarc once and for all, but Ray has no intention of killing Zarc and resolves to save him instead. She uses the Four Nature Cards combined with the Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum Monsters of those she saved to paralyse Zarc and enters his heart to find his avatars.
I wanted to show a deeper friendship between Yusho and Leo before the latter turned evil, by having Yusho be the one to support Leo in raising enough money for him to be able to recreate Real Solid Vision. Making Himika a villain in league with her husband made the most sense to me as I never bought her “horror” at her staff being sealed into cards. This would also be a chance for some real character development for Reiji and Reira. I wanted to show just how dark and hopeless the situation with Zarc could be by literally having Gongenzaka, Shingo, Sora and Shun standalone against Zarc with their souls taken when they lose in order to show real consequences of fighting against him. I wanted to give Reira a connection to Ray that he never knew he possessed, which is part of the reason why he breaks free of Himika’s control. Ray will play a very large part in saving the four dimensions as you’ll see in the next part, but I hope you’re enjoying things so far.
Wow, you make Himika into a villain to break Reiji and Reira like that is so…so…awesome. I can’t bring myself to do that even if it’s for the sake of developing Reiji and Reira’s characters. To be honest, there are some similarities between your version and mine, but it’s still different with what I’ve thought up. Oh, and you chose Reira to be a boy instead of girl, a decision that I think is a perfect choice 😀
Final Arc: Ep 140-150
The next four episodes each focus on one of the Dragon Boys who are trapped within Zarc in a false memory of a perfect life in their home dimensions. Yuya has surpassed his father as an Entertainment Duellist, Yugo has won the Friendship Cup and Yuto’s life is peaceful and calm since Academia never invaded. But things take a nightmarish turn when they realize Yuzu, Rin and Ruri are not part of their new lives and they see what they could have become without their influence: cold and cruel like Yuri, since Yuto is no longer friends with Shun, Yugo becomes an arrogant Top, and Yuya looks down on anything that doesn’t satisfy his view of entertainment. They realize just how much the girls mean to them and Ray appears before each one as their respective Bracelet Girl alongside the souls of Gongenzaka for Yuya, Shingo for Yugo and Shun for Yuto. Ray explains Zarc made a mistake not including the ones they love the most in these visions and that it is proof beyond doubt that the Dragon Boys have become their own separate beings and asks for their help to free Zarc from the evil in his heart. In Yuri’s ideal world he has carded everyone in existence and considers himself the strongest, but as he slowly begins to discover that this lifestyle is cold, empty and meaningless without anyone to share it with, he becomes tormented by the spirits of all those he carded. Ray appears as Serena to free him from his torment and reveals the life he would have led if Leo hadn’t separated him from Serena: a kind child, loved alongside strong duellists like Edo and Asuka, so envy never took root in his heart and he was never consumed by Zarc’s evil. Yuri is brought to tears by this as he is overcome by guilt for his actions as Sora appears alongside Serena to tell him he can begin to atone by helping his counterparts save Zarc from himself. Yuya is expelled from Zarc’s body along with the souls of Gongenzaka, Shingo, Sora and Shun. Zarc blasts Ray away as the Four Nature Cards on their own are no longer enough to stop him, but she gives them to Yuya and asks him to save Zarc, claiming that Yuya is what he would have become if he didn’t give in to evil and that he is the co-creator of Pendulum Summoning as the pendulum can’t swing in the presence of evil alone. Yuto, Yugo and Yuri all reside within Yuya and vow to help him. Yuya duels Zarc, switching out control with his counterparts at various points to allow them to bring out their dragons to fight back against the corrupted versions Zarc summons. Yuya eventually performs his own Integration Summon, not just with the Four Dimensional Dragons but also with the Four Nature Cards to summon Genesis Omega Dragon who destroys Supreme King Dragon Zarc, the physical manifestation of Zarc’s evil, as throughout the duel, Zarc is reminded of the good times he spent with Ray and his true goal of bringing joy to everyone, humans and monsters alike. Zarc’s essence is freed and returns to Yuya, restoring him to how he was before he lost his way. Ray tells Leo he had no right to rob her avatars of their lives, as everyone in the dimensions are just as real as him. This shatters what is left of Leo’s sanity as Ray turns her back on him for Zarc. Ray and Zarc reunite as each sees the other as their respective Dragon Boy and Bracelet Girl, but the moment is shattered when a psychotic Leo stabs Zarc in the back with a dagger. Before he can do more damage, Reiji punches his father away, causing him to lose his balance and fall from one of Academia’s towers to his death. Zarc apologizes to Ray for the pain he caused her and everyone else before dying in her arms. Ray weeps over Zarc, as do the Lancers and all of their family and friends in the dimensions for the loss of Yuya and the others. Just then the Four Dimensional Dragons and the Four Nature Cards resonate with Yuya’s Pendulum Pendant and envelope Zarc and Ray in light. When the light dissipates; Yuya, Yuzu and their counterparts have taken their place. Everyone is joyous that they have returned safely, as the spirits of Zarc and Ray appear before their avatars and explain that the Four Dimensional Dragons and the Four Nature Cards responded to the wishes of Zarc and Ray before he died: that they would give each give their life for the other to give themselves and their avatars a chance a happiness once again. They explain that this wish used their own life energy to restore their avatars to separate bodies and gave both of them a chance to set right Leo’s wrong and pass on into the afterlife to re-join their friends and family from the One World. The Lancers are sorry that Zarc and Ray cannot remain alive, but are told that they are past, and as such, they no longer belong here. Leo was clinging to the past instead of living for the future as Ray hoped he would, saying that the One World had its chance and that for better or worse this is the destiny that fate has dealt them. Zarc and Ray ask their avatars to ensure that nothing like this happens again by showing both the people and the Duel Monsters living in the four worlds the true meaning of happiness and entertainment and what it means to take a step forward with courage. Their spirits descend into the Arc-V Machine which separates the four dimensions and frees all the people that Academia trapped in cards. The Lancers and their allies say goodbye for the time being and return to their own worlds where they reunite with all their revived friends. After a time skip it is revealed that the Standard Dimension has been reborn as the Pendulum Dimension, Himika, The Doktor and many other leading members of Academia are arrested and put on trial for crimes against humanity, Edo has taken over the school, where he has the students work to help the people of Heartland rebuild their homes and get their lives back together as penance, Dennis also remains in Heartland to teach the children about Entertainment Duelling as per Yusho and Yuya’s suggestion, The Synchro Dimension holds a true Friendship Cup which Yugo wins alongside Rin and The Leo Corporation has opened a series of Dimensional Gateways that allows for travel between the four worlds. Yuya and Yuzu meet with Reiji to discuss putting on one huge Entertainment Duel between them and their counterparts in front of all the dimensions to carry out the final wishes of Ray and Zarc and to ease the pain of the people from Heartland to show them and Academia that duelling can be fun again. Reiji agrees, but expresses regret at being unable to stop Leo and feels that as defeating his father was his entire purpose for forming the Lancers, he is a failure and admits that a small part of him hoped he could convince his father to abandon his ambitions so they could be a family again. Yuya and Yuzu assuage Reiji’s guilt by reminding him that if not for him, they never would have found out about the Arc Area Project until it was too late, and things would have turned out much worse. Yuya duels Reiji to help him remember what it’s like to duel for fun and succeeds in making Reiji smile and laugh. Yuya, Yuzu, Yuri, Serena, Yugo, Rin, Yuto and Ruri face each other in an eight person Battle Royale in a specially designed arena that broadcasts the duel to everyone in all the dimensions. It eventually comes down to just Yuya VS Yuzu which ends in a DRAW to showcase their equal skill level. Yuya ends up with Yuzu as does Yuto with Ruri and Yugo with Rin, but Serena ends up with Shingo as Yuri knows that whilst he is free of Zarc’s evil, he still chose to give into it like Zarc did and plans to travel the Fusion Dimension in search of a place to belong, knowing that Shingo will make Serena happier than he ever could. Yuri stays just long enough for the Lancers and every other major character in the show to travel through the four dimensions on a rainbow bridge riding on their monsters, similar to the first opening, Believe x Believe, while Burn! from the second opening plays, with Yusho commenting that the worlds are finally becoming one again. It ends with the spirits of Zarc and Ray heading up into the night sky and disappearing into the stars as Yuya, Y
uzu and their counterparts jump into the air in joy.
It never made much sense for the show to end at 148 episodes instead of rounding it off to 150 and an extra two episodes could have helped so much. I would also have made episodes 149 and 150 two, one-hour specials to give the show the send-off it deserved. This was the best way I could see everyone in the show getting a chance to shine instead of being shunted to the side when there were plenty of opportunities for them. The theme of the show is “Take a step forward with courage!!” and I wanted to show that through Yuya’s growth as a duelist, with how he shakes off the shadow of his father and becomes an entertainer in his own right. It also symbolizes how the two main villains, Zarc and Leo Akaba, are both trapped in the past: with Leo chasing after a world that doesn’t exist anymore, and Zarc still trying to use violence to entertain, thinking that was still what the people and the Duel Monsters want. I hope my ideas help the theme to flow more smoothly without feeling like it is being shoved down our throats like in the show did at times. I don’t pretend that everyone will like the changes I have suggested as all art is largely subjective as I mentioned back at the start of my ideas for the second half of the Synchro Arc, and I wouldn’t expect them to either, I’m just glad that my ideas also inspired others to do the same and that is the highest praise I can receive. Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V, despite its faults, will still be fondly remembered as my favourite series of the franchise, as like you Eva I loved all the characters and concepts so I can’t bring myself to hate it as it is also the show that got me back into Yu-Gi-Oh! again, and I eagerly anticipate Vrains in May. I’m glad I found this site when I did as it gave me a chance to enjoy Yu-Gi-Oh! with other fans and I wish I had commented sooner. Please let me know your thoughts on whether my ideas for the last half of Arc-V would have helped or hurt the series if they took a similar route to this one. Thank you for all your feedback, it has been much appreciated, and I look forward to seeing you all again in May.
Honestly, in my opinion it did not deserve to have more with the fact that it had more than enough opportunities to get its act together but instead to waste it on lots of pointless things and favoritism. The fact that it had 2 more episodes than ZEXAL yet still ended poorly says it all.
Again, this is very awesome. There are also some similarities with my version. But you make Leo died here like that and the whole Zarc being stabbed and then died, I really can’t find other words other than you’re awesome and incredible!
What frustrated me about the finale was… it had POTENTIAL! But it was again in the WRONG time! It felt like they were starting with something amazing and then *snap* it was gone just like that! Even the background music of the woman singing in a prayer like way (which I kind of dug) was great because it promised amazement but failed to deliver…
What’s sadder is that I believe the animators were trying their damndest because the animation was rather good in this episode! They worked hard with what they were given, and for that i commend them! The writers are the people who fucked it up!
Even Yuzu returning was a disappointment… I expected at least a hug or something but nooo! Idiot, asshole and traumatising Dad just HAD to show up and force Yuya into what must be his 6th duel in a day! Yuya should be exhausted especially since he’s been on a motorbike which should tire him out with the fast speed!
Seriously he is officially the worst father in the YGO franchise! Admittedly we only have one other to compare but at least Yuma’s father didn’t abandon him intentionally!
Yoko is still the best mother in my view! Yuma’s mum just didn’t do enough really…
And suddenly the world is one again!? WTF!? I mean, the world hasn’t been destroyed!? And Leo should be in a fucking Jail cell for causing all this to happen!
Also am i the only one who thinks that it was a terrible ending not just because of the lead up but because it just… stopped. It didn’t really end. It sort of did but tenuously, i mean we have no confirmation that stuff is being rebuilt or in what way are people planning to move forwards… So there are still loose ends to tie up and they set it off as ‘another adventure’… This bloody sucks!
I COULD’VE forgiven the show a little if there was a Yuya/Yuzu moment… But seriously, Yuya gives a half-hearted greeting!
Oh and they DO NOT deserve that montage with the Yu-boys staring at their girls! Yuri and Selena didn’t even KNOW each other!
Oh and Reira is smiling… who even cares anymore about him? I stopped ages ago! It was a stupid plot point in Vanguard G to make a child a baby again, it’s a stupid idea even now!
Looking forward to your overall view on the series. Let’s try and be fair and acknowledge the good points.
My only positives of the finale was the BGM, animation and the duel set up (that went off too quickly but lets ignore that part for now and that made it bad but the beginning each time was good). Everything else was annoying…
All aboard for Vrains! I want to like this series… but the main girl doesn’t look that great honestly in terms of design. Maybe she’ll be a great duellist! Who knows?
Also title sounds stupid. I will always say this, but I will give it a fair chance.
Well Arc V is finally over, while this ending was the 2nd worst of all the Yugioh endings in my opinion, the series as a whole was still good, it had it’s ups and downs, and defiantly didn’t deserve to end like this. While I’ll admit the duel was okay and despite the poor excuse for a reunion between Yuya and Zuzu(Yuzu) it was nice see all the characters together at the end(it’s moments like that, that make me love the Zexal ending and hate the 5ds ending), but even so this ending was still god dam awful. However, let’s not remember Arc V as the series of disappointments and a crappy ending, let’s remember all the good stuff it did, that’s how I choose to remember it. Despite all of it’s problems I still enjoyed the series, it’s still my 3rd favorite out of the 5 series, so I’m going to miss the series. I’m also going to miss seeing Youtube reviewers like TGS Anime, Clueless Gamers and Kevin Jones Reviews review the episode, and I will defiantly miss reading your blogs about Arc V Eva.
In the words of the Yugioh Abridged series(only altered a bit to match the current situation): Good night sweet series and may a flight of Blue Eyes White Dragons send you to your grave.
While Arc V may be gone for now I still look forward to when some of my favorite episodes of season 3 come out in English, such as episode 100-111, 113-117, 119, 124-125 and 134-135.
And now here is my opinion on how the Fusion/Final arc could have been improved:
Now before going to the Fusion Dimension Declan(Reiji) explains his plan to the others and also explains Revival Zero. After that the team teleports to Duel Academy in two groups, one group goes right to the Academy’s front door, this group consists of all the LDS students and the surviving Security, Shinji’s rebels and the Resistances, all being lead by Allen, Sayaka, Chojiro, Grace and Moon Shadow(Tsukikage). This group engages the regular non-Obelisk Force students of the Academy in battle, but these students have Gloria leading them and she once again faces off against her sister Grace. Meanwhile, the other group consisting of all the remaining Lancers, Zuzu(Yuzu), Sora, Crow, Jack and Kite(Kaito) teleport to Duel Academy’s back entrances, to sneak in while most of the Academy’s forces are distracted in the front. However, this group runs into no other than Yusho, Yuya is happy to see him as is Declan and many others, and he tells them what happened to him with an episode or two flashback, how he went from Xyz to Fusion and how his school was attacked recently by Academy forces lead by Yuri and Dennis, who carded everyone including Alexis(Asuka) who again dueled Yuri, but during the attack Dennis was reluctant in carding people, but did it for Duel Academy. After this the group splits into to two teams. Team A consisting of Yuya, Zuzu, Gong, Shay(Shun), Sora, Silvio(Shingo) and Crow head to the prison area to free Rin, Lulu(Ruri) and Celina(Serena). While team B consisting of Declan, Riley(Reria), Yusho, Jack and Kite head to Leo’s throne room to confront the madman. Both teams make it about halfway before being stopped by a duelist, Barrett for team A and Dennis for team B. Silvio and Crow take on Barrett to let the others continue to the cells, while Kite does the same for team B. Meanwhile back on the front lines, while some of the Lancers forces were carded, many of the Academy students were also taken down, and Grace even defeated Gloria by imitating what she learned from Yuya and convinced her sister to join their side. At the same time Silvio and Crow defeat Barrett and try to get him to change sides too. Unfortunately, Yuri arrives and cards Barrett for his failure then turns his attentions on Crow and Silvio, saying there defeat will help further his plans. Yuya and the rest of team A find the cells holding Rin, Lulu and Celina, and free them. It’s all happy reunions, until the Doctor activates the Parasites in the 3 girls turning them against their saviors. Sora reveals he heard rumors that the Professor had a person who can brainwash people, so the team plans to duel and defeat the girls to free them(like how every other Yugioh series has broken mind control). So Zuzu faces off against Rin, since Zuzu actually knew the most about Yugo out of all the Lancers, and Yuya and Shay have a tag team match against Lulu and Celina, in which Yuto reveals his feelings for Lulu and temporarily switches places with Yuya, just like in the episode 124 and 125. The duels are going good for our heroes, but Silvio and Crow aren’t so lucky, they were ready for Yuri’s fusion monsters, but they didn’t know he had Clear Wing after absorbing Yugo, so the pair are defeated and carded. Meanwhile, Kite using all he learned from his friends, Yuya and Yusho, beats Dennis and gets him to join their side, he even tells him about the Doctor and the two head for his lab. As the rest of team B gets closer to Leo’s throne room, Mamoru(the clock guy from the Xyz arc) intercepts them. Jack stays behind to deal with him, and quite easily beats him, then with his Duel runner rejoins the rest of Team B. Back at the prison cells, Yuto has switched back to Yuya and Yuri has also arrived, showing off the carded Barrett, Silvio and Crow angering Yuya and the others, but Zuzu wonders why her braclet didn’t activate, and Yuri reveals that Leo set up a shield to try and negate the counterparts powers. Unfortunately, it only works on individual counterparts not fused ones, and Yuri reveals his intention to fuse with Yuya and Yuto to become all powerful, but first he must get past Gong and Sora, starting another duel. Zuzu does manage to beat Rin and seemingly free her, but Yuya and Shay are having more difficulty, when Yuri summons Starving Venom, with both Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion on his field and in such close range Yuya and Yuto fight against Berserk Mode and they can’t focused on the duel. Luckily, Gong and Sora pull off a combo with Chimera to take control of Starving Venom, while under there good influences the effects of Berserk Mode weakens, allowing Yuya and Shay to beat and seemingly free Lulu and Celina. However, the good guys luck runs out when Yuri uses Super Poly to take back his dragon and get out Greedy Venom and he uses it to take down Gong and Sora. The others are about to help them but the Parasites reactivate, causing Lulu to kick Yuya, Celina to taser Shay, and Rin to grab Zuzu, the three girls then uses their duel disks to teleport back to the Doctor’s lab with Zuzu. Yuri was hoping to get rid of the girls so that she(Ray) didn’t interfere, but he just decides to do it later, after he cards Shay, Gong and Sora right in front of Yuya and Yuto to get them angry enough to forces Berserk Mode so they will willingly fuse with him. Luckily, luck returns when Moon Shadow arrives and uses some ninja tricks to get Yuya, Shay, Gong and Sora to safety. However, Yuri’s not worried, he enjoys a game of hide and seek. Moon Shadow gets the others to a hallway to rest, when they ask why he’s here, he reveals that after Gloria switched sides the tide of battle turned with the Lancers forces beating back the Academy’s forces, allowing him to come and help them. What’s left of team A decides to rest for a bit and come up with a plan. Back on the front lines, while almost all of the Lancers fodder has been carded, all the regular Academy students have been beaten. Unfortunately, all of the Obelisk Force at Duel Academy launch a surprise attack and overwhelm the Lancers forces, carding the remaining fodder, Chojiro, Allen, Sayaka and the Tyler Sisters, they then get orders to return to Leo’s throne room. Meanwhile team A’s rest is cut short by the arrival of Aster, and he and Yuya have their long awaited rematch(since in my version they only dueled once in the Xyz arc, which of course, was a draw). At this time the Doctor has the 3 other Bracelet Girls lock Zuzu in a capsule, then has the 3 willinging get in 3 more capsules. He sends he capsules to Leo just as Kite and Dennis break into his lab, he traps Dennis in a cage(just like Yuya in episode 125) and then he and Kite start a duel. Back in the hallway, Yuya manages to beat Aster(similar to in the actual show) and gets him to see the light, and the joys of dueling. Once they tell him what’s up, Aster tells them where the Throne room is while he himself heads for the Doctor’s lab. Yuya and what’s left of team A meets up with Declan’s team B(minus Kite) and they all confront Leo. Leo reveals he has the 4 girls trapped in those capsule, of course, with 3 under his control only Zuzu is yelling to be let out and is relieved to see Yuya and the others. Meanwhile the Doctor beats Kite and cards him, he plans to do the same to the trapped Dennis, but luckily Aster shows up and summons a monster to free Dennis. Then the 2 Duel Academy defectors duel the Doctor(try saying that 5 times fast). The pair manage to beat the Doctor there by destroying his Parasite and freeing the girls(of course, there still trapped in the capsule). With the girls now free, Leo reveals the origins of Zarc and Ray, and the true goal of Arc V, in all it’s stupidity(because I can’t think of a way to fix Leo’s stupid plan, it’s just way too stupid). Of course, no one believes Yuya and Yuto are evil and points out all the stupid problems with Leo’s idiotic plan. However, Leo is too stubborn to stop, he starts fusing the girls and the Dimensions together, while having his army of OF engage Declan and the others in the throne room. Everyone is forced to battle multiple OF members at once, whic
h unfortunately, leads to Moon Shadow being overwhelmed and carded. Luckily the other Lancers are doing better, but then Yuri arrives to absorb Yuya, but Yusho finishes off his OF and then duels Yuri to try and stop him, but he gets beat and carded just like in the show. This only makes Yuya and Yuto angry, going Berserk again and taking down their group OF, then facing off against Yuri. The pair struggles to hold back the darkness, and it doesn’t help that Yuri does everything in his power to ensure Yuya and Yuto give in to the darkness of Zarc. Luckily Declan and the rest of Yuya’s friends finish off the OF they were dueling and are able to support him, telling him and Yuto they are not evil and to remember all there fighting for. With there friends support and remember all that’s important to them, Yuya and Yuto resist the darkness. However, Yuri just decides to forces the darkness on them, by taking control of their dragons and defeating and absorbing the 2 just as Aster and Dennis get into the throne room, with all of Zarc’s fragments fused again he is reborn and teleports everyone outside to the city, separating them into groups of two.
Then Zarc begins his rampage in Fusion, so our remaining heroes try to stop him. First up is Sora and Aster they of course lose, but Shay and Dennis intrude and join in, only for them to lose too, then Gong and Jack take on Zarc and get beat too, and finally Declan and Riley duel Zarc and come close to beating him, but of course they lose too. During each duel, everyone tries to get through to Yuya and the other Yu-boys, so we see the inner struggle as Yuya, Yuto and Yugo try to break free from Zarc and Yuri’s control. Also during the duels we see glimpses of Leo finishing fusing the girls and dimensions. After the duels Zarc prepares to finish off the 8 Lancers only for the dimension to fuse, everyone to be uncarded and Ray to appear in front of Zarc and challenge him to a duel. The duel lasts 3 to 4 episodes and includes some flashbacks of there past, during the duel Ray, the 4 bracelet girls and everyone else keep trying to get through to Yuya and the others, and after a long struggle and even getting Yuri on there side, Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Yuri free themselves from Zarc, creating an opening for Ray to finally beat Zarc. However, Zarc as a dark spirit tries to attack Ray, so Ray seperates Zuzu, Celina, Lulu and Rin from herself, turing herself into a spirit, and sacraficeing herself to finally erradicate the evil that is Zarc once and for all. After that Yuya, Yuto and Yugo reunit with Zuzu, Lulu and Rin, everyone goes home, Yuri leaves to rethink his life, Leo is ready to be punish for what he’s done relizing how foolish and selfish he was, and everyone from all the Dimensions watch Yuya and Declans cermional duel that Yuya wins, then we have a nice happy montage to end the series:
Yuya and Zuzu(Yuzu) have duel at the You Show School, as there parents, the kids from Standard, Gong and Sora watch them.
Silvio is showing off to a bunch of LDS students.
Declan(Reiji) and Riley(Reira) have a duel, while there mother and other LDS students and employees watch them(including those 3 LDS students who each uses one of the 3 extra deck summoning methods).
Moon Shadow(Tsukikage) and Sun Shadow(Hikage) jump through trees together, like the ninja brothers they are.
Yuto and Lulu are sitting on a park bench together blushing, as Shay(Shun) tries to interrupt there date, being the over protected brother that he is, only to be held back by Allen and Sayaka, as Kite(Kaito) and his uncarded family watch on laughing.
Crow and Chojiro take care of the kids from Synchro, while watching a tag team turbo duel between Yugo and Rin v.s. Jack and Shinji, along with other Synchro dimension residents.
Aster(Edo) takes over as the professor of Duel Academy and is filling out paper work Barrett gave him.
Dennis, Alexis(Asuka) and Celina(Serena) have a 3 way duel, in front of many Academy students, including the Tyler Sisters and Mamoru(the clock guy) to show them what true entertainment dueling is.
Lastly Yuri is seen, as a wondering no mad, while in a jail cell people like Leo, the creepy Parasite Doctor, Roger and the Obelisk force, serve there time for all the evil crimes they committed.
Reading through your version really brought a smile to my face. I enjoyed how you changed around the ideas already present in the show whilst at the same time putting your own unique spin to it. I especially loved the ending montage showing what became of all the major characters.
Thank you, I always love a good ending montage of either flashbacks to all there adventures, or one of all the characters together after the series and threat is over, that’s one of the reasons why the endings of the Original series and Zexal are my favorite. Also thanks for the complement, since you inspired me to write about my own personal views on how to improve the series, it’s a big honor. I also really enjoyed reading your ideas, while I don’t agree with everything, because like you said art is objective, even the stuff I don’t agree with I find good and entertaining, like that whole death scene with Zarc and Leo, even though I’m a strong believe in redeeming people like what’s been done in anime’s like Dragon Ball Z and the 90’s Sailor Moon, I still found it very impressive. I also have enjoyed being able to talk to fellow fans of the series about the show, and like you wished I had worked up the courage to comment sooner since I found this sight sometime between episode 82 and 88, but didn’t work up the courage to comment until episode 115, and your ideas definitely would have helped the series.
I’m sharing the same opinion as Williamallen222. Your version really showed how intense the battlefield is and this is truly a war. I also show what became all of the major characters in the end in my version, but different from yours. This version is so great! XD
Almost forgot to post what I think will improve the Fusion Dimension Arc:
Dennis ambush the school like in the anime, but instead of the students running away, they fight against the Academia squad to buy Yusho some times to go on ahead with Asuka, Sora, Yugo and Yuzu. Yuya and co arrived at Fusion Dimension town square, only for Yugo to be transported away when Yuzu and Sora arrived at the town square as well. Dennis halt them en route and challenge Yusho to a Duel. Kachidoki, who is invited by Dennis like in the anime, challenges Yuya for a rematch. Both Yuya and Yusho emerge victorious in their respective Duel. Yusho help Dennis realize his own feelings that he had repeatedly trying to deny, while Yuya able to help Kachidoki putting behind his grudge and freed him from the belief of Ryozanpaku embeded into him that has bound him for years. Dennis attempted to turn himself into card, but is stopped by Shun who angrily tells him that doing so is the same as running away from his own mistake and demands Dennis to atone for what he did by helping him save Ruri. Dennis relented after Yuya also told him not to and how he still consider Dennis as his friend, which touched Dennis. Arriving in Academia, the group split into three: Shun and Kaito will go to rescue Ruri. Sawatari and Jack will go to rescue Rin. Lastly, Yuya and the rest will go to confront Leo. Ruri and Rin who are brainwashed attacked their respective rescuers. Kaito and Jack leaves to find the Doktor who is controlling the two girls. Jack meets Yugo by a chance after the boy got transported into Academia classroom and informed him about Rin, prompting Yugo to go to the Eastern tower despite Jack’s warning. Shun and Sawatari are defeated, both being blown away and fell from the tower as the result. Shun summon a monster for him to land safely before passing out, while Sawatari is saved by Yugo’s monster. Ruri and Rin then leaves the tower under Doktor’s order. Yuya, Gongenzaka, Tsukikage, and Crow fell into a trap set by Sanders, but succeeded in pushing Yusho and the others away from the trap, allowing them to continue their way. They got separated due to Sanders change the structures of some parts of Academia, though they’re still in the same area. Yuya finds Rin whose brainwash was momentarily turned off but soon is active again, Gongenzaka is confronted by Barrett, while Crow and Tsukikage are confronted by Battle Beast. Sanders and his students are watching the Duels. Crow sacrificed himself to protect Tsukikage from BB’s attack and is carded. Tsukikage tries to avenge Crow, but are overpowered by BB as well. Before he can be carded, he is fortunately saved by Kachidoki’s arrival, who decided to fight Academia to return the favour to Yuya. Sanders join the Duel.
While dueling Rin, Yuya lost to his anger when Rin, under Doctor’s control reveal Serena already has the parasite inside her and his intention to implant a parasite inside Yuzu as well. The darkness from Yuya reached the shockwave that hit Rin, causing the parasite inside her brain dead and rendered her unconscious. The shockwave caused the surronding to be destroyed, allowing Yuya to regroup with his friends. When Sanders reveals his training method on BB and Yuya reveals about the parasite inside Rin and Serena, Barrett start to question Academia’s action for the first time. Things becoming uncertain when BB turns on Sanders and card him. Yuya and Kachidoki are able to relate to BB’s situation and resolved to free him, which they succeeded. Before they can resume the duel against Barrett, they are interrupted by Yuri’s arrival who was ordered by Leo to retrieve Rin. He surprise attacked and carded BB for his betrayal. Barrett was furious by Yuri’s dirty play, causing tension between them. Viewing Barrett is also in the way, Yuri defeats and cards him, shocking the students who are watching as he declares his goal to turn every person in the whole dimensions into cards. Yuya and the others are ready to take him on, but Yugo and Sawatari arrives. Yugo insists that he will be the one who fight Yuri, telling Yuya and co to catch up with the others while entrusting Rin’s protection to them. The students are in shambles by everything that happened so fast, giving the Lancers the opportunity to leave.
Dennis, Reiji, Reira, Yusho, Yuzu, Asuka, Edo, and Sora meets up with Serena who said she just managed to escape until Kaito arrived and reveal what happened to Ruri and Rin. Serena activated the fence that traps herself, Asuka, and Yuzu. Asuka convinces Yusho and co who are on the other side of the fence to go without them. Asuka and Yuzu tries their best to bring back Serena to her consciousness, but they are defeated. Asuka is carded while Serena takes Yuzu to where the Doktor is. Kaito tries to stop her, but is halted by Ruri. Yuya and co arrived at the Doktor’s lab where they meet Serena and Yuzu. Initially overjoyed to meet them, Serena and Yuzu turned against them. Yuya, Gongenzaka, and Rin (who regained consciousness and insisted on joining the duel) stayed behind to duel them, entrusting Tsukikage, Kachidoki and Sawatari with the task to defeat the Doktor. Yuya and Gongenzaka are having difficult times against their parasite monsters until Yuya is overwhelmed by his anger and went berserk after seeing how much control the Doktor has over them, easily defeating both of them and rendering them unconscious. Sawatari, Kachidoki, and Tsukikage finally succeeded in finding the Doctor and duel him. Tsukikage was carded midway duel. After much struggle, Sawatari and Kachidoki barely defeats the Doctor, freeing the girls from the brainwash. Ruri regained her senses right after she carded Kaito and is horrified to find out what she has done. Seeing this unfold, the Doctor activated the emergency transfer programmed inside the girls’ duel disks, transferring them to Leo’s side. Kachidoki, who was more resistant to his wounds, left the room to find help for Sawatari. After watching Yuzu, Serena, and Rin got transported in front of them, Yuya and Gongenzaka intended to look for them, but Gongenzaka was too injured to move so Yuya going alone. He found Sawatari in the Doctor’s room but the Doctor, who regained consciousness early, activated a trap, trapping Yuya and Sawatari in a cage, preventing them from escaping but able to see Yusho and the others from the monitor in the room while the Doctor went to Leo’s side. Leo meets Yusho and the rest and explains about Zarc and the United World like in the anime. Yuri and Yugo are at stalemate and went berserk. Jack arrived and noticed Yugo isn’t himself so he intrude the Duel to knock him back to his senses. At the same time, Yuya also goes berserk, destroying the cage and left the unconscious Sawatari.
Shun, who was looking for Ruri, was devastated when he found the carded Kaito before meeting Kachidoki who explained Crow and Tsukikage are also carded. The two set off to find their remaining comrades. Yuya arrived in Leo’s chamber and everything went on like in the story, including the Doktor got carded for the same reason. Dennis, Sora, and Edo decided to directly stop the machine from where it’s being operated while the Duel commence. Jack realizes how dangerous Yuri is despite his attempt to change him so he intended to end the Duel by defeating both Yuri and Yugo. However, Yuri overpowers him using “Greedy Venom”. Jack protected Yugo from defeat, resulting him got carded by Yuri. Seeing Jack’s sacrifice finally snaps Yugo. Sawatari awakes to find Dennis, Kachidoki and Shun by his side. Hearing about Zarc, Sawatari quickly dashes towards Yugo’s place with Dennis and Shun, fearing for the worst. On their way, Dennis reveals that Yuri was the one responsible for the girls’ kidnap and how when he was a child, he sometimes saw Yuri’s Duel, noting how he is exceptionally skilled among other students but was also feared until to the point no one even bother to approach him, and Dennis often saw Yuri sitting alone while watching other students. Dennis has always been curious about Yuri, but other students always talked him out before he could even approach Yuri. It wasn’t until a year ago Dennis started to get acquainted with Yuri. Dennis’ impression of Yuri is a strong Duelist with personality problem. At the same time, however, Dennis also sense there’s something else in Yuri. Dennis, Shun, Kachidoki and Sawatari arrived where Yuri and Yugo are duelling. They contemplate on interfering, but Yuri and Yugo unleashed the darkness that binds them until Yugo is defeated and then absorbed. Lancers challenge Yuri to Duel but got defeated too. The Academia students decided to help after realizing how dangerous Yuri is, letting Dennis and co to escape. Yuri easily defeat and card every last one of them and continue his way to where Yuya is.
Sora and Edo meet the recovering Gongenzaka, the three of them together reach the room where the machine is being activated. At the same time, ARC-V reached 50% and Yuya is bound into pillars by Yusho using the bugged card before he can finish off Leo. Before ARC-V can reach 60%, there’s an error in the process due to Sora, Edo, and Gongenzaka’s interference after defeating several OFs defending the control room. Leo leaves his chamber to handle them directly, confronting Edo, Sora, and Gongenzaka. Before Yusho, Reiji, and Reira can leave to chase Leo, Yuri arrives, revealing he has absorbed Yugo, shocking everyone, especially Rin who was distraught. At the same time, Leo easily defeated Edo, Sora, and Gongenzaka, but before he can card them he is distracted by the system error and quickly focus on transfering the girls into ARC-V. Yusho vs Yuri Duel is the same as the anime. Seeing his father carded and Yuzu and Ruri transferred into ARC-V at the same time, Yuya and Yuto’s anger reached the apex, and the Duel and Zarc’s revival goes on the same way as the anime, but rather than Reiji, Reira, Edo, and Sora, the ones who are watching and cheering are Reiji, Reira, Shun, Dennis, Kachidoki, and Sawatari.
I think Kachidoki would’ve made a good addition for Lancers. I don’t hate him, and after seeing his flashback I think it’s the right decision for Yuya to Duel him again. But afterwards Kachidoki just disappear like that is unacceptable. I mean, his dimension is on the line, but he didn’t do anything to help and just left? I also think that BB and Kachidoki actually quite have things in common, though BB’s situation is much worse. I made Rin got freed from the parasite this way so she can temporarily join Yuya’s group and interact with them even if it’s just a little bit. She really needs friends other than Yugo, and this way when she said she believes in Yuya when he was dueling Leo, it won’t be so weird because she has at least interacted with him prior. Barrett is man of honour, that much I’m sure, so having him clash with Yuri who is okay using dirty trick would be reasonable for me. Jack is the one who inspired Yugo to polish his Dueling, so seeing his idol got carded for his sake right in front of him will give much more huge impact on Yugo’s character. I’ll upload the final arc later.
I love the fact that you made Kachidoki a member of the Lancers and compared him to the Battle Beast, as well as giving Rin interactions with the Lancers and having Jack be the reason Yugo snapped out of his Awakened State. Dennis’s history with Yuri and how he sensed Zarc’s presence within him is just too perfect. A thoroughly exciting version of events, and I can’t wait to see how you wrap everything up.
Just want to tell you two that I’ll be posting my Final Arc version in Eva’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Overall Review soon. Thank you very much, I’m glad that you guys like my version 😀
Wow your ideas definitely make the Invasion of Fusion arc, feel like an actual invasion and you gave everyone something important to do, which is tough with how big a cast this series has. I especially like your uses of Iggy(Kachidoki) and having Yuya destroy the Parasite in Rin, since I always thought it was werid that when Yuya and Yuto attacked Celina(Serena) and Lulu(Ruri) with Raging Dragon that the attack was strong enough to destroy the Parasites or at least temporarily shut them down.
I actually got the idea of Rin’s parasite being destroyed by Yuya that way after remembering how Crow freed Yuya from Roget’s mind-control chip. So I thought “if the strong shockwave mixed with Yuya/Zarc’s darkness hit Rin’s whole body to the point it’s rattling her brain (like a concussion), the Parasite will also got affected”, and that’s how I thought it up.
And speaking about Serena and Ruri, I also found it weird that Serena and Ruri can still stand after being hit directly by such a huge strong shockwave that can destroy concrete wall and they’re not even wounded. But when Yuya defeated Yuri, Yuri was wounded to the point he can’t stand, and even before the shockwave hit him he was protected by Starve Venom, so he should have lesser damage than Serena and Ruri. Plus, Yuya was pretty much in control when defeating him while during the duel against Serena and Ruri Zarc took over. I guess this difference is once again for the sake of the plot.
I’ve had enough. I can finally let out of my frustrations about this pathetic excuse of a Yugioh anime. Here goes…
THIS IS THE WORST YUGIOH FINAL EPISODE EVER WITH THE WORST FINAL DUEL EVER CONDUCTED BY THE WORST YUGIOH PROTAGONIST AND THE WORST YUGIOH RIVAL EVER WHICH ULTIMATELY LED TO THE WORST YUGIOH ENDING EVER.
Overall I still think that I disliked ZEXAL even more, but just slightly more than this garbage pile of a shit show. Let’s be honest, for what was supposed to be the final episode of a Yugioh show and even other animes, this episode’s standard was abysmal. Like seriously, Yuya creating that Scale 12 Pendulum just to shut down all monsters on the field for the sake of making him and Reiji fly over the Action Field to search and set Action Cards is the MOST IDIOTIC thing I’ve ever seen in all of Arc V’s duels, surpassing even the dreaded long-forgotten Quiz duel, the horribly animated Pirate Solo duel and (of course) the irrelevant BATTLE BITCH duels. (The stupid audience called it a “genuine” Action Duel, though in reality that made me almost wanted to stop watching the episode altogether.)
Now onto the part that pissed me (and everyone) off: We can ignore and reject the possibilities of Zarc and Ray returning since the majority of the Yugioh fandom don’t really give a shit about those two original incarnations of our Yutagonists and Yu-waifus, BUT in the end we NEVER know what purpose the other three bracelets serve, and that’s the “mild” part… Yuzu (finally) returns, but Serena, Rin and Ruri are confirmed DEAD, while Yuto, Yugo, Yuri are forever stuck in Yuya’s body. SIX OF THE EIGHT MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERS ARE LOST FOREVER AND NO LONGER EXISTS. YOU WANT US TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A GREAT ENDING?!! I felt REALLY sad for Shun in particular, he lost his younger sister and his best friend forever, but the ending depicted him SMILING at all the tortures he went through but never regained his happiness?!! This is the most outrageously insulting portrayal of the Arc V Birdman. No, I’m not gonna buy that Shun still has Crow, his fellow Bird Bro to rely on, he lost everything in the end, he was supposed to be in anguish, but the writers forced him to “smile”. FUCK. THIS. SHIT! I’m also sadden about Yugo and Rin’s demise. Their bond were so strong, their decks had awesome synergy, but their interactions were too few and despite Yugo’s struggles and efforts, shedding sweat and tears to get Rin back, they both got killed off in the most revolting manner imaginable. To think that Yuzu only appeared at the very last minutes also ticked me off like no end. She and Yuya just hold hands, they didn’t even hug and kiss. The writers didn’t even want to make them a legit couple! And the final teaser duel had to be Yusho vs his Tomato son. (And yay Reira still remained a toddler even with all this shit over, at least HE FINALLY FUCKING SMILED, bull-fucking-shit.) Whatever, this show will always be a perfect example of rubbish writing and forced work.
After 148 episodes, I was supposed to view and remember this series with true appreciation, but no more. The way this show rushed to its end left me no Egao on my face, just tears of rage and disappointment. The three things I’ll forever be grateful about Arc V are their mostly colourful characters (except THE SHIVERS KID, QUIZ NERD, KOTORI VER.2, REVOLUTIONIST WANNA-BEE-BRAT, LEVEL-0-MAN, KAITOFUCKER, EGAO MESSIAH TOMATO, BATTLE BITCH, the list goes on…), their fun, playable archetypes even in real life, and the way they incorporated all summoning methods for their duels instead of focusing of just one and neglected the others. Too bad virtually all of the best characters and even some of the best duels got shafted just to be brainwashed by and to accommodate Yuya’s Egao drivel. Fuck this Tomato and FUCK YOU ARC V.
My final verdict of the 5 Yugioh animes: 5D’s > GX > DM > Arc V =/> ZEXAL (I & II)
I honestly just found it humorously ironic that this duel ended up relying on Action Card hunting. Of course it did. That was so fitting, that was so fucking fitting of how this show developed.
Anyway as far as I’m convinced, all the counterparts are alive and in their own bodies and I reject the canon ending.
Arc-V season 1 is still one of my favorite Yugioh series, and I want to separate it from the rest because it was so much better than what we got at the end.
I also didn’t hate Yuya as much as everyone else, and it’s kinda sad how much shit he got near the end for what a good character he was at many points. Before season 3 we had lots of good moments with him and he was starting on a great character arc until the Jack duel took over and everything went to smiles
Arc-V also had great music, as is noted by the use of “Burn!” in this episode. The use of which angers me because I hate associating that good song with this awful episode
I hope VRains is better. It looks promising at the very least