Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s Episode 25 & 26

Even after the dramatic battle between Yusei and Aki, the tournament continues straight into the finals, bringing us to the official rematch between Jack and Yusei. However after everything that had happened, with Yusei’s mark now imprinted into his arm, he recognizes the extreme dangers of the Crimson Dragon’s revival and tried to urge Himuro and Yanagi and the kids to all leave the stadium. Unfortunately Godwin has no intention of letting them leave, and they are forced to remain in the stands and witness the spectacle that is about to unfold. So Yusei takes it upon himself to confront him– oh man I never get tired of this scene, and kicks some ass along the way.

But Yusei wasn’t the only one who had concerns about the audience’s safety. Say what you want about Ushio, but the man was doing his job right when he urged Godwin to call off the tournament. He even described the situation to be as if they were cursed by something (sums it up quite well) when both competitors and spectators alike have gotten injured. Unfortunately he has no idea Godwin is the one behind all of this and actually doesn’t actually give a shit public safety so as long as he accomplishes his own goal. Boy, the audacity Godwin has to resort to the excuse that their ‘reputation is on the line’ and ‘people have been looking forward to this’. Give me a break…

Before the duel started they gave the full backstory of the events that led Jack to the city. Unfortunately it is a pretty sad state of affairs considering the lengths Jack went to obtain Stardust Dragon from Yusei. He was sick of his life in Satellite,  he didn’t want to be the ‘King of the Slums’, so when the opportunity came to leave that life behind to become the ‘King of the City’, Jack took it, even if it meant making the deal with the devil that required him to bring not his own Dragon, but Yusei’s Stardust Dragon as well.  So he sold out his friends, taking advantage of Rally who had been visiting him recently to use his as a hostage he throws into the stormy waters to force Yusei to choose between his friends and Stardust Dragon.

And of course Yusei didn’t hesitate to save his friend. He dropped everything and dove into the waters himself. But this event really puts into perspective the tension that has festered between them, and explains why Yusei was so disappointed in Jack. However this flashback also indicated to us there was something else that had happened between the two of them well before Yeager extended the invitation for the crown. Even though he used to be friends with Yusei and the others, he had stopped hanging out with them, and lingered around his “field” (aka: territory).

This flashback also showed us in many respects how the Dragons continues to hold a lot of symbolism and similarities to their Signer’s nature. Jack possesses the Red Archfiend Dragon and he basically made the deal with the devil to leave Satellite behind and be crowned as the ‘King’ of Domino City. However he was aware that he wasn’t the only target, as it was abundantly clear to him that Godwin didn’t just want him, but Yusei in the city as well– but as he has shown, he would be a lot more tricky to persuade, let alone get a hold of. Godwin used everything at his disposal to ensure Yusei couldn’t simply return to Satellite once getting his hands on Stardust Dragon again.

In the end, it was Yusei who emerged victorious and inherits the title as the King who hails from Satellite. It is a pretty gut-wrenching loss for Jack who had to steal Yusei’s cards to even get into the city, and then had to hide his origins of birth. Everything he had sacrificed and worked for has crumbled down around him, and ironically it was his pride that costed him the match because Yusei knew he wouldn’t be able to let go of that and was prepared to counter the End of the Storm and Crimson Fire with Meteor Stream and Shining Silver Force and finally speed spell, Final Attack (how fitting). However it’s a hard lesson he needs to go through, and he is also about to reap the consequences. Despite Yusei’s warnings and pleas to call off the duel and beware of the Crimson Dragon’s powers, Jack naively believed that he would be the one to harness the Crimson Dragon’s power and insisted to go forward on, even if Heaven and earth is destroyed. Oh what a fool, he is truely the King’s Clown. But now that Jack has been dethroned, as bitter as this loss is for him to swallow, this will finally give him the chance to start anew again. (I don’t know if it’s actually a good thing or bad thing though that yet again, only a select few were able to witness the match between them.)

Of course to probably nobody’s surprise, Godwin was the one who was able to take control of the power. Supposedly he is the fifth Signer who bears the mark of the head of the Dragon. (Although I have to admit, they were shrewd enough to have so much going on, I had actually forgotten about the existence of the fifth Signer until Yusei realized that for the Crimson Dragon to appear, the fifth one had to be present and he hadn’t met them yet, but I digress.) The reason for that is pretty twisty: The arm that bears the Signer’s Mark has actually been dismembered from the body and is located elsewhere to be preserved. Despite the fact he didn’t actually have the arm on him (which is why you can’t really say it’s his arm until proven otherwise. I legit can’t remember if it was his arm or not, so yay for forgetting??? It’s been 10+ years LOL…) Godwin was able to harness the power of the Crimson Dragon, sending Yusei, Jack, Aki and Luca all into another realm where the battle between the Signers would unfold. In this space they experience physical blows just as a psychic duelist like Aki would be able to deliver. Both Jack and Yusei went through their share of pain, but it was Jack who suffered the most extensive injuries. The final strike declaring his defeat resulted him bloodied and bruised with broken bones. No surprise to see that he fell unconscious shortly afterwards.

But that wasn’t the only thing that happened in the other dimension. They all witnessed an ominous warning of the future ahead of them. Satellite is seen to being destroyed by a spider geoglyph in it! Poor Yusei, now he has yet another thing to worry about.

Oh as for Yusei’ kidnapped friends who were held hostage, well luckily they were released. They were imprisoned inside a shipment container, good grief, they looked to be in better condition than one would expect considering they were trapped there for a few days.

Overall I thought this was a fantastic way to wrap up the Fortune Cup arc. They gave us a generous amount of information while still teasing about more secrets of not just about Godwin himself, but Jack and Yusei’s relationship as they grew up in Satellite and the role the Moment system plays with the Crimson Dragon. Godwin was satisfied seeing the Crimson Dragon but ordered the system to be shut down immediately since he has witnessed the catastrophe it inflicted onto Bommer’s hometown. Then there is also the ominous introductions of a evil threat Godwin has alluded invading Satellite, talk about a way to end a season!

The next arc happens to be one of my favourite of the entire series because it’s so well done, but unfortunately we will have to wait a couple months before I get to that. There is going to be a doozy, so look forward to it!

NOTICE: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s coverage will now be ON-HOLD until completion of Heartcatch Precure Coverage.

Expected to Resume: Between Winter 2021 (earliest) – Spring 2021 (latest)!

This is a decision I have made a while back in August when I acknowledged would be in my best interest to put one of the retro-coverage on-hold so I can balance between covering both old and new titles. At the time I chose to put Heartcatch Precure on-hold so I could focus on wrapping up the Fortune Cup arc without abruptly cutting it off in the middle of it. Now that this arc is complete, now it is YGO 5D’s turn to be put on-hold until I finish Heartcatch Precure.

Since I am halfway through Heartcatch (26/50 episodes), I expect to resume 5D’s coverage sometime between Winter 2021 and Spring 2021. Obviously the sooner we can get back to this series the better, but given everything going on in my life right now, I can’t guarantee I will be able meet the Winter deadline. So I think it would be more reasonable to expect this series coverage to resume sometime around Spring 2021. I understand this is a very long wait, much longer than I would have liked it to have been, but I know I have to do this to avoid burning out. It was beneficial for me to take a breather from Heartcatch, so I am sure it will be helpful for this coverage as well.

Rest assure I will keep you posted on the return date on twitter, the season preview (either Winter or Spring, depending on my progress) and *YGO SEVENS (that is *if I am still covering the series at that point…If I were to drop that series I would probably fill its void with this one sooner than scheduled. I will let you know what the plans are if if it comes down to that.)

Thank you for understanding and your patience! See you then!