Episode 21
Ummm…. Okay then. Gosh, as bizarre and out of this world this episode was, they managed to make it both hilarious and adorable. We were introduced to the next opponent, Sorako, an Alien from Menmen planet in the Ra Nebula. And yes, she was real alien. Although I found Sorako’s voice to be a bit grating on the ears, she is such a cute character and I absolutely loved the interactions between her an Menzaburo. Their passion for ramen, the playfulness and the way Menzaburo was so conscious about what it meant for Sorako to lose her life points (LP for Menmen are a source of energy) was fun to watch. In the end, she because she had lost, she had to return to her planet to replenish her energy.
It was also entertaining to see him feel conflicted over winning because he wanted to go on the journey with her across the universe to try out various ramen from different worlds. Heck, when the gang offers to help him out with his worries, Yuuga straight up told him if it were him, he would rather lose and take the penalty if it meant he could go to space.
And I have to admit, it is nice change of pace to have a character who’s world or maybe in this case, fate isn’t necessarily dependent on duels. It lets them have the freedom to be more laid-back and experience a loss without having to worry about paying such a heavy price, such as being killed off, or sealed away in a card. Besides, knowing Yuuga, even if he were to get all the penalties I suspect he would find a way to work around it.
Speaking of the penalties, we got to see Yuuga holding a group meeting with his circle to give them a run down on the situation. It wasn’t clear until it was mentioned to me last week, but damn! The penalty punishment is not limited to just Yuuga, Romin, Rook and Gakuto, but his entire circle, which is crazy when you think about it. Like really Neil? REALLY? Well at least it does add a bit more at stake considering if this can increase the odds of getting struck out considering they have now completed four out of the six duels, but have only won three out them so far (after what the default loss due to the match up between Mimi and her son, both included in Yuuga’s circle).
Lastly, we got to see Mimi make a weird comeback of her own as disguising herself as Masked M or whatever. She worked really hard to pull it off, so not to embarrass her they just rolled with it, ahahaha.
Episode 22
The Cleaning Cheater Arai is back for revenge against Romin,only for his plan to be thwarted by Rook’s Devil Watch and ended up with him in his hands. However just moments before all that happened, Rook had given Yuuga his watch to inspect, so he didn’t have it on him to deal with the cheating mechanics, not that he needed it of course.
Rook may be an idiot, but he was surprisingly cool today! He turned Arai’s strategy against him and was able to show off all of his ace monsters in epic fashion through his own skill.
It was pretty hilarious how Rook being the egoistic doofus he is, thought it was his fault that Cleaning Cheater is on the wrong path of life. No, this just is petty and just wants revenge while continuing to use to his cheating mechanics. There was also the part where Rook was also super into this idea of being turned into a Dueling Superhuman (trust me, you don’t), oh gosh seriously. This kid never fails to make me laugh.
We also got to see a bit more about Rook’s mysterious watch. All this time Yuuga and the others were convinced it was because of Pauli Effect, however when they tried to use it themselves, it didn’t work, and they were absolutely mortified about it hahaha! But now that we know Rook is the only one who can use it (along with the fact, the watch mysteriously doesn’t affect his duel disk either), it does beg the question of whether there really is a devil inside it or not. Considering we were introduced to a FREAKING ALIEN last week, it is certainly not outside of the realm of possibilities, just as it always had been.
As for the return of the Cleaning Cheater, considering I never liked and could care less about this character to begin with, I wasn’t particularly happy to see him again. But on the flip side of things, similarly to how they used Mimi, it in a way it as better to re-use a character since it means one less random character for the sake of it. That being said, I am glad they this event is being dragged out for longer than it really needs to be now that thanks to Mimi’s tip she shared with them in the previous episode, Yuuga and the others know where to find Neil.
Now that leaves me wondering what is going to become of the penalties threat. Right now there is only one strike out of six, which is kind of… losing its impact when all we had gotten was one strike. However I am also weighing the possibility that they are setting things up so that if Yuuga were to lose against Neil, it will be counted as such, and then between the time he needs to re-strategize and face Neil again, perhaps then the punishment would be more prominent.
Next week, the long awaited match between Yuuga VS Neil! I am glad we are at this point because I want to see what the outcome of this duel will lead to, be it win or loss on Yuuga’s part. I am actually considering the possibility that the penalty system that was introduced to us may become more prominent should Yuuga end up losing in this match against Neil. He did say he had six chances, but I am not sure if that was strictly limited to the whole arrangements, or those chances include potential rematches against him.
Well until then, I’ll see you guys next time!
I’m of the mindset that the penalties aren’t a consequence necessarily limited to this arc. If they haven’t been accruing more quickly than this, and the first showdown with Nail is next time, I can only assume that said penalties are going to be a long-term issue, and there might be similar prices for failure down the line.
Yeah I think it’s shaping up to go in that direction too, especially if Yuuga were to lose this match. This is probably what is going to be at stake as a way to ward people off of Rush Duels. It would serve as a warning: If you start playing Rush Duels, then you will be considered a “Yuuga’s Fraction”, and be subjected to penalties anyone in that circle receives.