After the loss of Martha and Rally, Yusei and the others are determined more than ever to defeat the Dark Signers. With the declaration of war against the Dark Signers, Rudger had told them they will be waiting for them at specific locations. Yusei and the others didn’t have a clue where that was supposed to be, so that’s where Mikage stepped in to fill them in. each of them needs to go to one of the four control units to seal the previous Moment. They are otherwise known as Ccapac Apu, Ccarayhua, Aslla Piscu, Cusillu (in Quechua language it mean: Giant, Lizard, Hummingbird and Monkey).
Lua and Luca were the first to arrive to Cusillu’s location, though it ended up being a bit more complicated than initially planned due to Luca abruptly being transferred to the Spirit World without giving her brother or Ushio a heads up about that, so off she went, disappearing with a shining light. Ushio who was convinced she could have only possibly fallen out of the vehicle insisted they should search for her, which led to Lua finding the control unit Cusillu (Monkey) and getting caught up in a battle against Demac who has Ancient Fairy Dragon in his possession.
Honestly while Lua is a pretty naive and ignorant kid who still makes a lot of mistakes, if there’s one thing you got to give him credit for, it’s his courage and determination to protect his sister. But unfortunately he once again underestimated the pain he would go through by engaging into a duel with a Dark Signer, especially since it’s even worse than the time he fought against Divine. Of course if you asked him if he would do it all over again to protect his sister, I am 100% sure he would. It was also quite nice to see his growth as a duelist, where he is being a bit more thoughtful about his moves, as opposed to how he was when we first met him. While Yusei was frustrated to find him in this situation, he is proud to see how much he has improved, giving him a bit of words of encouragement when he did mess up. I suppose in hindsight, it was a good thing Yusei did turn around to investigate, but still, haha, so much for prioritizing his destination!
Meanwhile, for Luca’s case: I thought it was sort of funny how her monsters completely abandoned her after they were spooked of being captured by the monkey soldiers. Like bruh, way to throw her under the bus man! Actually I ended up laughing even harder when I thought back on it later (in ep 49), Yusei was telling Lua his cards won’t betray him! Ironically Luca’s monsters would have been safer had they stuck by her side because they were the ones who got captured in the end, while she was able to escape thanks to the kindness of Torunka, a spellcaster monster who is now helping her find Regulus.
While her brother fought Demac in her steed, Luca’s job was to release Ancient Fairy Dragon from the seal with the help of Regulus. The problem was that Regulus had one of those cursed needles stuck on him, and the reason why he was attacking everyone was because he’d hear the opposite of what’s actually being said. That made things complicated, but once that problem was solved they were able to get to down to business and trick Demac’s monster, Zeman the Ape King into removing the seal on Ancient Fairy Dragon, until Torunka accidentally spoiled the ruse.
Although Luca failed to release Ancient Fairy Dragon from the seal while she was in the spirit world, she was still able to pull it off when she was sent back to her world. She picked up where her brother left off after he was weakened considerably after being battered throughout the duel.
Honestly I do like that the twins shared the battle, and in a lot of ways this makes sense. Sure Luca is a talented duelist, but I’d argue they are still the strongest when they are fighting together, even when they are sharing the deck. It’s their resolve to protect one another that gives them that edge, especially in a battle when they are getting beat up as much as they have. Additionally, it was very symbolic to have Power Tool Dragon attack the Earthbound monster to weaken it in order for Ancient Fairy Dragon to deliver the final blow. In a way, it’s a reflection of what Lua did (being her shield) for Luca while she was in the spirit world. And the cherry on top was the fact Power Tool Dragon got to play its own unique role in this fateful battle, when Lua was not among of the chosen Signers to fight this war, which is why I find it especially wholesome when you get to see them draw the cards and land the critical hit together. (Also special shout-out to Power Tool Dragon for being the best bud ever. Seriously, I absolutely adore its bond with Lua, it’s really special.)
Apart from the duel against Dark Signer Demac and the Monkey King, Jack did find out that Carly has become a Dark Signers. Though much to his frustration, the only way he is going to get any explanation is to fight her. But I found myself snorting at the fact you could say Carly had actually “confessed” to Jack by referring to him as ‘her love’. I recall I didn’t consider the line to be as cheesy as I do now, but doing so made me reflect on how my feelings for the ship has changed over the years since I’ve last watched it. If I were watching this show for the very first time in the present day, I’m not so sure if I would’ve jumped on board as quickly as I did back then. I mean, they haven’t actually known each other for that long. And depending on how you look at it, you can either treat it as a super rushed/forced ship, or maybe you just enjoy it for what it is because their banters are quite entertaining. While I certainly acknowledged it’s sort of just happened, the main reason why I still like these two together to this day is because their banters are quite entertaining– at least for this arc anyways. >_>;;; I’ll save the discussion about why that is for a later date.
Finally, the last point to make, we learned that the Dragons cards were originally used in the control units managing the original Moment. Yusei’s father Professor Fudo entrusted those cards to Godwin, who would later release the cards into the wild. (That actually made me chuckle because even though this is Yu-Gi-Oh,the idea of ‘releasing cards’ is still hilarious to me.) The man sure had a lot of faith they’d fall into the right hands, though unfortunately that wasn’t quite the case for Ancient Fairy Dragon, and the remaining other mystery dragon card (that isn’t Power Tool Dragon unfortunately).
Next time, we see Crow is still alive and kicking, and Bommer (who was noticeably absent when Rudger and his team showed up to taunt the Crimson Dragon’s Signers) will be dueling. Well that was a fast replacement for Demac. The guy never stood a chance.
Next Entry: June 29, 2022
Notice: Due to my condition (tendonitis) relapsing, I have decided I will take a precautionary break from YGO’s coverage for a month (May) and look to resume the coverage in June. I don’t want to cripple myself all over again. >_>; Been there, done that, so I gotta take care of myself first. Thanks for understanding!
