Arc V, the latest iteration of the Yu-Gi-Oh! is off to a promising start!
In the first episode, we're introduced to Yuya, the yu-tagonist, along with his female friend, her father, and stoic best friend. In addition, we meet one (or both?) of his parents, leading into serious character development for Yuya.
The basic idea is that Yuya is at a Duel Academy-like school to become a performer, in a future where new advances in duel technology have created "solid vision." These solid holograms have revolutionized dueling, and, as the series progresses, may have even greater repercussions (making the scenery come to life? Please, if the only time Yuya rides his hippo is during a duel, I'm a monkey's uncle). In this episode, he faces Strong Ishijima, the man who ostensibly scared his father into retirement. They duel to the roar of crowds, and while Yuya puts up a decent fight, all hope seems lost, until his pendulum necklace, a gift from his father, glows and his cards change. As the episode ends, Yuya performs the first pendulum summon of the Yu-Gi-Oh! era, surprising the crowd, his opponent, and even himself.
There is a lot to like here, and it's only the first episode! I have some high hopes for Arc V, though that doesn't mean there weren't a few hiccups either.
First off, we have Yuya's parents. I'm not sure if Yoko is supposed to be Yuya's mother or not -- but I'll assume she is. Her husband(?) Yusho had a huge influence in this episode, from the opponent, to Yuya's life philosophy, to the shiny new summoning method. It's thanks to his dad that Yuya is such an upbeat kid, but it's also thanks to his dad running out before a championship duel that Yuya has been coping by making fun of himself for the past three years. From the cold-open duel, it looks like Yuya has been clownish for some time, and his friends don't like it. Based off of his duel with Ishijima, and Yoko's statement that he's reinventing himself, it may be that Yuya has already moved past this self-deprecating phase, and will be more serious and confident in future duels.
Yuya himself is a likable protagonist. He reacts understandably towards his father's disappearance, and is clearly an intelligent duelist. I look forward to seeing how much of his personality will be serious and how goofy he'll be in the future. It looks like we have a duelist closer to Yugi than Yuma here, and that's cause for relief.
Yuya's friends, Yuzu and Gongenzaka, also make their debut in this episode. Gongenzaka appears to be the typical straight man to Yuya's clown, and is generally serious. In my opinion he's a little too gruff towards Yuma in this episode: why would you suggest fighting head-on when your monster is clearly outclassed by your opponent's? Give him a break! However, this is likely just his personality, and won't be a problem if they develop that aspect of his character, rather than just turning him into the obligatory "friend who opposes you" for this episode. Yuzu herself is also fairly generic in her first appearance. Thus far, she seems to be the hot-tempered (ironic, seeing how her father always goes on about his hot blood) female who hits the hero for perceived stupidity. In some ways, Yuzu seems to be similar to Naruto's Sakura Haruno.
While I wonder why more hasn't been said to clarify the situation with Yuya's father, I'm willing to wait for more information. After all, this is just the first episode, and it was jam-packed. We had an entertaining duel, some important backstory, and the introduction of several characters and new, core concepts for the series, such as Action Duels and Solid Vision. Ishijima is a good first opponent for Yuya, being connected to his father, and having a strong, professional aura about him, to combat Yuya's light hearted attitude. In spite of this important bearing on Yuya's backstory, I doubt we'll see more of Ishijima after his defeat, however. I was impressed by the maturity of Yuya's friends when Nico Smiley came to recruit him, and was pleased to see that they are being portrayed as legitimately caring about his emotional health, not just dueling glory.
My favorite part of this episode was Yusho's simple pendulum-based advice to his son: when life pushes, you can push back harder. When you want to cry, laugh, and use that energy to push back.
Rating:
8/10
- Generic Yuzu and Gongenzaka
- Who is Yoko?
- So... Yuya's dad ran out of his life and a duel? Wait, what?
+ Interesting setting
+ Good protagonist
+ Characters act in a believable way
+ Promising character development
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