Arc V Episode 2 Review

And with that, it seems the main plot has been set into motion!
This episode did a great job following up on the previous one, while also setting up what looks to be the main plot. Yuya wins his duel against Strong Ishijima, and with it, a healthy dose of fame. It turns out that he doesn't remember how to Pendulum summon, making things awkward in front of the press, and his potential new fan club. Yuya duels Yuzu in an exhibition duel, trying to recreate the circumstances under which he pendulum summoned, only to be knocked flat on his back when he fails to pendulum summon again.
The main point of this episode is two-fold: Yuya is trying to rediscover pendulum summoning, and the You Show Duel School is trying to sign on a slew of new students, thanks to Yuya's highly publicized victory. The episode also deals with the resolution of his duel against Strong, which is handled neatly and quickly after an effective recap. Actually, between the new developments with "pendulum cards"and the You Show Duel School hijinks, I nearly forgot that Yuya defeated Strong in this episode -- it was packed!
Despite that, the duel in the second half of the series was very boring. It lasted a total of 4 turns, one of which was Yuya attempting -- and failing -- too pendulum summon, with nothing else to do. The plot demanded a flat duel that has "Failure" written all over it, but it still doesn't make it very entertaining to watch.
It also appears that whoever's in charge of Leo Duel School will be our arc villain, hiring somebody to steal Yuya's pendulum cards at the end of the episode. It'll be nice to have a villain face off with Yuya, although Yuzu pretending to be a villain was quite enjoyable, and made sense, given their backgrounds as performers-in-training. A solid episode, that continues to portray realistic actions and consequences. Here's to hoping Yuya doesn't get caught in the all-too-common fame trap!

Rating:
8/10

- Little action/stale duel in latter half
- Not feeling too attached to You Show Duel School
+ Logical results of discovering new cards and summoning methods explored
+ Yuya's friends matter
+ Dueling female!
+ A legitimate villain appears
+ Feels like two episodes in one!