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A review by millennial_dandy
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duelist, Vol. 7: Heavy Metal Raiders by Kazuki Takahashi
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
<i>"Yugi...There are two ways of losing! A loss where everything truly ends...and a loss which is just a step on the road to victory. I <b>will</b> become stronger from this loss!"</i>
Duelist, Vol.7 is comprised wholly of the Duelist Kingdom semi-finals: Yugi vs. Mai and Joey/Jounouchi vs. Bandit Keith.
Needless to say, Yugi's duel against Mai is infinitely more interesting than Joey/Jounouchi's duel against Bandit Keith.
In the match between Mai and Yugi, we get to see Mai really shine both as a duelist and as a character. Yugi allows Yami Yugi to take over and duel, but Yami is in large part distracted by Pegasus and unable to concentrate. Even though this results in Mai taking a strong lead, she's frustrated by the fact that her opponent is barely paying attention. She accuses him of being too arrogant to pay attention to the opponent in front of him; too certain of his own victory to pay her any mind.
Ultimately, she realizes that part of Yami/Yugi's hang-up are the feelings of doubt that still linger after being defeated by Kaiba in volume 5, and there's a lull in the duel as Mai describes what Duelist Kingdom has taught her about herself, and the lessons she's learned since losing to Joey/Jounouchi. Her main takeaway was that there can be courage in accepting defeat. And that only by accepting losing as an option when you step into the arena can you develop strength as a player.
This unlocks something in Yami Yugi who, in a moment of introspection, realizes that the reason he was willing to risk Kaiba's life in their duel was because he was afraid to lose, whereas Yugi had the clarity to realize that sometimes losing is better. Great character development moment for both of the Yugis, and the first time we get the acknowledgement that Yugi has a strength that his ostensibly stronger, more talented half still needs to develop.
It's a bit of an extension of the discussion of winning and losing that we got before, but it's such a central message of the series it's unsurprising Takahashi would really try to hammer it home. If you read the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, you <i>will</i> walk away understanding that losing does not make you a loser, but sometimes winning does if you don't win in the right way. I've said it before and will say it again: given the target demographic for Yu-Gi-Oh! this is such an important message to convey, and even if it can be on-the-nose and a little bit cheesy, I'm glad this was done in such a methodical and consistent way, and that it's a message the protagonist struggles to embody and take on.
Anyway, getting back to the dueling, once Mai gives her pick-me-up speech, Yami Yugi is back in it and prepared to put his all into the match. With his full heart in it, he's able to turn the tables and defeat her to earn a place in the finals.
I still think having her surrender rather than lose outright was an odd choice. It's not <i>inconsistent</i> with the message that winning isn't all-important, but she also could have just lost to Yami Yugi and that still would have come through.
Finally, Joey/Jounouchi faces off against Bandit Keith in easily the least interesting duel in the entire arc. Not only is it obvious that Joey/Jounouchi is going to win, Keith isn't charismatic enough as a villain to make it fun to read even knowing the outcome. We get a back story about Keith that literally I defy anyone to claim they care about, and on top of that, his deck is also very meh.
Sure, we get to see how Joey/Jounouchi has grown as a duelist and actually strategize rather than relying on luck, but it's still a very forgettable duel that just serves to kill time before the match between Yami Yugi and Pegasus.
Duelist, Vol.7 is comprised wholly of the Duelist Kingdom semi-finals: Yugi vs. Mai and Joey/Jounouchi vs. Bandit Keith.
Needless to say, Yugi's duel against Mai is infinitely more interesting than Joey/Jounouchi's duel against Bandit Keith.
In the match between Mai and Yugi, we get to see Mai really shine both as a duelist and as a character. Yugi allows Yami Yugi to take over and duel, but Yami is in large part distracted by Pegasus and unable to concentrate. Even though this results in Mai taking a strong lead, she's frustrated by the fact that her opponent is barely paying attention. She accuses him of being too arrogant to pay attention to the opponent in front of him; too certain of his own victory to pay her any mind.
Ultimately, she realizes that part of Yami/Yugi's hang-up are the feelings of doubt that still linger after being defeated by Kaiba in volume 5, and there's a lull in the duel as Mai describes what Duelist Kingdom has taught her about herself, and the lessons she's learned since losing to Joey/Jounouchi. Her main takeaway was that there can be courage in accepting defeat. And that only by accepting losing as an option when you step into the arena can you develop strength as a player.
This unlocks something in Yami Yugi who, in a moment of introspection, realizes that the reason he was willing to risk Kaiba's life in their duel was because he was afraid to lose, whereas Yugi had the clarity to realize that sometimes losing is better. Great character development moment for both of the Yugis, and the first time we get the acknowledgement that Yugi has a strength that his ostensibly stronger, more talented half still needs to develop.
It's a bit of an extension of the discussion of winning and losing that we got before, but it's such a central message of the series it's unsurprising Takahashi would really try to hammer it home. If you read the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, you <i>will</i> walk away understanding that losing does not make you a loser, but sometimes winning does if you don't win in the right way. I've said it before and will say it again: given the target demographic for Yu-Gi-Oh! this is such an important message to convey, and even if it can be on-the-nose and a little bit cheesy, I'm glad this was done in such a methodical and consistent way, and that it's a message the protagonist struggles to embody and take on.
Anyway, getting back to the dueling, once Mai gives her pick-me-up speech, Yami Yugi is back in it and prepared to put his all into the match. With his full heart in it, he's able to turn the tables and defeat her to earn a place in the finals.
I still think having her surrender rather than lose outright was an odd choice. It's not <i>inconsistent</i> with the message that winning isn't all-important, but she also could have just lost to Yami Yugi and that still would have come through.
Finally, Joey/Jounouchi faces off against Bandit Keith in easily the least interesting duel in the entire arc. Not only is it obvious that Joey/Jounouchi is going to win, Keith isn't charismatic enough as a villain to make it fun to read even knowing the outcome. We get a back story about Keith that literally I defy anyone to claim they care about, and on top of that, his deck is also very meh.
Sure, we get to see how Joey/Jounouchi has grown as a duelist and actually strategize rather than relying on luck, but it's still a very forgettable duel that just serves to kill time before the match between Yami Yugi and Pegasus.