Episodes 134-136 Review

Let me start off by telling you how unreal it was writing these episodes. These were some of the very first episodes I planned for the series, and I’ve been constantly revising, adding to, and fine tuning my plans. Those years of planning culminated in these three episodes. One of my biggest disappointments with the original series was that the final battle wasn’t a duel, but, well, a battle. With dueling being the center-point of the franchise, Atem really should have defeated Zorc in a duel, at least that’s what I think. And as I think that, I made it a reality here. Ottiuk’s deck, the Hydra Heads, actually comes from back when I would come up with random deck ideas for fun and have imaginary duels in my mind. The Hydra Head deck was always one of my favorites. As soon as I decided to write Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium, I knew that the final duel had to have the main villain using them.

Another aspect of the cards used in the duel is the infinite ATK monsters used in the first turn. I got one review about it, and I’m assuming that others realized this as well, but Horackhty and the Knight of Destiny were nothing like their real-world counterparts. This was a case of me taking the liberty of being a writer of an anime-esque series. I worked under the assumption that Horackhty was given its game-winning effect to be a more realistic version of an infinite ATK monster, as it would be awkward to say the least to make an actual monster with infinite ATK. As for the Knight of Destiny, I don’t care if the printed card was called Timaeus the Knight of Destiny, Yugi never once calls it that in the show, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s name is simply the Knight of Destiny.

One final thing to talk about was the goal of these episodes. When I started this series, I had to very different plot points in motion. There was the plot focused on Chaos and the Balance, and their was the Yugoha plot. Sure, there was some interaction between the two plots, but for the most part, they were completely separate. This episode finally firmly established the important link between the two. The other purpose was to give an origin story to Duel Monsters. A simple glance at the original series would tell you that Ancient Egyptian Shadow Games were the origin. The problem is that through out all of the Yu-Gi-Oh series, we see that ancient cultures beyond just Egypt had their own forms of Shadow Games. A closer look suggests that Atlantis was the true origin. After the War of Atlantis, Ironheart’s monster army was scattered across the world, and this could have lead later societies to discover Duel Monsters. However, even closer looks suggest that even this isn’t the whole story. Both GX and Zexal suggest that Duel Monsters is more that just a game played on Earth, it is a fundamental concept across the Universe (or universes in Zexal’s case). Then of course my Yugoha story line outright shows that Duel Monsters exists beyond Earth. So I created an origin story linked to Yugoha. Yugoha created the Monster Spirit World, and countless other cultures over the millennia discovered it, and tapped into its power.

Until next time, duel on!

Episode 126 Review

First off, I think it’s worth pointing out that this is the first episode that ends in the middle of a duel not to be the first of a two part episode that I’ve written. I explain my reasoning in the review for the following episode. The opening scene where we have Yuni, Yugi, and Tori all talking, and having Yuni’s birthday I felt was a very important scene for this season. So far, this season has been so vast in its endeavor and has had so many characters that I’ve found myself not focusing as much on characters as I should be. That scene was really designed to serve as a reminder that they’re still there, and still have lives beyond this whole debacle. Also, there was a bit of foreshadowing (as to what, you’ll have to wait to find out).

In case you didn’t get the joke, Yugi’s Grandpa saying that Yugi had gone to the store to get olives years ago was a reference to the same joke made in GX when the Duel Academy went on a field trip to Domino City. I figured that this is probably about the same time as that happened, so it would make sense and would be quite funny to make that joke.

Until next time, duel on!

Episodes 97-99 Review

Sorry for the wait, but I’m back!

First things first, these episodes were originally meant to be only a two parter, but I found the the second part was a little too long, so I split it further. On the subject of Sartorius’ revival, it had always stuck with me that at the end of the GX Society of Light arc, they stressed that the Light of Destruction isn’t gone completely. As soon as the idea hit me to use the Society of Light, I knew I would have to finish off that open-ended plot. One interesting thing of note about the deck that Sartorius used: in case you don’t know, the Arcana Force monsters are based off the the Major Arcana of tarot cards. It always bugged me that there were missing Arcana Force monsters, when it was so obvious what could be done with them, so this was the perfect time to fill in the gaps, which I did. Counting the real Arcana Force monsters, the anime exclusive ones, and the ones I made, every single Major Arcana is now accounted for.

Sorry that I don’t have much else to say, but it’s been to long.

Until next time, duel on!

Episode 83 Review

My Pokemon break is over, back to Yu-Gi-Oh.

A quick piece of trivia I forgot to give before, the three Weapons of Yugoha are called the Chronoton Staff, Graviton Cannon, and Higgs Boson Shield. Two of those three names come from theoretical, subatomic particles in Quantum Physics. A chronoton is theoretical particle that deals with time, while a graviton transfers the force of gravity. The Higgs Boson is a special particle that was theorized to give mass to matter. It was discovered just over a year ago. So in a way, we have particles dealing with time, space, and reality.

A Call to Arms, first off, is the first episode to feature Ma’at in a prominent role, but not have Order in the episode’s title. For all intents and purposes, this episode ends the Yuni vs. Ma’at story line that we’ve been following. From this point on, those two are allies, at least until I decide otherwise of course. The most shocking (or maybe not, if you’re a Yu-Gi-Oh expert, and picked up all of my hints) reveal of the episode was the end, where we learn that the mysterious hooded man of light is in fact Sartorius, leader of the Society of Light. For those who don’t remember or know, the Society of Light was an organization from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, which was created so that the evil Light of Destruction could take over the Earth (destroy it in the Japanese version). What does this mean for Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium? You’ll just have to keep on reading.

Episode 52: Duel of Dualism Part 2

Episode 52 is now out. Read it here!

Yuni and Apep continue their fight with the Chaos Emperor Dragon and the Black Luster Soldier. There is a reason that these are two of the most infamous cards of all time, can Yuni and Apep beat them?

On a side note, the review on episode 51 will come later, along with the review for episode 52.

Also, check out the new section, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Timeline. In addition to mentioning events from Millennium, it will mention events from the original show, GX, 5D’s, and Zexal.

Until next time, duel on!