Yuma and Astral have gotten past the preliminary rounds of the competition. They are now in the final rounds of the WDC, and they'll be up against tough opponents. But who's worried? It's obvious they're not going to lose because they're the main characters, and the main character favoritism in this show is off the charts.
Which means it's basically a given that they'll be winning the tournament. Meh. It's too bad because I don't want them to win. The truth is I'm not watching this show for Yuma or even Astral (though Astral is way better than Yuma).
The following are my thoughts about episodes 55-58 of this anime show in no particular order. For the sections marked by episode number, I'll be writing my comments and opinions as I watch said episode.
Episode 55
The previews for this episode revealed that Kite / Kaito Tenjo and V / Quinton will be dueling. As I mentioned in my review of Episode 54, I'm worried because I don't want Kite to lose to V. I want him to win. I hope he does. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'm going to be so disappointed if V ends up winning.I think it's nice how loyal Orbital 7 is to Kaito. He's willing to face Kite's wrath just to stay by his side. I don't mind him being there to watch Kite's duel with V. But unfortunately, it looks like Astral, Yuma, and Kotori Mizuki / Tori Meadows are going to be watching the duel as well. Meh.
I still think those 3 have no business watching these other duels. I wish Yuma would actually suffer a consequence for watching these duels instead of participating in the finals like he's supposed to be doing. But of course nothing bad is going to happen to Yuma because he's the main character.
I'm surprised the V vs Kaito duel has started already, but Yuma and the others have yet to show up. Definitely not complaining though. V manages to summon an Xyz Numbers card in the first turn (Number 9: Dyson Sphere / Numbers 9: Canopy Star - Dyson Sphere).
For now, he has the advantage over his opponent. Am hoping the keyword here is "for now". I hope the fact that Quinton seems to be winning now just means that Kite will find a way to turn things around later on.
This could be similar to how Tron / Vetrix was able to make a comeback and win even though Droite / Dextra had the advantage in the beginning of their match in the previous episode.
Ugh. Should have known Yuma and the others would show up soon. Did not miss them at all. Can we just get back to the V vs Kaito duel already?
When Yuma showed up, Quinton says, "I didn't think all the actors would gather in one place like this. This could very well be the act of fate."
At those words, all I could think of was "LOL. Act of fate? What act of fate? More like this is happening because the plot said this has to happen now. Can we say contrived or what?"
I mean, seriously, Yuma and the others aren't even supposed to be here right now. Yuma is supposed to be looking for the person he has to duel as part of the World Duel Carnival finals.
Yes, he wants to talk to Kaito about Droite, but there's no reason why he couldn't talk to the guy later. Why did it have to be while Kaito was busy dueling V?
Yuma wants Quinton to tell him where his father (Kazuma Tsukumo) is. V agrees to tell him all that he knows without protest, but this doesn't make sense. Why would V be so willing to tell them anything?
What does he gain by telling them what he knows? Why not keep things to himself? It would be a different story altogether if, say, Yuma (or Kite since he's fighting him right now) has to beat him in a duel before he'd tell them anything.
Whoah, Dr. Faker is apparently Kite and Hart / Haruto Tenjo's father. Didn't see this coming. From the few times the viewers have seen Dr. Faker, it didn't seem like he really cared about anyone, much less Kite or Hart. Plus, if he really cared about his sons, would he be using them in this way (like making Kite collect the Numbers Xyz cards)?
I still don't get why V is so willing to tell everyone his story. But, oh well, at least his story is pretty interesting. It's good to learn more about Dr. Faker, Byron Arclight (V's dad), and Kazuma.
Having Yuma's dad look at a picture of his family just makes me wonder how he could possibly be related to Yuma and Akari / Kari Tsukumo since he looks nothing like them. Their hair styles and colors are also completely different.
The same can be said for Yuma and Akari's mother, Mira / Mirai Tsukumo. At least Byron and Chris (V / Quinton) look a bit alike. Even the younger version of Dr. Faker seems to have a bit of a resemblance with Kite, at least in terms of their hair color and part of their hair styles.
I wonder why Dr. Faker wants to find the door to the Parallel Worlds or other dimensions so badly that he's willing to sacrifice people if that's what it would take to achieve his goals.
I suppose with a name like Faker, it shouldn't be surprising that he would betray Byron and Kazuma. I feel bad for Byron though because he considered Dr. Faker a good friend and told Kazuma he would do his best to help Faker achieve his goals.
So Tron / Vetrix is actually Byron Arclight. I still think Tron's crazy, and I still hate him for what he did to Droite. I like him as Byron though.
But it's understandable that he would change considering all that he'd been through. Also, I get that he wants revenge on Faker, but why does he need to take out his anger on Droite who hadn't wronged him?
Kite says he only cares about his little brother, and he didn't really have much of a reaction to V's story. But I wonder what happened to his family? Was Haruto born ill? Where is their mother?
How come Dr. Faker doesn't seem to care about his children? How come Kite doesn't seem to care about his father? This episode brought some answers and a lot of questions. Looking forward to finding out the answers to these questions in the coming episodes.
Episode 56
This episode will be the continuation of the duel between Quinton and Kaito. Still feeling worried and still keeping my fingers crossed. Kite had better win this duel.So III (Trey) and IV (Quattro) are apparently V's little brothers. But am really not seeing the resemblance at all. III and IV look nothing like V and Tron. They don't even look like each other. Their hair styles and hair colors are so different. At least V and Tron look a bit alike. But what about III and IV? Why do they look so different?
I get that Quinton hates Dr. Faker for what the guy did to his family and for causing his family to break apart, but he shouldn't be taking his anger and hatred out on Faker's kids. Kaito and Haruto (#ad) had nothing to do with what happened. Why should they have to suffer for what their dad did?
Kite reveals that he hates his dad, which isn't all that surprising considering what we've seen so far. V apparently knows about this though, so why does he still blame Kaito for what Dr. Faker did?
Number 9: Dyson Sphere / Numbers 9: Canopy Star - Dyson Sphere is seriously overpowered. Its anime effect is:
"Cannot be destroyed by battle except with "Number" monsters. If this card with Xyz Material is attacked: Negate that attack (this is a Quick Effect). When this card is targeted for an attack while it has no Xyz Material: You can target 2 monsters in your Graveyard; attach those targets to this card as Xyz Materials. You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; this card can attack your opponent directly this turn. Your opponent must control a monster with higher ATK than this card for you to activate and to resolve this effect."
It's practically invincible. I was really worried that Kite would end up losing especially when his life points kept dropping until he only had 100 left.
I was so glad that he was able to turn things around and win by Xyz summoning Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.
This was a brilliant duel. I especially like how Kite was able to win without having to resort to a Shining Draw (*cough*cheating*cough).
I mean, I suppose it could be argued that there was still cheating involved since Kite managed to draw the cards he needed at the right moment, but, then again, isn't that the case for all the duels in this show?
All the characters end up drawing the cards they need to draw. This is the case even for characters who are supposed to lose. Those who aren't allowed to win end up drawing the cards they need so they can lose while those who have to win end up drawing the cards they need to win.
Unlike with Yuma and Astral, at least Kaito didn't need to create a card out of thin air to win this duel. Plus, the cards Kaito drew were actually a part of his deck. So there was no blatant cheating involved, definitely nothing that screams deus ex machina.
This was just an overall satisfying and fun duel. I didn't even end up hating V. I'm not sad he lost though. I'm happy that Kite won.
IMHO, Kaito is still the best character in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. He is awesome and brilliant. I find him way more interesting and likable than Yuma. There's depth and personality to his character. He's not perfect, and that's great.
His imperfections make him human and relatable unlike Yuma who comes across as way too good to be true. Yuma is too pure and too perfect, so there are times when he does't seem real or human.
Sigh. I really wish Kite was the main character instead of Yuma. I also want him to win the World Duel Carnival, but I'm not holding my hopes up. From the get-go, it's obvious that Yuma is going to win. I'm already dreading having to see that part. Meh.
The next episode preview shows IV and Shark (Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle) dueling. I'm hoping Shark wins. After Kite, he's my next favorite character in this show.
Episode 57
Keeping my fingers crossed for Shark to win his duel against IV. I'm going to be so disappointed if Ryoga loses.Ugh, I'm not surprised that Yuma, Astral, and Kotori have once again ended up watching a duel that should have had nothing to do with them. I'm just really disappointed about this.
Why do those 3 need to be present all the time anyway? Can't we have a duel where Yuma doesn't show up at all (either as a participant or as a watcher)? Why does he need to be around all the time (other than the fact that he's unfortunately the main character)?
Another thing I have to wonder about is why the duels aren't happening simultaneously? All the participants should have arrived at their respective battlefields in more or less the same time.
So how come the Tron vs Droite, the V vs Kite, and the Shark vs IV duels didn't happen at the same time? This sounds so contrived, like the matches had to happen one at a time just so Yuma and the others could watch each duel.
With IV and Shark dueling, it's obvious that Yuma and Gauche will be the ones fighting. It's also already obvious that Gauche is going to lose. Meh.
Not really looking forward to that at all. I'd rather Yuma be the one to lose. Can we just have Kite be the one to defeat Tron and Dr. Faker? Yuma doesn't need to get involved.
Shark manages to Xyz summon a monster (Submersible Carrier Aero Shark / Underwater Mothership Aero Shark) on his first turn. At this point, I'm no longer impressed.
It seems like every other character is able to summon 2 monsters and then use those monsters to Xyz summon, all in the same turn. By now, this has become the norm, and I'm getting sick of how often this play is used. I mean, in the last duel, V also managed to summon Dyson Sphere in the first turn.
Heck, Quattro also managed to Xyz summon Number 15: Gimmick Puppet Giant Grinder / Numbers 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer in his first turn. I wish they'd change things even just a little bit.
How 'bout the characters don't get to Xyz summon in the first turn? Or how 'bout their summon or special summon is negated? Seriously, doesn't anyone have a counter trap card like Solemn Judgment or Black Horn of Heaven or something?
Since IV managed to summon a Numbers Xyz card, he now has the advantage. I'm hoping this means Ryoga will be able to turn things around later on so he can win.
Jeez, every time Tron shows up, he makes me hate him even more. Sometimes, it's hard to believe he's supposed to be Byron Arclight. Tron is nothing like Byron.
Byron came across as likable. He seems to be a good friend and he seems to care about his kids as well. In contrast to that, Tron doesn't seem to care about anything other than revenge. He has even resorted to using his sons for revenge.
If Tron really wanted Yuma to shut up, he should have gagged him too instead of just tying him up. The whole time Yuma kept going on about his dueling spiel (how dueling shouldn't be used for revenge, how people become friends when they duel, etc), the only thing I could think of was that he was such a hypocrite and should really just shut up now.
Yuma himself said he couldn't forgive Tron and even Dr. Faker for what they did. And now he has the gall to go on about how dueling shouldn't be used for revenge. LOL. What a joke.
Ryoga manages to Xyz summon Number 32: Shark Drake / Numbers 32: Marine Biting Dragon - Shark Drake. I would have been more impressed if he actually managed to get 3 monsters on his field to summon this card.
But what I've been noticing is that a lot of the characters have cards like Bubble Bringer, which allows them to treat one monster as 2 Xyz materials or overlay units for an Xyz summon.
In effect, you end up using only 2 monsters to Xyz summon a monster that requires 3 monsters. This feels like a cop out. I mean, the first few times is fine. But, by now, the novelty of this tactic has worn off.
I want to see something new. What's the point of saying an Xyz monster needs 3 Xyz materials if only 2 will end up being used anyway?
I thought this duel would end in this episode since Ryoga actually managed to destroy Giant Killer with his Shark Drake. IV managed to make a comeback though and even got to Xyz summon Number 40: Gimmick Puppet of Strings / Numbers 40: Gimmick Puppet - Heaven's Strings.
I wonder if this is because IV had 2 Numbers cards, and so the duel couldn't end until both those cards had been summoned.
Things are looking bad for Ryoga now. His life points have been reduced to 500. Am still rooting for him to win though. Keeping my fingers crossed.
At the end of this episode:
- I'm starting to dislike Yuma
- I still want Shark to win
- I still don't like IV, but I did end up feeling a bit sorry for him since he was only following Tron's orders and yet Tron doesn't seem to care about him at all
- I still hate Tron
- I still hate Kotori
Episode 58
The Quattro vs Ryoga duel is continued in this episode. I like how Shark is trying to resist succumbing to the control of his Numbers Xyz card. I like that he's actually struggling and things aren't going easy for him.
Showing him having a hard time and yet still trying will make his victory (still hoping he'll win against IV) even more satisfying. It's times like this where I really wish characters like Ryoga and Kite could be the main characters instead of Yuma.
Because things are always okay with Yuma. He isn't even affected by the Numbers cards even though it would have been more believable if he also had to deal with struggling not to lose himself to the Numbers.
I'm feeling more and more sorry for IV. I'm still rooting for Shark to win, but this episode is showing more depth to IV's character. We're being shown that he's not just some crazy, hot-blooded, hot-tempered bad guy who wants to give people his version of "fanservice".
The audience is being shown that he does care about his father and that he's doing what he's doing (like fighting against Shark, getting Shark's sister hurt, etc) for his father.
Just when I thought I couldn't possibly hate Tron more, he goes and opens his mouth and proves me wrong. He's despicable for using his children in this way.
They all followed his orders, wanting to please him, wanting to go back to how things were, but he's changed. He's not the same man as Byron anymore, which is really unfortunate because Byron is likable.
Wow, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, way to prove me right. Once again, we're introduced to yet another monster (Gimmick Puppet Nightmare) who has an effect that allows it to be treated as 2 Xyz materials. I'm so sick of this.
Can't we have something new? What's the point of requiring 3 monsters to Xyz summon a particular monster when the characters are going to keep on using 2 monsters anyway?
Quattro summons Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo / Numbers 88: Gimmick Puppet - Destiny Leo, but I have to wonder why. What's the point other than because the plot said this has to happen?
I mean, right now, he already has Heaven's Strings on his side of the field, and it has 3000 attack points as well as 1 overlay unit. I wouldn't have minded him summoning Destiny Leo if he didn't have to get rid of Heaven's Strings to do it.
He already used up his battle phase this turn (since he misplayed and wasn't able to damage Ryoga in any way), but summoning Destiny Leo didn't change the outcome for him this turn. If Leo can make him win this turn, then I wouldn't be questioning why he'd summon this card.
But since nothing really changed for him this turn, then what's the point? It's like he just replaced Heaven's Strings with Destiny Leo, so he went from a monster with 3000 attack to one with 3200 attack, which isn't much of a difference.
Yes, Leo does have a pretty good effect, but the point is that summoning it won't win Quattro the duel right away. He still has to wait.
Yuma did the Chaos Xyz Change (Chaos Xyz Evolution) too when he changed his Number 39: Utopia / Numbers 39: Kibou Hope to Number C39: Utopia Ray / Chaos Numbers 39: Kibou Hope Ray, so how come it's supposed to be considered bad that Shark was able to do this as well?
I don't like that Shark ended up succumbing to the influence of Shark Drake (this is all Tron's fault; he kept on goading Ryoga). I was hoping that Shark would keep saying no and then discover a power all on his own without the influence of the Numbers clouding his heart and shrouding it in darkness.
I like that Shark was able to perform a Chaos Xyz Change, but I don't like that this is being viewed as bad or that this happened because of the influence of his Numbers. It's not fair because Yuma was able to do this too, and no one is saying he's bad for doing it. Ugh. The main character favoritism in this show is really something else.
Shark won. But his victory feels bittersweet to me. I didn't really enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Kite's victory over V. Part of this is because of how Shark managed to win by using Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss / Chaos Numbers 32: Marine Biting Dragon - Shark Drake Veiss. Another part is how Quattro ended up being sympathetic.
The last is because Tron heavily interfered in this duel. It felt like Tron was making sure that IV would make a lot of misplays, so he'd end up losing.
Tron also tried to influence Ryoga such as by trying to get him to keep on using his Numbers card. It feels like Ryoga didn't really deserve this victory because if Tron hadn't been around, Quattro would have won.
Argh, Yuma really needs to stop with his hypocritical prattling about how no one should get revenge via dueling. Seriously, how many times has he said he won't forgive Tron for what he did to Droite and to his sons?
He comes across as nothing but a hypocrite when he keeps telling everyone else they shouldn't duel for revenge. How come Yuma can duel for revenge when others can't? Ugh. He's so frustrating.
At the end of this episode:
- I hate Tron even more than I hated him before. He's doing a good job competing with Kotori for the character I hate most in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
- Unfortunately for Kotori, Tron wasn't able to beat her. She's still the worst character in this show, and I still hate her with the fire of a thousand burning suns
- I don't really hate IV anymore. Thanks to all the things that have been revealed about him, he's become a bit more likable and sympathetic. There's also more depth to his character now, so he doesn't appear to be just some crazy bad guy. I'm feeling more neutral towards him
- Ryoga is still my second favorite character in this anime, but, as I already mentioned above, I was rather disappointed with his duel against IV
- I'm really starting to dislike Yuma. By now, it's bordering a bit on hate. He'd better stop being a hypocrite and a cheater. Sigh. I wish he'd stop being the main character. Can we just give that position to Kaito? He deserves it way more than Yuma
The next episode preview shows that it's finally Yuma's turn to duel. Didn't miss his duels at all especially since I already know the outcome of this battle. Obviously, Yuma is going to win.
Oh, Gauche is likely going to be taking the upper hand, but Yuma will be able to make a comeback. There's no doubt about this.
I wish Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (#ad) would prove me wrong, but I also know it wouldn't because things are already set in stone. The main character just can't lose.
If only I actually liked the main character in this show, then this wouldn't be so bad. But Yuma has really been annoying me a lot over the past few episodes. I hope things get better or that we viewers can see Kite soon. I miss him already.
Miscellaneous
- The new opening (Soul Drive by Color Bottle) and ending (Wild Child by Moumoon) songs are growing on me, but I still prefer the first two
- I want to see more Xyz monsters with higher ranks. By now, I'm so sick of seeing the usual rank 4s (this means you, Utopia; you've really overstayed your welcome)
- I want to see the characters Xyz summon monsters that require 3 or more overlay materials. The whole spam 2 monsters on the field then use them to Xyz summon has gotten old. I want to see something different instead of the usual tactic over and over again
Your thoughts and opinions
So, what about you? What do you think about all of this? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a message in the comments section below.*Notes:
- Pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above
- Text was added to first image using Canva
