send me a tv show/book/fandom and i’ll say the top 5 things i’d change about it
pshh.... it’s not like i think about yugioh that much or anything.... b-baka
to be honest i hold ygo to lower standards than most of my other interests so i’m gonna go with the anime here, not the manga
GOODNESS GRACIOUS DECENT. CONSISTENT. ANIMATION.
the same dub cast with a better script. seriously just imagine it
while part of me kind of likes the way mai rode off at the end of doma to go her own way and learn more about herself, i also wish we had more resolution with her before the time atem leaves. the ceremonial duel was a time for all of his friends to say goodbye, and it always hurt me that she was the only one not there (and she helped him a considerable amount more than, say, duke or ryou, who were there)
more female duelists in general but i’ve evolved this complaint to fall under the general YGO Crit Umbrella because lady duelists -- and protags -- are still few and far in between
yami and yuugi never kissed hugged once and that needs fixing
So, a thought I’ve been sitting on for... fifteen years? Seventeen years? I think? Anyways, there’s this episode of House M.D., Role Models, that focused on a black senator who got sick while running for president. (I know what you’re thinking, but this was 2003. So while it was likely about him, it was pre-election, which in retrospect is kind of awesome actually.) But anyways, the senator presents himself as a very stand-up guy, while Dr. House, being Dr. House, assumes he’s a liar and that his health is being messed up by something he’s not telling them. And at one point, this exchange happens:
House: You need to stop lying to me.
Senator: It must be miserable, always assuming the worst in people.
House: Oh, cut the crap, you’re dying.
Senator: You’re clever, you’re witty, and you are a coward! You’re scared of taking chances.
House: I take chances all the time, it’s one of my worst qualities.
Senator: On people?
House: Wanting to believe the best about people doesn’t make it true.
Senator: Being afraid to believe it doesn’t make it false.
House: Well, that’s very moving. It’s a shame I don’t vote.
Senator: This is who I am. I believe in people. I’m not hiply cynical and I don’t make easy, snide remarks. I would rather think that people are good and be disappointed once and again.
And that exchange? It stuck with me. I don’t remember if it was during my first watch or a rerun, this came out just around the time Yu-Gi-Oh! entered my life after all, but I still remember that really, really early on, this exchange clicked with me as, ‘Oh! Yuugi!’
Why? Because this is so Yuugi to me, particularly with the main villains. And I’ve been seeing a lot lately about Yuugi’s willingness to trust said villains, put in both positive and negative lights, but there seems to be an underlying idea all around that he unconditionally trusts, while I would counter that no, he consciously trusts.
Because yes, there are examples that Yuugi can be gullible in some ways, but maybe it was just this quote being in my head that made me notice it, but I realized when I read the manga that in almost every instance I can think of where someone approaches him with a smile and bad intentions, his reaction is actually “👀 ...” followed by acceptance or belief. And partly, yeah, it’s because he’s really quick to adopt friends (Jounouchi??? Honda???) but I still think it’s good to underline that this is the opposite of someone pulling the wool over his eyes. He knows that Jounouchi and Honda bullied him, that Kaiba stole his card, that the whole Death-T set up had red flags, that Namu was suspicious, that The Ring Spirit hurt him as much as helped him. And all signs point to he was bullied growing up, so you think he doesn’t have an impulse to be wary of peers? But, he also knows that he burns the reality he wants by choosing doubt over belief.
So he believes. Because he would rather deal with a Trojan Horse than live with the regret of pushing away someone who actually meant well and could have been a friend. And, for all his confidence issues, this is one thing I think Yuugi would stand by unequivocally if questioned on it. As the quote said, “This is who I am… I would rather think that people are good and be disappointed once and again.”
Which makes him a wonderful person, but also a horrible Among Us player. King of Games he might be, but son will not stand by a sus.
At what point is "tyrant atem" a stereotype and not just a canon divergence though? If you're writing with stereotyped language that's one thing, but Atem does have a dark side in the story, and a tyrant king isn't only found in Egypt. The way that the post is phrased seems to ignore the fact that the fan favorite Egyptian characters are/were bad guys too (bakura and marik have both killed people). I think their intentions were good, but at some point i think you're looking too hard.
I’m afraid I don’t know fully, anon, since this was about race depictions and I’m white, I feel like that line should be established by someone other than me after a certain point, I’m only comfortable giving my support and two cents to other views. That said, I understand you’re uncertainty, and if I may presume the exact anxiety of ‘I want to handle this depiction mindfully and respectfully but I’ll never be capable of the full perspective and if someone thinks I got it wrong I might be chewed up and spit out whole because the internet can be so vicious and labels can stick forever’ but thankfully that kind of bite back is usually just a very loud very minor fraction and you don’t have to fear feedback or throw out every idea. The majority just wants you to be mindful, not dismissive of concerns, are open to counter-explanations, and for you to keep points in mind going forward. And hopefully most will understand anything canon-based and not expect you to fix everything Takahashi got wrong himself, i.e. I know full well that a Pharaoh would never live in a temple but the man straight up put him in Karnak Temple, what do you want? They should also be using chariots and not wearing shoes like that but here we are. I fix where I can in my stories (put some COLORS ON THOSE WALLS GDI) and just go along with it where it feels like I’ve left canon too far behind, I know it’s inaccurate but come on. That’s not quite the person stereotype issue, but still. It underlines that hopefully any critics will keep in mind the source, and the creators will be respectful of input and try to balance where they can, or turn to other helpful canon points. I.E. You can make Atem or someone cutthroat because canon, sure, but Jounouchi was the one who was actually in a gang. AND he’s canonically the hothead here. If you’re going dark or gangster AU, how about putting the Japanese fellow by the dark skinned guy and let their canon personalities be your guide out of a stereotype trap?
Regarding Yugi and Atem being different people - how well do you think Yugi himself realizes this? It seems to have been a continuous process for both of them to figure out, but I think Yugi catches on faster than others (they share a body after all). He seems to realize the one Anzu actually likes is Atem pretty early etc.
I think Yuugi definitely knows they are different people at some point, though admittedly the series does continually show us Yuugi acknowledging/already knowing things when it comes to Atem, rather than actual realizations. He says at Death-T that he’s realized since meeting Shadi that there’s ‘another him’, but we don’t know when Shadi’s words got through to him or awareness kicked in. He says on Pegasus’s Island that he has gained memories of all of the things Atem did in those early days outside of his consciousness, but we don’t know when that happened. He asks Atem after the fire at Otogi’s shop who he is, showing he at least thinks he’s not Yuugi on some level, but we don’t know when he started questioning the simple ‘other self from the Puzzle’ presumption. I imagine Takahashi does it this way because Yuugi is the type to sit and mull things over and put them together, like the Puzzle itself, and in most cases there’s not much action or conscious thought there, or at least it wouldn’t be interesting to sit through. But, the proof of the realizations is there in his comments and questions. As to Anzu liking Atem, I think he knew that by the Pegasus Island/regained early memories point, given what he said about calling Atem out for Anzu’s sake. I know that’s commonly seen as a really sweet scene, since Anzu says it’s fine, he doesn’t have to, they’re both Yuugi, and Yuugi is clearly touched by the idea, but I find it a bit heartbreaking because Anzu hasn’t had her own revelation yet at this stage. She still thinks there is ‘one Yuugi’ on some level, two sides of the same coin so to speak. Which, by the way, is also why I don’t see it as her using Yuugi to get to Atem at all earlier in the series, because she wouldn’t have viewed it that way due to the identity vagueness at that stage. This also doesn’t exclude the possibility of Anzu liking both (even if I personally subscribe to her liking Atem specifically) because she could easily sort through her feelings and find she does like both once the who’s who issue is worked out. But either way, Yuugi at the Pegasus Island point or by Otogi at least has gotten ahead of the curb and realizes Atem does not equal him, thus Anzu liking Atem does not equal (necessarily) liking both of them after all. It all gets a bit convoluted on the fandom side post-series because of all of the big character moments happening at different points of awareness for different characters, but those are my conclusions.
Was Atem aware/conscious of his surroundings and what was going on after Yugi completed the puzzle but before he started taking over his body? I have been thinking about this since I believe we never got an insight on what was he thnking before he started interacting with the characters. Like, did he start to defend Yugi because he liked him, or felt his insecurities, or because it was the right thing to do?
Thanks for the ask, Anon!
Objectively speaking, we don’t know. As you say, we never got insight into this. But context clues tell me that Atem was probably experiencing everything Yuugi was firsthand, right down to following thought processes, because more often than not early series Atem would think things that imply a continuous consciousness from what Yuugi was just experiencing. Which fits pretty well with the blurred line of identity that was going on back then, I truly do think Atem thought he was Yuugi in some way early on, not just as a tweaked magical clone but very much him in some manner, with no real lines on cares and opinions (there’s a lot of this shown via his instant affection for Jounouchi and Anzu!). I always thought of it as essentially ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ if Hyde was just as bloody but more justice oriented and protective of his counterpart and relations.
Where the shift came in, it’s hard to say. It may very well have been directly tied with Yuugi’s growing awareness of Atem, as interacting or even reacting to one another’s presence pre-interaction would have likely prompted some self-assessment. So, I would say Atem initially defended Yuugi & co. because he felt personally insulted by Yuugi’s suffering and by proxy cared about their friends, but (and this is a murkier area) as they started indirectly side-eyeing each other as separate ‘people’ Atem started processing things as not ‘his’ memories and opinions and experiences but as the conglomerate character of ‘his other self’... And hey, looking at ‘mou hitori no ore’ in the third person, Atem’s ‘other self’ is awesome!! :D Best boy must protect defend and support!
And this was just him realizing he as ‘the other Yuugi’ was ‘separate’ from the original, not him realizing he wasn’t a ‘Yuugi’ at all. >>
But yes, apologies if this is messy, I’m currently home sick with stuffed ears and various body aches and getting a phone assessment tomorrow in hopes it’s not you know ahahahahderp but hopefully that answered the question properly!!
one of the strangest character interpretations i occasionally see around is that manga!anzu is a bad friend to yugi. takahashi does have tons of problems w/ writing women, but It's just unfair to me that she's painted as a totally awful person due to 1 chapter in the early story.
Yes, while I would counter that there are a number of chapters in the manga that show Anzu hoping to see Atem pop out of Yuugi -- the amusement park is just when she actively tried to make it happen -- I do often wonder if those who judge her so harshly for that have read the whole manga in context, or just heard about it/skimmed through the manga for non-anime segments. I mean, seeing Anzu as ‘stringing Yuugi along’ only works if you take it for granted that she saw Yuugi and Atem as separate people, which is a very late series/anime/dub, ‘hindsight is 20/20′ perspective. This is actually one of the biggest reasons you NEVER see me use the term Yami. I get that it’s easier for writing purposes, but I just can’t do it because there’s a reason he’s the ‘other Yuugi’ for 95% of the story and even beyond that for many of the characters. Atem is 100% his own person, but his struggle and others’ struggles to grasp that is very much part of the story, and part of their emotional journeys, and for Anzu in specific that means realizing she doesn’t just like this one boy who has this awesome mysterious side she particularly likes. She either likes two separate people and has to process that, or she specifically likes a boy that is going to leave forever. Which it is is up to your interpretation, but either way I completely sympathize with her struggle and think it’s unfair to judge her by her actions in retrospect.
So does anyone else find it weird that Akhenaten decided to abandon his son and apparent wife because he didn’t want them to be judged for his atrocities, but then no one knows about it for years? And he specifically did some extreme stuff to hide his actions? And succeeded? I mean, I get you could lean on he was afraid it would get out, but it still doesn’t feel like it adds up to me? Especially since if he was that worried about condemning those around him, wouldn’t he have distanced himself from the court and the brother he claimed to love, who would definitely be blamed more than anyone alongside him???
Akhenaten does a lot of stuff that’s just ‘UGH’ to me, but this one is just straight up ‘???’ Unless you read it all as an excuse and he wanted to abandon them on some level. In which case it’s just another ‘ugh’.
