Thread: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal

Originally Posted by Human

Originally Posted by Midorikawa

I haven't gotten past episode 7 I think of 5Ds and the way they jump into 5Ds with Jack already being in that place and whatever.

he become the King by the 26th episode!

This is what I like about Yugioh !
That show doesn't make their fan wait for over 15 year just to see the Protagonist becoming a King or Champion !

Originally Posted by Human

The only flaw he needed to correct was that his deck had no balance. That he had to improve and learn to balance his deck... which he did before the first episode. 4kids dub tried to make him afraid of bugs, to give him something that would make him troubled duelling, but that failed miserably because no story was backed up and he wasn't shown to be actually troubled. Regarding Yusei's death, that reason didn't explain his father's reviving powers. Sure Yusei had a good reason to stay alive, but that still doesn't explain how he came back to life. Were they only be able to be used once? Was it the power of the Crimson Dragon? We don't know... when a really, really needed explanation wasn't given. His death could have been cut out and nothing substantial would've been lost.

[

I don't know if his deck really needed balance. I thought it was fun. I think the whole adding a fear of bugs was more 4kids trying to create more tension in that duel rather than trying to make Yusei afraid. There was that whole being afraid to duel again after dueling Kiryu that was actually a flaw and showed him struggling to overcome it. As for his death, I thought it was to show his connection to his father, which would come up again in the later arcs, but it was probably just there to add a bit more tension during Jack's duel against Carly. It really didn't bother me that much.

Originally Posted by Human

I liked the plot of the Dark Signer arc as well. Its lack of realism just really bugged me. Now I know that this is fiction, and so exaggerated plots are inevitable to see, but the arc was too exaggerated and flawed for me to make me feel compelled or really care at what the characters were facing through. Carly's writing was gorgeous and top-notch, though. She felt really relate able despite her overly exaggerated plot with Jack about being the King and Queen of future Hell. It was a shame that she didn't show up much after the arc, but since her character was over with it didn't bother me. Jack talking to her of about what happened would have been really nice.

A lack of realism in a Yu-Gi-Oh! series doesn't really upset me and I really don't go into any series expecting that at this point. The first arc had more of a sense of realism, but there were hints of something bigger coming with Godwin gathering the Signers and that vision near the end of Yusei's duel against Jack. I didn't think that the plot was too exaggerated, especially Carly's subplot with Jack. That was handled extremely well in my opinion. Her character was done after that arc, but it was still kind of a shame that she was reduced to mainly comedy relief after all she went through. I still would have loved to see Jack and Carly interacting more and talking about what happened though.

Originally Posted by Human

I found Fuya and Cat-chan's plots to be more compelling and entertaining due to their realism, despite having fewer episodes. I really can't see how Cat-chan's growth is arguable. She was an extremely shy girl who wanted attention, friends and Yuma to care about her. After Yuma opened her eyes, she started to hang around with him and be social with people through duelling. That made for an interesting and compelling plot. She showed her development and expressed it after her duel with Dog-chan. She made me care for her, she made me happy to see her grow, learn, not keep things and lessons from others so they could learn and grow as well. She felt real despite her ability to be able to talk to and understand cats. Being comic relief now doesn't really bother me since her plot has been over with like Carly's. With it, she brings a smile to my face, and so, I can't ask for anything more from her.

Fuya was engaging and likable, but I don't feel much of anything for Cathy. Considering how little focus she gets and the fact I kept forgetting she was even in the cast during the WDC arc, I don't know if I can say she had a plot per say. Honestly, I don't know if I'd consider her real. Even with her strange cat powers, which also have yet to be explained by the way, she just feels like the typical shy girl of the group. She's not as shy now, but she still comes off like that to me. I liked her more than Kotori for awhile, but that doesn't say much and she was still pretty bland. I usually don't like characters being reduced to comical relief, especially if what they're doing isn't funny and just comes off as annoying. It's great that you like her so much, but she's just bland and her duel with Dog-chan made me think of how dumb it was rather than any growth she had.

Originally Posted by Human

Aki's plot never really interested me. She had no personality to begin with(making her a female Yusei in my eyes, only worse), her plot was too exaggerated for me to make me care or be invested in her and was dragged on too much. Dragged plots(depending on how they're set up and how they progress) generally bore and bother me. I do agree on how it was still interesting to see a female main lead so drastically different in demeanour and personality. As I've said earlier in this thread, I like how some of the female characters on this show are shown to be very independent so seeing Aki being strong half of the time was nice to see. I honestly think that she's an interesting character, but she's just not one that interests me.

Aki was not a female Yusei. They were both distant and quite at the start, but Aki had more clear flaws and emotional baggage from the start. She was fine letting Divine think for her, didn't realize that she enjoyed hurting people with her powers and had emotional scars from growing up with her psychic powers. That does not sound like a female Yusei, especially when she didn't value friends like he did. I don't know if I'd considered her plot exaggerated, but I was interested in her backstory and I did feel more sympathetic towards her near the end of her duel with Yusei.

Originally Posted by Human

I already knew that you were the type of girl that wouldn't sink to such a low level. I remember the days of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, where I would read comments of girls on the internet that would whine and complain if other characters who weren't named Yusei appeared on-screen. It's fine to be displeased that your favourite characters aren't getting as much screen time as you want them to get, but insulting others(not kidding around, but actual personal attacks) who dare wish to like other characters more is a huge no. The designs of the characters are to help express and make the audience understand the personality of the characters more. The problem with 5Ds being too dark(especially in the Dark Signer arc) was because, unlike DM, GX and Zexal, it couldn't let the audience catch a break. There was always something thrown at you, always some new revelation, something new to think of and some tension filled duel thrown in. If the audience was allowed to catch a break with the pacing, I'd say more people would have liked it.

I just wanted to clarify that I don't do something like that. I didn't really see a lot of comments like that with 5D's. There were Yusei fans, of course, but the ones I've see weren't like that either. I still don't think that the 5D's or the Dark Signer arc were too dark compared to other arcs in DM and GX. There wasn't a chance for a break since a person did need to see at least the first sixty-four episodes to understand the events of the arc. I honestly didn't think that was a huge problem. Most people I've seen talk about 5D's praise the first two arcs, although they don't call them perfect by any means. The characters were interesting, at least I think they were, the storyline was engaging, the pacing didn't feel too fast, the Riding Duels added some diversity and the plot always advancing helped to keep the storyline fresh and make people continue watching it. A breather during those first two arcs might have been nice, but I don't think it really hurt the series, especially when there were plenty of breathers in the later arcs, for better or for worse.

Originally Posted by Human

I thought that the duels were fun and comical without trying too hard and that the faux seriousness being thrown in some of the episodes was thoroughly more enjoyable. A change of focus is always nice. An utter waste of time? I don't see that because they helped Yuma get more heart pieces, advertise other monsters, be entertaining, and show some compelling and fun one time characters. Seeing Astral almost dying in his Numbers duels never really bothered me since it wasn't happening too frequently. It did help raise the tension in the duels. When Astral died, I felt really sad for Yuma. When he did come back to life, I was glad that a plausible reason was given unlike when Yusei died and got revived. Yuma being selfish? If he's being selfish to you, then it's because he's just a kid. I really liked the episode of when he didn't tell his sister and grandmother about his Parents day because of how busy they were. He actually felt human, relate-able, compelling, interesting and... real. It was sweet, touching, and proof that the family themes in Zexal were superior, more interesting, compelling, relate-able and exciting to see.

Most of Zexal's attempts at humor feel more stupid than funny to me. Even with Yuma getting another heart piece, some duels felt like a waste of time because of how boring they were and how they didn't connect to the plot beyond that small detail. It's not like they couldn't have brought in more plot elements earlier so that his duels wouldn't feel like one could skip them and not lose anything of value. The duels against the kids with the construction deck and Anna especially felt like a waste of time since they didn't even given him a new heart piece. None of the one-shot characters he dueled against where compelling or entertaining to me in the slightly. They were either boring or annoying jokes. I was fine with Astral dying nearly every duel. I was just saying before that they didn't have a problem doing that in the first arc, so I didn't think that they really needed to take a break when the second arc started. Astral being revived was a combination of the powers of the crests and Yuma's father appearing out of nowhere. I don't know how it's that much better than how Yusei was revived. Yuma in that episode was more tolerable, but I don't think I could ever see Yuma as being relatable considering how stupid he is. The family theme in this series is nice, but I don't think I'd praise it that much.

Originally Posted by Human

I don't think that the standing duel in the second episode was to show that they still existed. I'm pretty sure the audience is smart enough to know that just because they made card games be played on motorcycles, it doesn't mean that standing duels have stopped existing. If that was what the writers intended with the duel, I'd say that it's an insult to the intelligence of the audience. The duel was odd. Card games on motorcycles was a new concept, why not flesh it out? For me to think that it had a great start, I'd say I needed to know more of the setting with an extra episode being spent in the Satellite to flesh out the area and its history more. Heck, I don't think that the massive hole that the explosion of Momentum caused even appeared or was mentioned. It was information that was needed to be known.

I just thought that they'd want to show a standing duel anyway, especially when I don't know if any standing duels were shown when they first started to promote the series. I think considering it as an insult to the audience's intelligence is a bit much. I thought that they fleshed out Riding Duels quite a bit during the course of the series. We learned more about the history of Satellite and the explosion of Momentum caused later on in the series. Considering that most people thought Satellite was the result of a massive natural disaster, I don't think that they could explain that in the early episodes anyway.

Originally Posted by Human

The duels were meh. Junk Warrior became like Hope, only it was a less interesting monster. Ushio being the buttmonkey got old the second time he lost. Actually, why didn't he summon that 3000 Defence points monster that was used by Security in the double duel against Crow and Yusei in his second duel as Yusei tried to flee from the Satellite? It was easy to summon too. He only needed to discard the 2000 Defence points version to special summon the 3000 Defence points one. He got a better deck to take Yusei down. Yusei was being a huge threat, why not give him such a strong card? Ehh. We'll never know.

Junk Warrior was often summoned, but it didn't always win the duel for Yusei like Hope, or Hope Ray, does for Yuma. As for why Ushio didn't get that 3000 Defense Points monster, my guess is that they didn't think of that card by the time they were setting up for his second duel against Yusei.

Originally Posted by Human

I don't think that they dragged down. The power of Xyz monsters still interested me. Tokunosuke taking hold of Hope and Shark Drake was pretty exciting. It added to Tokunosuke's creepiness and made the duel more enjoyable for me.

Considering the duels against Yuma's teacher and especially Tokunosuke could have been cut down to one episode if they trimmed them down, they definitely felt like they dragged on. Tokunosuke taking both Hope and Revise Dragon wasn't really that exciting, although it was interesting to see what happens to a person with two Number cards, but neither duel felt like they needed to be two episodes long or enjoyable at all.

Originally Posted by Human

Nope. He would have just been revived by his father anyway. That would have actually helped build and lead Yusei to have something compelling happen to him. When he was revived, it wasn't mentioned afterwards or lead to anything when it needed to be. Being revived "just because" doesn't work for me.

I don't know if he would have been revived since unlike the time he was revived by his father, Yusei wasn't surrounded by the spirits of the Underworld who were killed by Zero Reverse. There's no guarantee that his father would have been able to revive him outside of that situation, so I don't think that he could have officially lost that duel.

Originally Posted by Human

It's actually different from Yuma not officially losing to Kaito, even though it bothered me the first time. But unlike Kiryu, Kaito had a plausible reason to stop the duel. Kaito had to go to Haruto to see and take care of. Kiryu's reason was to scare Yusei and make him suffer... which he did in the duel itself. I'm pretty sure that crushing him with his Earthbound God would have done more than enough harm. I didn't find Yusei's reaction be a lot more believable. Martha told him that he was scared of what happen, and that was it. Yuma was scared too, but didn't become desperate because his personality and bonds with his friends and family helped him power up his Kattobingu to do better to help Astral. That made the moment when III used magic(giving a good reason) to remove his Kattobingu the more tragic. I was so used to see Yuma being happy. Seeing him sad was a huge emotional turn off for me because I looked up to him as a character that would try to smile and spread joy to those around him. Yusei, who despite being a calm and collected character, should have been broken with the Earthbound GOD almost crushing him. Instead he woke up, said he was scared at that moment, and went back to his calm and collected self instead of expressing his fears properly like Yuma properly did.

I know that Kiryu wanted to strike fear into Yusei, but he couldn't finish the duel even if he wanted to. If a D-Wheel is broken, a Riding Duel can't continue, even with evil magic involved and that's not the first time something like that happened either. Kaito had Haruto to take care of, but he couldn't have defeated Yuma anyway since Astral would have died and Yuma would have lost his soul, although I don't know if his key would have protected him from that. That's pretty much the same reason. Yusei's reaction to almost dying felt a whole lot more believable than what they were going with Yuma. Nearly losing his souls and losing Astral didn't have nearly as much of an impact on Yuma's character as that kind of situation did with Yusei and didn't make me more engaged with his character. Yusei did express fear. He still looked calm, but he was afraid of dueling again until he had to help Aki and after hearing what Godwin said to them about Dark Signers, he was clearly afraid and shaken up, which led to Jack punching him a couple of times.

Originally Posted by Human

It was believable, but bothersome because I wasn't really looking forward to see him beating his enemies. He was still treated as being right and superior than everybody else by the characters themselves, despite not getting called the King. Now I know that like the other protagonists, they were treated the same way, but unlike Yusei, we weren't constantly reminded that he could stand up more than his friends and was somebody that everybody needed the help of. Him coming back to life was jarring and his sudden ability to go back in time thanks to the Crimson Dragon was even more annoying(which wasn't even mentioned or established to be able in doing so prior to the movie). As things stand, I feel that Yusei was treated to have far more superior powers than the other protagonists.

I don't know if that's really that much different from the other protagonists, especially when even Yuma is treated like the center of the universe for all of his friends practically.

Originally Posted by Human

If a duellist is unable to duel due to some means, then they have lost already. I don't know how a little technicality has the power to surpass magic that should kill somebody. It doesn't even make sense. The magic sealed them. If he couldn't fight then he lost and should have died.

The magic is tied to the life point counter. If that doesn't drop to zero, then they don't die. Being unable to continue the duel doesn't mean that it will drop to zero. Like I mentioned before, it wasn't like Yusei was the first one to be physically unable to continue a duel with evil forces and live.

Originally Posted by Human

There was no need to mess with Yusei's mind. Goodwin's brother did say that it was a welcoming duel, but that's not a justifiable reason. Yusei didn't look like he had the upper hand. He surely had a card in his deck that would have saved him, but he didn't mention or say that he even stood a chance. The purple blast Yusei got from Godwin's Earthbound God did appear to last less and be less stronger, but even so, that makes little sense because when it attacked Jack and Crow, the attack looked stronger and more powerful. Yusei was given a less powerful looking blast to make his ability to still be able to ride and duel "more realistic". In reality, Yusei would have fell down and Goodwin would have won and succeeded in his plan, but due to 5Ds' writing, that didn't happen.

I'll have to rewatch those episodes since I thought Yusei was close to finishing off Godwin's brother and he took Rally in as a way to mess with Yusei's mind and prevent him from winning the duel. I don't know about Yusei not falling after Jack and Crow did, but it really didn't bother me that much.

Originally Posted by Human

I could say that to every TV series in the world. 5Ds flaws just bother me more. I do respect your opinion and thoughts. As you've said countless times here already, it's just a matter of taste. What I really like about the Yu-Gi-Oh! sagas are the different settings, stories and characters that helps to make each saga have a different and unique feel to it. That's why I think the fandom is sort of "torn". It isn't a problem unless it starts some silly war, so differing opinions on each saga isn't the problem some people are making it out to be.

Zexal's flaws bother me a lot more than most of the flaws in 5D's. I respect your opinion as well and I appreciate that. I just don't think Zexal offers that much to the majority of the fandom, especially compared to the other series.

Originally Posted by Human

EDIT: Pfft tl;dr I'm sorry if I took up too much of your time reading. I hope that you at least enjoyed it.

It's okay. I think I'm done with this thread though since I kind of feel like the odd person out here and I don't feel like spending another hour replying to another post. I respect your opinions and I hope that you keep enjoying Zexal. I'm just waiting for more characters that I can actually care about, better writing and hopefully a better inevitable fifth series at some point.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Originally Posted by Human

EDIT: Pfft tl;dr I'm sorry if I took up too much of your time reading. I hope that you at least enjoyed it.

It's okay. I think I'm done with this thread though since I kind of feel like the odd person out here and I don't feel like spending another hour replying to another post.

I couldn't help but feel shocked reading this. Hidden Mew, please stay! You may be the odd person out here by not liking Zexal as much as us, but you shouldn't feel uneasy! I personally quite like and enjoy reading your posts here, even if I do disagree with them most of the time. It would become really boring here without you if all the fans here continuously praised Zexal all the time. You're not being a nuisance or ruining the fun of anybody here. I personally suggest that you stay as your posts make me smile and makes me collect different opinions about this medium that I enjoy. It honestly would be a shame if you stopped posting here. Now I'm feeling guilty for possibly making you uneasy. If you don't want to debate, you're free to not do so. If you want to leave because you're feeling uneasy, then fine, I can't stop you. Just know that your absence here would make me feel that something is missing.

@Hidden Mew; One can't call them self a fan without seeing flaws and you do that pretty well. I still have yet to find the flaws of Zexal that will allow me to be a true fan so please stay.

Hey I thought Astral will disappear if Yuma lose a Duel that involve a Number !
So Doesn't that mean that if Yuma lose to Kite now then Astral will disappear ?
I hope I get to see Astral & Kotori talking to one another in Zexal II .

Just when I though numbers couldn't get any more cooler...

Number 42: Starship Galaxy Tomahawk

Number 42: Starship Galaxy Tomahawk - Yu-Gi-Oh!

Now I have to make an space themed deck just for this awesome number.

Oh, and the 42 reference is awesome. I knew 42 would be space themed.

That Number is really awesome. Although my favorites will always be Number 39: Kibou Ou Hope and Number 33: Machu Mach. X3

Originally Posted by Hurricane Kishore

Hey I thought Astral will disappear if Yuma lose a Duel that involve a Number !
So Doesn't that mean that if Yuma lose to Kite now then Astral will disappear ?
I hope I get to see Astral & Kotori talking to one another in Zexal II .

If I recall correctly, Vetrix(Tron) took Kite's Number Cards, so it's no problem.

Number 42 is epic looking. I can't wait to see it in action in Zexal Second.

Originally Posted by Human

I couldn't help but feel shocked reading this. Hidden Mew, please stay! You may be the odd person out here by not liking Zexal as much as us, but you shouldn't feel uneasy! I personally quite like and enjoy reading your posts here, even if I do disagree with them most of the time. It would become really boring here without you if all the fans here continuously praised Zexal all the time. You're not being a nuisance or ruining the fun of anybody here. I personally suggest that you stay as your posts make me smile and makes me collect different opinions about this medium that I enjoy. It honestly would be a shame if you stopped posting here. Now I'm feeling guilty for possibly making you uneasy. If you don't want to debate, you're free to not do so. If you want to leave because you're feeling uneasy, then fine, I can't stop you. Just know that your absence here would make me feel that something is missing.

Well, I don't want to make anyone feel guilty and I probably wouldn't be able to hold back from commenting on the series here for that long anyway. I really do appreciate all of the encouragement to stay since that helps me feel a bit less uneasy about being the only one with a more negative outlook on the series, especially knowing that I'm not being a nuisance or ruining anyone's fun with my comments. It was probably just being too tired and emotionally drained at the time that made me think I should leave, but I'll stay.

Originally Posted by Hurricane Kishore

Hey I thought Astral will disappear if Yuma lose a Duel that involve a Number !
So Doesn't that mean that if Yuma lose to Kite now then Astral will disappear ?
I hope I get to see Astral & Kotori talking to one another in Zexal II .

I don't think that this duel involved a Number card. As Human mentioned, Kaito already lost his Number cards to Tron and those were taken by Dr. Faker after Yuma defeated him. I'm not sure who has them now since there was no indication that Astral absorbed them or if Dr. Faker still has them for some reason.

As for the recent episode:

It was pretty good all things considered. Not one of the better duels of the series thus far, but more engaging than the duel against Dr. Faker. That probably isn't saying much since the only thing I liked about that duel was the respect between Kaito and Shark and the ending to that one felt anticlimactic and left me feeling "meh" overall, but it still felt more of an engaging watch and the second half of the duel was much more interesting than the first part. Seeing Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon on the field at the same time was pretty awesome and the music during a few parts was really nice too.

I was surprised that Kaito won. I figured that they would let Yuma win the last match of the season or at least go for a tie like with Judai vs. Kaiser. While I'm still more indifferent towards Kaito and he still feels kind of dull for me, I'm okay with him winning. Even though Yuma wanted to win, there wasn't really any reason for him to win unless they wanted to resolve their rivalry right now, which I thought that they would just go with something different for the new season. Though, this does make me wish that the writers had Jack defeat Yusei at the end of 5D's instead of the other way around. It would have been a more satisfying end to the series.

Anyway, I still think that Yuma should have used his wish to find out more about his parents, regardless of the outcome, since it still gives me the impression that he forgot about them completely. It wouldn't be out of character for him when he's been known to have the memory of a goldfish. I'm also kind of confused about how Haruto is apparently fine. I understand that the Barian powers no longer affect him and that kind of makes sense, but shouldn't he be suffering now anyway? According to Dr. Faker's contrived backstory, those powers were keeping weak Haruto alive, so not having those powers, if that's the case anyway, should be more of a problem than a solution. Maybe they're just saving that for the next season, especially when I can't see Kaito getting a new motivation to face this new threat that doesn't involve Haruto, but it just seemed kind of weird.

The preview for the new season does look pretty interesting and I'm curious to see what the new villains are all about. I'm still hoping that Rio is going to be a decent character and that the second season will be decent too, although the impressions it gives me are pretty much the same impressions I got from the previews from when Zexal first started, which is basically nothing blows me away, but nothing turns me off from it at the same time.

Yeah, I'm still confused about the Haruto situation as well. I don't understand how he's at least somewhat cured, since I thought his illness was something he had since he was young, and just defeating Barian for the moment really didn't explain to me how he got better miraculously.

Also, in regards to episode 72 (not 73), I couldn't help but laugh at how awkward Haruto and Dr. Faker looked sitting on the couch together. XD

Originally Posted by FinalArcadia

Yeah, I'm still confused about the Haruto situation as well. I don't understand how he's at least somewhat cured, since I thought his illness was something he had since he was young, and just defeating Barian for the moment really didn't explain to me how he got better miraculously.

Also, in regards to episode 72 (not 73), I couldn't help but laugh at how awkward Haruto and Dr. Faker looked sitting on the couch together. XD

That continues to look awkward in the episode 73, especially when depression does not fit with Dr. Faker's design at all and Haruto looking so happy is just weird.

While I kind of liked Kaito vs. Yuma, at least the second part, I'm not sure if it was really necessary to have it at the end of this season. They could have saved it for the end of the series instead and the same basic message of showing where Yuma is as a duelist could have worked, even I still think that they'll go back to having Yuma make a huge mistake to be a joke at some point anyway. Even Kaito's whole issue of not having motivation to duel, which did make sense all things considered, was rather easily solved, or at least the depression he was feeling at the first half of the duel was, and his dueling in the second half didn't seem radically different from previous matches. He just wasn't obsessed with Haruto's safety or collecting Numbers. I have a strong feeling that his motivation to face these new villains will involve Haruto, especially when I still don't think that there's much to his character beyond his concern for his brother, which may make this whole dueling for himself bit unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Though, I guess it's a better sendoff to the first season than the duel against Dr. Faker would be, though I still think that isn't really saying much, and at least Tron is back with his sons. It would have been nice to actually have an explanation as to why he still has powers or how he survived though.

The duel was mehish. Although all things considered it was pretty cool. I wasn't invested in it or interested in seeing Kaito's lack of passion to duel any more get resolved. It did succeed in giving him some needed depth, but yeah... not interested. Now don't get me wrong, I think Kaito is a cool character, and that at times, he could be a bit interesting, but not a really interesting one. He's just a bit dull at times for me. He usually spreads a mood with his manoeuvres that excites me, but since there wasn't a drama factor in the duel and he didn't do his usual manoeuvres I couldn't help but yawn continuously. I wouldn't say that it was a pointless duel since Kaito really needed a new passion. Still, that's no excuse for how rushed things felt. Having both versions of their ace monsters on the field was a great idea, just executed horribly because their battle went so fast. Yuma summons his versions of Hope, then Kaito summons his, destroys Yuma's, then poof, duel over. Meh. I'm OK with the outcome since Yuma has already won a lot of duels consecutively, so him losing one was a breath of fresh air.

I gotta say, Yuma sleeping after so much duelling was a nice touch and a nice way to end the season. The Astral look alikes looked cool and interesting. I can't wait to see what they've come up with.

I really wanna watch this episode now. I can't wait to see my Kaito-sama win. X3

AHHHG, I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE ZEXAL II! IT LOOKS AWESOME! ><

Originally Posted by Human

The duel was mehish. Although all things considered it was pretty cool. I wasn't invested in it or interested in seeing Kaito's lack of passion to duel any more get resolved. It did succeed in giving him some needed depth, but yeah... not interested. Now don't get me wrong, I think Kaito is a cool character, and that at times, he could be a bit interesting, but not a really interesting one. He's just a bit dull at times for me. He usually spreads a mood with his manoeuvres that excites me, but since there wasn't a drama factor in the duel and he didn't do his usual manoeuvres I couldn't help but yawn continuously. I wouldn't say that it was a pointless duel since Kaito really needed a new passion. Still, that's no excuse for how rushed things felt. Having both versions of their ace monsters on the field was a great idea, just executed horribly because their battle went so fast. Yuma summons his versions of Hope, then Kaito summons his, destroys Yuma's, then poof, duel over. Meh. I'm OK with the outcome since Yuma has already won a lot of duels consecutively, so him losing one was a breath of fresh air.

Kaito used to be an interesting character for me, but he comes off pretty dull for me more often than not and his lack of passion for dueling, while being completely understandable given his situation, didn't change that. It probably didn't help that it was resolved pretty quickly and Kaito's dueling in this half of the duel really wasn't that different from how he dueled before. There's just nothing about Haruto or Numbers this time and that conflict was resolved through friendship speeches. That's not too surprising given how friendship is one of the major themes in this franchise, but it still felt a bit too easy. The lack of dramatic tension didn't bother me too much, although it did kind of show that it didn't matter who won in the end considering that nothing was really on the line here. I thought that this was a better match to end the season with, but a part of me still thinks that it was unnecessary to have their rematch here as opposed to the end of the series. There wasn't much buildup to this match, unless we count the opening, and they could have gone the same message with Yuma's dueling skills at the end of the series. Not to mention using his wish to duel Kaito really makes me think he's forgotten about his parents completely.

Plus, I'm not sure how much the whole Kaito feeling passionless about dueling matters in the long run. It did make sense that he didn't want to duel after Haruto was cured, somehow, but I have a strong feeling that his motivation to duel against the new villains in the next season will involve Haruto anyway. I can't see them letting Haruto be happy and healthy for the rest of the series or give Kaito motivation to duel in more dramatic duels that didn't connect to Haruto considering how Haruto makes up a good portion of Kaito's character anyway. I'm fine with Kaito winning since Yuma didn't really have to win unless they wanted to end their rivalry before going onto the second season and I still don't like Yuma at all, so I don't have much of a problem seeing him lose.

Originally Posted by Human

I gotta say, Yuma sleeping after so much duelling was a nice touch and a nice way to end the season. The Astral look alikes looked cool and interesting. I can't wait to see what they've come up with.

I didn't really like that since it just felt thrown in for a combination of comedy relief and an attempt to create more tension, but at least he didn't faint from hunger. That gag always annoys me. I am curious about the villains and how they'll deal with them in the new season.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

The lack of dramatic tension didn't bother me too much, although it did kind of show that it didn't matter who won in the end considering that nothing was really on the line here. I thought that this was a better match to end the season with, but a part of me still thinks that it was unnecessary to have their rematch here as opposed to the end of the series. There wasn't much buildup to this match, unless we count the opening, and they could have gone the same message with Yuma's dueling skills at the end of the series. Not to mention using his wish to duel Kaito really makes me think he's forgotten about his parents completely.

The point of the match was to give Kaito a new passion to duel. It also made for being a good build up to their inevitable next duel at the end of the series. It would make Yuma's progression feel like he came a long way struggling to battle all the villains. I never really got the wish stuff. It's not as if Dr. Faker had any magic to use to grant wishes like a genie.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Plus, I'm not sure how much the whole Kaito feeling passionless about dueling matters in the long run. It did make sense that he didn't want to duel after Haruto was cured, somehow, but I have a strong feeling that his motivation to duel against the new villains in the next season will involve Haruto anyway.

Yeah, I have that same strong feeling as well. It wouldn't have involved Kaito regretting all the pain and people he had to make through, though.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I can't see them letting Haruto be happy and healthy for the rest of the series or give Kaito motivation to duel in more dramatic duels that didn't connect to Haruto considering how Haruto makes up a good portion of Kaito's character anyway.

True, but I wouldn't be surprised if they gave Kaito a villain to deal with. The 5 shady villains might be battling one main character each. There's tons of potential for Kaito.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I didn't really like that since it just felt thrown in for a combination of comedy relief and an attempt to create more tension

It was for comedy relief and tension? What tension and comedy could be caused by Yuma simply sleeping? "Oh no he's sleeping!" didn't look comedic. I personally just thought that it was a sweet and relaxing moment that after that much duelling he'd rest, opening the gates and energy for the second season. The hero resting after many hard battles is underused in stories. Seeing him catching a well earned break made me relax and think of the own personal stuff I have to face through in real life. It was a bit compelling too.