Thread: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

That doesn't make sense to me. Why would the Barian villains want to take over the ship? Vector literally handed the key to the ship over to Astral after he was defeated, so it's not likely that he would want the ship himself. Besides that, how could they protect it even if they were under attack. They don't have any powerful monsters and all they're doing now is fulling up empty space. They aren't going to do anything significant that doesn't involve cheerleading.

Why would they not want to take over the ship? If they took it over, destroyed it or something, Yuma and his friends wouldn't be able to go back home, and end up being stuck with the Barians. The power of their monsters combined could help fend off another monster attack while Yuma, Shark and Kaito are dealing with the Barians. It's just something they could potentially do to make themselves useful. I doubt it will happen, but it's possible.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I don't quite see the fun in going on a dangerous life threatening rescue mission, but whatever.

Children like the Numbers Club definitely would. It's the danger that makes it exciting.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Except they haven't really showed that they could protect themselves since that would require being more active beyond their cheerleading roles and that isn't going to happen. Personally, I don't think that riding to another dimension would be worthwhile if it was too dangerous for people who have no strength of their own to protect themselves with, but I also couldn't care less if the Numbers Club characters actually did die either, so there's that.

Just because they haven't shown that they could not protect themselves doesn't mean they can't protect themselves.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I don't see any other way of conveying that they are friends without having interactions on-screen, at least another way that's actually believable. I can't really just write off that they must have talked during all this time off-screen to become better friends. That's just a weak way of excusing weak writing in my opinion. Sure, Rei took part in activities with the rest of them, but he was primarily interacting with Yuma and his behavior was just an act anyway. Rei's friendship with the others isn't important compared to his relationship with Yuma, but they could have done both. They did that pretty well with Bruno in 5D's where there was a believable friendship between him and Yusei, as well as being friends with the rest of the cast. There's no reason that they couldn't have done that here as well, but I think that Zexal seriously lacks in group dynamics and characterizations compared to the other three series anyway.

It's more like that it isn't the focus, so it isn't important. If it was then I would say that it was weak writing. Act or not, they still talked to him and showed no signs of disliking him. There were moments where he would say something that the group would find it worth laughing at that I found to be enjoyable. Plus, they don't that he's a Varian Guardian, but even if they did, I'm sure they would still have considered him to be a friend that is like a hero of sorts. They could have, but they chose not to as it isn't important, it won't affect the plot in the long run anyway, and it would be a distraction when Yuma's friendship with Rei is even more important. You could say that with Rei as he was friends with the Numbers Club as well. I didn't find there to be any signs of friendship from Bruno with Yusei's friends. If anything, he came off more like an incredibly intelligent and great mechanic that works for them for free sort of, with the "payment" being that they would let him sleep at their house. If there were any signs of friendship, it would be their victory cheer when they won the WDC, but as their friendship wasn't the focus, I don't really care about it and I find no reason for them to be that close to justify them feeling bad over what happened with him. Same with the Numbers Club. While handled a bit better, it wasn't the focus, so it doesn't deserve much attention. I don't think that Zexal lacks in it when I'd say it places in second place in that regard, with GX being first.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I was talking about how Yuma and Rei didn't look close enough to me to make Yuma not letting Astral on the secret look believable. Yuma thought that they were close, but Rei was still manipulating him, so I couldn't really say that they were truly close.

That would have been very disrespectful for Yuma to do. I wouldn't go on blabbing out every secret I got from somebody to a friend, especially when they told me to not share it with anyone yet. We don't know that for sure.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

The big deal is that I can't really believe that they're close or feel for Yuma in this situation with Rei didn't really see each other as equals and had to remind Yuma to refer to him as his superior. It makes sense in the way that you mentioned it, but in regards to their friendship, it just makes it look one-side, artificial and nothing worth putting my emotional investment into.

But they did view each other as equals. The superior stuff would be a job thing with Rei undeniably having more knowledge about how to handle things. I don't see how it makes it look like. Even though I'm not really a fan of their friendship, or really care for it that much in the long run, I still felt that it was worth putting some emotional investment into it. Not as much as Johan and Judai's, but more than Bruno and Yusei's.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

On the other side of the coin, I don't see anything interesting in most of Yuma's friendships which do involve arguing or throwing insults around, as his friends have called him an idiot before. It isn't the arguments that make friendships interesting, but the characters themselves and their interactions with each other in my opinion. I'll take genuine signs of friendship, even without any arguing, over the artificial friendships I see in Zexal any day.

I know that, but it helps. I see them as genuine, and not artificial. Heck, even the Numbers Club would have moments where it would argue, be in some conflict, not agree with what one has done, and still be friends in the end after sorting things out.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

It's pretty obvious that Rei is evil. They've done nothing with him but throw hint after hint that he was a villain. Even saying that he was a Barian Guardian was suspicious when he didn't want Astral to know about him. Rei is most likely actually is evil, although depending on what his connection to the Barians actually turns out to be, they could have him redeem himself later on because of the magic of friendship, but I'd prefer it if he actually was evil. It could be potentially more interesting to have him remain evil and possibly explain why they did so little with both Rei as a character and his relationship with Yuma.

I agree that the possibility hampers their friendship. I don't agree that they've done so little, but it could be potentially more interesting.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Why would they not want to take over the ship? If they took it over, destroyed it or something, Yuma and his friends wouldn't be able to go back home, and end up being stuck with the Barians. The power of their monsters combined could help fend off another monster attack while Yuma, Shark and Kaito are dealing with the Barians. It's just something they could potentially do to make themselves useful. I doubt it will happen, but it's possible.

While its true that the ship is their only means back home, I don't think that they would take it over or try to destroy it. They'll just go for the direct route and duel Yuma, Shark and Kaito. None of them would run away from the Barians, especially when they have their own reasons for wanting to fight them, so I see no point in them trying to do something like that. Astral pointed out that the monster attack was a weak defense and most likely was just there to drive them near that portal to where Vector and the others were waiting. Besides that, if they were going to use their monsters to help against a monster attack, they would have jumped out with the others instead of staying inside. It's not like any of them were doing anything important while everyone else summoned out their ace monsters to fight the group of monsters anyway. They could do that, but that would also require making them do something that doesn't involve being Yuma's support group.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Children like the Numbers Club definitely would. It's the danger that makes it exciting.

None of them were going because of the exciting danger. They tagged along because they wanted to be there for Yuma and help rescue Rei. So, I don't quite see where you're getting that they're all excited for such a dangerous mission, although none of them are smart enough to really realize how dangerous it is either.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Just because they haven't shown that they could not protect themselves doesn't mean they can't protect themselves.

Except that there's been nothing in the show to indicate that the writers have any interest in making the Numbers Club members be capable of protecting themselves. That would require them to be more active, which they aren't interested in doing so when all of them are just cheerleaders for Yuma and nothing more. They've had nearly a hundred episodes to make these useless characters more useful and they haven't done so. I don't see any reason to think that they could change their minds about what to do with them anytime soon.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

It's more like that it isn't the focus, so it isn't important. If it was then I would say that it was weak writing. Act or not, they still talked to him and showed no signs of disliking him. There were moments where he would say something that the group would find it worth laughing at that I found to be enjoyable. Plus, they don't that he's a Varian Guardian, but even if they did, I'm sure they would still have considered him to be a friend that is like a hero of sorts. They could have, but they chose not to as it isn't important, it won't affect the plot in the long run anyway, and it would be a distraction when Yuma's friendship with Rei is even more important. You could say that with Rei as he was friends with the Numbers Club as well.

I realize that it wasn't important, so it didn't get focus. The problem I have with it is that there wasn't much of an indication that any of them were that all that close with Rei. The fact that all they knew about him was an act is an issue when they didn't know the real Rei and that it was most likely simply a means to get close to Yuma, so that makes their so-called friendship with Rei just as artificial as Yuma's relationship with him is. They wouldn't have cared about Rei being a Barian Guardian had they known about that most likely because they would have bought it without really questioning it like Yuma did. I'm not sure if they would have considered him a hero, but they probably would have been impressed with him being an undercover agent in a sense. Still, Rei barely talked to any of them on-screen and I don't really put much of any stock into saying what could have happened off-screen. I could just make up anything and say that it happened off-screen, but without something solid enough on-screen to back it up, it doesn't mean anything. There certainly wasn't any connection between Rei and the Numbers Club to make their desire to help find him believable. Laughing together over something doesn't make them look like decent friends in my book.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I didn't find there to be any signs of friendship from Bruno with Yusei's friends. If anything, he came off more like an incredibly intelligent and great mechanic that works for them for free sort of, with the "payment" being that they would let him sleep at their house. If there were any signs of friendship, it would be their victory cheer when they won the WDC, but as their friendship wasn't the focus, I don't really care about it and I find no reason for them to be that close to justify them feeling bad over what happened with him. Same with the Numbers Club. While handled a bit better, it wasn't the focus, so it doesn't deserve much attention. I don't think that Zexal lacks in it when I'd say it places in second place in that regard, with GX being first.

While Bruno primarily had one-on-one interactions with Yusei, I thought that he worked into the group dynamics of the team well before cheering when they won the WRPG. Their friendship wasn't the focus and they didn't have an instant click with Bruno like he did with Yusei, but there was enough there for me where I could find them being sad over Bruno's death believable. That was more believable than the Numbers Club wanting to go save Rei when I think he only talked to Kotori and Tetsuo out of the whole group. Zexal really lacks interesting protagonists and a strong group dynamic, but I think that the latter is because of how nearly everyone in the main cast is there just to be Yuma's cheerleaders and have nothing else going on to make them more engaging characters. The dull characterization doesn't help either. While I'm not sure if I'd consider GX to be first in that regard, I agree that it is better than Zexal in those areas since most of the characters had more fleshed out personalities and while they all were connected through Judai, their entire worlds didn't revolve around him either.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

That would have been very disrespectful for Yuma to do. I wouldn't go on blabbing out every secret I got from somebody to a friend, especially when they told me to not share it with anyone yet. We don't know that for sure.

I'm not sure if disrespectful is necessarily the right word for that situation, especially when it wouldn't be just blabbing it out to a friend as you put it. It's more like one of those morally gray situations where you learn a secret that could be hurtful to them or to others and you're unsure about if you should tell someone about it. While Yuma has chosen to keep it with only one moment where he questioned Rei to let Astral in on the secret, so it lacks the moral dilemma that I described in that vague example most likely because Yuma lacks the emotional maturity that these short of situations tend to require, that sounds more similar to the situation with Rei's secret. It wouldn't be disrespectful for Yuma to tell Astral because keeping Astral in the dark is potentially putting him in danger. Yuma doesn't know how keeping these Barian cards are going to affect Astral, especially when combining them with Hope, and keeping a big secret like that from him isn't going to help their relationship either. Rei claims that knowing that he's a Barian Guardian would put Astral's life in danger, but his life is already in danger whenever Yuma faces a Barian villain or someone with the Rank Up spell card and Rei never explained why that's the case. There's no reason why I should take what he said at face value. Yuma did because he blindly trusts his friends and he's too stupid to realize all of the suspicious nature from Rei as a result. There's really nothing about his relationship to Rei that makes me think that they're close enough to the point where Yuma would want to choose keeping Rei's secret from Astral for no good reason over keeping Astral in the loop out of concern for his safety when using these Barian cards.

While we don't know that he's manipulating Yuma for sure, there's far too much suspicious hints and behavior from him to make me think he was being honest with Yuma about the whole Barian Guardian stuff. Besides that, weren't you saying before that the constant hints were making the twists less interesting?

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

But they did view each other as equals. The superior stuff would be a job thing with Rei undeniably having more knowledge about how to handle things. I don't see how it makes it look like. Even though I'm not really a fan of their friendship, or really care for it that much in the long run, I still felt that it was worth putting some emotional investment into it. Not as much as Johan and Judai's, but more than Bruno and Yusei's.

Rei didn't really treat Yuma like they were close. Whenever he was talking in his more serious voice, it was mainly to discuss the situation with the other Barians and investigate. Yes, Rei would be the superior in that area, but there weren't any moments while they were talking one-on-one like that that made me believe that he did see Yuma as an equal and that he wasn't just using him. Though, perhaps it helps that I continued to see him as suspicious the moment he told Yuma not to tell Astral anything. There's really nothing worth putting my emotional investment in their relationship. It's built on lies, Rei most likely continued to lie after calling himself a Barian Guardian, never really showed any genuine connection with Yuma and while Yuma does care about Rei, the fact that it's still surrounded by lies and is completely one-sided shows that there's really nothing there. I'm just suppose to feel invested in it despite the lack of a genuine connection between the two of them and the show is just acting like they were so close when there was just nothing there at all in my opinion. That doesn't work and their relationship is just completely artificial and not worth a penny to get invested in. Out of the cases of instant friendship with a character that has some involvement with the villain later on, Judai and Johan were handled the best in terms of their genuine connection, but I still find more reasons to care about Yusei and Bruno than Yuma and Rei. While it wasn't perfect by any means, Yusei and Bruno did feel like good friends by the time Yusei had to duel him and I could feel a bit sad over Bruno's death. It might help that Bruno's connection to Zone wasn't hinted like crazy compared to Rei's connection with the Barian villains.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I know that, but it helps. I see them as genuine, and not artificial. Heck, even the Numbers Club would have moments where it would argue, be in some conflict, not agree with what one has done, and still be friends in the end after sorting things out.

It can help, but it doesn't necessarily make the friendships more genuine or more interesting. The Numbers Club's fights certainly haven't done that, especially when most of their arguments have been over Yuma or something stupid like who gets to be the female mascot of the club, as if that meant anything. I'd describe the friendship among Yuma and the Numbers Club as generic more than anything else mainly because none of the characters are interesting or have much of anything else going on in their lives beyond cheering for Yuma.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I agree that the possibility hampers their friendship. I don't agree that they've done so little, but it could be potentially more interesting.

Given his behavior and what Vector's Barian form looks like, I don't see how it's just a possibility and not practically confirmed.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

While its true that the ship is their only means back home, I don't think that they would take it over or try to destroy it. They'll just go for the direct route and duel Yuma, Shark and Kaito. None of them would run away from the Barians, especially when they have their own reasons for wanting to fight them, so I see no point in them trying to do something like that. Astral pointed out that the monster attack was a weak defense and most likely was just there to drive them near that portal to where Vector and the others were waiting. Besides that, if they were going to use their monsters to help against a monster attack, they would have jumped out with the others instead of staying inside. It's not like any of them were doing anything important while everyone else summoned out their ace monsters to fight the group of monsters anyway. They could do that, but that would also require making them do something that doesn't involve being Yuma's support group.

But what if the Barians lose and don't want them to leave the dimension? I don't know how it would have lead them somewhere else. They were going in one direction. If it's weak then the Numbers Club can surely handle it if another one is made. The monsters would be outside the ship attacking it from the outside while Yuma, Kaito and Shark duel the Barians, or after the duel, where they would be tired of dueling, needing the Numbers Club to take care of the ship or something. It can happen, but again, I doubt it.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

None of them were going because of the exciting danger. They tagged along because they wanted to be there for Yuma and help rescue Rei. So, I don't quite see where you're getting that they're all excited for such a dangerous mission, although none of them are smart enough to really realize how dangerous it is either.

I got the impression from how happy they were in the ship. Even Shark pointed out how they thought it was a "field trip", so they were going for fun as well.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I realize that it wasn't important, so it didn't get focus. The problem I have with it is that there wasn't much of an indication that any of them were that all that close with Rei. The fact that all they knew about him was an act is an issue when they didn't know the real Rei and that it was most likely simply a means to get close to Yuma, so that makes their so-called friendship with Rei just as artificial as Yuma's relationship with him is. They wouldn't have cared about Rei being a Barian Guardian had they known about that most likely because they would have bought it without really questioning it like Yuma did. I'm not sure if they would have considered him a hero, but they probably would have been impressed with him being an undercover agent in a sense. Still, Rei barely talked to any of them on-screen and I don't really put much of any stock into saying what could have happened off-screen. I could just make up anything and say that it happened off-screen, but without something solid enough on-screen to back it up, it doesn't mean anything. There certainly wasn't any connection between Rei and the Numbers Club to make their desire to help find him believable. Laughing together over something doesn't make them look like decent friends in my book.

They didn't need to be close with Rei, and I could tell that some of his personality traits that he used sometimes with him are from his Barian Guardian self. Them saying they were friends with him and that they cared for him is enough indication for me of what could have happened off-screen to justify it. I'd say that a connection existed. Of course it doesn't, but it helps.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

While Bruno primarily had one-on-one interactions with Yusei, I thought that he worked into the group dynamics of the team well before cheering when they won the WRPG. Their friendship wasn't the focus and they didn't have an instant click with Bruno like he did with Yusei, but there was enough there for me where I could find them being sad over Bruno's death believable. That was more believable than the Numbers Club wanting to go save Rei when I think he only talked to Kotori and Tetsuo out of the whole group. Zexal really lacks interesting protagonists and a strong group dynamic, but I think that the latter is because of how nearly everyone in the main cast is there just to be Yuma's cheerleaders and have nothing else going on to make them more engaging characters. The dull characterization doesn't help either. While I'm not sure if I'd consider GX to be first in that regard, I agree that it is better than Zexal in those areas since most of the characters had more fleshed out personalities and while they all were connected through Judai, their entire worlds didn't revolve around him either.

There was nothing outside of the "brilliant mechanic that helps and cheers with the team" relationship they had. I've watched 5Ds recently and I don't remember a single moment they actually interacted. If there was then it wasn't really that memorable. I'm not saying that it makes the Numbers Club friendship with Rei brilliant, it's still weak, but it was enough and it wasn't the focus anyway so it was okay. It at least had memorable moments that I enjoyed seeing. Even if the 5D's Team didn't know him much, it would still be justified if they felt sad. I find it to be an unfair analysis to use the Numbers Club as an example when they aren't important.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I'm not sure if disrespectful is necessarily the right word for that situation, especially when it wouldn't be just blabbing it out to a friend as you put it. It's more like one of those morally gray situations where you learn a secret that could be hurtful to them or to others and you're unsure about if you should tell someone about it. While Yuma has chosen to keep it with only one moment where he questioned Rei to let Astral in on the secret, so it lacks the moral dilemma that I described in that vague example most likely because Yuma lacks the emotional maturity that these short of situations tend to require, that sounds more similar to the situation with Rei's secret. It wouldn't be disrespectful for Yuma to tell Astral because keeping Astral in the dark is potentially putting him in danger. Yuma doesn't know how keeping these Barian cards are going to affect Astral, especially when combining them with Hope, and keeping a big secret like that from him isn't going to help their relationship either. Rei claims that knowing that he's a Barian Guardian would put Astral's life in danger, but his life is already in danger whenever Yuma faces a Barian villain or someone with the Rank Up spell card and Rei never explained why that's the case. There's no reason why I should take what he said at face value. Yuma did because he blindly trusts his friends and he's too stupid to realize all of the suspicious nature from Rei as a result. There's really nothing about his relationship to Rei that makes me think that they're close enough to the point where Yuma would want to choose keeping Rei's secret from Astral for no good reason over keeping Astral in the loop out of concern for his safety when using these Barian cards.

It's not exactly confirmed that it would hurt Astral more, and as Yuma didn't see anything wrong going on with their use, there wasn't any reason for him to go against what Rei told him to keep secret. If he did find anything wrong, then it would be a morally gray situation. Yuma doesn't see that it could potentially lead to something bad. I don't think anyone would. When Astral questioned the use of the Barian Rank Up card, it became a morally gray situation, not when Rei first gave him the card and told him to keep it a secret.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

While we don't know that he's manipulating Yuma for sure, there's far too much suspicious hints and behavior from him to make me think he was being honest with Yuma about the whole Barian Guardian stuff. Besides that, weren't you saying before that the constant hints were making the twists less interesting?

Yeah, because it makes the audience use less imagination to use in speculating what could happen next, which makes only a few theories be made.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Rei didn't really treat Yuma like they were close. Whenever he was talking in his more serious voice, it was mainly to discuss the situation with the other Barians and investigate. Yes, Rei would be the superior in that area, but there weren't any moments while they were talking one-on-one like that that made me believe that he did see Yuma as an equal and that he wasn't just using him. Though, perhaps it helps that I continued to see him as suspicious the moment he told Yuma not to tell Astral anything. There's really nothing worth putting my emotional investment in their relationship. It's built on lies, Rei most likely continued to lie after calling himself a Barian Guardian, never really showed any genuine connection with Yuma and while Yuma does care about Rei, the fact that it's still surrounded by lies and is completely one-sided shows that there's really nothing there. I'm just suppose to feel invested in it despite the lack of a genuine connection between the two of them and the show is just acting like they were so close when there was just nothing there at all in my opinion. That doesn't work and their relationship is just completely artificial and not worth a penny to get invested in. Out of the cases of instant friendship with a character that has some involvement with the villain later on, Judai and Johan were handled the best in terms of their genuine connection, but I still find more reasons to care about Yusei and Bruno than Yuma and Rei. While it wasn't perfect by any means, Yusei and Bruno did feel like good friends by the time Yusei had to duel him and I could feel a bit sad over Bruno's death. It might help that Bruno's connection to Zone wasn't hinted like crazy compared to Rei's connection with the Barian villains.

When Rei jumped in to protect Yuma from Vector's attack, that gave me the impression that Rei would be the fall guy for Yuma, that he'd protect him too. I got the impression that he treated him like a close comrade. Risking your life for a friend is the biggest thing you could do. What did that lead to happening to Rei? Death. I still have my doubts that he's really dead, but it was still a great thing to do which made Rei look like he was closer with Yuma which helps the audience connect with Yuma's sadness. If it's really all an act, then he did an incredible job fooling Yuma, which would make it even more saddening for Yuma. One thing that does make me think that Rei is dead for real is how he isn't mentioned in following preview summaries, but that could be because they're hiding it for the bigger reveal. Also, when Yuma was dueling Vector, didn't Rei cheer Yuma on? I doubt the faux personality had anything to do with that. I just really fail to get the impression that Rei just talked down to Yuma and that they weren't close at all. What made the cheering different from the Numbers Club's cheering was because of how it was both their job, and that defeating Vector would help complete it, that they'd achieve something together. Plus, I think how Rei was the only one that jumped in Vector's clutches instead of any of the Numbers Club speaks how brave Rei was being. Honestly, with Bruno's hints, they were trying to be subtle about it, but I could tell miles away that something was already up and that Bruno would really betray Yusei. Rei's hints were numerous and annoying at times, but I turned out to be wrong in the end. I thought that Rei would end up being either somebody from the Astral World trying to help secretly or from the Barian World trying to destroy Yuma, and it ended up being neither, but actually somebody from the Barian World trying to help him. That was a nice enough twist, and now Rei could actually be helping the Barians. It's predictable, but it was at least different and more interesting to watch than Bruno's case with Yusei.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

It can help, but it doesn't necessarily make the friendships more genuine or more interesting. The Numbers Club's fights certainly haven't done that, especially when most of their arguments have been over Yuma or something stupid like who gets to be the female mascot of the club, as if that meant anything. I'd describe the friendship among Yuma and the Numbers Club as generic more than anything else mainly because none of the characters are interesting or have much of anything else going on in their lives beyond cheering for Yuma.

It was stupid, but it ended up entertaining me for what it was. Their friendship can be really generic, but there are some times I'd say it isn't.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Given his behavior and what Vector's Barian form looks like, I don't see how it's just a possibility and not practically confirmed.

There's definitely a connection, but I wouldn't say it was confirmed confirmed.

Anyway, to change the discussion a bit, I've started watching some episodes from the original Yu-Gi-Oh!(not the Toei series) to try to make me watch it again, but I'm failing in getting interested in it. With 5D's I was hooked with the interesting plot and characters, and while it had its boring moments I would still be in the mood of continuing to watch it. Maybe it's just the nostalgia from it being the first and because I was younger, but now I just don't really care for it.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

But what if the Barians lose and don't want them to leave the dimension? I don't know how it would have lead them somewhere else. They were going in one direction. If it's weak then the Numbers Club can surely handle it if another one is made. The monsters would be outside the ship attacking it from the outside while Yuma, Kaito and Shark duel the Barians, or after the duel, where they would be tired of dueling, needing the Numbers Club to take care of the ship or something. It can happen, but again, I doubt it.

Attacking them back home wouldn't really be a problem for them as they could just use more Barian Sphere Cubes to attack Yuma directly. Even with the group of monsters being weak, I doubt that they would have the Numbers Club be able to handle it or that they would make them more active. If they were interested in doing something like with them, they wouldn't be just Yuma's cheerleaders.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I got the impression from how happy they were in the ship. Even Shark pointed out how they thought it was a "field trip", so they were going for fun as well.

They were talking about having lunch at that point, so I don't know if they were going there for fun as well. That still just make them look incredibly stupid to me.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

They didn't need to be close with Rei, and I could tell that some of his personality traits that he used sometimes with him are from his Barian Guardian self. Them saying they were friends with him and that they cared for him is enough indication for me of what could have happened off-screen to justify it. I'd say that a connection existed. Of course it doesn't, but it helps.

Both personalities he had looked like acts, or at least the Barian Guardian self is highly suspicious. Actions speak louder than words. Simply saying that they were friends really doesn't do enough to me to justify that they got close off-screen, especially when he primarily interacted with Yuma and just hung out with the others because they're almost always with Yuma. There isn't really any connection and even if there was, it was fake due to how Rei was clearly putting on an act with them. So, similar to his relationship with Yuma, there's nothing there with Rei and the Numbers Club to show any genuine connection. Laughing over something doesn't really help when it's all an act.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

There was nothing outside of the "brilliant mechanic that helps and cheers with the team" relationship they had. I've watched 5Ds recently and I don't remember a single moment they actually interacted. If there was then it wasn't really that memorable. I'm not saying that it makes the Numbers Club friendship with Rei brilliant, it's still weak, but it was enough and it wasn't the focus anyway so it was okay. It at least had memorable moments that I enjoyed seeing. Even if the 5D's Team didn't know him much, it would still be justified if they felt sad. I find it to be an unfair analysis to use the Numbers Club as an example when they aren't important.

I've been watching 5Ds over the past couple of months and I do think that he did click with the group. There weren't a lot of one-on-one interactions besides with Yusei and Bruno, but I thought that he clicked with the group as a whole to make it look like they were friends. Not necessarily super close friends, but decent enough to where they did seem to click with him and being sad over Bruno's death once Yusei told them about it seemed believable. Though, Bruno only knew that he had to help Yusei and he didn't have any memories of what else he was suppose to do until right before dueling Yusei, so he didn't suffer from being an obvious villain like Rei has. Comparing Team 5D's interactions with Bruno and the Numbers Club with Rei might not be the best comparison due to how the Numbers Club members aren't important. While some characters in Team 5D's spent more time on the sidelines than I would have preferred, they were still more important to the plot than any of the Numbers Club members.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

It's not exactly confirmed that it would hurt Astral more, and as Yuma didn't see anything wrong going on with their use, there wasn't any reason for him to go against what Rei told him to keep secret. If he did find anything wrong, then it would be a morally gray situation. Yuma doesn't see that it could potentially lead to something bad. I don't think anyone would. When Astral questioned the use of the Barian Rank Up card, it became a morally gray situation, not when Rei first gave him the card and told him to keep it a secret.

While it isn't confirmed, I think that should have come up because of how much Barian powers can hurt Astral, but it didn't. On the other side of the coin, I don't see any reason why he had to keep Rei's secret from Astral other than he blindly trusts his friends and to create more tension between him and Astral. Rei didn't really provide a reasonable explanation as to why Astral's life would be in danger if he did learn about being a Barian Guardian and the only reason Yuma didn't question it further is because he's an idiot. If I was in his situation, I would see how manipulating Hope with Barian cards and just having Barian cards around could potential cause damage to Astral and I would question Rei more about it. It's not like Rei's story about being a Barian Guardian is completely believable. Astral just felt uneasy about using Barian cards, not really questioning the use of them, but I think that Rei telling Yuma to keep his secret started what could have been a morally gray situation had Yuma the emotional maturity to recognize it and Rei's reason for keeping Astral in the dark was believable.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Yeah, because it makes the audience use less imagination to use in speculating what could happen next, which makes only a few theories be made.

True. Though, I can't really see Rei being anything other than a villain for multiple reasons.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

When Rei jumped in to protect Yuma from Vector's attack, that gave me the impression that Rei would be the fall guy for Yuma, that he'd protect him too. I got the impression that he treated him like a close comrade. Risking your life for a friend is the biggest thing you could do. What did that lead to happening to Rei? Death. I still have my doubts that he's really dead, but it was still a great thing to do which made Rei look like he was closer with Yuma which helps the audience connect with Yuma's sadness. If it's really all an act, then he did an incredible job fooling Yuma, which would make it even more saddening for Yuma. One thing that does make me think that Rei is dead for real is how he isn't mentioned in following preview summaries, but that could be because they're hiding it for the bigger reveal. Also, when Yuma was dueling Vector, didn't Rei cheer Yuma on? I doubt the faux personality had anything to do with that. I just really fail to get the impression that Rei just talked down to Yuma and that they weren't close at all. What made the cheering different from the Numbers Club's cheering was because of how it was both their job, and that defeating Vector would help complete it, that they'd achieve something together. Plus, I think how Rei was the only one that jumped in Vector's clutches instead of any of the Numbers Club speaks how brave Rei was being.

Whose to say that jumping in front of Yuma wasn't part of the plan? Giving the support cards to Yuma before dueling Vector, showing up just before he needed one of the support cards and protecting Yuma seemed way too planned out, along with pretty much everything else in that duel, to write off as Rei being a genuine friend at this point. They weren't close because of how Rei was lying to Yuma for a good chuck of this season, it is highly likely that he's lying to him about being a Barian Guardian and nothing he's said or done to Yuma since revealing himself as a Barian Guardian has made me think that he genuinely likes him, but believing that he's still lying probably helps in that regard. I'm not sure if it's really an incredible job fooling an idiot like Yuma. At this point, I question how anyone could think that Rei is genuinely Yuma's friend, but I haven't taken anything he's said at face value either.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Honestly, with Bruno's hints, they were trying to be subtle about it, but I could tell miles away that something was already up and that Bruno would really betray Yusei. Rei's hints were numerous and annoying at times, but I turned out to be wrong in the end. I thought that Rei would end up being either somebody from the Astral World trying to help secretly or from the Barian World trying to destroy Yuma, and it ended up being neither, but actually somebody from the Barian World trying to help him. That was a nice enough twist, and now Rei could actually be helping the Barians. It's predictable, but it was at least different and more interesting to watch than Bruno's case with Yusei.

I actually couldn't tell that until right before their duel because of how Bruno had done nothing but helping Yusei with finding a way to Accel Synchro. He was still suspicious, but it wasn't nearly as obvious as they're making it out to be with Rei. Even at the end, he still chose to help Yusei by showing him another advance form of Synchro summoning to help defeat Zone, so unlike Rei, Bruno wasn't a villain himself, but just connected to one. I know that it hasn't been confirmed yet with Rei, but there's no reason for me to believe that he is actually Yuma's friend. Though, perhaps comparing Rei with Burno isn't quite accurate when they both served different roles in their respective series, but in terms of throwing hints, they were more subtle about it with Bruno, which made the twists much more effective when they didn't broadcast them for twenty episodes. I thought that Rei was someone from the Astral World at first too, mainly with the season preview mentioning that beings from the Astral World would appear too, but I don't think that he's really trying to help Yuma. Why would he want to keep Astral in the dark about being a Barian Guardian? How would Astral's life be in more danger with that information? With those important questions in mind, why on Earth should I take anything he has said at face value? If Rei isn't helping the Barians in some form or another, then I'll find a hat to eat. It is a different situation than it was with Bruno, especially when Bruno didn't really know much about his connection to Zone until all of his memories returned, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily more interesting when it's painfully obvious that Rei is a villain, while at least it was more of a surprise with Bruno, he isn't really an interesting character and there's nothing genuine with his relationship with Yuma. Burno faded into the background at time, but at least there was something in his relationship with Yusei to make their friendship feel genuine and believable.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

It was stupid, but it ended up entertaining me for what it was. Their friendship can be really generic, but there are some times I'd say it isn't.

It was more stupid to me than anything else. There aren't really any moments where their friendship is anything more than generic and the Numbers Club having such bland personalities really doesn't help.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

There's definitely a connection, but I wouldn't say it was confirmed confirmed.

It practically is in my opinion, but it should come up in the next episode regardless.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

Anyway, to change the discussion a bit, I've started watching some episodes from the original Yu-Gi-Oh!(not the Toei series) to try to make me watch it again, but I'm failing in getting interested in it. With 5D's I was hooked with the interesting plot and characters, and while it had its boring moments I would still be in the mood of continuing to watch it. Maybe it's just the nostalgia from it being the first and because I was younger, but now I just don't really care for it.

I haven't been able to find any good subs for DM. I've seen a few episodes in the original version and I could still get into it. It wasn't perfect, but I'd take DM over Zexal any day of the week. At least DM had good characters, great duels, even though some of them did drag on, and an engaging storyline.

I'm a bad reviewer, since once I get obsessed with a show I can't bring myself ta find any flaws in it, but here are just some quick thoughts on the mind-blowing episode that is episode 96.

I don't know about you guys, but I thought that episode was especially amazing! I'm not great at judging the dueling, but the episode itself was shocking. I think I was one of the only fans who still believed "Rei' was on Yuma's side. People were saying they dropped so many hints on him being evil, but I interpreted them as hints of him just being mysterious, or having more to him. He just seemed so innocent ta me XD !! I was beginning ta have suspicions, though, as I watched the beginning of that episode and thought it over. Well, I'm impressed by you fans who thought "Rei" was Vector using his human form separate from his Barian form. Vector was really creepy even in the beginning of that episode, with that voice and those close-ups. It just got a thousand times creepier when "Rei" was revived! That face he made, you know the one, has probably left scars on my mind that will never heal XD !! Vector doing his "Rei" impressions was also torture for me ta watch! It was like some sort of twisted nightmare. Yuma must have been horrified that he trusted that monster. I think Vector may be the sickest villain ta hit the franchise. Things could get very interesting. I can't wait ta see the next episode!

Excuse the badness of this review- I haven't had my coffee yet XD .

This was a really good episode for me. The twist really wasn't surprising with all of the hints they've been throwing out and Vector's Barian form looking so much like Rei. After Vector appeared in his cloaked Barian form in the human world, I was one hundred percent sure that he was Rei. So, on a dramatic level, it didn't work well. But those facial expressions. I still think that the animators had way too much fun with those expressions. Some were genuinely creepy, like the face Rei made right before he transformed, but I couldn't help but laugh at them at the same time. Vector's voice helped with making those creepy facial expressions funny too. The best part of the episode was easily how Vector explained to Yuma how he was Rei, how stupid he was for trusting everything he said, revealing that he had more Barian cards to Astral and mocking him the whole time. And I loved every minute of it. It wasn't because Yuma was in pain, although I did get some pleasure in that his easily trusting nature actually had some consequences this time around. It was because Vector was just having so much fun torturing Yuma over how his friendship with Rei wasn't real, exactly what I thought, and kept beating him emotionally and mentally the whole time. It was fantastic.

In just two appearances, Vector has become my favorite part of this season, the best villain in Zexal and one of the more entertaining villains in a long time. Never change, Vector. He's already more fun to watch than the vast majority of the main characters.

I still don't think that Yuma and Rei were that close, especially when it felt more one-sided to me, but I think that the hints making it so obvious that Rei was a villain didn't help. I just hope that Vector continues to be a hammy, intelligent and manipulative villain until his inevitable defeat. He's way too much fun as a villain to be redeemed at some point, although there's a good chance that they'll do that anyway later on since that tends to happen more often with not with the villains. Still, I just hope he continues to be this fun in his future appearances.

I enjoyed reading your review @Nasch;. Vector really was creepy.

Spot on with your theory @Hidden Mew;.

I still retain that Yuma's friendship with Rei was still good enough to make the audience feel sad for Yuma when he saw Rei "dead". Looking back at it now, it's even more sad with how it was fake all along, and the mocking Vector did just makes it the faux death even more depressing. Though, I didn't think that the episode was that good despite the cool reveal. Maybe, and just maybe, it will make Yuma not trust people so easily. It has the potential to make Yuma think that he'd better not trust anyone just so he wouldn't get backstabbed like he was, making him face through trials were he could start trust his friends again. If the writers don't go that, then it would just be wasted potential. I could see Yuma's mistrust in his friends make Astral evil somehow, but I can see him starting to trust his friends again be cheesy.

I have to agree with how funny the transformation was. The facial expression isn't anything new as Kiryu, Marik and Saiou have done it before to look twisted, but I'll give it credit for being the creepiest.

I doubt Vector will be redeemed. Unlike with Tron, he doesn't have a past(at least that we know of) were he was a better and nicer Barian, but that could change one the arc advances. Alit, Misael, Gilag and Durbe I could see being redeemed somehow, but that's mostly because they haven't caused as much damage and harm as Vector, and because they were just following his orders, similarly to III, IV and V following Tron. I can imagine that Vector will actually die in the end somehow instead of being saved like Dr. Faker and Tron.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I enjoyed reading your review @Nasch;. Vector really was creepy.

Spot on with your theory @Hidden Mew;.

I still retain that Yuma's friendship with Rei was still good enough to make the audience feel sad for Yuma when he saw Rei "dead". Looking back at it now, it's even more sad with how it was fake all along, and the mocking Vector did just makes it the faux death even more depressing. Though, I didn't think that the episode was that good despite the cool reveal. Maybe, and just maybe, it will make Yuma not trust people so easily. It has the potential to make Yuma think that he'd better not trust anyone just so he wouldn't get backstabbed like he was, making him face through trials were he could start trust his friends again. If the writers don't go that, then it would just be wasted potential. I could see Yuma's mistrust in his friends make Astral evil somehow, but I can see him starting to trust his friends again be cheesy.

I still don't think that there was enough done with Yuma and Rei's relationship to feel sad about how it turned out to be fake. To be fair, a large part of the reason why I think that is because they made the hints so painfully obvious that he was putting on an act and there was no reason for me to take anything he said to Yuma as the truth. If they were more subtle about the hint, showed some interaction between the two that did seem genuine from Rei's end of the relationship and maybe made Rei a more interesting character, then I think it could have worked better and the twist would have more effective and I would have more reason to feel bad about the situation. If the relationship looks fake, which it did, and it's only one-sided, then I can't really be emotionally invested or feel bad for Yuma. If anything, Yuma brought this on himself by instantly trusting Rei, never really questioning anything he did and kept important information from Astral that put their lives, as well as the lives of all of his friends who, aside from Shark, Kaito and Rio, have no real involvement in this conflict. The only reason Vector's plan worked is because Yuma is too stupid to pick up on obvious suspicious nature from someone he considers a friend and Vector is smart enough to manipulate that weakness. When Judai put all of his friends in danger, he wasn't knowingly holding important information from them. It was still his fault, but I could actually feel bad for him, despite making a pretty stupid and rash decision in order to find Johan. Judai being more likable than Yuma also helps.

Though, I do hope that this leads to Yuma not being so willing to trust anyone and anything he considers a friend. That is part of his character, but because of that, along with his inability to think more, he fell right into Vector's trap and all of their lives are in danger because he was stupid. I'm not sure if the not trusting his friends will make Astral evil somehow. I'm still leading towards the Barian cards will play more of a role for that, although Yuma being emotionally broken could factor into it as well.

Originally Posted by HumanDawn

I have to agree with how funny the transformation was. The facial expression isn't anything new as Kiryu, Marik and Saiou have done it before to look twisted, but I'll give it credit for being the creepiest.

I doubt Vector will be redeemed. Unlike with Tron, he doesn't have a past(at least that we know of) were he was a better and nicer Barian, but that could change one the arc advances. Alit, Misael, Gilag and Durbe I could see being redeemed somehow, but that's mostly because they haven't caused as much damage and harm as Vector, and because they were just following his orders, similarly to III, IV and V following Tron. I can imagine that Vector will actually die in the end somehow instead of being saved like Dr. Faker and Tron.

Creepy facial expressions is pretty much a tradition at this point given how many times they've come up over the different series. I could unfortunately see them trying to make Vector redeemed later on since we don't know his past yet and there could be more to why he wants to destroy Yuma and his friends besides revenge and possibly getting the Numeron Code. The other Barian villains probably have a better chance for being redeemed though. I'd actually be okay with Vector dying as opposed to being saved like the other villains. It would make more sense than saving him at some point. Though, I was also okay with Dr. Faker dying, despite being the father to a main character, since he was boring, but that didn't happen either.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

I still don't think that there was enough done with Yuma and Rei's relationship to feel sad about how it turned out to be fake. To be fair, a large part of the reason why I think that is because they made the hints so painfully obvious that he was putting on an act and there was no reason for me to take anything he said to Yuma as the truth. If they were more subtle about the hint, showed some interaction between the two that did seem genuine from Rei's end of the relationship and maybe made Rei a more interesting character, then I think it could have worked better and the twist would have more effective and I would have more reason to feel bad about the situation. If the relationship looks fake, which it did, and it's only one-sided, then I can't really be emotionally invested or feel bad for Yuma. If anything, Yuma brought this on himself by instantly trusting Rei, never really questioning anything he did and kept important information from Astral that put their lives, as well as the lives of all of his friends who, aside from Shark, Kaito and Rio, have no real involvement in this conflict. The only reason Vector's plan worked is because Yuma is too stupid to pick up on obvious suspicious nature from someone he considers a friend and Vector is smart enough to manipulate that weakness. When Judai put all of his friends in danger, he wasn't knowingly holding important information from them. It was still his fault, but I could actually feel bad for him, despite making a pretty stupid and rash decision in order to find Johan. Judai being more likable than Yuma also helps.

Though, I do hope that this leads to Yuma not being so willing to trust anyone and anything he considers a friend. That is part of his character, but because of that, along with his inability to think more, he fell right into Vector's trap and all of their lives are in danger because he was stupid. I'm not sure if the not trusting his friends will make Astral evil somehow. I'm still leading towards the Barian cards will play more of a role for that, although Yuma being emotionally broken could factor into it as well.

I still felt bad that Yuma was so betrayed. Even if "Rei" was just putting on an act in the beginning, Yuma still enjoyed his company. He dueled along side of him, and he seemed psyched to be his partner. It would be horrific for him to realize Vector had been there all along, watching him. I don't think it was stupid of him to trust "Rei," but it definitely was a mistake. I can understand that Yuma wanted to believe "Rei" was his friend, so he didn't put much thought into potential dangers that being kind to him would bring. I find Yuma more likeable, but that's just me.

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Creepy facial expressions is pretty much a tradition at this point given how many times they've come up over the different series. I could unfortunately see them trying to make Vector redeemed later on since we don't know his past yet and there could be more to why he wants to destroy Yuma and his friends besides revenge and possibly getting the Numeron Code. The other Barian villains probably have a better chance for being redeemed though. I'd actually be okay with Vector dying as opposed to being saved like the other villains. It would make more sense than saving him at some point. Though, I was also okay with Dr. Faker dying, despite being the father to a main character, since he was boring, but that didn't happen either.

The creepy facial expressions really do make my day XD . It will certainly be interesting to see whether he's redeemed as the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters who aren't explicitly evil are, or whether they decide to break the mold. I kinda like how they let the villains be redeemed. It shows that no one's all bad, and that 2nd chances are a good thing. I'm not saying I'd like Vector to get a 2nd chance, as it would be cool if he was just too horrible to be saved. He's a very promising villain.

Originally Posted by Nasch

I still felt bad that Yuma was so betrayed. Even if "Rei" was just putting on an act in the beginning, Yuma still enjoyed his company. He dueled along side of him, and he seemed psyched to be his partner. It would be horrific for him to realize Vector had been there all along, watching him. I don't think it was stupid of him to trust "Rei," but it definitely was a mistake. I can understand that Yuma wanted to believe "Rei" was his friend, so he didn't put much thought into potential dangers that being kind to him would bring. I find Yuma more likeable, but that's just me.

While I could tell that Yuma grew to like him over time, the fact that it was clearly an act really made it difficult for me to feel bad about Yuma. Realizing that the person who he thought was his friend all this time was just luring him into a trap that could get him and all of his friends killed is horrifying for Yuma, but not really enough to make me feel bad for him. I do think it was stupid for Yuma to trust Rei that much without any question. I can understand believing that he was a Barian Guardian group since Yuma has no idea what the Barian World is really like and he did help him out in the duel against Gilag. What should have been a major red flag for Yuma was keeping both his identity and the Barian cards a secret from Astral. He didn't really explain why his life would be in danger if Astral knew the so-called truth. If he did, I would have been more forgiving of that, but he didn't think about any of the potential dangers that could result from that situation, despite how being exposed to Barian powers was so damaging to Astral, and I still don't think that he was close enough to Rei to make choosing him over Astral, who he is also supposed to be close with, believable. He just blindly trusts his friends and luckily for Vector, Yuma is too stupid to really think of long term consequences of his actions. It would be kind of nice if this resulted in more of a change in Yuma's character to make him more alter to suspicious behavior and make him think more about his behavior. Judai is way more likable than Yuma is to me, but Yuma is more annoying than anything else for me anyway.

Originally Posted by Nasch

The creepy facial expressions really do make my day XD . It will certainly be interesting to see whether he's redeemed as the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters who aren't explicitly evil are, or whether they decide to break the mold. I kinda like how they let the villains be redeemed. It shows that no one's all bad, and that 2nd chances are a good thing. I'm not saying I'd like Vector to get a 2nd chance, as it would be cool if he was just too horrible to be saved. He's a very promising villain.

I don't mind villains being redeemed as long as it works well. With Tron, it worked out okay because of the backstory he was given, even though I think he forgave Dr. Faker far too easily after what he did to him and his children. With Dr. Faker, it didn't because there was no sign that he was doing this all for his children when he never interacted with them and basically treated them like weapons, so trying to redeem him felt incredibly forced. At this point, I'd be fine with Vector being too horrible to save too. It would make more sense with his character given how much he loved twisting Yuma's mind and beating him emotionally during this reveal.

YAY! There is a ZEXAL thread!
Well, I am BlueWartortle, great ZEXAL fan, yet still at the catch-up. Yet, I have "studied" everything about Barian worlds and such.
See ya!

Originally Posted by Hidden Mew

Originally Posted by Nasch

I still felt bad that Yuma was so betrayed. Even if "Rei" was just putting on an act in the beginning, Yuma still enjoyed his company. He dueled along side of him, and he seemed psyched to be his partner. It would be horrific for him to realize Vector had been there all along, watching him. I don't think it was stupid of him to trust "Rei," but it definitely was a mistake. I can understand that Yuma wanted to believe "Rei" was his friend, so he didn't put much thought into potential dangers that being kind to him would bring. I find Yuma more likeable, but that's just me.

While I could tell that Yuma grew to like him over time, the fact that it was clearly an act really made it difficult for me to feel bad about Yuma. Realizing that the person who he thought was his friend all this time was just luring him into a trap that could get him and all of his friends killed is horrifying for Yuma, but not really enough to make me feel bad for him. I do think it was stupid for Yuma to trust Rei that much without any question. I can understand believing that he was a Barian Guardian group since Yuma has no idea what the Barian World is really like and he did help him out in the duel against Gilag. What should have been a major red flag for Yuma was keeping both his identity and the Barian cards a secret from Astral. He didn't really explain why his life would be in danger if Astral knew the so-called truth. If he did, I would have been more forgiving of that, but he didn't think about any of the potential dangers that could result from that situation, despite how being exposed to Barian powers was so damaging to Astral, and I still don't think that he was close enough to Rei to make choosing him over Astral, who he is also supposed to be close with, believable. He just blindly trusts his friends and luckily for Vector, Yuma is too stupid to really think of long term consequences of his actions. It would be kind of nice if this resulted in more of a change in Yuma's character to make him more alter to suspicious behavior and make him think more about his behavior. Judai is way more likable than Yuma is to me, but Yuma is more annoying than anything else for me anyway.

Originally Posted by Nasch

The creepy facial expressions really do make my day XD . It will certainly be interesting to see whether he's redeemed as the Yu-Gi-Oh! characters who aren't explicitly evil are, or whether they decide to break the mold. I kinda like how they let the villains be redeemed. It shows that no one's all bad, and that 2nd chances are a good thing. I'm not saying I'd like Vector to get a 2nd chance, as it would be cool if he was just too horrible to be saved. He's a very promising villain.

I don't mind villains being redeemed as long as it works well. With Tron, it worked out okay because of the backstory he was given, even though I think he forgave Dr. Faker far too easily after what he did to him and his children. With Dr. Faker, it didn't because there was no sign that he was doing this all for his children when he never interacted with them and basically treated them like weapons, so trying to redeem him felt incredibly forced. At this point, I'd be fine with Vector being too horrible to save too. It would make more sense with his character given how much he loved twisting Yuma's mind and beating him emotionally during this reveal.

You know , I think Yuma's classmate might be some help .
After all , Yuma & the gang are heading to various Barran ruin to find some special number.
In that case , Yuma need some people who are good at researching .
For example
-Kotori is good with computer , She can help in the running various program.
-Casswell good at study so he might help in researching the ruin.
-Filp is good at cunning so he might be useful . Plus he's short so he can go in place that other can't go in the ruin.
Plus , Kaite & Shark can use some socializing .
Since they are in Barrian World , Kite & Shark has to interact with Yuma's other friend .
In the manga , Cathy help Yuma by using her wealth !
Question ,
Is The Yugioh Zexal Manga better Or Anime better ?

Originally Posted by Hurricane Kishore

You know , I think Yuma's classmate might be some help .
After all , Yuma & the gang are heading to various Barran ruin to find some special number.
In that case , Yuma need some people who are good at researching .
For example
-Kotori is good with computer , She can help in the running various program.
-Casswell good at study so he might help in researching the ruin.
-Filp is good at cunning so he might be useful . Plus he's short so he can go in place that other can't go in the ruin.

I sincerely doubt that's going to be the case. They have shown Kotori to be pretty good with a computer, but she isn't super intelligent like Yusei was with it. She's about average with computer skills. so I doubt that whatever program she could have could help them analyze ruins from another dimension. Same with the class rep kid, who isn't that smart to begin with despite being the smart one in the group. I can't really see them being that useful when they aren't that intelligent and even then, they don't really have any means of understanding ruins from another universe. As for Tokunosuke, they haven't really made any use of his skills since the Numbers Club formed and then were immediately kidnapped. Going into small places sounds like the only possibility since it's so cliched and ridiculous, especially when the other characters aren't really tall either, that I could see them going that route. If they were going to make the Numbers Club members useful, then they would have done so a lot sooner, instead of doing practically nothing with them for nearly a hundred episodes.

Originally Posted by Hurricane Kishore

Plus , Kaite & Shark can use some socializing .
Since they are in Barrian World , Kite & Shark has to interact with Yuma's other friend .

No, they don't have to interact with Yuma's circle of friends. I doubt that there will be anything forcing them to interact more with the Numbers Club, especially when Kaito barely cares for anyone who isn't Haruto as it is. They'll probably just primarily interact with each other, Yuma, Astral and possibly Rio depending on what role she plays in this conflict, but they don't have to interact with the other characters. The Numbers Club members are just going to be cheerleaders and possible hostage bait for Yuma.

Originally Posted by Hurricane Kishore

In the manga , Cathy help Yuma by using her wealth !
Question ,
Is The Yugioh Zexal Manga better Or Anime better ?

I haven't ready any of the manga, so I can't answer that. I might give it a read at some point, but some of the stuff I've heard about it makes me want to avoid it. The first few chapters play out like the anime until they finish the duel against Kaito, which was a terrible decision in my opinion when that just made the first few chapters seem like a waste if they're so similar to the anime, and then when it gets into its own storyline, it can have some really weird moments like what I heard about Black Corn. I wish that they had saved off on doing a Zexal manga until after the show had been running for awhile like they did with the GX and 5D's manga. Creating a different version of Zexal right from the start would have been better choice just to attract more people to see a different take on the same characters and concept, although I don't think that the characters are too different from their anime versions from what I've heard about the manga at least. Plus, it would have given the GX manga more time to wrap up its storyline, instead of rushing through the conclusion and then having a sudden epilogue appear. It still disappoints me that the GX manga had a rushed conclusion most likely because of a third monthly Yu-Gi-Oh! manga started up. At least the 5D's manga seems to be getting really good, but not nearly as impressive as the GX manga was for me.

I like how after months of waiting Zexel is getting good. Just got around to seeing the new ep on my DVR where we find out about Yuma's dad. I swear the series takes ages to get could. For me I found it got into a plot around the tournament start

This week's episode was okay. I think that the problems of having three duels going on at once is really starting to show. Misael used his Chaos Number card, but we didn't see any of it because of the primary focus on Yuma vs. Vector. Shark vs. Durbe isn't really going much better when they'll usually show just one turn for both of them before going back to Yuma. I guess that they didn't want Shark and Kaito to not do anything when they're some of the few characters that can actually do something to advance the plot, but since there is much more focus on Yuma vs. Vector, I think that they should have saved the other matches for their own episodes. It certainly would have made more sense for Misael to use his Chaos Number for when his match against Kaito is the primary focus, but I did like the design of his new monster at least.

I still think that Numbers Club members are useless. Even after avoiding that black hole, I don't think that means that they're capable to handling the ship mainly because if Orbtial hadn't gotten back into the Ship to help them, they would be dead. I also think that they should have been more upset at Yuma than I think that they were. Because of Yuma being such a naive idiot, he allowed for his friends, who aren't even involved in this conflict, to be put in life-threatening danger. If he had actually thought about what he was doing and the long term consequences of his actions, he could have avoided this. Granted, yelling at him while he was facing Vector probably wouldn't have helped, but honesty, he deserved it far more than them cheering him on some more. It certainly would have made more sense. Despite that and how I still dislike the Numbers Club members in general, I'll give Kotori credit for taking charge. I still don't like her, but like with going in a crumbling building to save Yuma after his duel with Tron, I give her credit for having guts.

Vector wasn't as entertaining as he was in the last episode, but he still did a great job with manipulating Astral. Astral should have doubts over Yuma because of how he chose Rei over him and not really for a convincing reason in my opinion. I was disappointed with how Dark Zexal looked like though. I thought it would be a new design entirely, instead of just making the original version darker with black hair in place of the gold. That was a bit disappointing. Dark Astral during the preview looked incredibly creepy though.