Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s Episode 6

Oof, Yusei’s luck has been rather abysmal when it comes down to avoiding trouble. Having been caught and arrested for trespassing into Neo Domino City without permission, Yusei faced the hefty consequence of authorities taking possession of his D-Wheel and beloved deck, and now has a criminal Marker inscribed on his face.

And good grief, the Marker scene was brutal to watch because they are basically burning his face with a god damn laser (and to make matters worse, it’s not a small one like Rally’s). But what is so disgusting about the Markers are what they represent. We already knew the residents of Satellite were facing discrimination regardless if they had a Marker or not, but this episode really explained what it means to have a Marker etched on their face, and how it can single-handily screw up your life. It serves as a symbol that they are deemed to be “incompatible” to live within the jurisdiction of Neo Domino. So in other words, if a resident of Satellite was hoping seek a future in Neo Domino, they have been effectively denied of that opportunity. And for Yusei, his crime was merely for “trespassing”.  And it doesn’t stop there. Those arrested must participate in a “re-education” program for one month to learn about the “Law of Neo Domino City” (aka: to be reminded they are not welcomed and that they are trash) and then get sent to work at the Neo Domino Expansion factory for 6 months before being sent back home to Satellite.

As we see all of this unfold, I appreciated seeing the contrast to Jack’s experience. Despite the fact he was a resident of Satellite who “trespassed” into Neo Domino, it is clear by where he stands now and the fact he managed to avoid getting criminal record, his experience was very different. And a big reason for that is probably because he has the Crimson Dragon’s Signer mark on his arm. We heard Godwin talk about how Jack was “chosen by the stars” before, and they elaborated further on that today by explaining the importance of the “People of the Stars”, indicating there are multiple “chosen ones”. But what they have not revealed to us just yet is why Godwin is so interested in resurrecting the Crimson Dragon.

So it’s natural to assume, had Godwin seen that Yusei had a Signer mark on his arm as well, it is very possible that Yusei may have been spared from all the pain that has just been inflicted onto him, regardless of the claim that he is no exception considering he has been covering up Jack’s origins and has kept his record clean. However for better or for worse, the reason he didn’t see it was because they lost the feed due to the power outage. Additionally, Jack have also confirmed what we have already suspected, that the mark is brand new. Yusei didn’t have it two years ago.

Besides their respective experience, since Jack was able to see what the feed was able to capture, he was able to confirm that he lost the duel because Yusei used “Meteor Storm” to counter “End of the Storm”, which would have inflicted 1000 damage to to him (who had 900 LP) when a monster (Stardust Dragon) is resurrected after being wiped from the field. In other words, his strategy of taking back Stardust Dragon from Yusei’s possesion was why he lost. Unfortunately for him, he can’t see Yusei because Godwin is making sure to keep his hands tied by dropping bullshit lines like, “Don’t you want to know who you truly are?”

Overall I absolutely loved the way they split up the episode between Yusei and Jack. We actually learned about Yusei’s background— or rather the lack of it. Amazingly aside from his name, gender and how old he is (18), security has virtually no records of his origins. They also did a great job of balancing Yusei’s misery by entertaining us with introducing us Yanagi, a funny old man who is fond of the mysteries of the World’s Treasures. I found it quite hysterical how Yusei had initially tried so hard to ignore the guy on their way to the detention center (understandable since he’s feeling angry and frustrated. He is clearly in no mood for chit-chats), but when Yanagi revealed how everyone in town saw the Crimson Dragon appear above the Duel Stadium that’s when he succeeded getting his attention.

Although Yanagi – he is by no means the annoying type of character. Rather, he is quite endearing in his own way. The way he explains the detention center life to Yusei, and how passionate he was about his cards and their backgrounds despite not knowing how duels worked. The poor guy just wanted to show his cards off to a pro duelist (Himuro Jin, the top-gun among the inmates) he admired. So when Himuro stomped all over his feelings, Yusei sticking true to his “no card is worthless” belief, refused to be a passive bystander and literally knocking him off his feet and then challenges him with the same deck. Aye that’s my boy! What a badass! I look forward to the next episode!

UPDATE: YGO SEVENS HAVE RESUMED ON AIR AS OF JUNE 13th! Both series will be covered simultaneously.