Dot dot dot what?
Apr. 27th, 2016 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveSo yesterday I suddenly remembered the new YGO movie opened in Japan over the weekend, so I hurried to see if a detailed summary was up anywhere. I couldn't find a complete one at the time, but this one told a lot of it up to a point: http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Dark_Side_of_Dimensions
It definitely is manga-based, and after I learned that months ago I was never sure I wanted to consider it canon. Now that I know more about it, I realllly don't think I want to consider it canon. I want to like it, but some of it sounds so weird and OOC. Seto is so obsessed over dueling with Yami Y again that I'm starting to think he is seriously ill. He builds a VR system to duel against Yami Y as constructed from his memories, but that isn't good enough. He's also organizing an excavation project to dig up the Millennium Puzzle and plans to put it together himself. I'm not sure what he thinks will happen if he does. I'm also not terribly pleased that his animation deliberately looks darker and more sinister, like he apparently did in the first few manga volumes.
After I told this to Crystal, she went and found out something even more bizarre. The movie ends with Seto having built a time machine and going to face Atem in ancient Egypt. What? Just ... what? Totally aside from the fact he's going to screw up history and might get himself killed in the past, that is just so unreasonable. Anime Seto developed to the point that I don't think he would ever do such things, even though he was obsessed with dueling Yami Yugi too. I always thought Manga Seto had healed from his nutso days in the early manga volumes, but now I'm not sure at all. Kazuki Takahashi was heavily involved with this film; I think he even wrote the script, in which case he definitely must have felt like his Manga Seto would actually behave in this manner. Now I have a new reason to dislike the manga version. Seriously, Seto? Move on. Let it go. **headdesk.** It's a freaking card game. You have a business to run and a brother to look after. Stay in the present and take care of what needs to be done instead of getting lost in your delusion that dueling and beating Yami Yugi is the most important thing to prove yourself or whatever your reason is.
Of course, I'm sure that anyone who likes the idea of Seto/Yami Yugi as a pairing is going wild, so I'm happy for them that they will likely enjoy the movie, at least. But I don't know if I even want to see it. It sounds so brain-breaking and OOC. Crystal figured she'd see it if the original dub cast returns for the English version, but I'm not sure even they could entice me back for this disaster. Seto was my first diehard favorite YGO character, and even though I've kind of soured on him and haven't liked him anywhere as much as I used to for quite a while (largely because of his fixation with dueling Yami Y, honestly, and somewhat because he's a jerk, although this is less of a reason since I've heard he's not as jerkish in the original Japanese anime versus the English dub), I still like him enough that I don't like the thought of watching him act so nuts for an entire movie.
As if all of that doesn't make me go WTH enough, apparently Duke's dad runs a cafe and Duke works there ... and Joey dresses up like a dog to hand out balloons or something. Either he's really hard-up for cash (which is apparently a problem in the film) and has to do that to get money, or something went OOC somewhere. Why would Joey ever willingly dress up like a dog? It sounds like a tongue-in-cheek callback to Duke's anime intro, even though this is manga-based.
Sometimes I feel guilty for making Duke's dad not repent and die at the point where he disowned Duke, since the manga-ka clearly wanted the guy to really be able to find some redemption. I guess it was the influence of Aubrie, who didn't really believe the character had changed, and then when I created my anime-verse version of Duke's manga intro, I decided to go that route. But I always wonder whether it was right of me to do that. Especially since part of my reason was just in wanting Duke to be on his own, since that's how he seems to be in the anime. Another part of it was that even though I like some characters who have done highly questionable things, I am particularly revolted by fathers who act out with their children. I think everybody has those lines of character behavior that they just can't deal with, even if it doesn't make sense and looks hypocritical to other people considering other characters that are liked. But then I think of how Mr. Devlin always seemed so remorseful moments after he'd acted harsh with Duke and I feel a little bad and think I should have done something different with the character, even if I still wanted the end result to be Duke being on his own as the anime definitely seems to indicate. Then I think of how he always used Duke as his tool for getting revenge (which was ridiculous in the first place since it was his own fault he was playing something awful like the Devil's Boardgame!) and how he even disowned Duke when Duke just couldn't go through with it and hate Yugi and I don't feel so bad anymore.
Anyway, though. Movie sounds weird. At the moment I'm just scratching my head not sure what to think of it, but not really liking at all what I've heard. I'm disappointed that a movie celebrating YGO's 20th anniversary isn't better than this sounds like it is. To be honest, I started not expecting that much from it once I knew it was manga-based. I realllly don't like the manga, aside from Duke's intro and some of the stuff in the Memory World arc. I respect and appreciate it since there wouldn't be an anime without it, but I am just not a fan of the manga version. It's sick. Ten-year-old Mokuba trying to kill people, Seto absolutely bonkers, Yami Marik casting illusions of graphic physical horrors.... Not to mention things like how even though Bakura is supposed to be more a part of the gang in the manga, the others show very little concern when he vanishes during Battle Ship. It was literally "... Oh yeah, now I realize I haven't seen him around today...." Ugh. Some friends. Compare that with Yugi and Tea taking the blimp apart to find him in the anime, even though he isn't as close to them there.
Still, though, I was expecting darkness and maybe a few gross/gory moments in the movie. I wasn't expecting such blatant weirdness and OOCness instead.
It definitely is manga-based, and after I learned that months ago I was never sure I wanted to consider it canon. Now that I know more about it, I realllly don't think I want to consider it canon. I want to like it, but some of it sounds so weird and OOC. Seto is so obsessed over dueling with Yami Y again that I'm starting to think he is seriously ill. He builds a VR system to duel against Yami Y as constructed from his memories, but that isn't good enough. He's also organizing an excavation project to dig up the Millennium Puzzle and plans to put it together himself. I'm not sure what he thinks will happen if he does. I'm also not terribly pleased that his animation deliberately looks darker and more sinister, like he apparently did in the first few manga volumes.
After I told this to Crystal, she went and found out something even more bizarre. The movie ends with Seto having built a time machine and going to face Atem in ancient Egypt. What? Just ... what? Totally aside from the fact he's going to screw up history and might get himself killed in the past, that is just so unreasonable. Anime Seto developed to the point that I don't think he would ever do such things, even though he was obsessed with dueling Yami Yugi too. I always thought Manga Seto had healed from his nutso days in the early manga volumes, but now I'm not sure at all. Kazuki Takahashi was heavily involved with this film; I think he even wrote the script, in which case he definitely must have felt like his Manga Seto would actually behave in this manner. Now I have a new reason to dislike the manga version. Seriously, Seto? Move on. Let it go. **headdesk.** It's a freaking card game. You have a business to run and a brother to look after. Stay in the present and take care of what needs to be done instead of getting lost in your delusion that dueling and beating Yami Yugi is the most important thing to prove yourself or whatever your reason is.
Of course, I'm sure that anyone who likes the idea of Seto/Yami Yugi as a pairing is going wild, so I'm happy for them that they will likely enjoy the movie, at least. But I don't know if I even want to see it. It sounds so brain-breaking and OOC. Crystal figured she'd see it if the original dub cast returns for the English version, but I'm not sure even they could entice me back for this disaster. Seto was my first diehard favorite YGO character, and even though I've kind of soured on him and haven't liked him anywhere as much as I used to for quite a while (largely because of his fixation with dueling Yami Y, honestly, and somewhat because he's a jerk, although this is less of a reason since I've heard he's not as jerkish in the original Japanese anime versus the English dub), I still like him enough that I don't like the thought of watching him act so nuts for an entire movie.
As if all of that doesn't make me go WTH enough, apparently Duke's dad runs a cafe and Duke works there ... and Joey dresses up like a dog to hand out balloons or something. Either he's really hard-up for cash (which is apparently a problem in the film) and has to do that to get money, or something went OOC somewhere. Why would Joey ever willingly dress up like a dog? It sounds like a tongue-in-cheek callback to Duke's anime intro, even though this is manga-based.
Sometimes I feel guilty for making Duke's dad not repent and die at the point where he disowned Duke, since the manga-ka clearly wanted the guy to really be able to find some redemption. I guess it was the influence of Aubrie, who didn't really believe the character had changed, and then when I created my anime-verse version of Duke's manga intro, I decided to go that route. But I always wonder whether it was right of me to do that. Especially since part of my reason was just in wanting Duke to be on his own, since that's how he seems to be in the anime. Another part of it was that even though I like some characters who have done highly questionable things, I am particularly revolted by fathers who act out with their children. I think everybody has those lines of character behavior that they just can't deal with, even if it doesn't make sense and looks hypocritical to other people considering other characters that are liked. But then I think of how Mr. Devlin always seemed so remorseful moments after he'd acted harsh with Duke and I feel a little bad and think I should have done something different with the character, even if I still wanted the end result to be Duke being on his own as the anime definitely seems to indicate. Then I think of how he always used Duke as his tool for getting revenge (which was ridiculous in the first place since it was his own fault he was playing something awful like the Devil's Boardgame!) and how he even disowned Duke when Duke just couldn't go through with it and hate Yugi and I don't feel so bad anymore.
Anyway, though. Movie sounds weird. At the moment I'm just scratching my head not sure what to think of it, but not really liking at all what I've heard. I'm disappointed that a movie celebrating YGO's 20th anniversary isn't better than this sounds like it is. To be honest, I started not expecting that much from it once I knew it was manga-based. I realllly don't like the manga, aside from Duke's intro and some of the stuff in the Memory World arc. I respect and appreciate it since there wouldn't be an anime without it, but I am just not a fan of the manga version. It's sick. Ten-year-old Mokuba trying to kill people, Seto absolutely bonkers, Yami Marik casting illusions of graphic physical horrors.... Not to mention things like how even though Bakura is supposed to be more a part of the gang in the manga, the others show very little concern when he vanishes during Battle Ship. It was literally "... Oh yeah, now I realize I haven't seen him around today...." Ugh. Some friends. Compare that with Yugi and Tea taking the blimp apart to find him in the anime, even though he isn't as close to them there.
Still, though, I was expecting darkness and maybe a few gross/gory moments in the movie. I wasn't expecting such blatant weirdness and OOCness instead.
