Gekiha Dan – Episode 4

Hoo boy, Last episode ended on a cliffhanger, I kind of REALLY want to jump right into this one I won’t lie.

Anything I particularly want to say can be saved til after the battle you were left hanging on.

But first thing’s first, eagle-eyed viewers may notice that in the opening of Gekiha Dan, Dan is actually depicted with the X-Rare from BS04, The DarkDragonEmperor Siegfried.

And while such a card is perfectly usable in his deck, Dan is never once depicted having or even using it in the show. It’s kind of crazy.

The opening even shows you the darn thing’s updated model, it’s chest apparently glows now.

Just a cool tidbit.

Anyway, here’s the episode, pretty standard, ThunderEmperorDragon vs. IronKnight.

Seeing 2 cards we’ve seen before on the title card so we have no clue what to expect.

Let’s review where we left off, the Score is Yuuki’s 2 lives to Dan’s 3.

Yuuki has a Berserker-Gun, an Artifact Droiden, and Yggdrassil, while Dan only has an exhausted Siegwurm on his board after Goradon and Rokceratops were removed.

It’s Yuuki’s attack step. And he starts with Berserker-Gun.

Dan of course, takes this moment to note how completely fucked he is.

An intriguing hand here… Dan’s Hand consists of 2 Buster Spears, 2 Goradons, Lizardedge and Rokceratops.

Dan could make a pretty effective weenie rush against Yuuki next turn, but we all know Yuuki’s got this.

And of course, signalled by what appears to be Yuuki’s theme, Berserker-Gun snatches a life.

No seriously, I mean it, if anyone can tell me what this theme is and where I can find it I HAVE to know.

Yeah don’t mind that Yggdrassil is just floating in the air, it leapt to the sky when the episode started and I’m not certain why.

Yuuki attacks with The IronKnight Yggdrassil.

Now Yuuki’s just shit-talking Dan’s Battle Style. He brought up that Dan’s battle style is very one-note, it does one specific thing and doesn’t waver from that style, Dan’s won 2 battles that way but Yuuki, at the very least, seems to be trying to get Dan to abandon such a one-note style by smashing it to pieces.

Dan’s on 1 life and a dream. Yggdrassil not only has the capacity to wield a Sword as we saw in the opening but he can also fire MISSILES

There’s this pretty awesome sequence where Dan and Yuuki are shown much closer together, I assume as a representation of their battle on a much more personal level, its a really effective way to hit home just how out of his depth Dan is.

And it’s not like Yuuki’s just using stronger cards, Berserker-Gun’s a vanilla, Droiden has a very basic effect and Yggdrassil matches Siegwurm blow for blow. Yuuki’s just straight up outplaying him.

The show finally catches up with the fact that Droiden can very easily take Dan’s last life.

He’s being a massive asshole about it but Yuuki hasn’t exactly flung one insult or bragged about anything. He’s mentioned being “Omnipotent” as a statement of fact but isn’t lording his ability over Dan’s, he’s just been sat there criticizing him.

If one listens very carefully to what Yuuki says and how he says it, it’s evident that this battle seems more like ruthless training than a battle for life and death. Yuuki seems very keen on flat out punching the holes Dan is leaving open.

Yuuki gives Dan a second option, an offer to work together.

If I was in Dan’s position and I was aware of how Yuuki was phrasing these statements I would probably take the offer.

But Dan is in pain, being belittled and stressed the fuck out, even a rational person would say no.

Yuuki even says he’ll give Dan the information he wants if he agrees.

Zungurii, with all the wisdom of a 4-year old, of course encourages Dan not to take this offer because Zungurii doesn’t like Yuuki.

Then again at this point the cast seem to have the inkling that Yuuki is Otherworld King, the reason the world sucks.

Dan is getting his ass beat but gosh that look in his eye is making me FIRED UP!

Go out with a bang!

It’s not an easy situation audience wise, the audience hasn’t exactly been led to believe that Yuuki is evil but we know he hangs out with the crowd that serve Otherworld King, kidnapped Zungurii’s family and bombed the Gurii-tribe’s village.

But we also know he’s a Lightbearer, and he’s been gathering them to breathe new life into Grand-Lolo.

Perhaps my hindsight is screwing with my perception of the situation.

Appeal to… Prophecy?

It seems Dan’s studied up on what he’s meant to do, its likely Magisa filled him in. But they both agree on what the circumstances of their position designate them to do.

Ah Dan, you truly are the best successor to Bashin we could have asked for.

Much like Bashin, Dan doesn’t see people in black and white terms as “With me or against me”, Dan isn’t beyond getting his shit kicked in by someone pissing on his entire Batosupi Career and still considering them allies based on the circumstances like this one.

Yuuki said that restoring life to Otherworld was “Our” mission.

But it’s not HIS Mission. He wants to do something different, something that apparently goes beyond the scope of what the Core Lightbearers are supposed to do.

I guess Dan has picked up that Yuuki seems to be obligated to this World in some way despite the fact that he isn’t an Otherworlder.

Oh shit we’re going full Flashback up in here.

So incase the above images were too disjointed, Yuuki’s little flashback consists of this:

He was born a Human, he kept having dreams of his Sister however, suggesting that he needed to save and protect her, in order to do that, he needs the power of those who bear the core’s light.

Magisa decides to mention Mother Core to the cast finally, we already know what Mother Core is as an audience, sort of, its something the Otherworld King wants.

This isn’t really helping the “Yuuki is not Otherworld King” theory.

Magisa explains that she’s “heard” that if all 6 Core Lightbearers are gathered, Mother Core can be activated.

What that entails I guess is control over all 6 Worlds?

This is some real Sonic the Hedgehog Master Emerald energy.

Magisa then states that given what she remembers, Otherworld King should already have Mother Core.

And of course if Otherworld King already has what he wants then why would he, or someone affiliated with him, need the Bearers of the Core’s Light for it again?

The answer, is because something is wrong with Mother Core.

Dan interrupts this very plot-driven conversation to shout the Shounen equivalent of expletives at Yuuki.

Yeah shut up Dan, plot is happening.

Zungurii takes this moment to be cheeky, as the 4000 year old Witch for some reason doesn’t actually know something.

I think every episode thus far has had Magisa respond poorly to being belittled, this was the ONLY way it could end.

Ah yes, Mother Core is our intangible Super MacGuffin that requires 6 other unstealable MacGuffins to acquire and said MacGuffin lets you become Omnipotent.

But Yuuki I thought you said you were ALREADY Omnipotent?

Also this is the first time Yuuki’s mentioned Otherworld King. And its in 3rd person.

This question is a disguised conclusion, we can safely confirm from Yuuki’s statement that he is not, in fact, Otherworld King.

Dan’s done being ignored to the detriment of those of us who actually WANT FUCKING ANSWERS!

And Yuuki… strangely ends his turn. Deciding not to end the game with Droiden’s attack.

Dan appears to suggest the idea that Yuuki is offering Dan the opportunity to change his mind, by allowing him to continue battling despite being checkmated once already.

It’s Turn 8 and we get a nice view of Dan’s board, complete with all the Core available.

I’ve calculated this, it’s correct. Dan should have 11 core total at this moment and he does.

He’ll have 12 for his turn.

Once again, paying Core is for LOSERS. Dan plays Goradon, Rokceratops and Lizardedge, Lizardedge being at Lv3.

Which is a bit of a strange statement to make when he only visibly adds 3 core to it.

Siegwurm is also brought to Lv3.

Dan of course, opens his attack step with Siegwurm, activating “Clash”, now Yuuki’s Spirits must block if able, Dan is evidently trying to get rid of the problematic Droiden bolstering Yuuki’s field.

Yuuki counters with Dream Ribbon, a Magic we know all too well, it has the very simple effect of Bouncing an opposing Spirit.

Since Yuuki emptied his Reserve playing Yggdrassil, he has to spend the core using Berserker-Gun’s Core, bringing it down to Level 1.

Siegwurm is the obvious target. Now once this Flash Timing ends, Yuuki will have no need to block, as there is no Spirit to complete the attack.

And Yuuki’s back to asking stupid philosophical questions that Dan is far too hot-blooded to care about.

Well of course he did, you’ve fought that way twice calling it your “Style”

If you think he doesn’t have answers for Clash you’re gonna be in a real pickle.

Yuuki basically straight up told you that your fighting style is one-note and the fact that it’s a problem.

“Man I didn’t expect he’d read me like a book” said Dan, concerning Yuuki who has told him he can be read like a book.

You.. haven’t made that many attacks he’s countered. This is like the ONLY one. He’s just been punishing you for Siegwurm plays, first by capitalizing on the Core you took away from your Spirits to play Siegwurm and then just getting rid of Siegwurm.

So Dan makes a… relatively poor move given the circumstances? But of course the pressure he’s feeling might lead him to such a decision.

Yuuki only has 1 Blocker, Droiden, and 2 lives, Dan has 3 attackers but chose not to aim for Yuuki’s last life because Yuuki has been supposedly matching every single one of Dan’s plays.

So he ends his turn, the problem with this is that “Not losing” isn’t the same as “Winning” and things that seem like a good idea to stop yourself losing won’t be conducive to keeping yourself winning.

I guess sitting in the spectator chair doesn’t protect you from getting potshots out of the peanut gallery, now Kajitsu’s joining the mocking

And Yuuki even joins in.

Okay now they’re just straight up bullying Dan at this point, this isn’t conducive to getting him to work with you.

Dan was stressed enough to not swing in a state of check which is usually when you WANT to swing so that you can force the cards you’re afraid of out of your opponent’s hand. Of course some counters can only occur when you’re swinging, so Dan might only want to try and go for Yuuki’s last 2 lives when he’s in a position to recover from said Counter.

The problem is a lot of the time its going to be a card the player can use on their own turn. Which means you’re in no better position, then difference is that you get to Flash first instead of them which may not always matter.

Of the cards in Dan’s hand we know the identity of 4 of them, its Siegwurm, a Goradon (which he should have really played), and 2 Buster Spears, we don’t know what the card he drew is.

Magisa commends that removing Siegwurm from the field is damaging for Dan’s psyche.

No Magisa I think the fact that Siegwurm was rendered useless on it’s own and then promptly walked around coupled with Yuuki and Kajitsu straight up bullying Dan is what broke his heart.

We do get a chance to double check Yuuki’s field right before he moves. Right now the Core Yuuki has is correct, 10 core available, he’ll have 11 on this turn.

And Yuuki’s got 4 cards in hand for his main step.

Yuuki levels up Yggdrassil and Droiden to Lv3, notably the BP values displayed are their powered up values, so Droiden’s at a nice 7000 BP for a Cost 4 at this time, and Yggdrassil is sitting on a comfortable 10000 BP.

Dan still has 3 blockers mind you, he’s still safe provided you don’t remove another Spirit.

Yuuki attacks with IronKnight Yggdrassil.

Oh hey and it pulls out its iconic Sword to swing with, nice.

Dan blocks with Goradon and Yggdrassil freaking slams him against the Life barrier.

I don’t quite get what Yuuki means here but I guess he’s saying Dan still intends to keep battling despite the hopeless predicament.

Rokceratops blocks an attack from Artifact Droiden and is destroyed.

This is the disadvantage with the mindset of “The only life that matters is your last”

Once you’re on one life, you can’t let an attack through, this can be used to the opponent’s advantage in order to FORCE you to give up Spirits you would rather not lose.

While it’s nice to get a fast advantage early by simply not blocking, it can be abused later if it gets that far, and unfortunately Dan wasn’t swift enough in dispatching Yuuki, hence the current predicament.

Yuuki declares what he’s about to do before he does it, but given that whatever semblance of a Pokerface Dan had, its completely vanished. He’s likely aware Dan will do whatever he was going to do if it swings.

Kajitsu picks now to realize that this is the equivalent of playground bullying.

Some notes: Having the opponent in your sights but choosing not to take the game is a disrespect to them. It’s very upsetting for the losing player to constantly be given turns they should not have because of the hubris of their opponent.

Of course there are times you may not wish to attack even if it looks like you’ve won because of cards in hand, which makes plays like that more acceptable IF the opponent has maintained their Poker face up until now.

Dan of course, has not one to speak of, making the situation more frustrating because Dan KNOWS Yuuki knows he can win.

In this case however, there are plot reasons for it, Yuuki is using the battle as a mechanism to converse with him. So the longer it goes on, the longer Dan has to think about Yuuki’s offer.

Dan of course, says the equivalent of “Get fucked“

Dan’s taken an interesting stance on this, Dan’s choice to stay here involves the saving of Zungurii’s family and then going home.

Helping Yuuki falls outside of that spectrum, for any reason, and he’s certainly not inclined whatsoever to help a dude who’s been bullying him the whole game.

Wait, did Yuuki take this entire battle to make the request of Dan anyway incase he was wrong? But otherwise flat out didn’t expect him to accept?

Also he makes mention that it’s “Because he’s the Red Soldier”, does that mean that specific personality criteria is needed to bear a certain Core’s Light?

This statement doesn’t exactly make sense since its a bit of a “hang on what do you MEAN Dan will become Otherworld King?”

So to quickly check (not doubting the Subber) I double checked the Japanese in case there was another way to interpret it. “Ikai-oh ni naru” basically has only one other translation, which is a request to “Become the Otherworld King”

I’m a bit confused as to why Yuuki says that though, but I might get more context as I keep watching.

Its very out there.

So, okay. Yuuki requires the 6 bearers of the Core’s Light to come together in order to activate Mother Core.

However his secondary goal is to ensure that one of those Core Lightbearers becomes Otherworld King after the “Final Battle”

Dan of course, mentions the “Remaining three”, from what we know right now, 3 who bear the Core’s Light are here, Kajitsu for Green, Yuuki for White and Dan for Red

Once again, it LOOKS like Kajitsu is answering Dan’s question but she phrases it as “The ones who bear the Core’s Light have all been summoned to Grand-Lolo”

The question Dan asks and question Kajitsu answers are distinctly different, let’s see if you readers can figure out what’s different about the question Dan asked and the question Kajitsu answered.

As if Dan needed any other reason to go chase a MacGuffin.

And not jsut that, a WISH GRANTING MacGuffin!

So every Human in Otherworld has some kind of desire they want fulfilled, something the wish-granting MacGuffin this series calls “Mother Core”

Otherworld King currently has the MacGuffin, but the MacGuffin requires the 6 Bearers of the Core’s Light to activate, while this isn’t explicitly stated, this implies that the current Otherworld King can’t currently use Mother Core for some reason.

Either way, Humans battle it out to become the strongest, and the strongest among the Humans earn the right to battle Otherworld King, if they win, they’ll become Otherworld King and also gain the wish-granting Mother Core.

So, if I’ve got this straight, Mother Core requires the 6 Core Lightbearers to activate, Mother Core is in the possession, or at least, is accessible only to the one who has the mantle of Otherworld King.

This explains why Otherworld King is interested in the 6 Core Lightbearers, he wants to activate Mother Core, and Otherworld King is inclined to protect our wish-granting device until they can activate it with the 6 Core Lightbearers.

Makes sense.

Of course Zungurii isn’t following the conversation and just shouts that Dan couldn’t become Otherworld King.

My guess is they associate Otherworld King too strongly with a tyrant that ruled the world so its hard to separate that from the role even though it’s just one person.

Yuuki of course, decides this additional revelation is worth letting Dan chew on for a bit and ends his turn.

Dan notes Yuuki’s failure to attack, but in this case it isn’t a problem, Yuuki wouldn’t win anyway and while he could take out the last Lizardedge, he’d be left wide open with 2 lives and no blockers and all Dan would need to do is play 2 Spirits.

The situation is… well, honestly less different now, if Dan has 2 spirits he still wins.

But also that Lizardedge is at a Lv3 BP of 4000 and Berserker-Gun is at level 1, it’d be a bit foolish to swing here.

Dan draws for his turn, and it’s Victory Fire.

That’s not going to go well… For Dan.

Yggdrassil’s at Lv3, no part of drawing Victory Fire makes this situation any better.

It appears the card we lacked the identity of ended up being another Rokceratops. Which he plays along with Goradon.

So Dan’s hand now, is Siegwurm, 2 Buster Spears and a Victory Fire.

Also Lizardedge has the correct 4 core on him now!

Dan then levels down Lizardedge and plays Siegwurm at Lv2.

Was that necessary? He’s got 13 Core, 6 of which are on Spirits.

He pays 3 and moves 3 to Siegwurm, leaving him with 10 Core, 9 of which are on his Spirits.

Ah, and he needs 3 Core for Victory Fire, Lizardedge can lose 2 core levelled down, and he’s got 1 core left in reserve already.

Alright this adds up, but levelling down Lizardedge for that purpose when you can just PAY OFF OF IT is kind of telegraphing that you’ve got something else.

Okay, visually that looks stunning.

Also an interesting note, characters often skip the pleasantries of saying “Attack” when attacking with a Clash Spirit, they just tell the Spirit to “Clash” which only applies while it’s attacking. Its like a special kind of attack command which is cool.

Dan follows up with Victory Fire.

Thanks to the Red Armor granted to all of Yuuki’s White Spirits by Yggdrassil, Berserker-Gun is unaffected by Dan’s Red Magic.

This seems weird if you’re not remembering the first episode, but Dan HAS actually fought Yggdrassil before, he has no reason to be unaware of it’s Armor granting effect.

It’s normal for Card Game shows to try catch a character off-guard with an effect they’re unaware of, it happens all the time. Sometimes it can sour a victory because knowledge is its own kind of power when it comes to card games. Simply knowing what a card does increases the chances of victory infinitely more.

They didn’t actually do that here though, Dan was already aware of the ability, but forgot about it in his desperation, the minute he drew any kind of out he was like “Yes I got something” before completely disregarding his opponent.

Yuuki also brings up an important interaction between Clash and Armor.

Clash, namely, doesn’t affect the opponent, it’s not that the opponent is required to make the choice of blocking, it’s that their Spirits must take that option if its available.

Because its an ability that affects opposing Spirits, Spirits with Clash are not affected by that ability.

Eh, for a Cost 6 it does a fair bit yes. A mass bounce of all Spirits that fall under Flame Tempest’s BP limit, and Flame Tempest was ALREADY good, and then the ability to protect against White effects that would bounce them and Red effects that would destroy them.

Granted Yggdrassil is kind of at the mercy of the other 4 colours but Dan isn’t using those, making it a ridiculously strong Spirit. That’s not even mentioning the on summon effect is a complete shut-down of the way Dan plays.

And then Yuuki gets a bit cringe by comparing his ability over Armor with his desire to protect Kajitsu.

Dan quite rightfully says that it doesn’t protect Yuuki himself though, and Dan has enough Spirits to win in spite of the setback.

But of course, White is well known for one thing and one thing especially.

Defense Magic.

Blizzard Wall is a pretty effective Magic for staying attacks in a way Silent Wall doesn’t. While Silent Wall ends the attack step straight after the attack is over, Blizzard Wall does not, what it does is prevent your life being reduced any more than once by the unblocked attacks of Spirits.

Your first thought might be “Well isn’t Silent Wall just better? It ends the attack step straight away, Its cheaper and you can block to do it.”

And well… You’re kind of right.

However under specific conditions, Blizzard Wall is better, firstly at Max reductions its cheaper than Silent Wall at Max reductions. This makes Blizzard Wall, in some cases, more effective than Silent Wall.

Additionally, its an EXTRA defense Magic. And given its reductions are well suited to decks populated with White Spirits, it gives White an extra layer of impenetrability.

Yuuki takes from the life, and Blizzard Wall’s effect (represented by the Blizzard) now prevents Dan from taking any more lives from Yuuki as a result of an unblocked attack.

Oh right, Blizzard Wall has one other holdover over Silent Wall, and thats that it is effective against Spirits with 2 Symbols.

If a Multi-symbol spirit attacks and you have no blockers, Blizzard Wall will reduce the number of lives lost while Silent Wall will not.

Well at least Yuuki’s enjoying himself, can’t say the same about Dan, who ends his turn given there’s nothing more he can do.

Yuuki brings Berserker-Gun to Lv2 and instantly enters his Attack Step.

Yggdrassil attacks, but is blocked by Goradon, who ends up destroyed

Berserker-Gun’s attack is blocked by Rokceratops, Rokceratops is destroyed.

Dan’s shedding tears.

I would say “He’s still in this, he’s got 1 blocker for Droiden” but that’s not the reason he’s upset.

Since coming into this world Dan’s shown that he has a very close relationship with his Spirits which was only strengthened by their appearance in the Battlefield.

He’s upset, because to stay alive he has to continually destroy them.

The thing about Battle Spirits is that a standard battle style can be seen in 2 ways. You take lives to Protect your Spirits, or you play Spirits to protect your lives.

Dan evidently does it the first way, but now he’s in a situation where he can’t do that or he can’t save the family of someone else. So he’s forced to act against his nature and destroy the Spirits he holds closely.

Yuuki notes that even though Dan is in a really bad situation, he’s continuing to block, that implies that Dan insists on resisting Yuuki’s offer to team up.

Yuuki attacks with The Artifact Droiden.

And Yuuki follows up with a card we haven’t seen before, another new card from SD01

Armor Purge is a Cost 7 White Magic that refreshes every Spirit you have that has Armor in exchange for erasing their Armor. Notably there’s a caveat that they can’t be granted new Armor during this turn because Yggdrassil doesn’t innately have it, it grants it. Otherwise you could effectively use this card multiple times.

You get a lovely visual of Yggdrassil and Berserker-Gun smashing their barriers to Refresh.

Okay sure but why the fuck are you glowing?

Lizardedge blocks Droiden but it doesn’t even matter because all of Yuuki’s spirits are refreshed.

Hilariously, if Dan held onto his Victory Fire he… still wouldn’t win but at least he could take out Berserker-Gun.

Yuuki makes one final check to verify whether or not Dan’s will has been completely broken passed this point, and it doesn’t appear to be.

Its so eerie, having Yuuki do all of this while continuing to state that he’s genuinely having fun.

With no blockers available, Dan is unable to block Yggdrassil’s last attack, and unfortunately loses his final life.

Yuuki is the winner.

Apparently the emotional stress coupled with the pain of taking lives just proceeded to knock poor Dan the fuck out for several hours.

And in that time Magisa has gone through at LEAST 10 beers and is on her fucking 11th.

And of course, Zungurii greets Dan the way he was taught to. Incorrectly.

Dan attempts to apologise for failing but Zungurii doesn’t mind, given that Dan tried and is likely still willing to keep trying. Its not like they only had 1 shot at this.

On the upside, Zungurii has made his first attempt at making Curry.

Which is apparently far too spicy for even Dan to eat.

I need to try some of that stuff, I LOVE ridiculously spicy food, trips to Nandos are always fun when you can make the entire room gawk at how much Hot sauce you’ve stuck onto your Chicken.

It’s not like the food is overly hot it’s just spicy which requires at least SOME time before you notice how strong it is. You’d have known what it tasted like well beforehand.

Magisa acting like a Mother disciplining her child for being a shitlord to his little brother. They’re a very cute Trio all things considered, much as I dislike Zungurii he’s a very good compliment to the show and I can’t concievably say I would like the show more if he was absent.

And of course Magisa has a point, for someone who didn’t know what Curry was until a few hours ago and hasn’t even seen a picture of it, he’s made a fairly good first attempt, what he made DOES look like Curry.

Zungurii tells Dan to become the strongest and Dan promises to save Zungurii’s family.

A Deal Sealed by the consumption of Curry too Spicy for any Mortal to eat.

The group are interrupted from their bonding time to notice that Kajitsu is still fucking here.

Kajitsu produces one of Zungurii’s Sister’s keepsakes and hands it to the group.

Kajitsu tells them that the necklace was apparently from an Otherworlder who is currently working on something called the “Horizon Ladder”, it was mentioned last episode.

Specifically its this Huge tower-like thing that is for some reason in a place that’s permanently overcast.

Whatever that is, its a strong indication of where Zungurii’s family is located.

Dan evidently doesn’t trust information handed to them from the enemy but Zungurii points out that the amulet is a keepsake from his Sister which proves that she isn’t lying and has encountered her.

With no leads, they don’t really have a choice but to believe her.

Kajitsu points them in the direction of the Horizon Ladder.

That’s kind of interesting that she’s informing them despite Dan losing. But if we look back at Episode 3, Kajitsu straight up asks Yuuki to tell Zungurii the location of his family, and it was Yuuki that chose to withhold that information behind a Battle.

Nothing is going to stop Kajitsu from telling them herself, and given how strongly Yuuki stated he wanted to protect her, and Kajitsu’s evident strong wish to not see her Brother slighted, its highly likely Yuuki doesn’t mind Kajitsu yielding this information anyway.

Supposedly these Horizon Ladders are tools of Otherworld King that allow him to do… something. “Open a door to the world of his dreams” is the most unclear shit I’ve ever seen written.

Knowing shit about Otherworld King doesn’t automatically mean they’re Otherowlrd King Zungurii.

You either die a Zun-Believer, or you live long enough to become a Zun-Doubter.

Yuuki’s Omnipotent, Kajitsu’s extraordinary. These are lovely statements but we’ve yet to see what the exact nature of those statements ACTUALLY ARE.

Dan decides to drag us away from Zungurii’s singular brain cell working hard to make up for Bashin’s absence and asks why Kajitsu would volunteer that information to Dan if he lost the battle and therefore the right to that information.

While the upholding of rules in Otherworld is considered incredibly sacred, Kajitsu at no point said she’d participate in the terms Yuuki set.

And Kajitsu apparently kind of likes watching Dan fight.

Don’t worry, this isn’t a romantic attraction… And for those who know, it’s unfortunately not a romantic attraction.

And then Kajitsu vamooshes.

Man it must be convenient being able to control the insects of the world so you can be carried away.

Our Trio all decide that they believe Kajitsu’s statements but Magisa errs on the side of caution involving the receiving of information from the enemy, pulls up the strangest bike I’ve ever seen and says she’s going to go verify the claim.

Dan is left with the task of finding the other Lightbearers in the meantime.

We get a scene jump to Yuuki appearing to review the cards in his deck.

Shame we don’t see any new ones, Bashin felt the need to throw new cards at us every 2 seconds, we don’t see much of that here because this is a spiritual remake of Toppa Bashin.

And Yuuki confirms to us that Kajitsu’s actions were in fact sanctioned by him. He had no intention of keeping that information secret from Dan, but needed to uphold the restrictions placed on himself.

Xanatos Gambit is one hell of a trope.

This for whatever reason implies the existence of other Red Soldiers and that Yuuki has met many.

Whatever criteria of Red Soldier Yuuki’s looking for, Dan fits it by “knowing the core’s pain”

They’re talking like Dan just sent in a CV/Resume or some shit, Yuuki’s verified that Dan is at the very least, the ideal personality to embody the role of the Red Soldier. Now I guess they’re going to test his aptitude for improvement.

…By throwing every available Card Battler at him.

And so the episode closes with Yuuki asking Kajitsu to notify every available Card Battler that defeating the Red Soldier qualifies their deck as the strongest and therefore worthy of battling Otherworld King.

That is kind of nasty thinking about it, Yuuki has expressed a desire for a wish to be granted through Mother Core, hence he’s gathering the necessary people to activate it. And to expedite the process of testing Dan he’s going to use every other Human who came here with a wish as fodder.

That’s kind of ridiculous, this also means Dan’s basically going to get assassins thrown at him left and right.

Its kind of a reversal of the role of Nazo-Otonas in the previous series, rather than being sought after by Battlers, this story’s variant of the Nazo-Otonas, in this case, the Humans working under Otherworld King, are seeking out the Battlers.

Speaking of comparisons to Toppa, Yuuki makes an excellent successor to J, he’s a powerful White user making good use of White’s unique keyword, Armor effectively against Dan’s use of Red’s keyword, Clash.

Most of his deck mirrors Dan’s which makes him a really good Rival.

And he seems to be already employing his “Jack Knight” esque role, embedding himself within the enemy forces acting as an opposition to Dan.

Cool guy.

Our card of the day is Yggdrassil, but since I can’t really talk about that without talking about it’s status well beyond the scope of the game now, I’ll just cover Yuuki’s deck thus far.

He’s only used 6 unique cards, so far his Deck seems very basic, much like Dans, he’s got Berserker-Gun as a low cost vanilla, Droiden for power, Yggdrassil as his main Spirit, Dream Ribbon is a splashable Magic along with Blizzard Wall, and Armor Purge to benefit from Yggdrassil’s effect.

We could suggest that Yuuki has an Armor-focused deck but when you’ve got a Key Spirit like Yggdrassil, a card like Armor Purge is usable whether you’re using an Armor Deck or not.

We will simply have to see more before we make a determination.

And with that I will bid you adieu! See you next time!