30 Not a Chapter

Hello. Sorry for the lack of a proper update but with the previous duel only needing one chapter to cover, I felt like I deserved a bit more time in between entries.

Instead, I will use this bit of your time to share my side of things and hear your feedback.

I will start by clarifying the "main story" as I refer to it. The main story of this novel is the original series of duels that I plan to show in a specific order.

The original premise is that if I had to show the characters of the anime a few specific duels, it would have to be these. I also must do so in a way that does not favor any series more than others by loading entries from series A over series B.

Along the way, I noticed that some of my entries follow a certain train of thought that will benefit the viewers for watching Duel A after Duel B, but Duel C has to conclude the "main story."

That's how the specific order for the main story and the "duel cycles" came to be. The first cycle of duels was the intro duels to introduce the characters to the worlds through some of their most extreme but emotionally significant duels.

Yugi vs Atem was a heartfelt and emotionally tense duel used to illustrate for Yugi it was okay to say goodbye to Atem's spirit so he can rest in peace.

Jaden vs Yubel is a tale of twisted bonds that show how demented Yubel's love for Jaden became after being abandoned and had to be ended by Jaden taking responsibility in whatever way he could to right the wrongs he committed.

Aporia vs Jack, Leo, and Luna showcased the threat of Synchro summoning as a mechanic to the other worlds and helped illustrate a balance of hope and despair. Aporia didn't want to hope so he inflicted despair on his opponents but Leo kept fighting and helped light the spark of hope in everyone that was a part of the duel.

Yuma vs Nash teeter-tottered between action and inaction with Nash being the focal point in being a loyal ruler who fought for the memories of his Barian Emperors as well as fighting for the future of the Barian World. Nash realized he couldn't hope for a better solution so he chose a side and acted as the villain, but Yuma's inability to choose a side ended up making his decision for him.

Shun vs Sora is literally the question of "Who can you trust?" As can be seen from the end of Yuma vs Yuri, you can trust someone with the full belief they will be your most trusted ally but that can end up stabbing you in the back. What looks safe might be more dangerous than you can realize.

Ending the first cycle is Playmaker vs Ai, which is an odd duel for me to describe. When talking about Ai and later Roboppi, I had to go at it from the perspective of a human being who experiences trauma in some way in their life. Ai lost his entire family and learned his presence threatens to kill his best friend. His entire last duel is a cry for help.

Hindsight is said to be 20/20 but it can only hope to be that perfect. I am always refreshing my views on these duels as I write. Playmaker vs Ai refreshed my view again with this previous paragraph. As my viewpoints change, I hope to share them with you all.

With 5DS coming up, I will be covering "Yusei Fudo vs Akiza Izinski." It is looking to be another one-chapter duel as I've been covering more content in single chapters as the series continues. This is not really me being lazy but more of an effort to avoid using several chapters to describe a duel that can be watched on YouTube or through the original source. If it wasn't required for me to cover the play-by-play, I would be able to speed up the pace by a great amount. As it is, I will describe the duel as well as I should while trying to catch anything that will make the reading experience much more enjoyable. When I am finished, I will try and do a follow-up "Not a chapter" update hoping to cover the details of the "present-day" villains and why the story during the second cycle of duels was much more demanding on me.

Thanks for reading and all of the support.