Got past Yusei's second event, again with surprising ease. The day-to-day duels to earn points have been harder. The early events must be planned to be easy, although I know that won't last.

The next day, Yusei came running up and asked if he could join me, instead of my having to ask him. Actually, I've read a little further in the guide book, and I might like to partner with someone else temporarily in order to unlock specific card packs. (Or to have a chance of beating Crow, who, according to the book, is as "weak" as he will ever be right now. Yusei and I haven't been able to do it, because Crow always seems to tag with someone even stronger than he is. Now, if the Lightsworn user was on my side instead of his, maybe I'd have a chance...) But I'm afraid that if I turn Yusei down now, I'll hurt his feelings.

To my own surprise, I got past Yusei's first "event" duel (in the U.S. version, where his name loses a u here and there). I got up to the event in the first place mostly by beating poor Carly, and also Jack and Leo a couple of times. My "strategy" still consists of getting out monsters and hitting people with them.
( Identity of opponent under cut )

While waiting for Tag Force 4 to come out, I had started playing the original Tag Force in the hope of learning the card game. Fortunately, TF1 is like dueling with training wheels; it stops and reminds you when you have an opportunity to play a trap card, for example. I managed to win a few duels despite having no concept of strategy.
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New amigurumi under cut.

( Read more )

[Continued from
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/indelible_smile/11578.html and
http://asylums.insanejournal.com/indelible_smile/12002.html]

●The start of a new story! And, will a certain person come back?!

Interviewer: The intense Dark Signer arc has come to a conclusion, and a new story will start. What are you all excited about in your new fight?
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[Continued from http://asylums.insanejournal.com/indelible_smile/11578.html]

●The Dark Signer story cannot be told without tears!

Interviewer: Along with the epic battle of Signers vs. Dark Signers, the Dark Signer arc also portrayed the past of your four characters. Looking back on it, what are your impressions?
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[The August issue of Seiyuu Grand Prix featured another interview with some of the 5D’s voice actors. I just received my copy yesterday, so I’ll be translating the interview in sections over the next few days. This will also be posted at ygo_5ds on LiveJournal, where my user name is skrymiir.]

The bond of comradeship…
That holds us together across time and space!
( Yuugiou 5D’s Group Interview )

The new credits reveal that Crow is going by the name Kurou Hougan. (“Kurou” is what I’ve been transliterating as “Crow”, but Hougan is new.)

As the Japanese fans immediately recognized, these are both names or epithets associated with Minamoto Yoshitsune, a historical warrior hero. So I assume this isn’t the name his parents gave him, but one he chose for himself. From his story about the Bridge Guy, we know Crow is a hero worshipper.

Yoshitsune is a popular hero, and legend describes him as both a great fighter and a great lover. (And also short!). But although he was a great tactical fighter, he was no match in strategy or in politics for his older brother, who became the first Shogun. Probably Yoshitsune is most famous for going out in a blaze of self-destruction.

It’s misleading to read too much into a name, of course. But I wouldn’t be surprised if all of Crow’s early brilliant success leads up to some great tragic error.



(P.S. I first read about Yoshitsune in Ivan Morris’ The Nobility of Failure. Prof. Morris is a fascinating writer. Be sure to check out the footnotes, there’s some great stuff in there.

(But re-reading his introduction to ~Failure, which describes tragic figures whose sheer sincerity of purpose means they’re unable to make mundane compromises and leads to their defeat by established authorities -- that part reminds me of a different character.)

http://tinyurl.com/klbxoq

Link goes to a New York Times article about a proposed new energy project!

Miyashita-san (Yuusei's voice) writes in his blog that he recently did another interview for Seiyuu Grand Prix magazine, which published the two previous 5D's interviews I've translated here. He didn't say which issue it will appear in, so I'll have to look for more info in the coming months.

He did say that it featured the voice actors of Team Satisfaction -- ALL FOUR.

「落下」のK様はいいネタを考えました。もしも鬼柳は小さい頃地下デュエル場に監禁されて、電流デュエルをやらされたら…？そうだったら人不信になる訳ですね。

そして私が思うと、その地下デュエル場に電撃装置をまわしたのは汚職セキュリティー部だといいです。だから鬼柳はそんなにセキュリティーを恨むようになりました。しかし過去の屈辱を他のチーム員に言えなくて、分かってもらえませんでした。ちゃんと理由があったのに。

I am not entirely pleased with the preview that's been released for the climax of the Dark Signer arc. It says that Yuusei, Jack, and Crow team up to fight the big boss (whom I will not name, to preserve some of the surprise).

How did Crow get into it?! Isn't this supposed to be about Signers?! That should be Aki, who has the third of the dragon cards that were set free to find their rightful masters, or whatever. Granted, I don't like Aki much, but this isn't doing Crow any favors. I can see why some people are calling him a canon Sue now.

There is ongoing disagreement among the fans as to whether the Dark Signers can or should come back at some point. 5D’s is, believe it or not, a children’s show; it airs at 6PM in Japan. And it’s a spin-off from a manga that originally ran in Shounen Jump. Children’s shows and Jump are both famous for not leaving popular characters dead.
( Except YGO... )

I've done a small amount of crochet as trim on knitted objects, but amigurumi are cuter when they're mostly crochet.

( Camera still broken, scanner pictures under here )

Indelible Smile is going permanent! I just got the order in today, and we should see Squeaky acknowledge it sometime next week (maybe with a slight delay for the holiday weekend here in the U.S.).
( Rumors under here! )

Over on 2channel, the Kiryuu thread has been booming even in his absence, so much so that posters on other threads (notably Jack’s, poor thing) seemed envious. Now, in a rare turn of events, they seem serious, even gloomy. Meanwhile, Play The Damn Card is still laughing it up.
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●When Mikage explains about Yuusei’s father developing the Old Moment site that caused Zero Reverse, Ushio asks why a Satellite resident was in charge of such an important project. That’s the cue for Jack to point out indignantly that Yuusei was born in the top strata of the city, and he, the (former) King, was born in Satellite. But both of them are missing the point: before Zero Reverse, Satellite and Neo Domino were not separate! Dr. Fudou could not have been a resident of “Satellite” because it wasn’t a satellite yet.
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The widespread fanon that Dark Signers are cold to the touch seemed to arise when Kiryuu was the only DS we had seen up close. Granted, he looks sickly and bloodless. But he looked that way when he was alive, too, so I think we shouldn’t read too much into the rest of the DS just from his appearance.
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