Thread: Yu-Gi-Oh! 10th Anniversary Animation Book

Personally I think the duel didn't really add any progression to Judai except bring him back to his S1 routes.

Personally an event such as Duelling Yugi should have remained in a move or TV special, not the end of the series. It just took up episodes which could have been used to round things off somewhat better.

Originally Posted by DARKMASTER

Well it was GX. And Judai is the MAIN HERO of the entire show. It would be just wrong to show(in their minds) on screen Neos' suicide attack against a protagonist that was and still is way better than him in every way BUT its not part of Judai's show.

It would have cheapen the whole thing you know :p. Which it did and it did it even better XD.

At least for ppl that actually know a bit of math can figure what happened DESPITE how much GX's pathetic writes DIDN'T want to show it on screen.

Jaden is a talented duelist. Yugi sucks without the god cards. Jaden probably had honest in his hand. Neos destroyed slifer.

His hand was shown at the beginning of that turn. Of the cards shown, the only card he didn't use by the end of the turn was Winged Kuriboh. So no.

Honest was returned to Fujiwara once he retained himself, so he doesn't even have that card in his deck. Judai killed himself.

I'm not even going to comment on the lulztastic statement of Yugi being nothing without the god cards.

Cause Yugi or Atem have never beaten the god cards on their own, amirite?

I didn't like how nas handled that episode. Jaden was like this: Thank you yugi for showing me the light! I thought it was alexis that helped jaden regain his love for dueling.

As usual, they made her useless. No big surprise.

And it was pretty hinted Judai was gonna end up seeing Yugi again and dueling him. No big surprise there, either.

Originally Posted by Prismamaster

Jaden is a talented duelist. Yugi sucks without the god cards. Jaden probably had honest in his hand. Neos destroyed slifer.

I'm honestly getting tired of the Honest argument. For the last time! Honest was returned to Fujiwara after beating up Darkness.

And Yugi sucks without God Cards? Hello, he was not only able to get Osiris on his own during Battle City, but he took on all 3 alone during the Ceremonial Battle. And you say that he sucks without God Cards?

Originally Posted by XERO_Slayer

And Yugi sucks without God Cards? Hello, he was not only able to get Osiris on his own during Battle City, but he took on all 3 alone during the Ceremonial Battle. And you say that he sucks without God Cards?

Prismamaster is blinded GX fan, so he often denies the obvious facts that make DM better than GX (except for the DVD quality) and Yugi better than Judai. So don't pay much attention to his statements. He is free to express his own opinion since everyone here is allowed to, but arguing with him is completely useless. xD

Originally Posted by Lia

Prismamaster is blinded GX fan, so he often denies the obvious facts that make DM better than GX (except for the DVD quality) and Yugi better than Judai. So don't pay much attention to his statements. He is free to express his own opinion since everyone here is allowed to, but arguing with him is completely useless. xD

Ah...I see! Thanks for the heads up. XD

Personally I think the duel didn't really add any progression to Judai except bring him back to his S1 routes.

That was the entire point of the Duel. The point being made in those episodes is that while Season 3 and Season 4 had, in the most Acid Trip Ways Possible, made Juudai realize dueling won't always be fun and games and he has to be serious about shit, that he need not be serious Anti-Hero Juudai all the time.

Dueling Yugi gave him a chance to duel the man who was basically an idol. For fun. No strings attached. Just him and the best duelist who's ever lived. And remember why he dueled to begin with: What Goes Around Comes Around, The Hero's Journey, Full Circle, that sort of shtick.

Originally Posted by NeoArkadia

That was the entire point of the Duel. The point being made in those episodes is that while Season 3 and Season 4 had, in the most Acid Trip Ways Possible, made Juudai realize dueling won't always be fun and games and he has to be serious about shit, that he need not be serious Anti-Hero Juudai all the time.

Dueling Yugi gave him a chance to duel the man who was basically an idol. For fun. No strings attached. Just him and the best duelist who's ever lived. And remember why he dueled to begin with: What Goes Around Comes Around, The Hero's Journey, Full Circle, that sort of shtick.

Yeah, and in way the episode is telling the viewer, "Have fun when you duel." It's batting away the whole "Card games are serious shizz!" part.

Originally Posted by XERO_Slayer

I'm honestly getting tired of the Honest argument. For the last time! Honest was returned to Fujiwara after beating up Darkness.

And Yugi sucks without God Cards? Hello, he was not only able to get Osiris on his own during Battle City, but he took on all 3 alone during the Ceremonial Battle. And you say that he sucks without God Cards?

Forgot about that. lol. I admit that yugi is a great duelist without the god cards. It pretty sucked when jaden gave back honest.

Good. Now that everything is clear back to topic please X).

I think we all agree that this explanation we got translation for was total crap no matter how politely it was presented.

Of course it sounds stupid when you take it literally. But going by the context and how it was written in the Book (it was a caption for the picture with Judai's gotcha pose), I doubt it was intended to be taken literally.

Well how else are you supposed to take it? They said one thing, that makes no sense at all given the context, or scenario. They literally made something up as an explanation for the scene.

If they called a bird a hippo, how else can you read that, except as them making a claim that is unabashedly false?

Wait, what's so RAEG-inducing that I'm missing? All I saw was "the duel had no true ending..." Which it kind of didn't because it cut off with Judai's "GO Neos!" Sure, logic says Yugi won, but we didn't see it.

Mako: I'm pretty sure Judai wasn't actually transported across time. I always saw his duel against Yugi as him being in some "world" created in his mind with the power of the spirit card, Winged Kuriboh. It's pretty clear that this isn't the real Domino City or the real Yugi in the GX finale. Since when does Domino City have empty streets?

The whole "eternal with no ending" thing could be taken in a metaphorical way. Kind of like a Dragon-Tiger thing, like Ark mentioned. Also, to quote myself from the movie thread:

Also, I'd like to note something on this line.

Juudai shows the culmination of his 3 years at Duel Academy to Yuugi, who has the Strongest Deck. The Duel of these two is something eternal which has no ending.

I have been going through past threads, and this was Poet said on the ending of GX:

Originally Posted by The Mad Poet

Personally, I think with all the alchemic and dogmatic themes we've seen, all the people who have gotten tangled up and trapped in places they couldn't move on from, that there's no ending more perfect than one that leaves the outcome unclear on a road to nowhere--you never stop changing. 'Ascencion' is pure bs, because life goes on, and you don't know what's ahead of you but you can't look back.

With the above line in mind, Poet's analysis is definitely more clear.

In other words, it could be a nod to the whole "you may not know what comes next" theme.

@ Ragna: It could be just time travel in a sense, not actual time travel. Judai may have indeed ended up in a special world created for him and Yugi, but he met Yugi's past self. Like, mental illusion time travel, or something.

...But there's no ambiguity here. That's not how they wrote the duel at all in GX.

The duel that ended Battle City for Jou and Yugi, with them facing off in the early morning. That was ambiguous. We have no clue and its totally up to interpretation how the duel went down between them.

We see how the duel between Yugi and Judai goes. And we see how the duel ends, despite them cutting away from it. We know the life point values, we know the cards in his hand, and the cards on Judai's field. The duel ended right then, when Neos suicided into Osiris. The end. The duel went to Yugi.

There's no ambiguity, or higher interpretation. The duel's parameters and resolution were made obvious, even though they cut away. How could they metaphorically spin the duel as going on forever and having no real resolution when they showed us it did? It's the worst handwave.

Personally, it sounds like a metaphor to me. And you just don't go unravelling metaphors like that. You'll always end up losing the inherent meaning -- it's the whole that has to be looked at. Not a single fragment.

Juudai shows the culmination of his 3 years at Duel Academy to Yuugi, who has the Strongest Deck. The Duel of these two is something eternal which has no ending.

Juudai is the student, trying to overcome the inherent power of the Strongest Deck, no? But the point of the strongest deck, is that it is the strongest. How can you overcome that which has no boundaries?

He tried his best to overcome Yugi's deck, but failed. However, he still had fun and regained his passion and love for dueling. That's the meaning. That's what the episode showed. That's the ending.

There is no "eternal" or "no ending." Not in YGO. That is just patently false. They can't claim that and then show in the very episode that the duel ended in Judai's loss by him purposefully, knowingly, suiciding into Osiris with E-Hero Neos. It's a complete narrative and logical divide.

Did the duel between Yugi and Atem have no ending? Yugi was showing the culmination of his growth to Atem in order to send him to the afterlife. He had to go against the strongest deck, and the legendary Pharaoh who had the power of destiny on his side. But that duel ended. Yugi won. The story was over.

Every duel has to end. Someone wins and someone loses. You can't go on with no ending. Especially when said outcome is shown.

The literal Duel has ended, yes. But in the YGO universe, dueling is a way of life. Seeking out strong opponents is the done thing to do. We don't have to take things literally, Mako, otherwise how would you explain genuinely ambiguous scenes -- in any form of media -- where the whole point is different interpretations?

The Duel in their hearts -- the respect between the two heroes, Juudai's striving to overcome an insurmountable obstacle even after the literal duel has ended -- is, I think, that which is eternal. Who's to say it had to end with the final card?

Originally Posted by Gin

The literal Duel has ended, yes. But in the YGO universe, dueling is a way of life. Seeking out strong opponents is the done thing to do. We don't have to take things literally, Mako, otherwise how would you explain genuinely ambiguous scenes -- in any form of media -- where the whole point is different interpretations?

The ambiguity has to exist in the first place. GX's ending duel had none. If the caption said Judai's passion for dueling or search for new opponents was just beginning, then yeah. That'd be what you said. But they're saying Yugi and Judai's duel is never ending and eternal. That's not true. This isn't an ambiguous statement. It's a statement on the actual event of the duel itself.

The Duel in their hearts -- the respect between the two heroes, Juudai's striving to overcome an insurmountable obstacle even after the literal duel has ended -- is, I think, that which is eternal. Who's to say it had to end with the final card?

Duel in their hearts? That's..never been really talked about or alluded to at all in the story or the actual book itself. If you wanna read that into it, that's cool. But the actual statement on the event itself. The event where Judai seemingly traveled back in time to meet Yugi and duel him. That wasn't a duel in their hearts. That was a duel where they put their cards in their duel disks, threw down, and wanted to see who could win. No other duel is described or left in ambiguous terms in YGO. Ever. That's one of the driving points of how it is. You win some, you lose some. If you lose, you get back up and try again. But either way, someone's gonna walk away winning or losing.

How did Jaden end up in a desert? Was he transported there after the duel? That also doesn't make sense.

That's a whole separate issue that is also left unresolved and unanswered. He's clearly going somewhere though. He's wandering. Presumably its sometime after the duel or...something.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

That's a whole separate issue that is also left unresolved and unanswered. He's clearly going somewhere though. He's wandering. Presumably its sometime after the duel or...something.

I think that he was transported there. Why should he say" thank you yugi" in the middle of the desert?

....That's...a good point.

I dunno, maybe he was just thinking of Yugi at that time or something. I dunno. Him being transported there doesn't really make any sense though, either.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

....That's...a good point.

I dunno, maybe he was just thinking of Yugi at that time or something. I dunno. Him being transported there doesn't really make any sense though, either.

Originally Posted by Ragna

I'm pretty sure Judai wasn't actually transported across time. I always saw his duel against Yugi as him being in some "world" created in his mind with the power of the spirit card, Winged Kuriboh. It's pretty clear that this isn't the real Domino City or the real Yugi in the GX finale. Since when does Domino City have empty streets?

. .

I'm not certain, but I think you're missing my point a little.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

The ambiguity has to exist in the first place. GX's ending duel had none. If the caption said Judai's passion for dueling or search for new opponents was just beginning, then yeah. That'd be what you said. But they're saying Yugi and Judai's duel is never ending and eternal. That's not true. This isn't an ambiguous statement. It's a statement on the actual event of the duel itself.

Ambiguity -- in any form of media. I'm not talking about solely GX here. Taking things at face value is okay, but you also have to look beyond. Perhaps I'm an oddball for saying this, or maybe I'm just being a literature student, but the key thing that I was told in my very first week at university was that to be a critical reader (in this case a critical viewer) you have to challenge yourself and not submit to assumptions, whether the assumptions of other people or your own.

I have never seen the ending of GX. I'm currently creeping through S3. From what I've heard from other people there's no way Juudai could win. That's the Literal Duel. The duel we see on screen. Some people, though, might argue that the cut-away adds an element of doubt. They may be utterly wrong - I can't comment. But my interpretation of the statement isn't reflecting on the Literal Duel at all. I accept that Juudai - unless he pulled an asspull of Yuusei proportions - lost.

Duel in their hearts? That's..never been really talked about or alluded to at all in the story or the actual book itself. If you wanna read that into it, that's cool. But the actual statement on the event itself. The event where Judai seemingly traveled back in time to meet Yugi and duel him. That wasn't a duel in their hearts. That was a duel where they put their cards in their duel disks, threw down, and wanted to see who could win. No other duel is described or left in ambiguous terms in YGO. Ever. That's one of the driving points of how it is. You win some, you lose some. If you lose, you get back up and try again. But either way, someone's gonna walk away winning or losing.

Again, doesn't that take into account an assumption of the literal? that Juudai literally went back in time to duel Yuusei? And didn't you point out earlier that Yuugi's duel against Jounouchi was left ambiguous? (Unless that's why you put the qualifier of "other" in there.)

...at this rate I may need to call a Janime hiatus. Second time in less than a week that I end up unprepared for a seminar/tutorial with only 12 hours (inc. sleeping) to prepare.

Yugi said he had a dream last night. kuriboh told yugi he would duel someone like jaden. Yugi also said bye to his grandpa when he was leaving his house. Yugi is real.

Originally Posted by Gin

I'm not certain, but I think you're missing my point a little.



Ambiguity -- in any form of media. I'm not talking about solely GX here. Taking things at face value is okay, but you also have to look beyond. Perhaps I'm an oddball for saying this, or maybe I'm just being a literature student, but the key thing that I was told in my very first week at university was that to be a critical reader (in this case a critical viewer) you have to challenge yourself and not submit to assumptions, whether the assumptions of other people or your own.

...But I'm not really concerned with other media. This is in reference to GX and how the writers are trying to call a scene something that it isn't. I'm calling them out for their weak explanation for a scene in their show. I already said that ambiguity has to exist in the first place, to be capable of being given a metaphorical interpretation. I see no ambiguity here and how a metaphorical interpretation would be relevant or meaningful to the point of the actual episode in question. Judai losing his duel but finding his joy for dueling is the message given to us. It is not ambiguous, because they clarify it to us in show with Judai's thoughts and Yugi's words. The text in this book is short and to the point in its description of how it went down. However, I'm calling it out because it's explaining it backwards. Why would they need to add in a metaphor to something that's already clarified and stated for us clearly by the show?

I have never seen the ending of GX. I'm currently creeping through S3. From what I've heard from other people there's no way Juudai could win. That's the Literal Duel. The duel we see on screen. Some people, though, might argue that the cut-away adds an element of doubt. They may be utterly wrong - I can't comment. But my interpretation of the statement isn't reflecting on the Literal Duel at all. I accept that Juudai - unless he pulled an asspull of Yuusei proportions - lost.

See, this is where I think our problem is in terms of understanding this event. Watch the episodes and see the duel. There is no doubt. There's no need for reading it metaphorically because its clear as crystal. The message is conveyed. This quote is supposed to be a short description of what this event in Judai's timeline is. No one would even be trying to think of this duel as a metaphor or being eternal or whatever, if this explanation hadn't even existed. It's a confounding variable in trying to understand why the duel happened in the first place or how it lends itself credibly with the rest of the show.

Again, doesn't that take into account an assumption of the literal? that Juudai literally went back in time to duel Yuusei? And didn't you point out earlier that Yuugi's duel against Jounouchi was left ambiguous? (Unless that's why you put the qualifier of "other" in there.)

Why would you not assume a literal meaning unless something beyond the text alludes to a broader scope? You go by Occam's razor. Parsimony. "Plurality should not be posited without necessity." All that jazz.

Yugi's duel against Jounouchi was an example of ambiguity. We don't know how the duel went down turn for turn. But even then, we know that more than likely, Jouonouchi won the duel himself. Why? Because he got his Red-Eyes Black Dragon back. And he said he'd only take it back if he won it from Yugi in a duel.

Considering how no one of us knew of these statements until we got them uncovered and translated, from a material barely any of us has, you could safely choose to just ignore it. That seems to be the simplest solution, in the end.

Well I mean, that's what one has to do, if someone tries to resolve this statement with what's given in the episode.

It's one of those rare instances where "Word of God" literally just goes against what we factually see and experience in reality. I don't know what happened but maybe some sort of "Creative Differences" cropped up amongst the writers and someone writing this book Did It Wrong x100, and listed what was a previously shelved as an idea, as what was implemented.

Either that or they are trippin' hard. Trippin' harder than Mercury.

I'm going to have to go with Gin here. While the ending of the duel itself is obvious, the book's pretty much saying "There's more going on". The Duel ends, but the feelings of that Duel last and become something that never ends, much like Life. The Journey of the Fool to the World reloops back to the Fool. Juudai has had an experience that was profound and changed him for the better, giving him the ability to balance fun and responsibility, like a proper adult, that has been made endless.

Or did you people forget your Literature Teacher's Critical Analysis and Symbolism rants from the trauma of listening to them?

Originally Posted by NeoArkadia

I'm going to have to go with Gin here. While the ending of the duel itself is obvious, the book's pretty much saying "There's more going on". The Duel ends, but the feelings of that Duel last and become something that never ends, much like Life. The Journey of the Fool to the World reloops back to the Fool. Juudai has had an experience that was profound and changed him for the better, giving him the ability to balance fun and responsibility, like a proper adult, that has been made endless.

What else is going on? Where? Again, this interpretation wouldn't even be here, had this book not even ventured forth this text in the first place. No one was trying to read messages of 'never ending' or 'eternal' in the duel, or try to shoehorn it as some message for life. It was a duel to get Judai back on his feet in terms of his spirits. This metaphor answers none of the pertinent or relevant questions on the weak ending GX had. Why is Judai alone in a desert? How did he get there? How did he travel back in time? Why is no one else shown? Why did he need to be told this message twice?

This metaphorical explanation is an unnecessary addition at explaining something that was already given to us properly by the show. Judai's journeying not ending, and the adventure still going on? That was covered by the ending of the original YGO series, and clearly referenced by Judai raising his finger up, and going where the wind took him.

Two sentences that don't describe the duel in question at all, is not necessary to drive home this message. It's redundant and nonsensical.

Or did you people forget your Literature Teacher's Critical Analysis and Symbolism rants from the trauma of listening to them?

Critical analysis is tied right there with parsimony and relevancy. If the message is clear as day, then you take the message and factor it in with the rest of the work. There's nothing else here. You're trying to find reason in something unreasonable in an attempt to justify it. How is it metaphor for a message that's already told clearly by the story proper.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

What else is going on? Where? Again, this interpretation wouldn't even be here, had this book not even ventured forth this text in the first place. No one was trying to read messages of 'never ending' or 'eternal' in the duel, or try to shoehorn it as some message for life.

Not true. Judai and Yubel are destined to fight the Light of Destruction until the end of time. you don't remember that? Happy ending. lolol

Originally Posted by Ragna

Not true. Judai and Yubel are destined to fight the Light of Destruction until the end of time. you don't remember that? Happy ending. lolol

Hurr hurr. They never said they'd fight the Light of Destruction until the end of time. So, no u.

And I was also referring to the nature of dueling explicitly, not general combat or struggling in and of itself.

I'll have to agree with everyone else here on the explanation being some more metaphorical than literal. "Eternal" doesn't necessarily mean the duel is occurring forever and ever, but rather the feelings, emotions, fun, and enjoyment that Judai experienced in that duel is eternal. The feelings will live on forever as future duelists and students of Duel Academia walk the same road that Judai and his friends walked.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

Hurr hurr. They never said they'd fight the Light of Destruction until the end of time. So, no u.

And I was also referring to the nature of dueling explicitly, not general combat or struggling in and of itself.

Judai is destined to fight the Light of Destruction. The Light of Destruction is a natural phenominon that cannot be fully destroyed. His destiny is to fiht the Light of Destruction until he dies. I was being overdramatic and trying to tie it into the "Eternal Duel" thing.

Of course that has nothing to do with Yugi. I honestly think the Eternal Duel thing refers to how Judai threw the duel instead of actually continuing the duel because he wanted his ace monster to be able to battle with one of the gods before it (possibly) returned to the cemetary.

Originally Posted by XERO_Slayer

I'll have to agree with everyone else here on the explanation being some more metaphorical than literal. "Eternal" doesn't necessarily mean the duel is occurring forever and ever, but rather the feelings, emotions, fun, and enjoyment that Judai experienced in that duel is eternal. The feelings will live on forever as future duelists and students of Duel Academia walk the same road that Judai and his friends walked.

Would be nice if that's actually what's stated or alluded to. Judai's feelings aren't even referenced or hinted at. You've now read something entirely different than the sentence and purpose in order to shift its purpose.

It's gone from "The duel has no ending" to "Judai's feelings for how awesome the duel was last forever and he'll remember it." Right. You just called it nonsensical and now you're attributing meaning to nonsense in order to justify it. Which is it?

Why can't it be just what it says? Or is it just hard to accept what it is at face value because its so glaringly out of step?

Originally Posted by Ragna

Of course that has nothing to do with Yugi. I honestly think the Eternal Duel thing refers to how Judai threw the duel instead of actually continuing the duel because he wanted his ace monster to be able to battle with one of the gods before it (possibly) returned to the cemetary.

I figured you were being overdramatic regarding that hence my silly reply.

And what you said is exactly what happened. But that wouldn't be eternal. That'd be....Judai throwing the duel and wanting to see Neos go toe-to-toe with a god, even if he loses. Its a moment of awesome before the duel comes to an end.

I thought it might be absurd, but now after reading the replies of others, I realized that I made the mistake of interpreting it literally. And you have to read the statement in context of the episode. The episode itself was mainly about Judai regaining his feelings of a fun duel and enjoyment which he had experienced in the very beginning of GX.

Originally Posted by XERO_Slayer

I thought it might be absurd, but now after reading the replies of others, I realized that I made the mistake of interpreting it literally.

Why would you not interpret it literally when it's a straightforward sentence with no ambiguity? Explain this to me. Where does the need for metaphor come into play here, in a scene and sentence that's unambiguous in its description of the event?

Let me ask you this. If the book described the duel between Yugi and Yami Malik as having no ending, would you read that metaphorically and not literally too?

"It's eternal."

Usually sentences with the word "eternal" are not really interpreted literally from what I have seen. Or else when we say things like, for example, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are timeless, we don't mean that it doesn't exist in time or something. Timeless can mean eternal, immortal, or ageless. Does that mean Lincoln's speech has no age at all? Well if you take it literally, that's what it means and that makes no sense at all, which is basically how you seem to be interpreting that statement. (Note: I used Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as an example to demonstrate my argument; I am NOT comparing his address to GX, don't misunderstand.)

So now, knowing that, if you read that statement about the duel being eternal, interpreting it literally will make no sense at all whatsoever.

Possibly because they were making it a caption in a book. Those that you're not supposed to give a lot of thought about.

2人のデュエルは永遠に終わり ない――!!

Futari no Dyueru ha Eien ni Owarinai--!!

The Duel of these Two is Something (Eternal/That Will Last/Continue on) that will never end--!!

The very way it's written comes off as something you're not supposed to take in a literal sense, Mako. I think you're Not-Literalism Detectors is broken. But seriously, could you not get worked up. Over. One. Goddamn. Line. From a Picture. Caption.

This sort of horseshit thread hijacking is why we're the ****ing joke of the rest of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Fandom, and while a ton of decent members have been ****ing scared off.

Originally Posted by Makoeyes987

Let me ask you this. If the book described the duel between Yugi and Yami Malik as having no ending, would you read that metaphorically and not literally too?

Depends on how it's stated. If I say to you, for example, take the story, "The Lady and The Tiger." If I say to you that "The story has no ending..." Does that literally mean that the book goes on page for page till infinity? Or does it mean metaphorically, the story's "ending" is open to interpretation and opinion?

Originally Posted by NeoArkadia

Possibly because they were making it a caption in a book. Those that you're not supposed to give a lot of thought about.

Futari no Dyueru ha Eien ni Owarinai--!!

The Duel of these Two is Something (Eternal/That Will Last/Continue on) that will never end--!!

The very way it's written comes off as something you're not supposed to take in a literal sense, Mako. I think you're Not-Literalism Detectors is broken. But seriously, could you not get worked up. Over. One. Goddamn. Line. From a Picture. Caption.

This sort of horseshit thread hijacking is why we're the ****ing joke of the rest of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Fandom, and while a ton of decent members have been ****ing scared off.

...Who's worked up here? It's called a debate, dude. How is one worked up, if one's just discussing the subject in question and its interpretation? If anyone's worked up it would be you, since you've now deviated from the thread topic at hand and have now made a personal attack about how I'm discussing this, it in terms of the thread topic. And if this is a discussion about the line out of the book...how is it off topic in the least?

Originally Posted by XERO_Slayer

"It's eternal."

Usually sentences with the word "eternal" are not really interpreted literally from what I have seen. Or else when we say things like, for example, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are timeless, we don't mean that it doesn't exist in time or something. Timeless can mean eternal, immortal, or ageless. Does that mean Lincoln's speech has no age at all? Well if you take it literally, that's what it means and that makes no sense at all, which is basically how you seem to be interpreting that statement. (Note: I used Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as an example to demonstrate my argument; I am NOT comparing his address to GX, don't misunderstand.)

So now, knowing that, if you read that statement about the duel being eternal, interpreting it literally will make no sense at all whatsoever.

Even taking this as a non-literal statement about the emotional qualities of the players and not the actual event of the duel, this is still rather unclear, since deriving meaning from it requires us to make particular and yet arbitrary assumptions by what is meant by "duel," how to read the use of eternal, and the redundancy of 'eternal, which has no ending'.

My main point is, it takes reading and making assumptions about it so much, that it remains arbitrary what could possibly be meant in terms of its eternal nature. It was never even an issue until now. I mean if that's how you want to read it, then fine. But I just don't see how it could possibly be meant that way when it's just so unclear on its own.

There's one of two explanations here:

1. This is a horribly cheesy asspull to try and avoid giving us a clear cut winner, so Judai fans get some fanservice.

2. It's a metaphor. Across time and space, both will always resolve to surpass the other in terms of skill. I guess reincarnation factors in, stupidly enough. Oh god, please don't let their reincarnations be in 5D's at the end.

I'd really, really like to believe it's #2, against my better judgment. But it's probably the former. YGO seems to like the whole "lol eternal conflict" BS lately, though.

Right. This discussion is getting on many people's nevers, so I'm gonna call an end to it here. No further discussion of it is to happen in this thread. It was meant to be a discussion of the artwork in the book, from what I understand, and there surely shouldn't be an ENTIRE PAGE of discussion over a single line of text which two people interpret differently. That'd take a paragraph at the most in any Literature essay, and they'd accept and address the alternate interpretations.

I have rearranged the transcripts/translations a bit, so don't be surprised at most of the material vanishing from the second post. They have been moved to the first post. It was getting too bloated and I had to split everything somehow.

I have decided to transcribe the entire book. Every text and every caption. This is obviously a long term project which will take a while, and I might not have time to spare for transcribing, either. I'll see if Remaner is up for helping as well, or else I'll tackle this myself. As usual, Ark has agreed to translate anything I manage to get noted down.