Hello readers,
This is what I call a cold chapter, as opposed to a cold open on television. I have no content to give you today, only a dedication to the man who introduced me to my most beloved TV show as a kid. On this seventh day of July in the year 2022, Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! has passed away.
I remember the first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! that I had stumbled upon as a kid. I remember it so vividly because it was the Friday after Thanksgiving, and nine year old me and my brother had been given permission by my me'mere to bring leftover turkey sandwiches and potato chips into the living room and eat on the floor in front of the TV when our mother usually makes us sit in the dining room in the chairs that had the best view of the TV. My brother flipped the channel to Kids WB, and there was the episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! where Yugi was made to duel against a fake Kaiba, while the real one, who had escaped a fall into the ocean, had broken into his own house and made it to a giant computer where he began hacking into Duelist Kingdom to help Yugi. While my brother caught me up on the last few episodes of the show I hadn't seen, I remember thinking this Kaiba must be a good guy, being that he was trying so hard to help Yugi, and seeing how the little kid named Mokuba who was his brother was in tears insisting that the evil fake Kaiba wasn't his brother. Imagine my shock when my brother revealed that this cool hacker dude with protective big brother vibes was a jerk who beat Yugi's grandpa into submission and tore up his treasured card. That was what made me dead set on catching all the rerun episodes from the beginning, even if it meant sneaking out of bed and creeping down to the basement TV so my parents didn't catch me past my bedtime. Even after catching up on all the episodes and continuing the series until the very end, movies and all, Seto Kaiba remained my favorite character of the show, followed closely by Téa Gardner and Joey Wheeler (I loved his never-give-up attitude, his fierce loyalty to his friends, and, being from the Northeastern corner of the States, I loved picking out all of his New York-isms, namely "not fer nuthin', but", "the business end [of my fist]", "fits the bill", and of course, "fugettaboudit!").
I loved the series so much that I became one of the many who bought the cards, assembled decks to Duel people, collected the rare cards, bought the figurines and model kits, and begged my parents to attend live Duels hosted by the voice actors (though I sadly never got to attend one). Even years later when I was well into my 20's, I got excited when I heard the movie The Dark Side of Dimensions was coming out. As an adult now in my 30's, I own the entire series and all the movies on DVD, even though I can easily stream it for free on YouTube or Tubi. And I still quote Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged to those who get the references. As I've said before, Yu-Gi-Oh! was and still is my favorite show of all time.
So thank you, Kazuki Takahashi, for introducing me to the characters that helped shape me into the person I am today. Thank you for filling my after-school TV with awesome action, amazing strategy, and enduring examples of friendship. I can only hope my meager attempts at fan fiction does any honor to your great creations. Rest peacefully, great creator.
- Azure Eyes Silver Dragon