My Rewrite of Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens
I have one major gripe with Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens – the representation of its main protagonist (Yuga) and its main rival (Luke). This gripe comes from the fact that throughout the show, Luke consistently outshines Yuga in duelling ability resulting in Yuga's credibility as the show's main protagonist via his duelling skills lowering and having him just be the creator of Rush Duels.
I understand that Studio Bridge wanted to do something different which I do respect but unfortunately for me, it overall does not work. For context, Yuga and Luke have four duels throughout ninety-two episodes in which Yuga defeats Luke only once in their final duel. As much as this is supposed to be development for Yuga, it does not work because not only is it one win to three losses, but the win does not feel legitimate as its more plot relevant than character relevant and because Yuga wins using shenanigans rather than actual skill. This is something that someone could point to support that Yuga could only beat Luke by cheating. If Yuga beat Luke at least once legitimately before their climatic final duel, not only would the shenanigans feel less legitimate but the win would be more. The overall story does not even need to change either. I will now go through each arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens pointing out things that would help with Yuga's role as protagonist and any other parts that I would change or improve upon.
The first arc is the RoaRomin arc. Honestly, I did enjoy this arc. This came from the fact that it flowed seamlessly and introduced quite a few different characters while still managing for each of them to have a role in the arc's conclusion. Also, the fact our main girl lead was an antagonist was a very welcome surprise. Given the history that girls in previous Yu-Gi-Oh! animes have, Romin being the secondary antagonist of the arc, although against her will, was interesting and a good breath of fresh air. I have no issues with the first episode. It introduces our main four leads, Yuga, Luke, Romin, and Gakuto, we witness the debut of Rush Duels, Yuga's duel against Otes was great and seeing Blue Eyes White Dragon after such a long time was a very welcome surprise.
However, it is the next episode that I have an issue with. It is quite common in previous Yu-Gi-Oh! animes for the main protagonist to have an amazing debut duel and their next or just a later duel within the span of 7-8 episodes to see them either lose or struggle. A perfect example is in Duel Monsters. Yugi has an iconic debut duel against Seto Kaiba but his next duel against Maximillion Pegasus, he loses. In GX, Jaden wins against Dr Crowler but then struggles in his next duel against Manjoume Thunder. This example differs as it is implied that Judai would have won the duel had it not been interrupted and Judai does defeat Manjoume legitimately two episodes later, but he does suffer a loss four episodes later against Ryo Marifuji. In 5D's, although we never see the protagonist Yusei Fudo lose on screen, after his debut duel against Ushio, we see a flashback of a duel Yusei had against Jack Altus in the past which he is shown to have lost. This trope differs much greatly in Zexal and ARC-V, as the protagonists of those shows, Yuma and Yuya respectively, were never shown as invincible as previous protagonists. Therefore, their losses after their debut duels did not hit as hard as they used to.
In VRAINS, this troupe was broken as its protagonist, Yusaku Fujiki aka Playmaker, much like Yusei, never on screen lost a duel. Much like Yusei, we see flashbacks of him losing duels during the Lost Incident. Although, these flashbacks were not shown until his duel against Akira Zaizen meaning much like with Yuma and Yuya, it did not carry much weight. With Yuga, they wanted to break the mould of the protagonist being the best duellist and instead having their rival, in this case Luke, be the best duellist. It was since Yuga had created Rush Duels in the first place that he does not need to be the best duellist as well. This is fine but as the show goes on, Yuga loses a bit too much to the point, most people would rather make Luke the protagonist considering he beat Yuga 3 times out of four. Overall, the only duels Luke lost was a flashback duel against his older sister Tiger, and of course the controversial loss to Yuga at the end of the show. In the end, characters losing duels, especially the main characters, are usually a way for them to grow and become better. This would have worked for both Yuga and Luke as they were presented as duo protagonists meaning they would have grown together and we would eventually see them outshine each other at various times.
Getting back to their first duel, I would prefer Yuga to beat Luke for a few reasons. The first reason is that some of Yuga's earlier losses were more plot relevant than others. Two prime examples are his losses to Neil and Asana. Both losses are integral to their respective arcs meaning they hit harder than some of Yuga's other losses. However, if his first loss of the show were to Neil, as his loss to Neil came before the loss to Asana, the depression that Yuga fell into would hit more considering the journey he is now on but I will get back to that later. Another reason for Luke to lose to Yuga is it would have been great for his character development for the entire first season. Its established early that Luke wishes to be the King of Duels or in other words, the best. Yuga at this point has no real desire to be the best as his wish is to continue spreading Rush Duels wherever he goes. So, Luke losing to not only his closest friend but to someone who does not even care about being the best would be a real gut punch to him. Keeping in mind, as we learn later, Luke has an excessively big inferiority complex. Tiger and Romin point out that Luke's only strength through the show is in Rush Duels so any loss he gets is a big hit to his ego. Romin even points out that Luke is obviously frustrated at the fact that his only "on screen" loss was to Yuga. This means that although Luke racks up a considerable number of wins throughout the first season, he would always know that Yuga is better than him. This would come to fruition at the Rush Duel tournament at the end of the first season but we still have way to go before that.
The next two episodes have Yuga face off against Romin and Gakuto whom he both beats. This would quickly establish that out of the core four, Yuga is the strongest duellist. The rest of arc is fine with the addition of some interesting side characters all leading up to the 3v3 battle royale with Team Yuga vs Team Roa. Luke vs Ushiro is not the most impressive win for Luke but does lead to the reveal that Romin has been lying, but again, against her will, and is duelling against her new friends. She defeats Gakuto which is a good win for her but is more plot relevant as it leads to the finale duel of Yuga vs Roa. This loss also helps with Gakuto's development but his come more down the line so I will revisit it later. I really do like the duel of Yuga vs Roa but primarily as it gives us some backstory as to who Otes really is and, how Yuga acquired Sevens Road Magician. Overall, this arc was fine and does set the stage well going into the next arc.
Despite having one of the best duels of the series, I have mixed feelings on the Maximum arc. It felt very rushed with the best moments happening a bit too quickly in the last four episode (23-26). I feel, given what Neil not only does in this arc but for what his character is, his first duel with Yuga should have been much earlier on. But I will get back to that soon. I just would like to point out Romin and Gakuto. In the first arc, Romin, and Gakuto both have two duels – 1 against Yuga and then against each other. They both lose to Yuga which is fine but Romin beats Gakuto meaning he is the only one out of the core four who does not have a single win coming out of the first arc. Yes, he does not get only a win but the spotlight against Otes later, but I would make Gakuto the one to duels the cleaner in the A.I. restaurant.
Getting back to Yuga vs Neil Round 1, if this duel were Yuga's first loss and happened earlier on in the arc, Yuga would have been depressed much more and for a longer period. It annoyed me a bit that Yuga was in and out of his depression in just one episode but having him lose much earlier would leave him depressed much longer which would have been more interesting to see. He would be depressed for more reasons now. It is his first loss, he lost with higher stakes on the line, and Neil intentionally stole Yuga's chance for later additions to Rush Duel by implementing Maximums. I am not saying Yuga needs to be completely depressed but at least for two episodes rather than just one. To keep in line with the story he could be sulking around town for one episode where we do not see him on screen that much and in the next is where he goes to Roa. Yuga going to Roa was my favourite part of that episode because not only do we see some of Roa's redemption but it shows Yuga's maturity. Out of everyone Yuga knows, Roa is going to understand how Yuga feels and came easily relate to him and it also worth pointing out that Roa does get annoyed at Yuga for being depressed despite understanding his situation. Roa knows how depression can lead you down a dark path and although Roa did not fall down any evil path, he wants to make sure Yuga in no way can/could.
This would also give some more screentime for our other three leads. As much as seeing all of them face off against Otes was great, it bothered me that we only really saw Gakuto's perspective. I guess the main reason for this is that given Gakuto at this point is the weakest duellist out of our main group, so he is the least likely to defeat Otes. However, that still does not mean I did not want to see the entirety of Romin and Luke's duels. The better way to show these duels would have been instead of all the simultaneously thinking to seek Otes, but rather they go at separate times meaning we would see all three of their duels. I get that all three of them duelling would be an excuse for Yuga to come back as after seeing the three penalties, he leaves Roa's place to find out what happened. I would have preferred if Yuga left because he got out of his depression rather than just for the plot. Other than that, the rematch between Yuga and Neil is completely impressive. Seeing Yuga maximum summon, the debut of Super Magitek Deity – Magnum Over Road, Yuga's and Neil's maximums battling and Yuga defying luck with his draw power managing to draw his maximum card repeatedly in the space of a single turn. It was also nice to have a formal introduction to Yggdrago and all its abilities. I like the concept of using ID cards to create new cards and it was nice to see that aspect being use throughout the rest of the show and the twist that Neil had his account banned was surprising, but given we see him duel a few more times later on in the show makes it feel a bit redundant.
Surprisingly, I have no gripes with the next arc – the Machine Cavalry club arc. I enjoyed the Asana as character and the fact she is the first female character to be the main antagonist of an arc. I did find the gimmick of using machines to play Rush Duels interesting and how its legacy was in the balance making Asana a much more complex character. The idea of Maximum Mountain was interesting and I enjoy how it plays into the next arc. Overall, this arc was fine and I do not have anything significant I would change about it.
Now we get to the tournament arc of the first season and this is where things get more exciting. As I mentioned before, this is where Luke's inferiority complex would really shine. As we see when Goha corporation announce the Rush Duel Tournament, Luke is all geared up to enter but is struggling as to decide whether he would prefer to have Romin or Gakuto join him on the team to compete. When we see him ask Yuga for his opinion, Yuga surprisingly reveals he has no wish to enter the tournament. Of course, Luke gets annoyed at Yuga although in this case he only really has two reasons to be mad. As Yuga created Rush Duels, he has a responsibility of patenting his creation, as with Goha creating this tournament, it would lead many people to believe they created Rush Duels which is obviously very hypocritical seen as how they have been attempting to destroy Rush Duels the entire show up to this point. But of course, the other reason Luke is annoyed at Yuga is because he really wants his best friend to join him in this tournament.
However, if Yuga had beaten Luke in their first duel, Luke would now have a third reason to be annoyed at Yuga – more than anything, he wants to defeat Yuga in this tournament. Given Luke's inferiority complex, he would feel that even if he won the tournament and therefore the title of King of Duels, he would not feel it was legit if Yuga still held a win over him. He would feel he needs to defeat Yuga in this tournament to, in his own mind, legitimise him earning the title of King of Duels. In the end, Yuga does end up entering the tournament but instead joining Luke, he forms a team with Roa and Neil. This was a pleasant surprise and it goes so much further than Yuga teaming up with previously known antagonists.
First, it indirectly puts Yuga as an enemy considering his opposition of Luke, Romin and Gakuto are his closer friends and given after the journey Luke has been on, we end up routing for him more now especially if Yuga had beaten him. Next, it shows Roa is completely comfortable with Yuga and we see later is grateful to Yuga for inviting him to his team. And of course, Neil was both an unexpected and expected third member to Yuga's team. As mentioned previously, Neil having his account banned feels redundant given he does end up duelling again but it shows that much like Roa, he does respect Yuga and so is willing to join him on his team. We even have a symbolic confirmation of not only Roa's and Neil's but also Asana's friendship with Yuga as unveiled in his duel against Hunt. Yuga has acquired a new maximum by the name of Hyper Engine Vast Vulcan. As we soon learn, Neil gave a piece to Yuga as he already has his own maximum, Roa gave a piece to Yuga as a form of thanking him for being on his team, and Asana gave Yuga a fresh ID card, excavated from Maximum Mountain as a symbol of their friendship. As much as we may route for Luke, you cannot help but also route for Yuga considering how he has managed to touch the hearts of all the antagonists to the point they are willing to aid him to eventually duel against his best friend and rival.
Before I get to the 3v3 battle royale of Team Yuga vs Team Luke, I would like to point out Yuga vs Otes Round 2 which is my only gripe with this arc. As much as it was fun to see Otes duel with some more iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters like Summoned Skull, this duel indirectly spoils that Otes is the eventual mastermind behind the Real Time Rush Duel Uninstall that is discovered towards the end of Yuga vs Luke Round 2. Had Otes been working behind the scenes, in the very background being the over-watcher that a lot of people prefer him as, it would have been a much better surprise as we would have had no idea he was ever involved. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy the duel but seeing Otes front and centre spoils not only the reveal but the mystery and awe around his character. Until we saw the flash back of Otes giving Yuga Seven Roads Magician, I was not sure Otes was human anymore as we would only see him through the relic. The only other times we see him in person is when he abducts Goha Yuga. Not to mention, that reveal would have been a bigger surprise had that been the first time we see Otes in person because it would have made him seem like a real threat.
Getting back our 3v3 battle royale, I have to say there is only duel I would change anything about. I do want to mention that I would have both Team Yuga and Team Luke on 763 points. This, of course, would mean that either team would need two wins to win overall. I can understand that since we are primarily routing for Luke that his team should be presented as the underdogs but it does not work originally as Luke had a win over Yuga. Having both teams at the same point at the start of the 3v3 causes us as the audience to waver on who we want to win which makes the three duels more intense than they already were. The first duel to go ahead is Romin vs Roa.
If anything, this duel is perfect and it completes Romin's development arc. Earlier in the season, Romin was shown to sometime go into a berserk state when hungry meaning after she either won/finished a duel, she would either forget what happened or not remember pieces of the duel other than the result. However, this strategy/ability ended up backfiring in her duel against Sushiko in which going into berserk mode lead to her losing. It was after this duel that Romin decided going into berserk mode is not the answer. And what just happens to be her next duel – Round 2 vs Yuga. And out of nowhere, Romin legitimately defeats Yuga without going into berserk mode. I would like to point out that in the previous 6 Yu-Gi-Oh! animes, there have only been two cases in which a female character has defeated the main protagonist – Yugi vs Rebecca and Yuya vs Yuzu. However, in both cases, the win was never legit. Yugi chose to surrender the duel to teach a lesson to Rebecca given the context of the episode and Yuya only lost to Yuzu because he forgot how to pendulum summon.
Despite this, Romin's growth really comes to head in her duel against Roa. This is her most deserved win in the entire show. Although Roa has already aligned himself with our core leads, he is still indirectly an obstacle for Romin. As much as she attempted to show here remorse to Luke after the end of the first arc, this win does cause her to completely get over any residual guilt she may have felt from her part in Roa's plan. By defeating Roa, not only does Romin free herself of any burden, she proves to Roa not only that she has grown, but that she is just as capable of standing by herself in front of their fans. This duel would then put Team Luke on 770 points meaning they only need one more win to win the tournament. The next duel to go ahead is Gakuto vs Neil.
As might have been expected, I would have Neil defeat Gakuto instead of them drawing. Do not get me wrong, I found it impressive that Gakuto survived and yet still managed to pull out a draw against Neil who despite not having duelled much, has proven himself a duellist to never be underestimated. It did rub me the wrong way that Neil did underestimate Gakuto. I can understand why as Gakuto is mostly seen as an average duellist and mainly because he does not possess a maximum. This mindset, for me at least, does contradict my original assessment and Neil's initial presentation during the maximum arc as a very calculated but snarky duellist who never seemed directly arrogant of his skills. But given the context, it would be better for Gakuto to lose for three reasons.
Primarily, this win would of course, draw the score line between the two teams. Secondly, this would be a good win for Neil. Given his account was made banned, he hardly duels and one of his only other duels was against Asana during the Goha Siblings arc which he loses so this at least would have been a good win for Neil. This duel, despite being a loss, would be good for Gakuto. We already see that Gakuto was cracking under pressure just purely from the fact he is duelling Neil and after finally committing, successfully pull off a combo which results in mutual destruction. Looking back, it would make more sense, given Neil's personality, for him to have a final trap to either prevent or negate damage meaning only Gakuto loses life points from his combo and Neil easily survives. It would also be a lesson for Gakuto that no matter what result he gets, if he knows he tried his hardest, his friends will be proud of him. This would then lead to the much-anticipated rematch between Yuga and Luke
I must start by outright stating that this duel is my favourite of the show. Both duellists have gone on great journeys from the start of the show and their growth have been a joy to watch. But now, the setup is better than it was. Yuga has already beaten Luke and possess a maximum which would mean Yuga would indirectly be overconfident as he has most of the momentum going into this duel. It would also make more sense why Luke was so desperate to gain a maximum as he wanted to try and match Yuga's power level in preparation. Regardless, this duel still had everything: both their aces going up against each other, Yuga almost winning on his second turn with Vast Vulcan, Luke overcoming Yuga's maximum with relative ease and the shock result of Yuga winning to then reveal Luke wins. This time, Luke does feel he finally accomplished something as not only has he beaten Yuga but officially won/earned the title of King of Duels. The best part of this, is that despite Yuga being our protagonist, we as the audience are completely happy for Luke. Now, at the end of the first season, Yuga, and Luke both have a win against each other so overall, they are evenly matched.
But now, it is time for the Goha Siblings arc. The Goha Siblings arc had an interesting premise with some great ideas which unfortunately, for me, fell flat. But I do believe that with few changes, this arc could have been much better, from a plot and character perspective.
The premise for the arc was different to say the least. The idea of having restraints on the new Rush Duel Robot which would eventually wear it down was fine but I would have preferred if there was some consequence to Team Rush losing any of their duels as nothing really happened when they lost. I will continue going into this with the same premise but going with what I have planned out. The rewrite of this and next arc took some time and I must say, despite not having the most inventive mind, I am pleased with how it works.
Let us start by establishing the members of each team – Team Goha vs Team Rush. Team Goha is primarily composed of the Goha Siblings: Goha Yuro, Goha Yujin, Goha Yuka, Goha Yuran, Goha Yuo with a surprise member of Neil. As much as Neil surprised me for being on Team Goha, but given his position, it should not be any surprise as he works for Goha and must remain neutral. On Team Rush, we have Yuga, Luke, Romin, Gakuto, Roa, Asana and Tiger. My first draft of rewriting this arc did not include Tiger but the more I thought about it, it would be better for Tiger to be included.
The first duel of the arc, Yuga vs Goha Yuro, would remain the same with Yuga winning. This not only gives Team Rush a win to start the contest but it does give Yuga a win, fresh off the back of losing to Luke in the tournament. This of course, results in Yuro being kicked off the Sixcross and having his Goha presidential status revoked which leads us to into our next duel. Just like the show, the second duel has Luke vs Goha Yujin. It took me a while to decide on a change for this duel but I eventually decided on having Yujin win this duel for a few reasons.
The primary reason is because of Luke's ego. In the episode straight after the tournament, it is shown that Luke winning the tournament has given his ego a big boost. He has become extremely arrogant about his duelling ability to the point that even Yuga, Romin and Gakuto are apprehensive about being around him. Having him lose would be a necessary wake up call for him and remind him that how he has been acting is wrong. Furthermore, it makes sense for not only his first duel after the tournament to be a loss but for Yujin to do it. Even just Luke losing after the tournament makes sense as he has indirectly gotten more careless as he in complete belief that he is the best and cannot be beaten. Yujin seemed quite alike to Luke, so it makes sense for him to be the one to recognise Luke's state and not only try to win for his siblings and their overall crusade, but to humble Luke. This not only would send Luke down a similar depression to when Neil defeated Yuga, but it would be the perfect cause for Luke to receive the Lukeman helmet later in the arc. Not to mention, in Luke's head, he has now lost the title of King of Duels to Yujin, adding even more to his already big inferiority complex.
Now that the score has tied 1-1, the next Goha sibling to take to the field is Goha Yuka. Yuka was always an interesting sibling to me. She is the only girl out of the five siblings and she is easily the fieriest, easily getting frustrated and emotional about different situations. When Yuka does take to the field, who does she end up duelling, but of course, Romin. I really enjoyed their duel; however, I feel plot wise, Romin was given the loss considering originally Team Rush were already two points up which is why Yuka chose to take to the field. Similarly, I am going to keep the result the same of Yuka defeating Romin but with slightly distinct reasons. In this case, Yuka was similarly annoyed at Yuro losing to Yuga but before Yuka could take to the field, Yujin stops her and goes before her. Now that Yujin has drawn the score line, Yuka wishes for Team Goha to take the lead which she does accomplish. This does subvert expectations of the Team Rush getting a point back as it now makes the Goha siblings more competent antagonists. I could never take them seriously given Team Rush got two wins back-to-back. But here, having them take down two good duellists and taking the lead makes them seem more dangerous. In addition, Romin has had two big wins against both Yuga and Roa so she is in no real need of another win. That is not to say she does not deserve to win but there was someone else who can take this win. After this the score is now 2-1 to Team Goha.
The pressure is starting to get to Team Rush considering they have not only had two consecutive losses but had two of their best duellists defeated. Even getting to the point where Yuga is starting to worry but now the next Goha sibling to take to the field is Goha Yuran who challenges Gakuto. And this duel is where Gakuto's arc would end with him getting the win over Yuran. As we see in his duel against Neil, he unfortunately let the pressure get to him which caused him to go for broke which, in the end, did not work out. But here, this is when he gets his big win as he manages to not only keep his cool but gets the win for his friends. Gakuto's development comes from the fact that he let Neil scare him from remembering why he was duelling (for his friends) but he is learnt from that duel and so not only picks up a win but ties the scoreline back to 2-2. Obviously, there is 1 person who really doesn't enjoy this development which is Yuka given how she was the one to get the lead and now in the very next duel, Yuran goes and loses it and given her fiery personality, she rushes back to the field attempting to duel Gakuto but is instead met by Roa.
As mentioned before, this arc did have a few issues and some of these matches were interesting, but I feel the presentation of them could have been done so much better. Yuka vs Roa was again another matchup that did not disappoint and I am keeping the result the same of Roa defeating Yuka for a few reasons. The first reason of course, is this win would not only avenge Romin's loss but would be a big win for Roa. This would really prove his development especially towards Romin, and it proves his friendship to Yuga as he is managed to take the lead on the score line and make it 3-2 to Team Rush.
Now with three members of Team Goha of the Sixcross, the only members left are Goha Yujin and Yuo. Given how Yuo has not really gotten involved at all and that he already has a win, Yujin pressure Yuo to take the field, which he gladly does given he has his Fusion card he has kept secret from the rest of the Goha siblings. When Yuo originally took to the field, he challenged Yuga and beat him and I am keeping that the same as well. This duel always stood out to me given how symbolic it was. Not only Yuo unveil a new summoning method but uses it to destroy Yuga's maximum which leads to his defeat. It was very surprising to see the return of fusion monsters and with this victory not only had Yuo confirmed he is a force to be reckoned with, but he is also retied the scoreline and shaken Team Rush's confidence with his new summoning method. Of course, Yujin is going to remain vigilant of Yuo given he had no prior knowledge of Yuo's fusion spell but decides to play along to learn more. This loss would also apply to Luke as seeing Vast Vulcan being used again would've slightly lifted his spirits but then to not only see Yuga lose, but to see a monster that prior to this duel, only he had the credit of destroying, further knocks Luke down given his inferiority complex, even smaller things that just him losing, is causing him to lose his confidence. One other change I will make is that You, in his spare time while the rest of the Goha siblings were duelling, has discovered how the Fusion card was created but keeps it a secret as he believes there is no need to act on that information just yet.
Now with Yuo having won a duel, he decides to take charge and bring Neil into the field, and given how Neil does work for Goha, he has no choice but to duel for them. Surprisingly, his opponent is Asana and I remember this duel being very impressive. I remember believing that this should be an easy win for Neil but shockingly, Asana pulls out the win and I have no problem with that. Not only does it give Team Rush the lead again, but it is a good win for Asana and gives room for some development for Neil. It is important to note that after Yuga lost to Yuo, Luke is not present for this duel. As the night before was the infamous night that he finds the Lukeman helmet fall from the sky. Of course, after Neil leaves, Yuo, who was watching from the side-line, is frustrated and attempts to challenge Asana. But who should come of the trees and bushes is Luke, wearing the Lukeman helmet.
It is important to note that my Lukeman helmet is like the show's but will progress differently. But I will get to that when I need to. First off, just like in the show, the Lukeman helmet has its own consciousness but now, the rest of the cast believe it is just Luke putting a persona on and trying to look cool. However, at first, this is the case, but slowly and surely, the longer Luke wears the helmet, the consciousness takes more control of him to the point it becomes a symbiotic relationship. Luke will eventually be unconscious, cladded with the Lukeman armour, but the Lukeman will be making all the moves and decisions.
Before that eventually occurs, the Lukeman and Yuo have their duel and the Lukeman does win. Not only does he win though, he wins with his very own Fusion spell. The rest of the cast are impressed by this revelation as Yuo was the only one who was aware of the Fusion spell. Well, the only character who chooses to investigate is Yuga. Now that Yuo has lost he will receive the same punishment as the rest of the Goha siblings. However, just like in the show, except with Yujin and not Yuran, Yuo reveals he still has a Goha President badge and traps Yujin and forcibly kicks him off the Sixcross, even though, he has not lost a duel. This will, of course, enrage Yujin, but for the moment, he is unable to do anything about it.
Now we return to Earth to see Luke just really practising with the Lukeman helmet still on to which point Yuo shows up. When I originally watched this scene, I really disliked Luke primarily because I was not sure what was going through his brain for him to believe Yuo's story that he is the 6th Goha sibling. Considering there is no external force manipulating Luke's choice to believe Yuo, especially since this is the guy "he" just defeated, it really confused me. This is why I am having Luke now, constantly, wearing the Lukeman helmet. So that, in this instance, it is not Luke making the decision to join Team Goha but rather the Lukeman being manipulated by Yuo's lies. Also, I would change Yuo's story and instead of manipulating the Lukeman he is the 6th Goha sibling, instead, Yuo manipulates him into believing that he is the good guy and that Team Rush are bad guys. Seen as how the Lukeman has only just "bonded" to Luke, he immediately believes this and eventually, Yuo will bring him onto the Sixcross to perform a procedure. This procedure will incapacitate Luke meaning, he is unable to influence the Lukeman's decisions and making him the perfect puppet for Yuo to use.
Getting back to Yujin for a moment, it is important to note that he has met up with the rest of the evicted Goha siblings who all also were suspicious of Yuo but did not do anything to him as they had no proof. But after meeting back with Yujin and learning what he has done, this is where Yuro, Yuran, Yuka and Yujin decide to meet up with Team Rush and share their intel. This is a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." The evicted Goha siblings believe that after winning this contest, Yuo will attempt to completely takeover Goha corporation and they are in fear of what he may do without their influence. It is also important to note that the current score is 5-3 to Team Rush after Yuo's defeat.
After having done the procedure, Yuo and the Lukeman go to Asana's HQ to challenge her to a duel. Of course, the Lukeman is the one who is going to duel as Yuo cannot despite the shenanigans he pulled with Yujin earlier. I have two main reasons why I would have the Lukeman duel Asana first. The main reason is because she got the win over Neil earlier, which was not only a big win for her, but it was a win that Yuo was extremely cross about as he believed using Neil would have been a sure-fire win, which it obviously was not. So, what better way to introduce your new puppet then to beat the person who beat your last. Not only that, but it allows the duel to mostly be out of sight of the rest of Team Rush and evicted Goha siblings, but they will not reach the battlefield until the end in which Asana is defeated. Although Asana is going to inform them about the duel, I believe Yuo's eagerness to witness her lose would prevent her relaying any proper information. If anything, our protagonists are not going to believe Asana until they see it themselves, but, like mentioned earlier, they do not' arrive at the duel until Asana's LP hits zero. The scoreline is now 5-4.
Now that Team Rush has witnessed the Lukeman's change of allegiance, you can imagine they are shocked and feel betrayed. However, since everyone assumed Luke was just putting on a persona, they begin to believe that Luke has betrayed them. Now, I was perplexed on who the Lukeman should duel before Yuga. My first thoughts were either Gakuto or Roa. The main reason being is that they've both picked up a big win each during this arc so they can afford to take a loss now, especially as it would better build up how strong the Lukeman is. It would also make sense for Luke's closer friends to attempt to get through to him. But, after further consideration, it makes sense to take the same angle but use Tiger. Now, up to this point, Tiger is the only one, although before the events of the show, who holds an uncontested win over Luke. And given her personality, there is no way she would not jump at the chance to beat him again. Of course, this time, the Lukeman wins and not only does he win, he wins confidently. Not only would this win tie the score 5-5, but it would really show why Luke wore the helmet all the time. Even though it was not actually Luke, Tiger has now been defeated by the one person who was truly afraid of her. This time, the script has flipped and Tiger is afraid of Luke. But before, anything can go further, Yuga emerges from the trees and bushes much like Luke before him with the evicted Goha siblings behind him with a massive trunk.
This is where I have two ideas for how the finale of arc should go. Both ideas share the same concept as the original duel where Yuga puts on a performance to show the Lukeman that Team Rush are the good guys and that Yuo has lied to him. The ideas differ in how the duels occur. As I am sure we are all ware, the scoreline now is 5-5. This of course means that the first team to win the next duel win overall. The first idea has a tag duel with Yuga and Yujin vs the Lukeman and Yuo. Yuga is duelling the Lukeman to free Luke and Yujin is annoyed at Yuo for his schemes. In this tag duel, Yuga would eliminate the Lukeman from the duel from which the rest of Team Rush would free Luke from the Lukeman suit who now joins the rest of the audience. Yuo, in retaliation, would eliminate Yujin leaving only Yuga and Yuo left but Yuga would win leaving the scoreline at 6-5 with victory for Team Rush.
The second version involves, overall, 3 1v1 duels. Yuga vs the Lukeman would occur simultaneously alongside the Yuo vs Yujin duel. The duels would involve the same loser with the Lukeman and Yujin losing which results in the scoreline immediately jumping to 6-6. You could have some classic arguing over who won first to dictate the overall win but more than likely, Yuga would challenge Yuo to a final duel in which, he would win with the scoreline, in Sevens fashion, at 7-6 resulting in victory for Team Rush. In both instances, Yuga would reveal he acquired a Fusion spell which is why he was momentarily absent with the evicted Goha siblings who aided him in doing so. In the tag duel, he would only use it when dealing the finishing blow to the Lukeman but in the separate duels, he can still reveal it against the Lukeman and then use it against Yuo.
The tag duel is more likely to occur as having three separate duels would require more runtime/episodes or they end up all being quite short which is not what a finale deserves. After any necessary commotion, the Lukeman will apologise for falling victim to Yuo's lies and take off to outer space, the Goha siblings would turn the restraints on the Rush Duel robot off and return to Goha corporation to reclaim their presidential status. Luke, having been unconscious, would be informed of what happened and this is where his inferiority complex would shine again. Throughout this entire arc, the title of King of Duels was never on the line, but given who Luke is, he is going to believe that not only has he lost the title, but now that he is undeserving off it. Given Yujin beat Luke, Yuo beat Yujin and now Yuga beat Yuo, Luke, to himself, believes that Yuga is the King of Duels especially since he beat "him" just before even though technically, it was the Lukeman. This would end the arc with Yuga still agreeing to work for Goha Corporation like originally, and this would lead straight into the Goha Yuga arc.
Before getting to the main part of this arc, I need to address a major change to the arc: Swirly is not going to be revealed as Goha Yuga. Instead, it is our Yuga. I am quite sure I was not the only one who theorised that our Yuga would be Goha Yuga especially after Mimi noticed the trend of all the Goha Siblings having "Yu" in their names and even after she found Goha Yuga's ID card. I did enjoy the Swirly reveal however, it felt a bit underwhelming, especially as we had been introduced to Swirly at the start of this same season so it was natural to assumed he would end up having a plot relevant moment later. But I think it would make it more interesting to have our Yuga become the main antagonist for an arc for a few reasons. The most obvious reason is that it would make good conflict for Team Rush to have to fight one of their greatest allies. The most important reason, however, is it would help with Luke's insecurity. Throughout most of the Goha Sibling arc, Luke has been dealing with his inferiority complex and I feel him, having to fight Yuga would help in a way. Not only would we still get Luke vs Goha Yuga, but it would make more sense. Given how much Luke overshadowed Yuga in duelling skill, it did bother me that Luke had to take over for Yuga in that duel. But here, he is not just duelling to resolve the conflict; he is duelling to save his friend. Of course, for this change to work, the backstory will need adjusting – so here goes.
Going back, 1-2 years ago, the 6 Goha Siblings: Goha Yuro, Yujin, Yuka, Yuran, Yuo and Yuga were managing Goha Corporation. Although, they were never publicly seen outside the main building, they managed Goha Corporation under the guise of Mr Goha. Being the youngest, Goha Yuga tended to tantrum and bully employees to do his bidding. Of course, his orders were quite minor but he does end up getting in trouble from the other Siblings. One day, leaving the tower to have wander, Goha Yuga comes across a cave in the forest which houses the 3 Ladybug Ninjas. The ninjas were practising their "magic" which would allow them to manipulate others and take control of them. Intrigued, Goha Yuga asks to be taught. The ninjas, recognising Goha Yuga's authority and sensing his true nature, welcome and teach him. I am choosing to change the memory loss to mind control as part of the story arc itself and, the memory loss originally, did seem consistent to how it affected some of the characters. The magic works by using an object to seal the magic withing and using said object against your chosen person to take control of them. This being the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, Goha Yuga chooses to create a new duelling card and to use that.
Unbeknownst to Goha Yuga, Goha Yuo had been assigned to keep watch of Goha Yuga. The ninjas were aware of his presence but chose to not take immediate action. With Goha Yuga returning to Goha Corporation, he headed to the basement to create his new card which would be – Monster Reborn. Much like in the show, as part of a mind game, the ritual to mind control his opponent would occur the same time he plays Monster Reborn to attempt to defeat his opponent with their own ace monster. The ninjas keep a close eye but remain in the shadows. Midway through the process, Goha Yuo enters along with the rest of the siblings, demanding that Goha Yuga stops. Of course, Goha Yuga challenges Yuo to a duel and agrees that he will stop if Yuo defeats him. The duel is a big slugfest with both Yuga and Yuo dealing big blow to each other but we get to the final turn with Goha Yuga drawing Monster Reborn. It is important to note that the physical card was completed but as Goha Yuga attempts to use it, the ritual goes wrong. As the card is activated, pitch black darkness around Goha Yuga, enveloping him in a dark sphere until it explodes. What happened was, the ninjas set him up. Goha Yuga, at this point, is not completely evil at this point. He is just more aggressive and demanding so the ninja gave him a different ritual. The ritual was just to create a distraction for the ninjas to mould Goha Yuga into a complete villain for them to serve under. In this hypothetical situation, the other Goha siblings would believe they were rid of him and so his return and eventual takeover would make him more threatening and sinister.
The explosion knocks the other 5 Goha siblings to the wall while Goha Yuga is thrown out of the room into a corridor. Some of his belongings are spread in different directions: his badge, crown, mask, deck, ID card and duel disk. Due to the intensity of the explosion, the 5 Goha siblings receive amnesia regarding their sixth sibling and decide to take to space in the Sixcross to heal and recover from this ordeal. But not before Yuo manages to swipe Goha Yuga's Goha Badge. The 5 Goha siblings take one of their employees and have them be the host for Mr Goha. This will eventually be the person Mimi witnesses collapse before she takes the mantle. On the other hand, the ninjas, have recovered the rest of Goha Yuga's items but during the chaos, Goha Yuga has vanished so the ninjas choose to keep hold of Goha Yuga's belongings while they search for him for the next few years. Goha Yuga, meanwhile, has complete amnesia and is now looking different with his hair switching colours and naked albeit wearing a big cloak. This is when he is spotted by a widow outside her house who witnesses him collapse. She takes pity on him and takes him in. Goha Yuga wakes up in a bed with the woman. Goha Yuga thanks the woman for her kindness and relays how he has been on the streets all his life, discarded by many, and only remembers his name – Yuga. The widow chooses to adopt this child meaning he ends up sharing her surname – Ohdo.
I understand this ending to the backstory might seem corny but it sets up ideas that we find out later. Yuga has a single parent, the ladybug ninjas are loyal to Goha Yuga, the other Goha siblings are unknown for a long while until after the Rush Duel Tournament and why Yuo had a spare Goha badge that the others had no clue about. I'd also have the ladybug ninjas have background appearance during times in which Yuga duels a bit like an easter egg and also because they have also been tracking a the Goha Siblings since they've returned to Earth and have noticed that our Yuga, to them, has some semblance to Goha Yuga but there not sure yet.
As per the end of the Goha Sibling arc, Yuga, Luke, Romin, and Gakuto are all working at Goha Corporation. Given Yuo was the best performing Goha Sibling during the tournament, he puts himself at the top of Goha Corporation with no opposition from the other siblings. However, unknown to him, the other Goha Siblings are more concerned about Yuo given how he schemed against his own siblings just so he could take Goha Corporation for himself. Yuo is, of course, suspicious of Yuga given how Team Rush won the tournament yet was still willing to work at Goha with no strings attached, meaning most of him time is spent having our core four under surveillance to see if they are up to something.
Under Yuo's watchful eyes, Yuga, Luke, Romin, and Gakuto are all working in their respective ways. Gakuto, being the Goha 6th Elementary Class President, takes a responsible role in Goha doing various admin related tasks due to his natural discipline and attitude. Romin is working more with the creative side of Goha given her musical background while Luke, still in unrequited competition with Yuga, is rushing around Goha doing as many tasks as he can to compete with Yuga. Meanwhile, Yuga, who is also in admin, is working at a regular pace, but also, does smaller tasks around the building and every so often, does some other tasks, which are disguised as extra work but really end up being his work on creating New Road for Rush Duel from within Goha. At the end of the first week of work, our main four just make the Top 20 Employee Leaderboard with Yuga 1st (17th), Luke 2nd (18th), Gakuto 3rd (19th) and Romin 4th (20th). Naturally, Yuga, Romin and Gakuto are happy to make the leaderboard and continue, whereas Luke is frustrated coming to second relative to Yuga to the point he angrily challenges Yuga to a Rush Duel.
This would be where we get the infamous Yuga vs Luke Round 3. Honestly speaking, this is my least favourite of their four duels in the show. Most obviously, it was complete filler and just ended up being another pointless showcase that Luke is a stronger duellist than Yuga. In this case, Luke is just desperate to get something over Yuga. After having gone through losing to Yuga, as the Lukeman, Luke is desperate for any sign of superiority over Yuga. In this duel, I would have Yuga and Luke draw with Luke causing the draw. I think it would make sense for Luke to have a card that could cause a draw as it shows that he is that unwilling to take another loss now, that he is willing to take a draw at the very least. Yuga, being who he is, could not care less about the result and just carries on with his work. The reason Luke is so eager to beat Yuga is because of his actions as the Lukeman. As discussed earlier, Luke was not in control when the Lukeman duelled however, deep down, he still feels responsible for those actions. Luke also is in disbelief that even though he beat Yuga during the Rus Duel tournament, whereas the Lukeman, who was calmer and more focused, lost to Yuga. Had Luke beaten Yuga here, it would have proven that duel was a fluke. Although not only did Yuga legitimately beat the Lukeman, but he is has grown enough that he almost beat Luke honestly. Luke, after winning the Rush Duel tournament was under the inevitable false assumption, that he would remain the best for the rest of the series. However, as we have seen, not only is this false, but he is not truly grown from any of his losses and still attempting to cling onto what he once had. It should be mentioned that Luke still views Yuga as the King of Duels, given the transitive property, and is afraid of always being suck trying to catch up rather than already being and staying at the top.
Back at Goha Corporation, the Ladybug ninjas are still sneaking around d trying to leave Goha Yuga's items in places where Yuga may interact with them. In doing so, two of them end up getting caught by Romin and Gakuto. Both ninjas challenge them to Rush Duels but end up losing and in doing so, must relinquish the items at the time, Goha Yuga's duel disk and mask, and getting kicked out of the building. The ninjas chose to throw the duels as part of the plan with the idea being, since Romin and Gakuto are friends of Yuga, they would provide a way for Yuga to interact with the items. Now, the ninjas could just force the items into Yuga, however, this would work as Yuga is not stupid. If he is forced into the items, Yuga would become more suspicious whereas, finding one of them naturally, would make him more curious rather than suspicious.
In the end, Yuga, looking in a drawer, finds his old deck. Curious, Yuga looks through it and begins to recognise the cards tow hic point the darkness in the deck starts to give him visions of his former life and he starts to regain his memories. At first, Yuga shrugs the visions off as nothing more than his own imagination but surprisingly, he keeps the discovery secret from Luke, Romin, and Gakuto. In secret, Yuga starts to spend more time with the deck to which the visions cement themselves more as memories and keep Yuga in a mindless trance. The ninjas, noticing this, recover the rest of Goha Yuga's items and proceed to follow him around but keeping a far as to prevent seeming like complete stalkers.
Yuga would be in such a trance that instead of going to work at Goha Corporation, his resurfacing memories lead him to the basement level where there is a card, face-down waiting for him. Yuo, noticing this on the cameras, rushed down to confront Yuga and on his way, dashes part the other Siblings who were about to confront him. Suspicious of Yuo's behaviour, the Siblings check the cameras as well and see Yuga in the basement level as well but also see Luke, Romin and Gakuto gathered in Yuga's workroom, confused at his whereabouts. The Siblings run to meet them and inform them about Yuga's whereabouts to which point they all go down to the basement level together. When they arrive, Yuga and Yuo are already engaged in a Rush Duel where surprisingly, Yuga is dominating Yuo. Everyone notices that Yuga is not using his regular deck but instead Yuga is suing his Goha deck. The ninjas are also watching behind Yuga in the shadows ready to spring out at the right moment.
The duel, for our new audience, continues Yuo's turn where he manages to summon his ace monster and deal his first blow to Yuga. But then it comes to Yuga's turn and in his new hand, is the card that was waiting for him, just like last time, darkness starts to spill out from the card, enveloping Yuga in a dark sphere. At that same moment, the three ladybug ninjas make their appearance known and throw all Goha Yuga's belongings into the sphere. Goha Yuga's Goha badge is even stripped from Yuo. In this moment, Yuga breaks free from the trance, complete in the now, but alas, it is too late. His Seven Road deck falls away from him and in desperate state, call out to his best friends but to no avail. The sphere thickens and explodes but this time, the Siblings regain their lost memoires only to witness Yuga come out of the shadows only to reveal – Goha Yuga.
As the Ladybug ninjas bows to him, the Siblings along with Luke, Romin and Gakuto are in complete shock. Goha Yuga activates card to destroy Yuo's monster and then, activates that card that reawakened him – Monster Reborn. Yuga summons Yuo's monster to his field and attack directly for game. The Siblings attempt to come to Yuo's defence but are stopped by a ninja trap. All the audience can do is watch as Goha Yuga's darkness envelops Yuo, and as it leaves, Yuo's eyes remain pitch-black and bows to Goha Yuga along with the ninjas. The Siblings realising the danger forcibly escort Luke, Romin, and Gakuto out of the basement level and out of Goha Corporation in complete shock and fear. But just before, Luke manages to scoop up Yuga's deck and give a confident look to his old friend. Goha Yuga just smiles and laughs manically before ordering his servants follow him to the head office.
The Siblings, along with Luke, Romin, Gakuto, Roa and Asana at Yuga's lab, in complete shock at what they just witnessed. Having regained their memories, the Siblings deduce what just occurred and decide they need to stop what they indirectly started all those years ago. Team Rush is just still in shock at seeing their best friend revealed to be their now greatest enemy. The Siblings decide to take on Goha Yuga themselves and leave for Goha Corporation. Surprisingly, Luke tries to snap everyone out of their funk and tries to reassure everyone that Yuga can be saved. Gakuto is the first to be in disbelief and in response, Luke picks him up by his collar, and punches him in the fact to the floor in anger. Luke is not going to give up that easily and demands that until they do not try, do not belief that so easily.
A few moments later, Neil appears on a screen to deliver some unsettling news – all the Goha Siblings are under Goha Yuga's control. From some security footage, Team Rus witness Yuo and the 3 Ladybug ninjas defeat Yuro, Yujin, Yuka and Yuran and subsequently succumb to Goha Yuga's control. At this point, Team Rus now truly realise how strong Goha Yuga really is. Even Luke flinches especially given how he has not been able to beat Yuga and even with Yuga's deck in hand, is unsure whether even he can save him. Before anything else can happen, Neil pulls up live security fee of Goha Yuga duelling Otes. Its seems after taking over Goha Corporation, Goha Yuga decided to take care of Seven's biggest dark horse. That, of course, being Otes. As Team Rus see from the duel, Goha Yuga pulls the same move against Yuo, against Otes – destroying one of his strongest monsters and resurrecting that monster to his own field and attacking his opponent with it for game – Otes loses. Goha Yuga attempts to take control of him and as his darkness envelops the relic. It dissipates to reveal a hole in the ground. It would seem Otes just managed to escape and frustrated, Goha Yuga leaves but orders his ninjas to search for Otes.
Now, having seen his strategy twice, Luke is confident that he can save Yuga. And he knows the best way to do it to remind Yuga who he really is. Before rushing off, he is stopped by Asana who correctly states, that it cannot be that easy. Luke, desperate for his best friend, claims he will not know for sure until he tries. This is when Romin and Gakuto choose to support Luke and eventually Roa as well. All united now, Team Rush make a pact that no matter who falls, they will not' stop trying. It is at this moment that an explosion occurs, blowing a hole in the lab to reveal a bunch of ambiguous Goha employees, obviously under Goha Yuga's mind control. Shockingly, all of them collapse and as they attempt to get back up, they are trying to fight off Goha Yuga's mind control. This is where Team Rush realise Goha Yuga's flaw. The more people he attempts to control, the weaker his control is. And with some confirmation from Neil, Goha Yuga now having the entirety of Goha Corporation at his command, he is at his most vulnerable. This is where Team Rush along with some other friends decide to make a stand against Goha Yuga and make their way to Goha Corporation.
As our newly extended Team Rush arrive at Goha Corporation, they meet Neil who promptly join them as they venture inside. This crusade will split into three parts. The first part will have the extended keeping the ambiguous Goha employees at bay to clear our path for the main members to make their way to the top. This is where they are met with the next line of defence – the mind controlled Goha Siblings. They will be held off by Romin, Gakuto, Roa, Neil and Asana to clear the patch for Luke to duel Goha Yuga. Now, as interesting as it could be to have this be a giant 5v5 battle royale, I fell it would make more sense to have five separate 1v1 duels. Now, it does not really matter who duels who here as these duels are not important, given as soon as Goha Yuga is defeated, his mind control, given how weak it is at this point, will fade, freeing all his current servants. For me personally, I would have Roa duel Yuro and Neil duel Yuo, as during the Rush Duel Robot Duel at the end of the show, Roa and Neil happen to be wearing their crowns so it would be nice to make that connection here. I would then have Romin duel Yuka as Romin has already lost to Yuk and since then she has developed enough that she could beat her now. That just leaves Yujin and Yuran and, honestly, I would have Gakuto duel Yujin leaving Asana to duel Yuran as Gakuto already has a win over Yuran. This then leads to the Luke vs Goha Yuga on the outside field.
For this duel, Luke, to get through to our Yuga, has mixed Yuga's deck with his own to create a hybrid Spellcaster/Dragon deck. Not only that but Luke is also attempting to implement a strategy like Revolver's in his duel against Lightning in VRAINS. In that duel, one of Revolver's strategies was to use his card to prevent Lightning using the Link Spell: Judgment Arrows. Luke, in this instance, will attempt to prevent Goha Yuga using Monster Reborn by either making him discard or negating its effect etc. Not only that, throughout the duel, Luke summons a bunch of Yuga's monsters, his Sevens Road's monsters, and in doing so, Yuga Ohdo, inside of Goha Yuga, is attempting to break out of the darkness that is Goha Yuga. This duel has its conclusion towards at Goha Yuga's turn where he manages to play Monster Reborn to summons Dragias and attempt to finish Luke but saves himself at the last moment. Its Luke's final turn in which he pulls of a combo to summon the Fusion monster, Sevensgias the Magical Dragon Knight, the embodiment of his friendship with Yuga.
With this monster, Luke manages to win the duel and as a result, everyone whom Goha Yuga took control of has darkness spew out of their heads into him which should energise home, but during the duel, Goha Yuga has become so instable with our Yuga trying to break out, much like Judai from within Supreme King Hao in GX, that Goha Yuga, for the third time, is enveloped in a sphere of darkness. Unlike the other times, the two conflicting personalities cause a halfway split in the sphere and when it explodes, Goha Yuga and Yuga Ohdo are flung in opposite directions – our Yuga into the arms of Luke, Romin, and Gakuto, momentarily unconscious, Goha Yuga to the edge of the building. Before any further action can occur, the ladybug ninjas return, and aid Goha Yuga in his escape in which he swears his revenge on Luke, before returning to the cave where it all started. With Goha Yuga defeated, the Goha Siblings are free to return Goha Corporation to normal and Team Rush return to Yuga's lab in victory.
Back at Yuga's lab, Yuga wakes back up to see all his friends around him in celebration. Fortunately, Yuga retains his memories from his trance to his return. Team Rush is reunited but Yuga cannot help but wonder about Goha Yuga's whereabouts. At this moment, a live feed appears on Yuga's screen being transmitted by Otes, whose at Goha Yuga's cave. It turns out that Otes was unaffected by his loss to Goha Yuga, and through the feed, Team Rush witness Otes not only defeat Goha Yuga, but tie him up. The ninjas, afraid of Otes, ditch Goha Yuga but swear payback on Otes. We will see this as them setting the clocks for Otes' worker aliens during the finale duel. This is when Otes directly addresses Team Rush and this is where we move swiftly into the Otes finale arc of Sevens.
I understand a lot of this arc was just describing but that is most likely because this arc was a complete rewrite rather than making edits and explaining their future implications. The Goha Yuga arc for left a lot to be desired for me, but I feel this rewrite does implement some ideas that I would have liked to have seen. And it is not like there were not any plot threads that did not continue during this arc like this rewrite's main purpose – Yuga and Luke's rivalry. Despite Luke having a deep-down dislike of Yuga for being superior to him, Luke did not let that be the main driving force for wanting to stop Goha Yuga but rather for saving his friend. It is also worth pointing out that, Luke has technically got a win over Yuga, however, he is not going to count it as it was not actually him. Despite this, he has finally realised what is he has been missing – growth.
As mentioned before, Luke believed he would remain at the top having won the Rush Duel tournament and in doing so, indirectly did not develop/grow from that point. The reason Yuga manage to get one over him during the Goha Sibling tournament was because he had developed since the tournament whereas Luke had not.' Even as the Lukeman and especially during their third duel, Luke was using the same/similar strategies and only during his duel with his Goha Yuga, did he try something new but, of course, that was a for completely different reason. It only took using his best friend's cards to realise that to become better and stronger, he must do new things to not only evolve but to be less predictable and therefore, easier to beat.
This now nicely leads into the Otes finale arc. I do understand that there are mixed feelings about this arc given how Otes has never seemed like the big, bad antagonist during any of his past appearances but I did enjoy this arc. Now, that is due to the bizarre spectacle of the finale duel taking place in duelling robots in space and I am confident that is reason enough to enjoy this arc no matter of its setup. In previous series, we have had a few amazing spectacles of final boss duels like Yusei vs Z-One taking place in the sky of New Domino City and Yuma/Astral vs Shark in the centre of three worlds in a doomed collision course, just to name a few. However, it is hard to understate how ridiculous this duel was in the previous series, there had been several ridiculous settings for duel meaning their finale duels worked relative to the series. Whereas in Sevens, all the duels had been so firmly set in such relative normality, that this setting, of course, caught a lot of people by of guard but pleasantly surprised.
Of course, the most intense part is when Yuga decides to go solo to finish the duel with Otes, only to be confronted by Luke determined to not let Yuga go alone. Now, in the show, I am sure a bug percentage of people expected Luke to win this easily, especially since most of Yuga's best card are in his other deck in Otes, like Luke mentions. And, of course, Luke has beaten Yuga in all their previous duels. But, instead, Yuga pulls out the win and not only defeats Luke but wins the title of King of Duels from him. I did enjoy this duel and as much as it makes sense for Yuga to create a second copy of Sevens Road Magician during the duel to win, it does sully the duel for me a bit. It leaves a sour taste as it feels the only way Yuga could beat Luke was with some shenanigans. I do think it makes sense for Yuga to have a second copy of Seven Roads Magician but I would rather him already having it rather than just creating during the duel. For me, I would either have Yuga already have another Sevens Road Magician but just alternate art (like Otes' version) much like how Luke had an alternate art of Multistrike Dragon Dragias. It would show how much these two mirror each other and that Yuga, definitively has surpassed Luke, to the point, he was prepared for Luke's 2nd Dragias despite how surprised he initially was of it. The duel with Otes would conclude as normal with both disappearing, the 2-year time skip and the mysterious character returning in the spaceship.
Looking back at this re-write, I could never has foreseen how enthusiastic I was about this series but the more I think about it, it makes sense. Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens was in no ways bad, but it had a few holes here and there and I do credit the writers for trying different things, with most of them working quite well. But, going back to this re-write's main thread, I think this re-write does do justice for Yuga and Luke's rivalry. As interesting as it was for the series' main protagonist being beaten by the main rival, it would've worked better had the show have Yuga as a target for Luke given the character's depiction at the start of the show and in the end, both character complimented each other well and helped each other grow as the show went on.