zexal liveblog 12: ep 22-23

May. 9th, 2022 02:40 pm
fishtime: (artbook)
[personal profile] fishtime
kaito's minder says, 'kaito, if you really wish to cure haruto, then you should hurry up and collect all the numbers.'

i see that, today, we're opening this episode with a disturbingly effective horror segment.

for some reason, haruto, who looks, at oldest, 8, has a deeper voice than kaito, who is age 15 or so. it is an incredible choice.

episode 22

kaito stands behind his bot, orbital, which sits in a chair in front of a massive keyboard. there are a bunch of screens projected above its head, and the room is all blue with circuit board patterns.

all the ~tech labs~ in this series crack me up. wtf is this secret base, kaito. why is this room the size of a football field. none of this was necessary.

NUMBERS ENTROPHY GRAPH
[picture of a cell undergoing mitosis]

kaito's eyes narrow dangerously. he says, 'i hate incompetence the most... are you incompetent?'

oh man kaito's mood swings between vulnerable concerned older brother and INSANE PRECISION KILLING MACHINE are so good <3

a picture of the astral key is displayed on the screen with a bunch of random arrows pointing at it. there are screens in the background. all of these display bogus hi-tech stuff that means nothing.

UNPARSABLE
UNKNOWN UNKNOWN UNKNOWN UNCONFIRMED UNMATCHED UNMATCHED UNKNOWN

[picture of a triangle] HUNTING AREA 0 POINT

yuma's teacher approaches shark in the hallway and says, 'i'm glad you finally came to school.'

he remarks, 'did yuma bring your heart back?'

????????? thanks teach. i guess. i'm glad we stole your numbers so that you could uh *checks notes* make cryptic statements about your students' love lives.

orbital pulls off the trash can he has been hiding under like solid snake under a cardboard box.

AN IMPENETRABLE DISGUISE REMOVED.

orbital filches the key from yuma's gym locker.

shark snatches the key from the bot's hand. 'what on earth are you doing?' he says.

*shark voice* only i get to steal yuma's little necklace.

with an angry face, shark rears back for a kick.

orbital slams into the lockers opposite, creating a huge dent.

LMAO HE REALLY JUST FUCKING BEATS UP THIS POOR BOT.

orbital transforms into a huge spindly killing machine. shark asks, 'what the hell is this thing?'

i am wondering that as well.

kaito holds a hand out, saying, 'would you mind handing me the pendant you're holding?'

shark responds, 'i refuse! this doesn't belong to you!'

IT DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU EITHER, SHARK

the shot pulls back, showing that kaito is standing on the roof 20 or so feet above shark. he says, 'i'm aware. it belongs to tsukumo yuma.

kaito: i know. bitch.

meeting of the minds over here. first assembly of the yuma-pigtail-pulling club is a go. situation seems hostile.

over a flashback of yuma, shark thinks, 'yuma... it's time for me to return the favor to you.'

shark shows affection by beating up your enemies for you. without asking your opinion on the matter.

with a pained face, shark thinks, 'numbers hunter... he's unbelievably strong!

oic. the point of this is not that shark and kaito are dual rivals intended for yuma -- they are EACH OTHER'S rival. (for yuma.)

yuma is running about, calling out, 'astral!'

LMAO YUMA RUNNING AROUND YELLING ASTRAL'S NAME LIKE YOU WOULD A LOST DOG, AS IF THAT WOULD RETURN THE STOLEN KEY.

astral is inside the key dimension. looking around, he remarks, 'is there something happening in the outside world?'

meanwhile, astral, still stuck in his little key dimension.

kaito says, 'i made a mistake, you say?'

he continues, 'you're quite the romantic!'

kaito literally says "romantist" in english, that's why they translated it like that.

i have no idea what this is supposed to mean. naive??? this word choice adds so much homoeroticism.

shark grits out, 'forgive me, yuma...'

kaito says, 'there isn't a numbers inside this soul...!'

lol. lmao.

kaito walks up to the edge of the building...

and fucking flings himself off.

GOODNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE.

yuma watches as kaito flies away on his weird little wing apparatus.

the one that got away 💔



episode 23

yuma holds sharks soulless body and calls out, 'shark! shark! shark!!'

damn, he's fucking dead.

shark is laid in a hospital bed. someone says, 'the doctors said there's no abnormality in his body.

oh wait, no, he's fine.

one of yuma's friends asks him, 'if that's so, yuma-kun, what's going on here?'

god, all of yuma's friends are in their own personal worst timeline, where YUMA is the expert explaining the situation that none of them understand. can you imagine being brought that fucking low?

over a shot of a red crystal, kaito says, 'after all, we obtained that from the balian world.'

the fansub for this was released indiviually, episode after episode, and usually right after it aired, if i remember right. i'm pretty sure that they never went back and edited any of the subs.

the choice here to transliterate it as "Balian" instead of the canon "Barian" is cracking me up, especially seeing as "Barian" is the conventional spelling of that word. they made it more difficult for themselves for no reason.

kaito flings himself into a yellow glowing portal.

kaito: *casually jumps into the portal into another dimension*

it's okay, last episode reminded me that he can fly!

the animation for this scene is fantastically bad cg. like, runescape teleporting animation levels.

runescape retro home teleport

as astral turns around, kaito yells, 'i found you!'

he continues, 'are you the messenger from the astral world?

NOT LIKE THIS!! ASTRAL IS LIKE A BABY BUNNY THAT'S NEVER ENCOUNTERED A PREDATOR BEFORE!! HE HAS NO DEFENSES AGAINST THE MALADAPTIVELY YUMA-OBSESSED!!!!

kaito looks at astral between his fingers as astral asks, 'so are we betting on each others numbers?'

kaito replies, 'destiny has opened the gate. now, duel me!'

okay no, this is fine. i forgot that everything in this world is decided via duel monsters. i was afraid that kaito was going to use emotional manipulation, which astral would be unbelievably weak to, but he's actually got a chance if they stick with card games.

astral says, 'your dueling skills have always exceeded my expectations.

you are the strongest duelist i know of.

i'm fascinated by you. you seem similar to yuma.

this episode is ALSO a meeting of the minds for the yuma club.

astral says, 'that's right, ever since i was attached to yuma,'

'i've been able to feel his heart.'

hey what the FUCK does this mean

kaito snaps, 'stop joking around! i've never had parents to begin with, i only have haruto!'

OH SORRY KAITO, I FORGOT THAT YOU'RE WINNING THE TRAUMA OLYMPICS.

yuma faces his friends. he says, 'astral is fighting. astral is facing grave danger!'

he knows this. he can smell it.

kotori asks, 'but how..?'

yuma replies, 'no clue, i just know it!'

well. i guess he can't smell it. he can just... feel it in his soul.

me, a person who is obsessed with soulbond trope: *taking notes*

oops i forgot to hide the subtitles when i took this shot. basically, it's just one of kaito's monsters - a cybernetic-looking lion - but it has an extra pair of arms sticking out of its torso, which are holding two identical spears.

this is just a zergling?!?!

kaito taunts astral, saying, 'for you to win against me, your heart needs to be stronger!'

astral replies, 'thanks to my most important friend, i have learned to kattobingu!

MOST IMPORTANT FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in japanese he says taisetsuna tomokara, which, according to my weeaboo japanese, really is "most treasured/precious friend". very very cute.
  • Current Mood: Image enthralled
Tags:
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Date: 2022-05-10 04:54 pm (UTC)
xette: this wink is strictly platonic (Default)
From: [personal profile] xette
Kaito: Having to explain the concept of a robbery to his victim.


Shark, being held by Yuma: "I wasn't strong enough for the they/them pussy"


*Complaining about fansub while watching the fansub* "Yet you participate in society dot jay peg"


"I've been able to feel his heart." Astral feels the throb of the yaoi from within

Date: 2022-05-10 05:03 pm (UTC)
fishtime: (calculator)
From: [personal profile] fishtime
i wish shark and kaito had just gone back and forth for 2 minutes trying to figure out if they both understood what theft is. that wouldve been amazing.
shark: i know its yumas.
kaito: yes, its not yours, just give it to me?
shark: i cant give it to you, its yumas?
kaito:
shark:
kaito:
shark:

yuma is he/him pussy, astral is they/them pussy. both are too strong for sharks fragile form. their yaoi hands, too powerful.

XETTE YOU KNOW I JUST LIKE NITPICKING TRANSLATIONS
Edited Date: 2022-05-10 05:04 pm (UTC)
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only
Page generated Feb. 22nd, 2026 06:45 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios