[STORY] F4-Programmer (Season 1: Duelist Kingdom) : #007

Episode 7: Attack from the Deep (The Sea God Leviathan)

Joey celebrates his two Star Chips, saying he can't believe it happened. Is he cool or what! Téa wonders if there's a time limit on how long he gets to crow, but Tristan tells her to cut him some slack, asking did she ever believe Joey would actually beat Mai in a duel? Yugi says he knew Joey could do it, and tells Joey he's proud of him.

Then Joey's stomach starts to growl. All that dueling made him hungry! He asks if any of the others brought any food with them, but no one did. How will they get through the rest of the competition with nothing to eat? Joey wonders. Yugi agrees—dueling really takes it out of you, and he hasn't seen any burger stands or restaurants since they got there. (Japanese Yugi points out that the tournament will last two whole days—they can't go that long without anything to eat or drink.) Téa starts to freak out, saying they'd better do something fast—she's got to have her five basic food groups! (Japanese Anzu ticks off the tournament organizers for not providing food for the participants.) Tristan says he's got it covered, but in fact all he's brought is an outdoor survival guide. (The Japanese writing on the book cover is changed for the US version. The Japanese title reads "Survival Book.")

Tristan says it lists all the roots and berries they can eat. No one's impressed. But then Joey smells something cooking, and takes off. Téa thinks Joey's hallucinating, but Tristan reminds them it wasn't Joey's brain that beat Mai, it was his nose. They all follow Joey.

At the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, they find three fish cooking over a fire. Joey rushes to dig in, saying they should eat first and ask questions later. (Japanese Jounouchi says the gods laid that food there for them to eat.) Téa protests, and Tristan says some people have no self-control—then he takes off after Joey. Soon they're all sitting around the fire, while Joey and Tristan prepare to dig in, calling out, "Feeding frenzy!" (Japanese Jounouchi and Honda say "Itadakimasu!", a set phrase Japanese people say before eating. Literally, it means, "I will receive it," and is somewhat like saying grace, except that it has no religious connotation. After they eat, the set phrase is "Gochisou-sama deshita," or just "Gochisou-sama," which means "It was a feast.")

But before they can take a bite, the catcher of the fish rises up out of the sea, telling the fish thieves to enjoy themselves—this is their last meal. How dare they eat his fish! (This close-up of a fish wriggling on Kajiki's harpoon is cut from the US version.)

But as he rails at them, a wave washes over the rocks and sweeps him away. Joey's wondering if they can eat now, when a hand rises over the rocks. The fisherman stalks over to them, and Joey tries to calm him down, but he goes on telling them off, shaking his fist. Yugi notices his dueling glove, and realizes it's Mako Tsunami (Kajiki Ryouta—"kajikimagurou" is swordfish), the top-ranked ocean duelist. (Japanese Yugi says that Kajiki came in third in the national championships.)

He asks who they are, insisting he's not a "freaky fish guy," as Joey says (Japanese Jounouchi says Kajiki's a drifter), even as an octopus crawls over the top of his head. Téa giggles, telling him he's got company (Japanese Anzu says, "tako," which means "octopus"), and he snatches the creature off his head and flings it into the sea, to Joey and Tristan's dismay—they'd have liked to eat it. Mako can't believe those two are here as duelists. Yugi introduces himself, apologizing about Mako's fish, and Mako is delighted to meet the duelist who beat Seto Kaiba. He says it will be his honor to duel Yugi, and invites him and his friends to join him for a meal, which they happily do.

But as they enjoy the fish, Mako smiles to himself.

When they're finished, the happy crew ask Mako how he learned to cook like that. Mako tells them that he's had to fend for himself since he was a tadpole. His father taught him how to fish and cook. Yugi asks him what brings him to the competition, and he says that his dream is to win enough money to buy his own boat. (Japanese Kajiki says once he wins the competition and buys himself a great boat, he'll catch fish like they've never seen before. Yugi asks if he's really going to buy a boat, and he says he'd like to get one of the newer models, so he can go back out to sea. Then every day will be big-catch day.)

They thank him for the meal, and start to leave, but he stops them by throwing his harpoon to land at a frightened Yugi's feet. He treated them to dinner, he says, now perhaps they'll honor him with a duel. Joey thinks he's nuts. Mako says he's not, but he is an expert fisherman, and they've taken his bait. He laid out his fish and lured these three right in. (Three? Which three is he talking about? Only two of the gang are duelists.) But he never expected to catch Yugi Mutou. Joey tells Yugi to forget this crazy chicken of the sea! And Tristan wonders if they can't just give the guy back a few fish. Mako says a duel against Yugi would be a true test.

Yugi's Puzzle activates, and Yami takes over. (By now, in the Japanese version, they don't show the whole transformation when Yugi's puzzle goes off and the spirit comes out to duel—all we see is Yami appearing in a cone of light. But the US version continues to add back the entire sequence of the puzzle turning, Yugi's hair flying up, the magic circle spinning under a cone of light, and then Yami appearing.)

Yugi accepts Mako's challenge.

A dueling arena rises up out of the sea, its playing field half land, half sea. They each wager two stars, and Mako thinks that finally he's met an adversary of real merit. (Japanese Kajiki thinks Yugi has fallen into his trap, and in his own territory.)

Mako begins by playing a monster card, but his monster remains hidden under water. Yugi's a bit thrown by having to duel against monsters he can't see. How can he know which monster to play when he can't see what he's fighting? (Japanese Yugi says the monster's data isn't showing—there are readouts on their dueling stations that show each player's life points and cards on the field, including monster stats.) Mako tells him the ocean conceals many things beneath its shifting surface. Yugi says as long as that thing stays submerged, he can't attack. Mako tells him it won't stay submerged for long. (Japanese Kajiki says he's played his monster in attack mode. Yugi says he can't see to battle, and Kajiki tells him to hurry up, it's his turn.)

As Yugi worries about what to do, Mako thinks this must be the first time Yugi's come up against sea monsters. The sea not only conceals his monsters, but gives them a field power boost. (Japanese Kajiki thinks, his Devil Kraken's attack has been raised to 1560 by the field power bonus.) Joey thinks something's fishy—how can Yugi fight what he can't see? And Tristan thinks this is totally bogus! Mako laughs, telling Yugi his ocean strategy seems to have taken him by surprise. (Japanese Kajiki says if Yugi's thrown off already, he's not as good as they say he is.)

Finally, Yugi plays the Horn Imp (Imp) (1300 ATK). Mako's monster, Fiend Kraken (Devil Kraken) (1200 ATK, raised to 1560 by the field power bonus), surges out of the water to grab the Horn Imp with its tentacles and crush it. Yugi congratulates Mako on a good opening play, as his life points decrease to 1740. (Japanese Kajiki tells Yugi now he knows what a Sea Stealth attack is like. The field has been slightly changed in the US version to give Yugi a bit more land.)

(Yugi says, a Sea Stealth attack? Kajiki says he hasn't seen the ocean's power, and tells him to go ahead and throw out his next victim.)

Next Yugi plays Feral Imp (Gremlin) (1300 ATK), thinking it should be able to dispense with Mako's monsters, no matter how deep they're hidden in the sea. (Japanese Yugi thinks as long as he can't see Kajiki's monsters, he'll have to play his cards in defense and wait him out. His Gremlin appears to be in defense position. Then he thinks, but he's not just sitting there doing nothing. Kajiki will see what's up on his next turn.) But Mako says he's familiar with Yugi's Feral Imp and its electrical attack, so he counters with Giant Jellyfish in defense (1500 DEF). Yugi powers up the Feral Imp with Horn of the Unicorn, increasing its attack to 2000 points. (Gremlin switches to attack position, although Yugi doesn't say so.) Joey cheers, explaining to Téa that even though Yugi can't see Mako's monsters, they're all under water, and water conducts electricity. Yugi attacks, but the Giant Jellyfish absorbs the Feral Imp's electrical attack and protects Mako. Now the Feral Imp falls to Mako's Fiend Kraken, and Yugi's down to 1480 life points.

Yugi thinks, he's never battled monsters like these before! It's as if he's battling the awesome power of the ocean itself. (Japanese Yugi thinks Kajiki is strong—there are no holes in his attack or defense. There must be some way to fight against this bottomless, wide fortress of his.) Next, he plays Silver Fang (1200 ATK), and adds the magic card the Full Moon (this appears to be Mystical Moon, but it can only be equipped to Beast-Warrior-Type monsters, while Silver Fang is a Beast-Type monster) to increase Silver Fang's attack.

Mako laughs, saying that the moon also causes the tides to rise, allowing him to play his Kairyu-Shin (Sea Dragon God Leviathan) (1800 ATK, raised to 2340 by the field power bonus), an enormous sea serpent which not only destroys Silver Fang, but reduces Yugi's land-based playing field to a small island. Mako says Yugi is lucky—in his past duels, Kairyu-Shin's attack has left nothing standing in its wake. (Japanese Kajiki says that defeating Yugi's monster wasn't his only purpose in this attack, and tells Yugi to take a close look at the field. Leviathan's attack has caused the field to become 95% ocean. Now Yugi can't lay any more cards on the field, and he's lost already.)

All men give pause before the savage power of the mighty ocean, Mako says. Even the greatest of fishermen. Yugi realizes Mako is talking of his father, and Mako says his father was a great fisherman, who taught him his love of the sea—until one day, the sea took him. (Japanese Kajiki says that now the fear of the sea is written all over Yugi's face, just as it once was on his. Yugi asks what he means, and Kajiki says his father was the best fisherman in their village, but he lost him to the sea.)

Mako says he used to love going out to sea with his father, just the two of them on their boat. In flashback, Mako's father looks out over the waves and tells little Mako there's a storm blowing in. Suddenly, Mako recounts, the calm, friendly sea turned into a raging maelstrom, pitching their boat as if it were a toy. (The sequence showing the storm clouds moving in is reversed in the US version.)

Mako's father tied him to the mast to keep him on the boat, but a huge wave swept his father out to sea. Mako is convinced his father is still alive, and is determined to buy a boat so he can search the seven seas until he finds him. (Japanese Kajiki says that after the storm, the boat had drifted back to shore, but his father was nowhere to be seen. Now, he has to take his father's place, and battle against the sea himself. Someday, he'll become the country's greatest fisherman, one who won't lose to any seas, no matter how rough. But he needs a boat for that—that's why he can't let himself lose.) Yugi understands Mako's determination, and now Joey and the others also see that Mako is fighting for someone other than himself.

But Yugi is determined, too. He plays Giant Soldier of Stone in defense (2000 DEF), telling Mako that he may have shrunk Yugi's playing field down to a tiny island, but the Soldier still gets a field power bonus. Its defense rises to 2600 points, but Mako laughs, saying Yugi's monster can barely fit on its rock, and it's surrounded on all sides by the ocean, making him easy prey for Mako's Great White Terror (Megalodon) (1600 ATK). (This card is given a slight redesign in the US version. Also, it's hard to read, but Japanese card is 1500 ATK, rather than 1600.)

Mako's three monsters surround Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone, and Joey worries that it's about to become fish food!

Mako tells Yugi it's over, but he played honorably. Yugi says Mako has been a fair and noble opponent, too—but he also plays with the fate of a loved one at stake, and he can't afford to lose. (Japanese Kajiki says the Giant Soldier of Stone is surrounded, so Yugi can't enlarge his field. Kajiki tells Yugi he's sorry to break it to him, but he's won. Yugi tells Kajiki, no, he'll throw those words right back in his face. This is the moment Yugi's been waiting for.) Yugi switches Giant Soldier of Stone to attack mode. Mako asks why—the Stone Soldier can't attack his sea monsters while they're under water. But Yugi says Mako's monsters aren't the target of his attack—he's attacking the Moon he'd placed on the field earlier. (Need I mention that in the real game, a monster can't attack a magic card?) Destroying the Moon causes the tides to recede and leave Mako's monsters beached and helpless.

Then Yugi plays Curse of Dragon (2000 ATK) along with the magic card Burning Land (which was fancied up a bit for the US version) and destroys Mako's monsters, taking all of Mako's life points and winning the duel.

Mako's disappointed, but accepts defeat gracefully, telling Yugi that destroying his own Moon was a brilliant and unexpected move. He laughs, saying it was a grand duel, and Yugi tells him the duel was not easily won. Mako's down to one Star Chip, but he intends to start over again. He and Yugi shake hands and part as friends, then Mako leaps back into the sea and swims away to catch some more fish. Tristan says he wishes Mako would bring them some more fish, but Yugi points out they'd have to duel him again. The four friends walk away together.