Predictions and Observations:
Dungeon Dice Monsters I - IV

Dungeon Dice Monsters I | Dungeon Dice Monsters II |
Dungeon Dice Monsters III | Dungeon Dice Monsters IV

Dungeon Dice Monsters I - 4/28/07
“You’ve fallen into my trap, Yugi! My dungeon dice monsters will destroy you!”
“If there’s one thing I can’t stomach, it’s a guy who’ll do anything to get a girl’s attention!” I’ve been noticing that lately in the series there’s been talk of that. Another quote comes back to me… “Watch where you’re going, Joey! Ugh, that doofus will do *anything* to get a girl’s attention! I guess he realizes *I’m* way out of his league!”

The moral of the story is this: Joey needs to have something that he’s fighting for. This is one of the greatest examples of it (and the other is KCGC). Without a cause, Joey tends to duel just for pride, which proves fatal. In Duelist Kingdom, he was fighting for Serenity all the way, of course, and in Battle City he entered to help Yugi, and dueled for that, but also was still dueling for Serenity, so the first thing she could see would be him at his best. During the Finals, he also ended up fighting for Mai, and a particular quote from Back to Battle City I exemplifies this: “Much as I’d like to beat Kaiba and put an end to his insults once and for all, I’ve got more important reasons for bein’ here.” And then in Waking the Dragons, don’t even get me started. Too late. First Mai, then *Yugi,* then Rex (whom Joey didn’t much like personally but no one should get sealed like that and Joey hated that he had to do it and finish the duel), then eventually Valon. I was always thinking it was so amazing that Joey kept going through all of that. It’s true that when he has nothing to fight for he goes to the dogs, but if someone needs him to win, he’s absolutely amazing and will come through for them or fall trying (and has a couple of times).

Duke’s trap counted on Joey keeping his word and on Yugi having the loyalty and honor to not allow him to humiliate Joey. This doesn’t tally with the kind of person Duke thinks that Yugi is. I was a bit puzzled by this. Perhaps, if this didn’t work, he had a backup plan?

“…and the first thing she’ll see is *my* beautiful mug!” This is even better news because Joey and Serenity haven’t seen each other in six years.

Why do they think Yugi cheated when Pegasus has already shown himself to be able to detect foul play? In theory, all of Duelist Kingdom would have probably been broadcast (though only the end match itself, I guess, was made-a-fuss-over about it), unless… well, I had that theory about the Big Five not broadcasting the final match anywhere else because it didn’t work out, and when Kaiba got back and ousted them he’d ended up showing it, possibly to ensure that everyone knew that KaibaCorp was still his, or perhaps in gratitude to Yugi (which would be why everyone has been entirely silent about it, lol). In this case, I had guessed that the rest of Duelist Kingdom had never been shown (or at least not yet), because otherwise viewers would be expecting to see Yugi vs. Pegasus. But by now everyone knows, so either only the final match was broadcast or Duke is only seeing what he wants to see (entirely possible) and forgetting that Pegasus knew exactly what Bandit Keith was up to during his match with Joey. In all fairness, Pegasus may have not said anything even if Yugi *had* been cheating, because he certainly wasn’t counting on losing, no matter what Yugi did; he had the Millennium Eye! I wonder what Duke made of the fact that Pegasus made it very clear that he knew every single card Yugi drew…?

My goodness, for a future friend, Duke sure starts out *nasty!* “My friends are worth all the titles and all the games in the world; I’ll stick by them no matter what! That’s something Duke Devlin will *never* understand!” well, we’ll see…

Dungeon Dice Monsters II
"This is it. No matter how high the odds are stacked against me, I have to believe it's possible to roll two summon crests here, the same way I believed in the Heart of the Cards... Go, dice roll!"

“The same way I believed in the Heart of the Cards”. Past-tense. Suspenseful, isn’t it? Don’t give up *yet!*

“He busted out that level four monster like he’s played Dungeon Dice Monsters for years!” It’s Leon’s voice in cameo again! By now, he *would* be a big Yugi fan, but I doubt he would have been anywhere near Domino at this point.

Yugi’s more worried about Joey than about never being able to duel again. That’s pretty darn amazing, considering that dueling is Yugi’s life as much as it is Jaden’s. I know I also mentioned this in the Shining Friendship post. Then again, as Yugi said, his friends are far more important than any game.

“But perhaps my beating Pegasus was the exception to the rule; perhaps *you* are better.” That was so funny, and I think that the fact that it took Duke a moment there shows that Duke’s starting to get a higher opinion of Yugi as the game goes on. He’s starting to forget his initial feeling that Yugi was a cheater and a fraud, in seeing that Yugi learns quickly and plays confidently even when things are tough.

Late in the episode, a map was shown to illustrate how close Yugi’s Strike Ninja was to Duke’s hearts, and Strike Ninja was labeled “BN”. I have no clue why. Does anyone else?

Duke says no one’s come closer to beating him than Yugi; what about Pegasus? *He* beat Duke at Dungeon Dice Monsters…

Dungeon Dice Monsters IV
"You know a lot about this game, Duke, but you’ve got a lot to learn about the people you play. Maybe by the time this match is over you will have learned more than just a new Dungeon Dice rule."
“Just like Duel Monsters, the game’s not over ‘til the final move is made!” It’s the Jadenism! Was this the first time it was said? I hadn’t noticed it before, so I haven’t been keeping track.

“Without strategy, power’s just an empty threat!” Another very, very classic quote that I hadn’t realized until now precisely when it was said.

When it really counted, Joey stood up to those cheerleaders even though they’d been smacking him around the whole duel.

Joey’s monologue there was well-said, and I have a feeling that I’m almost noticing something very important about it but not quite. It’s very frustrating. Well, it was well-said, and Joey really is the one to say it because he had to learn Duel Monsters as he played, just like Yugi has to in Dungeon Dice Monsters, and he knows from experience, from dueling alongside Yugi, that it doesn’t matter how much of an amateur you are if you really go for it and believe, because Yugi helped *him* discover that in Duelist Kingdom. Maybe that was it. Or maybe what I was trying to say is that this whole time Yugi’s title has been on the line, because Duke was sure that Yugi would have to give it up when it was proved what a fraud he was and all, and Joey’s the one standing up and reminding us that there’s a *reason* Yugi’s the King of Games, and the reason is that he’s an amazing gamer and never gave up. Joey reminds us about how high the stakes rose and how Yugi stepped up to the challenge, and reminds all of us, even Yugi, that he can do it again!

They were drawing attention to there being two Yugis in this episode I noticed, and this would be the first time our attention was really called to that (other than just switching out) since Duelist Kingdom ended. I think this may be to foreshadow some events that would be happening really, really soon (like the fire. And Battle City.); to show us that since Duelist Kingdom the two have continued to get better at functioning as a team through these adventures; and also to sort of wrap things up because unless I’m mistaken (I wouldn’t be surprised; I didn’t discover any of this until after Battle City was already OVER!) this is the last episode of season one.

“It’s easy to give up, to give in when things get tough. But that’s not the way to win.  I won’t quit, no matter how hopeless it seems, Devlin! That’s not the way to get ahead, either in Duel Monsters or in life. You know a lot about this game, Duke, but you’ve got a lot to learn about the people you play. Maybe by the time this match is over you will have learned more than just a new Dungeon Dice rule. ” Reminds me of the quote from Grandpa at the beginning of Match of the Millennium I, and that’s probably no coincidence.

Duke started to wonder if he was wrong when Yugi dimensioned Dark Magician, and I don’t think it was just because Yugi showed himself to be quite a formidable amateur by doing so.

By the way… what about running out of dice? They each pick fifteen, so if the dice only were each used once, the game would last five rounds, end of story. Perhaps the dice get re-shuffled through the randomizer? Maybe just the ones that don’t get dimensioned or something?

Okay, this coming Saturday looks fun. Second weekend of my show, so performances day and night and the rest of the time pretty much goes to recovering from one or preparing for the next. In addition, there’s GX, they love to mess with our poor minds, and it’s called Primal Instinct. In addition, they’ve advertised that Double Duel (yes, First Round Battle City) is showing in a special movie event for the very last time. Yeeha, fun. Guess what? I’ve been watching the listings like a very obsessive hawk all week, and neither my Tivo, nor the listings on the station’s website, nor anything on the 4kids website is telling anything about how or when. Right now, to make doubly sure I don’t miss it, I’m going to record that entire morning, including what appears to be two and a half hours of NASCAR. So far I’ve emailed the guy in charge of all this at 4kids, I even was very polite (though it was difficult, this being the guy to direct our frequent exasperation toward), and I doubt that he’ll get back to me in time, if ever. My next step is going to be calling the channel itself, so wish me luck. BTW, yes, I’m planning to write about Double Duel I-IV, assuming they aren’t just messing with us and it’s actually there.

Sorry this took so very long, folks. It’s been kind of a weird week. -Clio