"Any card—so long as it exists—has a power that is needed."

The Gang Freaks Out Over a Cell Phone

Judai and the others are now in their second year when a quiet freshman comes to duel Judai.  While the freshman’s deck wasn’t all too powerful, it was also an improvised 40-card deck hastily made beforehand out of eight packs in the store.  But even then, Archangel Zerato gets Judai’s LP down to 1200.  Mid-duel, he speaks with a mysterious man on his cell phone, feeling a lack of interest in this duel due to his prediction.  Shou and the others realize this is the well-known Star Duelist Ed Phoenix…

And after a bit too long, here’s finalized!53! It’s fun to finally be getting back into Season 2, since, later plot pacing issues and… questionable moments aside, there’s quite a bit to like about it.  One such thing being the dynamic between Ed and Saiou that we’re introduced to here (one of my favorites), as the concept of fate/destiny starts to become an ever-present theme.  Also, hearing Takehito Koyasu again for a while will be great now that I’ve actually seen JJBA and heard him as DIO. 😂 The animation/artstyle in this episode is also a nice touch-up from what we’ve been used to, and there were some great shots of Judai and Ed there.

So, part of the delay in getting this going since finishing 52 was getting my usual bells and whistles worked on for the translated hardsub; you’ll notice that the OP is fully translated, and not just with the credits–I wanted to do a thing I originally wanted to do way back when my first go-around but lacked the skills for and translate the character names that slide in! If you check out my “subbing-rambling” tag, you can see some of the work-in-progress posts I made showing it off as I worked on it.  As part of this, I also prepared textless versions of the OP’s V2 shots of Chronos and Ed, as well as made Shou in his Red jacket textless for use here; I’ll be sharing these new textless openings as I go through the season over on NAC. (It’s really a shame that we never got those versions officially released…) The ED credits were pretty much copy/paste from Season 1, with a change in karaoke coloring, since thankfully that stays the same, and I’ll also be translating the “Best Card” shots at the end of each episode (which for some reason I noticed Crunchyroll doesn’t include, despite them being on the DVDs?), though on a static screen with the card spinning into view since that moving background’s hard to get blank, lol.

But once those were all done, there were some 53-specific edits and fixes to work on! For the hardsub, I translated the article we see about Ed so that we can read what was visible in Japanese (ie, Ed making waves in August just before Season 2 at an event Kaiba Corp. sponsored!), while I also made a few card fixes.  Breakdown below the cut, as usual.

(UPDATE [7/9/20]: I reuploaded the episode because I realized I didn’t account for the different cards Shou has in his deck shot in the Opening in 53-56 vs 57-104; Gyroid, Cyclone, and Trap Hole in the former become Submarineroid, Vehicroid Connection Zone, and No Entry in the latter (all used in 56), which is what was used in the textless video I was working with while working on translating his name there.  That’s been corrected, and will be accounted for as I share the textless OPs on NAC.  I’m nothing if not consistency-minded. 💁🏽‍♂️)

Enjoy, folks! With 53 finalized, I’ll be giving my 5D’s Dub-Uncut Ep. 26 a quick lookover to see if I have to tweak anything before I work on making the Dark Signer arc episodes’ dubs more bearable, and then I’ll start working on 54.  It’s been a bit since Manjoume last dueled, and him dueling his mini-me in Gokaido should be fun, haha.

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The One With the PERFECTion (Part 1) wait i see no cell here

Kaiser Ryou, best at the academy, nominates Judai as his opponent for his Role-Model Duel to be held in honor of his graduation.  Judai and Kaiser Ryou duel, and a worked-up Judai becomes unusually meticulous as he tries to fend off his Cyber End Dragon/Power Bond combo.  But the Kaiser Fusion-Summons Cyber End Dragon on his very first turn, and while he avoids fatal damage, due to the Kaiser’s skillful fusion and de-fusion, Judai loses his edge before he finally summons a Power-Bond-enhanced Cyber End Dragon (ATK/ 8000).

Episode 52: VS The Kaiser (Part 2) - Final Fusion

The One With the PERFECTion (Part 2) i don’t even see vegeta c’mon 

Judai’s duel with Kaiser Ryou continues, as Judai holds back a fierce attack from an enhanced Cyber End Dragon with his LP down to 100.  Hungry, he eats some riceballs and regains his true sense of self.  And then, he assembles four Elemental Heroes with different Attributes–Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind–using his Trap Card to hit the Kaiser’s field with a clean sweep.  But the Kaiser once again summons an enhanced Cyber End, and raises its ATK to 16,000 with Limiter Removal.  With fusion their strong suits, the scale of their battle hits its limits…

See ya, Season 1~

Not too long after I finalized episode 50, here’s a double-header for you as Judai and Ryou have a rematch to close the season out! This one’s pretty enjoyable, especially once Judai gets back into things; Ryou picks Judai as his last Academia opponent knowing he’d give him a good fight, but you can sense his disappointment as Judai duels without the trait he was looking forward to over the course of 51.  And then between the Elemental Burst combo and the over-the-top-ATK battle to finish things off, it’s a fun watch that sends Ryou off. 

Correction-wise, 51 had a few card fixes as well as a QOL footage fix, while there was one card fix in 52; notes below the cut, as usual. (EDIT, 2021 and 2022: Applied two fixes in 51 (in 2021) and one in 52 (2022) that I missed before, listed in bold under the cut!)

Enjoy, folks! And I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy (and home if able) given the circumstances; hopefully these get to lighten things up for you a little.  With this season now finalized, I’ll take a GX break to go work on revising my 5D’s Dub-Uncut #24 so it’s up to snuff with the newer ones I did as I start working on stuff for GX Season 2; now that I’m more well-versed in editing with Photoshop/etc, I’m looking forward to more fully translating that OP, lol. who’s ready for 52 more episodes of 99%

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The One Where Hayato Makes Us Proud

Hayato wins a card-designing contest sponsored by Industrial Illusions, Inc., with a great piece of artwork.  But unless he wins against Professor Chronos in their exam duel, he won’t get to be the card designer he hopes to be.  As Hayato and Chronos duel, Hayato doesn’t misplay and takes on Chronos’s Antique Gear cards on even footing, but gradually his Antique Gear Golem overwhelms and nearly crushes him.   Remembering his resolve from his trip to Australia a year ago, he attempts a comeback with his “Ayers Rock Sunrise” Spell…

Got ourselves a finalized episode 50! This one’s a favorite because Hayato shows us that Judai and the others have rubbed off on him–he’s gone from someone who was held back and was near giving up to being more confident and hopeful, and you do like to see it.  As you do Chronos actually caring. (Also that Kaisei instrumental during the ending why weren’t you released 😭)

Unfortunately, it’s not as powerful in the dub because they tossed out any subtle character moments Hayato had through the season showing us that he’s learning from the group (a moment in episode 5 that I mentioned a while back being replaced with talk of grilled cheese, for one).

Surprisingly, no card edits or anything needed to be done here, so this was easy to churn out; may have a few for 51 though, so we’ll see how that goes as I work on it and 52 to finish up Season 1 as Judai and Ryou have themselves a rematch.

Enjoy, folks!

The One With the Perfect Hair Forever - Part 1

Aged Chairman Kagemaru steals the keys to the seven Spirit Gates, acquiring the three Phantasm cards.  Judai and Kagemaru duel, and Kagemaru summons the first Phantasm, “Uria, Lord of Divine Flames.” Its ATK is multiplied by 1000 for each Trap Card in his Cemetery, and it can take out opposing Traps.  Judai takes down Uria, but it revives with each attempt.  Additionally, the second Phantasm, “Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder” (ATK/ 4000), is summoned, and Judai faces a tough predicament against both Phantasms.  Through the Phantasms, Kagemaru gains the life energies of the Duel Monsters, which…

Episode 49: VS Kagemaru (Part 2) - The Three Phantasms Awaken

(The One With the Perfect Hair Forever - Part 2)

“Raviel, Lord of Phantasms” (ATK/ 4000), is summoned, as well.  Kagemaru’s goal is to absorb even Judai and gain eternal life from the Duel Monsters.  Judai’s down to 600LP, but he rides his wishes on the mysterious card left behind by Daitokuji, and aims for a turnaround…

Bit of a delay aside (as I mentioned here), episodes 48 and 49 are finally finalized! Here, we reach the climax of our villain plot this Season, as Judai takes on Old Man Kagemaru and the three Phantasms we’ve been building up to seeing.  It’s a good two-parter that does a good job of showing how menacing they can be (though maybe Part 2 does a better job due to the better art quality), and they’re not bad as the yang to the Mythic/Egyptian Gods’ yin (though I believe that role’s better played by the Wicked cards in YGO R? Been a while…).  Judai appealing to Kagemaru’s humanity (around eliminating the Duel Monsters leading to his loneliness) is a nice touch, too, and I’m glad that the dub kep–just kidding, the dub completely cut that part out

As I mentioned in my initial linked post, part of the delay in getting these done was finishing the animation/card fixes with a slightly hectic irl schedule; 48 had less of them, but 49 had a couple that were… fun to work with.  List below the cut, as usual~

Enjoy, folks! I’ll be taking a little break to work some more on those 5D’s Dub-Uncuts (revising my first attempt at episode 23, which should sound neat with Duel Links lines) before prepping to knock out the final three episodes and get Season 1 in the finalized books.  Looking forward to Hayato VS Chronos and the Graduation Duel finale; Judai VS Ryou II is one of my favorites. :)

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The One With the Zero Love Life

Manjoume can’t hold back his love for Asuka.  Pushed to it by Fubuki, he steals the seven Spirit Gates’ keys and forces Asuka into a duel.  While Manjoume uses the Love Letter and Hidden Feelings cards, he soon becomes crazed about his love.  He keeps Asuka from summoning Monsters with his Ojama Token and Ojama King and is close to seizing victory, but Asuka seeks to turn things around with her Cyber Angel…

*crashes in months later with Starbucks*

Finally have this completed for you folks! Apologies for the hold-up, it’s been a veery busy month, lol.  So, here we have an iconic episode now finalized: Manjoume VS Asuka, fueled in part by Fubuki’s bad habit of being there for those in love.  It’s entertaining for sure, though it does make clear that Manjoume’s feelings were a bit one-sided… 😅 

Part of the delay with this was working on some of the animation fixes I did here, and doing them for 48-49 too since I want to try and work on them next in quicker succession.  List of 47′s fixes below the cut, as usual.

Enjoy! I’ll be working on 48 next as we get the final villain showdown of Season 1 done in Judai VS Kagemaru, which is a good two-parter; I’ll be trying to do a double-release for them, so stay tuned!

(Update [1/24/21]: Revised to make Asuka’s Chapel of Blessings – Ritual Church Field Magic’s name consistent with episode 60, which was just finalized.)

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The One With the Evil Final Exam - Part 1

Six of the keys to the seven Spirit Gates have been used.  Judai heads to the Abandoned Dorm, where he finds Daitokuji’s mummified corpse.  The last of the Seven Stars, Amnael, shows himself, and a duel between Judai and Amnael begins.  His foe has a deck based around alchemy, and each time Judai attacks with his multi-Attribute E-Heroes, he’s stopped by the Permanent Trap Elemental Absorber.  Monsters also continue to emerge from Alchemic Kettle - Chaos Distill, waging direct attacks on him…

GX Episode 46: An Earth/Water/Fire/Wind Fusion! Elixirer 

(The One With the Evil Final Exam - Part 2)

The duel between Judai and Amnael continues, and it turns out that Amnael is Daitokuji, as is the mummified corpse.  He confesses that his current form is the result of the power of alchemy allowing him to attach his soul to a doll body.  The field of battle changes as he uses his Macrocosmos Permanent Trap and Helios the Primordial Sun and his second Sun, taking them into outer space, where the planets surrounding them have Asuka, Manjoume, and Fubuki locked away.  Judai takes hits from Planet Alignment just as the third Sun shows itself…

Here’re episodes 45 and 46! If you haven’t already seen, I posted 44 yesterday.  Here, we see the Judai/Amnael duel play out, as Judai deals with the issue of Elemental Absorber blocking his attacks, the revelation that Amnael’s the professor they’ve been worried sick about, and their duel reaching new heights–literally–as things burn up in outer space.  It’s a pretty fun duel, Amnael’s Alchemy Beasts are neat, the whole duel is chock-full of alchemy references–for those newer to the fandom, I recommend some of The Mad Poet’s writings on alchemy references in GX from *checks notes* nine years ago whaaat for some fun trivia–right down to the name Judai gives Elixirer’s attack, “Fusionist Magistery” (”Magistery” referencing the Philosopher’s Stone in meaning, and when attached to “Fusionist” completes Daitokuji’s attribution of alchemy to fusion).

The animation work in 46 is also good, and the episode feels like it gets better once they’re in space; things seem pretty well-paced, the music is on-point, and with the lessons Judai’s made to take in from the duel, this duel stands out among those in Season 1.

However, the dub seriously did this series of episodes dirty–most notably in 46.  Where Amnael here is relating alchemy to Judai’s use of Fusion and alluding to his making friends as a form of alchemy, dub!Amnael plants the idea of Jaden’s duels being fixed to get him to this point where his key would be on the line.  It’s a bad writing change because, despite his life being on the line, Daitokuji is still there and is still a Professor to Judai, and he wants to see him do better; 4Kids instead ends up making him look much more antagonistic only to try and undo it towards the end (writing out Daitokuji’s explanation of alchemy’s true use in the process).  I’ll have to get around to a dub/sub comparison for this one…

Some other Translation Notes that aren’t necessary but do enhance the viewing experience:

Amnael’s attack name for Helios Duo Megistus, “Flames of Vulcanus,” refers to Vulcan, “the god of fire (including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking, and the forge) in ancient Roman religion and myth.”

“What lies below is as above, just as what lies above is as below.” was me making a more aesthetically pleasing subtitle out of “as above, so below,” which is a phrase from Hermeticism; “The actual text of that maxim, as translated by Dennis W. Hauck from The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, is: “That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing.” Thus, whatever happens on any level of reality (physical, emotional, or mental) also happens on every other level. This principle, however, is more often used in the sense of the microcosm and the macrocosm. The microcosm is oneself, and the macrocosm is the universe. The macrocosm is as the microcosm and vice versa; within each lies the other, and through understanding one (usually the microcosm) a person may understand the other.^[36]“

As I said in 44′s post, the animation fixes I was working on for 45 were part of the reason these were delayed (along with SOCIAL ACTIVITY), but it was good to get them done; 45 saw five fixes (three card-related), while 46 had three (one card-related).  List below the cut, as usual. (EDIT, 2021: Two new fixes applied in 46, listed in bold under the cut!)

Enjoy, everyone! Thanks for your patience if you were looking forward to these.  With these done, I’ll start prepping a few things for 47 now, but I’ll actually take a little break to work on the next 5D’s Dub-Uncut for episode 22 (I may squeeze in some scripting here/there tho).  Let’s see how I can improve that mess…

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The One With the Endgame Setup (and Underwear)

With Professor Daitokuji missing, worries amount that he may have lost to the Seven Stars, so Judai and the others head to a dark forest to look for him.  Elsewhere, Asuka pursues a missing Fubuki only to duel a mysterious duelist and the last of the Seven Stars, but their overwhelming power gap leads to her defeat.  Manjoume also pursues clues about Daitokuji only to meet the mysterious duelist; they duel but he loses.  Is Daitokuji safe? And what is the identity of this mysterious duelist?

*crashes in weeks late with Starbucks* WHAT’S HAPPENING Y’ALL

But really, apologies for the delay in getting this finalization done for you all! Truth is, 44 was done a while ago, but because this is leading to one of my top Season 1 duels, I wanted to put it out alongside 45 and 46 for a nice triple-feature… but some animation fixes I worked on for 45, combined with work and SOCIAL ACTIVITY happening IRL, made me take longer than expected to finish it up and then knock out 46, which I just did the other day. 😒

This is a good build-up episode for the main Amnael duel coming up in 45 and 46, though! Detective Thunder reprises his duties and we get some shots of a shadowed Amnael being a silent badass.  Poor Mrs. Tome getting mistaken for evil though; she’s one of the purest in this show.  The animation work is also great this episode.

Enjoy, folks! Check out the post with 45 and 46 here~

The One With the Boi

A young man known as “Boy,” a hit in the world of gambling, has stormed into the Academia, selling himself into being a member of the Seven Stars opposition.  The Boy is challenged by his old friend Asuka to a duel.  The Boy’s tactics revolve around dueling by calling coin flips with his Gambler Deck.  He gets two coin tosses through his Second Chance and always guesses his flips right.  However, Asuka has had her eye on the Boy’s one weakness since childhood…

Here’s finalized!43! A nice bit of development for Asuka is always welcome, as it shows us some more on her dueling philosophy, and it was interesting to see an old classmate of hers in the Boy.  I do like how we see hints of his way of thinking and then Asuka calls it out right towards the end.  Also features one of the few uses of the “A Fresh Morning” tune from GX Sound Duel 1 at the beginning, and it’s a really nice track.

Thankfully, not much in the way of fixes this episode! Though the one fix with Judai’s hair in one shot did bug me a little; I flip-flopped between just painting over the miscolored section or just using the recolor tool in Photoshop, and while I went with the latter and it still kiinda sticks out, I do think using the former would’ve stuck out more lol.  List below the cut~

Enjoy, folks! Think I’ll get to work on dub-uncut!5D’s #21 for a bit, then work on GX 44.  Looking forward to revisiting the Amnael stuff, as it’s some of my favorite Season 1 content!

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The One Where Fubuki’s That Kind of Character

A Cosplay Duel Tournament is happening at the Academy Festival. Asuka dresses up as the Harpie Lady, while Manjoume goes as XYZ-Dragon, but stepping up to duel Judai is a mysterious girl dressed up as Black Magician Girl.  Judai duels this BlaMagi Girl, and he’s cornered as she summons Magician’s Valkyria and BlaMagi Girl herself from her cutesy and surprisingly powerful deck.  The Academia supposedly lacks girls with her abilities, but…

Finally finished! Apologies for the delay, but here’s finalized!42! A fun little episode before we get to the heart of the Seven Stars arc, and one of my favorites.  Also features the first [and only? D:] use of Elemental Hero Steam Healer, as well as Magician’s Valkyria post-Pyramid of Light; it was a neat combo by BMG to use Fire Sorcerer and lead into Dimension Fusion.

The main delay with the episode was the translations/fixes worked on this go-around; being used to 37-41 having at most 10 fixes between them kinda spoiled me, haha.  The bulk of them are hardsub-only translations, with a few ranging from restoring a missing mouth to fixing Judai’s hair in a Quality shot.  List below the cut, as usual, but I did whip up this little video rundown if you’d like to see it that way!

Enjoy, folks! With this done, I think I’ll run in and get 43 done next to make up for the delay, with 5D’s dub-uncut!21 happening after.  I know there’s one shot of Judai I’ll have to fix his hair in, but there probably won’t be too much there.

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The One With the Bullfighters

Asuka continues to nurse her brother, whose memories haven’t returned.  With his memories on the line, Asuka duels Titan.  Titan isn’t the cheating duelist he was before–he’s become a true Dark Duelist.  Titan uses a series of “Daemon Matador” Monsters and Dark Arena, a bullring of darkness, to lead Asuka into the dark and gain the upper hand.  Unable to choose her attack targets, Asuka’s Cyber Blader is destroyed by his Matadors…

Here’s episode 41, folks! This is a great Asuka-focused episode, and one of the few wins for our protagonist team that weren’t earned by Judai.  Asuka’s motivation to regain Fubuki’s memories for him is a good driving force for her, and that reunion at the end hits the feels~ Well, until one fateful callout… We do also get to see Cyber Blader’s other two effects in action here, which is neat.

Just one card-related fix involved with this episode, but the main time-grabber was translating the Cosplay Duel poster that shows up in episode 42 but is included in its preview during episode 41.  Details below the cut. #KeyframingIsFunKids

Enjoy! If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’m also working on some “dub-uncut” episodes of 5D’s where I tweak dialogue and add back the Japanese OST for some fun; I’ll be getting started on episode 26 soon, which I’m excited for thanks to all the new 5D’s Duel Links audio I get to work with–we finally have legit translations of the summoning chants! Well, mostly. Sorry, Crow. Once 26 is done, I’ll get started on GX 42 and the fun poster-translating antics that will ensue. 😅

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