LET'S WATCH THE DUEL!! Taro vs. Hanako!!

    Hello again! I'm excited to eventually continue on to Vol.3 and beyond, but first we finally have an update! I finally got access to the Official Guide Starter Book! That means I've been at work with reading, transcribing and translating it for a better understanding of this game's history. Please go here to start my original posts on the subject.   

    For now though, let's share what I have found through actual reading as an update to what I've found.  Let's start with who wrote/drew in this guide:   

■Composition/STUDIO HARD (Naoto Okawa, Satoshi Yamazaki, Satoru Sato)

■Writing/STUDIO HARD (Naoto Ohyama, Satoshi Yamazaki, Satoru Sato), Tomoyuki Nakazawa

■Cover Design/Banana Grove Studio (Yumi Tanaka)

■Design/Banana Grove Studio

■Illustration/Kazuki Takahashi

■Explanatory Illustration/Banana Grove Studio (Kentaro Hashimoto), Akira Kudo

■Cooperation/KONAMI CORPORATION

© Kazuki Takahashi/Shueisha  Planning and Production/KONAMI

© Kazuki Takahashi/Shueisha, TV Asahi, Dentsu, Toei Animation

©1998 KONAMI

A quick summary of the companies:

STUDIO HARD -  This is a design, planning and editing company for magazines that has been constituted since 1981 and run by Nobuyuki Takahashi who coined the term cosplay. 

BANANA GROVE STUDIO - A long time design studio around since 1974. It has had a hand in many magazine designs, including with Weekly Shonen Jump to this day.

TV ASAHI - Originally an educational television station first broadcasting on February 1, 1959, it began as NET (Nippon Educational Television) before becoming NET TV (NETテレビ) in December 1960. It was involved with the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, both the first and more famous 2nd incarnations.

DENTSU - The largest advertising agency in Japan, it started as Japan Advertising Ltd. before eventually being named Dentsu Advertising Ltd. in 1955 before finally shortening to Dentsu Inc. in 1978. It's stylized as dentsu when referring to the company.

TOEI ANIMATION - Began as Japan Animated Films (日本動画映画, Nihon Dōga Eiga) in 1948 by animators Kenzō Masaoka and Sanae Yamamoto before being bought by Toei Company in 1956. It was the studio that made the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime.

    These worked together in various ways, but that's beyond the scope of this article. Instead, please focus on the writers and illustrators for the Official Guide Starter Book. It's one of those occasions where we have names for those who put pen to paper, even if we don't know who exactly did what. It's been mentioned before the contents of the Starter Book. But now that I've actually read the thing, I can go into more detail on certain topics. 

    First and foremost, we can finally go into more detail on the example Duel mentioned in the previous entry between Taro and Hanako. Beforehand, the only real example that could be given was what was recorded (Hanako destroys Dragon Capture Jar with Remove Trap and smashes it with a hammer). Now I will be showing you the Duel in as little of a non-copyright way as I can.

Let's meet our characters!

                                                                        -----------------------------

 

Taro: A boy with a strong and forceful personality Gets fired up to a ridiculous degree over everything.
Mickey: A foreign guy who knows a lot about Duel Monsters. Is he related to Pegasus?                            
Hanako: A confident and shrewd girl. Always makes a fool of Taro during Duels. 

    Mickey makes it clear that this is a demonstration by welcoming us. We learn a little of the characters' personalities before they start. Here's a small excerpt:

Mickey: First, let’s greet the competition. 

Hanako: This needs to be said…

Taro: Yeah, but I dunno about greeting Hanako now…
Mickey: It’s an Official Rule. You HAVE TO say it! 

Hanako & Taro: “hey, nice to meet you……~”

Mickey: Your voices are too quiet!!

Hanako & Taro: “Nice To Meet You!”

     They take us through the basics: Cutting the Decks, confirming that both Duelists have 10 Side Deck cards, and finally Rock-Paper Scissors (which Taro wins). After that though...

Mickey:
So next up’s going to be deciding the bet card. Flip the top card of your Deck and place it outside the Duel Field. Take note!
Betting cards isn’t a rule that you have to follow. If you want to apply it, then it must be mutually agreed on. So, what are you
two going to do? 
Hanako: Of course, as always…
Taro: I’ll turn over a card!
Hanako: My favorite, “Petit Angel”!
Taro: Heh! It’s not that strong, but I’ll add it to my card collection… Yikes! I drew “Aqua Madoor”!
Hanako: Kyaaa, lucky!! What a good card. I'm totally motivated now!
Taro: Humph!  I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!
Mickey: So, each player draws five cards from their Deck and the Duel starts!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

     For the sake of not making this too long, I will be summarizing each turn and added dialogue when I wish to emphasize something. All translations are done by myself.

TURN 1:

    Taro declares that the player who goes first doesn't draw, but he elects to go first. He places "M-Warrior #1" (1000/500) in Attack Position (I will be referring to this as Summoning) and confidently ends his turn. 

Hanako: You’re being confident for no reason, as usual.

Taro: What’re you talking about? This “M-Warrior #1” has 1000
Attack and 500 Defense Power, and its pal “M-Warrior #2” has 500 Attack and 1000 Defense Power. These guys are also
known as “Attacker #1, Defender #2.” What’d happen if “M-Warrior #1” weren’t in Attack Position?

Hanako: You probably just came up with that nickname.

    Mickey interjects and explains how battle works: the monster with the higher Power (Attack or Defense) wins in the end. Taro agrees and Hanako accepts.

TURN 2:

    Hanako draws for her Draw Phase (Both players do so every Draw Phase, so I won't be repeating this) and places a monster face-down in Defense Position (The Duel itself never uses this term, but I will use the word Set to describe it.) Mickey explains how monsters placed on the field in Defense Position have to be put face-down, and that you can make a strategy out of this because such monsters usually have high Defense. 

TURN 3:

    Taro Sets a monster and enters the Battle Phase. "M-Warrior #1" attacks Hanako's face-down monster. Throughout the Duel, Mickey narrates the battles and performs Damage calculation for each one. Hanako's face-down monster is revealed as "Ancient Tree of Enlightenment" (600/1500) [the writer of the Duel mistakenly put down "Green Phantom King" (500/1600) as the monster], and Taro takes the damage (Taro: 8000 → 7500 LP). Mickey clarifies that a monster that loses a battle to a Defense Position monster isn't destroyed. 

TURN 4:

    Hanako Summons "Dark Gray" (800/900) and attacks Taro's face-down monster. It's revealed as "Kagemusha of the Blue Flame" (800/400) and is destroyed. Taro gloats about not taking damage, and Hanako Sets specifically a Trap Card in the Magic and Trap Zone before ending her turn.

TURN 5:

    Taro Summons the key card of his Deck -- "Hitotsu-Me Giant" -- onto the field. But Hanako counters it by activating "Trap Hole", destroying the Summoned monster because, as Mickey explains, it had more than 1000 Attack Power. In response, Taro attaches the Equip Card "Legendary Sword" to "M-Warrior #1" (1300/800). He then attacks "Dark Gray" with "M-Warrior #1" and destroys it (Hanako: 8000 → 7500 LP). 

Taro: Humph, that was for Hitotsu. That ends my turn. 

TURN 6:

    Hanako Sets another monster and ends her turn.

TURN 7:

    Taro activates "Raigeki" in hand after declaring he has no monsters, destroying "Ancient Tree of Enlightenment" and the mystery card. He then attacks Hanako directly with "M-Warrior #1" (Hanako: 7500 → 6200 LP). 

Taro: It’s the deadly “Thunder then Attack” combo!

Hanako: That's it, exactly!

TURN 8:

    Hanako ends Taro's turn for him and activates "Swords of Revealing Light" to Taro's dismay before ending her turn.

TURN 9:

    For the next three of Taro's turns, Mickey will declare how long Swords has left before its effect ends. Taro Summons "Winged Cleaver" (700/700).

TURN 10:

    Hanako Summons "Mystical Elf" (800/2000). 

TURN 11:

    Two turns left on Swords. Taro Sets a Trap Card to Hanako's apparent surprise. 

TURN 12:

    Hanako switches "Mystical Elf" to Defense Position and activates "Hinotama" to deal damage to Taro without attacking (Taro: 7500 → 7000 LP). After some banter, Hanako ends her turn.

TURN 13:

    Taro Summons "Armaill" (700/1300) and ends his turn. He comments that they'll be all-out attacking next turn after Mickey notes his lineup.

TURN 14:

    However, Hanako draws "Celtic Guardian" (1400/1200) from the top of her Deck and Attacks "Winged Cleaver" (It's actually "Armaill" that battles, so it's another error in monsters) (Taro: 7000 → 6300 LP). 

TURN 15:

    Taro declares he's drawn "M-Warrior #2" 

Hanako: That “Defensive Something” or whatever, right? Even if you brought out that 1000 Defense Power card, I’d just quickly beat it,
you know.
Taro: I never said anything about summoning it to the field. I’ll use it together with the Spell Card “Polymerization”.

   Mickey explains the concept of Fusion and the difference between the Official and Expert Rules for performing it. Taro brings out the Fusion Monster "Karbonala Warrior" (1500/1200), attacking and destroying "Celtic Guardian" with it (Hanako: 6200 → 6100 LP). 

TURN 16:

    Hanako Summons "Nemuriko"  (800/700). She attacks and destroys "Winged Cleaver" (Taro: 6300 → 6200 LP) before ending her turn. 

TURN 17:

    Taro Equips another copy of "Legendary Sword" to "Karbonala Warrior" (1800/1500). He then attacks and destroys "Nemuriko" (Hanako: 6100 → 5100 LP). 

TURN 18:

    Hanako Sets another monster next to "Mystical Elf".

TURN 19:

    Taro activates "Sogen", and Mickey explains the concept of Field Cards. "Sogen" powers up "Karbonala Warrior" (2000/1700), and Taro attacks Hanako's new face-down monster. It's another "Mystical Elf", resulting in no damage taken.

TURN 20:

Hanako: *menacing……*

Taro: Huh?
Hanako: *rumbling……*
Taro: What the heck is that?!
Hanako: It’s coming.
Taro: What’s that?
Hanako: This person’s here at last~~! I Tribute 2 Mystical Elves and… appear! Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!

    Mickey declares the strongest monster is here while also explaining the Tribute mechanics to Summon monsters. But Taro had a surprise: he activates "Dragon Capture Jar" anticipating Blue-Eyes. After Mickey explains the effect (Blue-Eyes is now in Defense Position) and Taro gloats, Hanako counters with "Remove Trap". 

Here's the hammer scene recorded by the OCG Japanese players.

Hanako: That’s why. There’s no way I’d play Blue-Eyes without a counter to Capture Jar, right?
Taro: Yeeess?
Hanako: Pfft! So sorry. My turn ends.

TURN 21 

    Taro switches his Fusion to Defense Position after declaring there's nothing else he can do.

 TURN 22:

    Hanako activates "Fissure". Since "Karbonala Warrior" is the only monster on Taro's side of the field, it is destroyed. She then Summons "Archfiend Marmot of Nefariousness" (400/600) and attacks Taro directly with both of her monsters (Taro: 6200 → 2800 LP).

TURN 23:

    Taro draws "Dark Hole" to destroy Hanako's monsters. Mickey explains how Dark Hole works, and Taro says that only Hanako's monsters will be destroyed since he controls none. Then Summons "Mammoth Graveyard" (1200/800) to attack directly (Hanako: 5100 → 3700 LP) (The LP lost is incorrectly placed as 3700. It should be 3900 instead.)

Taro: Gyahahaha! With this, the match’s still up in the air, huh?! I’ll end my turn. 

 

 TURN 24:

    Hanako declares she's going to give it her all and Summons "Uraby" (1500/800) and then activates "Monster Reborn" to revive her "Celtic Guardian". Then her "Uraby" attacks and destroys "Mammoth Graveyard" (Taro: 2800 → 2500 LP) followed by a direct attack by "Celtic Guardian" (Taro: 2500 → 1100 LP). 

TURN 25: 

    Taro Sets a monster.

TURN 26:

    Hanako attacks the Set monster with "Uraby". It's revealed to be another copy of Taro's bet card "Aqua Madoor" (1200/2000) (Hanako: 3700 → 3200 LP) (actually 3400). She responds by switching "Celtic Guardian" to Defense Position and activating another "Hinotama"  (Taro: 1100 → 600 LP).

TURN 27:

    Taro Tributes "Aqua Madoor" to Summon "Curse of Dragon" (2000/1500). It attacks and destroys "Uraby" (Hanako: 3200 → 3700 LP) (actually 2900).

TURN 28:

    Hanako activates only one Magic Card this turn: "Final Flame" (Taro: 600 → 0 LP).

-----------------------------

       I personally found this Duel to be a bit scuffed. The characters were charming if a bit one-dimensional and the Duel was mostly competent as the writer showed an understanding of the rules and ways to play. Though I didn't show much of it, Mickey served as a good voice for the author to express those rules. Taro was rowdy, and I wanted to see how Hanako would embarrass him. And the art was interesting as well.

    But a disservice was done to Hanako by the writer. Did you see it?

    To remind everyone, Hanako won this Duel by using "Final Flame" to eliminate the exact amount of Life Points that Taro had left for an ironic victory that made the boy look foolish. Instead, the writer falls flat on their face by making a severe blunder: They'd forgotten "Sogen" remained on the field. So on the turn Hanako used "Monster Reborn", her "Celtic Guardian" actually had 1600 Attack Power. That meant Taro would've actually had 900 Life Points left. Hanako would've still won with Final Flame, but it wouldn't have been by the scripted number. 

    It's a painful oversight that drags down the ending to an otherwise charming Duel. And it was an easy mistake to fix too: there are even two ways to do it.

1) Use "Monster Reborn" on Blue-Eyes and win the Duel then and there.

    It still makes Taro look foolish by throwing his comment of still being in it by losing immediately the next turn. But it's probable they couldn't take that route because it wouldn't knock Taro's Life Points exactly to 0. If the writer still wanted the ending they were writing, there was one solution:

2) Revive Taro's "Hitotsu-Me Giant"

    With "Sogen" on field, the Cyclops would have had 1400 Attack Power. That's the same number as "Celtic Guardian" without a boost. Not only would the writer have gotten the right amount of damage they wanted to inflict on Taro, they would've also called back to earlier in the Duel when Taro had destroyed "Dark Grey" with "M-Warrior #1". The lines written could've been retained with the context of Taro being pained his own monster was used against him, and it would've followed the same path I showed you to a strong conclusion. 

    The ending drags down what would have otherwise been a good example Duel for the game. Still, I did mostly like it and hope to release the translation in its entirety someday. I'm just glad I was able to talk about it with anyone who reads this small corner of the Internet.

    There's still more to discuss on the Official Guide Starter Book, so watch this space for future information. Until next time!