Season 0-01 – The Battle Starts! A Shadow Game!
“The Furious Battle – A Shadow Game”
“Gekiretsu Batoru – Yami no Gēmu” (激烈バトル 闇のゲーム)
Aired JAPAN: April 04, 1998
A group of people are in ancient Egypt. They break through one of the Pyramid walls and see a golden box lying on the opposite side of the room. One of the professors begins walking towards the box, wondering if it’s the Yami Game. Suddenly, as he approaches the box, he collapses to the ground, stating it is the puzzle of Yami.
At a school, the bell rings, meaning it’s time for recess. A group of kids head outside to play some basketball. Yuugi sits inside the classroom and builds a house from cards. One of Yuugi’s classmates wants him to play basketball with them, but Yuugi says the team he joins would just lose. So the student runs outside to meet up with the team. Yuugi sits alone in the classroom. He gathers up his deck of cards. He tells himself he wants to play a game with everyone sometime. Suddenly, Yuugi remembers about something and hopes to finish it. He pulls out a golden box from his backpack, similar to the golden box we saw earlier in the episode. Yuugi says the contents in the box is his treasure, but it’s a complete secret. He then asks a quiz question: the treasure inside the box is something you can see, but have never seen before. What is it? Before Yuugi can say the answer, Jounouchi takes the box from Yuugi and wonders why Yuugi is talking to himself. Yuugi jumps up from his seat and tries to get Jounouchi to return it. But Jounouchi holds the box up high so Yuugi can’t reach it. Then Joey throws the box in the air. He jumps over a desk and catches it. Jounouchi says Yuugi is too timid. That’s the part about Yuugi that makes him angry. He offers to make Yuugi more of a man. He tells Yuugi to come at him at full force if he wants the box back. Yuugi exclaims that he hates violence. Jounouchi covers his ears, thinking Yuugi has a loud voice. Yuugi apologizes and asks for the box back.
Suddenly, another student appears and tells Jounouchi to give Yuugi his box back. Jounouchi recognizes him as Honda, a rejected student president member. Honda screams at Jounouchi, saying he may not be student president, but he is a good club member. Jounouchi ignores Honda and asks Yuugi what’s inside the box. Yuugi tells Jounouchi he can look inside as long as he doesn’t lose it. Jounouchi takes a peek and sees that it’s boring. Anzu walks in the room and grabs the box from Jounouchi. She yells at Jounouchi for taking Yuugi’s box and bullying him. Jounouchi insists he was only trying to make Yuugi a man. Miho appears in the room and assumes Anzu is referring to her, but Anzu says she isn’t. Miho sighs and says she still hasn’t had lunch yet. Honda gets excited and tells her he’ll buy her lunch right away. Jounouchi wants to come too, and both of them run off.
On their way to the lunch room, Jounouchi tells Honda that Anzu makes him mad. Jounouchi doesn’t like how Anzu talks about bullying, yet she’s doing it herself! Suddenly, they run into a big guy. He asks them about bullying. Jounouchi begins to speak, but Honda covers his mouth right away. Honda says it’s nothing. The big guy says bullying is no good, and he begins to walk away. Honda understands. The big guy turns around and tells Honda to make sure his uniform is properly buttoned. Then he walks away. Honda releases his hand from Jounouchi’s mouth, and Jounouchi gasps for air. Jounouchi yells at Honda because he couldn’t breathe. Honda asks Jounouchi if he even knew who he was talking to. Honda says the big guy’s name is Ushio. All the school’s rules were made by him.
Back at the classroom, Yuugi is amazed how Anzu handled Jounouchi and Honda. Anzu says the guys will mess with her if she acts soft. She tells Yuugi he’s got to have guts. Yuugi doesn’t think Jounouchi is a really bad guy. Anzu replies people mock Yuugi for saying that. Then she changes the subject and asks what’s inside the box. Yuugi gets excited and decides to show her his secret. He takes the lid off the box and reveals a bunch of golden puzzle pieces. Yuugi says it’s a puzzle, but he hasn’t finished it, so he has no idea what shape it will be. That’s why it’s something you can see, but you really can’t see it too. Yuugi explains his house is a game store. The previous owner of the store found the puzzle in an Egyptian ruin, so it’s very rare. Anzu is puzzled. Yuugi points out the Egyptian writing that’s marked on the puzzle. He translates the writing to, “The person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted.” Suddenly, Yuugi realizes he said too much and wonders if Anzu thinks he’s really dumb. Anzu doesn’t think so. She asks Yuugi what he wished for. Yuugi says his wish is a true secret.
Jounouchi holds one of the puzzle pieces in his hand. Honda asks what it is, and Jounouchi says he secretly took it from Yuugi’s box. He didn’t get a good look at the entire thing, but Jounouchi is sure it’s a puzzle. Without this one piece, his treasure can’t become one. Honda thinks Jounouchi is hopeless. Jounouchi asks Honda if he was off to buy lunch. Honda totally forgot about his duty, and he runs off to the lunch room. Jounouchi stares at the puzzle piece and then throws it out the window. The piece lands into the water next to the school. Jounouchi doesn’t see how a puzzle is a valuable treasure. Yuugi just makes him mad.
It’s getting late outside, and Yuugi decides to head home. He passes by the Public Moral club, who is being trained by Ushio. Yuugi decides not to bother them. Suddenly, a voice calls out to Yuugi. It’s from Ushio, and he asks Yuugi if any of the students have been bullying him. Yuugi is a little surprised by this and says no one has been bullying him. Ushio is a little suspicious and decides to investigate. He tells Yuugi to relax because he will be Yuugi’s bodyguard from now on. Yuugi says he hasn’t experienced any bullying, and he runs away, thinking Ushio is weird.
Yuugi arrives at his house and opens the front door. To his surprise, Anzu greets him. Then Yuugi’s grandpa appears and greets Yuugi too. He then turns his attention to Anzu and compliments her body. Anzu thinks Grandpa is a little weird. Grandpa then notices Yuugi hasn’t given up on his puzzle. Yuugi says no. Grandpa says the puzzle is beyond human knowledge; Yuugi can’t solve it. Then Grandpa says there’s a lot of history behind the puzzle. He explains a team found the Millenium Puzzle. They were bringing the box back from Egypt, but suddenly everyone from the team died. The last person left something behind because he wanted to live. It was Yami Game. Anzu thinks the puzzle is getting a little dangerous, but Yuugi is interested in it. Grandpa points to the symbols marked on the box. They read, “The one who solves me will receive my dark knowledge and power.” Yuugi is excited that his wish will finally come true. He wants to solve it even more.
Late at night, Yuugi continues to try and fit the pieces together. Grandpa stares through the keyhole in Yuugi’s bedroom door. He’s surprised Yuugi is still at it since it’s been eight years. Grandpa is happy Yuugi hasn’t give up yet. He’s only worried that the person who does solve the puzzle receives the Yami Game, so it might be better if he doesn’t finish it. Yuugi eventually falls asleep with a puzzle that looks half complete.
The next day of school, Ushio leads Yuugi to the back of the school alley. Yuugi sees Jounouchi and Honda beaten up pretty badly. Yuugi wonders what Ushio did with them. Ushio says he’s Yuugi’s bodyguard now, so he beat up the bullies. Yuugi thinks it’s all too horrible. He asks Jounouchi and Honda if they are all right. Jounouchi is mad at Yuugi for this. Yuugi can’t believe Jounouchi would he think he would want this to happen. Ushio tells Yuugi to step aside so the punishing can continue. He kicks Jounouchi in the stomach. Yuugi stands in between Ushio and Jounouchi and tells Ushio to stop. He doesn’t want his friends to get hurt! Jounouchi mutters, “Friends?” Ushio thinks Yuugi is weird for accepting Jounouchi and Honda as friends. After all they were bullies to him! Yuugi insists his friends weren’t being bullies. Jounouchi was only trying to teach Yuugi to be a man! Ushio eventually agrees to leave Jounouchi and Honda alone, but he wants Yuugi to pay for bodyguard fees. The total cost is 20,000 yen (equivalent of 220 USD)!
At his house, Yuugi continues to try and solve the puzzle. He wonders where he will get that kind of money from. Yuugi then wonders why he’s working on the puzzle at a time like this. He’s doing better than usual, but he still doesn’t feel well. Yuugi feels like he’s going to finish the puzzle today. Everything soon clicks together, and the puzzle is near completion. The puzzle is in the form of a pyramid. All he needs now is one more piece. Yuugi places his hand into the box for the last piece, but it isn’t there. Yuugi freaks out over it.
Meanwhile, Jounouchi and Honda walk home from school. Jounouchi stares into the water and remembers Yuugi standing up for him and calling him a friend. Honda continues to walk forward but realizes Jounouchi isn’t even listening to him. He sees Jounouchi jump into the water. Yuugi runs back to school. With the puzzle incomplete, his wish won’t come true! So he prays the last piece is at school.
On his way to school, Yuugi meets up with Ushio. Ushio asks if he’s brought the bodyguard fee. Yuugi says he just came back to pick something up from school. He can’t pay back anyway! Ushio doesn’t look too happy about that and stares at Yuugi. Meanwhile, Jounouchi has found the last piece to Yuugi’s puzzle. Honda drops a towel on the puzzle piece and says he’s the one that usually handles the dirty objects. He expects Jounouchi to buy him another towel, and Jounouchi thinks Honda is being cheap. Then Honda sees Yuugi walking with Ushio into the alley. He wonders what they are about to do.
In the alley, Ushio kicks Yuugi to the wall. Yuugi falls to the ground. Ushio says that’s enough for today, but tomorrow there will be more. Ushio begins to walk away, but Jounouchi and Honda call out to him. Ushio recognizes them as the bullies. Jounouchi runs up to Yuugi, who is crippled on the ground. He hears Yuugi muttering about his wish. Yuugi wished for some true friends! Jounouchi puts the last piece of the puzzle in Yuugi’s hand. Honda tells Ushio how he always respected him, but not anymore. Ushio wonders if they really think they both can defeat him. Jounouchi and Honda aim their punches at Ushio, but Ushio ends up beating them up. Meanwhile, Yuugi tells himself how he wished for friends, true friends who will never betray him.
Yuugi turns around and sees Jounouchi and Honda lying on the ground. They are in bad shape. Yuugi wonders what he should do. Suddenly, he remembers Jounouchi giving him something, and he opens his hand. He sees the last piece of the puzzle and places it into the puzzle. The puzzle glows, and a shadow of a person is seen on the wall. The leaves rustle, and Ushio turns around. He finds himself hanging by a rope on the school’s roof. At the top of the roof is Yuugi, who apparently has transformed into another person. Yuugi’s body remains the same, but his mind and personality are different. Yuugi says he has what Ushio wants right here. Ushio assumes Yuugi’s referring to the money and he tells Yuugi to hand it over. Yuugi thinks it’s boring to just hand it over. He offers Ushio to play a game with him, a Yami Game. Ushio is interested in the game. He accepts Yuugi’s challenge.
Yuugi, who also has a rope tied to him, jumps down from the top and places down a bunch of face-down cards in the middle. Yuugi explains the rules. Each player flips over a card and moves up closer to the top by the value of the card. While the player moves up, the other moves down. The first person to reach the top wins. Ushio understands and begins first. He flips over a Ten of Diamonds and moves up ten spaces. Yuugi flips over a King of Diamonds and moves up, while Ushio moves down. Then Ushio flips over a Two o fSpades and moves up two spaces. Yuugi flips over a Queen of Spades and moves up even more. Ushio flips over a Three of Diamonds, and Yuugi flips over a Nine of Hearts. Ushio flips over a Six of Clubs, and Yuugi flips over Jack of Spades. Yuugi is now only one step away from the prize, and Ushio is left hanging at the bottom. It’s Ushio’s turn, and he flips over a Joker. Yuugi says a Joker means he misses his turn. Yuugi flips over an Ace of Diamonds and wins the game.
Ushio is mad at Yuugi, and he begins to walk up the roof towards Yuugi. Yuugi sees Ushio breaking the rules. Ushio tries to grab Yuugi but misses. So Ushio cuts Yuugi’s rope, and Yuugi begins to fall. Then Ushio heads up to the top. He claims his prize, only to find out its a deck of cards. Yuugi says the Door of Darkness has been opened. Ushio falls from the roof. Yuugi says Ushio will be swallowed by his own greed. Ushio thinks he’ll just fall into the water, but instead three monsters surface the water and eat him.
A group of people surround Ushio asking if he’s okay. Ushio is cuddled up in a ball, crying about how scared he is. At school, students tell each other about how Ushio was hospitalized. Yuugi has his Millenium Puzzle hanging around his neck. Jounouchi greets Yuugi. He tells Yuugi he also has a treasure and asks Yuugi if he wants to see it. Yuugi nods his head. Jounouchi says too bad since you can see it, but Yuugi himself cannot. Yuugi wonders what it is, and Jounouchi says, “It’s friendship.” You can see friendship in each other, but you can’t see courage itself. A smile forms on Yuugi’s face. Jounouchi wonders why he’s even talking about this. He says class is starting soon and then runs away, while dropping his shoe. Yuugi holds up Jounouchi’s shoe and runs after him.
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