Goodness! This exchange is everything. Takes place when these two lose against your team in the new Tag Duel Tournament (2024). The actual eng translation is typed up and shared here. Very thankful to them since I don't play the game and rely on gameplay videos.
As always, imo the official translators don't do a very good job. Adequate at best... (The pre-duel dialogue is fine). The way Duel Links is translated in eng comes off as very "summarized" to me. Nuances and call backs are lost, if not altogether cut, which is unfortunate. Tbh the real villains of YGO are the translation/localization team.
BAKURA: Hehehe... We lost, Yugi. Is this what you wanted out of a fair fight?
ATEM: There will always be a winner and loser in a competition. But when it comes to us Duelists, there are acceptable ways to win and lose! You have something that's of value (lit. important) to you like that, don't you, Bakura? Like when we had our own duel (aka the first BC match)!
BAKURA: ... Keh! Whatever... I'll tell you one thing. That naivety of yours will get you killed (lit. will prove fatal) in the coming battles... Hyahahahahahahahaha!
So ok!
Atem throws Bakura the same phrase Bakura used when he forces a switch back to get Ryou out of Osiris' attack.
BAKURA: I have my own preferences when it comes to winning...!! (lit. I have ways I like and ways that I don't when it comes to winning...!!)
The manga in general uses speech/thought bubbles weirdly, but it's safe to assume Bakura isn't saying this out loud, considering what's happening in this scene (Atem doesn't actually hear him say this). So it strikes a nerve in Bakura because lmao Atem is on point!
Atem's like, "hey remember when you were a big softy for your host"
And then Bakura's immediate reaction is that of a man who's undeniably guilty as charged,
This face is such a tell. It says so much lmao! It hits home he can't even hide it! Because "That naivety of yours will get you killed". Bakura, is that from experience? 🤭
Here, Atem comments that even if Bakura is an evil entity, he and Bakura aren't different in the aspect that they are meant/destined to protect their respective Item bearers. They have to, even if it comes down to sacrificing themselves.
Yugi initially says that it's a little different between the Yugis and the Bakuras, but ultimately, Yugi agrees with Atem at a fundamental level (as seen here in his conversation with Jounouchi). I think the jp title of that chapter is fitting too. 絆のために!! "For the Sake of Bonds!!"
Look, the chapter where Bakura protects Ryou was released in the March 2001 issue of Shounen Jump. It'll be 23 years since then soon, and Atem still won't let Bakura live that moment of "naivety" down 🤣🤣🤣
I love the Bakura/Atem dynamic (in reference 01, 02)! They're the "bad friends", the vitriolic best buds trope if you cut their historical animosity towards each other. Being AIs programmed by Seto gives them this freedom, I suppose.
the scans are a little weird bc a friend(who read the raws) said that thistle talks posh but starts talking like a little brat when he’s excited. the fan translation made him posh all the way, so the eng reader crowd was robbed of thistle gap moe (translation in alt text)
what's the matter, dear, what is running through your mind right now, say the truth
don't turn your eyes away, those little teardrops aren't from loneliness, hold me tight
close and yet so far, like those simple days together
but when times were rough, i could feel our hearts beat as one
stop your crying now i can't bear to see, can't control the feelings welling up
take that step ahead, walk away because you can lead the life you've wanted to live
spread your wings and fly, and take care not to look behind
cause there is no time to waste
I need you to know
‘Cause I already know
That we’re one step closer
as we're going home, will you miss when we walked side by side, don't lie to me
it's not too late you know, the future's in our hands, waiting still, say the word
time is passing by, while it does we're drifting further
if this is our last, memories i'll carry with me
stop your crying now i can't bear to see, can't control the feelings welling up
take that step ahead, walk away because you can lead the life you've wanted to live
spread your wings and fly, and take care not to look behind
cause there is no time to waste
I need you to know
‘Cause I already know
That we’re one step closer
close and yet so far, like those simple days together
but when times were rough, i could feel our hearts beat as one
stop your crying now i can't bear to see, can't control the feelings welling up
take that step ahead, walk away because you can lead the life you've wanted to live
spread your wings and fly, and take care not to look behind
cause there is no time to waste
and I need you to know
Opinion on the hc that the (2012) turtles are bilingual (with there first language being Japanese) ?
(Kansjevdjdhud, I love that hc smm<3)
ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITE HEADCANON EVER
i love multilingual turtles!!!
i do think 2012 it's the one iteration that seems to be more in touch with yoshi's culture the most.
this might be for the fact that yoshi didn't have absolutely anyone at all when he arrived to new york, a complete unknown different place to him.
it's not literally specificed but one can deduce yoshi got the four turtles in the first place as an attempt to not feel as lonely after losing his family,his clan and being exiled.
so after the mutation i feel like yoshi would have taught the boys how to speak and read in japanese first instead of english since he would have been trying to find a level of normalcy and comfort in all he was going trough.
Another fact is that the brothers are used to splinter telling them stories as a way to pass the time when they were growing up. I like to think he tells them stories about different things like legends and just silly random stories from his past, all in yoshi's og language.
The show also shows it a lot! the brothers speak and understand japanese words pretty randomly! So i do think they mostly speak it while they are by themselves exclusively and at home instead of english (probably not much when april or casey are around as to not make them feel left out of the conversation tho)
also another fun silly headcanon i like is that mikey somehow speaks and understands spanish because of how he says random words of the language in the show too lol. as to how he learnt it himself idk tho. he probably found some telenovelas in vhs or smt lmao
"I don't want to lose any more friends!! Even if that means my soul should shatter!"
We all know the line. It's Ryou at his most powerful: outsmarting and defeating Bakura all on his own very early on in the series. Not sure for yall, but I've only ever heard and known it in the voice of Kashiwakura Tsutomu (season 0).
So! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that in the YGO × Power Pros collab, there's a soundbite of that very line in the voice of Matsumoto Rica!
Lmao yeah that's Bakura's sprite in the video since he's the playable character in the collab, I think? idk anything about the collab tbh (baseball???) but Ryou has that line at least.
Bakura has his own lines too. They're mostly reworded/rerecorded Battle City ones, including when he shields Ryou from Osiris' attack and, uh, quite the ecstatic/maniacal declaration of "Millennium Eye! Get!" (as in, "The Millennium Eye is mine!") from Duelist Kingdom. Bakura's voice is deeper and a bit raspier. Same quality from Duel Links.
more faithful anime remake when so I dont have to forever cling to this eight-second clip
as the sun is setting melting you away
i step forward disappearing into dawn
as we grow apart, what if we will never meet again,
i don’t mind, we’ll just call it fate then
as you raise a match to set a fire ablaze
i look up to see the sparks that light my dreams
i don’t feel afraid, nothing can be lost cause after all,
we were fighting for a life that wasn’t ours
so i guess, here we part ways goodbye,
that boy is looking on with dull, gray eyes
i no longer hear the birds that sing their songs, no i don’t hear a thing
just like that, here we are it’s as though
all of this has finally come to an end
make no mistake, longer is the road
we don't have a choice and so
ahh everything and anything let's go home
ahh everything let flow away let's go home
all the scars that line your body as you thirst for something greater than
it doesn’t mean a thing, just let it go, watch it soar
so, in this cooling breeze tonight let's go home
this rain oh so gentle as you say let's go home
in the end just what is borne of all the hatefulness inside our hearts
well i’ll be, i’ll be the first to move on, forget it all
you keep moving on ahead, your chin held high
i hesitate, chained again to times gone by
if this is the end, let me have a go at playing god
why not, it’s just human nature
as i looked below to see a world where i
left everything as it was, just me removed
nothing changed at all, the earth kept spinning round and round
the same, and the possibilities i saw were endless
so i guess, here we part ways goodbye
at the edge the bright and lively cars drive by
looking back, the bustling old town fades out just as i walk away
give and take, give and take, clear as day
all i did was take without a second thought
having lived this long, i don’t even know why i stand right here at all
ahh i won’t need a thing with me let's go home
ahh throw it all away set out let's go home
we can only give to others all the things that someone else gave to us
i’ll give my thanks and keep my head held up high
there, i am waiting for you so let's go home
where happiness knows no bounds, take flight let's go home
is there anything before we leave to take with us to where we’ll go
no i think, i think i’ll let it all go, nothing left
in the end just what is borne of all the hatefulness inside our hearts
well i’ll be, i’ll be the first to move on, forget it all
ahh what do you say, how will we live now
***still not sure about a lot of the lyrics in here; for one, i'm still trying to think of a good translation for "kaerou" but it doesn't sound as nice in english imo; two, rhyming hard