#kotsuzuka talk

♡. 10 ── Carly Nagisa (5Ds)

What's not to love about her? She's funny, pretty, and a complete mess of a person. She gets in all sorts of trouble, all because she's trying to make a living. I like it when she gets screen time.

♡. 9 ── Noa Kaiba (DM)

He was my favorite as a kid, so I still have a special place in my heart for him. His story made me cry. He did not deserve that. He only wanted others to understand him. You're valid, Noa.

♡. 8 ── Yusei Fudo (5Ds)

It's rare for me to favor a protagonist. That's how you know he's good. This man is a blessing to Yugioh. He has a natural charisma that's impossible to ignore. He's perfect.

♡. 7 ── Bandit Keith (DM)

...I think. I have mixed feelings toward him. I don't even know why he's on this list. I keep going to him in games where Kotsuzuka is not there. So, that must mean I like him, right? I'm confused.

Cross Duel showed me he can be really nice to you if you help him win. I appreciate how he helps other duelists fortify their decks, using the themes they originally had instead of giving them a completely new deck. He cares.

While there's no excuse for what he did to Kotsuzuka and the boys, the fact that, behind that 'bad guy' front, there's a sad, broken man makes me feel bad for him. He deserves to heal.

♡. 6 ── Ryou Bakura (DM)

The anime doesn't do him justice. The more I learn about him through other fans and Duel Links, the more I like him. He's a precious cream puff who likes spooky stuff and is treated terribly by almost everyone. He deserves better (friends).

♡. 5 ── Divine (5Ds)

This man is terrible in every way, and that's the point. I hate that his character was designed to be hated. He gets no backstory, no redemption arc, no nothing. He's just there to be blamed for every bad thing that's ever happened. I pity him. He's the worst. I love this guy.

♡. 4 ── Thief King Bakura (DM)

PLEASE give this guy a break. He has gone through enough. The way he pulled himself back up after all that tragedy is impressive. Imagine how one skillful Thief became a Pharaoh's major threat. A Thief who brings up important moral questions that society seems to ignore (deliberately). He deserves to be heard.

♡. 3 ── Kiyoshi Takaido & Satake (DM)

They share third place because I can't have one without the other. I automatically started loving them because they're close friends with Kotsuzuka. I like that they care about him. These guys have so much potential to explore, and it's a shame we see so little of them.

They're not 'Keith's lackeys'. They're duelists in their own right. They have ambitions and aspirations. They just didn't get to be in the spotlight.

♡. 2 ── Yami Bakura (DM)

Sometimes switches places with Takaido and Satake but usually stays in second place. He's wickedly perfect. From his gorgeous design to how he pretends everything is part of his plan, even though he's literally dissipating into nothingness. He has the nerve to make empty threats that he never carries out. And I love him for that. No one can deny that he looks cool when he shows how evil™️ he is.

There's something beautiful about this ancient evil spirit dedicating his existence to fulfill his objective - all while showing us that he can enjoy normal human activities, like playing games. The complexity of his character captivates me. You can study him for hours, and it will still take you a while to figure him out due to his confusing lore. I like reading what other fans have to say about him.

The way he makes others suffer causes me to have mixed feelings. Sure, I love angst. I just wish there were some feelings involved.

Seeing him make enemies with almost everyone he crosses paths with makes me think he wants to keep everyone away, and that's sad. I want him to care about someone other than himself. I want someone to care about him.

♡. 1 ── Ghost Kotsuzuka (DM)

Yes, that one guy who's known for using Zombie-Type monsters. That short, spooky 15-year-old who walks around hunched over pretending to be a ghost, not realizing he's too cute to be scary. That naive boy who trusted the wrong person and then was unlucky enough to cross paths with the main antagonist. He's my favorite.

I love him. The way his eyes light up when he talks about the things he likes is adorable. I could listen to him gush about ghosts for hours.

His character tends to be frustratingly misinterpreted and overlooked. It's sad that some people think of him as nothing more than collateral damage to Yami Bakura's 'mischief'. He deserves better than that.

When you see past his 'side antagonist' role, you realize he's a precious little guy who's trying his best. Behind that ghostly, mischievous smile, there's a lost youth looking for guidance from a 'big bro' figure he can look up to, whether he realizes this or not.

Despite the differences in his characterization between the manga, anime, and games, one thing remains consistent. He grows into someone who wants to prove he can duel by himself.

But what does he get? Nothing but pain. Betrayed, deceived, ending up dead or lost in the darkness, condemned in almost every canon, with only his sentient Duel Links data to remember him by.

He only wanted to duel.

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I'll stop here. Otherwise, I'll be talking about Kotsuzuka for hours. Thank you so much for the ask! ♡ Sorry that it took a while. I was struggling to organize what I wanted to say for some of the characters, and I wanted to add some art :3

In the Japanese version of Duel Links, Kotsuzuka addresses Yami Bakura as Occult no aniki (オカルトのアニキ). He even has voice lines in the Tag Duel Tournament event where you can hear him say it.

If you recall, "aniki" (aka "big bro" or "boss"), in gang slang, is how he, Satake, and Takaido used to call Bandit Keith back when they looked up to him (no longer used after Keith's betrayal, obviously).

I assume the reason for this nickname is that Kotsuzuka never learned Bakura's name, so he calls him "big bro Occult" since the word represents Yami Bakura's essence as a duelist, engraved in Kotsuzuka's memory due to their first encounter and duel.

In the English version, they translated it as Mr. Occult Deck, which Kotsuzuka uses during the event Wave Duel Scramble.

👻 Turn 4, Kotsuzuka's turn. Yami Bakura: 3950 LP | Kotsuzuka: 3500 LP

Kotsuzuka normal summons Dragon Zombie, then activates Premature Burial, paying 800 LP to special summon The Snake Hair from his graveyard. He's left with 2700 LP. Next, he activates Polymerization, using Dragon Zombie and The Snake Hair on his field as materials to special summon Great Mammoth of Goldfine. Per the rules of Battle City, fusion monsters cannot attack during the turn they are fusion summoned. He sets a card face-down and ends his turn.

😈 Turn 5, Yami Bakura's turn. Yami Bakura: 3950 LP | Kotsuzuka: 2700 LP

Bakura draws a card. Kotsuzuka activates his face-down trap, Skull Invitation, which will deal a player 300 damage every time a card goes to their graveyard. Yami Bakura activates Spiritualistic Medium. He discards 4 cards from his hand to raise the ATK of The Earl of Demise on his field to 4000 until the end of this turn. Skull Invitation deals him 1200 damage, leaving him with 2750 LP. The anime doesn't show this, but, at this point, Spiritualistic Medium goes to Yami Bakura's graveyard, so Skull Invitation should deal him another 300 damage, leaving him at 2450 LP. The Earl of Demise attacks Great Mammoth of Goldfine, leaving Kotsuzuka with 900 LP. The Mammoth goes to Kotsuzuka's graveyard, triggering Skull Invitation, and he now has 600 LP left. Yami Bakura ends his turn.

👻 Turn 6, Kotsuzuka's turn. Yami Bakura: 2450 LP | Kotsuzuka: 600 LP

Kotsuzuka draws Nightmare's Steelcage and activates it. This card remains on the field for 2 of the opponent's turns, and during that time, monsters cannot attack. Kotsuzuka sets a monster and ends his turn.

😈 Turn 7, Yami Bakura's turn. Yami Bakura: 2450 LP | Kotsuzuka: 600 LP

Yami Bakura draws Ectoplasmer and activates it. During his End Phase, he tributes his Earl of Demise, dealing half of its ATK (1000) as damage to Kotsuzuka, bringing his LP to 0, and winning the duel.

-------✦-------

Now, what could Kotsuzuka have done differently? Let's go back:

👻 Turn 4, Kotsuzuka's turn. Yami Bakura: 3950 LP | Kotsuzuka: 3500 LP

Did you notice something odd during this turn? Kotsuzuka normal summons Dragon Zombie, only to use it as fusion material, when Polymerization lets the player use monsters from their hand, too. I mean, the animation where the monsters on his field get dragged and merged is cool and all, but that little decision cost him his life. So, let's say he uses Dragon Zombie in his hand and The Snake Hair on his field as fusion materials. He special summons the Mammoth. Then, he would still have his normal summon. Now, take a look at his hand:

Do you see that card on the very right? That's Crass Clown; a monster that, if changed from defense position to attack position, returns an opponent's monster to the hand. He should have used his normal summon to set that monster on the field. So, he now has Great Mammoth of Goldfine (which cannot attack this turn since it was just fusion summoned), and Crass Clown face-down on the field. He sets Skull Invitation and ends his turn.

😈 Turn 5, Yami Bakura's turn Yami Bakura: 3950 LP | Kotsuzuka: 2700 LP

For now, let's suppose the duel continues as normal, except for the change I made. Yami Bakura discards his entire hand, and the Earl of Demise attacks and destroys Great Mammoth of Goldfine, Skull Invitation does its thing. Kotsuzuka would still have Crass Clown face-down.

👻 Turn 6, Kotsuzuka's turn Yami Bakura: 2450 LP | Kotsuzuka: 600 LP

Kotsuzuka draws Nightmare's Steelcage, but he shouldn't activate it. Instead, he can normal summon Armored Zombie, which we saw in his hand in the screenshot I showed you earlier. Now, he should change Crass Clown to attack position, which would trigger its effect, returning The Earl of Demise to Yami Bakura's hand. Guess what? Yami Bakura has no monsters left on his field, and no face-down cards, either. Guess what else? He has 2450 LP left. Kotsuzuka has two monsters on the field. Crass Clown (1350 ATK), and Armored Zombie (1500 ATK). 1350+1500= 2850. Attacking with both monsters directly would end the duel with Kotsuzuka's victory before Yami Bakura even drew Ectoplasmer.

-------✦-------

Of course, this isn't the only possible outcome. As we know, Yami Bakura discarded 4 cards that we couldn't see. Depending on what these cards were, he could've changed his strategy to account for Kotsuzuka's face-down monster.

The change I proposed doesn't guarantee that Kotsuzuka would've won the duel, but the possibility was there. He could've saved himself and his friends and I'm screaming.

The only thing that could ruin my... theory? is if the anime version of Polymerization works differently than the OCG/TCG one. If it doesn't allow Kotsuzuka to use monsters in his hand, everything I just wrote would be pointless.

-------✦-------

As for what happens after that, I don't know. Unless Yami Bakura calls the Shadow Game off or something, he'd be the one to suffer the fate that was meant for Kotsuzuka, right?

Imagine that. Kotsuzuka would've saved the world without even knowing.

This also means he'd pick up the Millennium Ring. AUs of this could be very interesting!

My guess is that the three of them met at Duelist Kingdom when Bandit Keith brought them together. However, I like to think they could've been friends before that. After all, there's so little information about them that we practically are forced to make up headcanons.

In the manga, that's the only time they appear. They weren't with Kotsuzuka during his Duel against Yami Bakura.

I'm glad they did stay together in the anime. Unlike when they followed Bandit Keith's orders, Kotsuzuka's gang seems to have no leader. They treat one another as equals, so much so that they were okay with working together to get at least one of them to the Battle City finals. It would mean achieving what they couldn't at Duelist Kingdom because of Keith. I see them as close friends.

The red-haired one is Kiyoshi Takaido, or Sid in the dub. His full Japanese name is shown in the episode where we see their rarest cards.

Takaido seems like the kind of friend who backs you up from afar. He doesn't talk much compared to the others. However, he can have an explosive personality, and has no problem with provoking others. He can be a bit of a coward, too. We didn't get to see enough of him. I think his character holds great potential to explore in terms of trust, bonds, and self-improvement.

His rarest card being Firewing Pegasus, along with his hair being red and shaped like a flame, has led many of us to assume that he could be a Pyro/FIRE duelist.

The black-haired one is Satake, or Zygor in the dub.

The scene I mentioned earlier doesn't last long enough to show his first name. However, he may actually have one. I plan to make a post specifically about this in the future.

Satake seems to have experience fighting, so I wonder if he tends to get into fights often or what kind of past he carries. He's shown to be very supportive of Kotsuzuka. I like to see him as the protective one, and the one who keeps the group together.

Due to his rarest card being Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, and the shape of his hair, many of us assume he plays a Thunder Dragon deck, or specializes in Thunder monsters.

I doubt they have canon ages. We are lucky they even have names in the anime, since they were nameless characters in the manga. They could be 20, or they could be 17. Who knows? I guess we'll have to resort to headcanons, much to my disliking.

With Yugioh, there's no way to tell a character's age based on their appearance alone. Tell me about it. I frown every time I see someone assume Kotsuzuka is 10 or something just because he's short. Sometimes I want to yell 'Kotsuzuka is 15, people, fifteen!!!' at them. He's only 1 or 2 years younger than Yugi's group.

This is one of the reasons why I like to imagine Kotsuzuka, Takaido and Satake as childhood friends. If that's not the case, meeting for the first time at Duelist Kingdom, getting along, and then bonding after Keith's betrayal (like you said) also works.

Shared traits

✦ Kotsuzuka and his friends can be naive and trusting. This can sometimes cloud their judgment and common sense.

Yes, dear. Trapping someone and his friends in a cave, leaving them to die just because you lost a duel to him is indeed too much. I'm glad you figured that out 👍

✦ They have a strong sense of camaraderie, so betraying their loyalty will cause them to hold a grudge against you.

Kotsuzuka | Bonz 👻

✦ Ghost-boy is impulsive. Even though I think their gang-like friend group has no leader, I imagine Kotsuzuka's impulsiveness often drags Takaido and Satake into stuff. And they go along with it. Because it's fun.

✦ Kotsuzuka is a playful little guy. He loves scaring people, but only when it's intentional. Scaring someone by accident might make him feel bad, like that time in Duel Links when a girl mistook him for a ghost and ran away when he tried to duel her, and he was later accused of stealing her card. Poor little thing T_T

✦ He's self-conscious about his appearance, even if he tries to play it off. Mean comments can offend him 😞

✦ He's very expressive and has no problem showing his emotions. OR, has trouble hiding them.

✦ The way he questioned Keith's instructions during his duel against Jonouchi | Joey tells me he's true to himself and usually doesn't keep quiet when something doesn't feel right.

✦ He can be dependent, especially on someone he looks up to.

✦ There's a major difference between manga and anime (Battle City arc), which translates into Kotsuzuka having opposite changes in his character development:

In the anime, he and his friends want to prove they can go to the tournament's finals by themselves (partially out of spite), even if that means resorting to dirty tricks and stealing other duelists' Puzzle | Locator Cards.

In the manga, Kotsuzuka is alone and seems to be dueling fairly. This, combined with what we know from Duel Links (which is based on the manga) and other games, we can tell he's not a bad guy. He no longer needs to follow Keith's orders or resort to cheating. He wants to prove he can be a good duelist without Keith's help. Of course, this doesn't stop him from mainly taking on opponents he deems weak.

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . Kotsuzuka is a goth and no one will convince me otherwise. . He specifically styles his hair like that to look scarier. . He doesn't have eyebrows. However, that doesn't stop me from giving him eyebrows when I draw him. He paints them with makeup. That's why I color them black.

Takaido | Sid 🔥

✦ Matching his apparent fire theme, Takaido seems to have an explosive personality. I don't know if this translates into him possibly having a short temper, but, having a serious argument with him, or making him really upset doesn't sound like it'd go well. He's prone to snap and yell.

✦ Remember when he stopped Honda | Tristan by throwing a bead at him, in the dark? He has good eyesight/aim, so watch out if he throws things at you.

✦ Takaido isn't the type to get into a group fight directly. He's more likely to back his friends up from afar if he can. He also doesn't have a problem with provoking others… as long as whoever he's provoking doesn't pose a threat.

✦ I've noticed he talks less than his friends. However, when he does, he makes it count. He knows what to say.

✦ Takaido can be a bit of a coward. The way he abandoned his friends when Kotsuzuka's duel with Yami Bakura was nearing its end, or the way he stood frozen in fear (in the manga) as Keith punished Kotsuzuka FOR FOLLOWING HIS INSTRUCTIONS could mean he doesn't handle fear/panic well.

✦ The way he dresses makes me think he cares about his appearance and spends some time choosing an outfit that makes him look good.

*fangirls_screaming.mp3*

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . Takaido likes spicy food and warm weather. . He hates cold.

Satake | Zygor ⚡

✦ Satake is a tough guy. Not only physically but emotionally as well. Out of the three of them, Satake is the only one who's never cried during the time they've been on screen, not even at the end of the duel against Yami Bakura. Perhaps life has taught him to toughen up, and he either doesn't cry anymore, or it would take A LOT to make him cry.

✦ In the manga, when Keith lost it and punished Kotsuzuka FOR DOING EXACTLY AS HE SAID (yes, I'm still mad), Satake looked at them in horror as if he was about to say "Oi, Aniki, that's enough!" but couldn't react out of shock. This is why he strikes me as a protective friend.

✦ He's very supportive. You can count on him to cheer for you, comfort, reassure you, or keep you sane. Or to beat someone up for you.

✦ He's good with heavy work and often relies on physical strength. It's like his first instinct is to fight or attack things, probably to look intimidating. However, I haven't seen him raise a hand against any of his friends even once. This aggressive behavior must be aimed at strangers and enemies.

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . I don't know why but I think he would be good at babysitting kids. That doesn't mean he would be a good influence, though. . Contrary to his intimidating appearance and attitude, he's fond of little animals. They evoke that protective nature that's characteristic of him. . He likes storms. He thinks tornadoes are cool (not up close, of course).