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What lies beyond Fusion?

GX Duel Memorial Album #08

(Let’s Talk About The Climax Of The First Year!)

TURN-49

Against the “Sacred Beasts”, Daitokuji-sensei entrusted “Sabatiel – The Philosopher’s Stone” to Judai. It’s a miracle card to stop Kagemaru’s scheme, and at that time I was writing and assembling Duels without thinking about if cards would be turned into physical merchandise. It took a decade for it to be brought to the “Official Card Game”. As a result, its effects in the anime were made without a single concern for game balance. When I looked it up, wondering “What kind of effect did they give it?” I was impressed and went “I see, I see”. How do you translate the essence of its absurd effects into reality? And I thought it was wonderful that it left open the ability to recreate the combo from the TV show. I think that’s part of the joy of the “Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game”.

TURN-50

I’ll be talking about the Spell Card “Ancient Gear Factory” this time. I was impressed by how extravagant te card was, that it had the image of a factory recycling the destroyed monster(s), and both the effects and the way it was presented. When I think of the name or effect of a card, I think “That’s the image I’m going for” but I’m never sure if it’ll properly be expressed visually. However, if the card’s effect is accompanied by a visual presentation, it’s easier to get the idea across. While there are many cases where the effect’s presentation needs to be balanced with consideration of the length of the episode (and these are plenty fine), I still really enjoy it when the staff puts in a lot of effort in the Spell Cards.

TURN-51 & TURN-52

The Fusion Showdown Duel, as I recall. What will be fused at the end of Fusion, if it transcends even time and space? After a grueling clash of wills between their aces, is it okay to pull out even newer aces? After thinking “What should I do now?” when I got writing block, I came up with the idea that even their attacks would fuse: “Battle Fusion”. That then led to an explosion of Fusion going beyond critical mass: “Final Fusion”.

TURN-53

We thought about how to make a character’s introduction seem impressive while also hiding their abilities, I think I suggested, “Why not do a Duel where he handicaps himself building a Deck using 8 sealed packs?” (1) … except I don’t remember suggesting this (ahaha). I only remember that I was very busy working in parallel on a heavyweight Duel from the end of the first season and a new Duel at the beginning of the second season (there were about six scriptwriters at the time, and each hand their work individually), as well as on a series that had not yet aired in Japan. When one meeting about “Yu-Gi-Oh!” ended, another meeting about “Yu-Gi-Oh!” began.

==EVERYONE LET’S ASK HIKOKUBO-SAN!!==

Q. During Ryo’s Graduation Duel, I love the scenes in the first half where Judai is spiraling out of control, but eats during the Duel and gets his groove back. Ryo also seemed to be having fun and looked appropriate for his age. What were your thoughts about working on this part of the Duel? I would like to hear any behind-the-scenes stories you’d be willing to share.

Concerning myself, I was trying to make sure the Duel displayed Judai’s growth since his first Duel with Kaiser. I originally was thinking about a fairly serious Duel, but the screenwriter for those episodes, Takahashi Natsuko, said something along the lines of “Don’t people think with their guts?” and I thought to myself “What on earth is she talking about?”, but it seems there is a theory along those lines. In the evolution of life, the brain evolved later on, so I think it’s logical we pay attention to our guts, which can be considered our Senpai. I struck me as interesting. And Judai DID regularly use “Emergency Provisions” in the past. So this time, he wasn’t in the right mindset until he got some actual ‘Emergency Provisions’ (ahaha).

Q. How were the monster designs and cards illustrations created, since they were original to the anime and not drafted by Takahashi-sensei?

I created the image to some extent… is what I’d like to say, but I didn’t have time to prepare design order-level materials, so I tried to make the design I intended as clear as possible from the card name… This is something I was really conscious of when working on “GX”.

Q. Besides “Neo Bubbleman” and “Clay Guardian”, did you have any ideas for other “Elemental HERO” summoned by “Metamorphosis”?

I didn’t expect this at all, but I’ll spitball a few names.

Elemental HERO Iron Featherman (Elemental HERO Iron Avian) … “Avian” but with hardened feathers.

Elemental HERO Burst Lady GO (Elemental HERO Burstinatrix GO) … “GO” is short for “Geothermal Outburst” but is read as the English word “Go”. I guess visually it would be “Burstinatrix” but ‘ready to go’ as it were.

Elemental HERO Spark Gunman (Elemental HERO Spark Blasterman) … Uh, armed with “Spark Blaster” as standard equipment? Something like that?

Q. GX has many fascinating Duelists, but there are also many cards that weren’t fully realized in the show. Hikokubo-san, are there any Duels you wish could have happened or written up?

Mhm. Chronos VS Kaiser? It would be quite fun to watch a clash between two users of gigantic Fusion mecha monsters. Chronos deeply respects Kaiser, but he also has his reputation as a professor to consider, so he’s likely to go all out in a Duel between them, without letting his guard down. Maybe Misawa and Jim, though would their theoretical and practical mindsets as scientists allow them to talk to each other or would it result in a heated clash? I think it would be interesting.

TRANSLATION NOTES:
(1) Packs in Japan typically have five cards per Pack.

Source: V Jump