#she reminds me a lot of johan from Monster but we meet her after she's found a sense of meaning and self. but shes still just as dangerous

[seqka711]

Ranking the six main boy/girl ships in Yu-Gi-Oh from best to worst!

Not all main girl ships are created equally, I'm afraid. Let's take a look at each ship and see what's up! (Except Sevens because as I mentioned in a previous post, I am way too far behind to comment on anything in that show.)

First up is Anzu and Yugi! And YES I do ship them! However, I don't ship Atem and Anzu. Anzu was friends with Yugi, and started to see him in a different light when Atem started showing up. However, those changing feelings also started to influence her feelings about Yugi as well. We saw that in Duelist Kingdom. Then in season 2 when she realizes they're two separate people, she gets really confused! Anzu doesn't know how to feel anymore! Then Atem and Yugi are both playing wingman for each other, so that's not helping matters. I don't really ship Atem and Anzu because Atem just doesn't seem super interested in their date. I know he had other things on his mind, but if they wanted me to ship it, now was the time to show off some chemistry and they didn't.

We saw in GX that Yugi grows up to look just like Atem and he also grows more confident over the course of the series. After the end of Duel Monsters, I think they're both too hurt by Atem's passing to be digging on each other. But, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I feel like she's gonna come back from the states and have some heart-pounding feelings when she sees him again. And Yugi's feelings didn't change, they were just put on the back burner. So hopefully when they meet back up, sparks are gonna fly! At least, I hope so. <3

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Next up is Asuka and Judai! When I watched their first duel, I was 100% on board with this ship. They were cute, they had great banter, it was a fair fight. I loved it! But over the course of the series, I started losing interest in their relationship, fast. By the end of season 2 I was pretty convinced they had abandoned Asuka x Judai for Asuka x Manjoume, and honestly, I was 100% on board with that, I love a good romcom couple and those two have dysfunctional romcom energy. Plus they had evil power couple vibes when they were running the Society of Light together, so I thought for sure they were gonna have Manjoume and Asuka be better friends post possession.

Then season 3 came a long and I was like "woah, they DID do that on purpose! I was right!" when we saw the Judai x Johan x Yubel love triangle they spent the entire season on. Asuka and Manjoume were of course relegated to background characters, as was everyone who wasn't a transfer student. And then the series ended with a pretty definitive Judai x Yubel ending and I was like "cool I like it".

But then season 4 made me question everything by making it clear that Asuka was still crushing on Judai?!?! Uhhh.... what? You haven't mentioned this crush in OVER TWO YEARS ASUKA. You've both changed so much! I thought the whole point was "she had a fleeting crush on him in year 1, but people change and so do our feelings"! I thought they had her fall out of love with him on purpose!! You're telling me the writers just wanted us to ASSUME she was still in love with him this whole time?!

I honestly love the whole "had a crush on him, now that I know him better, he's an amazing friend but I don't like him that way anymore" dynamic and they RUINED IT so bad. And for what? To say "well they fought the whole time, but now look! They can tag duel together!" Well, jokes on them, because a few episodes later Judai and Johan will show off some of the tightest teamwork in the show and I'll have to throw Asuka x Judai in the trash. </3`

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Yusei x Aki!!!!!! AHHHHHH I LOVE THEM. Their first duel is very romantic in my opinion. Yusei lives to help people, and it's actually a flaw of his that he'll help people no matter the cost. Usually that's sort of a "who cares" flaw in a protagonist, but for Yusei, it adds a lot of depth to his character. The reason he helps people even at the cost of himself is because he feels enormously guilty due to his parents' involvement in Zero Reverse, and he feels like he owes the world (but especially Satellite) everything. Yusei tried to go to jail in Kiryu's stead, but failed, and I think that only compounded his guilt even more.

Then, when Yusei sees the chance to help Aki, he does it. He's scared of her, but he rallies his courage to face her so that he can help her. And it's only natural that Aki would fall hopelessly in love with him after he continually put himself at risk over and over again JUST to help her. I love the episode where she rescues him from being kidnapped and then accompanies him on a riding duel. I think it hits me harder because it reminds me of how much I want to drive a motorcycle but can't because of reasons I won't go into. But part of her desire to learn to riding duel is because she wants to feel the same things Yusei feels. And that's so cute!

Unfortunately, I do have a certain headcanon that gets in the way of my shipping desires. I won't get into the whole headcanon, but I think Yusei might have ended up time travelling back in time to fix Zero Reverse and prevent Zone's future. And Aki wouldn't have come with him because we see her in the flashforward. Yusei is still giving her strength though. And I like to think that maybe a much older Yusei was able to help a much younger Aki control her powers and not enter a cult in the new timeline. And if my headcanon isn't true, then GET MARRIED AND HAVE BABIES GUYS. <3

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On the one hand, I love Kotori x Yuma. They’re so adorable! Not only is Kotori surprisingly self-aware of her crush (usually the YGO girls love to deny it) but Yuma clearly treats her differently from the rest of his friends, even though he doesn’t know why (yet). Kotori’s confession at the end of the show is SO CUTE AND ADORABLE and Yuma accepts and I love it!

But… I can’t love it as much as I WANT to love it. Kotori’s character, especially in Zexal II is kind of boring. I liked her a lot in Zexal I actually. I thought it was fine to have a character not duel as long as she was doing something else. In season 1 she occasionally gets shit done. Or she’s there for comic relief like when she’s riding the duel coaster. Or arguing with Orbital 7. It wasn’t much, but it was something. In season 2, she’s a total non-entity. I thought the duel where she gets possessed was very funny, but I almost wish that her getting possessed by a Barian was played for drama rather than laughs.

I think what could have been cool is either a) after she can hear Astral, her and Astral team up for a duel or b) when watching Yuma she started to memorize his strategies. Or both. Or neither, just get this girl something to do BESIDES watch Yuma! In the end, my love for how adorable these two are is always somewhat soured by Kotori’s squandered potential. <3

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Speaking of squandered potential, Yuzu and Yuya are next on the list. I love these two A TON! I’ll be perfectly honest and admit my biases here, I am NOT the biggest fan of Arc-V. The show had a lot of problems, and I’m harsher on it than most.

But one thing I really did like about the beginning of the show was Yuzu! She was independent, driven and her dueling was getting better as the show progressed. Just like Kotori, she became a non-entity in the latter seasons. However, I ship Yuya x Yuzu more than I ship Yuma x Kotori because Yuya was always keeping Yuzu in mind during the latter seasons. So it still felt like the ship was in focus, whereas with Kotori x Yuma, the ship kind of disappeared since more important things were going on. For Yuya, nothing was more important than getting Yuzu back, so really I had no choice BUT to ship it. How could I not? It was so sweet! She was his whole world! I wish we got more scenes with the two of them together though. Them never tag dueling is a crime against humanity. Also its total BS that only Yuya and Yuzu got to come back, but whatever, I guess. I was happy that the two of them reunited and even HAPPIER that the show was finally over. <3

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Last and basically least, Yusaku x Aoi. Or Playmaker x Blue Maiden. I’ll be honest, I don’t ship this at all. The show doesn’t go through any effort to get us invested in their so-called “relationship” and if I had watched this show on its own, unaware of the series’ tropes, I wouldn’t have assumed they were a “ship” at all. With Judai x Asuka, I actually liked the fake out (at least until S4 when I wondered whether or not the fake out was actually on purpose or if the writers are just morons) but with Yusaku x Aoi I get frustrated because it wouldn’t have been that hard to GIVE them some chemistry. They’re both interesting characters, and I think Aoi and Yusaku could have had an interesting dynamic if Aoi had learned Playmaker’s identity a lot sooner.

What I think the show should have done was have Aoi discover Playmaker and Soulburner’s identity at the same time they discovered each other. Then have Aqua come into the fold a lot earlier. Trios are popular in fiction for a reason, and I think Yusaku, Takeru and Aoi would have been an excellent trio. Specifically, with both Yusaku and Aoi being so reserved, their relationship would be very understated. But that’s not a bad thing. It just means that the writers would have to put more focus on the little things. Like, maybe after a while of being friends, Yusaku sits next to her in class. That would be a small thing for other people, but for those two, that’s huge! I could also see there being a fun episode where Ai tries to trick them into going on a date but fails spectacularly. The two of them end up spending time together to foil the plan. That could be really cute! LITERALLY ANYTHING is better than NOTHING.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t ship this because the writers thought they could get me to ship it just by having boy meets girl and then having them shake hands over a hundred episodes later. And no. I refuse. I need a LITTLE more than that, please and thank you. </3

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That was a very long post! All in all, 4/6 ain’t bad at all! Or maybe it’s more like a 3.5 since I only gave Kotori and Yuma a small heart? It doesn’t really matter, I’m a multishipper. At my heart and soul, I’ll ship anything. Like I said I don’t ship Judai and Asuka, but I totally have shippy fanart of them on my phone, lol. It’s more like… which of these ships would I defend in court and which ships do I only like because I’m trash that’ll ship anything?

Oh, I guess I did title this as a ranking... Well, I'm sure you can figure out my most and least favourites by how much I used caps lock, so it should be fine.

Give me ANY Yu-Gi-Oh ship (straight, gay or in between) and I’ll dissect it like I did these six.

[saizoswifey]

you don’t have to answer this if you’re too busy, but i’d love to know what your best boys (saizo, johan, kyle, kiro, etc.) have in common and what you love about them 👀💗

Okay I know I already told you but I love this ask sooo much lol. Thank you!!!!! It really made me think a ton. Which I LOVE. 

To start off, I’m going to have to begin with BEST BAE JOHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY LOVE MY HUSBAND!!!!!!! LOVE OF MY LIFE!! Because he is quite frankly the most complex. 

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“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names… And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority… They worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, saying ‘who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?' “

There are so many layers to Naoki Urasawa’s Monster and Johan as a character that I honestly would need to go off on it entirely on its own, and I would STILL have a tough time touching on everything I love. 

Johan Liebert is a typical type of character I go for. He is probably THE top favorite character I have ever come across in media when it comes to Evil and Complexity. And he actually has a bit in common with Saizo. 

What I love about Johan is the tragedy of what he became. You can truly look back on his past and see all of the factors that led him to become the way he is; a man with extreme intellect, cunning, the incredible ability to charm everyone he meets. A true genius. But also, someone who can manipulate people, even children, even ORPHANS to suicide or murder. Someone who murders and doesn’t think twice. What could he have been had the path lay different for him? Or, perhaps, was he always destined to live with this Monster inside of him, considering he was born out of a Eugenics experiment, to begin with? That’s what I love so much about him and this series.

 It’s so focused on a few key things. Among those are our choices in life and how they can easily stack up to eventually become the mountain of solitude we stand on, the struggle with identity, mainly: NAMES. 

Lastly, another important aspect to the series is the playful way it dips in and out of reality. 

What I mean by that is, Johan really has this fictional quality to him. That’s another reason I love him SO MUCH. We often hear even Inspector Lunge question whether or not Johan is an actual person. Johan is like a character in a fairytale, which fits well with the fairytale we have in the actual story. Even Johan’s name seems like an illusion of the mind. 

Tenma: Stop it, Johan! I know you! I was your doctor nine years ago. Don’t add any more crimes to your list!

Johan: Heh… heh heh heh… 'Johan’… There was a time when I went by that name. But it’s not my real name.

You honestly come to doubt at a point whether or not Johan is a real person, and that’s EXACTLY what he wants. Johan, in a sense, is nothingness. So fictional at times that some characters even said he was a real-life vampire. 

I think I have something in me that draws me to suicidal characters or characters with no sense of self-preservation but Johan is no exception. Feeling abandoned by his mother and alone, 

and being used and abused and brainwashed, being groomed into the next Hitler and then moving from place to place, he emulated The Monster in the picture book. He moved from family to family trying to take on their names and become what they wanted but in the end, he killed them. The monster inside of him broke free. 

Johan captivates me because he is so enigmatic, seemingly everywhere and nowhere at once. He never had a sense of self, and that’s what makes him so horrifying, enough that he makes even average serial killers look less terrifying. Because at least they have methods to their madness, yet Johan kills pretty coldly and without any motivation. He tried to orchestrate what would be his “perfect suicide” after murdering the Liebert’s but when Nina failed to kill him and Tenma saved him he turned to, like, plan B. Just like how he, as a child, manipulated the weak points in the orphans and staff, orchestrating what would have them all turn and kill each other, he would try to do the same in the world. He doesn’t work with a set of principals aside from chaos. 

All of his life it had been hammered into him that life was about being on top, the best. You either succeed and come out on top or lose. His sister being chosen over him, and the experiments at 511 kinderheim. How many children did they go through and toss aside like garbage before Johan? Even the eugenics experiment that was a series of chosen “perfect specimens” to create the next world leader, bringing about his birth. It’s always survival of the fittest to Johan. He had to come out on top. So in his loneliness and strife for being left the only one standing, fulfilling what he was born to do, he decided to throw the world into chaos and let them all devour each other to show his superiority and also to get revenge for bringing him into this world yet leaving him alone and with nothing, not even a name. 

When he stumbled upon the book in the library it triggered him and changed his thought process a bit, though. He was reminded of his childhood again, and the perfect suicide. I think around here is when he began to play with the idea of letting Tenma kill him once he got rid of everyone who knew who he was. He could then disappear like he never existed. So he could evaporate into his complete loneliness like the monster in the book. And I love how expertly manipulative he is, using the people from his childhood and everyone he can in order to help him achieve this goal. They think they’re going to be immortalized or help rule the world next to Johan. They think they’re the power players but never come to see they’re simply pawns until Johan eventually kills them. 

I love extremely intelligent and charming characters. I love evil characters. And I mostly love characters who are evil for chaos’ sake. Characters who do terrible shit with no rhyme or reason why. Bonus points if they have that ONE PERSON who they are attached to and would never harm. Johan hits all of these for me and I instantly fell in love. 

I like the parallels between 511 Kinderheim and Iga. Both Saizo and Johan are lonely, both ending up in a place where they are brainwashed and abused and taught to rid themselves of all emotion and human attachment in order to become the ultimate weapon/specimen. I also see a lot of parallels between Johan/Nina and Saizo/Hotaru. 

Both Saizo and Johan are tragic characters, both suicidal but for different reasons. Both of them grapple with their own duality and their sense of self. They really don’t know who they are at the core, and both feel as if they’re just tools living in the shadows and one day they’ll disappear into nothing and no one will care. 

They are also both incredibly charming and good looking, able to get away with so much and slip into any circle due to their high level of intelligence and cunning. They’re both characters that have done some lifechanging GOOD for people, but have also done terrible things on the other end of the spectrum. The dynamic in both is vast, and that’s something I love. Because humans are not ornately ‘good’ or ‘evil’ but a mix of both. It makes them great characters. 

Genya also has a lot of these same points in common with Johan. And even more so because he has a twin just like Johan. A twin who was weaker than him that he felt the need to protect, a twin that he felt was his other half. Just like Johan. 

Almost all of the characters in my top boys have either high intelligence or a tragic/traumatic past. Sometimes both. Mugen, Levi, Johan, Saizo, etc. they all have this in common. I also love characters with self-destructive tendencies. Bonus if it’s a coping mechanism lol. 

I like characters that have pain in their past and could either go dark or light because of their trauma. I tend to go for the characters who end up going down the dark path like Johan but I also don’t mind the ones that end up going on the light path like Saizo, Levi, Mugen, Kyle, and Genya. Kyle has intense trauma and could have easily turned to anger and hatred but he chose to forgive and live and save people. He’s still a dumpster fire sometimes with his drinking to cope with his pain and memory but he’s a good man. 

I think Kiro has more in common with Kyle than anyone else in my favorites. They both have trauma in their pasts and they mask it with smiles. Both are kind of brick-headed when it comes to love and err on the side of taking things slow and supporting each other without looking for much in return and I like that about them. I like that they both offer tons of support to MC and encourage her to be the best she can be, and they enjoy just being around her without needing anything else. They are good friends first, and the rest develops really naturally. 

Overall, if a character is: 

cocky as fuck

shady as fuck

evil

murdery

chaotic

pained by the ghosts of their past lol 

god mode at sOMETHING 

GENIUS 

hate everyone but that One Special Dumbass they will protect at all costs

stoic

at war with whether to be evil or good

take things extremely slow with their MC/SO and come at them from a level playing field of respect

chances are I’m in love with them hahaha. 

Thank you for this!!! Sorry its Johan loving hours here 24/7 so most of this was just me yelling about him but whvedhjwv I hope this did an okay job answering you!!!!!!!!!