Pharaoh Draws, A Tribute (Patreon)

"Kaiba, once again, your ridiculously over-inflated ego blinds you to the truth!

I AM FAR FROM BEATEN!"

Yes, I think you know why I drew this despite taking forever to do it (Not a great month on my end).

Kazuki Takahashi left this world earlier this month, and his works have had a long lasting impact on my life over the past 2 decades. 

When YGO came around, the only anime I watched at the time was Pokemon. By season 2 of YGO, I was able to watch newer episodes of Pokemon thanks to an upgrade in our TV package, which shared a morning block with of course, Yu-Gi-Oh!. One morning I decided to dip my toe by watching an episode, the tag duel with Yugi and Kaiba teaming up during Battle City and....I really thought I was not going to get into YGO by the end. XD A show where the majority of the time was spent explain card game moves? This seem so boring.

Awhile later, I caught a rerun of Duelist Kingdom, the final part of Yugi Vs Weevil, and somehow that caught my interest far better than just jumping into the middle of Season 2. XD Guess its like they say, Duelist Kingdom is more beginner friendly than other seasons and especially when other adaptations introduced new summon gimmicks.

As I followed along with both season 1 and getting back to Season 2, I found myself buying the cards, DVDs, videogames and quite importantly, the manga. Pretty much my first manga and I'm sure I had the same experience as everyone reading it the first time, the sheer shock of how much darker and violent it was compared to the 4Kids dub! XD I knew at the time Pokemon got edited, but this was on another level. But I think also importantly, it inspired me to draw some years later. Before I went the hentai routine, a lot of my early works were Pokemon and YGO SFW pics and over the years the audience built up and up towards where we are today. :)

Not just that, YGO was like a door opening towards other anime and manga I could finally try out as well. Pokemon may of been the first anime I really got into, but YGO was the bridge that lead to so many others down the road, as well as the OG manga being one of only few series I've read the whole way through, YGO R included.

While like others, I did kind of stop following YGO when GX happened as I was not as engaged as the OG and IMO, I was starting the feel the card designs were not as great or conic as your Dark Magicians, Blue Eyes, Summon Skulls, Toon Monsters, Celtic Guardians, and so on. Pls and I guess with 4Kids finally losing Pokemon and OG YGO over, there was no excuse for me to put up with 4Kids dubs anymore (Hey, I skipped the Sonic X dub in favour of the sub. XD). Don't get me wrong, I did actually watch to check out 5Ds and would be willing to give GX a go in its subbed form someday, just one of the many many things I never get round to. ^^

As for why I picked the Pharaoh, I'd have to say he's one of my fav male anime characters. The mystery, the look, and of course the iconic Dan Green voice I always associate, both him and Eric Stuart I met at a convention a few years ago and even got autographs of each. I think YGO, my mind immediately pictures the Pharaoh....then the likes of Dark Magician Girl (Fav card), Tea, Serenity....XD

I owe a lot to Kazuki Takahashi and while it was tragic he passed away at such a young age, it was reassuring seeing so many others talk about their memories of YGO and what a impact it and he had on their lives too, which in turn made me realise how much more it did for me too.

R.I.P Kazuki Takahashi, thank you for the best dang anime/manga about cardgames as well as Shadow Games there is! :)

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My hugest apologies for taking forever to complete this and the quiet nature I've been on this month. Not only did that news hit me hard but several other things happened this month, but as I've gone on enough already, I'll save that for the monthly journal update next week.

Now back to more pervy uploads. ;)